The Friday Kids
I heard my in law commenting the other day.
"One is nice and quiet."
And the one lucky baby will bask in the extra attention from the adults at home, reveling in getting endearments such as "Ke-ai baby" (Translation : Cute baby) with plenty of hugs.
"All three at home...PENGSAN!" (Translation : Faint)
And the two unlucky grandparents will find themselves sneaking mid-day naps or scrambling for excuses to go out to town. Anything to escape from having to deal with 3 boisterous kids (who's mothers admitedly find it easy to demand that they "Go downstairs to Ah Mah!" to get them out of their own hair).
Which is the usual case every Friday when the two school going kids stay home and "Ke-ai" will turn to exasperated "Hwai Tan!" (Translation : Naughty)
Just imagine 3 boisterous kids who hog the TV (one way to stop noisy adventures). And when TV has outlived its usefulness (about 30 mins max), the calm grandparent will practise being deaf in the midst of high-pitched "Kor Kor!", "Ah Mah! Mei Mei grabbed it from me!" while the excitable grandparent will try to maintain order with a constant "PU YAU lah!" (Translation : "NO!")
In short, Friday is a rest day for moms like me from having to rush household chores before we need to drive to and fro school. But it's definitely not a rest day for households with grandparents such as mine.
By The Way : Perhaps you think that I am exaggerating about the kids - because they can look so cute and innocent. Next time I'll show you a video complete with closed captioning!
"One is nice and quiet."
And the one lucky baby will bask in the extra attention from the adults at home, reveling in getting endearments such as "Ke-ai baby" (Translation : Cute baby) with plenty of hugs.
"All three at home...PENGSAN!" (Translation : Faint)
And the two unlucky grandparents will find themselves sneaking mid-day naps or scrambling for excuses to go out to town. Anything to escape from having to deal with 3 boisterous kids (who's mothers admitedly find it easy to demand that they "Go downstairs to Ah Mah!" to get them out of their own hair).
Which is the usual case every Friday when the two school going kids stay home and "Ke-ai" will turn to exasperated "Hwai Tan!" (Translation : Naughty)
Just imagine 3 boisterous kids who hog the TV (one way to stop noisy adventures). And when TV has outlived its usefulness (about 30 mins max), the calm grandparent will practise being deaf in the midst of high-pitched "Kor Kor!", "Ah Mah! Mei Mei grabbed it from me!" while the excitable grandparent will try to maintain order with a constant "PU YAU lah!" (Translation : "NO!")
In short, Friday is a rest day for moms like me from having to rush household chores before we need to drive to and fro school. But it's definitely not a rest day for households with grandparents such as mine.
By The Way : Perhaps you think that I am exaggerating about the kids - because they can look so cute and innocent. Next time I'll show you a video complete with closed captioning!
