End of year check-list...

Schools - checked.

Hanna's going to S*i A*an next year. She didn't get any offer to go to boarding school. We wanted to appeal, but, Hanna said she was happy that she didn't get the offer. So, after much thought, Ayah and I decided that we would just accept it as a blessing in disguise. We didn't want to force her into anything. There must be a reason for her not getting the offer. Insya Allah, ada rezqi, maybe after her PMR?

While Hasya and Hilman will continue at SS* - great school.

School books - checked.

As everybody's getting Buku Pinjaman next year (textbooks AND activity books), we only needed to get exercise books for the kids. I gave a mandate to Hanna to make sure she and her adek-adek write their names nicely on the covers and that all books are wrapped while I went to the office this afternoon. I came back just before 6:00pm, and everything was nicely wrapped and arranged in their schoolbags.

Stationeries - checked.

School bags - checked.

Hanna and Hasya are using their old ones. Hilman's old bag does not look like a bag anymore, so, he's using the Spiderman bag which he got for his birthday in September. Hasya's pink Disney Princess roller bag which Daryati washed this morning looks brand new. Hanna's Billabong is still good, and we're not getting her a new one (even though she has been hinting for a "spare" bag, just in case. Yeah, right...)

School uniforms - semi-checked.

We got the uniforms for Hanna and Hilman three days ago, but, we had to send Hilman's trousers to Khatijah, our tailor at Pasar Taman Tun. We had no choice but to buy size 9-10 for Hilman because his waist could only fit in those, and of course they're quite long for him. So, off they went to Khatijah to be altered. (FYI - it's a yearly affair for us when it comes to Hilman's trousers!). They will only be ready on Monday. And I have personally sewn their school badges on their shirts and baju kurungs yesterday - my only personal touch to their school stuff every year...:D

As for Hasya, we collected her uniform from the school this morning. They're tailor-made for her as she's going to be a school prefect next year. Ayah and I can just imagine how strict and bossy she's going to be. Gila kuasa...Hahaha!

School shoes - checked.

Haircut - pending.

Ayah's bringing Hilman to the barber on Sunday. Hasya is pretty adamant that she's keeping her hair long. Fine with me as long as I don't have to brush and tie it up every time she goes to school (DARYATI!!! Ini satu lagi kerja kamu, ya?!) Hanna - she's still trying to decide (in other words, she's waiting to see if any of her friends are cutting their hair for school next year. She'll just follow them....and here I am thinking that I have trained my kids well to have minds of their own. Sigh...)

RM1 notes for duit belanja - checked.

I think I have enough to last for the next 2 to 3 months - for Hasya and Hilman, that is. I've been collecting all the RM1 notes that I've been getting as change for the last 2 months or so. I know...I know...I could have just gone to the bank and exchange some cash with new and crispy RM1 bills...But, hey...it's just me. My way of doing things. Complicated? I guess. But, nobody died. So, no big deal...Hahaha!

As for Hanna, we've decided to give her a weekly allowance. We'll give her the pocket money every Monday morning, and it's up to her to manage it so that it'll last until Friday afternoon. It's part of our attempt to train her to be responsible for her own finances. Frankly speaking, I think the first few weeks will be a disaster...but, I'm sure she'll learn fast (albeit the hard way), insya Allah.

Following my normal practice for the last couple of years, I have in fact put the EXACT amount of money enough for 25 days of schooling for each of them in three plastic bottles bearing their names on them. I will only replenish them on the first day of each month, so, if any of them decides to belanja more than they should each day, I will know if the bottle is empty before its time. I'm one evil mom, huh?!

So, there we have it! Everybody is SO eager to go back to school!!!

(Errr...NOT really. Hanna, Hasya and Hilman are really making full use of the school holiday privileges these last few days of the holiday. Come Thursday next week, internet, handphones, PS2 and DVDs will only be a weekend thing...Such tragedy...for them...Hehehehe!)

So, all the best, fellow parents. It's the beginning of a new school year AND the whole headaches, migraines and palpitations that come with it... :D)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL.

I forgive you all...

DEWA 19...

You made us all wait for one and a half hours for you to start your concert at Stadium Negara last night. The concert which was supposed to start at 8:00p.m was delayed - not by fifteen, not by thirty, not by sixty minutes...BUT, by EIGHTY minutes! It didn't help that the X-Pax MC was pretty hopeless in offering explanation for the delay. His 'poyo' attempts at arousing the crowd's excitement was....well, POYO. It certainly didn't help at all when they kept on showing all the X-Pax adverts on the screens over and over again.

Ayah, my sister Yong and I left for Stadium Negara after solat Maghrib and reached there at 7:50p.m. (FYI, all this while I thought the concert was going to be held at Stadium Merdeka! Nasib baik Ayah seorang yang prihatin dan memberi perhatian...Hehehe!) We managed to get a parking space way, way, way at the back of the parking lot (which translated into us being amongst the last to get out of it after the concert!!! Sigh...)

The crowd was getting restless by the minute. I was getting restless by the second.

But, it was worthed all the waiting.

Dewa 19 - you guys were just SUPERB.

Ahmad Dhani - you're one ultra talented artist. Amazing. And hey, you're so cute, too!

Once - what can I say? Fantastic vocals. I can just melt listening to you. Love it. Love it. Love it! And if I may add - you're one sexy hunk of a guy (tough fight with Ayah ni!!)

Andra and Yuke - Electrifying guitars!

And Tyo's replacement, which I only found out the name - Agung - Genderang mau perang!!!

I salute you all. You guys raaaaawwwwwwkkkk!!!

And I forgive you all for being 80 minutes late...Even if you guys were 2 hours late, I would still forgive you all!

Great stuff - Dewa 19.

Thanks Dad of 4+1 and wifey for the tickets. We had one helluva time with all the other KL Baladewa-Baladewa last night.

P/S : Please accept my apologies for these rather blur pics. If you wanted clearer pictures, you should have been there yourself loorrr..

My prayers answered....I hope.

No more “Gunung Kinabalu” in the ironing room.

All clothes washed, dried, ironed, folded and/or hanged.

All floors swept and mopped everyday.

All surfaces cleaned and all the dusts wiped.

All windows washed and are sparkling now.

All dishes washed, dried and put away every night.

All kitchens and toilets gleaming.

All “sawangs” gone.

And check this out – even the plaster ceilings and cornices were wiped clean.

And the table is always set up nicely for every meal.

I can sigh with relief now.

YUP! After 6 months of chaos at the home front, we finally have a helper.

Her name is Daryati. She arrived a week ago. So far, so good.

If you were to look at her, you would get the impression that she’s lazy or slow. The ways she walks, the way she (doesn’t) talk, and the way she goes about doing things around the house. So, it’s amazing to see how she gets everything done so fast. And I don’t have to repeat myself 1001 times with her!

But, more importantly, the kids like her. And I can see that she’s quite attached to them, especially Hilman.

Her time management is good. Hey, she even has time to watch Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel with the kids, AND sit with them when they play with their PS2, mind you! And she normally goes to sleep at 10:30p.m and wakes up at 6:00a.m. Even Ayah and I get less sleep than her, okay?

The only thing she doesn’t do is cook. But, I can live with that, as long as she helps me with the preparation of the ingredients and clean up the kitchen after that.

The kids' toys and books are still all over the place unfortunately. Well, what do you expect? It’s the school holiday maah…

My mind is more at peace now. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

But, it’s still early days, and you all know how it is with helpers. So, I don’t want to “puji” lebih-lebih.

I just pray that she is what she portrays herself as now.

I just pray that she will stay until her contract ends (at least).

I just pray – for that is the only thing I could do now when it comes to “rezqi” with helpers…

YOU RAWWWWWKKKK!!!

Parenting is not a simple and straightforward thingy.

You learn through trial and error, and pray very, very hard in between.

But, more often than not, the love that we have for our kids will guide us through it all, insya Allah.

There are so many parenting tips that we get everyday, be it from well-intent friends and relatives, or from all the parenting books out there - books that we have to pay for unnecessarily sometimes.

Out of all the tips given to us parents, there are some which Ayah and I truly believe in. Two of which are :-

(1) You should always try to reward your kids for their achievements, and the reward should be something that your kids really appreciate or yearn for, so that they will feel that all their hard work and efforts were all worth it, and the reward will act as an incentive for them to strive harder and do better next time.

AND

(2) In order for you to understand your kids better, you should try to understand the stuff that they like, and try to think the way they do, and sometimes you should engage in activities that your kids are into.

And tonight - Ayah scored full marks for both of the above.

Just as I am typing this, Ayah and Hanna are at Stadium Merdeka watching the MCR Concert.

For those who do not have any teenage kids, and so probably would not have heard, and would not know what "MCR" is, it stands for -

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE

YUP!!! Ayah is at a Rock concert with Hanna!

Some of you might not agree with all these, but, oh well...

Hanna had been dropping hints for the last month or so about the concert and the possibility of her going with her friends (and their above-18 siblings, etc), but Ayah and I were not sure if we should let her go. Hanna had been asking and asking and asking and asking about it - that she sounded like a broken tape-recorder and she was starting to get on our nerves. Even though she did not sulk and was quite okay with it when we didn't say "Yes", we knew that she was disappointed.

We have been dilly-dallying about it, and finally we decided that this would be the reward for Hanna for getting all A's for her UPSR. The Concert was something that she REALLY wanted to go to.

Ayah managed to get 3 tickets, but, as I have been and still am bogged down with work, I decided not to join at the eleventh hour, and so Aunty Adek (my SIL) is now shouting and screaming herself hoarse in my place at Stadium Merdeka right this second.

What better way for a father to understand his daughter's taste in music than going to a concert with her, eh?!

Hanna, dear...You might think that it's NOT cool to go to a rock concert with your Ayah now...but, you will look back to tonight when you're older and I'm sure you will then agree with me when I say that your Ayah RAAAAAAWWWWWWKKKKKKK BIG TIME!!

And you should really appreciate and be grateful that for the love of his anak perempuan sulung yang sorang ni, your Ayah sanggup chaperone you to the MCR Concert tonight...

I hope you know just how much he loves you, dear...

P/S : Just for the record - I only went to my first Rock Concert when I was 21 years old, okay? It was BON JOVI... The venue - Wembley Arena. The feeling - AWESOME...

The weather is not helping...

It's amazing...

I thought there was only so much moisture that the clouds could retain... But, it has not stopped raining for more than 24 hours here in KL.

And this is NOT helping me at all with my current emotional mode : DEPRESSED.

So, much work. So, many things on my mind. So, many things unsettled. So little time.

How I wished there was more than 24 hours in a day.

But, then again, even if there were 100 hours in a day, I don't think I could ever finish doing everything that needs doing.

I pray that the new maid could do wonders and unload a lot of stuff off my mind, insya Allah.

I look forward to next Tuesday.

I hope I will have some peace of mind (which I REALLY need now) come next week, insya Allah.

Thank you, Ayah...

For bearing with me. For being there for me. For understanding. For not pushing.