What I am saying is, Mother is On Holiday! This is her term break!!She has flown to China (Macau & Shenzhen++) early morning on Saturday, and won't be back till midnight on Friday. Considering her previous holidays, this is a relatively short break.
So, this week I will try to use up the supply of chicken + minced pork + fish which Mother has helped to stock my freezer with. But I figure that this is going to be tough since we hardly arrive at home before 7pm these days. Sigh. Maybe I will buy dinner back on some days.
Anyway, WY will be going on a Student Leaders' Camp from Tuesday to Wednesday. This will be his first stay-over camp.
The programme comprises a visit to a secondary school and having some activities hosted by student councillors there, an overnight stay in KHS and then some further 'leadership training' sessions before dismissal at noon on Wednesday.
Like all good old-fashioned parents, we helped him to do the packing of the camping bag last night.It was a rather exasperating experience because WY kept selecting the 'best' of his stuff to bring to the camp: the whitest and newest t-shirts, the thickest bath towel (because he thinks that the towel will need to last him 2 days), the brightest of the torches we have at home (with a halogen bulb) etc. Sigh.
I had to keep explaining how things might get lost or damaged or dirtied etc during the camp, so it isn't wise to bring the best of everything. WY gave me that kind of 'are-you-sure-things-get-lost-easily?' incredulous look. Well, R said WY will probably need to experience it himself to be totally convinced.
I hope everything turns out ok for the camp, and WY gets to learn to take care of himself. It's hard to let go (ya lah, many people say I must learn to let go...) but somehow, nothing is more true than the saying: 在父母的眼里，孩子永远是还没长大的。 Sigh.
R will also be entertaining some Japanese counterparts on Tuesday & Wednesday nights. So dinner will be only for WF and myself. Maybe I can just give him some biscuits and ice-cream, I am sure he will love that!! (Ok, this is a joke only. Not very funny, lah.)CP will be on course on some days of the week, so she will be home in the evenings. Perhaps it will be easier for me to cook something on those evenings when more persons are home for dinner. Or, maybe for a change, we can all go out for dinner on a weekday, too?
I cannot really do any 'proper' thinking now because I am just recovering from the chain of Big Projects that just concluded last Saturday. Will try to sort things out and write about them shortly.
4 comments:
Reading about the food supply and dinner stuff, I have this in mind. What will you do when mother is not around for longer? (eh she volunteered to come next year for 1 month, I did not initiate this but I was happy to hear it)
I mean, you all in SG are certainly spoilt for choices.
Hawker centres, food courts, fast-food, Roland restaurant, relative cooking, eat biscuits and ice-cream. Hmm, so envy we are.
But really, do you really plan to go on relying on Mother? I think it is also because it gives her something to fuss about. Will you consider to also make some changes so that you are doing the marketing and become more self-reliant?
I see this as a "disease" of Singaporean parents (esp double income), that they rely on their mother/father, maids and relatives to take care of dinners, babysitting and so on.
(there is only a smallest tint of sour grapes)
As for the camp, I can understand the worry that WY can lose something. I have a suggestion though. He can bring anything he wants, provided it is "his". If he loses it, he will learn (the hard way) of losses.
If he loses something which is not "his", then he has to replace it (say do some errands, wash dishes, clean floor, vacuum, etc) to earn back the money to buy the lost item.
Ok la, it is just me, bored here writing these comments. Don't be offended hor?
Ever since Mother decided to start going on her periodic Swiss trips some 3+ years ago, we have worked things out such that even if she goes away for much longer periods, we WILL survive. And we HAVE survived.
This may not be very apparent to some people, but we are self 'reliant'.
I don't want to double-guess why Mother insists on cooking for us. If there is any particular reason, let it come from her.
One thing nobody else will ever understand or believe is this: 我们不是生在福中不知福。可是，我们的难言之隐有谁知？
We are grateful for whatever there is and there isn't. But many things in life are a result of choices we have made.
And like I mentioned before, many things also may not be they seem to be on the surface. But there's nothing to say because I don't need to explain.
No, lah. Nothing about being offended. Too busy surviving to be offended. Hahaha.. :)
i want to let kayangmo know that many of us in SG are very self reliant.
i know why mother keeps on wanting to prepare some food before she goes off for holidays - it is exactly the same when she was coming back from Switz the previous years - she had "stocked" up some supplies for you too, isn't it?
I know these are all chatter and no malicious stuff intended. It is good to have a place to voice these "hidden" opinions.
Just to be very sure, M did not leave much for us when she left us to go back to SGP. Reason simply because this place is not her "turf" and there are so limited Asian foodstuff for her, compared back home in SGP. And as with this example, we can also conclude you have misconceptions about us and our situation. You concluded on your own, some assumptions which are not entirely true.
However I do know and agree that M will always try to prepare food or things for her children, so that we do not go hungry. It is just her over-50 years of child-raising experience. Of course, we over here "miss" that rather than those who "enjoy" her buzzing.
I also can sympathize with your "unspeakable grouses", whatever that can be.
She is indeed a double-edged sword. She can be useful but she can also be sharp and hurtful.
Enjoy her, while she is still around to fuss over us.
We look forward to her visit next year, please tell her that.
Did you read that S can almost walk now?
:D
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