Happiness is... enjoying each other's company

I love being with my kids a lot.

I do mean a lot, to the point that some friends tell me I need to learn to let go and get away from them once in a while, that the hubby and I should go on a couple trip and leave the kids behind, that I might be too obsessed with this stay-at-home mum job that I end up forgetting about myself.

Maybe, just maybe, there is some truth in it. Yet, I don't think I would wanna trade what we get to experience now for anything else in the world.

Don't get me wrong, my kids are just ordinary kids who take turns to drive me up the wall and make me want to hide in the loo a little longer to have some peace. They fight, they squabble, they scream, they cry, they whine and they complain about each other all the time. But, even if I shed a few tears on some lonely nights because I feel that this job is really a tough one, it doesn't mean I crave to get away from them just so to have me-time and to be honest, I still can't imagine going on a couple trip with the hubby and not have any of them by our side. It's not what's healthy or healthy or what's right or wrong, no, I don't believe in that. It's just what makes you happy deep down and you know it better than anyone else around you.

In March's "Happiness is...", it's about enjoying each other's company because we had almost ten days of school holidays to make use of and boy did we treasure every day of it.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but we've been attending so much less media events this year. For one, I'm getting jaded about having to take photos and videos and write reviews for every one that we go, so we've been very selective about what we take up. That also means we rejected a number of them which led to us being dropped from the list subsequently. I think if it was five years ago when I was all caught up in the blogging world and trying to better myself each day, I would have been affected by all of it. But now, I look back on hindsight and these years of experience of being a mum blogger have given me wisdom and taught me to be able to 拿得起，放得下, so I don't let myself be bothered about trying to stay in the game but to let this blog be a platform for me to keep it real and share more freely about what I truly believe in.

Okay, that doesn't mean we don't attend any events at all because some are really fun for the kids lar. For instance, they had a blast at Sentosa FunFest where they came up close with larger-than-life inflatables of cute Sanrio characters like Hello Kitty and Gudetamas, conquered obstacle courses and had fun in the foam pool.

I booked our tickets for Disney on Ice previously and same as last year, we took up the cheapest category tickets ($25 each) because we find that the view from there is good enough already. Even though I still took a few photos and videos, I did it for our memory keepsake and it actually felt good to be able to concentrate on enjoying the show as opposed to having to take snippets to post on IG stories. We were blown away by the new Moana segment this year and I think she might just be my favourite Disney princess because of her spunk, her unique and not the kind of classic princess-y look and her never-give-up attitude.

It's the first time Asher sat through the whole show and managed to spot Mickey Mouse and say his name too. Awww, wasn't he just a baby when we watched it last year? But, this boy still insists on sitting on my lap and I just let him too because for how long more can we do this? Read my previous post "While I still can".

The Books Box Sale is one that we don't miss out on too because there are just too many good books not to be missed. We returned home with 44 new children's books even though our library was already full. When there's a will, there's a way, right? In the end, I managed to store my old books, mainly both English and Chinese novels which I don't really read now but don't bear to throw away, in a cupboard so as to make more space for their books. Yup, these kids love to read nowadays, even the youngest one, so I definitely want to let them keep up with this habit and maintain their love for books and knowledge.

We are still on the tuition-free route and the only enrichment class that we've stuck to for years, other than our sponsored Heguru lessons, is their art class at Heart Studio. I still believe that two enrichment classes per week is the maximum I want to let my kids take up because we ought to leave more time for free play and family bonding, so we will try to keep it at that for now. That said, there are usually no art classes during the school holidays because of their holiday program so we get a couple of weeks off (or one month off during June and December) and it's good knowing that we don't have to rush off to anywhere but can be spontaneous to travel to any place we want to and spend as much time as we would like to.

The kids and I had a movie date where we watched Wonder Park, which talks about how a girl's imagination came true when the theme park she designed came to life. I enjoyed this animated film a lot, just like how I enjoy our movie dates nowadays because all three of the kids are accustomed to the whole experience already and seem to enjoy watching shows as much as I do. We also have our movie nights at home where we choose a movie from Netflix to watch together and this month, we just watched Home Alone! Haha. Yesh, a show I loved from my childhood and it still made all of us laugh so much when we watched it together too. I never thought I would re-watch it with my kids, you know, and it's such a sweet feeling as we munch on snacks and watch a classic show together.

We had our first visit to Paya Lebar Air Base and it happened because our friend shared a lobang with us and we managed to sign up just in time for this RC excursion and got the last few tickets. Each of us paid $2 only, you know? That included a two-way bus ride, snacks and drinks, and the chance to learn all about our air force, get to try out rifles, dress up as firemen, board a real F-15SG fighter jet, watch our sniffer dogs do a live demo, learn CPR and lifesaving techniques and so on. It was a real eye opener for all of us and I must say one of our best weekends outing ever. Gotta keep my eyes peeled for more of such opportunities in future!

Weekends are still my favourite days because we get to think of where to visit, what to play and how to relax. It's usually outdoors for us because we love to be out under the sun or in the wild. We visited Trapizza and Nestopia in Sentosa and the kids had a fun-filled morning eating pizzas and pancakes followed by climbing over ropes and going down tunnel slides. I must say it was a super hot day and all of us were perspiring profusely, yet we were the last family to leave because I just wanted to make full use of our precious Saturday morning. Oh, and we took the cable car after that too because the kids love the ride so much, and that was our third time in March already (thanks to our Faber License!)

Unlike the sisters who had only a week of school holidays, the boy got to enjoy two weeks off because his school was closed. That meant that the two of us had the chance to go for breakfast every morning and just enjoy our time together. I love seeing how he is hitting milestone after milestone, for instance he can now ride his tricycle on his own already. I still remember his feet couldn't even touch the ground when I first bought this for him. Awww, they get big and tall and strong so fast!

KidZania remains as one of our favourite places to visit because the kids always have so much fun there - even if the crowd is huge and the queues are long. The best thing is the 3yo now gets to join in every station with his sisters too and it's a good chance for him to learn to be less dependent on me and be willing to try out new things. At the KidZ & Heritage event, they were thrilled to ride a trishaw around the city and also became coolies who delivered rice sacks. I hope they learnt a thing or two about our Singapore history from that trip and learn to appreciate what our pioneers have built for us.



Last but not least, we also managed to squeeze in a 3D2N Club Med Bintan trip in March! Yup, this was booked last minute as usual when we could confirm the hubby's leave. Family holidays always make us feel so excited and it doesn't matter if we are going to a kampung or a luxurious hotel, I think we are all very happy as long as we are together. It's the company that matters, right?

For those three days, we partied, we played, we laughed, we got up close with nature and we bonded over simple activities like going to the beach or playing ball games as a family. Those moments were special to me and I hope it meant something to the kids too. I think all they want is our presence at times, and I'm glad we gave it in full to them for those three days. We also went for a foam party on our last night where we danced to the music, got ourselves all soapy and happy, and didn't take any single photo to remember it because we chose to use our hearts, not our phones.

The girls also took a leap of faith by going on the trapeze and attempting to do a knee hang, as well as performing a dance on stage in front of everyone at the Mini Club show. I could sense their nerves and also their excitement, and was most thankful that they plucked up enough courage to do both and gained some invaluable experience and precious memories too.

The last afternoon of our holiday was a fun-filled one spent in Safari Lagoi, which was an excursion we booked at the last minute. Yup, this family is very spontaneous hor. Anyway, it was a blast for all of us because we thought we would only see a few animals but it turned out that we got up close with chimpanzees, rabbits, deer, pythons, crocodiles, sun bears, cockatoos, guinea pig, komodo dragon, chickens, ducks, swans, giant turtles and check this out - seven elephants too! The kids got to carry rabbits and stroke them, feed grass to the deer, picked jambu from the trees to feed the cockatoos, shake hands with the chimpanzees and more. It was more than what we bargained for and we even took a boat ride along the mangrove swamp to end the holiday with a perfect dinner at a kelong restaurant before taking the ferry back. It was a holiday that filled our hearts with joy and gratitude, rejuvenated our souls and left us with so many precious family moments.

March was definitely a fulfilling month for us and even though we won't be travelling again soon, I still can't wait for the next school holidays to come because that is when I will get to enjoy my babies 24/7. Till more updates in April!