My (Quite) Long Break...

I took a 2-days leave on Monday and yesterday, thus, plus the weekend, I have a 4-days leave. No purpose in specific, just to finish up my annual leave for this year (we are granted 30 days leave every year).

Anyway, last Saturday was supposed to be a hectic day for us with 3 Raya open houses to attend to. It was the last day of Syawal so lots of people decided to use this day to invite people for “makan-makan” at their houses. Do u notice the word “supposed to”? Well, we attended only one open house, which is my Branch’s open house at Rest0ran Puter1 at Taman Tun. That restaurant belongs to one of our clients so we were offered a discount for the event. Nice food, great ambience. We were there for 3 hours, and for the whole of that hours from 12 to 3, Aliff did not nap at all. He refused to coz the surrounding was a bit too happening for him, so he was walking non-stop and tried to make friends with bigger kids. I thank God he was not cranky and a bit independent at that time. Takdelah macam koala nak melekat je kat Ibu dia.

So after that event, both boys were tired and slept like a log. That's why we have decided not to attend the other two houses. At first we thought of going there without the boys, but Hubby pun keletihan. Plus the traffic on the road...oh my God...was terrible!!

On Sunday morning, we went to see our favourite cake chef and placed an order for A&A's (Ashraff & Aliff) birthday cake. By the way this chef makes lovely wedding cakes. Beautiful decorated, plus the cake itself is super-delicious! Of course, the price is on the high side as he made cakes for celebrities and royalties, but hey, he's one of our clients as well, so we got a discount for the cake:) I don't know how A&A's cakes gonna be, but I hope it's okay. Yang penting rasa tu okay.

Then the rest of Sunday, we just lepaking at home. No wait! We had another Raya open house at the month of Zulkaedah...hehe. Yang ni wajib pergi coz it's Hubby's immediate boss...hehe...

Monday and Tuesday despite not having any specific reason to take leave, I just decided to use these two days to get a glimpse of what life is as work-at-home-mum. Here's what I learn within the two days:-

1. It is much less stressful than the daily task I had to fulfill in the office especially when you are doing something that you are passionate about, but it can be physically tiring as you have to entertain the kids, running errands...or should we live in our own house, I'd have to do the cooking...and when the kids are schooling, I have to send and fetch them from school, which brings me to the second point...

2. Time management is critical! If you can't manage time well than it might defeat the purpose as why you chose to become WAHM in the first place - tak masak, tak hantar anak sekolah, tak make sure anak buat kerja rumah. I have to very much improve on this bit. I'm pretty bad at time management. My ever-organized Hubby always complains about this. "You dah buat ni?" "Errr...belumlah." or "Alamak! Lupalah..." Mana tak mengamuk pakcik tu!I usually got carried away doing something less important, then only remembers that I have to do something essential by the end of the day. I must maintain a "things-to-do-list", just like I did in the office. Or else, I'd easily lost focus.

3. Have to start the day early, probably not as early as you used to get up for work, but at least before the kids wake up. So you have time to prepare yourself.

4. The best time is when I could greet the boys at their beds. Cuddle, cuddle, kiss, kiss, before sending them off for their morning baths. It's good to hear Ashraff asked "Ibu tak kerja ke hari ni?". Wish I can do this every morning....

5. I need to have internet connection at home, to check out orders, read emails, networking with others, blogging and blog hopping. Maybe in two days I can live without it but permanently? I don't think I can. It will drive me insane! Internet shall be installed at our new home, insyaAllah.

6. I need to have my home office, a proper place for me to have my notebook and printer, and also my work area for me to do the wrapping, cutting...and a designated place for my stationeries and stocks. Currently I did my work at the dining place. So everytime nak makan, I have to put my things away, and I have to re-set everything should I want to do work. A lot of hassle. Plus my things are kept in the store, where mak keeps most of her temporarily unwanted goods. Lemas! That's the thing when you live with your parents. You can't treat that as your own house, eventhough it used to be your house (when you are still single). I can't wait for our house to be completed by the end of the year so I could have my work station. We target to move in by middle of next year, after fully renovated, insyaAllah.

7. I still need a maid, especially when my children are young. If they are bigger, then I think we can make do without one. Probably we just hire a daily maid to help with the house chores, especially the ironing part. I simple hate ironing!

Two days is just not enough but at least it gives me an insight on what's life has in store should I decided to take that path. There's room for improvement, like for instance, my target by 7 p.m. onwards, I should stop doing any work, at least not until the kids are settled in bed. This is because within these few hours, I should give 101% quality time for the family. My target is also to work an average of 6 hours in a day only, so I would have ample time to focus on the hubby, kids and housechores (cooking to be exact).

Hehehe..this is my ideal work-at-home-mum life. I don't know for sure when I shall take this path coz financially we are not quite ready (orang kata, kena tunggu sampai at least 3 bulan gaji ada dalam simpanan), but it has always been my dream - doing something I love most..and at the same time, take care of the family. Of course, I could give it a try for about one or two months once we are ready, and should things do not turn the way we want it to be, I could always resume working in corporate world before I loss the skill. I was talking to famy the other day and this is what she says her plan is.

Anyway, on Tuesday, I also did some "school shopping" with Ashraff. I guess I made an entry before about our decision to send Ashraff to school starting next year. So on Tuesday, I brought Ashraff to two schools whom I made appointment with the principal beforehand. The first school is our first choice (Tadika Mekar Ilmu TIC jr...anyone sending your kid there?), since it's just a walking distance from my parents' house. Personally I like this school in terms of the setting - roomy and proper ventilated. But it has a longer school hours which is until 12 pm (normally 11.30 am) and it has homeworks and exams. Somehow, Ashraff dislikes this school. He verbally expressed this as soon as we got back to the car. "Ashraff tak suka school ni. Ashraff nak school besar. Yang ada Mrs Van tu". (That'll be L0rna Wh1ston, boy. We can't afford it now, okay?! ).

Then we proceeded to the second school (Tadika Twinkle Tots at Wangsa Maju...anyone sending your kid there?) . I love this place too with few exceptions. First, it's 100% Malay so I doubt Ashraff will speak in English despite it being English medium...and then maybe he could easily influenced with the use of "engkau aku" which I don't quite prefer especially with young kids. The principal told me that in class the kids are prohibited from using these words or any bad words for that matter. But other than that, it's pretty hard to control them as some parents also used "engkau aku" when talking with the kids...and in the TV, they used "engkau aku" too...and in books. Errrr...macamana nak buat ni ye? Another bigger issue is the distance. The school fees is less expensive than the 1st one, but including the transportation, it will be way more expensive. But I love the activities than they have...and the principal loves the kids very much. Some owners do it for business...but this one is due to passion. So, I have a strong feeling that my boy will get a proper love and care should I send him here. Plus, Ashraff had his lunch at that school. Dia nampak bebudak tengah makan and dia terus dengan muka tak malu cakap dia nak makan. The owner gave him a bowl of rice with fish and spinach...and to my suprise, my picky-eater boy ate the whole bowl including the spinach! It must be peer pressure..hahaha...

And as expected, he loves this school. He couldn't wait to tell in the car, so he just expressed it in front of the principal. "Ashraff suka school ni. Ashraff nak school kat sini..." Gee....Now we are in dilemma. The first school or the second one? Does distance between school and your house matters in choosing the right school? Does the opinion of a 3 year-old counts? Or do you have any other recommendation? Emmm...susah jugak "school shopping" ni ye.

Wow! Look at my entry this time...When u have the mood to write, you just pour it all out in one entry...