Today marks the very last day of the 2 young ones being in BPMCK as school mates, and I am very glad I have the opportunity to send them to school together and savor this moment for one last time.
The boys cannot understand what I am feeling now, nor do they realisze what I do right now, but in time they will.
In the hustle and bustle of life, we all often forget, some more than others, each step is a cherished memory, and one passed, we can never get it back.
If I have to try to explain it to someone, I will point to the film Interstellar. The part where Matthew McConaughey, after coming back from a time dilated mission of a few hours in his time, finds out that he was actually gone for decades where he came from. he reviewed all the video logs he missed, which are also reminders all the moments and milestones he missed in his daughter's life. It was absolutely devastating emotionally to view that, and I will probably not muster up the emotional courage to view that part again, unless there is good reason to.
Today is the end of an era for1 part of my kid's life, and though a large part of me knows I will miss it, the rational part of me hopes that my children will continue to be well developed and stun us with their brilliance in whatever they do.
I love you both very much, boys.
Thursday, 14 November 2019
En wanted to subsidise his own reward
So I've talked about what what En and Hong Yu got for his performance- A 1/24 scale Max-D and a 1/24 Monster Mutt Dalmation monster truck respectively.
Prior to getting it, En had changed his mind many times as to what reward he wanted, but the one he was pretty firm on was the monster truck. When he 1st saw it in mid- late Sep 2019 at West Mall, he wanted it immediately. I told him it was expensive (at 30 bucks), and it was equivalent to 10 hotwheels cars in cost, but I can get it as a reward for him (or another big toy) for his performance, despite the cost.
Since then, he had been concerned as to whether I could afford it. He kept asking me as I brought him to school if I would get it for him as a reward, whether was it expensive,and whether I have the cash to buy it. He also asked how much was $30, to which I answer it is 30 1 dollar coins. I also kept answering I will get it on the day, right after his performance, in case he changes his mind.
So, somewhere in early October, there was an introduction program to BPMCK's cousin institution, Fairfield Methodist Pr. School to help them get a little taste about what primary school life is like. Part of the program involves teaching them to know how to buy food at the canteen, and how to pay and get change back. So some money was given to him for that, and obviously he had some cash leftover, in notes and coins, including $1 coins.
So, very soon, our dear boy, probably remembering what we have conversed and doing his mental calculations, again asked me if I have enough money for the reward, to which i said yes. Despite that, he probably decided to play it safe and make sure that I am able to afford it. He actually offered me his $1 coins in his possessions, and asked me to give him my low value coins... like 10cents and 20 cents... so something like "I'll give you this $1, you give me 10cents." I have tried to reject him many time, but each time he would just say "Never mind, just take!" followed by something like " Is it enough? How many $1 coins you have already"
Of course he didnt have so many coins to give me, so he tried to solicit coins from Ah Ma or Yu Ling whenever he could... like when one of them just finished paying for something and some change was given, he would try to get them to give him the coins, especially the $1 ones
This went on til the 2nd 1/2 of Oct, as we went for the China Shanghai trip. After that, he stopped giving me the coins, though he did not stop making sure that I will honor my commitment.
Prior to getting it, En had changed his mind many times as to what reward he wanted, but the one he was pretty firm on was the monster truck. When he 1st saw it in mid- late Sep 2019 at West Mall, he wanted it immediately. I told him it was expensive (at 30 bucks), and it was equivalent to 10 hotwheels cars in cost, but I can get it as a reward for him (or another big toy) for his performance, despite the cost.
Since then, he had been concerned as to whether I could afford it. He kept asking me as I brought him to school if I would get it for him as a reward, whether was it expensive,and whether I have the cash to buy it. He also asked how much was $30, to which I answer it is 30 1 dollar coins. I also kept answering I will get it on the day, right after his performance, in case he changes his mind.
So, somewhere in early October, there was an introduction program to BPMCK's cousin institution, Fairfield Methodist Pr. School to help them get a little taste about what primary school life is like. Part of the program involves teaching them to know how to buy food at the canteen, and how to pay and get change back. So some money was given to him for that, and obviously he had some cash leftover, in notes and coins, including $1 coins.
So, very soon, our dear boy, probably remembering what we have conversed and doing his mental calculations, again asked me if I have enough money for the reward, to which i said yes. Despite that, he probably decided to play it safe and make sure that I am able to afford it. He actually offered me his $1 coins in his possessions, and asked me to give him my low value coins... like 10cents and 20 cents... so something like "I'll give you this $1, you give me 10cents." I have tried to reject him many time, but each time he would just say "Never mind, just take!" followed by something like " Is it enough? How many $1 coins you have already"
Of course he didnt have so many coins to give me, so he tried to solicit coins from Ah Ma or Yu Ling whenever he could... like when one of them just finished paying for something and some change was given, he would try to get them to give him the coins, especially the $1 ones
This went on til the 2nd 1/2 of Oct, as we went for the China Shanghai trip. After that, he stopped giving me the coins, though he did not stop making sure that I will honor my commitment.
Tuesday, 12 November 2019
Very Sick Kids: Part Deux
This piece started some time in Jan 2016, N1 just started for En, but only continued in Nov 2019
Also known as: The consequences of going to school before immune systems are up to par.
Yeah, that is true, but in the case of Didi, his ailments came from 2 sources, the 1st of which was my wife. the other, presumably, would be from EnEn, who of course got his bugs from school.
I'll talk about Yu Ling, since chronologically her ailments came 1st (though diagnosed slightly later).
So into what was since the end end of the 1st week of Jan Jan Yu Ling had been complaining about pain on her body.... which was suspected to be simple muscle strain ... alongside some rashes.. which left her wondering what she ate to trigger what seems like Eczema. Long story short, it turned out to be Shingles.... which is caused by the Varicella virus (AKA the Chicken Pox virus), and afflicts people who already had Chicken Pox before. Diagnosis was made by her company doctor on the Wed, 13th Jan 16, and she was given 3 days MC.... with medicine to cover most aspects of her ailment.
This means: People of all ages who have have not acquired chicken pox or vaccinations against it are susceptible to it. People like.... Didi.
So this means no contact for Yu Ling and Didi at all. And for good measure, no contact with En as well, even though he is immune technically.
This means I've gotta step up and sleep with Didi at night, which had been credited with giving Yu ling tired nights, which led to a depressed immune system... which led to Shingles, while Yu Ling slept in the room but away from En.
En had started school on the 5th Jan 2016, and for a while things seemed to be ok, healthwise (the clingy aspect is for another post altogether). So he went to school as usual on the 11th Jan Monday, which is of course the 1st day of the 2nd week of school. At the school entrance. temp check: passed.
So school went by and he was back home. (This part on written 3 years, almost 4 years later, where the memories have somewhat faded, the events mentioned happened, but may be out of order chronologically, or seperate and similar events consolidated into one for better flow) later he was then having a mild fever, as well as coughs.... so he had his nap, and his temps shot right up after he woke up - this was what my mother had reported to me once i got home from work... and he wasn't able to sleep well.. because, worse than what happend before just a month ago, besides high fever, En started to show signs that he was finding it hard to breath with a clogged nose, and was positively wheezing (though it took a trip to the doctor's to know what it actually was). . In fact, it was so bad that he turned into a very pale shade. Anyhow, medication was administered (paracetemol) and we just hoped it would get better.
It did not. while trying to sleep at night, En would be constantly awakened due to difficulty in breathing, and I had to also wake up and coddle him every 1/2 - 1 hour. It was excruciating... not so because I wasnt able to sleep, but having to see your own child suffering so much at such a young age really breaks my heart
Next morning, we went to the clinic, and thankfully we got priority due to En's young age. if not for that, it easily would have been more than an hour's wait instead of just 15 mins. Anyway, we got in. After describing the symptoms to the doc, and his initial examination of En's lungs via stethoscope, the Doc ordered his clinic assistant to get the Nebuliser for us to use.
So the assisstant demonstrated it to me how it is used, and I sat down in the backroom of the clinic, holding on to En, while holding the mask onto his face. At first he resisted, but I kept telling him he will feel better after this. As I was sitting alone with En, and seehim his face behind the mask, I couldn't help but feel so sorry and heart broken at what our boy had to go through at such a young age. So once we were after a few minutes, we saw the doctor again and En was examined again. Apparently the nebuliser helped, and he was breathing much better! Much less wheezing! So the doctor carriedd on to give prescriptions and arranged for us to bring the nebuliser home to administer treatment. Once before sleeping, and once right after waking up.
Thankfully, with the nebuliser, he was able to sleep much better at night and gradually over the next few days, he got progressively better.
As dor Didi, unfortunately, at the tender age of less than one, (Age one would have been when he would be taking his MMRC shot(s)), he was exposed to the Chicken pox virus from Yu Ling. So, yes, he did contract chicken pox, but basically he took it like a champ. Although sometimes uncomfortable for him, he was mostly ok throughout. leading me to conclude, that his body constitution is generally way more robust than his elder brothers. (this is further confirmed over the last 3 years, as he would generally never have the same kind of severity of sickness as compared to his elder brother, except when he contracted HFMD at age 3 in June 2018.
Before he was properly diagnosed with HFMD, he had low grade fevers, and general malaise and loss of appetite... much to all our frustration because he wasn't eating much in the 1st place! He would also complain that he had pain in his mouth, which is basically a tell tale sign of spots and ulcers in his mouth. Interestingly, those ulcers probably were very well hidden because it was only after a few days before we saw them on the upper palate, and at the same time, some mild spots resembling insect bites had appeared on his arms and legs, though we managed to catch them right before they would have been spotted the next day in school.
So quietly took him to the doctor and it was officially diagnosed so. Interestingly, any suspected case of HFMD was treated with utmost urgency at the polyclinic. They pull out all the stops, and the hell with proper process( in my opinion, it so seemed... but it was the polyclinic following established pprotocol)! We were whisked to a special waiting area, the doctor came almost immediately to examine Didi, and once confirmed, we were told to wait where we were, isolated. The nurses will collect all our prescribed medication, and we were told, we could pay at a later time. In short: Get the hell out as soon as possible! As far as i was concerned, it was record time in and out of a polyclinic!
The school never knew about this, only that he had a few days of MC
Also known as: The consequences of going to school before immune systems are up to par.
Yeah, that is true, but in the case of Didi, his ailments came from 2 sources, the 1st of which was my wife. the other, presumably, would be from EnEn, who of course got his bugs from school.
I'll talk about Yu Ling, since chronologically her ailments came 1st (though diagnosed slightly later).
So into what was since the end end of the 1st week of Jan Jan Yu Ling had been complaining about pain on her body.... which was suspected to be simple muscle strain ... alongside some rashes.. which left her wondering what she ate to trigger what seems like Eczema. Long story short, it turned out to be Shingles.... which is caused by the Varicella virus (AKA the Chicken Pox virus), and afflicts people who already had Chicken Pox before. Diagnosis was made by her company doctor on the Wed, 13th Jan 16, and she was given 3 days MC.... with medicine to cover most aspects of her ailment.
This means: People of all ages who have have not acquired chicken pox or vaccinations against it are susceptible to it. People like.... Didi.
So this means no contact for Yu Ling and Didi at all. And for good measure, no contact with En as well, even though he is immune technically.
This means I've gotta step up and sleep with Didi at night, which had been credited with giving Yu ling tired nights, which led to a depressed immune system... which led to Shingles, while Yu Ling slept in the room but away from En.
En had started school on the 5th Jan 2016, and for a while things seemed to be ok, healthwise (the clingy aspect is for another post altogether). So he went to school as usual on the 11th Jan Monday, which is of course the 1st day of the 2nd week of school. At the school entrance. temp check: passed.
So school went by and he was back home. (This part on written 3 years, almost 4 years later, where the memories have somewhat faded, the events mentioned happened, but may be out of order chronologically, or seperate and similar events consolidated into one for better flow) later he was then having a mild fever, as well as coughs.... so he had his nap, and his temps shot right up after he woke up - this was what my mother had reported to me once i got home from work... and he wasn't able to sleep well.. because, worse than what happend before just a month ago, besides high fever, En started to show signs that he was finding it hard to breath with a clogged nose, and was positively wheezing (though it took a trip to the doctor's to know what it actually was). . In fact, it was so bad that he turned into a very pale shade. Anyhow, medication was administered (paracetemol) and we just hoped it would get better.
It did not. while trying to sleep at night, En would be constantly awakened due to difficulty in breathing, and I had to also wake up and coddle him every 1/2 - 1 hour. It was excruciating... not so because I wasnt able to sleep, but having to see your own child suffering so much at such a young age really breaks my heart
Next morning, we went to the clinic, and thankfully we got priority due to En's young age. if not for that, it easily would have been more than an hour's wait instead of just 15 mins. Anyway, we got in. After describing the symptoms to the doc, and his initial examination of En's lungs via stethoscope, the Doc ordered his clinic assistant to get the Nebuliser for us to use.
So the assisstant demonstrated it to me how it is used, and I sat down in the backroom of the clinic, holding on to En, while holding the mask onto his face. At first he resisted, but I kept telling him he will feel better after this. As I was sitting alone with En, and seehim his face behind the mask, I couldn't help but feel so sorry and heart broken at what our boy had to go through at such a young age. So once we were after a few minutes, we saw the doctor again and En was examined again. Apparently the nebuliser helped, and he was breathing much better! Much less wheezing! So the doctor carriedd on to give prescriptions and arranged for us to bring the nebuliser home to administer treatment. Once before sleeping, and once right after waking up.
Thankfully, with the nebuliser, he was able to sleep much better at night and gradually over the next few days, he got progressively better.
As dor Didi, unfortunately, at the tender age of less than one, (Age one would have been when he would be taking his MMRC shot(s)), he was exposed to the Chicken pox virus from Yu Ling. So, yes, he did contract chicken pox, but basically he took it like a champ. Although sometimes uncomfortable for him, he was mostly ok throughout. leading me to conclude, that his body constitution is generally way more robust than his elder brothers. (this is further confirmed over the last 3 years, as he would generally never have the same kind of severity of sickness as compared to his elder brother, except when he contracted HFMD at age 3 in June 2018.
Before he was properly diagnosed with HFMD, he had low grade fevers, and general malaise and loss of appetite... much to all our frustration because he wasn't eating much in the 1st place! He would also complain that he had pain in his mouth, which is basically a tell tale sign of spots and ulcers in his mouth. Interestingly, those ulcers probably were very well hidden because it was only after a few days before we saw them on the upper palate, and at the same time, some mild spots resembling insect bites had appeared on his arms and legs, though we managed to catch them right before they would have been spotted the next day in school.
So quietly took him to the doctor and it was officially diagnosed so. Interestingly, any suspected case of HFMD was treated with utmost urgency at the polyclinic. They pull out all the stops, and the hell with proper process( in my opinion, it so seemed... but it was the polyclinic following established pprotocol)! We were whisked to a special waiting area, the doctor came almost immediately to examine Didi, and once confirmed, we were told to wait where we were, isolated. The nurses will collect all our prescribed medication, and we were told, we could pay at a later time. In short: Get the hell out as soon as possible! As far as i was concerned, it was record time in and out of a polyclinic!
The school never knew about this, only that he had a few days of MC
Sunday, 10 November 2019
Kindergarten End-of-year Concert and K2 Graduation
The 4-year long journey of Hong En in BPMCK is comingto an end... While Hong Yu will continue there for another 2 years til his graduation, I will miss bringing both of them to school together very much. Perhaps it is the thought of them growing up too fast, but I find myself wishing this very last week of school for 2019 would not end so fast.
Hong En has seen tremendous growth in the last 4 years... he was still very much a crybaby during the N1, and had to take weeks to settle into the new norm that was Nursery.... over the last 3 and a 1/2 years, I have never felt so wistful about the school year coming to an end.
After the end of this week, the next time I bring any of them to school will be so different. The younger one will not have his older brother with him in school, and the bigger one will have to wait for 2 years before they can go to school together again. How I wish the end of the week doesn't come so quickly. However, time stops for no one, and I will make the best of the remainder of this week, and make the last few days of bringing them to school count.
Along with Yuling, I am incredibly proud of the 2 of them. Hong En, despite having never been chosen to represent his class in any form of speech for all the 4 years, had been chosen by his Mandarin teacher to be the Mandarin valedictorian. It is a very long speech and preperations had started in July to get him to commit the whole speech into memory. He performed a flawless recital of the speech, all while my heart was pumping with such vigor that I was acutely aware that my blood pressure was probably off the scales for that duration. I was worried (unfounded, as it turns out, but one can't be sure until things have finished) the speech would get messed up for any reason, undoing months of preperation. A few days later at the PTC, both his teacjers in class gave him glowing reviews as a student and the Mandarin teacher especially praised him to be a pillar of his class, and expressed pride that she had chosen the right representative, and rarely, a make, to be the valedictorian. Like I said: We couldn't be prouder as parents.
For the younger one, he was also chosen to introduce his class for the concert item, though his was very much shorter. From what I understand from his teachers, he basically committed the speech to memory in almost no time, and was able to recite it with confidence and accuracy, so much so that the other representative, his partner, Victoria, was seeming lost when he was not around. According to his teachers, he is knowlegeable beyong his level and has shown an aptitude to learn things very quickly. Same here: We couldn't be prouder a parents.
Today, both their rewards for their efforts will arrive in the form of Monster Jam 1:24 trucks. These rewards are absolutely well deserved, and I know they will enjoy them.
Even though they did very well, that isn't the main thing really, instead, they have shown that they have tried their best, and that is worth celebrating more than the results. Like I said: I couldn't be prouder of them.
Hong En has seen tremendous growth in the last 4 years... he was still very much a crybaby during the N1, and had to take weeks to settle into the new norm that was Nursery.... over the last 3 and a 1/2 years, I have never felt so wistful about the school year coming to an end.
After the end of this week, the next time I bring any of them to school will be so different. The younger one will not have his older brother with him in school, and the bigger one will have to wait for 2 years before they can go to school together again. How I wish the end of the week doesn't come so quickly. However, time stops for no one, and I will make the best of the remainder of this week, and make the last few days of bringing them to school count.
Along with Yuling, I am incredibly proud of the 2 of them. Hong En, despite having never been chosen to represent his class in any form of speech for all the 4 years, had been chosen by his Mandarin teacher to be the Mandarin valedictorian. It is a very long speech and preperations had started in July to get him to commit the whole speech into memory. He performed a flawless recital of the speech, all while my heart was pumping with such vigor that I was acutely aware that my blood pressure was probably off the scales for that duration. I was worried (unfounded, as it turns out, but one can't be sure until things have finished) the speech would get messed up for any reason, undoing months of preperation. A few days later at the PTC, both his teacjers in class gave him glowing reviews as a student and the Mandarin teacher especially praised him to be a pillar of his class, and expressed pride that she had chosen the right representative, and rarely, a make, to be the valedictorian. Like I said: We couldn't be prouder as parents.
For the younger one, he was also chosen to introduce his class for the concert item, though his was very much shorter. From what I understand from his teachers, he basically committed the speech to memory in almost no time, and was able to recite it with confidence and accuracy, so much so that the other representative, his partner, Victoria, was seeming lost when he was not around. According to his teachers, he is knowlegeable beyong his level and has shown an aptitude to learn things very quickly. Same here: We couldn't be prouder a parents.
Today, both their rewards for their efforts will arrive in the form of Monster Jam 1:24 trucks. These rewards are absolutely well deserved, and I know they will enjoy them.
Even though they did very well, that isn't the main thing really, instead, they have shown that they have tried their best, and that is worth celebrating more than the results. Like I said: I couldn't be prouder of them.
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