How Time Flies!!!

This post first appeared on Tuesday, July 12, 2005

How time flies!' is a much-overused statement and it is probably the most frequently-used statement amongst friends who have not seen each other for a long time. I take a trip down memory lane today as my first boy turned 4 last Sunday and my second one is awaiting to turn three at the end of the year...

[The following entry is dated Saturday, October 29, 2005]
I will remember this eye-opener for the rest of my life. On this day, my first one was born. It was a caesar so i wasn't able to witness the actual delivery. However, i wasn't disappointed.
When this miracle of life, stilll moist with fluid and swathed tightly in towel and cloth was wheeled out, i called out his name.
O, how marvellous and wonderful! He opened his eyes for the first time. He had heard dada talking to him when he was still inside of mummy. And when he heard my voice, he opened his eyes and looked at daddy. This is the exact moment. Camera in hand, the magical moment of a miracle was captured.
"Hi dada! Thanks! I am here now. Don;t worry, I am safe! Whew!"
Hallelujah! Emmanuel - God with us!









[Entry dated: Tuesday, November 15, 2005]

Elisha wakes up, wailing, while we are preparing to go out of the house.

Daddy, mommy, i don't want you to go to work! (more wailing)
But we will come back in the afternoon ok? (actually evening)
Nooooo.....
Son, don't cry, later auntie will bring you to po-po's house ok?
Nooo...i don;t want you to go....i want you to stay at home....
Ok, son, do you want to sleep some more? Sleep in the yao-yao?
Noo.....
Ok..let's watch Bob the Builder ok?...
Noo....
You want to eat your breakfast now? Honey stars? Chocolate milk?
NOOOOO!!!!!!!!

The above scenario is sometimes encountered at home between 0640 to 0650 hrs. It was a devastating occasion when it first happened but now it is still a tricky situation to handle.

It was devastating then, in a few ways:

1. When one parent promised something that was not agreed by the other, disagreement might arise..
2. When one parent (me) blamed the other (my wife) for sleeping too early (!) such that our child woke up early..
3. When any one parent decided to stay, the one staying would have to call the office...
4. When we just left and we heard crying and wailing, our hearts wept all the way across the expressways...

Now it is less devastating simply because we have developed callouses to shield ourselves from anguish and pain, and can disengage ourselves at a faster rate; not that the situation is any less tricky - because children are after all human and therefore unpredictable sometimes. So the same scenario may have different outcomes depending on the input and i must add, the process of handling the situation.

By the way, this is not a page from Parenting 101.
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[October 5th 2007]
It has been two years since that last post appeared. By God's grace, my first one is going to P1 next year and my second one is going to K2 in 2008. Yeah...i can repeat that refrain...How Time Flies....