Living with Sarah

We went back to Melaka during the weekend for my sister-in-law's engagement. Sarah played with her cousins (more like her niece and nephews actually!) and seeing how she ran non-stop all day long, I knew she would be in trouble soon. So on Monday morning, I decided to let her take the day off from school as she looked so tired and couldn't even open her eyes. And good thing she didn't go to school because by 10am she was already burning with fever. Took her to Dr Wong's clinic and she clocked a 39.7 temperature. Tuesday - still burning with fever. Wednesday - let's give her another day off just to make sure. This morning, she vomitted after breakfast. I wanted her to stay home but she insisted to go to school. She's OK now. It's been a long time since she fell ill I almost forget how it felt. And that is just a minor fever. I've been reading on the papers lately of bizzare incidents involving toddlers and children that made my heart bleed. A few days ago...

Temper is natural. At this age, I have mellowed down. Really mellowed down. Instead of scolding for every little mistakes that kids make like many other parents, I usually would just take a deep breath and try to talk nicely. Word to note - "try to". So, compared to her cousin Wani, Sarah doesn't get much scolding. Both hubby and I would shower her with as much tender loving care as possible (borrowing Azmi's phase!). That's why when we really do raise our voices, then it must have been something big. But parents can be mistaken. And after what happened yesterday, I am still carrying the guilt. Yesterday morning was a bit chaotic. Sarah took her time eating breakfast that I threatened to switch off the TV many times. And when we were ready to go with the doors all locked and gear on D, she had go to to the toilet. So I had to open back the doors and get her cleaned up. By then it was already 7.50am. We are really late. My patience was growing real thin. And then ...

I've finished my second round of Kafka on the Shore. Found some new things I missed, understood some other things I overlooked. The book is still as amazing, as absorbing and as captivating as before. At the end of the last word of the book, I felt like opening back the first page and read it all over again! My conclusion - Ms Saeki in fact was Kafka's mother. But I still don't get the issue about the father. I think I will never understand that part.

The week after Chinese New Year I went to see Gunesh, the assistant principal of Sarah's school to register her for daycare. It's about time. Sarah is spending her afternoons unproductively - watch TV, fight with her cousin, go to her Pak Ngah's house... And lately she's been showing not so good signs of a rift with her grandmother. Apparently, my mother likes to scold her - asking her to eat, change her uniform, etc and Sarah doesn't like being pushed as such. So, all was set - her small bag with change of clothes, a towel, her milk and bottle... and Sarah was pretty excited. Then I went to tell my mother just the night before the new arrangement was to start. Guess what, my mother cried. I mean really, really cried. She said she will miss Sarah, she's so used of having Sarah around... I felt so sorry and sad. I know she will be sad, but I didn't expect such display of grief. So, we decided to cancel the plan and Sarah was to continue her schedule as usual....

If there is an award for the most caring and compassionate kid in the whole wide world, Sarah will win it hands down. I really don't know where she inherited the traits from but she is so very caring, so very symphathetic and so very kind-hearted especially to us her parents. Yesterday on the way to school, I told her that I would wait for her at my mother's place hoping it would not rain like the day before. The day before it rained so heavily that I was late fetching her from my mother's. Then she asked me, "Semalam hujan mummy bawak payung tak?". I told her yes even though I didn't and asked her why. She said, "Sarah takut mummy basah" and smiled to me angelically. She can make my heart melt like butter under a hot sun. There are many, many more such occasions when she showed her empathy and care. To me she is the most perfect daughter anyone could ever dream of - she never shows her tantrums in public, she listens to us, she doesn't grab ever...

It's been about 2 weeks now since Sarah started schooling. Surprisingly, things are going on very well for our little family. I was preparing for the worst - mornings filled with stress and chaos with 3 people after the same bathroom, getting the clothes ironed (yea, yea... always promise myself to do the ironing the night before but seldom successful), getting Sarah to drink her milk and then cereals, dress, and other 1001 things that need to be done before finally locking the door and head out for the day. But what can I expect from a well-mannered little daughter and a helpful husband? Smooth, hassle-free mornings! Sarah actually wakes up on her own around 6.45am now. Whoever sees her first will prepare her milk and she will watch cartoon until 7am peacefully, all the while in the background, her parents will be systematically going in and out of various rooms taking care of things. There's no schedule or division of work between us, just a matter of being considerate, helpf...

Another trash.