Is there such thing as work life balance in today's world especially amongst us Asians? Or we are just spoilt with having maids/domestic helpers around and we are totally dependent on them?
i have just got off another evening meeting with my virtual team in the North America and Budapest and hubby is still in his virtual meeting next door. Arif had fallen asleep while i was on the phone and Aydin is temporarily sleeping in the maid's room. What has just happened? We have been away at work the whole day and we are still working in the evening? Poor kids... i think i spent less than a solid 1 hour with the kids especially Aydin. I really pity him though i am quite surprise at how easy it was for him to fall asleep at 10pm compared to his usual 12midnight with his Ayah in his own room. Is it because we know the maid will take care of things while we are busy working? How can we take the kids for granted? I am ashame of myself but how can i change things? This is my job requirement but it is up to me to balance my own life. I feel so guilty but i guess i need to sit down and evaluate things again before it gets worse. I really want to spend more time with the kids but i know i keep taking them for granted especially now that i have a maid around. Will make a mental note to request for an unofficial 1 day time off to spend time with the kids. Maybe take Aydin to watch Wall-E? Is he ready to watch movies at the cinema?
Too many unanswered questions for today unlike the usual blog ;)
Alot of interesting events have been happening lately. Some affects the world, some the country and some just small entities like you & me. I have been quite bad in keeping up to date with the wcountry let alone the world. Most of the time i will just pretend as if i know EVERYTHING where most of the things came from hubby's mouth *chuckles*. I wonder how other Supermoms keep themselves updated with the world news...
Let's begin with the Olympic in Beijing (though it has already ended). I knew it has ended because i saw the re-run of the closing ceremony ;) The only thing we, Malaysian can be proud of is the Silver Medal from LCW. But i have another thing that i am proud of and it was not broadcasted anywhere in the world except my world and yes, it has something to do with the Olympics: Aydin learnt how to run the 100m dash LoL. It happened when we were trying to change the channel from Disney to the Olympic channel and see if Usain Bolt will break the world record in 100m race. So while waiting there were broadcasting some other races on the track. I told Aydin to check out the race and taught him how to start a race: On your mark -- Get set -- Go! and i told him to run and run and run (trying to make it interesting). The aftermath is everytime he sees a race on TV he will say, "on mark -- het het (get set) -- go!" and he will run and run around the house. I hope he gets my sprinting gene :)
Next would be the by-election in Permatang Pauh. As it has officially been announced that Anwar Ibrahim won the Parliamentary seat with the majority of 17,000 votes (this i read from the newspaper :p), i am anticipating colorful "events" and news to come. I am not pro-PKR or pro-government, i am more as they call it "pengundi atas pagar" due to some of my personal beliefs. NO! I am not here to talk about political issues but i was just wondering what does this Anwar thing got to do with the traffic jams since the weekend? I was stucked in the traffic for almost 2 hours in the morning on my way to the office and NO i did not leave the house during the peak period. I left the house after 9a.m and it was massive. To add salt to my wound, i was stuck again in a terrible pouring rain traffic jam on my way home pulak... another 2 hours it was. Hubby told me it's going to get worse tomorrow because of Anwar again like... why? What has it got to do with traffic??? Or is it because the petrol price has gone down to RM2.55/L everyone is starting to drive their cars out?
Let's start on another more interesting topic besides politics. Let's talk about another cause and effect or should i rename it to COST and EFFECT? Let's talk about S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G lagi best. I have been in a shopping mood lately. Baru je plan nak reduce debts and here i go again spending like nobody's business. Alot of damages lately on shopping *grin*. Bought myself stuff from Crabtree & Evelyn because they were on Promo (good excuse to buy). Shampoo & Conditioner because buy shampoo, get conditioner free. I needed a new shampoo anyway and this does not have SLS; Nightcream + eye gel (day) + eye cream (night). Have been looking for a good bargain for night regime. It cost me less than RM200 for the whole set... ok la kan? The latest damage done was at the Batik & Songket exhibition @Karyaneka. This is the con of working nearby interesting places. Bought 2 pewter brooches for Baju Kurung at a very reasonable price after negotiation and a nice cotton B&W Batik shirt for Hubby (belated birthday present konon). Came back, hubby tried the shirt and it was a little too tight for him. It is either he has put on weight or the shirt was not the standard size LoL. Anyway, went back to the store to exchange the shirt but end up buying more! and this time for myself!! I am into white base baju kurungs and after a good bargaining session, i bought a nice chiffon batik baju kurung (white base and dark green motives top) with matching green kain. Not only that, i also bought a nice red batik top! The price tagged on the baju kurung itself was close to RM400 but got everything (baju kurung + blouse) in less than RM300. Still... i do not think it was a good excuse to spend and nothing for hubby. I am planning to check out the sale at L'Occitaine pulak on Friday. I am becoming very vain or what? Where does all my shopping guilt went? Gone with the wind huhuhu...
So, that's it. I shall try to stay away from shopping for the next.... few days? LoL with Ramadhan and Eid Mubarak coming along. How can i stay cheap? I am also trying to order a matching baju melayus for the kids and hopefully they have enough cloth for the mum jugak. Check out the banner on the right hand side of this blog. They sell cute mini baju melayu and mini kurungs as well. I doubt they take orders anymore but do check it out for other deals (i get extra points for referrals from here hik-hik!).
Anyway... Happy Ramadhan everybody! May this Ramadhan cleanse away our dirty soul (betul ke i cakap ni?) *wink* you get what i mean...
I am actually in a netmeeting for some training with the Budapest and North America fo
lks. I am just tired and not up to it. Later, there will be an announcement on the Permatang Pauh by-election. I am quite nervous actually. The country's future depends on it really. One good thing i like about this election is the fuel price was reduced by 0.15sen before the promised 1 Sept. Well, not much but it is better than nothing. I am just grateful in any way.Things were quite hectic in EMIT for the past 2 weeks. We had "House" decoration competition. When i say "House" it is also known as "Rumah Sukan" like the ole school days. I am in Rumah Ungu or Purple House and i also the vice captain for Pu
rple House. It was a very competitive event where all houses (purple, orange, blue, yellow, green, red) were trying to outdo each other. We had all 7 EMIT floors decorated in all 6 colours especially on individual cubicles. Purple went with Barney, some obvious purple character. I thought of suggesting Dibo the purple gift dragon but it is not as significant as Barney ;) or i'd have to sing "Hello hello my name's Dibo. Here is something that you should know..." LoL.After the whole decoration hype has ended, we had EMIT Olympics on Saturday. It was so much fun playing all the typical family day games under the sun i.e: gunny sack
race, captain ball, tug-of-war, beanie putt etc. Purple house won the over-all olympics, yeay! I ended up with a not-so-beautiful tanned face.Friday 22 Aug was hubby's birthday. We didn't get to do anything much except for a nice family dinner at JM Bariani, Bangi. Made Aydin write his name on the birthday card and we had a small birthday choc fudge cake to share.
Kids: The kids are growing well. Aydin has increased his vocabulary usage. "Ta-ya
aa!" (ta-daa!), "Tyre" (with the slang), "wait", "na-nak" (tak nak) etc. Sometimes it's cute but sometimes it is getting a bit annoying hehehe... like ta-yaaa for every single stunt he did.Arif is trying to move forward and backward, on his tummy and also on his back. He does the backstroke faster than the "frontstroke". I like it when he cries for feeding and he knows that i am around. He will do this "mmm" sound as if calling "mummy" in his manja way. He is going to start his solid soon and i can't wait to introduce him to his first rice cereal. I have bought the organic sarawak rice from susuibu.com store just waiting for the right time to cook and feed Arif.
Ramadhan starts next week. I have been trying to store enough EBM (expressed breastmilk) for Arif hoping that milk production will not deplete due to fasting. I am trying to stock up in case he feeds more and i am not producing enough. I hope by introducing solid would help in this process.
Aydin never fail to amuse me almost everyday. Aydin slept in the car on the way home from Aunty Ani's house. He didn't take his usual afternoon nap and i was not surprise that he fell asleep in the car. Well, as soon as we reached home Ayah straight away carried him into his room carefully trying not to wake him. We succeeded for the first 30 mins then we heard Aydin calling "Ayah!". Some wishful thinking hah!
Anyway, the moment he came through the door and saw mummy trying to put Arif to sleep, Aydin cried for mummy's attention. Dang! Mummy pitied Aydin so the moment Arif fell into deep sleep, i went into Aydin's room trying to comfort him. 15 mins went by and 30 mins and Aydin is still not sleeping! Then he was scratching his head and said , "Ammi.. sakit hair". And i was like... "What?" (dalam hati la...) and i giggled while trying to scratch his head. I seriously do not know if he meant he was having a headache or he had itchy head LoL.
Aydin has been eye-ing for a bicycle. He had always wanted to go to the neighbours' because there are bicycles there. Today, i brought him to the playground to play on the slides and meet up some friends his age. There were a few bicycles there and he got excited. He saw an older boy on a bicycle and he tried chasing the boy. Poor Aydin was running all his might and the boy kept on cycling faster and faster. Aydin was trying to catch him and called out "Abang! Abang!" but the boy did not stop but instead he cycled faster and further and further away. Being a "Mak Rimau" as some calls me, i was trying not to be defensive and blame the boy but it breaks my heart to see Aydin trying to make friends and chase the bicycle. I think this is how mothers feel when they find out that their kid was being bullied. It was no big deal really but i just can't help but pity Aydin. Why can't the boy just stop and play with him for a while instead of making him run and chase him all around the playground? Sigh... "Mak Rimau" is upset.
Note to self: Will get Aydin a bicycle soon..
I can't help it but to blog this memorable day of my life. It's 30mins to midnight and i have to wake up early in order to reach the office before 8a.m to attend the BPR session. Shite! I bet i will fall asleep in this session.
Anyway, i came back early today because i need to attend a meeting in the evening. Hubby came back early as well and we took the kids to the neighbourhood playground. Arif enjoyed the walk because it was breezy and Aydin obviously enjoyed the playground itself! Aydin wanted to make some friends with some kids his age at the playground. He was attracted to this boy on a bicycle. He approached the boy wanting to play with the bicycle too. Aydin has been interested in a bicycle for quite some time. I think we need to get him one. So the boy sat on his bike while Aydin was pushing the bike froom the back. After a few rounds, they ended smashing onto the swing pole. The boy fell and Aydin looked guilty. He showed sympathy and went to the boy asking, "u ok?". I taught him this everytime he make his trucks and cars fall. Then to my amaze the next question was, "Are you alright?" No kidding! I am sure i heard Aydin said this. Hubby was surprise too but he said Aydin was probably mumbling something else that sounded like it. I was so sure i heard it right, Aydin was saying a full sentence with the slang and fluently. No joke! It's like a dream come true. I mean we have been waiting for him to talk properly meaning sentences that adult can understand and there he was asking the boy if he was alright? I was the proudest mother of all in the whole universe!!
Let's wait and see what's next from Aydin. I am sooo excited :)
sign-off: the proudest mother in the world!
First of all, to celebrate the World Breastfeeding Week/Month 2008 i would like to honor all breastfeeding mothers for their hardwork, courage and determination to give the world's best food to their babies. All breastfeeding mothers should get a week off from their daily routine and relax... but how can we relax when we know that we still need to fulfill our responsibility as breastfeeding mothers? :) Poor bubs without the familiar smell of mommies boobies for the whole week is like ... a whole week of smokers without their ciggies?
Being a fulltime breastfeeding mum be it direct feeding or expressing at work is definitely a hardwork. It requires alot of determination and patience to meet the high demand of our babies. Who says being a mum especially an exclusive breastfeeding mum is easy? My first experience as an exclusive "Boob Mummy" was horror. I was a first time mother without a maid, working in an office which has no place to discreetly express your milk and had no hubby by my side towards the 2nd half of the experience because he was outstationed. Suck eh but that was my life.
Now with Arif, life is much easier. I have more experience and knowledge, i also have a maid to help me around, the office now has a mother's room and hubby is always around *smile*. I am also comfortable in helping and supporting other breastfeeding mothers around me. I share and give them moral support whenever needed. It makes me happy to hear and know that other mothers are also breastfeeding exclusively.
Current challenge: Arif turned 5-month old over the weekend. He is feeding more and i am expressing less. I guess this is natural, baby feeds more as they grow older and mother expresses less as they lose the momentum. Arif was waking up almost every 45-mins at night over the weekend. I was down with fever due to fatigue and tiredness. Well atleast it took me 5 months of sleepness nights before i fell sick *wink*. My patience and sanity was thinning. Hubby came to the rescue and helped me out that night. He woke up at every feeding to put Arif next to me. All i needed to do was to lift my shirt and shove the boobies :D Hubby took Arif away in the morning and let me sleep in for a while. It took me 2 days to fully recover and i am all up and perky again. My mission now is to increase my milk supply from 18-20 oz. to atleast 22-25oz daily. I have consulted Kamariah from susuibu.com and she has advised for me to hold on a little longer before giving solids to Arif. It has greater benefit if i can continue breasfeeding Arif until he is 6-month old. The option i had was either to start Arif on solid or to express more so i opted to express more. I am now trying on Pil Asi and biji Halba. Hope this works. I am on maximum expressing mode!