Vroom vroom

At the end of the video, M tries to work the bicycle like a bike.

One year older and hopfully happier

The day didn’t start off well. It is another of those frustrating issues that I have to deal with. I won’t be surprise if this will be another unhappy happy birthday. Things are made worse when I realized at last min that there is no lunch and Macdonald’s delivery will take 90mins! (a hungry woman is an angry woman) While on the phone, cancelling my order, at the corner of my eyes, I saw K marching into the room with the 2 boys.

J presented to me a card while M was holding onto a little pink box (I think, too consumed by anger at that point). When I opened up the card, tears well up in my eyes. The message on it is the best present that I could ever asked for. I am even more touched because K picked up the card and I guess that represent how he felt towards me as the mother of his children. J innocently asked why I am crying. How do you explain "tears of joy" to a little child? I can only give him a hug and smile. As for that pink box, I already knew what it contains because I specifically requested for a MP3 player. I can use it to listen to music and block out all the noise while at work (esp if I am rushing a deadline and the kids are making a din); I can also use it to listen to my favorite songs at night aft J goes to bed (another of my "me" time). I am thankful that K took the time to find one that has USB and radio functions.

Throughout the day, greetings from friends came in via email, sms, IM and FB. All these help to block out the issues I am facing. I hope I can write of my next birthday in a more upbeat tone.

M's definition of jumping and dancing

Life of a WFM mum

When I tell people that I work-from-home (WFM), the most common reaction is one of envy. Yes, it is a wonderful privilege. However, it does come with a cost especially if you are a WFM mum as well.

When you are a WFM mum, you are actually playing 2 roles concurrently, both a worker and a mother. Apart from having to deal with deadlines, you also have to deal with the tantrums of your kids. And when both of it coincides at the same time, it can be quite frustrating.

As a mother, it is not possible to totally ignore the on-going of your child and look yourself in the home office to focus on work. When the child cries, you will worry. When you hear your child’s laughter, you would want to find out what is amusing him.

When you WFH, you tend to work beyond the 9-5 because it is so easy to access the computer. Thus it all comes down to 2 things – time management and discipline.

It has been 3 yrs that I have WFH. At times of frustration, I wish I have an office that I can “escape” to. I wish I have a decent lunch break so that I can have some “me” time. I wish I have colleagues that I can buddy with. I wish I have a few hours of child-free=noise free environment because it can be quite tiring that after fighting a “war” in your work, you have to being another “battle” with your child. My dear friend, E tells me that before she opens the door to her home after, she will take a deep breath. After that, she would say in her cheeriest voice “Children, Mummy is home!” Ding ding, round 2 begins.

Having said that, Mothers are like energizer rabbit. We go on and on and on……simply because our kids who drain us out, also recharges us just as fast. Despite the challenges I face having to be a WFH mum, I am still thankful for this privilege as I am there for every of my kids’ milestone, every fall, every tear, every laughter. As for "me" time, I can always count on lunch with my ex-colleagues from Intel; otherwise, I can always turn to blogging, right?

You don't say I don't love you ahh

I really enjoy the chats I have with J before bedtime. We would both lie down on the mattress and just talk about anything under the sun. (or should I say moon?)

J: I love you, Mum. (J no longer calls me Mummy but the short form of Mum)
Mum: Huh? You don't love me ahh? (teasing)
J: No, you don't say I don't love you ahh! You cannot say. I say I love you ahh. I love you, Mum.

We are going to the beach

The last time we went to the beach was on 5 Jul 08. How time flies. M was only 3 months old and could only sit in his pram and soak in all the activities.

J was very excited the night before when we told him we will go to the beach tomorrow. When we woke up, to our dismay, it was cloudy. A quick check shows that it is raining at the eastern part of the island. We decide to call off the outing but I had 2nd thoughts when I see J prancing around the house; holding his beach bucket, singing "We are going to the beach!".

We decide to try our luck and on the way, the sky begin to lighten up. When we reach the beach, it was after the downpour so it was nice and breezy. I am glad we took the risk.

After breakfast at Burger King, we rented 2 bikes; one for J and the other for an adult to cycle M around. After cycling for a while, J feels that he still prefer to play on the beach than cycle thus we found a shady spot and he started digging away. Whereas for M, he refuse to put his feet down on the sand thus my helper took him on the bicycle and cycle round the park. They cycled past me a few times and every time, M was all relaxed and enjoying it. Tired of cycling, my helper took M back to the beach and try to coax him into sitting down but he would curl up whenever his feet touches the sandy beach thus we had to put his shoes on and finally he co-operated.

At about 1pm, we cleaned up, returned the bikes and headed for lunch. However, J was so tired that he fell asleep on my lap while waiting for the food to be served. He only woke up after we are done eating because we had to transfer him into his car seat. M on the other hand, was just glad that he don't have to eat his salt-free porridge today!

Overall, it was an enjoyable day especially seeing J looking all grown up cycling on a public cycling track.