Parent Teachers Conference (PTC) and afterthoughts

This is a backdated post cos RL's PTC was on 26 May before we went to Taiwan and RA was on 12 June after we came back from Taiwan.

Raelynn's PTC didn't go so well cos Wang Laoshi said she has short attention span. 上课, 没有听课, 只顾着玩她的裙子. 叫她的名字,旗庭,旗庭... 她也不知道. When the teacher asks her to do colouring, she will pick a colour pencil, colour a corner here, then take another colour pencil and colour another corner, and repeat until she has a few parts coloured, she will be happy and stop. Wang Laoshi said she is very different from RaeAnne (whom she also taught) who paid attention in class and consciously try to colour within the lines very nicely.

I really wanted to dig a hole and hide inside then, so embarrassed. But luckily, I redeemed myself and Raelynn cos I asked Wang Laoshi if she was as bad compared to the other year end babies. Wang Laoshi didn't know RL is a Dec baby because she is half a head taller than the other year-end-born classmates. After I pointed out to her, she said then she's better cos at least she can answer when Wang laoshi asks her a question (in Mandarin), some of her peers cannot answer yet. RL's form teacher Teacher Jean is new so she said she still needs more time to observe RL.

I am guilty of not doing anything for RL's studies cos I still treat her as my baby since she is the youngest in the family. I am not keen for her to grow up so fast too. So, as long as the teacher said she is better than her peers, I will leave her be. After all, she has an elder sister to emulate so I don't think she will take that long to catch up. :P

RaeAnne's PTC was the one we looked forward to cos we wanted some advice from the teachers. We find her very impatient (always shouting and raising her voice), emotional and bad tempered and always fighting with Mei Mei. Yang Laoshi (her form teacher) and Teacher Samantha (English and Maths) said RaeAnne is a good student. Never gave them any trouble just that she is too quiet. Told the teachers that she talks a lot at home but she is bad tempered. Asked the teachers if she is like that in school and the teachers said not at all, she is well behaved and gets along well with her friends so they are surprised to hear this from us.

That's reassuring cos it shows that she knows that in public social settings, she should behave herself. At least we won't be getting complain calls from her teachers. As for her tantrums, the teachers advised us to be more indirect and not to hurt her ego when she does something wrong cos she has a strong personality. Encourage her that she can do something better if she does it another way but don't say that she is wrong.

Anyway, my conclusion is that RA is usually at her best behaviour when Mei Mei is not around so she is just trying to fight for attention and love with Mei mei. She always wants us to treat them fairly and even for us to love her more so I guess she is insecure. Think we should try and bring her out on solo dates with us so that she can feel our love without Mei Mei around to compete with her.

18 June 2012

It's been 9 long years since hb and I first became an item. And I almost forgot about our dating anniversary date. I slept at 3am last night and crashed in the morning till afternoon 3pm. No thanks to RA who was sleeping and whining the whole time last night even when I let her sleep on my bed after she came into my room. The gals already slept late close to midnight cos they had late afternoon naps at ILs place.

Anyway, we didn't celebrate the day at all. Initially, wanted to bring the gals to watch Madagascar 3 but that plan was aborted cos they were more keen to go to Uncle Ringo rides next to Tampines Mall. But at least the gals had fun. Hope we can make it up for it next yr, when it's our 10th yr together. :P

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to hubby! :)

Today was a hectic day so didn't have time to celebrate with hb though I did get him a gift yesterday and RA drew him a beautiful card.

In the morning, we went to Compass Point for late brunch at Burger King then collected the Father's Day cake for FIL. Then we went to ILs house to celebrate with him. RA was excited and keen to blow the candle but RL didn't. RA ate quite a bit of cake but RL refused to have a single bite. Strange that this gal doesn't like cake. Thought most kids do. She loves sweets and chocolate though. :P

Around 245pm, Hb went to China Square Central to 'beow' toys but I was tired. Supposed to go back and nap but I ended up tidying up the mess created by the gals for the past 2 weeks which got worse after our Taiwan trip cos there was so much loose barang barang lying around.

Hb helped to get the Boon Tong Kee chicken from Macpherson Road cos I wanted to go to the temple to pray to my dad. This was my first Father's Day and it feels weird not spending it with him. He always liked Boon Tong Kee chicken. Spent some time 'talking' to him and updating him about our lives. Hope he can really hear me and that he's at peace.

Taiwan 8D7N Family Funtasia

This is going to be a very short post (by my standards). We went to Taiwan with the kids, my mum, mil and small aunt from 2-9 June. 7 people in total. We joined the goup tour by Chan Bros. There were 14 adults and 6 kids in this tour.

We went to Taipei, Jiaoxi, Yilan, Jiufen, Nantou, Sun Moon Lake, Chiayi, Tai chong, before returning to Taipei. The first few days were rainy so it was a bit difficult to move around esp with 2 young kids who dun like raincoats but they were too heavy to carry. The next few days were better but super sunny. As hot as Singapore. In fact, we perspired as if we were in Sg too. :P

What the kids enjoyed: the doctor fish feeding at Spa resort (though RaeAnne kept asking why the fish didn't want to bite her feet. She didn't know it was a compliment paid by the fish cos it meant that her skin is so smooth that the fish had no 死皮 to nibble on),  bubble baths at hotel room bathtubs (only when avail) as usual! The carousel and other kiddy rides at 九族文化村 esp when it's free, no queues so they can go as many rounds as they like. They also like the animals at Leofoo resort hotel but since they were too far for them to touch, they were not especially wowed.

What I enjoyed, the food! Especially the 卤肉饭and醉鸡at 张记 in 九份. And the white bittergourd juice. The scenery at Sun Moon Lake was very nice too. Couldn't wake up for the sunrise though I think it would have been beautiful.

As for the old folks, I'm not really sure what they esp like. Keke. But hope they enjoyed the trip. Dun think we will be going on such big group tours in future, cost being one of the major reasons. ;P