Awesome #2 - When you find out that the emergency item you wanted to buy is on your doorstep.

I've been wanting to buy a muslimah swimsuit for awhile now. But I've always kept it on hold because I thought my old swimsuit still fits me well. But I lost the pants the other day and I needed it this weekend so I guess its time to get a new one.

I googled and found fidascollection and her online shop carries the lowest price muslimah swimsuit. I texted her to see if I can pick up the item since delivery by mail wouldn't be fast enough.

She replied and told me her address and I was literally jumping for joy because I can literally walk to her house from mine!! whooppiiieee!!!

How to make ribbon streamers

In the ALIMKids playgroup, one of the tools that we use for the active movement activity are ribbon streamers. Azalia loves them and the little khalifahs in my playgroup also enjoy them tremendously.Sing a song and wave the ribbons about. You can teach them fast and slow movement, high and low, left and right, and also shapes!!

Ribbon streamers are not hard to make. Here's a picture to show how to make them. The longer the length of the ribbon the more fun it is. Of course don't make it too long. I think keeping the length the same height as your kids is sufficient. Enjoy:)

Awesome #1 - A friend having PMS on the same day you are.

While everything fell into place yesterday and I was all chirpy, today was exactly the opposite and it's only 11am.

First the LRT had problems and I was 20mins late for work. Fine.

Then.. I thought the boss was not in.. and then an hour later she came. Fine.

Then.. I heard there's a possibility I might have to start staying back once a week again because some people wanted things to be easier for them... FINE!!.

Then... my crops withered (smurf game)...This sounds stupid but I was upset OK!! so FINE!!

Then I read about a blogger who I've followed since Azalia was born, whose circumstances were similar to mine ( have a 4yo and difficulty getting pregnant after due to health reasons, although our health reasons are not the same) is now having a miracle.... in addition this morning Azalia asked me why there's still no baby. Plus.. I'm having a red flag day currently.

That was it for me. I felt the gloomy clouds over me and I suddenly couldn't function.

Then a friend Gtalked me and said she's PMS-ing and we just poured our hearts out about stupid things we're PMS-ing about (yes even about the smurf game and she tried not to laugh but as I typed it down we both laughed..hahaha). Misery sure loves company.

Thanks Fadh. :)

Intro to 365 of awesomes.

Inspired by the author of 1000awesomething , which I came to know after reading the Reader's Digest, I would like to start a project to state 1 awesome thing that happened on each day for a year to remind myself especially when I'm feeling blue or just plain moody, to focus on the positive things that happened that day.

So here goes.

30 Seconds To Mars - Closer To The Edge

I love this song. Every time I need to make some decision in my life or need some motivation I would turn on this song.

Weekends

These past few weeks my weekends have been filled with activities that I don't remember the last time I put my leg up in front of the telly and just surf the channels. Sigh.

Anyway, I don't think I'm the only one who's tired these past few months, Azalia has also been effected by it. Plus, I've noticed a few things that I could do to avoid her from behaving badly.

1. No late nights on weekends. EVER!!! (I'm still trying to be consistent with this because it usually means no late nights for me too which is a bit hard as it limits the things I could/should do on weekends)

2. 3 main meals a day and a snack each in between. And less sugar and salt

3. Have structured play and free play.

4. Get some sunshine.

No.1 is the utmost important as it guarantees a happy and well behaved Azalia throughout the day. I've noticed that whenever she has a late night, she would be easily tired the nextday even if she wakes up late and she gets cranky easily. Not to mention extra stubborn. Plus.. it's also hard to implement no.2 so I suppose I have no choice but try my hardest to make sure she sleeps on time. Currently bed time on weekdays is like a clockwork but weekends is still a work in progress due to relatives visiting, dinner outing or weddings. But if I want a calm and happy weekend, I have to be consistent.

Sound easy huh..

NOT!!!

For example, last weekend, our schedule were like this

Saturday:
Morning - Parent Teacher's Day, Playgroup
Noon - Lunch
Eve - Kite flying at Metropolitan Park

Full right?? so Azalia should be sleeping at around 8pm because she didn't have any nap. But my cousin was around and stayed at the house till 11pm so no amount of persuasion could make her ready for bed time because she wanted to play with her uncle who she rarely sees.

Sure enough the next day we had a friend's kenduri to go to and she wasn't in her best behaviour. She was already tired when we wanted to go, she slept before we went and if we were to wait longer we would have been very late, so we decided to just go and upon arrival she woke up(still tired) and did whatever she pleases and ignored whatever I said. On the way back she slept again and because we haven't seen my in-laws for weeks so we had to go see them and she went to the playground.

Due tu tiredness, she cried all the way back from my inlaws because I scolded her for biting her toes in the car and that night she fought to stay awake. (by singing to herself)

So last weekend was not Azalia's good behavour week. Which is unlike the week before where it was at a slower pace and we had time to put some structure in her day.

So.. If you have friends who would have to decline to go anywhere because she needs to keep to her child's schedule, don't judge, because a schedule is really important for a child's wellbeing. A child needs structure and for that, the parents have to sacrifice certain things in their life to make sure this structure is in place. Sure if you have a maid/nanny you could make her apply this structure while you live your life as usual, but this is not a case for me because even though we had a maid while I was growing up but I was brought up by my mother and not my maid and I want the same for my child.

The maid can do the dishes, clean the house, do laundry but when it comes to playing, nurturing and disciplining her, I would prefer to do it myself. But of course I don't have a maid yet.. so anyone who comes to my house.. please know that housekeeping is somehow my last priority so there will be days when it looks like a hurricane just hit.. you see... I have a schedule to keep.

Activity Worksheets downloads.

As I've mentioned in my previous post, "Lets get Creative", I did some activity worksheets for Azalia and I thought of sharing them here. These are some of the ones I remembered to save before I print them.

However, please read below before downloading them.

Download rules:
1.Not for sale or to be used commercially
2.Feel free to change it as you please
3. I did most of it under 15 mins due to time constrain so be kind with your criticism.
4. Images are mostly from the web so I do not own any of the images.
5. Azalia is 3+ so I guess the activities are suitable for 3-4 maybe.

So enjoy and have fun with them!! As I do more I will try and add to the list.

On death

The other day Azalia was watching TV and the trailer for the movie RANGO came on. I think one of the character said "you're going to die" and Azalia found it funny and she kept repeating it.

I finally asked her not to say such thing. Of course she asked why. I proceeded in telling her all of us will die someday but we don't say it to people because we don't want to wish anyone to die. Death will happen but its a sad occasion.

Azalia: Nanti mak die ke?
Me: One day semua org pun die so yes one day I will
Azalia: Alia tak nak mak mati. Nanti tak dapat jumpa mak. Mak pergi mana
Me: Bila mati we all go to Allah. So if mak mati, I will be with Allah.
Asa: Awak kene doa untuk mak. Baca al-fatihah banyak2.
Azalia: Kalau baca doa mak hidup balik??
Me: (Laughing) tak lah. Dah mati mana hidup balik. But doa so that you remember me and your doa will come to me when I'm with Allah.
Azalia: (no longer sad) lepas tu bila Azalia nak jumpa mak balik.
Me: When your time comes to be with Allah, Alia jumpa lah mak balik.
Asa: (menyampuk), dekat syurga.
Me: That's why we pray, we do good things because we want Allah to love us when it's time to be with him.
Azalia: (confused look) Ok..(gaya let me get this straight). Alia tak nak mak die. Kalau mak die, mak dengan Allah. Kalau mak die Alia baca doa. Pastu nanti Alia boleh jumpa mak lagi kan?
Me: bolehlah tu.

So how do you explain life and death to a child.

Mattel Toys Warehouse Clearance Sale

Pic source: http://everyday.com.my

I've been to it twice in previous years and my tips are

1.GO EARLY!!!
Seriously if the sale were as good as previous years (50-60% off) you should go early. And when I say early I mean before the doors are open. I have seen pregnant ladies ran inside Atria to get to level 2 where the sale is held ok.

2. BYOB - Bring your own bag. I mean big plastic bag (those ikea ones are ideal). Because the toys are bulky and its easier to just dump them into the bags before you get to the checkout. If not.. not enough hands how to bring everything to the counter. And if you just leave them at one corner confirm org amik punya!!!

3. Make sure you are not in a rush. Make time for the queue.
Last time I went I had to queue for a freaking 1 hour because the lady in front of me was holding up the line for 5 FREAKING FRIENDS!!! WTH!!!.. I mean queuing up for one friend is fine. Even two is understandable BUT 5!!! Yeah.. be as kiasu as can be because they would be kiasu to you.

wordless means.. no words.

There's this thing going on in the blogging world called Wordless Wednesdays. Basically on Wednesdays you post pictures instead of writeups. The title is wordless wednesdays right... W.O.R.D.L.E.S.S. Means.. No words. Then no need for captions for the photos right?? I know people are doing it just for fun but if there are captions and not just pictures than maybe they should rename the whole thing.

p.s: Saje je nak cari pasal.. hehehe.

LAT the musical : my review

I grew up with Lat. My parents love Lat and we have all his comics. I've always wished I could have a kampung just like his in Kampung Boy.I learnt to read the newspaper because Lat's cartoons was in it. That's why I was looking forward to see the musical.

Personally, for me, a good musical would have great songs that lingers in my mind even when the show's over, great vocals that gives me chills and well written storyline and awesome setting.

The show is good. I would recommend everyone to go. But do lower your expectations when it comes to the song selection and the vocals. Some of the character had good vocals. The kids were awesome. But somehow I was let down by Awie's vocals. Atilia's was excellent of course but the songs let me down. But I did like the song sang by Mrs Yu and her class. DWYL LWYD. what is it? you have to go to find out.

But I have to say the first half of the show was well written. I enjoyed every minute of the first half. However I find the second half a bit draggy. And I'm not sure if they had a climax.Or if they had... I didn't get it.

The setting however was excellent. I love the way they used the screens to portay Lat the comic. Most of the landscape and buildings were supersized from Lat's comic hence those who've read the comic would feel very familiar with the whole setting. That was awesome.

Douglas Lim was entertaining as always. Would go to any musical comedy that has him in it. The actors who played Pak Samad and Mrs Hew (is this correct??) couldn't have been better. They're hilarious. I like. And the kids... bravo.. bravo.

Although I did say I was dissappointed with Awie's vocals (compared to when I saw him in Cuci the musical) but his acting was entertaining. So bravo for that. Atilia's acting was alright I suppose which but whenever she sings her voice sends chills down my spine.

Overall I would say it's a must see. Especially if you love Lat cartoons. And I love them.

Plus...whenever I read Lat I learn a thing or two about life. And the musical did the same for me too.

DWYL and LWYD. Thanks Mrs Hew. and Thank you Lat.

Lets get creative

Azalia loves doing activity books. She loves everything about it. The maze, the matching game, the sequence game, counting game. Everything I tell you. She also loves buying them. Everyday she would want a new one and would try to finish everything the day itself. I've resorted to telling her she can only get a new book after 10 days. The 1st day will start on the day she starts asking for a book and we'll mark the calendar and cross out each time a day passes.

Meanwhile, to keep her occupied I've decided to make my own activity prints based on disney cartoon themes. Besides printing them, I also recycle her old activity books by cutting and pasting the character and making games out of them. On average she will do about 10 activites per night.

The good thing about this is clearly she loves learning. So right now I'm struggling to think what is not too easy for her and not too hard. I want to incorporate life lessons and also some maths, science and spelling in the picture. Who says being a mother is easy. I find myself constantly challenged and having to put my creative hat on. And that hat is not easy to fill.

Fortunately there are lots of WAHM and SAHM who blogs about their home schooling adventures. Currently I'm taking some of their ideas and incorporate them in our themes and the activities that we want to do.

Sure its easier to just buy that book she wants but whats stopping me from doing that is I want her to learn the value of money. I want her to learn the importance of delayed gratification because I think that will teach her to learn patience and be determined. I want her to know that loving her doesn't mean I'll buy everything for her.

Where do I find the time to do this? Lunch time at work, break time and when I get to work early. It's fun seeing her enjoying the things I've prepared for her. And at the same time its amazing what she picks up. Check the sites I've linked below for some ideas of your own. They also have links to awesome resources. Doing DIY not only is cost effective but it lets you be creative too.


The Peterson Party

Counting coconuts

Confessions of a homeschooler

jannahsteps

zaythoun

Nagging feeling

Somehow I'm not feeling so upbeat suddenly. Maybe its that work I'm supposed to do but still haven't finish doing because I'm just too lazy to ?? Hehe. Whatever it is there's always tomorrow and it's 6pm already. Let's just hope that work is not due tomorrow first thing in the morning ok??

Ooops..

My parents went to our next door neighbour's daughter's wedding dinner last weekend. They sat at the same table with our neighbour from across the road. Mom told me about their conversation that night:

Neighbour: You dah ada cucu kan?

Mom: Yes. Ada dua dah. One living with us.

Neighbour: Oh ya, girl kan? Sometimes I can hear her mother calling her Alia kan. My cucu also Alia.

Mom: *embarrased* Yes, she(me) can be quite loud sometimes.

Ooops. Sorry mak. hehehehe.

Who's your window??

Read this and immediately my mind drifted to my windows.

To my triple As, I am forever thankful for having all of you in my life. What a coincidence that all of your names start with A's too.

Each of you were there for me in different phase of my life. I'm glad our paths crossed. :)

I wanna marry you

Azalia: Mummy?? can I marry you?
Me: No Azalia..you have to marry a boy
Azalia: Than I want to marry daddy
Me: No larrr!!! that one cannot
Azalia: Than I marry Tan Jeng Wen k? (classmate and current bestfriend. Because he sits next to her,apparently). Can?
Me: Errr... when you're older ok

Talk talk talk

I recently attended a training for my ALIMKids program and one of the speakers was a child development and linguist specialist. Something like that. She mainly works with kids with special needs and masyaAllah.. she is amazing. And the things that we gained from her about child development were of tremendous value. I definitely recommend people to attend Dr Norizan's training (if there were any, I think Ummikusayang will organise one, one day) and you'd gain so much in understanding the development of your child and how you can enhance it further.

Anyway. I've always talked to Azalia. Ever since she was a baby I would talk to her. I would put her on my lap and just talk to her. Being very talkative myself, it was just natural for me to talk about everything that I do. I would describe things, explain to her why I do something etc. Even when we go out, I would just talk to her (because she would be in her stroller) about what's in front of us, what I would do next, where I would go etc. There are times when I get weird looks from strangers for what seem to be talking to myself but.. i just didn't care.

What I learned from Dr. Norizan, was that all this talking that I'm doing, was actually very good for her. I didn't realise it at the time. It was just something that I do with her. Apparently by explaining and describing everything, it enhances her vocabulary and made it easier for her to talk. No wonder she doesn't baby talk that much. When she first started talking, she was trying out real words. Pelat of course (kalau tak pelat terkejut mak hokay!!) but it was words that we could understand and not baby talk. Sure my father did baby talk with her. He has his own language with children. He did it with us too. But in Azalia's case it wasn't only me who talked to Azalia, but her nanny was also very talkative too, both of us would describe what we're doing when we give her a bath, feed her, etc.

Exposing her with English has also helped her in picking up the language really fast. By exposing I mean playhouse disney channel. hehehe. ok I'm not saying you should let your child watch a lot of tv. If you disapprove of tv(there are cons to it) than expose the language to her via other means, like you speaking it, or reading to her. We also read to her and sometimes we would talk to her in english. But since it's not our first language our main conversation is in Malay. But now that she has started school, and most of her teachers are non-malays, she naturally speaks in english, her grammars are quite good (a bit off here and there but I blame myself for that because I talk manglish with her..hehe). I guess by exposing the language to her at an early age it wasn't a problem for her to speak and understand the language.

Right now I'm thinking of exposing her to Mandarin. I wanted to enroll her in Mandarin class in school, but she's still adjusting so I might delay her enrolment. But I've always wanted to learn mandarin(I went to chinese speaking tadika but it stopped there), so I want her to try it out too. Maybe we could do it together!!!.. that would be fun.

Anyway... talking to your child definitely helps. No wonder those who are a bit on the quiet side, their children are also quiet and might take longer to talk (although this is NOT a big problem if it's still within their development time frame, kids develop differently so you can't really compare between the two).But no wonder mine talks non-stop. It's a bit tiring answering all her questions but she continues to amaze me.