Under Pressure

I've sold out. 

For years I've been resisting the pressure to send my kids for enrichment programmes because I wanted the girls to be stress-free and enjoy their childhood. To me, developing good social skills is equally, if not more important, than possessing intellectual superiority. 

However, now that Xian is in primary one, I realised that I should have paid more attention to getting her prepared to face the academic challenges of the Singapore education system. My firstborn is struggling to keep pace with school work and at the rate she's going, I'm concerned she won't make the cut.

It's not that she slow or weak. It's just that everyone around her seems to be performing much better! I don't remember having to make oral presentations to my teacher or classmates when I was 7 years old, in both English and Chinese language. I don't recall having to solve complicated mathematical problems using the heuristic method. And at 7, her Chinese vocabulary equals that of mine when I was 11!

Frankly, I don't need Xian to top her class! But I think 3/4 of her classmates do attend extra enrichment classes and lessons, and I'm beginning to understand why so many parents sign their kids up for them. It's not even to give them an edge over their peers - it's to help them keep up! And to my horror and realisation, many of the school teachers assume that the children already go for these extra classes, and that the "basics" are covered so they don't have to start building the foundation from scratch.

During Xian's "Meet the Parents" session in May, I spoke to both her form teacher (who also teaches her English, Mathematics and Art & Craft) and her Chinese teacher. They shared that Xian has the potential to do much better in work and stress that while Xian learns quickly, she forgets even more quickly! Plus, she seems to lack confidence in her abilities and gives up easily when she's faced with difficult problems.

Sigh. It's tough being a kid these days!

During the June holidays, I brought Xian to my office a few times when I was also on term break. She'd sit next to me and do some homework while I did my marking and own office work. I used the opportunity to bond and spend some time with her, and helped her out with her work.

And 2 weeks ago, I poured out my concerns to a colleague and she shared her own experiences about her 2 boys. Her kids also attend extra classes and they've improved on their school work. My immediate concern for Xian is English. Although Xian speaks fluently, she's weak in reading and writing. For English classes, my colleague recommended Jan & Elly which has a branch at Serangoon Gardens, not too far from home.

So I surfed the web and called up the school to enquire about the programmes, course fees, class schedules and teachers. The next day, I brought the girls down to view the centre and I decided, there and then, to enrol Xian for Creative Writing & Grammar classes and Wen for Phonics classes.

Wen too? Yes, I didn't want to make the same mistake twice and decided to start Wen off early so that she'd receive a firm foundation. And hopefully, she'll have an easier time assimilating into the primary school education system in a few years.

Yup, I caved in to pressure. And I'm ashamed because I'd always thought that I would be able to avoid sending my children to these extra enrichment classes. And it's ironic that as an English Language and Literature graduate, I've resorted to getting external help to polish up my children's language skills.

Such a sad and disturbing fact.

No surprises then that the following song sums up my emotions.

H1N1 Scare

Just 2 weeks back I raised some concerns about H1N1. Little did I suspect that I would be so close to becoming a possible H1N1 statistic myself!

It all started last Monday when I visited Dr Wong cos I had a bad throat and suspected that I was going to come down with flu. My temperature was taken and I didn't register a fever so I assumed it was just a common cold and was given 2 days of medical leave to rest.

Then on Tuesday night, I started to develop chills but I didn't think too much about it and went to sleep with the hope that I'd feel better the next morning. I didn't, of course, but went back to work because I had work to complete.

That was a decision I regretted because my voice was still hoarse and nasal, my nose was like a leaky tap and I was physically exhausted. A few of my colleagues commented I looked ashen and pale, so I decided to go back to Dr Wong's clinic for another check-up.

Although I didn't have fever, Dr Wong was concerned that my condition seemed to be deteriorating and advised that I go to the hospital to test for the H1N1 virus, especially since I've got young kids and elderly ILs at home. So he wrote me a referral letter and the hub sent me to KK Women's and Children's Hospital .

I was directed to the 24h clinic where I was examined by a doctor and given a nasal swab to determine if I had indeed contracted the H1N1 strain. Armed with another 3-day-mc, I was sent to the pharmacy to queue for 5 types of medication before I finally went home to wait for the results.

The next 3 days were hell. Instead of recovering, I seemed to get worse! All the drugs caused drowsiness and I was supposed to sleep off the flu. But it was a mission impossible task with the kids, especially baby Wei, running around and demanding for attention. I felt worse when I took my meds, fell sleepy, but couldn't sleep because I had to take care of the girls. I hate that grogginess-induced state of being half awake and not being able to function effectively.

Finally, the call came on Thursday to confirm that it wasn't H1N1. But by then, I'd already passed on the germs to Baby Wei who steadfastly clung onto me the whole time I was home and refused to be cared for by others.

My poor little Terrorliza is now sick - no thanks to me. Coincidentally, she's teething again. Some of her molars are out and her gums are swollen because a few more teeth are making their debut. As a result, she's not been eating for a few days.

We've tried everything, steamed soft rice, porridge, soup-rice, brown rice cereals, nestum, bread, noodles, vermicelli, macaroni, alphabet pasta, soya bean curd, grapes, pears, biscuits, sweet potato, potato, cake, baby crackers, etc. The only thing she's consuming without kicking up a fuss is, naturally, my milk. But it's gotta be direct from the source when I'm around. Only trouble is that my milk production hasn't been fantastic because I'm still ill.

I returned to office today, still feeling lousy and weary. Thankfully, I have no classes to teach on Mondays, so that allowed me to ease back into my schedule and catch up on work that's been undone for a week. But once I took my medication, I just had to rest.

One of my colleagues, Mary (bless her soul), helped draw my make-shift curtain shut and pinned a note that I was sick and should not be disturbed unnecessarily. She even brought me a pillow and blanket from the sick bay. Drugged and drowsy, I propped the pillow on the table and drifted off to a deep 2 hour sleep.

I must say the nap did wonders for me. When I woke up, I felt refreshed and energised. Admittedly, it was embarrassing to be literally sleeping on the job but my colleagues were understanding and didn't wake me as they knew I was still nursing a horrendous influenza strain.

Right now, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I'll recover soon!

Puppies for Sale

This is probably one of the most heart-breaking decisions we've got to make: selling our adorable puppies. :-'(

Our beautiful Peni became a mother on 23 May 2009 when she whelped a litter of 7 healthy German Shepherd puppies - 3 males and 4 females. All 7 were live births.

Unfortunately, Peni was exhausted when the 6th puppy, Tara was delivered and she didn't attend to the newborn quickly enough. As a result, fluids entered her lungs. The hub and I were helplessly inexperienced and weren't able to apply the right procedure/technique to save her. The hub gave her CPR and managed to revive her after 30 minutes. But it was too little, too late. Tara struggled for 2 days before she passed away.

Thankfully, the vet arrived and attended to the last puppy, Savi.

It's been truly an eye-opening 6 weeks for us. Taking care of newborn puppies is a lot of hard work (and money). All blood, sweat and tears. Literally. Especially now that they bite and zoom in for our ankles, shins and toes. Mine have been regularly bitten, scratched and gnawed at by the playful puppies.

Is it hard work caring for 6 lively puppies? You bet.

During their first 2 weeks, the hub was sleeping downstairs in the living room at night to take care of Peni and the pups. We were afraid she might trample on them, so we only brought them out of their "tub" when they needed to be fed. And like human babies, they fed every 3-4 hours directly from their mother. I helped out a few nights when the hub was exhausted and used the chance to catch up on some reading. (That's how I managed to complete reading the Twilight series in a couple of days).

At about 3 weeks, the puppies finally opened their eyes. And this was roughly about the same time they started teething too. Their appetites increased and we had to supplement with Lactol Puppy Milk because Peni was, by then, beginning to tire of feeding them. And their teeth were getting sharp too.

Now that they're 6 weeks they now eating solid food. We feed them with a mixture of dry pellets and meats, and milk, about 3 times a day. Needless to say, these fast-growing puppies are burning large holes in our pockets. The amount of food they consume is frightful. If we didn't own a pet shop and get food/milk at a discounted price, we'd go broke paying through our noses to maintain their daily diet.

The six puppies are a playful lot and when they're not sleeping, they're fighting and barking their heads off. And the only way to quieten them is to give them some food or treats to chew on. The puppies have been vaccinated and registered with Singapore Kennel Club (SKC) so they've all got names now: Jackson, Megan, Mikey, Layla, Whiskey (who's already been sold) and Savi.

Now we've in the process of selling our lovely puppies. Much as we'd love to keep them, we're not allowed to do so as we already own 2 full-grown German Shepherds in our compound. According to the Law, we're permitted up to a maximum of 3 large breed dogs per registered address. Not to mention the fact that it's very expensive and it requires a lot of work maintaining them.

We are, however, very particular about potential and prospective owners and hope that their future masters would love and care for them as much as we do. So if you do know of any family looking for quality, pedigree German Shepherd dogs (their sire is Jack, SKC GSD champion and Peni herself won competitions), do let us know.

Below are links to the photo albums I created on Facebook:

• Peni Whelps!
• Puppies Days 15 to 17
• Puppies Days 29 to 31
• Puppies Days 48 to 50

If only I could keep them all!

Sigh.

Here are selected pictures of the puppies, my personal favourites. Enjoy!

Jackson and Megan, first and second born

Newborn puppies with ribbons for identification

Drinking from mummy

Huddled in their little tub

All 6 lined up in a row

Wei loves Peni (note the weighing scale in the background to weigh them daily)

The kids give Peni some love and encouragement

Their eyes are finally open!

The hub bottle feeds the pups

Feeding Jackson some formula milk

Playing with mum

Wei watches Peni and the pups

A typical - "after milk" scene

Hiding under the chair

Meal time - milk with pellets

The little prisoner

I believe this is Jackson

Chewing and biting

Play time with "uncle" Arif!

of my favourite photos!

The kids watch as the hub paints nail polish as a source of identification

Xian gives Arif a huge pat for being such a good "uncle" to the puppies

Here's Layla chewing on my slipper!

Meal time madness!

The hub with on the puppies - I think it's Whiskey

Chewing up our rubber hose

Looking forlorn out of their "temporary holding area"

This is definitely Whiskey chewing up hub's slipper

It's time for Mikey's weekly bath!

My guess - Jackson and Megan (I could be wrong!) after their bath

New Skin

Here it is.

A new blogskin. Regretfully, I still can't figure out what's wrong with my Hobbit template despite reloading it back up a few thousand times.

Ah well. Perhaps it's just time for a change.

Hooray for Mummy's Milk!

The world's caught up with the Influenza A (H1N1-2009) bug. It's now a global pandemic. Although the virus appears to be relatively harmless, precautionary measures have been put in place to try and prevent its spread in Singapore.

I've been a tad uneasy about being exposed to the virus because we've got 3 young kids and 2 elderly folks at home. So when the numbers hit over 1,000 and a few cases emerged at the workplace, I got a bit worried.

And then I received an email from Mothercare which made me relax a little:

Click here to read the EDM in detail or visit this website for the write-up:

http://breastfeeding.suite101.com/article.cfm/cdc_advises_breastfeeding_during_h1n1_pandemic

Wouldn't it be amazing if the labs discover that breastmilk *is* the cure for H1N1?

I'm glad I'm still breastfeeding!