May 31, 2008

Before 'The Empty Nest' Feeling Come..

Yesterday when i walked blogging, I found a posting of a mom about her daughter's 21th birthday and her feeling about that, like an 'empty nest' feeling. Interesting!
It's inspired me to write this.

With 3 kids aged 13, 11 and almost 5 that put our house -most of the times- in messy, the job of cleaning included put every things back in order really takes my time. It happens almost everyday (weekend is the worst). Tiring, of course!
Blessed me that I live in an Asian country and could have maid's helping. I can't imagine to do all the household works by myself. I really grateful for that :-)

Weekends usually become the most busiest days in a week. Full of plans of doing something or going out somewhere always make weekends becomes special day that we're sll waiting for. So far, my 2 teens still get enthusiasm for getting involved with the 'hustle bustle' of family weekend. But I think, maybe in a couple years ahead they won't be able to join every family's weekend. Certainly they'll have other things to do with friends. Teens love to do anything with friends, don't they?
(Remember when we're teens? hehe..)
Friend could become more 'interesting' than parents :-(

So I think it's better for me (at this time)to enjoy the 'hustle bustle' and all the messy my kids did than complained. I knew one day I'll miss those things so much.
Surely there will be times when they started to "leave" us to welcome their own life
and...the 'empty ness' feeling maybe would come to me.
Sigh. Should every parents has this experience?

May 27, 2008

Ian Keeps Asking About His Birthday Party

Yes,it has been starting from last month (Ian is going to be 5 next month). My hubby and I never made a birthday party at school or someplace where we could invited many kids. No, that's not the tradition of the family. We always celebrate birthday in private, just 5 of us. It could be at home or restaurant or somewhere else, but we still keep in private and like to do it all the years. My 2 other big kids never asked a birthday party before. They never complained about it. But now, it seemed quite different with their little brother. Ian keeps asking about his birthday party every time he received a birthday invitation card from his friend at school. And..it happens almost every week! I also imagine how many kids there had celebrated his birthday at school. Maybe that's why he keeps on asking.

I had explained to him (every time he asked!)that his birthday is on early July, it'll be school holiday and we can't celebrate his birthday on the other day, 3 weeks after, when everybody come to school again. Otherwise every people has their own special way in celebrating birthday. Party doesn't always mean he's 'real happy' with his special day (although most of them did, hehe..). the important thing is people should be thankful/grateful for his birthday, blah, blah....etc.
But till yesterday he seemed not understand about all I said. Finally I have "his point of view" in this matter, he just be happy to has many birthday presents from friends, like the way he saw his friends had at school on their b'day party. I don't want him feel that way, but I know...he's only a little kid.

Wow..what should I do? Is there any simple explanation for him about 'timing' since he doesn't care at all if his birthday on July will be the same time with school holiday?
Do you have any suggestion for me to say about this to him?
I think I almost give up. It always be easier to explain this to other kids than to mine.

May 26, 2008

Vegetable Chips



As we know, most of kids don’t like vegetables and most of parents want their kids loves vegetables. So..many tricks and recipes had made to ‘solve’ this ‘problem’. I found another easy trick and ‘delicious’ recipe to made vegetables tasted real good!

The ‘story’ begins with this…

A couple of days ago my hubby came home with a box brought back from a Sundanese restaurant. I was a little bit surprised to see the content of the box. Many long greenish chips in it. Yummy and crispy. I couldn’t guess what the chips made of until my hubby told me it was “kacang panjang”, a kind of beans.
(I can’t find its name in English. If you know, please tell me..)
We used that bean for many kinds of Indonesian cuisines. I put the picture above, but sorry it was a pity that my maid had already cut it short when I took the picture.

2 days ago on weekend I tried to made that ‘bean chips’ by myself and I did it successfully. All my kids love the bean chips. They said it doesn’t taste like vegetable at all. They used to throw away that bean when I make a cuisine with it. In a second all the chips has gone, “moved” to their tummies.
Here is a recipe if you want to try:
‘Kacang panjang’ (kind of bean, look at the picture above), washed clean and cut it short (5 – 6 cm)
1 cup of multipurpose flour seasoning
¼ cup of corn starch
¼ cup wheat flour
pepper powder
salt (if you like. I didn’t add salt because my multipurpose flour seasoning has already salty)
water

Mix all together in a bowl to make a thick batter. Put the bean in it and deep fried in hot oil.
---------- the end ---------------

I think you could try with other vegetables that has not contained much water in it like thin slices of broccoli, spinach, etc. I’ll try next weekend. Good luck for you.

May 24, 2008

Mini Pack Better Than Jumbo ?

I referred the title above to biscuits, cereals and any other kind of kids' food. Kids love those kinds of food. So many brands you'll find at market. Kind of cheese biscuits could be more than 10, also for the chocolate favor, strawberry, so many...I think maybe there always be one kind of new kids' food in every 2 weeks.

Have you ever found your kid felt amazed to look at rows of biscuits/snacks on the racks at the store/supermarket and couldn't decided immediately which snack does he really want? I often buy many brands of them in all at once and keep them at home, so whenever my kids want some snacks they just go and take it away from the kitchen's cabinet. I called that part of the cabinet as "the Food Bunker". Hehe..Since 2 of my kids have already teens, they get so much "great" appetite in foods :-)

Formerly I used to fill our Food Bunker with Jumbo Size Packs of snacks. With 3 kids at home I thought it would be cheaper to buy bigger size than the normal one *mom's opinion* :-b
But it was wrong...
I found my kids have tendency to be bored soon on one brand in jumbo size pack.
They'll open another pack soon, left the 'old' one. There would be 2 or 3 unfinished packs at the cabinet and usually they'll go to mom's and dad's tummy!

Do you ever experience this with the kids?
From that moment I stopped to buy Jumbo Size Packs. Mini Size Packs always be better for my kids. No more food left at the Food Bunker and no more excess calories intake for mommy and daddy :-b

May 21, 2008

The 'Closing Year End School' Party

Nowadays it seems to be busy days for kids from Kindergarten level in preparing their performances at stage for the closing year end school party. It happens to my little boy,too. Yesterday he gave me his teacher's announcement paper that said,"started from this week for 3 times/weeks all the kids would practice dancing at school". It means the practice will be more intensive and there will be only 2 more days left for studying in a week.
Everybody at kindergarten school seemed enthusiastic (it happened too in the preschool I managed). The party will take place on June,18 and the school days itself will be end 2 days later. Then the long school holiday will take place..

The excitement of preparing the party 'spread' to my home. My boy often sing his dancing song, sometimes when he's in the mood he would dance too and all of us would smile happily to watch his performance. Sometimes I couldn't believe. Whose kid is he? hehe.. Time flies! I still feel he's my baby. Look at him now, grow so fast!

Me, as his mom, almost couldn't stand to see his performance at stage.
What about your K kids? Do you experience the same thing?

May 20, 2008

Oh, I Can’t Stand Not Buying Books!

I visit the book store several times a week, minimum for twice a week since almost everyday I passed it on the way to fetch my boy from school. Usually I don’t just browse books, but also buy some too. At least one book if I think I’ve had spent too much on books. I really couldn’t stand to let the interesting book stay on the display rack, my fingers “love” to move it to the cashier table. My other trick to stay away for a while from buying new books is taking another route to my boy’s school or when I was at the mall I didn’t passed the book store and I hate to do that. Sigh!

My five book cabinets at home don’t fit enough to keep all our books. That’s why I’ve an idea to change my living room to a cozy home library with 2 soft sofas completed with a nice carpet and couples of pillows. My family is seldom to sit at the living room’s chairs. We always like to chat on the carpet in front of the TV so I think the living room is a little bit useless. We also have few guests to stop by. Anybody except our friends and family doesn’t need to enter the living room. On the terrace is quite enough I think. Hehe.

Ok, back to my book shopping habit…
I inclined ‘stingy’ for buying toys, but not for books. My kids can buy many books they liked as long as the books good for them. As birthday present for their friends, I recommend books too. My kids would really open their eyes widely when I bought toys for them. Sometimes I felt a little guilty when they’re talking about their friends’ toys, especially the boys. Only when it comes to a very special occasion like birthday, I give them toys. Since they know their mommy doesn’t like toys too much, they seldom in begging for ones.

Is this a good custom of motherhood or not? I don’t know. I just don’t have so much pleasure in shopping toys like most moms did. What about you?

May 19, 2008

Fun With "the Volcano"



On this semester the kids at K1 and K2 made an experiment of “Volcano Eruption’. They really got fun of it. Here are the pictures…


If you like to do it by your own with the kids at home on weekend, these are step by step how to do that exciting experiment.

1.Prepare 1 big plastic bowl, 2 table spoons of soda powder for cakes, a bottle that has small lid, water, red color for food and white sand beach to fill ½ half of the bowl.
Besides take away the sand from the beach, I could buy the white sand beach in the art supply store here. I recommended for white sand only since its color could make striking difference color with the red lava later.
2.Fill ¾ of the bottle with water and drop a few of red color food to make “red lava”
3.Put the bottle in the middle of the bowl, covered it with all white sand. Then form the sand like a volcano. Try to make its small lid has the same level with the sand, but be careful, don’t let the sand go into the bottle.
4.After that, tell the kids about ‘the volcano’, why it could erupt and how does it works when it get eruption.
5.Put in all together the soda powder for cakes to the bottle. Wait for a moment and then you’ll see “the red lava” comes out from the lid of the bottle.

That’s all you need. You’ll see your kids’ enthusiasm and how exciting they are. So, learn about science could always be fun after all !

May 18, 2008

Yesterday Sunday Mass

The Sunday Mass we attended yesterday morning at the Cathedral really touched my heart. I knew from the beginning that would be something special there since there was a string orchestra (violin, viola, cello and their 'friends')played by the young teen boys coming from one of the best seminary school in Central Java. Usually only the piano 'join in' the mass. At the front yard of the church some of the boys was selling white T-shirts that have good & cute black words printed out like "My God can do anything" or "Only God could save me", etc. They tried to get a fund-raising.

After all when finally the homily started we knew that the seminary school do need our helped very much. Not only the fund, but the most important thing was the school need more boys to be educated for becoming future Catholic priests! The headmaster of the school that led the mass tried to "knock" every parents' hearts in a wonderful way.

He said since the National family Planning was successful then the amount of the boys who registered to the seminary school became lower every year. At 1990 the school had 380 boys, but now only 107 boys! It decreased more than 50% in 18 years. What about the next decade he asked. He (and also the whole Catholic church in the world) really worried to this numeral growth. It's happened through out the countries in the world, not only in Indonesia.

He asked us from now on to add a Catholic priest as a future "profession" for our boys hopes, not only becoming an engineer, medical doctor, pilot, or such kind of that. He invited us for willing to "give" one of our boys in the family to become God's lover.

He took 'a paper plane project' as an example (this one I liked the best). He asked little kids at the Sunday Mass to come in front with him. Then they all together made paper planes, the kids did the project with White-clean-flat-papers and the Padre/Priest did it with a Grey-disheveled-paper. After that they all flied their planes. Everybody clapped for them. All the white planes flew high nicely and had good landings except the one made from Grey-disheveled-paper. It couldn't fly as high as those made from nice White flat papers.

From that example he wanted to show to us, as parents, that kids are always like 'White-clean-flat-papers'. It's our responsibility to make 'the papers' neat folded and give bright colors on. We don't need to "push" our kids 'too hard' and always talk gently to their inner heart and they would follow and heard you. He said most of moms always talk 'too fussy' to their kids (hehe...I did it! What about you?) Please don't be like that anymore or your 'beloved paper' become disheveled and couldn't fly high or made good landing.(Ok, I'll try to do my best, Father).
Make a 'colorful paper planes' of yours!
It was the touching Sunday Mass I've ever had this year.

Then I asked my 2nd kid, a boy aged 11, "Do you want to be a Catholic priest?". You know what his answer.."Not me, Ma". And the little one, aged 4 said he want to become a Medical doctor like his father.
Then I felt a little bit disappointed, maybe it's true to made all the seminary schools had many boys it would become mainly and the first: Family and moms' responsibility. I don't know if this feeling would stay longer in my heart or not, but for this moment I would be grateful if one of my boys want to be a Catholic priest. Really! I don't dare to imagine what would our world turned into in the next 3 or 4 decades without sufficient priest.

What about you if you're a Catholic? Did you still have to think "Let the other boys become Catholic priests, not mine..." ?

May 15, 2008

Do you really KNOW about MILK?


At this moment there are still many women having certain opinion that consuming milk could make them gained more weight or get obesity. That opinion should be changed by now because by drinking milk, especially for women and kids could be a ‘saving’ of calcium in the future.

Actually milk has lots of nutrients and vitamins especially for the bones. The potassium and vit D that has already exist in milk could absorb the calcium in foods we consumed and saved in the bones so we could spared from osteoporosis. Do you know that “saving” calcium should be start from fetus, baby until teens? That’s a very crucial era in saving calcium because on aged 17 the 91% of bone mass has alreadyformed. After that the bone mass will gradually turned down. It almost useless if we started to drink milk or intake calcium supplement at adult aged because of those reason above. So don’t ever get tired to remind your kids to drink milk since they’re very young in aged.

These are kinds of milk at the market we should knew:
•Whole milk
Contain 3,5% of fat and enriched with vit D. When you let it still, there will be a fat layer on top.
•Low fat milk
Contain of 1 – 2% of fat. The nutrient is almost the same with whole milk and enriched with vit D and A.
•Non fat milk / Skim milk
Contain of not more than 0,3% of fat and enriched with vit A to replace the ‘missing’ nutrient in the process of fat banishment.
•Pasteurized milk
Kind of milk that has already pasteurized in ‘disappeared’ bacteria. When the heating process turned well then the taste, color and the contained of thiamin, vit B12 and lysine would stay good.
•Evaporated milk
60% of its water would be evaporated so the color become darken and has the aroma of caramel. This kind of milk has contained 7,5% of fat and rich of vit D & C.
•Condensed milk
It’s a kind of evaporated ‘whole milk’ and has 40% - 50% of added sugar, 8% of fat and usually enriched too with vit A.

So to every mom don’t ever afraid to become fat by drinking milk. Used to drink 1 -2 glass of milk everyday so we could stay healthy until we grow old.

Source: Kompas Daily 31/7/2007 edition & Cosmopolitan March 2002.

May 14, 2008

Welcome 'Sesame Street' Indonesia

Welcome to Sesame Street Indonesia! In Indonesian version and language this time.
I'm very pleased to know finally there is a very good program for kids here in my country. Since there are so many uneducated shows on local channels TV here, it would like an 'oasis' to watch "Jalan Sesama" (this is the Indonesian version of 'Sesame Street', not have exactly the same meaning, but the same sound).
I had suggested parents from the preschool I managed to let their kids know this program. Unfortunately, the timing of this program is not comfortable for all kids to watch. It shows every Tuesday afternoon - 1.30pm at Trans 7 Channel. Weird time for kids, isn't it? Couldn't be seen by every kids! Maybe I should write to them to change the time. Hehe..

For almost the last 2 year I wouldn't allowed my kids for watching most of the local TV channels. Their programs only full of jealousy, rivalry, hit and hurt each other...such like that. My hubby finally chose to subscribe one of cable TV program. I didn't say that that the program we subscribe is really good for kids, but at least they could watch National Geographic, Sesame Street, world news and many good quality programs.
I wonder those other Indonesian kids that comes from lower income families. What are their choices for their kids to watch? They don't have any choice at all. Wow, what are we hoped then from my kids generation later when they usually watch that kind of 'junkies' programs.

So, I really appreciated to those people 'behind the screen' that willing their money to buy such a good program for kids to watch on local TV channel. Thank you..

May 13, 2008

Financial Education For Kids

Yesterday I read an article about “Financial Education for Children’ in one of a local business newspaper, Kontan Weekly. It’s a simple guide for parents. I, myself, really concerned about how important it is for young children to understand the value of money in this era of credit cards and ATM.
I believe the importance in giving them financial “training”. The earlier we gave them the better result they’ve got and in the long run would save difficulties for them in managing their own money.

These are the steps to start:
Parents as a role model.
Did you remember how was your parents managed their money when you were kid? Then take a look at their financial condition now. However they are our first role model in forming our way of thinking about money. Maybe you would follow your successful parents in managing money or vice versa. For me, I really turn to the different 'direction' from them since I don’t want to follow their mistaken.
From the beginning of this year I’ve started to share with my 2 teens about our financial condition. It doesn’t matter for them to know it since they’ll learn something. My hubby and I feel free to discuss with them where we want to invest our money and why we did it or for what reason we’d spent the money into this or that…

Stop to save money in piggy bank. Teach them how to spent money.
That’s true. Piggy bank would not give financial education to your kids. It only teaches your kid to put in the coin or $$ into a narrow space. Kids should understand money is a legal payment device. It means money should have to be spent :). Kids should understand shopping is necessary, but it doesn’t healthy if we did it to much!
With my family -at the end of the kids’ school year- we usually go for traveling and at that moment they could spend their saving money (often it comes from their all year long extra ‘snack’ money that we gave them weekly and from our “rewarding” present if they did something good and special). But still spending in a moderately way.

Teach them how to earn money
For you that already have kids, surely we had ever got these questions:
“Mom, if you don’t have enough money why shouldn’t you go and get some money from that ATM booth?” or “You could scratch your card, isn’t that easy Dad?”.
You need to tell them money comes from hard works and we save it in a bank. ATM or credit cards just a kind of card to access the money we’d saved before. (for a 3 – 5 aged kid usually need a longer time to make them understand). I often show to my kids when I need to transfer some money for paying bills at the ATM.
So, there is no ‘money tree’, honey. But you know what, once my 4 year old kid saw an Angpao Tree and asked me a question when we were shopping at the mall around Chinese New Year, “Mom, there is a real money tree here. You said it doesn’t exist”. Ha ha …
Sometimes learning to start a ‘little business’ could be fun for teens. I’ve ever posted to this blog about my daughter sold her own made name cards and how my 2nd boy often run out of money. Last week he made a good progress and we’re happy for him. This the ‘story’ goes….
Last week end we all go to Makro -a wholesaler place- to do monthly shopping for home supplies. The he saw a pack of eraser -contain 40 ones- for only Rp 8.000,- (about less than 1U$). “How cheap”, I said, but does it good?
“May I have it, mom?” he asked for permission. I’ll agree. At home he tried the eraser and said it was a real good quality.
The next day after he arrived from school, he gave back my Rp 8.000 because he had sold them to his friends for Rp 1.000 each. He sold out 37 pieces; keep the 3 pieces rest for him and 2 of his siblings. Gosh…he gained Rp 29.000 !
Sure he was glad and spent part of the money for an action figure of a Japanese comic hero. It was his first ‘selling’.

Well, the financial education never comes to the ending. All the good habit should start from the very young at ages. Also don’t forget to remind them about the habit of giving and sharing to the needy. Good luck!

May 12, 2008

The BLUE Cake

Just a moments ago, I opened the refrigerator trying to find something to eat for my breakfast. Hehe.. actually it was almost 10 am, I was busy blogging and forget to eat until my stomach made a "rumble" sound. Usually I don't have 'real' breakfast, just a huge glass of fruit juice every morning. No,no..not for diet, only trying a more healthy habit in eating.

Ok, back to what I found in the fridge...
Cheese, chocolate, butter on the first rack. Oranges on the second rack...uh, nothing was interesting to fulfill my appetite. Aha.. on the corner, I found a small round BLUE icing sugar coated cake! I remembered that yesterday was Kyra's birthday, one of Ian's friend at school and he came back home with that small BLUE cake.
I took out the cake and sit in front of my PC again, ready for eating while writing (I've never been allowed this manner to my kids, hussh...don't tell them).
As I turned to look at the color of the cake, I became worried. Was the coloring food safe to little kids? Did the bakery really care about it? Why was Kyra's mom chosed the BLUE one? Actually the soft color of blue made the cake looked cute! Every little girl would love it.

Finally, I removed the BLUE cuttie coated and ate just the chocolate cake inside. I didn't dare enough to taste the BLUE icing sugar. Maybe I'm a kind of old fashioned mom that only love the real chocolate cakes or if I has to choose another color of cakes for my kids, I turned to nature yellow color, I mean a butter cake or a cheese cake. That's all. Sometimes I chosed fruit top coated pastry as long as I think the fruits was real, not fancy fruits made of sugar. I still think the food coloring doesn't good enough to my kids health.

What about you ? It would be great to hear other moms' point of view about the coloring food.

May 11, 2008

Mom, The First Teacher

As a mom of 3 from a nation that English is not our mother-tongue, I've a dream to bring the kids up in an atmosphere where English is introduced from their early childhood life.

With the 1st and 2nd it's a little bit difficult on trying because I didn't start to speak English with them from the beginning of their life. They don't speak English voluntary in family. My husband and I often used many tricks to motivate them in speaking English.

With the 3rd is a little bit different although at the end he didn't speak English to us voluntary too. He he..
He goes to a Montessori school since aged 3 (to fulfill my desire in fact..) that has totally different method of teaching than the usual national curicullum in public school, where his 2 older sibling went. At that school he has an English speaking environment from the first day. Now almost 5 on next July, I see and feel he has a better improvement in speaking English than the 2. His teacher said he's very active in speaking at class with his friends and the teacher. He likes to describe funny things and what he did with his 2 older siblings at home to them.

I always try to support and encourage him by making conversation in our way back home from school. The topics could be anything, from what we saw at the street or just telling him what I had done today or asked him if there was special matter at his school. Sometimes (when he forgot I'm his mom) he would answer in English, but most of the times always in Indonesian. First I feel a little bit confused why he won't speak English a lot with me..since I knew from his teacher he always did to everybody at school (I even did a spy on him to fulfill my motherhood curiosity if it was true or not, ha ha ha...).

Once I asked him why he wouldn't speak in English with me or his father (because when we speak in long sentences and I often did in purpose, ha ha .. then he could answer or make good comment of it, but in Indonesian! It means he clearly understand what we're talking)
You know what he said…
“Ma, it’s surely different! English is used at school, with you Indonesian.” Hah?!
What should I say? He has already known English was not our mother tongue.
Kids are really smart, aren’t they?

So far.. I quite satisfied with his progress at school as long as I’ve got good report on him from his teacher. ..
or as long as I could heard he speaks to himself in English while he plays Lasy or Lego blocks at home.
Sometimes when my 3 kids play together and the 2 big kids busy talking to each other, didn’t consider him then he would talk loudly in English to get their attention back. He did it! Usually both of his siblings would get silence a moment, smile and said, “ Listen, listen…he speaks English”. Then they play again together. Hahaha…

I’m not expert in English and I do ever worry -as many teachers do- that the “student” (my boy) will complain about my pronunciation or grammatical ‘errata’ I made. But he won’t ! He has very high tolerance even if I makes dozen mistakes or has to open my Alfa Link dictionary a hundred times. He simply doesn’t care. He still thinks his mom is the best, ha ha…Of course, I should confident as a mom since I’m his first teacher he’s got.

I just want to share with you, all the mom of 1–5 years old kids -since English is not our mother tongue-, never feel shy to speak English with your little ones. Let’s open the manual books and feel ‘free’ to start teaching English to them. This is the right moment while they’re still in early childhood and while you’re still in ‘love’ with learning process too..
Enjoy learning, enjoy teaching and good luck !

Good Days, Bad Days..

Becoming a mother is the only job in the world that has no leave even for just one day. Maybe I could get off from kids and hubby for a moment, an hour or a day, but still keep busy in mind remembering them. Never really 'free' like the way when I take a leave on my job at preschool and could 'erased' all the stuff linked to it perfectly from my mind. That's why (maybe..) becoming a mother sometimes could turned me "crazy" because of no leaving times....

I believed that's true. There always be some good days and bad days in my motherhood experiences for almost 13 years. (Gosh...how I could stand for so many years!)
There are days when I feel very proud and grateful to be a mom for my 3 kids (sometimes 4 when my hubby turn in to).
Like what happened yesterday when I emerged from a shopping trip with hubby and the 3kids. I don't know if it was because the pleasant of the May breezed afternoon or the warming heart I had at the moment, but it remind me how great the day had been. Usually on this days I couldn't resist to hold my husband's arm or made a call or a sms just to let him know how much I love him and appreciated on what he has done to me and kids. Of course I love these kind of days...

Unfortunately, there ia another kind of day.....
The day when I could turned into a "monster" to the 3 little angels. A day when i seem to be loud speaking, irritable, impatient and unsympathetic with them. Truly, I hate those days. I know kids also have their good days and bad as well, like me normally, and it should be my responsibility for any inappropriate behaviour or poor examples I may exhibit to them.

I imagine this morning if there's a potion that could enable me to have good days more than bad days. A kind of potion that could helped me prepare my kids' endless parade of meals from breakfast till dinner with a bontiful joy; the messy they made at living room ... could inspired me to give thanks for many blessings; the forever chaos they made at the backseat of our car...could remind me of the beautiful easy listening songs I loved,.
ha ha ha... what a perfect mom it was!

But no, I don't want to be the one.
I just want to be me. Let my kids know I'm just normally human being with good moods and bad sometimes, could be a strong as well as a weak mom. Let them learn from that matter like the way I always learned being a mom to them. For me, motherhood is a continuous learning process forever. I just hope I could be 'a better me' day after day as a mom....

May 10, 2008

MOTHER

One of my friend from Readers Digest Indonesia sent this to me 2 days ago...
Beautiful.

If you have a mother
Treasure her with care
For you'll never know her value
Till you see her empty chair!


M - O - T - H - E - R
"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world


Happy mother's day!

May 08, 2008

New Hand Wash Basin

There was something interesting yesterday with the kids at preschool. All of them liked to wash their hands over and over again. Some of them also wash their face. They still asked the teacher at class to go out, but with lots and lots of smart reasonable reasons the teacher never faced before. Something like this "my hands are sticky of glue, there's a crayon marked at my face, miss I need to go out to pick my nose for a moment (gee..since when he need to go to out to pick his nose...usually he need tissue)", etc. They washed up not only before and after had their meal, but several times in a day. Some of them needed to change their outfit because had wet all over.

You know why they acted like that?
Because we have a new hand-wash basin with 3 taps at school since the old ones didn't sufficient anymore to accommodate their hand washing and teeth brushing activities.
But look the fact now..
Instead of decrease the long queue the new hand wash basin made longer queue than before! And the kids were happy to do that.
Gosh, I didn't guess before that a new hand wash basin could really made them very excited and happy like that! I think my plan to stick some instant cute pictures on the ceramic tiles at that area should be reschedule....
No need longer queue for this moment!

Digging Books!!

I just realized I haven't blogged or browsed for almost 5 days!
Gee..how could I?
Maybe because I was busy digging the books at the book expedition. Hahaha... Yes, I really mean "stir up and dig" at a stuck of books.
Last week there was a quite big book expedition at my town. Many publishers and bookstores participated. Eventually for couple of years since Soeharto didn't take hold as president, they could published any kinds of books with quite good price in this country. As a bookish surely I love this freedom ambiance.

Back to what I found at the expedition....
So many books. I took from the theme I loved 'till the ones that could add more wrinkles at my forehead, but still I took them because for the most important reason...
THE PRICE WERE CHEAP... ha ha ha
( as a mom of 3 I become more selective in buying stuff, always try to find good stuff with reasonable price, luckily if I could find ones with cheaper price).
That's what I mean, While I was going around the exhibition I found a crowded of people at one stand at the corner. Full of curiosity I went in the crowd and saw something written with red-big letter in one side of the partition "Rp 5000 - Rp 15.000" (only 5 - 10 U$). It was quite apparent to me the stand was selling imported and second hand books, maybe also the overstocked books from publisher.
I don't care with that as long as the books still in good condition. many of them still in plastic wrapped completed with their real price tags.
Oh..how I love this place!

I went there for 2 days in a row and spent at least 2 hours on the average before I picked up my son and you know what...for those 2 days I arrived minimum 15 minutes late at his school!
From 2 days being a book hunter I've got more than 10 good quality books that I've never seen before at local book stores here. I feel completely lucky and happy.
Still until this day, busy for reading all the books.