A Peaceful, Conflict-Free Day

Had a good day with Beth yesterday.

The funny thing is, things didn't exactly go as intended. She had committed to finishing her school homework, two practice sessions on the keyboard of 30 min each, bath and Chinese homework.

She managed her school homework fairly easily, except for parts of the math homework. I thought it was the perfect time to introduce her to algebra and the concept of X. Was so pleased that she showed such enthusiasm for learning something new and managed to grasp the concept right away.

Getting her to practise the keyboard was much harder.

She dawdled till after dinner before getting to it, but when she did, she managed to do so with a good attitude and to keep her temper in check, which made it easier for me too. After all, it takes two to have conflict!

She pleaded exhaustion midway through her scales so I wisely (with God-given wisdom and self-restraint) decided to let her defer the practice of the remaining scales to today.

Hopefully, she keeps up her good attitude and we'll be right on exam day (now 10 days away).

On the way to school, Beth asked me one of her famous random questions.

It arose from my remark that I had been really miserable on my first day back at work 7 years ago after taking a year off to look after her. She said she probably was too. :-)

She then asked: "Did you have to dress like Zhen Ying?"

Xu Zhen Ying is the name of the female lead in the K-drama Hotelier, which Beth and I love (except she hates the ending and would rewrite it if she could!). In the drama, XZY is a dedicated hotel assistant manager who constantly puts work first, even ahead of relationships. Her uniform is black jacket, black skirt and white blouse.

So I said yes, in my first three years working with the Legal Aid Bureau, I did have to dress in black and white nearly every day. I talked about court appearances, the difference in dress code between "in chambers" and "open court", how nervous I was when I had to stand up in the courtroom and say "May it please Your Honour, my name is Serena Low..." and the sort of clients I worked with.

It wasn't a long conversation, but it was nice having my 8 yo to share such intimate details with, and to remember a time past when my vocab and social circle wasn't all about parenting, school work and fellow moms. A time when I actually had A Life Of My Own.

Summer Holidays 2009: Day 2/53

Beth got off to a less-than-desirable start this morning. She was first to rise BUT got into her library books (Emily Rodda's Key to Rondo, Wizard of Rondo) instead of her morning ablutions!

Breakfast was toast and kiwi fruit, with J insisting on spreading cream cheese on her toast by herself.

After brekkie, the girls and I baked a chocolate cake for afternoon tea. From packet mix of course. Orgran Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake. I got them each a whisk so they could both have a turn at folding in the mixture, and Beth tried her hand at cracking an egg...Oops!





The girls have just finished a round of Whatever's Next, the board game we bought from Steph Davy of Learning Ladder. We're going to play it as a family tonight with Daddy. It's easy enough even for 3 y.o.'s to take part, which is great for families with very young kids.




While they were busy pretending to be on rollercoasters and walking like ducks (and playing really nicely together), I did a bit of weeding and trimming in the backyard.

Good news: the grapes are back!

This time last year, the drought was so severe the vine just stopped fruiting. I think the birds will be keeping a watchful eye on this exciting development.



Tonight is Movie, Games & Pizza Night.

J has voted that we make the pizza instead of buying one, which will mean a trip to the shops for ingredients.