Overwhelmed

I have not been hibernating – school life with two kids has simply been too overwhelming. Right, there is no other way to put it - OVERWHELMED. I have just been here doing nothing outside the ordinary and Kit Kat have hopped from one activity to the other at school, Kit has learnt some amazing skills in her brand new class, there is no much energy in our house after school hours that I am simply basking in its love during the day…before more rushes in after school! I simply cannot keep up with their schedules during school hours and outside along with mine and am learning new skills I never knew I had!

Although dealing with Kat is always a pleasure as she’s that age where you can communicate like a friend and there is always a humour that is appreciated. It can also be a bit of ‘hitting your head against the wall’ situation when everything you say generates “I don’t care’ answer which drives me up the wall most days. Other days, I don’t care either...and then we make up and sorry etc – we’re ok – Kat is a nice girl just with her bad and good days – we both are learning and are working on finding the best way to communicate with each other! The good news (apart from that her hair is growing!) is that Kat is loving 5th grade so study/teacher wise she’s very happy for now which means a major precipitating fight factor is out of the way (phew!)

My super STAR

Kit has been a super duper STAR in school. She is having an unbelievable time. She is coming home with endless stories (dominated with detailed lunch menus) of the day, her teachers, her friends. She is slowly learning the art of best friends, sharing friends, not hurting feelings etc. It is such a joy to see her mouth phrases like “its ok if I play with her too? One person can have 2 friends, right?” or “she is my best friend but I play with xyz too.”

Of course, the highlight of the day is the round trip on the school bus – she is happy to be just like Kat! READ MORE...

Kat wants s'more

With loads of dirty clothes, leg cramps from intensive rock climbing, over exhaustion and SO many wonderful memories and stars in her eyes – KAT IS BACK!

Kat-made Apple cider

As a special treat, I went downstairs to pick her up after bus drop off (she’s normally a big girl but yesterday was a well deserved special treat) and the first thing I noticed was that she had grown taller (I mean is that really possible? only 2 nights?) Now I know why Grandma and Granddad mention this every time they see Kit Kat (and they get to see them every few months) and I look at the girls up and down wondering if they’ve really gained height? Apart from that, Kat looked so tired BUT happy. Her pink bag looked dirty pink now (I’m a mum – can’t help noticing these things at first glance, can I?) and everything that she could not fit inside was now outside in smaller bags like extra sneakers, medicines and so we both struggled upstairs with a bag filled with *sigh* dirty clothes, sleeping bag, backpack, three smaller bags (which were originally inside the pink bag) plus a bottle of Kat made Apple cider AND non stop chatter!

Kit had (yet another) beaded necklace as a welcome gift ready for Kat and after a few hugs and kisses later, the novelty READ MORE...

Kit's Kumon Challenge

 Starting Kumon was a big adventure for Kit – of course anything that Kat does and Kit gets to copy is always an achievement. The difference of years is never really an issue with her. There's always a shortcut to everything!

From dots to numbers...

It was a bit of a setback when Kit realised that her Maths sheets in Kumon involved counting big red dots instead of numbers (like Kat) when she got them for the first time a few months ago – however, the situation has now changed – she wishes those dots would come back once more! Yes, Kumon is wonderful for children at this early age and it has been a tried and tested formula in our home for Kat (she needs the repetition) but Kit is finding the new sums a bit of a challenge at the moment.

Every time I sit down with her, she will start looking outside the window instead of looking at the sheets. Exasperated, I will ask READ MORE...

School Trip Already?



Pretty in pink with pink luggage, pink Three Cheers for Girls sleeping bag AND pink backpack, Kat is off to a 3 day school trip to study astronomy, creative writing and make apple cider. The last time she went (the focus was on bugs that time!), it was her first time away from me and we spent ages preparing for the trip. This time it's been a breeze for her - they do grow up so quickly, don't they? Sadly, I haven't changed much - I went through the packing list ten times and packed and repacked countless times. I am still trying to remember the item I must have forgotten to pack...in vain!

Right till this morning, every time I mentioned the word ‘packing’, Kat ducked away somewhere in the fear that I would make her go through the list and the items yet once again!

Kat has apologized to me already - seeing my near crazy behaviour perhaps, she has assured me that from last time's experience she is sorry but she is positive that she will not miss me this time. READ MORE...

Sunny Mismanagement

I LOVE my sunglasses – actually it’s more of a necessity for me than a fashion accessory...the day I venture out in the sun without mine I am doomed – a bright, smiling sun and hunger are triggers for a migraine that will never forgive me for days. Kat has glasses and she even got the photo chromatic ones so that she could have her sunglasses in the sun and the same ones turn normal in the shade. However, after seeing me being so much in love with mine, she has now finally got a pair of prescription sunglasses for herself. She enjoys wearing them but it’s a big hassle for me as I always end up carrying them – it’s an expensive pair (prescription sunglasses always are) and I am so worried that somewhere in the process of exchanging the normal pair with the sunglasses, she will either lose or break this one – and I feel much safer guarding them! Totally my fault – no one else to blame...

Kat copies me and gets her pair and who does Kit copy? You guessed it – Kat! Kit has not one, but 2 pair of sunglasses to choose from and some days she will not leave the house if both Kat and I are wearing sunglasses and she isn’t...so here we are, three girls ready to face the sun with sun block, sunglasses and sun hats and guess what? the only man in our house will not wear sunglasses. He has the most jaw dropping Maui Jim sunglasses that have seen daylight only half a dozen times  READ MORE...

My girl has migraine?

My threshold of pain is reasonably good, in fact it’s very good BUT when it comes to a bad migraine I just don’t know how to handle it. Give me childbirth and I will breeze through it (Ok fine, the epidural helps) but although I’m a chronic migraine sufferer and I’ve known migraine since I started middle school and I do (and should) know how to live with it by now, this is one kind of pain I cannot absolutely bear. SO, it totally BROKE my heart when KAT called me from school yesterday crying incessantly and saying that her head hurt so much on one side and that she was nauseous too. It was almost home time by now and I think it was a build up of the whole pain by this time that led her to cry (I used to do it when I was a kid).

I know this feeling too well. My heart sank. Kat is very strong – she is my big girl in school – she never cries so it must really hurt. The nurse had only called me 30 minutes ago asking me if it was okay to give her some pain reliever and I thought it was just a regular headache (sometimes when they are tired they go up to the nurse) and she agreed. Then Kat went up to her locker room and called me and cried so much. Her school is around 30 minutes away by car so even if I/Papa wanted to bring her back, it was simpler for her to get back in the school bus (as it was home time anyway).

Kat's School Bus

Once on the school bus, I called her again but she just quickly spoke to me and said she wanted to rest. I tried to get as much information as I could in those few bits of conversation so as to confirm it was a migraine. The symptoms were so damn similar to how I feel – the aura of a migraine, the whole nausea, the pounding on the head…Anyhow, I cancelled my physiotherapy for the knee and waited for Kat to come home (last minute cancellations never go down well – I could write a complete blog on that lady who took my call and said “I will waive the late cancellation fee this time as I have other fish to fry” – can you believe that?) I even sent Kit to the playroom so there could be some quiet for Kat when she got home. READ MORE...

Hurricane Weekend

So here we were thinking of a wonderful holiday to Cape Cod for the long weekend only to be ruined by a hurricane red alert there followed by waiting till Thursday and then last minute cancellation on Friday..So we found ourselves with 3 long days ahead with Kat complaining that we NEVER do anything interesting and that this was going to be her worst weekend ever (she tends to get melodramatic most days!) and Kit following suit after closely watching Kat’s reactions.

Papa and I did feel terrible as we were looking forward to this last break before school starts but then we don’t usually go around driving at gusty winds of 125mph and more! So couldn’t blame the girls for feeling let down but when your feelings are mirrored in your kids, it makes you feel even worse, right? Papa and I then set on the task of entertaining them over the weekend and to make it fun for them in whatever way we could.

Fancy Italian & a stroll home :-)

Friday (the afternoon we would have left – *sob*) evening we all went to an Italian place for dinner. Kat LOVES pasta – I can’t remember but I’m pretty sure it must be the first food word she learnt to say as well! As for Kit, she loves pizza when it comes to Italian but some fancy places don’t do pizza so ended up with pasta which was fine as some days she would rather be like Kat then be like Papa (he is such a Pizza person!) We had a leisurely dinner (so much so that at one point we thought the server had forgotten us!) and strolled back home – at one point, Papa kissed Kat and Kit froze READ MORE...