Indon maid

As I'm writing this, I feel rather sad. On one hand, I know that I shouldn't be treating the way I'm treating Els (my Indon maid) now but on the other hand, her work/actions are making me so frustrated, that at times, I feel like hitting her. I have not hit her or anything but on the verge of it. I couldn't help it but held (not pull) her right ear last weekend when I wanted to tell her that her ears are for listening. She actually left the Filipino maid standing outside the gate for 20 minutes even after she rang the doorbell for 6 times. Hubby and I came home from the playground with the kids and saw Meli (Filipino maid) standing outside after her day-out. I was furious and we checked what she was doing. She said she was ironing and couldn't hear the door bell. Deaf or what? Imagine my kids crying for help upstairs in their room - she would most probably just pass it as 'saya tak boleh dengar'.

On many occassions, she has hurt my 2 boys unintentionally (at least I would like to think of it that way). She would hold Ryan's hand and at the blink of an eye, Ryan would suddenly fall down. Her legs are always in the way of the boys'. Or on another occassion, she would be tidying the boys' toys and putting them in the toy box and while she's holding the lid, she would knock against Ryan's face. I really cannot put words to describe her. Or yet another occassion, she would be walking in the living room and suddenly she would squat down to pick up something not knowing that Jaden is right behind her, and her big butt would cause Jaden to fall against the wooden door.

And there was one time when I came home from grocery shopping. She was putting the eggs into the fridge and the next thing you know, one egg fell on the floor. Closer inspection on how she put the eggs - she put the smaller rounder tip as the base on the egg casing instead of the wider base - of course lah not stable. She can have the guts to tell me that that's how she put the eggs in her home in Indon (Don't play play, her house in Indon got fridge and not only that, should be relatively big to put non-essential items like eggs too).

And with food, she can be clumsy as well. There was one occassion when Meli caught her giving the wrong formula to Ryan. Ryan has just changed from Enfagrow to Enfakid and the confusion in taste would cause us more problems. I told her off to be more careful in the future. I am just worried that she would be giving Enfakid to Jaden.

There was one night when papa was overseas. The boys slept and I slept in their room on the floor after switching on the house alarm. The next thing I know, the alarm went off and I quickly dashed into my room to disable the alarm. Went downstairs and saw the backdoor open, which triggered the alarm. And emerging from the dark, was the maid. She said that she was hanging the wash cloth. My gawd, at 11.30pm!! And she can tell me that she doesn't know there's a house alarm after staying with us for more than 6 months!! Bloody *stu***

Often, we'll tell her to do something and she'll end up 'maaf - saya lupa'. Called her to put the sausage bread in the fridge and not to leave it overnight outside cos the sausage will spoil and when I wake up in the morning, the sausage bread will still be on the table. Called her to prepare one roti canai for puan and one for tuan in the morning and I'll end up not having any for breakfast.

I guess me and her no 'yuen fan', just can't understand and get-along with each other. Hubby and I can't wait to send her back home next year after her contract ends *sigh*

Beijing Olympics 2008

I've never been a real fan of Olympics and therefore, has never really paid attention to any of the opening ceremony, let alone to watch any of the games.

Somehow, this year, due to the uniqueness of the opening time/date of 08.08.08 at 8.08pm, I fell into the trap of watching it. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ceremony (up until the marching-in of athletes from different countries) and the association with 2000 years of China history. I was particularly awed by the fireworks, the unveiling of a giant scroll and the participation of over 15,000 performers in the opera performance, movable-type printing, acrobats, etc.

While we were watching this on TV, my parents were watching the ceremony LIVE miles away. This was the account from my mother after her arrival back from Beijing 'Wah, it was really torturous. We had to reach the Birds' Nest stadium by 4pm for the 8pm opening ceremony. We went there in an official car. The ceremony ended about midnight and since the security around the area was so tight, no cars were allowed in. We had to walk many kms to board a public transport and by the time we reached the apartment, it was 4am!' Furthermore, we weren't staying in a hotel, and we couldn't find any food at that time. So, we didn't have dinner and was left with an empty stomach'

Oh my...lesson learnt?! Better to watch the opening ceremony in the comfort of our home sofa than to suffer there :p *but I guess the experience would be wordless....*

And being the nice and lovely grandparents, they of course, did not come home empty-handed. Needless to say, the grandsons were overjoyed to see their po-po on Monday.



Mama taking the photo at the backgrd :p

Cloth Diapers and Soakers

Papa came back from Canada not long ago and he brought back a luggage full of children's clothes and most importantly, fitted cloth diapers and soakers for Jaden. Mama had been waiting for months for these to arrive from US as these were made by WAHM in US. They were sent to Aunty Min Yau's house in Houston so that mama could save on shipping costs :) And since Aunty Min Yau's visit to Canada coincides with papa's visit, the plan was just perfect.

Jaden is a super heavywetter and the use of a single disposable Mamy Poko at night doesn't solve the leaking problem every night. Mama gets so frustrated waking up in the middle of the night to change Jaden into a new PJ and diaper, and not to mention the wet bed sheets and all. So after weeks and months of research, mama found a better night time diapering solution - which is to use fitted cloth diapers and wool interlock soakers. Fingers crossed, the last few nights have been wet-free nights for Jaden!

Below: Wild Child Woolies shorties and soaker


Wollybottoms soaker


Goodmama OS marigold bamboo velour CD.


Custom made Very Baby Simple Nights (VBSN) diaper with additional bamboo fleece insert


Custom made Holden's Landing bedbugs - Natural dyed cotton fleece (R)


Bedbug - pumpkin dyed bamboo velour with BV inner


Muttaqin 3 Step Rise (3SR)


So far, the VBSN and Bedbugs have been bullet-proof at night...yippee!