Fingerprint Cracks

...that started with the drying of the skin around the tips of my fingers that led to small (but painful) cracks along the grooves of my fingerprints. One particular crack eventually grew so wide and deep that it opened up started to bleed. 🩸 #slipperyslope #justmyluck

Ouch.

The result of a handful of people at home and one person doing all the dishes. 😅 How deep is your love, you ask? Pretty darn deep, I’ll tell you that. #dontjusttalkaboutit #doitforlove #actionsspeaklouderthanwords

Trying Out A New Parenting Hack

One that allows me to do what needs to be done without having waste a lot of time just waiting around doing nothing before I can continue doing something. It's all about efficiency, bruh! 

You see, JJ was taking FOREVER to finish his dinner tonight. And after a long day of cleaning house and doing whatever it is mothers do, ain't no mom wants to spend forever sitting around waiting for some chewing to be done. 

JJ with his mouth full.

I was tired, cranky, and starting to get impatient. I just wanted to go home, take a nice, hot shower and watch me some The Big Bang Theory in front of the telly! So, I did what I had to do – get creative.

🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄

Desperate times; desperate measures.

#letsgetcreative #thinkingoutofthebox #nolimits

Only 5 spoonfuls left to tackle. 🖐 Totally manageable. Much less overwhelming than a messy plate full of food, right?? Sometimes you gotta #breakitdown to bite-sized portions for your audience, you know. Literally, in this case. LOL. Big bonus is that we got to countdown to the last spoon, too, which turned out to be a pretty fun way to bring dinner to a close.

Ah, the ideas mothers (have to) come up with

when kids take forever to finish dinner. 🙄 

Storytime With Kong Kong – The Kampung Boy From Kedah

I grew up hearing stories of days gone by from my dad. Whenever I was in bed by 10.00pm, I was rewarded with a story. And each time, the story would begin in the exact same way... 

"Behind my house was a paddy field...

Behind the paddy field was a rubber estate...

And behind the rubber estate were some train tracks."

I enjoyed hearing all about how he caught fighting fishes and trained them to fight and win. About how he rigged his rubber seeds with candle wax so he could crack his opponents' seeds effortlessly. How he caught spiders amongst the trees and let them fight to the death. And how he (very dangerously) put nails and stones on the train tracks so they would go flying all around when the trains sped by. #donttrythisathomekids

Having said all that,

I'm so glad that last night,

the boys listened to their very first

kampung-boy story from Kong Kong.

Updated storytime experience for a very visual and tech-savvy next gen, of course, with YouTube videos of fighting fishes jumping out of the water and attacking each other, for added effect. 🙄

Things That Matter More

If I were to hold up a piece of paper that had a single dot on it and asked you what you saw, you'd probably say – a dot. Why? Because our perspective is usually skewed towards noticing the bad and not the good. The blemish, stain and speck on the otherwise flawless environment it rests on. Because it's easier zooming in on a single, teeny-tiny, dark spot on a white piece of paper, instead of focusing on that entire white paper itself. Easier to bemoan the cloud than to appreciate the silver lining. Abhor a pimple than admire a pretty face.

Now, here's the reason to that analogy...

We've pretty much given up on live-in helpers. We've had them on and off ever since JZ came along but after a few crazies and a handful of bad apples, we've decided that enough is enough. 🙅‍♀️ Enough agency fees spent; enough frustrations endured. The kids are older... I was just two shots shy of being done with Herceptin (at the time)... It was time to go it alone. We were ready. All the best, good riddance, bye-bye. 👋

Well, I'm happy to say that in the past 2 months since we started playing house, our home is majorly neater but marginally dustier, the kids are doing more and grumbling less, I'm happy to not have to deal with any drama while The Husband is happy to not have to spend RM1960 a month, and I'm usually so tired by the end of the day that I sleep better now than ever before. LOL. All in all, it's been good. Really good. This step towards independence has worked out quite well for us, if you ask me.

But of course, there are days when things just. don't. work. out. the way they should. Those one-off black-dot kind of days when there's just too much laundry to be done, too many toys on the floor and too little time to do it all. On days such as those, I tend to internally groan and grouch the situation that has befallen me. BUT... there's always one thing that never fails to return a smile to my face:

When I see my boys quietly enjoying

each others' company and entertaining themselves

(as they steer clear of their monster mom).

My house may be messy, but my heart is full. ❤️ 

And if you ask me, I think the latter matters more.

Stepping Out In Penang @ Urban Daybreak

I’m a creature of habit. I don’t try many things, and usually prefer to do what I’m comfortable with, where I'm comfortable at. Basically, I stick to what I know la – to what is safe. Having said that, I’m finally trying a new breakfast place The Husband found in Penang via the Internet, after living here for over a year now. 🍳🥞🥓☕️ #babysteps #newbeginnings

 

Three pictures is all you get. Cos after the food came, I forgot about blogging and just started eating. HAHAHA. #failmax Sorry la, it's been awhile since blogging has been a priority, ok. After having kids, I've come to realise that if you don't eat when you can eat, you lose your chance and don't get to eat at all liao until your next meal. 😆


Anyway, I didn't think my french toast was anything to shout about, the bacon 🥓 wasn't well-done enough (read: crispy and fat-free) for my taste, and I didn't like that there were cats 🐱 walking around, which the servers were patting between serving us. Ick! 😱 The peanut butter was interesting but not interesting enough for me to go back just for it. Oh, and parking's horrible in that area. 

One thing I would possibly go back for though? The music. Relaxing tunes played at just the right volume for us to be able to hum along to, yet quietly enough for us to still be able to chit-chat without having to raise our voices. This is ambient music done right. The place also didn't echo much so it's was nice and peaceful. And who wouldn't like some peace when the kids are in school, right? 😝 

In hindsight, I think not really my fault la. #excusesexcuses I came back to Penang with grand plans to settle in and reestablish my roots wan. But then cancer struck and COVID-19 hit. So, plans got put on the back burner for a bit cos it's just been a tough one year la. But now that I'm done with treatment (daily pills not counted 💊) I hope to be able to explore the many quaint cafes in Penang. One by one! Ini kalilah! 💪 LOL.