Means To A Positive End

"Come on then Little H..it's time to pick up Hxxxx and go for your swimming lessons."

Little H is going for swimming lessons together with Big H nowadays. They go to different classes although their classes are on the same day and same time - Big H goes to Beginners 2 (after passing Beginners 1) and Little H goes to 'Aquatots 2' which is a class for 3 and half to 4 and a half year olds.

The Aquatots 2 lessons are not really swimming lessons, obviously. They are just to help the young children with their confidence in the water and with using the floats. And of course, other types of learning will come naturally too, like 'listening to instructions' and 'making friends' in a non school environment.

Little H in his newly acquired swimsuit that covers his chest
and supposedly makes him feel warmer..ye ke??

Little H always used to find it a bore to wait for Big H to finish his swimming lessons - he would bother me non stop or just lie down half on the seat and half on my lap and fall asleep while waiting for his brother's lesson to end. So Mr S and I decided to enrol him into a class as well. Although he has been a little apprehensive about doing the many activities in the water, Little H seemed to be enjoying his classes and looks to be coping in his lessons.

But on that day, Little H said, "Swimming lessons? But I have hingus and cough, mama."

Cough cough..sniffle sniffle.

I looked him over and made a quick decision. "Sikit je...you're well enough to swim...the pool is very warm, right?" He was not feeling very well the whole of the previous week but he seemed to have recovered and has been well the last 3-4 days although I admit that he had a little hingus still, but it's not like his nose is runny or anything like that...

He just nodded.

And so we went for the lesson and he made some progress - at the end of the lesson, when the children were asked to line up by the side of the shallow pool and jump (not dive) into it, (I suppose it's just for the fun of the splash and also to help them overcome any fear of the water) Little H always requested his teacher to hold his hand when his turn came to jump but on that day, he jumped bravely and made a splash without his teacher's help!

Well done, Little H!

After all, he did keep going on about 'sinking' ("Noooo!! I'm going to sink! I'm going to sink!") everytime we asked him to lower his face into the water in the shallow pool during our holiday back in Malaysia. And he was wearing arm floats and I was holding him at the time too!

It was indeed a good progress.

But the moment we reached home, I saw that he looked tired and could only finish so much of his dinner and while I was praying upstairs, he fell asleep on the carpet. I checked his forehead and sure enough, he had a temperature.

That was when I felt soooooooo guilty about my decision that he should go for the swimming lesson that I had to sit myself down for a while and convince myself that I am not a bad mother and that it was one of those decisions that you make that didn't exactly turned out right, but still, sometimes we need to make a quick decision in life and well, life's never perfect.

But Little H made me feel worse when he said as I put him to bed upstairs, "Mama, I TOLD YOU that I wasn't feeling well.....I TOLD YOU.."

**Sigh**

Of course, I apologised profusely and hugged him tight and told him that he should have told me that he wasn't feeling very well - which he didn't.

Of course I could not let him blame me for it 100%!

And as a errr..'creative' parent, I took the opportunity to turn the tables around and used the situation to my advantage and told him that he should know the reason why he keeps getting sick, not like Big H who seldom falls sick. I told him that it was because unlike his brother, I have to force Little H to eat his fruits and as for his veg, well, forget it!

"Look at Big H!" I said to Little H. "He will always finish his vegetables during dinner and even request fruits for snacks before meal times. He always eat his fruit at school as well! That's why he doesn't fall sick as often as you do..."

Kesian..demam-demam pun kena lecture...

Mr S came back from work and I told him to give say the same to Little H as well and to tell him straight that from now on, he MUST eat his veges. Little H just kept quiet but I know we had convinced him.

Sure enough, the next day, when I tried to feed him some vegetables with his lunch, he just opened his mouth without the usual protests and chewed and swallowed without any problems. A big progress since he used to run to the nearest bin the moment he starts to realise that there's a piece of vege in his mouth...

Alhamdulillah until today (it has been a week now), he still eats his veges without any problems.

Thank Allah something good after all came out of that quick decision to take him to his swimming lesson, albeit looking back, it certainly wasn't the right decision, I think.

Otherwise, knowing myself, I would still be feeling guilty about the whole incident...

A Belated Birthday Cake

I turned 32 a few days ago.

"Dah besar dah anak mak.." said my mum on the phone.

"Dah TUA..." I said.

Baked a butter cake today and did some icing work on it just for fun. Thought the colour of the flowers was too strong - accidentally poured too much red food colouring and didn't have any more icing to dilute the colour. At any rate, Mr S and the boys thought it looked good.

Well, good enough to eat at least :)

My boys sang the birthday song even though it was a belated birthday cake.

Thanks to all those who remembered to wish me on the day.

Many happy returns, huh?

Amin.

Madrasah Misfortune

Did I tell you that Mr S and I decided to stop sending Big H to the madrasah?

The whole thing started about two weeks after his first day. Big H started to tell me that he didn't like his madrasah teacher. But of course, disliking one's teacher does not give one the justification to stop learning so I told him that going to the madrasah is not about liking your teacher but about learning the Quran.

And that pacified him for a few weeks.

Until he came back sobbing one day - "Mama, the madrasah teacher hit me!"

He had told me a few days before that that he didn't want to go to the madrasah anymore because the teacher was 'too fierce'. And when I asked him for details, he told me that the teacher liked to shout at the children and sometimes he would hit a child's head - if the child made mistakes while reading. Actually it was so terrifying for him that for several days, the first thing he said when he woke up in the morning (his madrasah classes are after school, in the evening) is, "Mama, I'm scared to go to the madrasah..."

For God's sake, I thought. These children are very, very young! They start at the madrasah as young as 5 or 6 years of age so they certainly don't deserve to be treated in such a way when they make mistakes! I had told Big H that if ever the teacher hits him - he must tell either his Mama or Papa and that was what he did. Mr S and I (Mr S was surprisingly vehement about it) decided that we would not tolerate such things and thus we wrote a polite letter to the madrasah's Head of Committee complaining about the teacher...

COMPLAINT REGARDING MADRASAH TEACHER

I am the father of XXX, a student of your Madrasah. I would like to voice my concern with regards to the teaching methods of my son’s Madrasah teacher.

On Friday, 23^rd Nov 2007, my son was hit on the head for reading incorrectly by his teacher and he cried because it was painful.

As a result of the teacher’s actions, my son is traumatised and frightened to go to the mosque which worries me as he is still too young to have such negative feelings in such things. This is a drastic change - he was very, very excited about joining the Madrasah and couldn’t wait to go in the beginning.

In this country and also where I come from, such an action may be considered as an assault. I am sure that the committee is aware that even teachers at school are not allowed to punish their students in such a way.

We are all Muslims and we all want our children to be good Muslims of the future. But I doubt hitting the young children when they make mistakes in their reading is any way to achieve our objective.

I would like to urge the committee to advise the teacher(s) to be more patient with the children (especially the young ones) who are there to learn, not only how to read the Quran but also how to be a good Muslim, one who is amongst other things, patient and loving towards other Muslims. Let the teachers teach by example too, rather than only by instruction.

The letter resulted in a visit to our house by the Head of the Committee at the madrasah. He apologised, of course, saying that he had already 'spoken' to the teacher and that such a thing will never happen again and that he wanted me to get Big H to come back (because it was 'our duty to do so to make sure our children will learn'..).

I thanked him and said that I would 'try'...

I did try. Because I thought, well, everyone needs a second chance - even that bully of a teacher. And I managed to persuade Big H one time. I turned the shower on for him so that he can have a quick shower to freshen up before going to the madrasah but as I came back to the bathroom to get him out - I found that he was crying softly under the shower, whilst soaping himself. When he saw me, he said, "Mama, I don't want to go because I'm gonna miss you if I go..."

I looked at him. I knew that was not really the reason. I said, "Or is it because you're scared to go, Hxxxx?"

"Yes..", he said, "..and I'm also gonna miss you."

Big H is a little complex. I was thinking - is he so scared to go that he's making other excuses with the hope that he will not be forced to attend the classes?

That was bad.

Thus, I decided to draw the line. I will not spoil his early Islamic (education) experience. It is bad that he hardly gets any here in London but we were not so desperate that we have to settle for such a terrible one..

I called Mr S to persuade him to let Big H off his madrasah for good.

Sigh.

I pity Big H.

He was very, very excited about going to learn at the madrasah but now, he dreads it and absolutely refuses to go even when I tried to coax him and explain to him all about the head of the committee's visit to the house. I even told him that he should just try one more time and see how it would go - he can quit if the teacher hits him again...

But no...

Well...there goes my intention (for now) to let Big H have some formal Islamic schooling here in London. Looks like it's back to me now to teach him his muqaddam...

Thank God I brought those Iqra' books back from Malaysia.

Am Now At Home, Just Back From Home

Yes...I am back from a long awaited holiday in Malaysia. Too many things to write about but will try to sum it off with these pics I have below.

The first few days in Malaysia were so dreary and wet that Mr S commented that 'no wonder our bags were so heavy - we carried all the rain and dark clouds all the way from London back to Malaysia!'

But the weather turned 'normal' after a few days.

We spent our time mostly in Seremban and Melaka and got to spend some time in KL too. Spent Raya Haji in both Seremban and Melaka, as usual. The kids were delighted to celebrate raya in Malaysia.


Here's a picture of the kids with their Atuk and Uwan in Seremban.



Went to the beach - as promised to the children.



Went to the pool a few times too.





The kids got a few days to play with their cousins who came back to Melaka for Raya too.

Saw the long awaited movie The Golden Compass at the cinema.

Ate most of the things that I dreamt of eating whilst we were back in London.

Got to spend some time alone with Mr S (a luxury!) while the kids spent some quality time with their grandparents.

Spent some time with my very good friends - went for a karaoke session no less!

Ate satay kajang.

Visited the compulsory aunts and uncles.

And the list goes on..(but I'm afraid not long enough!).

The 3 1/2 weeks in Malaysia were definitely too short especially for the kids. Little H was nearly crying(!!) in the shuttle which took us to the Departure Lounges at KLIA, saying "Now I really, really miss everyone..!"

Had to comfort him with a really big hug - poor Little H!

Big H said he wished London is Malaysia.

Sigh.

But our rezeki at the moment is here, so had to do my best to try and comfort them. God knows it was hard for me too, to leave my loved ones behind.

It was indeed a wonderful, wonderful time we had in Malaysia, especially, I think, for the kids who are always a little bit lonely here in London without too many friends and family.

As we rode in the black cab from Heathrow through the city of London which was still quiet in the early morning hours on the last day of 2007, heading back to the place we call home in the East of London, Mr S suddenly sighed and said, "bosan..."

And I understood his feelings completely as I feel the same way too. It's boring and dull here so far away from one's parents, family and friends. And it's winter now - the worst season of all (in my opinion) for people like us who hail from the wonderfully hot and tropical countries of the world - when 3pm is already so dark and gloomy that you can't help to have the weather reflected in your moods too.

Still. STILL. It is good to be home now - to be able to sleep on my own bed and to watch my own TV, and to cook in my own kitchen.

But only, if only home is somewhere else...

Happy 2008 Everyone!

I think it's not too late for me to wish everyone a happy new year..

Here's wishing my readers a wonderful and prosperous new year, Amin!

Stitches For Mr S

Mr S announced that he had a lot of things to do at work on Friday last week, just before he left in a rush to catch the bus to the tube station.

Not 5 minutes after Mr S went out the door, there was an urgent knock on it.

Through the misty glass window on the door, I saw a man standing there - from the silhouette it looked like Mr S but he was standing awkwardly so I hesitated, uncertain. Then he knocked again, louder, so I opened the door slowly to peek out..

Mr S was standing there, his mouth looking raw and bloody, while his left hand was cupped at his chin, trying to catch the blood drops and his chin look like somebody swung a strong right hook at it. His bottom lip had begun to swell and his teeth were bloody too.

"Ya Allah..What happened? Ada orang pukul kau ke?" I asked, totally and utterly shocked.

But Mr S just kept quiet and walked straight into the kitchen.

"You should have seen the other guy.." was what Mr S was supposed to say but it turned out that the story was not so exciting after all.

Mr S was running for the bus. He just turned around the corner and saw the bus coming so he ran as quickly as he could towards the bus stop about 40 metres away. There was a very old granny walking slowly in front of him and Mr S was just about to overtake her when suddenly the old lady uncharacterisctically turned and swerved very suddenly and very quickly to the right, straight into Mr S path.

Mr S, being the good man that he is, immediately tried to swerve too, in order to avoid a collision with the old lady which can only spell disaster for such an old veteran - to Mr S's own detriment.

He lost his balance and fell face first onto the pavement!

Poor Mr S!

He felt a little dizzy after that fall and he just lied down while I tried to clean the wound with some warm water. Nothing works better than butter on lip wounds so after a few minutes, the swelling receded and we saw how bad the wound really was.

We ended up going to the hospital and Mr S had to have 6 stitches on his bottom lip on top of a tetanus jab which is advisable for such wounds, according to the doctor who treated him.

Suffice to say, Mr S didn't get to go to work and do all the things that he planned to do at work on that day after all!

I thank God that it was just six stitches and not a concussion or anything more serious than that!

But still, poor Mr S!

Pasembor

Craved for a rojak pasembor during Ramadhan just like the one our pakcik kantin at school used to make during the weekends. Got this recipe from myresipi.com - tried a few times already with wonderful results and praises from Mr S and friends. Just had to share it with you!

p/s: Our pakcik kantin left out the cucur kelapa and added things like tempe and kacang panjang rebus...so that's exactly what I did!

Bahan-bahan

**Bahan cucur udang**

• 1 1/2 cawan tepung gandum
• 1/2 cawan udang
• 2 biji bawang kecil
• 1 sudu besar cili boh
• garam
• air untuk bancuh tepung
• 1 1/2 sudu kecil baking powder

**Bahan cucur kelapa**

• 1 cawan tepung gamdum
• 3/4 cawan kelapa (saya guna kelapa kering jerr)
• garam
• air untuk membancuh

**Bahan kuah**

• 1 biji keledek sederhana besar (direbus hingga empuk)
• 2-3 biji bawang kecil
• 1 sudu besar cili boh (terpulang pada citarasa masing2 kalau nak pedas)
• Sedikit kicap
• Air untuk kuah
• 1/2 cawan kacang tumbuk
• minyak untuk menumis
• gula merah & garam secukup rasa

**Bahan lain**

• 3 biji kentang sederhana besar
• 4 biji telur
• 4 keping tauhu
• 1 biji timun
• 1 biji sengkuang
• sedikit taugeh
• Minyak untuk menggoreng

Cara-cara

1. Bersihkan kulit kentang kemudian rebus kentang bersama kulitnya sehingga empuk. Kemudian goreng kentang tersebut bulat2 sehingga kekuningan (tak payah potong2).
2. Telur direbus (hard boil), kemudian buang kulit & digoreng bulat2 sehingga kekuningan.
3. Tauhu digoreng sehingga kekuningan.
4. Sediakan cucur udang. Gaulkan semua bahan cucur udang. Bancuhan seperti nak buat cekodok. Kemudian goreng dalam minyak panas sehingga kekuningan/ masak.
5. Sediakan cucur kelapa. Satukan semua bahan. Bancuhan jgn lembik sangat, agak2 boleh kepal. Buat bentuk leper, kemudian goreng sehingga kekuningan/ masak.
6. Sediakan kuah. Tumis bawang sehingga wangi, masukkan cili. Blend keledek dengan air, kemudian masukkan dalam tumisan. Masukkan juga Kacang, garam & gula. Masukkan juga sedikit kicap (just nak bagi color jerr). Masak hingga mendidih. Kalau nak pekat, boleh letak lebih keledek.
7. Cara nak hidang, potong semua bahan2 yang telah digoreng tadi. Timun & sengkuang dihiris. Gaulkan semuanya. Taugeh dicelur sedikit. Tuangkan kuah ke atasnya.