It's just one of those days.

One of the benefits of having children is to see the world again through their eyes. I could still remember the days as a youngster when I saw things differently . I could not understand the serious look adults would always carry with them. Why wouldn't anyone want to stay at a playground forever? Why would you eat a proper meal when better things such as candies and ice cream are around? The silly things that I saw were so funny that I could laugh all day and sometimes I did. Even at university, friends would sit around throwing around jokes and silliness and I could remember the feelings of euphoria at those moments. I wasn't aware at that time those moments were precious and would one day disappear. As I grew older, life has a funny way of sucking the life out of life. Responsibilities, money issues, relationship issues, job stress, health issues , children were amongst many that slowly eat away that freedom, joy that I once had. Sure there is joy and happiness now but it is different. That piece of uni just doesn't taste the same; there is nothing new about seeing something new; Happiness is more about maintaining the status quo, the feeling of luck that nothing disastrous has occurred and that one more bullet has been dodged, at least for that day. I see my kids and any normal kids for that matter and I envy their innocence and naivety. That ice cream is more precious than gold. The playground is essentially heaven and the sense of joy and excitement that they will experience when something new appears. Essentially, I see the world as a ugly place and kids(at least my kids at this moment) are shielded from it in a green house that I have created. Their world is seen through rose colored glasses that I once had. It is not a real world but it is still nice.

spoilt brats

Ryleigh is starting her piano lessons. The teacher, Mrs Cotton, decided that she is mature enough to start at this age of four. I was present at today's lessons to observe the progress. Anyhow, the lesson was simple enough, centering around recognition of keys, understanding beats and tones. Apart from playing simple songs (hot cross buns for the record), she was asked to point out all the D's on the keyboard. The process took around 10 minutes with her hitting and missing her notes. In the instances that she missed, I was thinking to myself how the teacher must have felt frustrated and I was a little bit embarrassed by her difficulty at a seemingly simple task. Of course I didn't say anything but Mrs. Cotton must have seen it written on my face. Her remarks to me were surprising but poignant. "You guys are spoilt" she said. Continuing with her explanation, she then went on to explain that What Ryleigh was doing at that moment was sometimes unachievable by some kids that are 2 years older than she. "You guys have two kids that are above average intelligence and musically gifted. Not every body have these qualities and you should not take it for granted. As a traditional Asian, I have always believed that anything average or heaven forbids, below average are unacceptable. I made it a note in my mind today that my thinking is wrong. While it is desirable to always strive for the best, achievement should also be based on efforts and not entirely on results.

movie oct2008

movie oct2008
Originally uploaded by ivanmo

Now this blogging gets easier and easier with technology. I can now post my blog directly from flickr. Unfortunately, only 10mb are allowed, so my video was cut short. You can see the complete video at youtube or facebook, not that anything spectacular happens at the ending. This video is really still a testing ground for me to see how things work.

Since I'm posting, I might as well record things that are happening around this time. Hmmmmm.. Ryleigh is slowly getting toilet trained. Today was parent interview at TMS and the teachers were saying that Aidan is a smart kid but is always goofing off when the teachers are not watcing. Your sixth goo pau is suffering from end stage lung cancer; our thoughts are with her through this difficult time. You guys are getting acquainted with your first live-in nanny. I will post a picture of Marilyn S. soon so you guys will remember her. Hope she stays long enough to warrant that. TTYL. I'm going e-blogger now to see if this thing works.