12.2.09

Our new helper came in yesterday. Sent one of our Filipina helpers back and took in an Indonesian one. Well, a bad start…... we went to the maid agency to fetch our new helper, Yani. It took a very long to complete the paper work…. reason being….. she refused to sign the necessary documentation as she disputed over a month of salary. Apparently, the Indonesian counterpart stated that the salary deduction is 8 months instead of 9 months….after a long while and talking to her Indo agent, she reluctantly signed the papers….. I suppose it will be tough for her to get along with my mom too. Let’s see…

To address the tarot lady remark of me not paying enough attention on Sean…. I spent about an hour with him alone everyday. But that one hour is mainly to complete his school homework - book review, creative writing, Chinese writing, spelling and dictation. At K2, there is a lot of homework. Gathered from Faith’s mom that Primary 1 in Tao Nan School is actually much easier than K2 in Little Fairyland!

Last Sunday, I taught Sean his spelling till midnight…… for his following day spelling test. We started at 9pm. I got frustrated with him for not remembering those words. Sean told me: “can you please teach me to remember the words.” With that sentence, I knew that he indeed wants to remember and score full marks. We practice a few more times and went to bed. The next day, I tested him after his breakfast, he cannot spell two words out of seven. I was mad with myself for not teaching him earlier…. So I told him…. “It is ok if Teacher Millie never give stars in today spelling test.” (If that happen, it will the first time he get a wrong in his spelling test since he started his spelling test last year….) He looked at me and said: “ Ok, I will try my best.” He is a very sensitive boy. I supposed he sensed my expectations. I actually felt quite lousy as a mom... for not teaching him his spelling earlier. ...... When I came back in the evening, he told me: “Mom, I got 4 stars for my spelling test.” Yes, he managed to get it all correct. Nowadays, I am trying to manage my expectations. I must put in enough effort for the results I want.

Sean told me that as a K2 boy, he can call me ‘Mom”. He goes around and tell Shayne that only kids from K2 onwards are allow to call their mother “mom”. As for now, I will want them to call me mommy. I suppose it will be only a few more years …. when Sean will actually dropped the “my” and call me “Mom”. For the time being, I am going to cherish all the moments with my kids when they young........