Rachel, a budding athlete

My princess was telling me today that if she goes to practice volleyball for 3 weeks in December, she will stand a chance to be part of the Selangor school volley ball team. 👍👏👏👏

Yes, my little girl is grown up now. I'm struggling to accept that she will soon be reaching puberty. I kinda cringe at that hahaha. Guess it is also telling me I'm getting old. However, I do try my best effort to maintain young physically.. I will tell my story next time.

My girl is tall and skinny. I guess she takes after me as I was also tall and skinny when I was her age. This is where the similarity stops. I was an introvert.. Hated sports, didn't like the sun. She is passionate about sports. Just this year, she told me that her teacher said she is the only one who participated the most sports event.. 100m running, shot put, high jump, school volleyball.. And now she added on badminton and basketball. I asked her.. Isn't that too much to handle.. How can you focus? She said quite innocently that she can focus when she is in the game. Now.. That wasn't what I meant. I explained that she has to do well and even master (if she can) one thing at a time and then only move on to the next. I guess she is too young to fully understand. I didn't stop her but let her try it on.

I have become very active physically in the last 3 to 4 years. In a way, I think she uses me as a benchmark... And she proudly tells her friends that her mummy is not thin but has muscles.. Hahaha!

Back to the part about being in the Selangor team. She is ambitious. I love that. It gives me the opportunity to push her a bit further. She knows the techniques but lacks the strength. She said she knows that and her teacher told her so. I told her I can train her if she wants... Even her friends 😉‼️ That's the incentive. I further guided her to motivate her teammates as it is all about teamwork. Be a leader who lets everyone in the team knows that they are just as important. It is not about individual glory. She told me then how she encouraged and motivated her friend today when her teacher scolded her friend for a wrong move. I praised her for that. She is on the right track. A good start! I'm happy but let's see after this.

What I noticed and I would like to share is that if you show that you excel in something and your child's interest ties to this something, it is easier to help your child understand and push further. This is simply because she can see it in you and use you as a benchmark.  My daughter talks to me about her sports and shares with me how well or not she does each time. Great bonding sessions!!

2013.. Fast forward to 2019

After 6 years.. It has been a really long time since I have last blogged. My kids are alot grown now... 2 of them teenagers now - 15 and 13 years old.. and my girl is 11 years. Life got carried away and I neglected my blogging. I was just Googling randomly and came across my very own blog. Thought why not start again since I have time. I am not working now.. between jobs actually.. so I guess I have time. Much to say so I will go slow. So Hi again to all 😊

My little girl will be going for a surgery

My little girl..and she is only 4 years old going on 5 this year will be going thru a minor surgery tomorrow to remove a cyst in the inside of her bottom lips. I seem to be in state of daze? Shock? Because I can't seem to come to terms with my baby going for surgery no matter how minor it is. I don't like the idea that she has to go thru general anesthetic so that she will go to sleep when the doc performs the surgery. I don't like that someone will insert a knife and cut a hole in her inner lips. I don't like to think that she has to have suture after that. And I will worry myself senseless while waiting for the lab to come back with the results of the cyst after removal. I worry and worry. And... What if she is allergic to it? What if she goes into a fright and clings to me before the surgery? What ifs what ifs. I guess I'm the one with a trauma. I'm scaring myself silly.

My little girl fell down hard on her face some months back. I didn't check if she hurt her lips of teeth as I saw no blood and she didn't cry much. Two months back, I accidentally saw some white specs in the inner lips and thought it was some rice or food and I wanted to wipe it off. It was then I discovered that it was something protruding out from the inner lips. My girl then said no pain. We took her to the paed and she told us to leave it alone and ignore it as it will go. Said it is a cyst due to blockage of saliva glens. Gave us some med to apply. I didn't go off. Took her to the dentist and she looked damn blur and gave some passing remark that 'perhaps we should remove it'. Took her to a normal GP, she asked me 'what is it? Never seen before'. Then the Daddy tried to apply some salt to 'help burst the cyst' and to some success it went down by half. Two weeks later, it came back and bigger. Got worried and immediately took her to Columbia Asia to see Doctor Cheok who referred us to an ENT specialist in the same hospital, Dr Megat. Nice and patient guy. He explained that it is cyst and it could be due to trauma or blockage of saliva glens or what else as it is hard to say but don't worry, it ain't anything dangerous.  Phew! But still, he recommended to remove it since it has been there for some months. Ermmm... In fact, I agree as it is already affecting Rachel as she kept biting on it accidentally and causing it to hurt. So, quickly we scheduled for tomorrow to perform this surgery.

Children this age must sleep thru the surgery. In fact, Ryan who has severe gastric and digestion problem and who is also seeing a specialist (sigh!!) was on standby to do a stomach scope and that doc also explained that kids have to go with general anesthetic as they can't keep still. Yep, I've been in and out of hospitals seeing specialist since Jan. So much so I asked a feng shui master to check what's wrong.

Rachel will also be given a local anesthetic on the cyst area so that it will help when she wakes up. And then after, she will go on antibiotic and pain killers while we watch for possible signs of infections. She will be in pain...arghhh!! So the doc told us to prepare ice creams as she can't hardly eat after. I also just bought her some toys to distract her when she wakes up after the surgery. She doesn't need to stay the night at the hospital, thank God!

Just yesterday, my friend told me that she will also be given the IV needle. Oh no! Sure Rachel will freak out! How to handle?! So, now you know... My trauma and my tension. Yes it is a minor procedure but face it, she is only a 4 year old!

Bracing myself! Luckily my husband will also be there. Coz I'm scaring myself silly with my imaginations and worries.


Joanne

Just testing ...

Yes, I know I said good night already ... But since  I'm holding an iPad, I just haaavvve to test if I can blog with my iPad. Now I know I can...with some limitations. Whee! That's all, folks. I'm sleeping now. Trow is work day... Monday, sigh!


Good nite!

The Wonders of Hazeline Snow .. even for my kids!

Why didn't I blogged about this? I have been using Hazeline Snow since I was a kid and I'm also putting my kids on it. I am a firm believer of Hazeline Snow and I'll tell you why.

Remember this ... long long time ago? 

Now, it looks like this. . But somehow, I like the old bottle better.

And I'm still using it. I prefer this yellow bottle version and not the green cap with whitening ingredients.

Cheap and good. And no! Unilever is NOT paying me to talk about it. I wish! I sorta heard that they may just discontinue the production but I really hope not. Anyway, I'm gonna stock up just in case.

Tried and tested. My brother went without it when he was growing (he didn't like it) and I was on it since I was 12 years old. My mum introduced Hazeline to me as she was also using it when SHE was young. The difference was I had flawless complexion and my brother had acne issues. I really used it everyday, every time after I wash my face... coz I stand the feeling of 'skin pulling' after I wash my face... erm... with normal bathing soup!! I like the oil free skin feel. Heehee! And did I mention, that I never use toner, facial cleaner and etc etc ... even now. The cosmetics promoters always gave me a horrified look whenever they tried to sell me toner, facial cleaner and the works, and I told them I have never used them at all. Just 1 mosturizer will do, Ha,ha! Partly also I'm just to lazy to fix on so many things. As I said, my latest is just good O Hazeline Snow. I love to put the bottle in the fridge (not the ice box!!) and it felt really good when I apply it on my face. Cooling!

Oops, I'm digressing... about my brother and I ... Of course, you can always say it  is because of different skin types. I still feel that since both my brother and I came from the same genes, it shouldn't be that much of a difference. Till today, at this age (I ain't telling) I'm still using it. Earlier, I was also firm believer of Estee Lauder for my skin care but of late, I have developed some allergies to some of its products. Could be the ingredients that they keep changing or just me and my hormones! So, I reverted back to Hazeline Snow, the yellow cap ones.

When I was a teen with raging hormones, even though I had most-of-the-time-flawless skin, I would occasionally be spotted with a big big pimple. It was those big and shiny and right on the nose type... and really reeaaaally painful type. Just one of it. What I used to do was to apply Hazeline Snow on it. Rubbed it in .. really massage it in... apply some more Hazeline... keep massaging it in.. apply some more until it forms a thick white powdery layer. I left the white layer on. Of course I only did this at night before I went to bed. The next day, voila!! The pimple was down by HALF the size and less red and swollen. Of course, I continued the application till the pimple was gone. Works every time!

Just last night, a mosquito got into the room and had a feast on my girl. She woke up in the middle of the night with 3 big bites on her face, 2 bites on her neck and 2 big bites on her hands. Yep, from only 1 very hungry mosquito which my hubby caught. Mosquitoes like my girl... heard it is those PH thing that my girl has and that mosquitoes like. The bites on her will normally swell and swell ... gets big time inflamed and very very itchy. She would scratch until her skin bleeds. Then of course, scars later.  So, what I did this time was the same thing. Took the yellow capped Hazeline Snow, scooped a big chunk and put it on all the bites. On each spot, I massaged in the Hazeline about 1 min. Then put some more and massage another minute and then add and repeated... for each bite. Then I left a thick layer on all the bites and left it to dry. Guess what!! The next day, the swell went down by half again. Towards afternoon, it was getting redder again (because we washed it off and forgot to apply it again earlier), I did the same application on her again. I kept doing this about 2-3 times today and I found them healing very quickly. In fact, the bites even stopped itching. And hopefully, no scars.

So, there you go! Try it. It works well for my family. 4 generations of us ... and I forgot to mention that my late grandma used to use it too, :)! I have started my kids already on Hazeline Snow since they were 4-5 years old. There are so many pollutants in the air nowadays that it is better to protect their skin earlier. And seriously, even the Unilever who produces this Hazeline Snow product may not even know the extent of its uses... protects the skin, heal pimples, heal bites, hahaha! Else how come never boast about it? I really hope they will keep this product on the shelves. Keep the price too! The biggest bottle is only less than RM11 (at NSK). If they are not, I'm gonna stock up!!!

Ok, I'm going to bed! Have a good week to all!
Nite, nite!


Joanne

It's time to enroll your kids in Primary again

I have been busy and forgetful. I received this notification from my boys' school to start enrolling kids born in 2007 and 2008 for primary schools. I kept forgetting to enroll for Rachel. How slack! When I just got down to it, I realized I need to check out some details - so postpone again. I will do it tomorrow!

Just so you know, the application for registering kids to Standard 1 is open for this month from 1 till 31 March. Expecting a crowd in school, better hurry. If you are unaware, log on to MOE website to check out the requirements. For Selangor, we do online first before we go to the school to submit docs and have the birth cert stamped.

The website is http://apps.moe.gov.my/eppsel/
This website is only for Selangor schools.

Fill up the online application and then print it out.
Bring this along to the school together with:
1.  Original and copy of the child's birth cert
2.  Parents' NRIC - original and copy
3.  Marriage Cert (or Divorce cert) - original and copy
4.   Proof of address with name of parents on it. Original and copy. Eg. electric bill, water bill, Land assessment, SPA
5.  A white envelope 4" x 9" with RM0.60 stamp affixed

Let's do this!!

Does Enopi/Eye Level work for my kids? Let's talk about this again.

Let's talk about Enopi, now known as Eye Level, again...

I knew I raved about its effectiveness a long while back when my boys were still young and in kindy. I'm  stillnot saying that it is not good but... yes, it has some 'Buts' now.

In my earlier post, I have quite a few comments from my readers about their opinion on Enopi and their recommendation of some other. Thanks so much :) !

Now that my boys are now older, I have to review some points here. At the start, Enopi for very young kids like 4 years and kindy has certainly helped them. My kids are still going there but Im having second thoughts for my eldest, Ryan now in Standard 3... and perhaps at later stage for Raymund who is now at Standard 1. Ryan is still practicing some additions and substractions but his school has gone much advance. The worse part is the method is not aligned to his school's. Children at this stage, if they can recognize that there are more ways to work out the Maths, it's good but I seriously think that it is expecting too much of them.

I'm planning to pull Ryan out of Enopi soon but Im leaving Rachel and Raymund there still. Enopi still gives them a good foundation. The practical skills in critical thinking and problem solving are also very useful and makes future comprehension of Maths easier. However, when the child moves to primary schools, there are obvious distinction in the teaching methods. I find my boys esp Ryan going on 2 different routes in learning Maths - in school and at Enopi. To say the least, Enopi is not helping with his everyday Maths needs for his school. And worse, I am beginning to notice that both his interest and performance in Maths is sliding. Is that what we want at this stage? Yes, if my child is super intelligent. At his point Ryan is really struggling. My experience when I was coaching his school work and Enopi is that the methods for each are trully not aligned and teachers in school are very adamant to use THEIR method. So, why stress my boy to learn 2 varying methods??

To point it out further, kids nowadays are already stress as it is with high level of difficulty in school (compared to my time really!) and time is not enough as it is. I for one have no intention of adding unnecessary stress to them.

Having said that, I am NOT degrading the importance of Enopi. Specifically for my kids, I feel that they have truly benefited at younger age and I'm still sending my youngest there to build her foundation. I still have no regrets over my decision to enroll them at Enopi at the younger age. But, I feel that I can put my older boy's time to better use and align it with his school's studies. Mathematics is a very important subject. At least, I'd want to reinforce his school studies instead of taking him to a different route. Moreover, he is still a banana going thru big challenges of a SJKC, both academically and emotionally.. sigh! That's another story.


Joanne

Hi! It's been a while!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

It's been a while since I last blogged. Much has happened. Now my kids are bigger. My youngest Mei Mei is already in Kindy Year 5, Raymund just started Standard 1 and Ryan now in Standard 3. This is getting more challenging for me with 2 primary school going kids. Can't imagine when my youngest goes to primary. I really don't know how I can split my time to coach them esp when I'm not a SAHM.

To be a SAHM is certainly a wish but it ain't gonna happen. But it's a nice wish to be SAHM plus of course, having a maid to help out :). Keep dreaming. In reality, it works alot better for my family to have dual income so as not to stress out any party and to have some stability.

Work has become more challenging as you climb the ladder. Of course, age is also not helping to ease as I don't have the never ending energy that I used to have. Gosh! Now I sound like an old hag. Kids are growing up and the needs are more demanding now. My husband and I have to keep thinking how to get the best for the family and the future. I make this sound very stressful. Is it? Not really but something everyone has to go thru. Is this what everyone call the start of mid life crisis, hahaha! Just blowing some steam here only :)

Contrary... I actually love to watch my kids growing up. How their characters are forming. Of course there are stress moments when we found something are not exactly going to the way we want it to. Then the challenge of trying to correct them. Life is not that tough. Our jobs no matter how challenging they are at work still allows us to have some quality family time. I have to say... our weekends are sacred!!! Strictly family time. I get very upset when it gets interrupted. Of course, it happens every now and then :(. Having a good boss is very important. A boss who believes that everyone must have work family balance... and not that we owe them our lives to work for them. We are so far pretty lucky in this regard.

This year, my husband and I are facing some new challenges. Raymund starting Primary.... Ryan to see if he can still take SJKC.. Rachel signs of some reluctance to go to kindy... Ryan some medical issues though not serious, ladiladila... Let's see. I'll slowly talk about them.


Joanne