Leap Year

Saw dr for the 4th time this month for my recurring cough. From dry cough, back to phelgmy one. Can't sleep well for a few days liao so bo bian went to see Dr Leslie Tay from Karri Clinic for a change. He deliberately pointed out that he did not give me any antibiotics since Dec so I admitted it was another dr who gave me the first two round of antibiotics. He gave me a quizzical look but I kept a straight face. What does he want me to say? A sob story which is true cos his charges at $40-50+ is more exp than the usual GPs. The other 2 GPs we see which charges $22-$28 max so I can't afford to see him for any minor sniffle esp when the whole family needs to see the GP. Eg. today, saw him and $57 flew away. Hubby's lousy civil servant medical claims caps it at only $10 per GP visit. I admit that he does give branded drugs and full bottles of pharmacy drugs instead of those dispensed from bigger bottles but still all the bills add up. How to fork out over $200 for a visit to the GP if all 4 of us are sick right?

Anyway, in my daze, nearly forgot today is 29 Feb. A leap year! It was a leap year when RA was born 4 years ago too. :) Wonder how many babies are born today. Pity the babies who only get to celebrate their birthdays once every 4 years. But I think most of them celebrate on 28th Feb or 1st Mar instead. Hee.

Decided against buying the 'Frequently used Chinese words' EPH assessment book recommended by a forum mummy cos it is meant for 5-7 years old and RA's stds are too low for now. Maybe next yr will be better. Decided to teach her some simple chinese characters since she seems stressed by chinese lessons in school. So, I taught RA 一,二,三,大,小 these 2 nights. Surprised that she can recognise the characters and read them after 1 night. And today, because the teacher taught 竖钩, I reminded her that I already taught her before since 小 has 竖钩. She seemed to understand and wrote the word 小 on the magnetic board.

Actually, if I keep it up, she can learn 5 characters every 2 days which is not bad. But I am still too lazy to keep teaching unless she is keen to learn. In order to spend 5-10 mins teaching chinese characters, I skipped their bedtime stories. They already KO at 11pm today. Some of my mummy friends' kids sleep at 7-8pm. So good, a lot of me time at night. If I still need to spend time teaching them on top of cooking dinner, washing dishes, showering them, brushing teeth etc, what time are they going to sleep everyday? I dread the day when their school work is so heavy going but I must do revision with them. For now, I will just let them play bah.

We brought the gals to the nearby playgrounds from 7-730pm since I picked them early at 5pm. Hubby always tells me to ignore RA when she asks me to bring her home early. Just stick to 6+pm when he comes home then it will be 2 adults handling 2 kids instead of me alone. So, definitely, it will be easier for me. But other than the added stress of cooking dinner while being the referree when the gals fight, it's a good thing to pick them up early cos they get to spend more time at home eg. 5-10+pm esp impt to RA who is a homebody. Cos CC already takes up 8 hrs everyday. I feel guilty when RA asked me 'Mummy, why when I come home, it is already at night'. At least this way, I feel less guilty...