I hardly bathe for him since the maid came onboard.  It’s one of those things I deem as a chore.  But since that Sunday, he’s been requesting for my service.  Because I work on the weekdays, I told him I’ll only bathe him on weekends. 

And he’s been looking forward to it. 

When he was born, my husband was the one bathing him.  I think I only took over when he was about three months old.  I cannot quite remember much of it except for the towel on his chest to keep him from feeling cold.

But now that he’s much older, I have to say, it’s really fun.  We found good use with the tub and the Organic Surge Bath Soak sent to me for review at my beauty blog.  I actually enjoy giving him a good scrub and seeing him lie in the tub with bliss and happiness written all over his face.  It made me feel very good indeed.

Never knew that giving a bath can be such a joy.  I’m loving it too!

We were at the supermarket two days ago and while navigating through one of the lanes, we found a little boy standing in the middle of the pathway.  Because it was a narrow lane, we had to ask the child to excuse us but he probably didn’t hear or understand us.  So I gently tapped on his shoulder and asked him again.  As I was doing that, a woman, most likely the mother, grabbed his arm and then shoved him to the side while reprimanding that he had stood in our way. 

It wasn’t like she created a scene but her actions got me thinking how such knee-jerk reactions to tell our kids off first in similar situations are common by most parent’s standards.  It’s actually a normal case of trying to exercise civilness because we don’t want to cause others inconvenience, especially publicly, even if it’s due to our kids’ ignorance.

And this brought my memory back to an incident which I had witnessed many years ago before I had a child.  Of how a father had patiently told his daughter to be more careful even though she has dropped a full cup of drink plus a bag of popcorns he just bought.  That stuck in my memory because I was so impressed with his patience and how he dealt with it.

I admit I am currently like the mother of the little boy, letting my feelings get the better over my child’s mental well-being sometimes. After the little encounter at the supermarket, I’m now reminding myself that  I really should strive to be more like the father of the girl, putting my child’s feelings ahead of mine, whether publicly or privately.

Practice patience and not show anger.

Eternally grateful to those who uploaded the episodes of Takuya Kimura’s Change online so quickly! It’s such a great pick-me-up for my less-than-stellar mood. In fact, it was so brilliant that it even deserved a mention on The Wall Street Journal!

And here’s what the drama critics at Yomiuri said:

If there is an heir to Shiba’s intelligent, socially conscious style of scriptwriting, it just might be Yasushi Fukuda, who, in recent years, has given us Kyumei Byoto 24-ji, Galileo, and now the political drama Change. The showpiece of the July 14, five-star finale was an inspiring 20-minute speech by Prime Minister Asakura (Takuya Kimura) that emphasized accountability and responsibility for politicians and voters alike. It was so good, the public would probably elect Asakura tomorrow if given the chance.

Change just completed airing in Japan last week and you can already watch the entire drama from YouTube. For those who prefer English subtitles, check out www.mysoju.com but the last episode hasn’t been uploaded though.

Takuya definitely gave the REAL politicians and bureaucrats a tough act to follow.

I thought he was using these measuring tapes to measure his height but it turns out, he has been playing with them. So this week, I noticed them on the dining table again and asked the maid what he does with them.

It turns out he’s been very creative.

He would patiently roll them all up.

Make sure that they are all rolled up tightly before pushing the tape up from below.

And what are these? Strata volcano, shield volcano and cinder cone volcano! STILL ON VOLCANOES!!!

I was pretty perturbed after reading the local news about the 16-year-old boy who had oral sex with the HIV-infected Singapore man. It was reported that his parents are not talking to him and if this is true, I wonder what’s going on in their minds.

Maybe I’ve been too affected by what’s happening around me, but really. Can’t they find a space in their hearts to forgive their own child and embrace him again? It’s not like he has committed a heinous crime and even if it is, he’s afterall their child isn’t it? If they cannot even accept him again, how is he going to find the courage to face the world on his own? He’s only 16!!!

Which brings me back to what’s been bugging me of late. If we cannot even go back home and receive some sort of emotional understanding and support in times of need, then WTF is a family for?

This is the whole trouble. Of why kids and teens would rather turn to their friends or people they barely know for support. And can you really blame them for getting misguided?