Looks like I can start to go out during the nights again because Gavin has found himself a very capable bedtime caregiver who is not only able to read to him but also settle him nicely into slumberland.
This wonderful caregiver is none other than his DADDY!
I recently took on a new assignment which requires me to work on some nights away from home. Since I accepted the job, I was fretting about Gavin’s bedtime routine because I have always been the one who puts him to bed since he was born. The maid has made him sleep once or twice only because I was ill but she can no longer do the job now with bedtime reading involved.
Daddy graciously volunteered to look after him for those evenings that I’ll be away and last night was the first. I gave him specific instructions and was half worried Gavin would still be up by the time I reach home, thus affecting his sleeping hours. In between my work, I kept checking my cell phone but it was exceptionally quiet. Just when I was packing up to leave, I found a SMS text message from daddy saying:
Actually it was nice and fun to spend time with boy. He’s sleeping now. I read all five books to him!
I was impressed! Especially because I was expecting the both of them to roll and jump around on the bed as they do usually instead of sleeping. The fact that Daddy sucessfully put him to bed means I could take my time to drive home, have a relaxing shower and find something to eat and drink later.
This is really nice for a change. Gavin and his daddy should really spend more quality hours like this and I could do with more free time at night. Psst…tonight can repeat again Daddy? Heehee.
Of late, Gavin has taken a keener interest in reading. No matter how tired he is, he’ll always insist on his bedtime reading. I sometimes threaten not to read to him when he misbehaves and tears will start to well up in his eyes.
He loves these new story books on Thomas & Friends I bought him recently to bits. This of course is part of my ploy to move away from reading the non-fictions on cars and ships. They’re still on automotives no doubt, but at least they’re fun reads.
I’m glad that Gavin enjoys the process of reading. He sometimes read after me but he is still not able to articulate all the words clearly. Actually, he is still at the stage where he has problems with his pronunciation due to poor tongue control. For example, he cannot pronounce McDonald’s and calls it “Mac-M-Donalds”. A mountain is a “pountain” and swimming is “slimming”. And instead of saying teacher, he says ”picture.” Even after my attempts to correct him, the best he can manage is ”T-picture.”
It’s not that his speech is entirely unintelligible but with words that he cannot enunciate well, it can become a serious laughing matter. For example, over a feeding session last week, he suddenly blurted something I considered extremely alarming.
“Picture Ugly don’t come today.”
“WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY? WHO IS UGLY?”
Now, Gavin is well aware of the meaning of ugly and having him going to school and calling a teacher ugly is not a good idea at all. But no matter how I quizzed him and racked my brains, I didn’t know who he was referring to.
It was not until the next morning at the school assembly did the mysterious “Picture Ugly” presented herself in the form of ”Teacher Ardy.” Ardy. Ugly? Sheesh. I’m hoping she hasn’t heard how my silly son addresses her.
YAY! I saw the opening sequence and a short segment of Hero Special on YouTube and it looks as smashing as its predecessor. The drama apparently achieved an impressive 30.9% in viewership rating, the highest so far for any special one-time dramas in Japan. WHOO HOO!
Takuya with his long tress returns as the quirky but brilliant Kuryu in this special and I noticed that the talented Tsutsumi Shinichi (Koda, the airline inspector from Good Luck) is also amongst the key casts. I’m so glad that Takako Matsu, whom I’m not so fond of, only has a minor role. HIAK HIAK.
Can’t wait to get my hands on the drama. *VCD intelligence, you on the ground?* I know a full upload of the special is available on d-addicts.com but I’ll rather wait than take the risk of downloading a full set of malicious viruses. May patience be with me…*rubs hands in eager anticipation.*
Okay, I shall be kind by sharing. Those interested, go ogle Takuya at these links here:
- Hero Special Opening Trailer
- Hero Special Short Segment
- Hero Special 1st 10 minutes
I was so surprised to see these trays of Tau Sa Pia at The Roti Shoppe yesterday. Although I know this is still available, I least expected to see such traditional pastry in a modern bakery joint. I remember my mum used to buy these from the provision shops and back then, they came wrapped in thin pink paper.
What I found even more interesting was that this bakery even have the Chinese word “sweet” or “salty” imprinted on top of the tau sa pia. For those who haven’t eaten these, tau sa pia are either sweet or salty, depending on the filling. The sweet ones are filled with red bean and the salty with peanut paste.
The salty ones were my favourite. I remember the soft fluffy skin flaked easily and I used to polish off the fallen flakes from the pink paper or plate which I ate from.
I wonder if these taste as good because I didn’t get to buy any. But by the look of it, I believe I still need to clean up the fallen flakes.
I was overcome with resentment on Sunday evening when I realised that I didn’t have the time to do any grocery shopping over the weekend and we’re fast running out of critical items at home. How is it that I have to handle the day-to-day running of the household, ensure the welfare of my boy and still work almost everyday?
So I sent a SMS text message to my husband who was out for his exercise griping about this. Shortly after sending it, I regretted. The message wasn’t polite and the tone was accusatorily. I’m sure he would be annoyed receiving the message.
I knew it must be my PMS acting up and the fact that I’ve been feeling stressed over some new assignments I’ve taken up. But I didn’t offer any apology to him. I waited till he was back later in the night to size up if he was indeed angry. Of course he was and we didn’t speak again. Both turned into different sides of the bed with him fuming and me feeling kind of cold.
It was the same coldness in the morning. There was still no word from my man when I was preparing to leave the house with my boy. I didn’t feel like leaving the house in that state of coldness. So while he was reading the newspaper, I went up to him to apologise. And immediately, everything was back to normal in a jiffy. The air was warm again at home.
The word “sorry” has an important place in our relationship. We demand apologies from each other when offence takes place. Our cold war cannot end without such an acknowledgement from either party. I’ll admit however that I used to wait for him to make the apology no matter whose fault it was. Sometimes it’ll be an agonising wait on days. Just to prove to myself that he loves me more or that women ought to be pampered. Ha!
Increasingly over the years, I’ve grown more accustomed to using the word “sorry” in our relationship and making the move to break a cold war if it was my mistake to begin with. Maybe it’s the age. Maybe it’s the wisdom. Maybe it’s the lack of patience. I find that sorry isn’t the hardest word to say anymore. A relationship shouldn’t have to be competitive to the extent that offering an apology first is seen as scoring less love points and being weak.
So I’m now less afraid to say sorry. Instead of associating it with diminishing respect, I’ve come to realise that this little word actually helps to control further damage and strengthen our relationship when it’s used at the right time.
But then again, I will only say it if I was truly at fault. Cannot anyhow say sorry one. If it was him who offended me, then he better jolly well know how to offer reconciliation. Then of course there are still times when sorry takes forever to be said because we both think the other party is at fault. Erm, someone did say “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” right?
