When I was stepping into the lift to get to the ground floor I felt something slipped down my legs and to my horror, I saw my keys hit the floor and bounce right into the gap between the lift doors, into the deep darkness of the lift shaft and then a distant clink when it landed 11 floors away.
Quite shaken by what just happened, I rushed home to call for help, not knowing what to do at first. Good thing Daniel was at home, who offered to call the lift company to provide assistance.
Then a series of questions or advices from everyone around:
“Why didn’t you keep the keys properly in the pocket?”
“You shouldn’t be fidgeting with keys while near the lift!”
“How come you so clever can drop the keys right there and then?”
“I thought I was always careful with how I kept my keys, it just puzzles me that this should happen!”
While these were going on, I discovered a hole in the pocket where the key was! So that’s how the keys slipped out!
I’m thankful to God for this little episode, teaching me not to jump to conclusions or be judgmental over unexpected events. In fact there are many things to thank God for:
I didn’t lose the keys when I was unaware of or when I was supposed to pick my children at the same time or having picked the children and couldn’t get home etc.
In fact, I got my keys back within 20 minutes after the lift company responded to my call.
More of a thanksgiving event 
“And Moses examined all the work and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed them.” (Exodus 39:43 NASB)
This is one of the qualities of a leader, who, in my context, be a mother who checks her children’s work or an employer of a domestic maid, who would constantly be vigilant over the works of those under her, correcting when needed and blessing them when work is done well.
It does takes extra effort and time to affirm the work assigned them, by following up with checking and inspecting, an area I need to work on, though I’m blessed with children who are responsible and a maid who is hardworking.
A good thing is to let them do the work independently without always breathing down their necks, focusing on their inefficiencies during the work. One must always trusts others to have a critical eye to assess their own assignments and improve along the way, which only can be developed when there is constant monitoring and encouragement to excel.
It’s wrong to assume that a homemaker can’t be an effective leader for God outside of corporate world and organizations.
It was one of those days when the little ones got into a unreasonable, silly and nonsensical argument, making irritating comments to each other.
The little sister often ended up shouting at the brother, hoping to shush him for good but often to no avail.
But this time, she did it:
“YOU! Kor-Kor! GO to the TREE!”
Not only the brother but all of us were shushed…
Here I am now in Harmoni One Hotel, Batam, for a 2D1N trip with my thirteenth year-old, watching her take her evening dip in the rooftop pool.
The trip was booked through www.deals.com.sg that includes 4-star hotel stay that comes with a buffet breakfast, free wifi connection during stay, two-way transfers, ferry ticket, one seafood lunch, city tour and shopping, one hour Balinese massage(which we changed to foot massage), all for $78 per pax.
The experience had been good, with a fuss free booking online, easy pick up of the tickets at the cruise centre, with all the details and immigration cards all filled for us, punctual departure, calm sea throughout the 35 mins of traveling across the sea, good tour guide and itinery. We are well taken care of, relaxed and rested.
Much bonding time happens over a bag of chips or tidbits, so this time we brought and bought more of it along with us, including chewing gums…ooh..
After her swim we would go back to the room to snack on another pack of Twisties…:p
When God made the covenant with Abraham, He had also progressively increased his faith, specifically in the area of the promise of making a great nation out of Abraham.
From the conception of Isaac to the point of sacrificing his precious son, God was testing Abraham’s response. Is he patient, faithful, obedient, having faith, attentive?
So when God calls us to serve Him with certain gifts, we cannot expect instant results or immediate commencement of works. Some works and ministries take years to nurture and develop, probably because the ministry has the power to impact many lives, such as prophetic ministries.
God desires us to have the maturity in these ministries, since they are often highly visible and prominent. Therefore we have to be willing to allow God that span of time of training instead of running ahead of Him, using the excuse of urgency, without discerning His timing of operating in those gifts.
Reuben was in one of those thinking moods again:
“Why doesnt’ God have a wife?”
“Why doesn’t He choose a wife as big as Himself?
“Since He’s our Heavenly Father, where’s our heavenly mother?”
“God should have a wife because He needs a heavenly helper to help prepare a place for us in heaven.”
Answers? Anyone?
It was one of those days when mommy decided that Reuben needed a break from his play (though he didn’t think so) so I offered to read a Bible story to him when the topic of God the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit came up.
“What’s the meaning of Trinity?” he asked, still affected by the interruption . So mommy took the effort to explain the meaning & function of the Holy Trinity, making it as simple as possible for a 5 year-old.
Quite satisfied with all that spiritual education & impartation, I asked my son who was pouting his lips if he could understand all that.
He was kind of hesitant while he nodded his head, and with some annoyance he asked: “Do they play?“
After cleaning the hamster cage & putting in some fresh food, papa announced to the children: ” The hamster is eating dinner now!”
Ruth responded: ” the hamster’s not supposed to eat dinner, it hasn’t prayed (say grace before meals) yet!”
Mommy: “oh why not you help the hamster to pray?”
Ruth (with a very concerned look): ” but I don’t know how to hold the hamster’s hands!”
Exactly 3 months have passed and she finally did it!
The moment she came down from the highchair after a big lunch, Ruth announced that she was going to pass motion and may soil her panties anytime. Usually she would ask for a diaper and then do her disappearing act into the curtains but today she just made this announcement.
Seizing the opportunity, I invited her to use the toilet bowl and she agreed. Minutes later she came down and said she wanted the diaper. No crying or whining when I told her to go back to the toilet to try again. After a few tries with some struggles coupled with encouragements, Ruth finally accomplished her mission.
The little girl was so proud of her own accomplishments, got her reward of a sweet and many praises, her face radiant with joy and peace. I’m proud of her as she works to overcome one of her many fears and achieve another milestone in her life.
Look! Ma! We're all wet! Yipee!!
Rachel had been wanting to play in the rain for quite some time and finally got her chance yesterday. Seeing the dark clouds looming over the skies she persuaded mommy to take her to the beach park to play basketball. Of course the little brother won’t want to miss out all the fun.
So there we went, played till the rain came. Everyone ran for shelter so the playground is left to us. For once we need not wait in queues at the swings & flying fox etc. Had the whole basketball court to ourselves too.
Really had a good time out in the rain. :)
As Reuben was learning his Chinese language, he announced that there are 3 kinds of mouse:
- Lao Shu (老鼠)
- Lao Shi (老师)
- Lao Hu (老虎)
Amazing he can come up with things like that, jaw-dropping….
I’ve only learned more about the late Mrs LKY since she passed away on Saturday, and am deeply moved by her gently & quiet spirit, being a pillar of strength behind her loved ones, making tremendous contribution to the shaping of our nation but much of the work is done behind the scenes. What a humble lady she was, despite her great talents & capabilities, she assumed a low profile, demonstrating a caring & loving personality.
To me, she is a role model of someone who strives for excellence in everything she does in work, and yet paying much attention to details and with compassion for people, a submissive wife who gives great love & support to her husband and a wise and loving mother who is able to see & raise the potential in her children.
A remarkable lady. What a treasure we’ve had in Singapore. We’ve been truly blessed.
Ruth enjoyed her bedtime activities tonight simply because she got to play in our bed. There is this sense of freedom & great joy when she dove & rolled around in our king size bed.
Then it occurred to me that she is the only one among our children to miss out this special treat. Ever since all the siblings roomed together, their bedtime routine has been done in their room, with moments of play, read & sing till bed time. Unlike Rachel & Reuben who had room in with us till they turned 4, Ruth had been sleeping apart from us since she moved into her crib & 6th month of age.
Our bed is their haven. Whenever our children were under stress or moody or afraid, they would like to come into our bed and snuggle down for a few moments & then went away satisfied.
Rachel would just want to seek comfort in our bed, now that she is transforming into a teenager; Reuben would often crawl up in the middle of the night especially after a nightmare, to seek refuge; Ruth would find any excuse to play in our bed, such as tending to her stuff toys & found joy.
And it is a place where all of us would relax & let our hair down, piling on top of one another, tickling, having pillow fights, squealing with delight or breathless after all that laughter.
I think we should resume this routine starting tomorrow night…
Finally, Ruth is potty-trained. First few days was quite daunting as she had not master the skill to control her bladder. So every 15 minutes I’ll have to take her to the potty, sometimes met with resistance. Once delayed, I’ll have to mop the floor and wash her up.
I remember having to do that for Reuben and at that time I was pregnant with Ruth. Training him was harder as it he was often very focused on his play and was not aware of wetting himself. After a few weeks I gave up. Eventually he was trained by the teachers in kindergarten.
As for Ruth, training was easier. Within 2 weeks, she had mastery over her bladder. Initially, all of us would anxiously rush her to the potty whenever she was urgent, almost every 15 mins. Now she can hold up till 30-45 mins, quite an accomplishment over a month.
But she still has apprehension over bowel movements and insists on using the diaper. Once the diaper is on, she would immediately hide behind the hall curtain to do her ‘business’….
Yesterday was Rachel’s Grade 5 violin practical exam. After months of preparation the big day finally arrived.
There were many struggles prior to the exam. Rachel was very occupied by school’s CCA & PSLE preparations so time was very limited. Her violin instructor often taught overtime for every class. So for her Monday 8-9pm class, she would sometimes start around 8.30pm and ended at 10pm.
Then she would struggle with confidence problems, friendship issues in school, work pressure from subject teachers, demands from school choir that participated in this year’s SYF Competitions, sibling rivalry, on top of growing into a teen with all the physical changes & transformation.
So 2 weeks before the exam, we worked together to polish up all the exam pieces & scales, spending hours at a time. Over the weekends we literally camped in the music room other than the 3 meals.
The last 2 days were occupied with being the pianist for violin exams for other candidates, rushing home to practice with Rachel, going back to do more violin exams and then rushing home to practice more with her and then usher her to the exam venue…
Just want to sit back and vegetate…..
Today the Chinese tutor dropped a bombshell. She announced that she is leaving Singapore in 4 days time because her daughter is leaving then to further her studies in UK. Her own visa will expire the moment the daughter leaves Singapore so she can’t stay to help Rachel through her PSLE.
We were shocked & sadden by the news. We’re glad that she had made arrangements for another tutor to take over with immediate effect, so that Rachel’s learning will not be disrupted.
Chinese tuition had been very dry & boring till she came by. Rachel became very chatty & jovial throughout the 2-hour lesson, speaking in the language she once hated so much, making effort to study the terms which used to be Greek to her, week after week, month after month, keeping steady progress, for the last 2 years.
So we didn’t know how to react upon this announcement. I guess all of us have to be prepared for sudden changes and not get too emotionally upset for such changes. Sometimes, change is good.
We wish 张老师 all the best as she is now home in China and may God watch over her daughter as she now takes on a new challenge in UK, all by herself without the mother. They have to make greater adjustments more than we do in such a short notice.
We will all miss her.
Winter white 8 weeks old, became part of our family. Mainly Reuben’s pet, named Buddy. Friendly little fella, always comes forward whenever we go near the cage. At this age, it’s not very proficient with the treadmill, often spins too fast till he got thrown out, or maybe he’s having fun? :)
Ruth is now 27 months old. I have not been keeping track of her milestones on paper except for some video shots whenever possible. Today I just realized that she has gained independence in many areas such as dressing herself with good finger agility at the button holes as well as removing her clothing, putting on & taking off shoes & sandals, managing a door knob, drinking from a cup, feeding herself a full meal very neatly with a very hearty appetite. And most of all she can speak very well in full phrases besides some simple reading.
Looking forward to the day she is fully toilet-trained…
Ruth is finally weaned from breastfeeding. 2 years, 2 months and 7 days long. The longest of the 3 children at breast milk. It was a peaceful end, no struggles, no crying, no need to use medicated oil or bitter oil. Occasionally she would ask if she can drink milk while pulling at my blouse but would not persist when told that she can drink powdered milk instead.
It is mommy that misses the whole process and was unwilling to give up….sob…a sigh of relief…glad…and yet a little sad… Mixed feelings…
For those who are at the beginning and struggling with sore nipples, engorgement and sleepless nights, press on and don’t give up. The days of bonding and enjoying that special moment far outweighs the pain in the beginning. No regrets.
Reuben: ”Mommy, turn on your eyes!!” (That’s when mommy dozed off while reading to him)
Reuben: ”Why must all of us go out to empty the house?” (On a Sunday when all of us, including Ika, left the house for church)
Ruth burped. Mommy: ”Wow! What a croak! Are you a frog?”
Ruth: ”No! I’m not a frog. Are you a giraffe?” (She’s just turned 2 last month)
