Apple Tree and Mango Tree

All in a day's work...

(1) Apple Tree
An apple tree can only give you so much apples. Even if you whip it some more, it will not give you more apples than it did last year. (Given the same favourable conditions) So, the solution is not to stand there and scold the apple tree but to either steal your neighbours apples or plant more yourself to ensure better harvest.

(2) Mango Tree
This passerby was walking along a fence, and noticed that in the compound beyond the fence, there is a mango tree. Better still, she notices that there is a branch from which nice ripe mangoes are hanging and what more, they are within her reach! She plucks one and tastes it immediately. Arh! It's sour. She's disappointed and upset. What does she do? She rings the bell, demands to see the owner and scolds the owner for their sour mangoes.

What do you do?

For a recent while now, when people ask me that question, "What do you do?" I find myself in a fix as to how to respond.

Obviously the question is really "What kind of work I do, which company I work for." Maybe they genuinely want to know but I bet you all, the real reason is so as to be able to rank or 'social-classify' (if there's such a phrase) me so that they can speak to me appropriately as begets my "status".

I don't like that.

The last few times I've been asked that question, I asked them back, "What do you mean?" and then they have to explain it to me. And when they do, I laugh and tell them.

And they usually go, "Oh!" And talk to me carefully henceforth, like how you would speak to an idiot.

I quite like that.

Aching...

I can't really walk today. Because my legs are aching MADLY... and the reason why it is aching so madly is because I ran on the spot for a certain length of time whilst being blindfolded. And why was I doing that? It was part of a meditation technique that I was put through yesterday. You would think that meditation equates to sitting passively. Apparently not.

Anyway, I went through a 2-day meditation program over this last weekend...


(blank space not by accident)


I'm suppose to add some commentary about it I guess.
But the words are just not coming out.

The end.

Disclaimer about previous post.

True. Every kid is different. It's really my lame excuse for why BY only has 1 'enrichment' class - violin. It is not meant to ridicule or judge any parent who is not like me. There isn't a right or wrong here.

The boy wanted to attend gym lessons but backed out when I said I will sign him up for it. He's been doing that since he was a toddler.. the first time we took him for a flash-card trial lesson, he picked up his shoes, pointed to the door and demanded, "OUT! OUT! OUT!".

I'm anxious that he will not keep up with the system. I'm anxious that the system will not keep up with him.

I'm just not convinced that more classes will help balance this equation.

Negative Enrichment

I googled "negative enrichment" to find out if those 2 words put together had any real meaning. Well, it's a medical terminology apparently. I still can't figure out exactly what it means though. Maybe someday I will. But right now, there's nothing scientific about what I'm going to write here.

I put those 2 words together because it pretty sums up what I think about 'enrichment' classes for kids. It is possible to be negatively enriched? I don't know.

But here's my observation. 45 minutes of gym classes doesn't make a child more agile that he would have been if left to his own devices at the playground. 45 minutes of flash cards gives the child the knowledge of words but doesn't help him decipher its meaning.

Also, this is not proven, but it's logical I guess. Since time is limited, the more time you spend caged up in a classroom environment, the less engaged you are with the natural environment. And isn't this disengagement with nature precisely what is driving consumerism and sadly, the destruction that comes along with it?

I suspect that the only one that is enriched by these classes are the proprietors. At an average rate of $35 multiplied by a dozen, every 45 minutes, sustained by guilt, peer-pressure or maybe fear?

Who doesn't want to have a kid that is smarter, cleverer and more able than this counterparts?

But what's the real deal here my friends?

Discovered...

Discovered this comic book series for kids by Mo Willems at MPH. Picked up this one for the boy. He likes it! Click on the title to go to the writer-illustrator's blog.

2am

2am.
The thermometer beeped.
I looked.
39.4
The boy decided to ask his burning question.
"Mummy, why boys don't have babies?"
The pupils in my eyes dilated.
The one in front of me waited.
"This is a big question. Let me think about it and tell you some other day ok?"
A Pause.
A nod.
We both fell asleep again.

Book: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Am halfways through this book. One word. Riverting.

One last one...

He's 4 and I am thinking, that the boy should be allowed to grow up more privately from now on. This will be the last photo you'd see of him here on this blog. (Photo taken by Danesh Daryanani)

Chance

I buy lottery impulsively. Will walk into any shop that isn't crowded and plonk $2 down. I even bought some when I was in Perth! But the one thing is, I never bother to match them with the results. So I let all these little pieces of hope gather in strange places - folded in between hard cash, some in my laptop bag, others in the toilet - mostly dug absently out of pockets and left somewhere 'safer', in the kitchen drawer where I keep drugs (legal ones of course) - until the big one makes enough noise and then I gather them hopes all up and looked up http://www.singaporepools.com.sg/ for the results. The thing is, prizes in Singapore are only valid 90 days from draw date! What if? I don't quite get it. Why do I not care?

What is?

I worked 2.5 days this week. Ended up spending a lot more time with the kid. I think we both needed that. He's a lot calmer than he was during the weeks when all I did was to come home to make him practice his violin.... to which he has recently declared, "NO MORE!" in as much anger as a 4-year old can muster.

I'm giving us a break.

Pinnacles

At the top of the mountain,
is the place to be.
The view is breathtakingly beautiful,
they were made to believe.
When they came of age,
all they could think about,
was to climb that mountain!
To see the incredible for themselves.
Most took years.
Some never made it.
The few who did make it to the top,
took one look at the view,
and sighed,
in disbelief.
Because what they found,
was a view that was nothing,
more than just
ordinary.
The chill up there hurts.
But still,
almost everybody stayed,
waiting for the view to change.
And that became the one thing,
that was
most incredible.

Threatening?

We were having dinner with friends. The kids were given plastic plates - with Mickey Mouse motifs on them. At some point before the food arrived, the boy told his friend, "Stop spinning the plate! Wait Mickey Mouse angry then don't come to your TV!"

"Somewhere" Lagoon...

Couldn't decide on where we should go for a short holiday. By the time we did, it was either too last minute for Angkor Wat or overbooked for Tioman. Ended up taking this package with Chan Brothers. ( Read fine print about Chan Brothers below)

Service Note: The boy was sick so we wanted to postpone the trip. Chan Brothers said they will check with the hotel. Return call to say hotel can't change. We called hotel. Hotel says no problem, can change our bookings and changed it! We called Chan Brothers. They said they'll check again. We waited whole day. They called back, saying, "Can change dates but there'll be extra charges!" - About 20-35% of what we already paid. We called hotel to change back to the original dates, packed the boy's medication and went. Our rationale being that there's nothing we can do except give him his medication and there is no difference whether we did that at home or away. Chan Brother's web site homepage proclaimed "offering unparallelled service to ...travellers" It's only now that I noticed they didn't say what kind of unparalleled service it was.

Anyway, once inside theme park, the boy miraculously recovered!

AND....

It was fun.
Really fun!
We all had fun.
Fun really!
Fun was IT!

.... and I suppose having fun makes one funny!

Sad or Funny or Both? ...........by Seth

3 little pigs.

Whilst reading to the boy last night....

Me: YY! What should you do if you someone gives you straw to build a house?
YY: Say Thank You?
Me: No...*he gives me the questioning look*... Say "NO THANK YOU!" ok? Because the house built of straw not strong! *big one bursts out laughing somewhere in the background*
YY: Orh.
Me: So, what should you do if someone offers you wood?
YY: Say NO THANK YOU?
Me: Clever! And what about bricks?
*he nods his head*
Me: Clever boy!..............And what should you do if you are the wolf?
YY: *eyebrows raise* What?
Me: Hiyah, eat the pigs up before they build the house lar! Then no need to huff and puff! *big one cracks up again.... small one laughs along*