Archive for August, 2011

Life Little Moments.

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

The other morning while the boys were having breakfast, I asked Calvin what he would like to bring to school for lunch.  I gave him the choice of the fried rice I made or the food that his grandpa has made.  This is what he said:

Calvin: I will bring your fried rice, mum.

Calvin: Mum, you are awesome!

Athan: Yeah mum, you are awesome!

Calvin: Mum, you are the most pretty girl!

Athan: Yeah mum, you are a pretty girl! And, papa is a beautiful girl too! hahahaha!

Both the boys broke up with laughter.

WOW! I was so surprised by their comments.  Apparently, in their little minds, I am awesome and good looking. 🙂 I felt so good! I know they probably won’t feel the same way about me in several years time.  And so, I better enjoy such little moments with the boys. They are precious.

 

Jogging.

Monday, August 29th, 2011

I decided to take the boys out for a jog yesterday late afternoon.  Its probably our first time! Well, Calvin has recently participated in his school cross country run and he still seems to be filled with enthusiasm about running.  To keep up with that enthusiasm, I decide to jog with him. Of course Mr A wanted to tag along although he had no idea what jogging was!

Athan thought it was a race and so he ran as fast as he could.  He got tired after a short time and decided to take a rest.  Mr Calvin was obviously not happy about this because when Athan stopped, I had to stop and so did he.  Athan caught on to the idea of jogging eventually and with some encouragement, he kept going.  However, he was too slow and could not keep up.  He took way too many breaks in between.  How should one encourage a 4-year-old to keep jogging and not give up?  I really wasn’t very good at doing that there and then, but I did tell him he had to go on.  And so he requested to hold hands with me while we jogged. 🙂 How nice.  Well, this clever little thing knew that if I held hand with him, he would not be left behind!  But I also knew that if I jogged with him hand in hand, it is less likely for him to give up.  I could only urge Calvint o be patient with his little brother.

It worked well.  Along the way, in fact the whole way, Athan was talking non stop.  He is a real chatter box, I kid you not.  He told me little stories that he made up as well as about all the things that he saw along the way.  He has something to say about everything. At times, I only said “uh huh” and he actually asked me what I meant by “uh huh”!  He wanted me to listen to him and answer appropriately, not just say “uh huh”.  Demanding or not? I am not sure if I have shared in this space before that Athan loves to talk.  He really does.  The father reckons that he takes after me. 🙂

Anyhow, we managed to *slow* jog all the way with Calvin in the lead.  I have to say I am proud of my little boy who did not give up.  I also have to say that Calvin can really run.  I honestly think that if it were only me and him jogging, he could easily surpass me.  Truth is, I am so unfit now.  Guess I better get my act together and start exercising.

On another note: Calvin did not come in first, second or third at his school cross-country run.  He came in 5th.  He told me that he fell down at some point as the grass was very slippery but he quickly stood up and ran again.  He was so adamant that if he did not fall, he could come in second.  I took the chance to let him know what I thought.  I told him I was very proud of him at the fact that he did not stop despite the fall nor did he give up even when he felt so tired at one point.  I also told him that  it is more important that he did not give up as compared with coming in first.  I think he got the point.  He was happy that his effort has gained some points for his faction (he is in the green team).  He may be in Year 1, but this little man can be very competitive.  He always want to win.  The school sports day is coming up in a few weeks’ time and he has been telling me about the training at school and how fast he can run and who he can and cannot beat at running races …. He wanted me to go watch him run — so badly.  I guess I better make time to go watch my boy run.

 

Sleep.

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

One of the things that we do before we go to bed each night is to check on the boys.  I particularly love to see their peaceful little faces.  Occasionally, we find the boys sleeping in funny positions or have funny expressions on their faces while asleep.  The other night was one of those occasions ….

We were so amused by how they were sleeping that night that the husband said we ought to capture the moment and share it with our friends and family. Enjoy.

Athan Talk #1232496.

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Athan: I am on a mission!

Me: What mission ? (sort of expecting some great things)

Athan: This toy is broken, that toy is broken, this is broken too …. I am going to fix all the toys!

Me: So your mission is to fix your toys?

Athan: Yup.

Me: 🙂

After thought: Fixing toys can be a mission too. 🙂

———————————————————————————————————————————

Athan was trying to put his jacket on and I asked him if he needed help :

Me: Do you need help with that?

Athan: No, mum I am 16 years old and I don’t need your help! I am going to the beach with my friends.

Me: Ok, bye!

After thought: I really don’t want my boy to grow up too fast!

————————————————————————————————————————————

The other day the husband asked Athan this question:

Robin: Athan, what are you most scared of?

Athan: umm… monsters, bad robots and bad people

Robin: Why?

Athan: I scared they take me away …..

Robin: What else are you scared of?

Athan: I scared you and mama die …..

Robin: *speechless* (probably did not expect such answer from the boy)

Me: Why are you scared of that? (after a long pause)

Athan: Because then “gor gor” (Calvin) and I don’t know what to do…..no one look after us ….

After thought: Gee, I seriously did not expect my 4-year-old to say such things. Seems like little people do think about life and death.  I also realise that Mr A’s fear is not so much of shadow or dark corners/rooms, rather, he is more afraid of being taken away by “bad” people/robot/monsters.   It is also interesting to note that at this age he is aware that he is dependent on us, his parents.  We do encourage him to pray that God will sustain our family and keep us together.

Brotherhood.

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

It was 5 – 10 minutes after I have tugged the boys in bed when we heard the “clanging” sound of lego pieces.  Somebody must be still playing with his lego pieces! I walked in and found Mr Calvin trying to fix his lego spaceship in the dark! I warned him to stop and went out.  Well, I do let the boys take a couple of their favourite toys to bed but they are not allowed to play with the toys until morning.

However,  Mr Calvin was so determined to fix his ship before he could sleep that he defied my warning and continued with his lego advenure.  The husband went in.  *serious stuff*  He removed all the lego pieces from Calvin and told him to sit outside of his room since he was not sleeping when told to do so (and disturbed his brother).  The guilty boy sat outside the room without a sound, all by himself.

Several minutes passed and we heard Mr Athan crying his room.  The cry sounded like he was very very upset.  The husband went in and found the boy sitting in his bed crying away, inconsolable. We tried to ask the crying kid why he was so upset but he said nothing.  At the end, I asked if he was scared to be sleeping in the room by himself.  He nodded and added (in between sobbing) that he was worried that his brother was outside and some bad people would come and get him. This might sound very terrible of me, but I really wanted to laugh then. I found it so cute!

We showed him where his brother was sitting and how his brother could not possibly be taken away by bad people.  Eventually he stopped crying.  Calvin discipline/time out was over. The two boys went to bed together. Happy to have each other again.

After thought: We probably do not know the real reason why Athan was so upset.  He could be telling the truth about his worry for his brother although the husband felt that I could have prompted him to say that…. Anyway, no matter what the real reason was, I believe that the boys have developed a brotherly love for each other (from sharing the same room, doing things together, fighting for the same silly piece of lego, wrestling and playing games).  If he were telling the truth, Athan has shown some ability to empathize with his brother. He’s growing up.

Oh well, I do hope very much that the boys will grow up to be best friends/brothers.

On another note, Calvin recently took part in a lego construction competition organised by a toy shop.  He build a police station and a plane.   He did not win.  He was disappointed, but I think it was a good experience for him.