More P1 registrations

Found this draft dated 21 Apr 2020 - I must have been too busy to post then. Sorry, Yang!

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2020:

I was so surprised to get an email from Kai's form teacher on 20 April on P1 registration for next year! And excited! My Yang Yang is going to be in P1 next year!

I quickly completed the application and sent in. When I went to set a reminder to check for status in July, I saw my reminder for P1 registration set for 4 May - the last day of application in the teacher's email *.*

It was late last year when I was sorting out Kai's P1 books that I came across a piece of paper dated March or April - it was a P1 registration form! Lucky my Yang wasn't due to register last year! So I set a reminder in my phone for around that time but I changed the date after I saw the MOE page on P1 registration dates. I guess our school starts earlier..

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2022:

Yesterday, I got the message for Yu's P1 registration when I was out so I did it when I got back - no need anymore P1 registration reminders woohoo! It gets easier each time:

• Kai: In-person; we brought a folder of documents along
• Yang: Via email to school; submitted a registration form like for Kai but in PDF, plus our ICs, two BCs and his immunisation records
• Yu: Via FormSG with Singpass; submitted nothing else

My baby is going to primary school!!! 😍😭

Update:

Found Yu in Parents Gateway app already! And the colour code is just like at home: blue for kid #1, green for #2 and orange for #3! :p

A simple rule four months in...

We have survived four months without a helper, woohoo!

Following a rubbish bin mess on Friday afternoon, I sat the boys down after dinner, just before giving them their phones - which is always the time when I can get their full attention, heh!

Asked them how it had been so far.

Yang: Good! *quite immediate*

Kai: Good! *after a thought*

Yu: *just listening on*

mf: Good in terms of?

Yang: Food! I like Mama's food better.

mf: How about you, Kai? Good in terms of?

Kai: I also like your food.

Yu: *raising hands*

mf: But Yu doesn't agree...

Yu: Ya, I like Kakak's food...

mf: *.*

Apart from food, they all thought things were the same as before.

Well, no more!

I told them how Kakak used to do the cleaning and cooking, while I did activity books etc with them, but now I had to do everything. So they could not expect me to clean up their food drips, their toys etc. 

mf: Why?

Yang: You're not our servant!

mf: Thank you! Exactly! In fact, I'm the queen and you're my servants! :p

Told them what happened at the rubbish bin. Someone emptied the sharpener into a full bin. So the shavings slid off the plastic bag into the bin itself and onto the floor. I had to stuff the bag properly, remove it, and clean the bin itself, before cleaning up the floor - so I had less time for them.

What could be done instead? Push down the rubbish before using the bin, or just take another bag.

But I could not keep telling them how to do each and every single thing. So they must think how to keep the house clean without cleaning too much.

Gave them the toilet example - instead of chatting away (yes, they do that in the toilet!), look at the toilet bowl and aim properly! Else they have to suffer a disgusting toilet (Yang nodded - he doesn't like disgusting toilets) and I have to spend time cleaning instead of being with them (but Mama must 陪陪 me, me and me!).

Let's see how this goes...

Kombucha comes and kombucha goes

I started making Kombucha late last year, after trying it at YX's place and SF gave Kel and me a scoby each.

The trio ++ at that meet-up with plenty of food and kombucha

One of my first attempts in the jar from SF

Then I graduated to some new Ikea jars - one for fermentation and three for second fermentation and storage. Still brewed the tea in the metal pot sans measuring jar - just estimate using kettle markings :p

But some six months on, I decided to stop. It is yummy but I have never felt any benefits. And it takes effort every week to make a new batch - make tea, let it cool, shred apple (I like apple cinnamon for second fermentation). Not to mention they take up prime estate on my kitchen counter and in the fridge.

Couple of weeks ago, I decided to pause one week to finish up kombucha in the fridge. Just stored the tea for second fermentation but did not make a new batch. The following week, I decided not to start a new batch.

Remembered to take a picture before dumping the scoby. 

So goodbye! I shall enjoy the rest of the kombucha in the fridge. After that, I suppose I can get some cider? :p

Sweet boy says sweet things

That's Yang :)

When I first took over housework, my fingers become all dry and flaky. I told Yang about it.

mf: My fingers are so rough! 妈妈不美了……

Yang: *looking at me* Your face is still pretty so it's ok!

Hee...

We were reading 济公 comics some time ago. There was a part on his reincarnation. Last week, Yang suddenly announced at dinner that he would not drink the soup (孟婆汤) coz he didn’t want to lose his memories. 

mf: Oh, what do you want to remember?

Yang: *pointing at me and pouting a little* You.

Awww....

Last Thursday, Yang walked into the dental clinic in school. I got the dentist to look at his top right incisor two weeks before that; it had shifted to the middle due to the permanent tooth erupting behind. We - dentist, Yang and I - agreed that if the slightly shaky tooth did not drop off on its own in a week, we would pull it out. 

I prepared a hotdog bun for Yang to have a quick bite before going for the extraction during recess. He called me once he reached the clinic.

Yang: Mama, I'm at the dentist.

mf: Good, be brave!

Yang: Mama, how to get the blood to stop?

mf: You bite on the gauze. Can ask the dentist.

Yang: Ok, I will. Bye bye, Mama.

"Mama" in every line :)

And every morning, before he gets on the bus, I'll wish him and Kai a good day in school but only Yang would turn around to say "bye bye, Mama"

Before and after - taken at our bus stop and school bus stop

Went to fetch them that day coz I realised Kai had just over $1 and Yang had under $1 in their cards. Needed to get them home in case they couldn't use their cards. But they could. I wasted $3 on my bus fare but the time was well spent making sure they could get home!

Little incidents in school

Found this draft dated 27 Jan 2019. 2019 leh! So thought I'd compile a list of memorable incidents... Actually, not many...

Jun 2016

Yang had a febrile fit in school while I was at an evening FGD. That was his second time.

May 2019

Kai was a lost boy. That was right after school, not exactly in school.

27 Jan 2019 - the draft :p

I was discussing some work with my boss on 23 Jan Wednesday morning when I got a call from the school general office - lucky I saved the number so I picked it up quickly. It was only 8 am. Kai had a bee or wasp sting?!! The staff told me that they had applied a cold press. Kai sounded like he cried. When I asked whether he was ok to go back to class, he said he didn't know. That meant he was ok la :p When I saw his cheek in the afternoon, it didn't look like it was a bee sting. He also couldn't tell me whether the insect flew off or died. Ah well...

The next day, Kai had his first spelling test. He told me he got full marks. I was surprised it got marked so quickly. "No, I knew it." Alright!

2021

Yu had a fall in school and came home with a baluku adjacent to his old baluku *.* This is one hardy boy. He had been hurting his head since about eight months old?!

Three days before the end of the school year, I got a call from Kai's teacher when I was in Ikea. Kai had a run-in with a classmate. She spoke with both of them together. When asked what he should do next, Kai gave an unexpected answer - "kill myself"! 

The teacher told me that while the school counsellor found no sign of suicide ideation, she thought she should tell me. I also told her that he said that at home as well but more in anger and jest. 

Still, I decided to have a one-one with Kai that evening. Told him to reach out to parents or a trusted adult if he ever had any thoughts of hurting himself. No one who loves him would agree to him hurting himself.

Cleaning the drain for the first time

I give our bathrooms a wet wash at least once a week, down from three times a week when we had a helper. Yup, not my favourite chore! But I do spot cleaning all the time, and the kids' bathroom often get more wet washes thanks to boys being boys.

Anyway, I keep a trusty Ikea squeegee in each bathroom to sweep water down the drains. Each bathroom has two drains: one in the shower area and one under the basin cabinet. 

Recently, water pooled over the drain under the basin in my bathroom. Uh oh, blocked :( If you discount all the cleaning I had to do after helper left, this was my first challenge. 

That day, I really didn't feel up to clearing the blockage, as I was still tired from the latest kiddy COVID infections. So I swept the water into the bathroom drain instead. 

The next day, I pulled up my sleeves and found three layers in the drain cover. I cleared out the top two layers. 

Wipe debris off the top and lift up with the nail of my thumb

The shadows are due to the cabinet right above the drain. Mental note to self: for next house, don't build a cabinet above a drain if possible; else, no cabinet.

Another job for my poor nail; should have grabbed a screwdriver

Brought the second cover to scrub and wash at the yard where I keep a "dirty" cleaning brush. Not too gross considering it was probably rarely/never washed in four years!

But I stopped at the third layer. To be honest, I was scared.

😱

What if I uncovered very gross stuff? I mean, I had cleaned poopy bums with my bare hands but this is a different kind of gross....

Especially when I can't see the opening, which faces inward

It took me three days before I finally got down to it. What would I find??

Just this! It's all clean here coz else it's just too gross to show :p

Turned out there was quite a bit of wet dust bits stuck to the flap so it couldn't open freely to let water through. Nothing a good scrub couldn't solve, thankfully.

The drain hole is all black - I tried to not look far; just wipe the rim with a paper towel and close it!

I tell you - I felt invincible after that, haha!

But no, I don't wish for greater challenges, especially those involving living things!

That which is also a verb

....

March la! :p

Ok, bo liao...

This month started with Yang losing his card AGAIN! When he told me he dropped his wallet in the gap of the lift, I thought he was remembering where he dropped his previous wallet. When it hit me that he was referring to two seconds ago, we stepped back out of the lift to dig for coins for the bus rides to and from school.

When the management office opened at 9 am, I went to ask if they could help. So unless I was willing to pay for immediate attention, I would have to wait for the maintenance guys to come fix other issues, which apparently happened every few days. Ok, I will wait instead of getting a new card; I barely got back the balance of the first lost card!!! In the meantime, Yang could experience taking a bus in the 1980s :p

That afternoon, I changed my notes for their coins to prep for Yang's bus rides

There is only one piggy bank coz they had decided to pool their savings from their pocket money. Yang hasn't realised that he was contributing the lion's share yet :p Coz he usually had toast while Kai had a proper meal during recess.

Anyway, got his card back one week later on 8 March. He used it for three days and it was March holidays/COVID time at home. Just before we got the card back, I asked him if he liked using coins. He said no, troublesome. Then please don't use your card again!

Sito took leave on 2 March :) He went jogging before we went to Beauty World for a foot massage. Had wanted to eat seafood but with not much time left, we ate at the hawker centre instead. We had our faves - dumplings etc and western food!

We sent Yu to school before Sito jogged off :)

The next day, I didn't have much housework to do so I cooked up a storm for both lunch and dinner! So happy that my boys loved it! But I won't do this again - so much time and effort! Must spread out high-effort meals...

Kai gave me 8/10 for 葱油拌面 made with my own scallion oil plus baked chicken cutlet!

Another 8/10 dish - giant meatball spaghetti!

Sito rated the meatballs even higher :) Just needed the outside to be a bit browner... We had enough meatballs and sauce for a second meal! Need a bigger pot next time, or reduce the recipe... It was a lot of work but I had fun doing this! 

Back to our happy place - Ikea!

They much prefer the Alexander outlet coz it has more showrooms

We had our usual 12 chicken wings! Yu likes the meatballs so I ordered the meatball spaghetti for him which is a full adult portion. He finished it and even had some of the fries! His older brothers had kiddy pasta. Who was asking me why they had so little pasta? :p Anyway, the older boys ate a lot more chicken wings.

Kai and Yang discussing the number of chicken wings :p

Sunday, I ditched my Hub and Pups to meet friends. So surprised to see them bring big bags along - they were representing 23 colleagues to bring farewell gifts to me, hoho! Three of us range from fresh grad to the mother of a young adult, but we had a good time chatting over Hoshino coffee!

I must pose like this right? :p

So there was a 4.5L thermal pot and a thermal flask, and a breadmaker. I already have the exact same thermal pot so shall see if I use this during... LNY?? I started using the breadmaker that very week and have been making bread every two to four days. I have not bought a single loaf since then! 

Made them clean Beyblade marks off the cabinets while they were stuck at home with COVID :p

They did this happily coz the reward was TV. I'm also happy coz now when I look up, I see a nice white strip instead of white peppered with red and blue marks! But the dents are there to stay, sighs...

The boy who looks tiny in this shirt, is digging for ear booger during dinner, eeks!

The last day that Yang was home on a school day, he helped me vacuum the sofa :)

As he tested negative that evening, we went out! First, a haircut. Kai and Yang's hair was getting too long. The last cut was just before Term 1! We went to the one at the bus interchange. Both uncles cut their hair very nicely! Kai was especially pleased with his fringe - straight instead of somewhat slanted like the last time. Um, your hair is a bit curly so it will curl to the sides later you know? :p He was still so pleased :)

Two handsome boys having prata with Milo

Boy with stately smile didn't want to cut his hair until primary one!

"No, not primary one. When it's long." Um, when is it long? Isn't it long now?? I think he cannot get over R who has long hair when we met in December!!

Kai thinks his brothers are babies :)))

Yu was running in front of them *.* We were headed for BPP to get some OCK - they didn't have any meat. No vege never mind coz I paid extra for high-fibre prata ok... With a dash of paprika... 💁🏻

Played reversi with Yu while stuffing duvets into covers...

And he won!!! He was so cute - "I can't believe I won! It was very close, right?" No, baby, not close at all! 70% into the game, he had five blacks on the board. And in the end, he won by close to double! How did that happen??! I need to reflect... Haha!

After their recovery from COVID, we finally got to snuggle at bedtime. I was asking Kai when he would want his own room. He said he still wanted to sleep together with his brothers.

mf: But I don't like the double decker bed. I keep knocking my head on it and it's so hard to change bedsheets!

Kai: To be honest, I also don't like it, hee...

mf: !!!! Oh, coz of the mattress?

Kai: Ya, it's not so soft...

mf: Then in future when we move house, we don't bring it along. But you will have to sleep in your own room.

Kai: Why can't we get a single bed and put it with the other two?

mf: Not enough space. And I'm not getting a bed of a different size!

Kai: *pout*

Kai sleeps on the upper bunk on weekend nights. But the upper bunk can't take a thick mattress so I got a 4-inch from the furniture shop. It does feel quite different. In any case, any heavier mattress and I won't be able to lift it when changing bedsheets!

Trying to tell the time during breakfast

Time is very important. If he finishes late, I won't give him Reading Eggs on the iPad. There was once we reached school at almost 9 am! Gosh... After that, the teacher sent a note to everyone to encourage kids to be in school by 8.30 am so that they can all shift to their classroom next door and start lessons. K2 moved to the unit vacated by their youth hub due to reno works.

Anyway, he has been reading time off my phone but could not yet read analogue clocks. Good to learn, though I think the clock in primary school is digital too...

The school has been equipping the K2s with primary school survival skills. Dug out a Pokemon purse for him to put fake money. Found a pretty ziplock bag that he could use as a pencil case. 

He even learnt how to deal with bullies

Made a little collage of our breakfast time

All their eating looks! Love to see them drinking from a straw, cute cheeks :) And this Yang has a 可怜 look??! He finished the eggs that day, great! Coz I wasn't hungry enough to eat after getting some crackers for them to try and only Kai took one bite :p

Out of the blue, Yu gave this to us :)

Welcome home, Papa!

Yang was busy haha! It's easier now, no need to wait for PCR results. So we went to our fave dinner place.

Both Yang and Yu brought books along - but I had to remind them about it *.*

The next day, we had Hainan Story after a trip to the playground. So much VFM, we like! Kai had his own chicken rice. Yang and Yu shared a platter of chicken and fish and chips. Yu even had a lot of chicken cutlet from Sito's fried rice. Good to see them eat :)

Papa teaching Kai how to use the exercise machine

It took me three days to realise that March was gone! And so is a quarter of this year. There's much to celebrate as we ended the month/quarter, with more relaxed COVID rules. We're even thinking of Legoland in June! Shall see how it goes..