Farewell 2010, Welcome 2011

There are certainly lots of ups and downs for me throughout 2010 -- the past -- all the good, the bad and even the ugly ones -- shall be remembered...always. 2010 had definitely made me a stronger person.
Thanks for all the experiences and memories, 2010.

Looking forward to a better year ahead and hopefully 1.1.11 onwards will bring double does of excellent health and happiness, topped with loads of good fortune.

Goodbye

(Adapted from Tammy Marie Denue)

I always took for granted,

what I thought I'd never lose;

Because I never thought it would happen,

until I heard the news.

Saying goodbye is never easy,

it's truly the hardest thing to do;

But what hurts me even more,

is the chance to say it to you.

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,

love leaves a memory no one can steal.

(Daady left us on the 8th of November 2010 at 1.20pm after being admitted in the hospital less than 24 hours. He reached his final resting place yesterday evening. RIP, Daddy. You'll always remain in our hearts and mind.)

Dear Dad...

Dear Dad...

I find myself wondering...
Did I give you your due
For all that you've done for me
Did I ever thank you?


For all of my childhood memories
For helping me deal with life's stresses
For helping me accept my defeats
And celebrate my successes?


Or for teaching me the value of hard work,
Good judgement, courage, and being true
The laughter, smiles, and quiet times we've shared
Did I ever thank you?


If I have forgotten, I'm thanking you now
You taught me right from wrong
I hope you know how much you're loved and appreciated
I hope you, instinctively, knew it all along.

(Author: Unknown)


Happy Fathers' Day to my Daddy & my DH who is a wonderful Daddy to my two little heroes.

p/s: Anyone can be a father, but I doubt if everyone can be a title 'daddy'. MUAH!!

YJ's Best Teacher

This post is about something that happened about two weeks ago. Teacher's Day celebration was held in YJ's school on the 17th of May.

Well, since it's a day to show appreciation towards the teachers, I bought some little goodies and wrapped them up in some beautiful wrappers and put them in a paperbag. I had intended to give a lil' token of appreciation to all YJ's teachers. Unfortunately, just before bedtime, I realised that I had counted wrongly -- there are six teachers, but I had prepared only five gifts. Argh...

So, what I did the next morning was to tell YJ that he was supposed to give one gift to five of his favourite teachers in school.

When I picked him home from his daycare centre at 5.30pm, he proudly told me, "Mommy, I gave the gift to only ONE teacher this morning. I gave it to Miss Maha, my class teacher. None for the rest." Surprise...surprise...

I expected to see the other four remaining ones still in the paperbag...but there was NONE!! Instead there was a bunch of plastic roses!!

I asked him what happened to the rest of the gifts. YJ's explanation: "I gave the rest to my daycare centre teachers. They have done a wonderful job."

The best part isn't over:

.

.

.

.

"Mommy, the roses are for you. You are my best teacher!"

Whoa...thanks kiddo. You melted my heart. They might be just plastic roses that you've bought from the school bookshop, but it's the gesture and thought that matters. Yup, that's my boy -- grown up!

p/s: Point to ponder: Why did YJ reserve the gifts for his daycare centre teachers? Are they doing a better job than his teachers in school? Hmmm...

Happy Teacher's Day 2010

Some interesting quotes to share on this special day:

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. ~Khalil Gibran~

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth". ~Dan Rather~

A friend of mine wrote this on her FB wall: Eventhough by profession you are not a teacher, by default you are. Whether the lesson is big or small, good or bad, it is a lesson nevertheless taught by you either directly or indirectly, and impacted at least somebody.

HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY to all!

Post-Mother's Day Post

I was supposed to include this photo in the post that I published yesterday, but somehow...I feel that it deserves to stand alone in a separate post as it's indeed a very special one.

A Mother's Day flower done by WJ as his Mother's Day craft project in school.

There wasn't any gift from YJ, but what he did was indeed very special: He wrote a letter to me -- thanking me for all the lil' things that I've done for him as a mother. It was just a short letter, but it reflected lots of sincerity and love from an eight year old kid and it's definitely going into my "treasure chest".

p/s: The second Sunday of May is celebrated as Mother's Day around the world, but as for me the actual Mother's Day falls on the 17th of July -- that's when I became a MOTHER for the very first time:)