Happiness is... cherishing highlights

I love writing these monthly "Happiness is..." posts because they help me to look back, keep life in perspective and remind me that beyond the challenges and struggles, there is still much around me to be grateful for.

Let's see. At this point in writing, my laptop that has accompanied me for nearly a decade is on the verge of shutting down for good and the screen is almost falling off after suffering a fall. But it works for now and I can still type on it so I am going to make it last for as long as it can.

The kids keep me busy on my toes day in day out and constantly test my patience and endurance. I always thought it might get easier as they grow up but nope, parenting teens brings about another whole new set of challenges and there is much for me to learn. That said, it also means I am blessed to be a mum who is surrounded by mayhem and laughter rather than staying in an empty home.

April marked several milestones for me, personally, and the biggest one had to be turning a year wiser. In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about cherishing life's highlights.

******

It's not a secret that I love handwritten cards and handmade gifts. They bring me joy and warm my heart in a way that no tangible gift can ever achieve. So yes, I am one who says no to cosmetics, flowers, bags and anything to do with fashion but give me a DIY card or an origami folded with love and they are more than enough to fill my heart.

The kids presented me with these on my birthday and I hope they know how much these mean to me. I have a whole box of cards and handmade presents from them and I will keep these for as long as I live. Each of them has a special significance to me and it's something that money cannot buy.

Wondering what this is? These 'soldiers' toasties were made with love by Ariel for my birthday breakfast. Yup, it was really sweet, thoughtful and nice of her to wake up early to do that. She even remembered to wash the dishes instead of leaving a mess for me to clear up and I appreciated that very much too. Thank you for being a truly sweet daughter, dear Ariel!

For lunch, we met up with my parents and had a buffet a Seoul Garden. This used to be one of the favourite hangouts for me and my secondary friends and coming back here brought back some fond memories for sure.

We went back to my parents' place aka my 娘家 for the cake cutting ceremony. My Dad bought my favourite Coco Exotic cake and the kids and I always enjoy eating it. Yes, I don't really have fanciful celebrations at this age nor do I make a big deal out of my birthday, but just being with the kids and my family suffices to make me a happy girl.

In the evening, we went for a simple family dinner, just six of us and had a yummy meal consisting of macaroni soup, fried chicken wings and lu rou fan. I'm not one who loves lavish meals, neither is the hubby, so we don't really do fine dining or go to high class restaurants nor have we tried stuff like omakase. But give us a bowl of bak chor mee, hokkien mee or chwee kueh and we will love our meals.

After dinner, since I had no preference or where to go or what to do, we decided to go to the park so that the kids can take a stroll by the beach and play at the playground. My kids told me to get on the flying fox and they took turns to push me which made me feel like a kid all over again and that is a special feeling on your birthday.

Apart from special days, we also celebrated milestones too, like how the girls went for their black/poom (junior black) belts grading and successfully passed. Woohoo, congratulations, my dears! When I signed them up for Taekwondo classes as a year end holiday activity, I never expect that they would continue for over another two and a half years and even achieved black belts. So kudos to all of you, including Asher who is now black tip, for persevering and never giving up.

April was also a month where I met up with friends who were very sweet to celebrate my birthday with me. Now that I am 41, I don't like to make my birthday a big thing - I admitted I would like that when I was younger and have birthday bashes or huge gatherings with dozens of people - but would prefer intimate gatherings. I find it hard to chit chat when there is a huge group of people so it only makes more sense to gather in small groups so that we can really catch up on each other's lives instead of just cutting cake and taking photos.

Another highlight of April was how we took on a documentary project for S.E.A. Aquarium and this involved a whole day of filming in Sentosa. Ariel and Asher were the cast and it was an eye opener for them as they got to see how filming works and how much work goes on behind the scenes. For instance, they had to do simple scenes like running or splashing water and repeat a dozen times just to get different angles and make sure everything was perfect.

Asher was actually running a fever that morning and we woke up and it was tough on him to have to endure the bright sun and film for hours on end, including doing a voice recording after over 14 hours of being out in Sentosa. Thankfully, the crew was very nice to us and provided us with meals, drinks and even sheltered him with an umbrella in between the takes. 

One good thing was we got to enter the aquarium after closing hours because that was when filming could take place without a crowd. It was our first time doing that and although we were not allowed to wander off and explore the aquarium, it was still nice to see some of the fishes this late at night and it felt surreal to be inside an empty aquarium. We had our dinner at past 9pm and guess what, we ate takeaways in the basement carpark with the crew. Haha. By then, Ansel was so exhausted that he had fallen asleep in the pram and the rest were hungry and tired. Asher had to be whisked away to do a voiceover and thankfully, he stepped up and persevered till the end, despite his temperature.

So kudos to both Asher and Ariel for being an awesome cast and for completing this memorable filming project. Hopefully, you learned a thing or two and had fun in the process too!

SYF is the event that Ariel had been training hard for and looking forward to for a long time. As the dance captain, she had to take on extra duties in her P6 year and her dance team put in long hours of training week after week to practice their dance for the big day.

I was so thankful that we got to watch it live, even if it meant that we had to travel to NUS all the way just to watch her on stage for five minutes. Was it worthwhile? Totally! I remember that we couldn't do it the previous time due to Covid so this time, I had to make sure that I showed up. The brothers tagged along too and the funniest thing was when Ariel had finished the dance, Ansel turned around and asked us "Where is 二姐?" Apparently, he didn't recognise it was her despite her being in the centre of the stage most of the time. I don't blame it because with the thick makeup and hair, it was hard to tell the girls apart because they all looked similar.

We are so proud of you, dear Ariel, and you did a most awesome job! I know you are saddened that you all didn't achieve the Distinction award but life is like that, we just gotta work harder the next time but in the meantime, celebrate your achievement and be proud of where you are. You girls worked so hard and have come a long way for sure. *pats on back and big hugs*

In other updates, we are still making time for play, especially on weekends. We head to playgrounds, we go for swims and we also visit our favourite hangouts like Jewel. Weekends are very important to us and I never would want to sacrifice our family time for enrichment classes or tuition, that is why as best as possible, I still keep our weekends free. Yes, so still no tuition for any of the kids yet at this point.

 

However, we do attend Heguru on Fridays and the kids all love their teachers and the activities they do in class. This is especially so for Ansel who has improved by leaps and bounds and he is now so much more confident, vocal, focused and can follow instructions well. I kind of like that this is how we spent our Friday afternoon because it means we will always eat out on Friday night, followed by going for a movie, having desserts, going window shopping or heading to the arcade for some fun. Friday nights awesome!

Last but not least, I also went for a rare night out with my jie meis to have a nice, cosy dinner and celebrate. Friends of mine will know that I seldom take a night off mummy duties because the toddler, who is still breastfeeding, is very clingy to me and needs me to put him to bed. I don't really complain much because I know it is a passing phase and soon, I will my freedom returned back to me when the kids are bigger.

Still, I cherish nights like this because it is when I get to put my hair down and feel a little more like me again. The me who used to love to drink, dance, party, be merry and be in the company of good friends. In fact, my girls are the ones who encouraged me to go out and say things like "Go, Mama, you need your break!", and "We can take care of ourselves" and "Have some me-time and enjoy it".

The boys are still a little sad to see me go out without them but like I said, it is an age thing and I have no doubt that they will soon outgrow it. It's really once in a blue moon that I do this and entrust four kids in the care of the hubby but hey, I do think I deserve it, don't I?

So big thanks to everyone who sent their wishes and celebrated with me in one way or another, I truly appreciate each and every kind gesture, no matter how big or small.

I guess my next post will be how it feels to turn 41 but in the meantime, let me contemplate about what I wanna share because some heartfelt thoughts can be very raw and emotional. But I also guess that is why some of you still hang around and read my blog because it's as real as it gets, right?

Till the next post of "Happiness is..."!