How do you broach the topic of mortality with a 9-yr-old?
I am thankful that both girls had had pets (both hamsters & spiders) in the past who all passed on eventually. At least that helped to introduce the concepts of impermanence and mortality to them.
We've both been slowly talking to them in bite-sizes, whether individually or together, about things and the eventuality.
I hope they understand...slowly bit by bit...
Conversation with the 9-yr-old
A: I want 3 birthday cakes this year.
Me: Har? Why?
A: Because this is my last year with
a single digit age number.
Me: Errrr ok…
A: I also need 3 birthday cakes next
year.
Me: And why again?
A: Because next year is my first year with a double digit age number.
Me: .............
Don't buy things on impulse when you're not in a good mood.
Ended up with 2 articles of clothing that do not fit me, and which are somehow non-returnable.
Sigh.
活该
Wonder if I should bring them to be altered? Hmm......
Wondering if I am doing an ok job as a reporting officer.
Wondering if and how I can do more and how else I should handle this one particular staff, who is also bringing some amount of headache for my own boss.
It's my first time dealing with this situation. He has seen more through the course of his work life....while he also finds this situation not ideal, at least it is not anything too egregious.
I had a chat with him a few weeks back. We agreed that while we can show compassion and accord more flexibility to this staff, we need to also ensure work responsibilities get fulfilled, and we need to properly document our chats/counselling sessions/instruction emails with this staff.
I'm still learning....
可以的
Trying to be best friends with my dumbbells. Kinda slow getting to know each other better. May we find each others' frequency soon. Lol....
可以的!!
We’re almost midway through the 7th lunar month already. Mid-autumn is coming soon.
The purchase and delivery of mooncakes is coming up soon.
Time ticks away so fast.
I should be prepping for Xmas soon too. In fact, I think we were already done with a portion of the Xmas gifts by this time last year.
Nvm....
可以的......
I've been buying some things recently...from crochet stuff to the kids' bedding, to sewing materials, etc.
But the best buy has got to be....
A pair of prescription goggles.
It was an off the shelf pair from View. Got it from the Sun Paradise shop and was told by the sales lady that it was a Japanese brand. The cheap pair I got online from Shopee didn't work for me. Water seeped in whenever I dunked my head underwater. And so without hesitation, I bought the View pair. I think from asking the lady, to trying it on, and then paying up, I only took probably 10mins haha. Fast purchase.
Managed to try it out over the weekend and suddenly found that I could swim again! Yay! I could see underwater. Though it's not fully clear but better than not having any vision underwater at all.
I stopped swimming ever since I had kids and it was even harder to get started again when I stopped wearing contact lenses about 7 years ago....I simply couldn't swim without knowing exactly where I was going or what I was seeing. It felt very scary to swim like that and given my high myopia, I just kinda forgot about swimming and gave up.
I can't do 15-20 laps like I did 15 years ago. But oh well..baby steps baby steps...happy to even just do the equivalent of 1 lap for now...broken into smaller distances since the pool below my block is just a small pool lol.
Ganbatte!
Sick since Wednesday afternoon when she called us from school to announce that she was havign a fever and had a headache. Vomitted twice at home that afternoon. The doctor said she had stomach flu.
We separated the big one from her. N slept with me and K bunked in with A.
Fever broke by Friday morning but the cough...oh the cough. It's so persistent and the phelgm sounds so thick.
Sigh....may the cough & phelgm go away soon. She's been cranky & moody the entire day today, claimed she's extremely bored.
Back to school tomorrow so I hope the school, work, homework & friends occupy her enough....
Marc's entering uni. He's going NTU. And he's starting his hostel orientation camp in 2 day's time.
I'm getting all the feels. Feeling excited for him and all that he'll be going through over the next few years. For the new friends he'll be making, for the new experiences, for the new "freedom" of staying on his own and looking after himself.
有一种莫名的兴奋和骄傲。。。
Adrian, me, and even K were all from NTU, my cousin and his wife as well...and now the next generation is going to NTU too...:)
It felt real nostalgic when Marc showed me a map of the current NTU on his phone. The place has changed so much and expanded in ways I never imagined too.
I hope he has a great & fulfilling time in NTU, and in his assigned hostel too. I hope he enjoys his orientation & hostel life thoroughly like I did! May he make long-lasting friendships too.
Guess we have to accept that as time goes by, as people grow & develop, as people live their lives and go about their own paths...
It is inevitable that some friends will be on a slightly different wavelength with different interests and pursuits.
Maybe I am getting more gor tak too as I grow older. Maybe I've changed, especially in the last 5 years.
Is this a Singaporean thing? Or an Asian thing?
To downplay, to be seen as humble, to be self-deprecating...when done too much though, it may be perceived as hypocrisy?
"My kid cannot make it. The Maths and Chinese wah lau eh...I wanna vomit blood"
Kid ends up in BICEP programme....
"I don't exercise, where got time? My stamina chui until...."
Posts on FB about a 7km run...
"No money lah, budget tight."
Buys a multi-storied townhouse with a lift...
"I'm chill lah, just let the kid try lor."
Kid comments that the parent is very strict with studies and makes kid do assessments...
Wondering if I do it too. Hmm..
2nd half of the year already. So fast.
Felt like we just celebrated Xmas & CNY and now it's time to prep for Xmas gifts again, after we settle the mid-autumn festival stuff. Do I have to prep teachers' day stuff this year? Sigh.........
Too quick.
=============
I've been at this place almost 17 years. Over the last 2 months, thoughts of quitting creeped into my mind. First time ever.
I don't know why. Frustration at recent happenings? The double & triple-hatting over the last 2 years? My staff having all sorts of things happening to them and having to take leave frequently? The 3rd change of the boss sitting 2 levels up? The frustration of some team members not pulling their own weight? Just me being tired? Me feeling like I don't know what I am doing at work and in life?
=============
Looking to fengshui-ise my cubicle.
Himalayan salt lamp - checked
Little red something in southwest corner - checked
Live plant in northeast corner - coming soon......
Went through a period of awkwardness in secondary school and ended up being quite open & out-going in upper secondary, no thanks to a bunch of good friends whom I hung out with.
JC was pretty weird an experience for me. Things were ok. There was a period of time where I apparently experienced anxiety issues according to my GP and was prescribed Xanax in JC1. JC life was meh to me....
Entered uni and for some reason, I took to hostel life very well. I was open, out-going and knew alot of folks in the hostel. I headed a committee, participated in activities, etc. Made alot of friendships there, several of which have lasted till now.
Came out to work and was like a deer in headlights. Experienced some not so nice things but had a pretty good time still I think. Youth is energy. Social life was quite rich at the time.
Entered my late 20s & early 30s, stopped Friday pub nights with 2 friends...got together with K, got married, had kids and slowed down. And then the awkwardness set in again. The doubts, the worries, the wondering if you're good enough, the not knowing what the hell you're doing, the constant winging, etc.
And then the full manifestation of anxiety issues when I hit 38/39. And then the continued on and off doubts & awkwardness & unsureness...
Till now.
Thoughts of how to continue my work/career in this organisation has also popped up recently.....
Is this mid-life crisis? Lol...
If I live till my 80s, this is just about mid-life....
Since 20-something June...our team shifted from Lvl 12 to Lvl 3.
Half of my desk faces a pillar...a wall of sorts.
Fengshui sites say it's not too good to face a "wall"....I hope my tilting my body a little to the left, I avoid this "wall"....
Oh well...will just continue to do my best and whatever I can in my work....
Just that my "sea, Sentosa and expressway" view has morphed into a "pond and tree" view.
Nadya spent 3 days competing last week.
3 solo dances:
3 group dances
And so the girls have been home.
And so K has been drilling them on Math & Chinese, their weaker/weakest subjects, for a certain amount of time each morning.
And so N came to me for help on Math sums this morning. She couldn't do 3 questions on ratio. The 3 questions also touched on geometry and money.
I have to say those questions were quite complicated for a Primary 5 kid.
I was proud to say I could do them!
And then I realised....
Piangz...my standard seems quite low haha...cheap thrill to get so happy over solving P5 Math questions lol...
A was assigned science work for the school hols...and it involves completing several small and big tasks to earn points to qualify for a Young Scientist badge.
$#!%$!$#@%
I dislike such long-drawn projects and I am trying to get all the tasks over and done with sooner rather than later.
I've had to work with her on them since last week and we still have at least 2 more tasks to go before we hit the minimum number of points we need to get.
Ganbatte...
'Tis the season…dance competition season.
Was in a cab on the way to work.
Cab uncle suddenly exclaimed "Eh got rainbow!"
There was indeed one in the sky. Two-thirds of an arch. It wasn't vibrant and held more gentle, subtle hues.
Still, it was beautiful. I liked it this way. Very beautiful & gentle amidst the clouds and the blue sky.
I was happy to see it. It was a great start to the day!
Verbatim extract from LHL's interview with CNA in the past. Not sure when it was exactly....but I think he summed up alot of our thoughts perfectly.
=================================
In the West, they’ve got a movement
called “Wokeness” where you are super sensitive to other people’s issues and
you become hypersensitive when other people somehow or other say things or
mention things or refer to you without the respect which you or your super
sub-group feel you are entitled to. It leads to very extreme attitudes and
social norms, particularly in some academic institutions, universities. You
talk about safe spaces, you talk about appropriate pronouns. You talk about “I’m
about to say something which may be offensive to you. If you don’t want to hear
it, perhaps you would like to leave now.”
~ Singapore ex-PM Lee Hsien Loong
Extracted from a CNA Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb6Qv4rPiIk
=================================
Not in a good space for the last few months, especially in the last several weeks.
Unbalanced and "stuck".
Unsure how to get "unstuck".
Wiggling slowly. At times when I see some success, I get pulled back by stuff again.
迷茫的时候不如慢下来，让风吹散前路的雾。
不过，现状能让我慢下来吗？
