Yo, fellow Integretarians (sounds like you are beings who devour integers!), I share with you the below saying:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company ...a church ...a home.The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past ...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ...I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

- Charles Swindoll-

All the best for your EL Pre-lims tomorrow!

You know people, I mean what I said today in class. There're enough talents in all of us to make good our lives. Competition should be viewed as a way to bring up the standards in us. Don't let it snuff you out! As for naggy Mums and Dads at this time when you are so overwhelmed by the Prelims and looming 'O' levels, you read the verses by Erma Bombeck today ---- there's really a lot of love behind all the rantings.

Jia you!! Persevere for the Prelims! Let's conquer this first and then strategise for the 'O's. Hai yah, this 'Red Cliff' fever is catchy!

Neat excuse

A useful excuse, courtesy of Erma Bombeck just in case your Mum harasses you about doing household chores: "Housework can kill you if done right." I've never been ready to lay down my life for a spotless house. I kind of take after my Dad. When Mum's away and we're not around too, he'd use up all the clean glasses in the house and save a "clean"used one in the fridge for use till Mum returns!

Ah, . . . but I empathise with what Erma Bombeck said about the toilet roll spindle:
"I don't know why no one thought to paste a label on the toilet-tissue spindle giving 1-2-3 directions for replacing the tissue in it. Then everyone in the house would know what Mama knows."

Haha!

Last night, my boys asked if I am indeed teaching when I disappear from home. Maybe I'm just a performer at some WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) shows. And going by some moniker like 'Big Mummy V'?!! Boy, I tell you, imagination definitely runs wild in this family!

Then the littlest one asked if I could DRIFT (!!) when I was on the road sending him for his Angklung practice.

Now, do you blame me for being a little zany in class? Exposure to the weird and bizarre ones at home do have some side effects. Haha!

Somebody of substantial standing just died in the neighbourhood. By the looks of the elaborate funeral wake, there should be very traditional rites conducted in the next few days, culminating in a very rarely seen send-off. I have not seen any such arrangements since the days of my late grandfather. Then, those who could afford, paid a great deal of attention to ceremonial funerals.

I'm taking the opportunity to do a little sociology lesson on death practices with the 6. So, Wei Ting, you're satisfied that I'm really quite insane?! Haha! Watch out for the promised comic relief during tomorrow's EL lesson!

What?

Kung Fu Panda's father is a duck? How's that possible? I mused to the younger 3. The youngest explored the genetic possibility of such a happening. No. 5 just thinks that I'm a such a kill joy. In cartoons, anything's possible! No. 4 is more like me . . . now. . . what deeper meanings are the film makers out to portray? . . . Haha! . . . I kinda just complicated your simple world, right?

Talking of mutations, our helper at home just made us hot dog-cheese-pratas for tea this afternoon. Another one of the Significant Other's wonderful concoctions. I can't stomach his out-of-the-box creations sometimes. Some are tame, but others can really be out-of-this- world! No thanks, I'll just have my cup of regular tea, please!

My dream

Had a funny dream of Elton John dropping in to visit me at my home. He wanted to move around the neighbourhood incognito. I had fun showing him the sights and sounds of my 'turf'. He didn't play on our piano though. Come to think of it, the piano didn't even feature in my house in the dream! How sad . . .

So what do you make of my dream?

How Do You Walk?

Everyday, from a particular window of my house, I watch all kinds of people making their ways about. The ones walking interest me the most. There's this bespectacled old man who walks with a jerky gait, never seen not grasping a daily copy of the Chinese newpaper tightly to his chest as he heads to the nearby kopi-tiam (?) I surmise that he must have had a tough life. His face is etched with frown lines and he looks like he has the world's problems on his shoulders. Then there is Moustache-man who takes sprightly strides. He may be gruffy-looking, but hmm . . . his shirts are always ironed. Or is it one of those crease-free thingeys? I see 'karang-guni' Miss Loud outside now. She is Queen Of The Roads. Drivers of cars -- big or small --- must give way to her or suffer her loud hisses and curses! She may walk with a limp, but boy, she walks tall! I've seen her pushing her trolley and making her collection rounds outside a radius of 5km from my place. Then there's the closely-knit Muslim family of three. The young adult son is mentally challenged. But he just warms my heart as he ever so patiently walks, pauses and then waits for his aged parents to catch up when they move together!

I wonder how others perceive me as they observe how I walk?

How do YOU walk?

Young Botanist Badge

Does completing a series of Science-related tasks to earn your "I am a Young Botanist " badge ring a bell? Well, I'm currently into my 5th badge now --- one more to go i.e. when no. 6 gets initiated into his in 1 year's time. Took no. 5 to the nearby fruiterer to collect the missing fruit seeds. Am waiting for him to complete his remaining 3 star-task before helping him to tidy up his presentation. Don't I get tired of repetitive tasks? Well, . . . it's kind of funny, . . .but no . . . I pretty much still enjoy doing their school stuff with each and every one of them. Every experience will yield different kinds of interactions and outcomes. And you'll be surprised how much more you understand each child as you watch them label their leaves and seeds, colour their sketches, do up their explanations and present their final projects.

Botoxed blog

Hiya people. Got a little vain this Youth Day. Decided to botox the class blog and change my name too. So it's Ms Q, from now onwards, at least on our class blog. HaHAHA! Wish your English teacher were Angelina Jolie, right? Well, dream on . . .

Why Angelina Jolie's pic? Well, I happen to like her a lot. She has this "intense sureness" about her and a fiercely independent spirit. My kind of girl!

Happy Youth Day!

Have fun this long weekend, people! Celebrate your youth in your favourite ways! I'm going for high-tea with my family tomorrow. The brother and family are back for a visit. Yummy! Yummy!

Things that a parent think

Chee Hock's accident brings back memories of what went through my mind last year when a school bus was involved in a horrific fatal accident somewhere in the eastern part of Singapore. I remember that it was after my teaching session at HIHS, yes, to your seniors, the 07 Integritarians. I was driving home when this massive traffic jam held me up on the road near to my children's school. As I eventually inched to the accident site, I remember how my heart raced, stomach went all funny, and a cold spasm rivetted my whole body. My goodness, that school bus was a wreck ---- crushed into a incredulous mess. The ambulances had just left and the whole scene was cordoned off and swarmed with officious looking police officers. I panicked. Wait a minute, that school bus looked just like the one 4 of my children commute in! And the accident location was on their bus journey route! I tell you. I immediately whipped up my handphone and called home as well as the Significant Other to check if anything had happened. As cruel luck would have it, I couldn't reach anyone. I remember crying while stepping on my accelerator to race to the young ones' school. Frantically confirmed that all's well and took a roll call for the remaining 2 before I made my way home. I tell, you, my heart could have stopped that day!

You may think it all silly. But us parents carry the burden of perpetually being worried about you. So the next time you think of being careless about yourself, do think of the torture you would be putting your loved ones through. Take care of your bodies and souls, okay?