grandparents rock!

last week, both FIL and MIL visited hong kong and macau with 2nd BIL's family.

it was a good break for them as they've been staying with us, mostly to help look after my 2 kids while both the hub and i slog to earn more moo-lah to feed our expanding family. my folks usually relieve them on tuesdays and fridays when the girls go over to terrorise their other set of grandparents.

unfortunately, i wasn't able to clear leave because it was the last week of school before the mid-term test/break, and there were some assessments which i needed to conduct. my only option was to mobilise my parents - but that meant disrupting their activity-packed schedules like qi-gong on certain mornings/evenings, tai-chi, dad's weekly wednesday stag-only luncheons with his old buddies, mum's lunch/tea appointments with her yogamates etc.

but my parents gamely set aside their plans for that week to help out with the kids. they'd drive over every morning between 9.30 to 10.30 (that's when the girls rise and shine), get the kids to have some breakfast, sometimes stay over for lunch before hauling them back to their own home till the hub and i are done for the day and collect the brats - which is usually around 9 to 10 in the evening.

i was hoping that the girls would sleepover at my folks so that i wouldn't have to worry about leaving them alone at home with our foreign domestic helper (who's still quite new to our household and not familiar with the girls' routines) during the time we're off to work, before my folks drop by. after much coaxing, xian agreed to spend a night at her grandparents, but naturally wen was resistant to the idea so the younger one followed us home.

and as expected, xian called me the next day and asked if she could stay over for another night. :) as a kid, i often had sleepovers at my cousins' and aunts' homes during the school. it was considered a real treat and was infinitely more fun than staying alone at home.

so my folks had the herculean task of grandparenting xian and wen for the week. as usual, during the weekends, this mumsy takes over so i was too busy to call them or collect the house keys back. and every few hours, wen kept bugging me with "i wanna go grand-dee's house!"

it was only yesterday when i got back to work (ironically the weekends are my most hectic because i'm at the girls' beck and call for 48 hours) that i managed to catch my breath. that's when i sent an sms to both mum and dad, thanking them for helping out with the rascals. being brought up in a typically conservative asian household (we're already considered less formal than the hub's family), i just find it odd to pick up the phone or say "thank you" personally to my folks.

so i was really, really, i mean REALLY surprised when i got a reply from dad: "Always a pleasure."

it was a simple, sweet message...but...coming from my dad??? wow.

mum's reply was more in-tune with her character: "Wat r grandparents 4 :-)"

yes. complete with sms-speak, abbreviated spelling and a smiley face. cool, eh?

ah, the wonders of technology. it's certainly aided in fostering closer family relationships somehow.