Author: yoongz

A Singaporean family living in Switzerland; sometimes loving, sometimes hating, always living the differences we see each day.
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Unexpected Sights…

i had wanted to blog about these sights last week… but other posts took priority. So here they are – Unexpected Sights which greeted us…

The first one was when we first returned from our summer hols, a couple of weeks ago. You see i had left my Spring Onions unattended the whole time we were gone (yes i know, bad gardener!). Well, i had, of course, expected to see dead plants when we got back. BUT lo-and-behold!

They are such cute little white flowers, all bundled together!

They grew! Or at least one pot of them did and even flowered! i had read that seeing spring onions flower was a rare thing as normally you would harvest them before that happens.

It was indeed a happy sight for me! It goes to show that some things (applicable to people as well) can be quite tough and surprise us 😉

The second unexpected sight was this:

i snapped this picture quickly with my smart phone.

Yes i know it’s hard to see – but that little person with one hand raised in a sea of red chairs is Tobias. You see, last Wednesday, it was a public holiday here so no school. Now while in Singapore i had lamented about missing out on watching the new Pixar film, Brave. (We love our animated movies and missed the opening by just 2 days.) Then i saw it was on here and i found a cinema showing an afternoon slot in English. So we went.

i had thought since it was a public holiday in all the Cantons (States) surrounding Bern, where we went to watch the movie, the cinema would be peopled (my word for not exactly full, but with people around). We went there early, got our ticket from an automated machine (the counter only opened 30 minutes before screening time). The machine indicated that all seats were free. i did think that was funny but still i thought people would just buy at the counter later.

We walked around a little, looking for Tobias’ house-shoes which he needed for school. Then had a light lunch of sandwiches. We bought our popcorn and went to sit in the theater. There was NO ONE around at all… we only saw a handful of other people but none of them were heading into our theater. So we were the only ones, watching Brave in English, in a cinema in Bern, on a Wednesday, when it was a public holiday in Solothurn!

Now we can tell people we know what it is like to have an entire cinema theater all to ourselves 😉 It was a weird feeling. A little scary if you have a wild imagination – hehehee…

There was a small disappointment just before the film started. i heard voices and looked back to see that a couple had joined us, they sat right at the back. So we weren’t all that alone after all 😉

Have a lovely weekend. The forecast here is for rain over the weekend. So it will be cooler than the nice sunny full-on summer weather we have been having. Not complaining. The plants need the water and we could use with a bit of cool as well. But i’m still hopeful for some summer sun before Autumn hits.

syc

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1st Violin Lesson…

Tobias has been back at school for 1.5weeks now. He is now in Zweite Klasse (2nd Grade or Primary 2) and he is still loving school as much as before. He still has 2 long days at school and 3 mornings. He still goes to Judo.

BUT… he no longer goes for swimming classes – he got the last badge in July! So he is officially water-safe. 😀 Very proud of him!

NEW… He had his very first violin lesson, just yesterday. It was only  25 minutes, half of which was spent learning the basics such as how to hold the violin and bow, what the strings are called etc… His teacher, Herr Steiner, also had to tune his violin, which he reassured me would not need re-tuning for a while after this.

Look at how serious his face is 😉

After the introductory stuff, he went on to learn to pluck the strings with his finger. i believe it is called playing open strings. It was fun to watch. The teacher sang the name of an animal, first letter of the name corresponded to a string (G,D,E,A), such as Giraffe, in a specific rhythm and Tobias was to follow on the correct string, in the correct rhythm. After a couple of rounds of plucking, he was allowed to try doing the same thing with the bow, making sure he only plays that one string.

Herr Steiner told me he is doing great for a first lesson. Tobias’ homework is to practice plucking and bowing with those animal names and also to come up with 3 more animals for each string. What a laugh it was, when we came home and had to crack our heads thinking of animal names in German that begin with G, D, E and A. This is not something they teach at adult German classes or use in daily life and Tobias’ vocabulary isn’t quite big enough yet. So we went on the internet, looked through dictionaries and his little kiddy books and finally came up with 3 animals for each string; G was the hardest to find.

Tobias loved his lesson and looks forward to practising. Mummy looks forward to him playing nice little pieces on the violin in months to come 😉

See here for how Tobias decided on learning the violin and see here for how happy he was to collect his violin.

syc

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Children Want Mums (or Moms, if you are on the other side of the ocean)…

This is a double whammy post… i’m hesitant to write such posts because i don’t want one point to have more emphasis over the other. But i think these 2 work well together.

Not too long ago i read a very very encouraging article written from the heart of one mummy to all the mummies out there (by April Perry).  Her opening lines got me right in the gut…

“There’s this crazy phenomenon going on right now. Good, devoted mothers get on Pinterest . . . and blogs . . . and Facebook . . . and Twitter . . . and then they flip through parenting magazines and TV channels (full of advertisements and media hype) . . . and they’re convinced they’re not enough.”

Do you feel that way… sometimes? i certainly do… many many many times and sometimes i take it very hard and other times i can talk myself out of this trap. Yes it is a trap because… this is what April says of her own mother (which i believe to be true of most mothers):

“My mother didn’t specialize in home decor or gourmet cooking, and she didn’t lift weights or run marathons. But she makes me feel like I am the most important, wonderful person ever born. If I could pick any mother in the whole world, it would be my mom.”

i would pick my own mummy too – my mummy who is neat and tidy and a great cook, who loves us to bits and pieces and gave up so very much to give us everything she could, who is always always there for us in her quiet ways. i hope i am such a mummy to my little guy too.

The whole point of the article is this:

“Can we remind each other that it is our uniqueness and love that our children long for? It is our voices. Our smiles. Our jiggly tummies. Of course we want to learn, improve, exercise, cook better, make our homes lovelier, and provide beautiful experiences for our children, but at the end of the day, our children don’t want a discouraged, stressed-out mom who is wishing she were someone else.”

So let’s encourage each other that we are the best mummy for our children, just the way we are.

Here’s the whole article:  Your Children Want YOU! | The Power of Moms.

Now i want you to hold that image of a mum who loves her children, who cares for her children, who tries her best to give the best to her children… got that in mind?

Now meet Samantha and Kristina:

Little 7-year-old Kristina waits for a family to come for her.
8-year-old Samantha needs a family to help her along in life.

Aren’t they lovely little girls?

They don’t want a mummy – they NEED a Mummy to come and love them, hug them, do their hair, and make them the most important persons in a Mummy’s life. They have had so very little in life. And they have been transferred to an institution which means unless they get adopted, they will likely live the rest of their lives behind those four walls and never know the love and support of caring family.

Samantha (8 years old) has brown hair and stunning green eyes. She has Microcephaly which has resulted in mental retardation. She is physically capable, is a friendly and affectionate girl. She would do well in family environment.  Her medical report also states a high likelihood of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Her younger sister Kristina (7 years old) is cognitively delayed but physically capable. She is said to be helpful and friendly.

These girls would only be able to reach their full potential if in a supportive, loving family. Please do pray for them, for their daily needs and most importantly for a family to come and give them a caring home.

They have a very small amount in their adoption grant (click on their names or pictures to go to their profile page on Reece’s Rainbow). They would get more notice with a sizeable grant like US$2500. Please consider donating to their grant. This will also help the family who comes for them to reach them faster.

Have you ever thought about growing your family? Would you consider adoption? If yes, then do consider the possibility to adding Samantha and Kristina to your family.

Should you donate to Samantha’s and Kristina’s grant, do leave a comment so i can send you a personal thank you. Or if you decide to pray for them regularly, you can join us at RR Official Prayer Warriors FB page. And if you are considering adoption, click here for more information.

Thank You.

syc