Disney on Ice - Princess Wishes

As an early birthday present, my parents got Harvynna a ticket for the show which was held over the weekend at Stadium Putra. Right until yesterday, I was still debating if I should bring Rowena along (her ticket would be free, anyway), but I dont think she would have stayed for 90 minutes. Not wanting to spoil Harvynna's show, I decided not to bring her. She did not seem interested anyway, and was happy for Harvynna to go. Of course, Harvynna kept showing off and boasting to her about it the last 2 weeks as I told her that we got front row, rinkside tickets which is just infront of the stage. That made her really excited and big headed at the same time. We were really lucky as by the time I went to purchase the tickets, there were only 2 front row seats left.She was looking around the stadium and commenting that everyone else was sitting so far away and probably cant see so well!! Show off!

There were many girls dressed up in their best princess costume, so of course, I got a good telling off from her as I told her that the princess costume would not keep her warm as the place is cold.

The show was really nice, with the props, lighting and music and of course - the beautiful costumes. Harvynna knew all the princesses and was really excited. I bought her a box of popcorn which she happily stuffed her face with throughout the show and refused to share even one with me :( There were many stalls selling all kinds of DOI merchandise at ridiculous prices. I bought the girls a penchant each and a colouring book. I think Harvynna didnt expect everything so colourful and exciting that she was very quiet when we first arrived. She totally enjoyed the show and requested to go again.

I promised Rowena that I would definitely take her if Barney comes to town. So every 5 minutes, she will ask, 'Is Barney here?' Hopefully, by the time the next show comes to town, she will be able to sit still.

Harvynna's Primary school

Registrations for children born in 2011 into Primary schools started in March. I called up the school we intend to send her to at the end of Feb, and they mentioned that the instruction had already been sent out to the schools. So, I quickly got all the documents needed and wanted to register her as early as possible since the school is one of the few good surviving government schools left, as the teachers are very dedicated since the PTA consists of influential and aggresive parents that are very demanding!!

So, she has now been officially registered and they stamped the back of her birth certificate with the name of the school and she is the 10th student to register. After all the rushing, they told us that the forms are only submitted to the Ministry next year and the acceptance letter will only be sent in July next year!!

I still dont know if sending her to a government school is the right choice with all the complaints and grouses of parents that send their children to government schools. But it is much easier to pull your child out of a government school to a private school than the other way around. I am not so worried with Harvynna as she is quite an independant learner and will survive anywhere. I dont think the large class size and undedicated teachers will work well with Rowena, though. At least, we still have time to consider Rowena's options.

I spoke to Harvynna's class teacher today and she mentioned that I dont have to worry about Harvynna as she is a fast learner and has no problem with all her subjects. she now sings a lot of Mandarin songs as well and tries to teach Rowena how to pronounce some Mandarin words with the different intonations. The only problem is she does not complete her homework. By the time, we get home each day, it is 8 plus, and the last thing she wants to do is her homework. So, on weekends, she has to make up for the whole week's work. She gives all kinds of excuses not to complete them at the babysitter's house like she has to eat, bathe, sleep, play and anything she can think of.

EOE Online

Since the girls were born, I have taken thousands of photos through my digital camera and camera phone. They are stored in some CD somewhere or online albums and I never really took the time to print them. Mostly, because I am too lazy to go the shop, upload the pictures and collect them later. However, I still feel printed photos are the best as it is a treasured memory.

Now, printing these digital pictures are so much easier through this site.

All you need to do is upload your pictures online at their site and they will print it and send it to your doorstep. It's really affordable too! A 4R print costs only RM0.30 (current promotion) and free delivery* for orders above RM35.00.

Its a good, fast, way to print all those precious pictures.

How do you solve a problem like Ro-we-na?

How do you solve a problem like Rowena? She is really mischievous, full of energy and does not sit still for even 1 minute. At home, she is constantly jumping, running, climbing, touching things and cannot sit still. Even if she is standing, she will jump on the spot or shrug her shoulders.

She loves to throw things out of the toybox, climb up the table and pull things down from the shelf. Her teacher also told me that she has a very short attention span. When I pick her up from her school, she will be waiting by the door with her backpack on. (that is at least 15 minutes before her class is over) She will quote her favourite line 'I really love it here' followed by 'Come, lets go'. On the way to school, she will start her 'i dont want to go to school. Yucky school'.

I think she really dislikes being in a controlled environment.

Even when she sleeps, she keeps rolling and singing and turning till i have to scream at her. The moment she wakes up, she will look for Harvynna and hit her or pull her hair.

We have this mini play kitchen set at home and Rowena loves to push it down, open the cupboard door and climb inside knowing that it may break. Or she will open up her Dora's dollhouse and sit on the roof, looks at me, waiting to be scolded.

If i take her out, she will run all over the place till i have to scream at her. Dont care if people are looking.

If I scold her, she will come up close to me and say ' Mummy, why you angry with me? What I did?' I loooooove my mummy' and immediately I will forgive her and within 2 seconds, she is back to mischief again.

So, I have cancelled my plan of sending her for speech and drama as she will get bored, also cancelled the plan of sending her to tae-kwan-do or she might beat someone up.

I wonder how this innocent lil baby can turn out to be like this!!

The girls and their school

Harvynna's school has released their after school programmes. I must say I am pretty impressed with what they offer this year. All the programmes are good, but I chose Speech & Drama by Helen O'Grady and Tae - Kwan-do, which means she stays back twice a week for this. I always wanted to enrol her for Speech and Drama, but due to timing issues, it had to be on hold. I also managed to arrange transport for this with one of the school teachers, so another headache solved. I may send Rowena for Speech and drama at the school as well in April since it is so convenient. Gosh, with these extra classes, the total fees (all in) for Harvynna alone is over RM1k a month and that does not include the babysitter!

Having children in the Klang valley is not cheap at all. One of my staff joked that the amount spent on my 2 kids is equivalent to the monthly installment of a BMW X5. How true!! They better appreciate this!!

I finally have settled the kids activities and school for the year, so am really relieved.

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How was Rowena's second day at school? I dropped her off, told her bye and gave her a big hug. She looked a little lost, but I did not stay. When I picked her up, the teacher told us that she looked like she was about to cry but they distracted her with some toys and she was ok. Rowena told me again' i like this school. I really like it here!!'

Harvynna is doing well in school. Her teacher is very gentle with the kids. A bit too gentle, I feel. I am just a little concerned at the math programme they do - it looks too easy for a 5 year old class. Dont want Harvynna to get bored. I know the school is not into drilling the kids as they are montessori based and emphasis learning through play but, hmm, just hope she will be ok.

Yesterday, the children in her class had to talk about their parents. Harvynna came to the front and said, 'My mummy works in xxxxxx'. The teacher asked her, 'What does your mummy do there?' Harvynna was not sure and said ' She is the boss. She sits in her own room'. Then her teacher asked 'Is she the principal?' and Harvynna replied 'No, she owns the school!!!!" Then the teacher asked her 'Where does daddy work?' and she paused for a while ' in the office.... dont know what he does la!!"

Haha. Today the teacher asked me and I laughed. Children always look up to their parents and think whatever they do must be something important!!

So different

Just looking at the photos, one can tell that the girls are so different. Harvynna is so ladylike and loves to dress up and look pretty. Rowena, on the other hand wears mismatched clothes and finds it really hard to sit down in one place.

Harvynna has really grown up. She will be 5 in April and is now more into her own things. At home, she prefers to go to her room and read her books or do some writing/colouring (with the door locked), play her computer games, or play with make up. She is very independant and a good helper (though she still drives me up the wall!!). She bathes herself and helps bathe Rowena too. She helps to fold the clothes and put them back in the cupboard. She now knows that when she comes home at night, she has to put her school uniform in the laundry basket and prepare her clothes for the next day. After eating, she has to put everything back in the kitchen. I am the evil mother that slave drives the 4 year old!!

What does Rowena do while Harvynna is busy being a lady? She unfolds the clothes Harvynna has folded, she pours all the soap on the floor while Harvynna bathes her. there was once where she threw her bottle of Eubos in the toilet bowl. She jumps on the bed while Harvynna is reading and switches the computer game on and off and on and off while Harvynna is playing. She takes my makeup and makes up the wall, then comes out off the room complaining that Harvynna created all the ruckus.

I do enjoy Rowena's babyness although I cant understand how someone so small can be up to so much mischief. Harvynna has become a like a friend now. I hurt my back at the gym the other day, and she warned me 'You better not do the back kick or you will pull your muscle again' and she will rub my back if she sees I am in pain. All Rowena says is 'Very good for mummy, your back is pain'.

Rowena's first day of school

After an endless search for a school for Rowena, we finally found one that has classes on weekends at a reasonable price. Most of the weekly classes are so crazily priced ranging from RM350 - RM500 per month for just once a week. At that rate, i might as well enrol her into Harvynna's school with just a little more. So now, I bring her for her class every Saturday. It is a drop off programme for 2 hours.

She learns to read, works on her motor skills to start writing, sings and has some story telling. I guess that is enough for her age. The place is more of a literacy centre for children.I am not too particular about the programme - I just wanted to expose her to some sort of education. This is because, unlike Harvynna, there is absolutely no way I can teach Rowena. I try to teach her colours, and shapes and alphabets but she has no interest. She treats it as a game and is out of there after a few minutes. She loves books, but will not sit down to read or listen to a story. But I have caught her 'reading' a book on her own. She has been listening to me read to harvynna and she remembers the story and 'reads' it on her own.

I was quite surprised that just after a day, she could identify a few words already at the school.

Of course, she was so excited as she has been waiting for this day. She woke up early, packed her bag with books and a lunch box and made sure she had a complete set of books. She was annoyed to see that I had taken out all the books (dont want her bag to be so heavy). She kept screaming ' there's nothing inside'!

Once we reached the school, she immediately went in the classroom with her beloved bag. But she knew that I was outside at the reception area, so she kept coming out to see me and Harvynna kept going in the classroom and intimidating her. After about 20 minutes, Rowena came out with her bag and sat outside folding her arms. She said ' I want you'. I explained that this is a children's class, so mummy cannot be there, plus all the other children's mummy and daddy are not there. She looked at me and said 'then why are you here?'. So I left but she started to cry. The teacher told me to go, and after a few minutes she was ok.

The teacher mentioned that she kept taking her bag and carried it around. Seems to be so protective about that bag of hers.

Hopefully, she will do fine. Am glad to have sorted her school out.