As Bree Van De Kamp says, "I work too, I'm a Home Maker." (pix of Rosie The Riveter copied from smartgirlsknow.com)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Mars Needs Moms

Damascus cried watching the movie, he said, "Acus tak naklah tengok cerita ni mommy, Acus rasa sedih,", curling up in my lap and hugging me. It was actually very moving, not the typically fun and loony kids' animation movie, all moms and children should watch it :) I cried because Damascus cried...

Anyway, my latest game plan is working well so far. All 3 boys are washing their own cups and plates as best as they can, and they now place greater value on their belongings, ie. cups, plate/bowl and cutlery. They're still messy of course, toys everywhere and dirty clothes outside the laundry basket, but they diligently bring their cups and plates to the kitchen after being excused from the dining table, and they will certainly wash their dishes; when their plates and cutlery get too greasy, mommy or ayah will help them surely :)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

My Latest Game Plan

Every morning I wake up to a sink full of empty glasses and milk cartons, that everything overflows to the counter top. This is really not good for anyone's mental. It's worse during school days because I have to rush preparing school uniforms, lunch boxes, and whatever last piece of homework that needs to be done or packed into school bags.

I seldom clear the dishes and prep my kids' stuff at night because I do my Jules work at night, after we have all kow tim homework and dinner, and I have mellowed down with coffee alongside CSIs or Castle. And most times while I'm working, my kids will get their own milk and water themselves. By the time I'm too tired to continue with work, I'm also too tired to deal with the other stuff. But if I'm baking, then it's a different matter coz I'll surely clear the sink and kitchen before I start.

So anyway, yesterday, after spending the whole day cleaning house, I decided on a new game plan. That each boy will have only 2 glasses to use day in and day out (they need 2 instead of only 1 because sometimes they both have juice/milk and water during 1 meal). Once they are done with the glass they must wash it or they won't have any glass to use, because mommy has kept all the other glasses, dishes and cutlery in a secret hiding place. The same goes with their bowls and plate and cutlery. And if they use our grown ups' stuff they will be punished, whereby their favourite toy or current favourite belonging will be taken away from them.

Yes, this may sound like something Cruella De Vil would conjure, but the thing is, when my boys are at my parents', they do actually wash their own dishes! Because everytime before I leave them there I'll tell them that they must help TokMama because TokMama tak larat. So, in Klang, they wash their dishes, they help put their laundry in the washer then into the dryer or the drying line, they make their beds and they clean their room! Something that they miraculously become unable to do at home! My mom has always been great with kids, but I figured that this isn't about my mom's Mary Poppins factor, but perhaps more about mommy having to juice out the Cruella De Vil in her, muahahahaha...

Many other supermoms out there may have already been doing this and excelled, but I suppose I've been too soft. But no more...muahahahaha!!!

So, we're entering the 2nd day of this new regime, and things are looking promising. They can already manage to shower and clean themselves, so now they must get into the habit of keeping the other stuff clean, neat and orderly. They still have much to go in making their beds and putting their dirty clothes into (not around) the laundry basket, but at least these haven't yet disrupted my state of mind. Darling husband and I had thrown out (3rd round) some more of their unkept toys last few days after ayah's final outburst, so where their toys are concerned they know very well what they need to do.

Today I'll work on their wardrobe. Bob The Builder? Ben10? Superman? Ultraman? Heh, sorry kiddos, all will be gone if you don't start getting your acts right. I hope they realise that we seriously mean business, muahahahaha... :)

Monday, March 7, 2011

Happy International Women's Day 2011

Here's wishing all FAB WOMEN out there a Happy International Women's Day! May we all continue to enrich and empower ourselves as we grow strongly alongside global progress, may we continue to contribute positively towards our family and friends as well as the needs of our community and society, and may we remain relevant among our piers and the ever exciting opposite sex! InsyaAllah... :)