the lol incident

 

The school where my two precious monkeys go every Monday to Friday from 8.45am til 3 in the afternoon, like every other school has canteen, which runs three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I rarely use the facility of the school canteen for my Boys.  Why? It's not because I am a perfect mother who loves to make lunch box  with home-made organic stuff  in it. Oh...no! I'm trying my best to give some healthy lunch and snacks for them.  But very often I fall into the chaos that seems to happen almost every morning at my household that Vegemite sandwich the only thing that I can master to put in their lunch box.  If I am allowed to put Nutella or Peanut Butter sandwich I will do too.  But nut is not allowed and Nutella is chocolate plus it has nuts too, so definitely my option is very limited.  Some days when I feel bright and get the energy and not lazy, I will make my home-made sausage rolls or mini Quiche or some pastry thingy for their lunch box.

But the reason that I very rarely send my Boys to the school canteen amid the chaos in the morning, because I still have time to make their lunch and I am the kind of mother who always wants to make sure that my kids are eating healthy stuff, not that I am saying the school canteen caters unhealthy food though. They actually very good with the menu, they rate their menu as (G) for Green Foods which is healthier everyday choice and (A) Amber Foods, limit intake and choose carefully, for example; hot dog, fish & hash and fish burger. And another reason if I can save couple dollars here and there why not?  Sometimes when the Boys ask if they are allowed to have ice cream or icy poles I would have no problem to give them money for it.

About a month ago one of my twins asked if he can have $2 to buy LOL drink (it's a fizzy fruit juice in different flavors) at the recess. I normally reluctant for my kids to have a fizzy drink, especially at school, but he begged and begged and told me that all his friends have LOL.  So, I gave up this time and he was very excited and couldn't wait to go to school that morning.

When I picked them up in the afternoon, in the car I noticed he was very quiet than usual.  Everybody who knows him, will agree with me that he's a quiet boy, shy, and always obey the rules and do exactly what the teacher says.  

I asked him how was school.  He replied that it wasn't good.  I said, why? And he told me that the lady in the canteen made him standing in the corner of the canteen in front of the other kids and accusing him of stealing the LOL drink.  Calmly I asked him to tell me how it happened from the beginning.  He said at recess time he went to the canteen and  gave the lady $2 and get the drink from the cooler machine, the lady took his money and later was busy talking with other ladies.  Then when he and his friend was leaving the counter suddenly a girl chased him and said that he hasn't paid for the drink.  The lady asked him to come back to the counter and asked him if he has paid for the drink.  

According to him, he explained to the lady that he had paid and he saw the lady took the money.  But the lady didn't believe him and accused him of stealing and made him standing in the corner for couple minutes before let him go with the drink!  I was pretty upset to listen to his story but I tried not to be emotional and I should think with my brain not with my boiling angry blood.  I said to him that I would talk to his teacher the next day.  I also asked him if he reported that incident to his teacher, he said no because he was too upset.  He even didn't want to drink that LOL and asked his friend to look after it, and later at lunch time he finally drank it. He told me that he never wants to go to the canteen anymore.  It was his first and last!  Poor boy.

The next day I spoke to his teacher and she said she would talk to the principal. She agreed with me that whoever that lady in the canteen didn't have the right to put him in the corner and accused him of stealing.  She should report Nathan to his teacher if she thinks he stole the drink.  I do understand, sometimes when you're busy dealing with customer (especially kids) you kind of forget whether you have got the right money or given the right change, etc.  And I DO understand while most the ladies in the canteen are volunteer mothers who sometimes while doing their job are also busy sharing some important information to each other, so mistake happens!  But, to accuse a kid of stealing and made him standing in the corner in front of other kids I think it is in appropriate!

 

Every day I had to ask the teacher whether there was news from the principal about my son's case.  After almost a week,  one afternoon I got missed call from the principal he left a message on my mobile said that he would like to meet me to discuss the matter.  I met him the next morning, to my disappointment that he just dismissed the case as it was not that important.  Casually he told me he had spoken to the lady in the canteen, according to the lady she didn't accuse my kid of stealing and didn't make him standing in the corner.  

So, whose lying here? My 6 years old boy or the lady with a brown hair??!! If there was a mis-understanding between my boy and the lady, I would like her to apologize to my boy.  If my kid lied, why he had to lie? While he was so excited to get $2 in the morning to buy the stupid LOL drink? Doesn't that lady think of the impact she made before she accused him? I wasn't happy with the solution.  I told the principal about the effect on my boy and he offered me if I would like him to talk to my boy personally, I said yes. Until this day, everyday I would ask my boy if the principal comes to talk to him about the LOL incident and apparently Mr. Principal is too busy dealing with more important issues.  Yes I do understant, he's busy.

 

He has more time chatting with mothers in the morning and before school pick up at car park than do his real job as a Principal of the school that I pay every term in time to educate my kids!

I asked my boy's teacher if I need to speak myself to the lady.  She didn't think I need to as the principal had already taken care.   I would like to advise the lady in the canteen to count her til and check if she's missing $2 before accusing a kid of stealing! And to the Mr. Principal I'm very disappointed.

Both my husband and I encourage my boy that sometimes incident like that can happen, it's life.  But we told him that he definitely did the right thing and he didn't steal the drink and he should not be afraid to go to the canteen if he wants to buy something.  His teacher also spoke to him and again firmly said that he wasn't a theft and if he needs to go to the canteen she would go with him.  

A week ago, I heard my other twin asked if his twin brother would like to have icy pole at recess time. And he replied, "No thanks, you know what happened to me last time I went to have the LOL drink".  I just hope as time goes by he would recover and forget about the stupid LOL!

Note:  I read about LOL drink that it's bad for children and some school has banned it. Read it here

it's back to school

 

School started yesterday...yaay!  Even though I have to say good-bye to my sleep-ins and the-whole-day-in pjs attitude but I'm quiet happy for my Boys to go back to school again.  I love them to bit but I do think they need better education than what Mummy & Daddy can teach them at home :)

So, the first day went very well I must say.  Considering they are in year 1 now and for the first time the Boys go to different class  this year.  Yes, I asked to separate them, they used to be in the same class at Kindy and Pre-primary.  I hope I do the right thing though.  And the teachers also agree with me.  It's just so they are not always clingy to each other, and to develop their own characters and have their own friends too.  Last year, one of the boy started to speak for the other one, even though it's not his turn to speak or to be asked.  While the quiet one was happy enough for his brother to always answer for him:p

They said they enjoyed the first day at year one.  It's less work and lots of playing time, as Dylan told me.  Not yet, pumpkin :)  Wait for the second week and I bet he will start to say: "I don't like school".... as he often did last year at Pre-primary.  Nathan settles pretty good in his class according to his teacher, a bit quiet in the beginning but then mingled with his friends very easy.  As for myself, I guess I will have double stuff to do as for parents volunteer roster. Double to do the Laundry roster every friday and helping in Cooking & Art class every monday!

While I'm pretty happy that school starts again, I also prepare myself with the same routine and chaos that happen in our household almost every morning;

• making school lunches: I have two boxes to prepare every day from monday to friday.   I suppose it will be the same with other parents who have more than one kids.  I tried as best as I can to do the variety for their lunches.  And while rummaging in the fridge to look for suitable spreads I have to remember not to put something with nuts or nutella, that means no peanut butter and nutella sandwich!  Sometimes it sucks being healthy, hey? And I also told myself that it's OK to order lunch from the canteen, the kids love it, and I don't always have to be a perfect good healthy home-made mother all the time!

• getting to school:  The boys love school, they love spending the day with their friends for sure, but to get them to school?  It's another story.  There is always something on telly that they have to watch before they have to brush their teeth, some picture they have to color before they can eat their brekkie, some game they have to finish before they get in the car and some story they have to tell before get out of the car... So, really, getting up by 7 in the morning sometimes it feels still not enough time, do I have to start at 5am??

• washing uniform: Now that they are wearing uniform also make my visit to the laundry more frequently.  Yes, the good thing that I don't have to worry what they have to wear, which clothes shouldn't wear for school as it will ruined and stained, etc.  The bad thing....is I am going to lock myself in the laundry room more than I have to be.  Having twins is always double the cost, so to save money a bit I bought both of them two pairs each of uniforms that I think it should be enough.  Just one day at school yesterday, Nathan came home with dirt and stained on his top uniform....arrgghhh....can you do your own laundry, my dear son?

• supervising homework:  Last year in pre-primary they hadn't have lots of homework.  Still some alphabet or numbers to write down at home or preparing for their news lesson, that's all that I can remember as far as homework goes.  Now that they are in year 1, I got a note from the teacher that starting week 2 they will be starting to send some homeworks.  I would like to think that I am a patient , tolerant and understanding mother when it comes to supervise homework.  But I think I would leave it to my husband as he has more patient to deal with the Boys that I am.

So I guess those are my highlights of going back to school this year.  How about you? Is there any advice/suggestion to minimise all of those...feel free to write to me :) Meanwhile, I'm going to have my coffee and chocolate donut in my peace, tidy, and quiet home! I know it's not healthy to have donut, that's why I'm having it when the Boys are at school....see how good to have them back to school again :)

tooth fairy is coming!

When I came home this evening, my son Dylan told me that he finally has lost his teeth. I say teeth because he lost two straight away of his first teeth. 

 

My little baby Dylan has lost his first teeth! I remember when he had none!

It has been about a week or so that he complained about his tooth and said to me that he had a very wobbly tooth, and I told him that the tooth fairy is coming. 

Today they were swimming in the pool when Nathan by accident bump his head to Dylan's mouth and just like that it fell into the water and my DH had to swim around to find them!

an up date

I haven't written in this blog for quiet a long time. Not that I was very occupied with life in general, it was just my brain was fried for a while. Some nights I sat in front of my laptop and thought would share some of my thoughts in this space. But suddenly, my brain went blank and my fingers froze.

Tonight, after spent most of the day being occupied with Easter mass in the morning, followed by picnicking at the river for the whole afternoon, and then dropped by at friend's house and ended up stayed until dinner time, I was pretty knackered but can't sleep. It's school holiday for another two weeks so I don't need to arise as early as 7.30am and no need to make lunch boxes....yaayyy! The kids is fast asleep since 8.30pm, they are buggered I reckon from playing and swimming the whole afternoon. My husband has gone offshore since a week ago....yup, I hate Easter without my complete family, feel so lonely, so widowed, so orphanaged!

Our life in general is doing fine. I was busy enough dealing with house building, I had gone as far as north of Perth to choose for shower screen, sliding doors, lights, and not to mention flooring and pool. I also chose and made the final decision for all the colors of the walls and feature walls, ceiling, doors, etc. All in all, my DH and I are satisfied and pretty content with the result. I'll be proud enough to say that I'm the interior designer for our house.

The time to move into the new house is getting closer. At the moment we are just waiting for the flooring to be installed then here we go....packing and unpacking again, hopefully this is will be the last time or at least not until another five years! I pray hard and hope that my -always-offshore-husband- will be around when the time is come. Honestly, I'm not that superwoman who can manage every thing by myself. Though, if worse come to worse happened and if the situation forced me to do so I have no other choice.

At least I have flown my Mum to help me with the moving and the kids. Not to mention in the middle of this chaos I will be also hosting a birthday party for my Boys. I have promised and bribed them that I would buy them lotsa pressies as long as we just celebrate it at home with mummy's home-made birthday cake. But, since they will turn five they want to invite almost the whole class of the pre-primary and half of the other class! So, I think we will have around twenty two or so kids on the 24th of April. I hope some of them can't make it:p Not that I'm a meanie mum....but omegosh, how am I gonna cope with moving and packing and preparing birthday celebration??? But called me a weak mum, I just can't say NO to those beautiful faces of my Boys, somehow my Boys, sure mummy will work on her fairy magic and voila... you're going to have a party!

Nathan and Dylan are doing pretty good in Pre-Primary. They even came out from their shells. They are not shy anymore as they used to be when they were in Kindy. One day when I was picking them up at school, one mother came to me and said: " The boys can talk now!" At first I didn't know how should I react. Of course my Boys can talk! But then I take it as a compliment. I know she means good. The teacher said Nathan and Dylan are popular amongst the children, they always make other kids laugh with their silly dance or just doing silly things....hmmm...:p Other mum also told me that her daughter can't stop talking about Dylan being so funny.

In their second week in Pre-Primary, Nathan got his first merrit award for the beautiful family drawing he drew, followed by Dylan for the crazy characters he transform into when in the dress up area! Can you imagine...what is he going to be? The Boys enjoy the school, especially Nathan. He just loves drawing and now non-stop writing numbers and practising his alphabets sounds. I will be still asleep when he often comes to my bed and asks me to count the number he has written! While Dylan sometime whines a bit about going to school every day. But then once he's in he forgets about me in a second, I have to drag him to kiss me good bye :-) Dylan's writing and drawing has improved so much since he's in Pre-Primary.

Both of them got pretty good report from the school. The only point that they need to develop is their good use of manner. Omegod!!! I feel so embarrased when I read this. I meant, how many times I keep telling them to say thank you, please, may I, can I have it please, etc, etc, about being a good manner. At home they pretty good in it. That's why it comes to a horror for me, well a bit. I think because they are still a bit shy especially to those who they are not really close/know well they tend to shut down. It often happens when we are out in restaurant and they wanted the lollies, I would have told them to ask for it themselves. And it often ends with tears because they want me to do it and I don't want to do it. Sometime I have to threath them, I know how bad mother I am, but how difficult it is just to ask please can I have lollies and thank you...? It's frustrated me but I keep working on it. They probably got it from my genes. I remember I was so shy and not confident when I was around 10 - 12 years old. I had changed a lot in my personality and confidence since I worked and lived overseas. That's why I do not want them to be like me. Especially they are boys. I want them to be independent, confident, and polite.

Besides that I think they are growing to be an outgoing children pretty much. They love to swim, in the pool or at the beach, they love climbing the trees so much! I feel that I can enjoy them now better than when they were babies. Sometimes I think I don't want them to grow up that quick I want them still like they are now.

In my friendship department I am starting to make friends with some of the mothers from school. We haven't gone to have coffee together yet, but at least the conversation is not limited only with Yes or No answers. And I am making effort to talk to them and I have not given up yet even though some of them still   
just give me the yes or no answers. I have no expectation to become good buddies or get invited to the car park mafia mums, but I'm trying my best to know some of them a bit better.

I used to ignore them or even avoid them when the Boys were in Kindy. It wasn't because I didn't like them, but at that time I have felt I had given all my efforts to become friends with them with no success at all. I found it very hard to have a proper conversation with them, either they just gave me the yes or no answers or sometimes they even didn't hear me. So I decided to avoid them, I would always come right on nine o'clock to drop off the Boys and five minutes late to pick them up so that I don't have to talk or even see them. I didn't really know what's wrong with myself, maybe it is written on my forehead WATCH OUT....SHE'S A BITCH, but those mothers were very very hard to talk to. First I felt sad and hurt, then I didn't care and stop talking to them completely. I only said hello, hi, smiled and gone.

Then my brain was starting to work again. If I want Nathan and Dylan to have friends at school and not to be shy I should start to make a different. That's when I decided that I will keep on trying to talk to the Mums. One day maybe I will find my own car park mafia...:p

I think now it's enough for my up date. I'm looking forward to move in to a new house and can't wait to decorate and maybe with a little bit luck I can pursue my darling husband for some new furniture. I am content with my life and enjoy being a mother for my children and wife to my vegemite head :D

a week in a metropolitan

My nightmare travelling alone with my two little monster-balls turned out to be a pleasant experienced. They were just perfect like two little angels. Our flight took off right on the dot at 8.40pm from Perth. The Boys were so excited that they had their own seat, the look on their face was so cute… a mixed between proud and impressed on themselves. They thought they were ‘a big man’ (as Dylan always refers to himself, i’m a big man..) as they didn’t seat on mummy’s or daddy’s lap anymore. They ate their meals very good, which was surprised me for they had their dinner before we boarded the plane. It took a while for them to sleep, but they were busy entertained themselves with the coloring books that were given by Qantas. Finally, around 10.30pm Perth’s time they both fell asleep. I had to wake them up couple minutes before we landed.
The first two days in Jakarta, The Boys were very calm and in a good behavior. Although, my brother’s car doesn’t have seat belts in the back row and I didn’t bring any boosters or car seats, The Boys remained sat still in the car. They didn’t jump around or stand up during the trip. I thought, hmm….maybe they were getting mature now. But then, on the third days and the rest of the week they were getting back to their normal attitude. My dream didn’t last that long.

 

When we had dinner at Bebek Goreng in Senopati with my old friends from school, they bashed off an orchid pot plans (to my horror, but it was too late for me to react) and since we sat kinda on the back veranda of the restaurant and there were gravel stones around, they managed to move at least some of the gravels into the big empty pot near by. 

 

Another time, at the restaurant I managed to get them drawing or coloring their book. But it only lasted about 10 minutes then they decided to explore under the table area by crawling all over the floor — can you imagine how clean and hygienic they were??

Thanks God at the apartment there’s a big pool and play ground for them to waste all the energy they had. Some of my friends lent us their children toys and bike too, so it was a good relieve. I must say, despite the destroying of the orchid plant, they were not too bad. In the car, they got bored when the traffic was bad but they were still in control. I took lots of healthy snacks and toys and books with me every time I went out.

 

But, my oh my…. Jakarta is more crowded than ever, lots and lots of vehicles especially motorbikes! I didn’t think two years ago, the last time I went back home, the traffic was this bad. Although already bad enough at that time, but now it’s even worse. Or maybe it is just me who get used to the very quiet life in Perth???

The shopping is still best ever. And the beauty maintenance is still so great. For a week I was in Jakarta, I went twice for cream-bath, one time wash and blow-dry, one time manicure and twice pedicure, also spent almost 5 hours for body scrub, massage, and facial. Goshhh…. I can always be pretty and terpelihara if I live in Jakarta! That is the only thing that I really miss about living in Jakarta. I do love my beauty treatment.

My highlight in Jakarta was I was able to catch up with most of my old friends, even though I only met them once and for couple hours but it was better than nothing at all. And of course, since I have The Boys so visited all the relatives in my Mum’s order was a top priority.

 

One thing that I didn’t do this time (unlike every time I go to Jakarta) was going out clubbing. It was just didn’t enough time and I supposed I wasn’t in the mood to go out dancing. Or maybe I had enough already lately!

 

Our flight back to Perth was 12 o’clock at midnight. I managed to put the boys down to have a nap during the day so that they won’t be too tired and cranky later on. And I was lucky again, they were really good boys. Once we were on the plane, before even it took off, both of them already fell asleep and they slept through until couple minutes before landed. Phewww…!!

So, my conclusion on this trip back home; it was really good to catch up with family and friends and for them to see The Boys in flesh but I don’t think I would stay more than a week unless we go outside of Jakarta and my partner in crime comes along too. I am lucky that Nathan and Dylan are not clingy to myself and can easily get along with everybody otherwise it would be a nightmare. The Boys are used to play and enjoy outdoorsy things like, parks and beach, so sometimes I felt sorry for them to tag along from one mall to others, or from one traffic to another. Thanks God too, The Boys ate and slept good through our stay and healthy. Because that is my other nightmares if they don’t want to eat or don’t sleep through the night.

New things that I found out about Jakarta since two years ago are; there are new big flash shopping malls that contain most of the-designer-brands and another middle class mall that always caused bad traffic around. There will be a subway thing too in Jakarta in the future, can you imagine? I just hope it will help out the bad traffic. Thing that remains the same is bad traffic alias macet… But still, for me Jakarta is a one unique city in the world.