HBL days under Covid 2.0

 

Home-based learning 2021

        It has been more than a year and Covid has not gone away. Instead, it has struck back with a vengeance. This time, it hit schools, infecting students from primary and secondary schools as well as junior colleges and polytechnics. With barely two weeks left to go before they finish Term 2, the government ordered schools to switch to home-based-learning (HBL) for the second time. Wen Xi and Yan Xin went to school for another two days after the announcement and brought back worksheets required for HBL.

        It was not just schools that were shut. All dine-in had to stop and tuition had to be moved online. We dutifully deferred our gym lessons and switched to having our piano lessons online instead.

        The kids usually have their gym lessons on Fridays and, since enrichment schools had to be closed down, their gym school offered online lessons too. So, on the first day of HBL, the kids had their first online gym lesson.

        The online lesson, naturally, could not compare with the lessons where the children attended in-person, but it was the best we could all do given the circumstances. Although reluctant to have their term cut-short, the kids were pretty happy to get a chance to tinkle with the laptops for their HBL and it was a fresh experience having an online gym lesson too. 

        The hard part was staying at home for an extended period of time. Already, I was not in good shape, having to stay home most of the time to attend to chores. Before Covid hit, the quietness during the school mornings allowed me to explore some of my own interests and do some self study. Now, cooped up with people constantly asking me questions like what to do, what to eat, can they have food, what day is it... is making my brain woozy. And there is the constant barrage of bad news happening due to Covid too. 

        Still, life goes on and we try to make the best out of what we have!

Father's Day

Recently I visited a friend who just gave birth to a baby girl. She looked great and I was happy for her, but I was surprised that her husband didn't look so great. He looked like he hasn't slept for days and he had a bad back.

I had this reflex thought, wondering why he was in such a bad shape when he wasn't the one who was... pregnant? And he wasn't the one doing the pushing and enduring the horrendous, out-of-this-world pain during labour (my friend didn't use the epidural). And of course, he wasn't the one waking up every two damn hours in the middle of the night, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT breastfeeding a newborn.

Shame on me, mother of two, for having such thoughts.

Many fathers are actually the unsung heroes in a family. No family can function effectively running on just the efforts by mothers. Amazing as mothers can be, we only have a pair of hands. As humans, mothers get tired, mothers fall ill sometimes, mothers need time off... Oh, and mothers sometimes get hungry in the middle of the night. What happens during times like these? It's papa to the rescue. I know of fathers who do laundry, cook kiddy meals, mop the floor, wash dishes, run errands, bottle feed babies, buy suppers, change diapers and act as chauffeurs on demand. Fathers also provide calm and reassurance when the mums get overwhelmed. Fathers are awesome playmates for the kids. They can throw babies high up into the air without harming them, tickle kids to death but then have the kids end up begging for more, and come up with great ideas for weekends. Fathers do catch vomit from sick kids, get up in the middle of the night for paracetamol feedings, and clean up soiled sheets too.

This father's day, I'm glad to have an awesome partner. And he's the reason why I can survive as a good-enough-parent.

My fifth anniversary as a SAHM - Once upon a time

Once upon a time
I held a newborn in my arms
I went home, dreaming of a charming, smiling baby
Only to realise that
Newborns scream, and do not like to sleep
So I was up
Night after night, rocking and singing to a newborn
Once upon a time

Once upon a time
I tucked into my food with glee
To finish it peacefully in one sitting
Only to realise that
Babies need to be entertained even while you were eating
So I played peek-a-boo with my baby
Meal after meal, sometimes almost chocking
Once upon a time

Once upon a time
I wanted to bring my kids for a morning of fun
So I brought them out
Only to realise that
Toddlers throw fits in public
There I was the harried mother
Coaxing my kids, sometimes to no avail
Once upon a time

Once upon a time
I hugged two chubby, giggling children in my arms
We played trains, read books, tickled each other to bits
And I hoped that time would sit still
Only to realise that
Moments like this slip by faster than I could catch them
Once upon a time

Once upon a time
I questioned my decision
Could I have looked more glamourous, my bank account, more robust?
Then I looked at my two children
Running towards me, arms outstretched
calling, "MAAAMAAAA!!!!"

And so I realised
Perhaps I made the right decision after all
Once upon a time