Fighting in School

Last Friday Ryan came home and informed us that he had a fight with his best friend, the one who always sent SMS-es to him via The Big Kid's handphone and sometimes calls him at home. This boy, let's just call him "J" is rather big size compared to my son.....probably an "XL" size for a 10 year old. J's mom also taught at the same school Ryan goes to, so we were ok with them being friends.

The fight apparently happened because they were playing and J accidentally made his own food container fell on the floor. He threw a tantrum and blamed Ryan for this. Just like the Hongkee movie, this little "taiko" told another student to attack my son (Yes, I was shocked to hear this). Fortunately, Ryan managed to defend himself but J turned on him and hit him on his right shoulder several times. Can you imagine an XL size kid attacking an M size kid?

Two school monitors who witnessed this quickly ran and reported the matter to J's mom, who immediately took action. One by one, the kids were interviewed and when it was clear that it was J's fault, the mom whacked him on his hand using the cane. Being a Chinese school, they do practice capital punishment when disciplining students. Later on, J's mom personally apologized to Ryan saying that J still had issues with temper and that she was sorry that she did not teach him well.

I'm not sure whether Ryan will continue his friendship with J but he was pretty easy about it, saying he had other friends in school. However, I did tell him that if he wanted to befriend him again, J should apologize first. Fortunately, my skinny monkey son was not hurt badly in the fight. So, we did not pursue this matter furher. That's why these days it's important for children to learn some self defence. You never know when they might need it.

Family Day At School

Mei Mei's school had their Family Day last Saturday and since The Big Kid was working and Ryan had tuition, only the two of us went their together. The school parking lot was full and I had to park along the shophouses nearby her school.

The kids singing their school theme song

It was a short walk to Mei Mei's school but the weather was pretty hot. I didn't bother to bring an umbrella as I was carrying my bag in one hand and holding her hand in the other as we walk. Mei Mei didn't seemed to mind either as all she could think of was to be there. There were free games but the queue were pretty long, a puppet show and some food stalls being set up. It was a pretty small scale affair. The children went crazy in the playground area, climbing, sliding, hanging....you name it, and you'll see it.

Children getting ready to watch the puppet show

Puppet show

Waiting for her turn to play a game

I was surprisingly happy with my girl's behaviour as she made sure I was in view all the time, and did not go missing amidst the crowd. And when I suggested we go back before the closing time, she happily followed my instruction, without a fuss. Got to admit, I was glad I brought her there :)

One last snap before we went home

Her New Hobby

Can you guess from the above photo what she has been up to lately?

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She's finally able to make necklaces and bracelets out of the set of beads which we had bought for her on her birthday. Mei Mei made this necklace for Jasmine (MomKidSpace's daughter) and a bracelet for Vanessa, another of her best friend. If she uses up all her beads, I'll have to get her more. Anyone know of any online store that sells cheap beads? I bought this set at ToysRus, so they are quite pricey.

How We Spent The Long Holidays

From May 28th to June 6th, I only had two working days due to the long public holidays. So, there were many activities planned with the kids. I didn't have much opportunity to take pictures as I had a very bad case of gastric which lasted several days. Here's what we did:

1. We brought them to watch Shrek 4 3D Movie. It was the kids as well as my first 3D full length movie. It cost $75 for the 4 of us. The Big Kid said it was not really that great compared to the one he watched at Gold Coast.

Grand Magherita Hotel's baby pool

Hotel lobby

2. Mei Mei and Ryan spent alternate nights staying at  Grand Magherita Hotel (formerly Holiday Inn) with my mom and my aunt who had came from outstation. My aunty had gotten a deluxe room with two queen sized bed, so the room could actually sleep 4. I don't know what attracted the kids to the hotel but Mei Mei cried buckets when it was her Kor Kor's turn to spend the night and she had to go home.

3. We brought them to Stampark Water Park (not really water parklah but had one children pool and two big pools) for an evening swim. Cost us $17 per entry even though this mommy just look after the bags and stuff.

As you can see, long holidays may mean lots of fun with the kids but these days, fun does involve spending quite a lot of money too ;P

She Turned Six!

My youngest "baby" has recently turned SIX! She's definitely no longer a baby but has turned into a loud mouthed chatterbox who can hardly stop talking except for when she watches her cartoons or plays the Game Boy. Ryan said at times, Mei Mei even talks to herself when she plays the Game Boy!

She had a mini celebration at her day care two days before her actual birthday because of the long holidays here. Mei Mei helped packed the goodie bags for her friends but this year, I didn't get enough items and each bag only had 4 items consisting of a packet of Smarties, a packet of biscuits, a packet of Shoyue Mi and a face mask. Poor children. To make up for it, we bought a bigger cake for her and told the daycare to let the children finish everything. Last year, they only cut a portion and let us take the rest back.

On the eve of her birthday, I brought her to Toysrus to choose the present which she has been requesting since early this year. It was a box of bead accessories for creating necklaces and bracelets. At the same time, I got her some other presents, one from her daddy and one from my mom.

Mei Mei celebrated her birthday on her actual day with another birthday cake. Next year, I must remind myself to get a smaller cake as we could not finish this one 0_0 Oh yes, thanks to this mommy of twins for remembering her birthday. What good memory you have!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR MS.CHATTERBOX

WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!

Notesworthy

Very often, she will wake up in the middle of the night or early morning, tap me on my shoulder and say "Mi, can you help me to put my blanket please?"

I'm pleasantly surprised that she still remembers to be polite at this hour, while half asleep.