my lil'Chomel

Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone!!
This year Jon gets to know the meaning of Gong Xi Fa Cai a bit more. At least he knows it’s a time of celebration and honouring the elders by visiting his grand-uncle, grand-aunties, aunties and uncles.
For me personally, it’s a time of:
-family reunions – my grandma has about a dozen kids.. imagine all her kids and her grand-children in the house at the same time. Not a second of silence!
-remembering my late father and the elders (whom are still living)
-paying respect to the loved ones whom has passed on
-knowing and practicing the Chinese culture – we will pray and wait for the God of Wealth at the stroke of midnight on new year’s eve. I don’t think it is very true but its fun nevertheless
-forgiving
-colours – no black coloured clothes was a all-year rule in my late father’s household
-lights – have you heard the firecrackers?
-Feast – my grandma and aunt will cook up a feast… all my favourite food
-Getting rich – getting angpows for the kids. I have to give out angpows now 
-Catching up and hanging out with old friends.. everyone has to come back during this festive season

mmm… and much more which I hope that Jon would be able to experience. This year, it is also a time of reflection for me when I called my grandma… I’m not home to celebrate the new year with her this year. I was kinda worried about her but hearing her enthusiastic voice has assured me that she is still very positive about life. Her old age and osteoarthritis have caused her to be not so mobile but she still try to clean and cook. Over the phone, she was telling me “Come back tomorrow! Your aunts will be here for the 2nd day gathering. Another aunt from overseas will be arriving too. Come come”. I found it so hard to tell her that it is quite impossible to go back at the very last minute especially when I did not make any plans to. Talking to her makes me remember my dad (my dad was her favourite son-in-law) and her yummy nyonya food. She makes delicious perut ikan, curry chicken (that will make your cholesterol level shoot up..hahaha), salted vegetable soup and lots more.

Reflection is a good thing… its like a compass telling you where you are and whether you are going the right direction. Reflection is also telling who you are - history, culture, background.

My wish for next year: to really prepare for the new year, to allow Jon experience the culture as much as he can and to celebrate with my family.

It has been raining a lot these few days... and today, the rain came as promised. The sky is gloomy..so monday blues becomes... what is worse than monday. I'm attending a training for 2 days. So, a break from the daily operations... whew.

Hubby is on leave, so Jon stayed at home. I thought, ok la.. Hubby will see to Jon's needs today. Late afternoon got a call (I'm still in the middle of the traning) asking me to buy some mosquito repellent. Erm... its raining, I'll be carrying my laptop and it will be jam.

Then when I get home, the clothes are still outside (sigh, I thought it will get dry by lunch time). Hubby asked me to bathe Jon. Ok lor... but I need to stretch my leg.

After awhile, Hubby asked Jon to go up and bathe.... so that gives me a bit of time to blog this rant.

I am tired.....

It started when Jon was young and always comes home cranky. He didn't talk much. So, its more of we ask questions and he nod in agreement. Maybe we would be able to get a word or two from him if we ask more questions. That was a period of time he got bullied in school and day care. Maybe they were playing and boys tend to get rough most of the time. But not little Jon. As a result of too much baby-ing, he gets pushed, poked, kicked a lot.

We tried to think of ways to advocate self-defence. But Jon still refuses to fight. (Dear readers, think of karate or taekwondo, ya). OK. We teach him the soft approach. Reprimand his friends to not to push him or report to the principle. He didn't report at first. I did! The principal waited for a quiet moment with him and asked him about an incident where he got pushed real hard by a bigger boy.

It was partially my fault for checking on him everyday. Just to make sure that he is not bullied. But now, he will complain about almost everything. There will be someone who poked him, pushed him... hehehe... he even complained to the doctor that I pushed him. I didn't do it intentionally. It happened when we were playing and boys can be quite rough...even for a big lady like me....kakakaka.

So now, we have some damage control to do. Hopefully he will grow out of this whinny stage!

Today is a real emotion wreaking day.

Watched Grey's Anatomy... with Izzie dying but it was the little girl that died that killed me. Every since I had Jon, looking at a child being sick or in pain really .....aahh. Every mother would feel the same.

I will always say this - it takes a death of a person dear to you to really know how it feels but I wish that no one has to go through that.

So happen a blogger friend of mind blogged about this strong lady... read more here http://pausetoreflect.blogspot.com/. Thanks Mrs H.

Ah... life is short. A reminder to self.

Jon will be turning 4 soon and he is driving me up the wall sometimes. Do they have a name/ term for this. Oh ya, every time he is reprimanded or scolded at, he will cry. Oh course this get mummy's blood boiling even more..if I am the one scolding. But if daddy is the one scolding, mummy will come to the rescue. Ah... a brat in the making. I am forewarned. Spoil the child, I have to deal with it after that. Some of his unbecoming behaviour lately:

Behaviour No 1: Crying tactic.
We always try to tell him that good boys do this, naughty boys do that. (he knows the difference). And when he does something wrong knowingly...
Mummy/ Daddy: Are you a naughty boy?
Jon: Me?
M/D: Yes
Jon: cry..... (he knows that he is being naughty)
Alamak....crying tactic.

Behaviour No 2: Jalan saja. Don't care.
Nowadays, he will just walk away when he feels like it. Last weekend we were at the shopping mall. He was with me in a store looking at some clothes and the suddenly he just ran out to look for his dad! My mom and I chased after him and he thought we were playing running and chasing with him! So, he ran even faster.

Then we went to another store, daddy is outside not wanting to participate. Guess what? Jon ran out of the store again and this time I was in the changing room. I can't chase after him as I was trying on a pair of pants and at the same time I lost sight of him. So, there I was like a mad woman shouting out to him.

I just can't think of what might happen to him. There were so many people... seriously I think I need to put a child leash on him. He chose to join me in the store but I guess half way through he didn't like it and ran out to look for his dad. Next time for sure, either he go with his dad or he will be on the leash!

I can read some of his behaviours. At this age, he is easily bored, needs a lot of attention, inquisitive (therefore easily bored), adventurous (trying all sort of stunts) and etc. Therefore, back to my previous post.

Seems like I've been trying (maybe not that hard) to catch up with a lot of things. But have been thinking hard and long about it.. does that count? NO!!!!

Been trying to catch up with
blog posts - oh yeah, check out how often I'm blogging lately,
work - something I'm paid to do...so no complains here,
exercise (which is still wishful thinking but I know where to get my yoga fix nearby...yay yay),
house chores - thank you hubby for cutting me some slack here,
family - do I have a choice?!?,
and most importantly, Jon my darling, whom is growing up very quickly and requires a lot of attention.

Keep a look out for the changes...jeng jeng jeng

Read in a health magazine about how a little bit of me time would make you stay healthy... in the head I think. I've been terribly busy adjusting with new a new job (same company tho) and recently I've been asked to help out with my previous assignment, which I don't mind at all. All this will amount to even busier schedule. Wish I have 2 brains, 4 hands and 4 eyes without having to look like an alien. At the same time, thank God I've been surrounded with a competent team.

So I normally de-stress by ..... calling friends when I am driving back. It takes me about 30-40 mins to get home and it is always fun to catch up with friends, dun cha think?

So what is the different from de-stressing and "me time"? (this is my definitions ya... you may define it according to your environment/situation)
De-stress: to allow yourself to unload from your work/stress/thought/problems of the day and your mind will be in a relax state when you get home.
"Me time": a time allocated to allow you to ponder, to do self reflection and to be aware of your surroundings. As a result, to feel refreshed, confident and comfortable about yourself. Think positive vibes.

I don't think that I would be able to allocate me time everyday but would work towards at least being able to do it few times a week. Always remember, life is short. Wah... sounds so deep eh. Anyone has other ideas?

My colleague was such a sweetie (and always is one) when she bought Jon a kangaroo soft toy during her recent visit to Australia. It is such a softy. When I brought it home, Jon was having fever and we decided to bring him to the doc. But he manage to play with it on the way to the clinic.