My day is mostly taken up by meals preparation.

This is how it is daily – when I wake, it’s to prepare breakfast. After breakfast, it’s brunch for Nat before he’s off to school and I prepare his snack box for school. Then it’s lunch for Natalie. And when Nat is back from school, it’s afternoon snack time. And then it’s dinner preparation.

Admittedly, on most days, by the time late afternoon rolls around, I’m down for a nap with both of them and when we wake, it’s kinda late for dinner prep and we head out for a quick dinner. Heehee.

I was a noob when it came to preparing Nat’s snack box. This is something new for the school year as the school shifted to a temporary premise which has no kitchen facilities and the children were to bring their own snacks for snacktime.

Thankfully for a hidden stash of “bento tools” (bought from Daiso), plain ole bread & fruits in the snack box actually look more appetising. Hah.

But I am no bento mummy.

I was initially at a loss as to what to prepare, given Nat’s picky habits but he seems happy with 1 bread item and his favourite fruits. I rotate between golden kiwi, apples (sliced thinly) & grapes. Sometimes, there’s an additional item of cheese biscuits, milo cereal or cornflakes.

I even asked him what his friends bring to school! Haha. Tehpeng said I was being “competitive” but nooo, I only wanted ideas on what else to pack for him! Honestly.

Sometimes, the snackbox looks rather cute and I can’t resist snapping a shot, for memory’s sake.

Of course, there are days when I was the totally delinquent mummy who puts in only cheese biscuits and fruits. And just this Monday, his snack box was chocolate cake (from Natalie’s birthday party) with apples.

It must be a growth spurt stage for him, where he’s hungry again after school and so we all sit down for an afternoon snack. Recently, I cut up toasted bread and let them both dip into yoghurt while I dig into my garlic bread toast. This is a good way to spend some time together, and seeing Nat feed meimei.

• This is how we work it
• Surviving, first week
• Not so ordinary Sat

On the eve of LNY eve, we headed to my parents for a pre-reunion-meal dinner. On our way down, it poured.

It continued pouring for abit and when the rain stopped, I saw this amazing sight.

Double rainbows. This totally reminds me of this song - ”The rainbows in the sky show God’s promises are true”

• It’s the season
• October Burst
• Thank you for 2010

We ended the last week with a walk at the Henderson Wave on Sunday evening before dinner.

Outdoors is always good, there’s fresh air, there’s space to run about (let off the kids’ energizerbunny energy!), there’s no shopping lure and there’s plenty of photo opportunities!

We plonked Natalie down in the middle of the walkway and basically let her crawl around. Yes, you tend to be more “open-minded” and less icky about icky stuff when you are parenting 2. You realise they are hardier than we give them credit for.

And we decided to join her for a family shot.

I had to go behind the lens to capture tehpeng with the 2 Nats. Natalie is quite his photocopy huh?

I have to say I am very thankful for tehpeng, who has made the transition into this stayhomemum thingy rather…easy. He didn’t set any KPIs (or expectations) for me, except to tell me to not lose my patience with them both (huh huh huh) and kept checking in on me on the first few days. And even though tired from a day at work, he chips in to help with whatever that needs to be done – dishes, bottles, laundry, bathing etc.

More importantly, I like how we laugh over our ineptness in being parents, or keeping the house tidy or keeping up with certain routines. Basically things which could have been done better.

This is what makes this works, the ability to accept that we are not superparents, the knowledge that we are learning bit by bit, making light of the tough and difficult times and having fun while doing the not-so-thrilling and mundane stuff (washing bottles for the nth time?!).

When one is with the children, little things get to you. I know I will look back at this period and  be thankful I have this opportunity to be with them. And like what this article says, kairos moments.

• Surviving, first week
• Meeting the warriors
• The father of my children

When people knew I was going to stop work and do the stayhome mum thingy for abit, their first reaction was usually “wah, shiok, be tai-tai”.

That, ladies and gentlemen,is.a.myth.

I know it was not going to be easy but now, I also know how tiring it can be. Being home with 2 small ones who constantly need your attention, engagement and care, is absolutely time-absorbing.

At the end of the first week, I can say I survived it. Or shall I say, we survived it?

Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who needed to adjust to the new arrangement.

This was taken on day 1 morning and by the time I fed them breakfast, I realised I’ve only just consumed half of my tea. And it was time to think about and prepare brunch, prepare Nat for school AND put Natalie for her nap#1. As it panned out, nap#1 was delayed till after we dropped Nat in school. This, as most parents would know, would result in a later nap#2 time. I was ambitious and tried to put both down for their naps in the afternoon. After a futile 1.5 hrs in the bedroom with both clearly not in the mood for a nap, it was time to prepare them for a dinner date. It was a dinner to celebrate silver_crv’s birthday with Ron and muffingal family and I was glad as it was like a sweet reward for day1. And I didn’t have to cook. HAHA.

Then Nat fell sick and I was so thankful for tehmum who took care of Natalie during the day for a few days just so to separate them and to ease my load. Well, it was definitely much easier, in comparison, to care for a 4 year old, even if he was a whiney sticky-to-me boy!

On Thursday, it was back to caring for both, with Nat still down with a low-grade fever. This time, I was better prepared having tried to spreadsheet out my daily schedule (I still need schedule and to-do lists!), and accepting the fact that it will be non-stop action till I sleep.

I also decided not to be ambitious, on tehpeng’s good advice(huh huh huh) and changed tactic to settling Natalie for her nap first (and allowing Nat to be entertained by the ipad) before settling Nat for the nap. I know, trying to settle both together for a nap? What was I thinking!? Even if my mum could always do this, I am clearly a noob! This tactic worked and I considered it a good day, with us napping 2 hours together.

There is a learning curve, as with trying to settle into a new role (akin to work!) and I need to know what is important, what needs my attention first and to accept that the house will be messy most times…but I am home, I am with the children and I want to go beyond just taking good care of their basic needs. Currently, it is survival mode, do what is needed to be done.

I want to move on to the next level, which is engaging them with fun learning activities.

How do other stay home mums do it?!

• This is how we work it
• Meeting the warriors
• And it’s back to work, mummy!

It has been a year of change.

This year just seem to really fly past for me. It really didn’t felt real that it was the year end, perhaps as work was gearing up and no one was in a holiday mood.

Let me see…Nat started school proper for the first time and it was a huge change for him, going from random play at home to a structured learning environment every day for 3 hours. I am so thankful to see that he settled in really well and really enjoyed being in school. He was clearly loved by his two teachers.

The biggest change of the year was rightfully the arrival of Natalie and being a mummy of two. It was babycaring all over again and I continue to give thanks to and for my mum and tehmum who take turns to provide the greatest care for my 2 children while we are at work.

Of course, another change was when the helper quit on us in the latter part of the year and we found ourselves thrown suddenly into working AND doing the house work. It was a rude shock to my system, honestly but I am glad to say we sort of fell into a a good routine and it was really nice that the house is just us 4 now. The house might be messy at all times, looking as if hit by a tornado but we learnt to manage on our own. And yes, it is tiring to manage work, children and house. There are just that many hours in a day.

Another change which I was really thankful for, was the forming of a housegroup with the families of the boys who are Nat’s good friends in church. It was made up of the members from the music ministry and it has really worked out well. The bandboys found that it helped towards them serving together as a band while the plus one (aka the wives) bonded over mummytalk and of course, the 4 boys are forming a very unique strong bond among themselves.

Compared to last year, we had a more eventful countdown to 2012!

Seeing that Natalie was so co-operative on road trip, we did another trip into JB with the 2 families and it was fun! It was a really last min decision and we managed to secure 3 rooms at Pulai Spings just 2 days before NYE. And the stay came complete with a countdown dinner party and fireworks!

As a treat, the boys were allowed to stay up and they did! Their first countdown party! At midnight, or even before midnight, there were fireworks in the sky (from another place) and the resort’s fireworks were just visible from comfort of the room balcony (even though partially blocked by trees).

It was a leisurely staycation and pool time was clearly a highlight for the boys. Give them each a water gun and let them go wild with it.

As for Natalie, it was her first dip in the pool and she took to it like a duck to water! And erh…yes, she is wearing Nat’s konfidence wetsuit.

Nat overcame his initial fear of the water  to wanting another go at the pool after breakfast the next day.

It was a fun staycation and time for us, as a family, for us with our friends and for nat to be with his friends.

And so, here we are at 2012.

This is going to be a year of…huger change and adventure.

Watch this space.

• Thank you for 2010
• And here we are, 2010
• Her first passport stamp!

I know it’s already the first week of 2012 and yet, I’ve not gotten down to writing down a recap of 2011 (which has really swoosh us by!).

But I had to have a post, for posterity’s sake, today 6 Jan 2012 is my last day at work.

Yes, I’m relinquishing work and going to do the stay home mum/household manager thing for a bit.

It was a hurried last day. I said my goodbyes (it still didn’t felt as if I was leaving). And I was still madly clearing my last to-do and then shutting down the laptop and clearing the cupboard till the last minute. In fact, work was supposed to have ended before lunch. I had  a lunch appointment with Dada and had thought it was a good way to kick start the non-working time. But ah well.

For a long while, I left the building without the laptop and just as I stepped out of the lift, I startled for abit – as if I forgot something.

真的需要调整心情。

• Weekends are fun times
• Gone kite flying
• And it’s back to work, mummy!

This mummy has not been very diligent in documenting Natalie’s growth. Not cos she is number 2, but I didn’t document much with Nat too. It’s just..me.

However, I must share about her first overseas experience. Just a road trip to JB on Christmas Day.

We drove in with tehparents for a one-night stay thingy and through it all, Natalie was such a dream. She sat in her car seat throughout. This I must clarify that she used to be a wailing baby in car seat (totally nerve wrecking when I have to do solo-drives with her!) but she managed to accept it as part & parcel of it…eventually. And the bootcamp method was for me to sit in the front seat and leave both Nats strapped in at the back. Initially she cried and wailed but we tried to pacify her with songs, with singing and food (this most definitely always does the trick!). Now, she can even zzz in the car on her own, with no fuss. Nothing!

She slept really well too. Or as “well” as is her normal sleep pattern – which is to wake at around 1-2am to join me in bed from her cot and 5-6am for a feed.

And yes, she was a dream at mealtimes and during shopping too. As long as she has food, she’s ok to sit in her highchair. And as for shopping, once she’s beco-ed by tehpeng, she goes to sleep.

So, since she was so cooperative in the car seat AND with shopping, we managed to check out JPO on our way back even though tehparents had decided to head back first.  JPO was crowded! Half of Singapore and perhaps Msia too were there. The place was just spilling over with people. However, I have to admit, the whole infrastructure is as similar to a premium outlet as it can get. Prizes may not be as great as those in US or even Japan (as I read from media reports) but I think it still warrants a visit, just cause.

It is most definitely fun to travel (and tiring) with them both. Success for our first family (of-four) trip!

• Finding me
• His first school holiday
• HK :: the last burst of shopping