One year of no helper!

I was sitting in front of the TV on Wednesday night, 21 Dec, when I suddenly realised that we had survived one year without a helper! I checked the next day and found that I was wrong by one day; I sent off the helper on 20 Dec 2021.

It seemed that the year had passed very quickly, more quickly than usual. Maybe things move at home - toilets get washed, food gets cooked, bedsheets get changed. At work, things may not move - discuss abc to death, revise xyz for the nth time, haha!

Well, what has changed in the past year? Nothing too major. I was already working part-time prior to this so I still keep my afternoons available for the kids. I think the three most major changes are as follows:

1) The kids learn to do their part

I remember in the beginning, when I started doing laundry after dinner, I had to hang the clothes up at close to 9 pm. Yu wanted me to lie in bed long long time with him so he asked me to get a kakak to do laundry! When I changed laundry habits, he stopped saying that. 

Due to the weird hours I do laundry, they don't get to help me hang up clothes. But starting from I think the second half of the year, I got them to fold their own clothes. At first, I gave them a small chopping board to guide them to fold. Now they just fold. Very ugly but they fold. When I see a neat drawer, I will compliment them in the hope that they continue to improve!

They also make their own bed. I don't like to make the beds right after getting up due to the warmth and even sweat. The kids can sweat buckets even with aircon! So they don't make their bed on school days. On non-school days, they make their bed after breakfast. They are more accomplished in this as they started on this earlier.

They can always keep their own toys. Just messy but I can handle that. 

This past week, I also got them to do some spring cleaning of their toy drawers. Got rid of dust balls (!) in Kai's room, reduced the number of loose Lego bricks in Yang and Yu's drawers.

I want to get them to wash their own dishes too but the way they use water.... Maybe next time...

2) The kids eat more varied food

Kai once said my cooking was bad, should get kakak back to cook. Wait a minute - thought you didn't like her food much too? Guess what he said? Her cooking was bad but still better than mine!! Hmph!

I hope I have improved by now...

Anyway, I think my dishes are more varied. We used to have different types of sliced meat in the same weird brownish sauce, stirfried with onions. Now, we may have simple panfried meat, or bulgogi, or salmon and vege stirfry, or Yu's fave 糖醋排骨 :) I even put lady's fingers into fried rice. 

Sometimes, I make noodle soup for dinner. The easiest is meatball macaroni soup, or bee hoon or kway teow - so easy and yummy! So long as I don't add prawn paste to the meatball coz Kai doesn't like prawns or fishball texture.

More importantly, I try to make simmering soup at least once a week. Ok, this started only towards the end of the year but better late than never? The kids don't like soup days but I think they are getting used to it. Kai and Yu can drink very fast now. And Yang, well...

Once I made radish soup. Yang said that he preferred black bean soup. The next time, I made black bean soup. He said he didn't like it *.* But later, he told Sito (I was in the shower?) that he had got used to soup. I must be consistent! So even in school holidays when I try to cook less, I still try to make soup once a week.

3) The house is cleaner, I think...

Our robot mop AKA Robot-kun does most of the floor jobs on a near daily basis. I steam the floors once a month. Or less frequently coz I don't do it during school holidays. So I think our house is cleaner!

Oh, but the balconies are less clean coz the floors are no longer scrubbed once a week! I scrubbed once and steamed once this year. The rest of the time, it's just our trusty Robot-kun - due to a drop in height, I have to bring it to the balconies manually but it's so worth it. 

We went out for breakfast on Wednesday. Something different from our usual Yakun. When I realised our one year anniversary that night, this seemed like a celebration? :) Kai had a breakfast platter but didn't want the toast; Yang, Yu and I shared the yummy toast; Yang and Yu also had a croissant each! My fried cheese sandwich was a reward for scrubbing toilets more than 100 times haha!

A more relaxed and spacious April

This is a good month. COVID restrictions have been reduced. We finally ate as a family in the hurt-my-knee coffeeshop - can't remember the last time we did that! Sito went to KL twice and when he came back, there was no need to go do a supervised ART. Legoland is beckoning hoho! But vaccination for kids first...

Looking at taxis outside - he knows what the red and green tops mean now

Went for his first jog!

That was Yang's tee at the 2017 StanChart kids dash. I forgot to register Yu in 2019 until it was too late - no more tickets! And then COVID hit. Poor Yu missed out on his own tee and medal! :(

But this boy is so used to handmedowns that he asked me if he would get Yang's pants - which he likes - when Yang becomes too big :p Yes, I said, and he was so pleased! :)

Check out his hair

He is still refusing to cut his hair! I call it 鸟窝头 and joke that the birds are coming! But nope, he would not cut his hair!

He likes to play with the calculator. Actually, all of them like to take it out to punch in some numbers. I used to do that too haha! So glad to have bought this - so much more tactile satisfaction compared to the calculator app in the phone.

Interrupt cuteness with yumminess

We had a lunch date at Wolfgang's Steakhouse on the Wednesday during Sito's one week in SG this month. Ordered two set lunches - so full! It was all very yummy. I was only disappointed that I didn't manage to eat the cream on Sito's plate - the wait staff cleared it while I was distracted... Ok, save me from the calories....!

We can take off our mask outdoors, woohoo!

Back to the kids :p Coz our life revolve around them now. Laugh or cry? :p

I had wanted to bring the kids to the hawker centre for prata. We hadn't been there since COVID hit! But it was raining so plan B - Macs! They hadn't had Macs breakfast for YEARS so they didn't remember much except that they didn't like the pancakes. 

This time, all of them were very happy: Kai with his sausage and egg McMuffin, Yang with his chicken and egg McMuffin, Yu with his big breakfast less the eggs (which I ate). Of course, they also had hashbrowns and milo. And no, we didn't touch the chilli - why do they give chilli?!

Then they followed me to the supermarket. Kai held the basket while Yang and Yu took turns to place items inside.

Trying to lift the watermelon!

Kai passed me his bag and tried to assess the weight of his brothers' bags instead *.*

We would be out on Easter Sunday so we had our egg hunt on Good Friday! They had been waiting for a few weeks since we bought 10 Kinder Surprise eggs on a weekend out. The recent recall did not affect our eggs, heng!

I wrote riddles on little cards and got them to guess the riddle in order to find their eggs. Each boy got three eggs and a pack of fruit and veggie juice.

Kai's eggs were near the printer, in the laundry basket and in the fridge

Yang found one in the microwave, one behind the dictionary and one in my vanity cabinet

Yu's eggs were behind the Real Pigeons books, under his pillow and in the toaster

All ready to dig in!

Older ones playing chess while youngest did some maths; Mama lepak :p

Time for homework!

This plate with petroleum jelly is hanging at our doorway as I type, trying to attract dust *.*

Cai fan at the coffeeshop

This time, Sito and I left the kids at the playground and went to order food together. No need to keep a close watch on Yu anymore, woohoo! The auntie saw two of us and must have been bewildered that I kept ordering and ordering. Think we had some seven or eight dishes in the end. But all for two pax so it was all good :)

Surprisingly, all we got was a mild "no fried rice?" from Kai. No other complaints from kids! Why, then, do they complain whenever we pack cai fan to eat at home?! They finished quickly enough and went back to the playground for round 2. I wonder if they would eat this fast at home if I promise the playground....?

Kai had oral exams on the third Monday and Tuesday. I went to fetch Yang and we had lunch together. Monday was just Macs downstairs. Tuesday, we went to Beauty World. Yang changed his mind about xiaolongbao when he saw the hawker centre - not what he imagined? Or he was used to XLB in restaurants??

So we went to the cafe at the basement and he decided on the braised chicken leg with rice. He was surprised that it was such a big plate! It was yummy anyway and fed both of us very well. Then we bought him a croissant at the bakery at level 1 and went home.

Wednesday was also an early dismissal day as other levels were still having oral exams. Three of us checked out the new grill downstairs. Ordered a steak for Kai, a bolognese for Yang and a mixed grill for myself. They took most of my meat *.* But I ate quite a bit of Yang's spaghetti. They also exchanged food to try, which is rare! No complaints about saliva :p No picture but good times :)

I was feeling adventurous so decided to bring them to Bishan-AMK Park last Saturday while Sito was away, before dinner at WaiPo's place. Yang and Yu were happy to take the train while Kai wanted me to drive. Turned out that Kai didn't realise the car isn't always here!

Anyway, told them we would take the LRT to change at CCK. Along the way, I told Yang and Yu that we would alight at Woodlands. Yang said we could have taken 960 - he's right! Heh :p 

But as we went further north, we saw darker clouds. I checked and found that the park area was raining already. Sighs, so I said we would go straight to AMK. 

But Yu didn't get this memo. He stepped out when the trained stopped at Woodlands! Yang and I called him back and he ran back, surprised. Explained to him about the rain. So sad. No park.

It was rather early so brought them to AMK Hub in search of a snack. Mango desserts were a no. So we headed to A&W next door. There was a queue of three families in front of us but Yang and Yu wanted to queue. Kai grudgingly queued.

Kai even massaged my back while we were queueing :)

Kai and Yang shared an ice cream waffle while Yu chose onion rings

Wanted to take a shot of Yu's funny expression then Yang decided he wanted in too

The fingers were something to do about Waluigi. Um, whatever. Good that they were very happy with their snack. Kai who wasn't terribly keen on the waffle also thought it was better than expected.

Went around the atrium to look see and bought some nyonya kueh. Then as the rain had stopped, I decided to stick return to our original itinerary and go to the 409 market.

At the bus interchange, Yu said he was tall enough to climb on the railing all by himself :)

Again, Yang must join in the picture! Yu also welcomed him. Love their closeness :)

As we walked through the shops in the market area, I told them how I used to come here to buy things when I was about Kai's age. I led them to the rows with two bakeries which I used to patron. Of course, they were no longer there but there are more bakeries now and some still sell old-school cakes! Yang and Yu chose a box of cake slices for Sunday tea.

Then, we walked to WaiPo's place. Kai was asking why we couldn't take a bus *.* My ears were suffering, as they do every day...!

It was raining before that so we didn't go to the playground but headed straight up. It was still kind of early so they watched TV and chatted with AhYee while I sat in the kitchen as Mother cooked with her one stove and one cast iron wok, stirfried broccoli with himeji mushrooms and prawns, panfried salmon, fried eggs and of course, nuggets! The chicken soup was in the slow cooker and the braised pork cooked earlier in the day was heated up after the dishes were all done. 

Cartoons finished just in time so the boys had dinner at the dining table instead of the coffee table like last time. There was promise of ice cream and chocolate. In the end, Yang decided not to have the ice cream coz he was full. I declined the ice cream for durians instead - happy :)

I love this photo!

Yu was cooling down after dinner. I thought he looked funny with his long hair blown back. As I whipped out my camera, Yang jumped in yet again! 你是抢镜头还是不堪（弟弟）寂寞？？He had a yellow fan in his hand. Very hot meh? I didn't even sweat after the soup *.*

It was difficult to get a taxi that day. While I was on the phone, Kai was asking AhYee to guess riddles, Yang was watching TV and Yu was playing quietly on his own.

So glad to have a child who can play on his own :)

It was almost 8 pm when we got back. Quickly washed their bottles and put in the laundry while they showered and then we were off to bed! All fell asleep pretty quickly - guess they were tired. 

The Sunday that followed was muted; I could only be adventurous once in a weekend :p Only brought them to two new playgrounds nearby - new coz we'd never been there.

Three slides! But Kai didn't want to join in :(

Kai would rather hop into the frame...

Spot Yang?

Jail, they say...

When 26 April came, we were very pleased. Bluetooth can be turned off. We can walk in and out of the mall freely. No more narrow walkways outside Macs - the whole place looks so much more spacious! And less of a fire hazard! And as we approached Yu's school, he was very happy to find the side doors to that mall all open. Finally no need to make a big round to the main door if I want to go Sheng Siong or he needs to pee. When we first took the MRT route to the mall, Yu was very pleased and shouted "oh no need, no more!" (safe entry gantries) before dashing up the escalator.

Old toys brought new joy!

Then I joined them to build higher as there were still a few more blocks left. But it was too filmsy and everything collapsed! They found it fun to watch it collapse too :p

Decided to dine out on Friday. Kai, Yang and I went to fetch Yu and we went to Han's. Think the last time we went there was pre-pandemic! I only asked if they wanted noodles or rice. Then I ordered beef hor fun, HK fried noodles and sweet and sour fish. Turned out the fish came with rice but just as well coz Kai ate a lot of rice while waiting for his brothers to finish!

Finishing up the yummy food! But HK fried noodles are yummier...

Scooping rice bit by bit... It was quite yummy even on its own!

I was sad that they eventually went for Macs ice cream instead of cakes at Han's but ok la, they were very happy

And Papa came home that night! It was a hot Saturday so the laundry was manageable :p And it was a very good day for a swim! The kids were so happy to head for the pool, and even happier that both Sito and I were going in too!

His hair was so long it got swept back - so handsome!

Later, Kai and Yang also made the water sweep their hair back. Sito and I also had kid(s) on our back as we raced in the pool. Oh, I made Yu cry when I made him swim a bit *.* He didn't want to swim! But he could! Sighs... 

Anyway that was the only picture that day coz I was in the pool. Kai decided to carry me towards the end of our session. It was ok until he decided he had to carry me "more" and he lifted me from my knees! I managed a “老公救我！” just before I fell backwards into the water! Thank goodness Sito was near and I was saved! Never mind that the pool was 1.2m deep :p

With my hair wet, I decided to swim a bit. I managed to swim maybe 5m? :p Kai even lent me his goggles. My hamstrings were already sore from waddling through the pool. I think the swimming didn't help. Needed a massage at night and Yang and Yu obliged :)

Dinner was Macs - indeed a happy ending to April! :)

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..