Children toys

There was an interesting article in one of the newspaper yesterday... It's about todays' parents habits of buying children toys... It seems that new generation of parents doesn't mind paying through their noses when it comes to children toys and travelling gadgets ie. strollers... And this new buying habit is making the retailers happy as it means more sales & profits to them... Kaching$$$$$$

Well, this new buying trend wont dies off that easily.. why? Coz brand still plays an important factors in making that final purchases... And most parents outthere still think expensive brands mean good qualities... With expensives brands, most parents dont have to think much about products quality... Thus, no need to put on the thinking cap la!!!! Parents need only to choose which toys to buy .... And I think this is true and happening outthere . If not we wont be seeing this new buying trends in Malaysia...

But then again, at the end of the day, will the child be getting the same amount of experience if he/she were to play with cheap toys than expensive toys? For me, there wont be any major differences as toys will be toys in children eyes... The child will still be getting the same good happy feelings regardless of the prices and brands......

How many times has it happen to us when simple things brought so much joys to our children? Those simple things were actually not toys . They were just some cheap laddle , a strainer or an egg whisk or even a shoe box or even a feather duster...

Maybe that is why my mom can give such comments on Arissa's toys ... Just like any other children, Arissa's has too many toys .... Family members and friends has been so wonderfull to Arissa.. The only things that stand out more when one looks at her toys is the brand of the toys... U will see more cheap local brands rather than expensives brands...

Are we stingy when it comes to buying her toys? Well, no. Quality comes first. Price will come second... And when we dont mind putting our thinking caps when it comes to buying her things... So far she is happy playing with all the toys we bought for her... And it feels nice and warm when u see that toys is played over time and again.... No burnt holes in our pockets too...

A Letter to Syafiah Arissa

My dearest Arissa,
As Mama seldoms write about your development, I think I will do it today, Baby..At least u get to read & reminisce it in years to come darling.. So here's the story when u are 2 years old and 2 months:

Almost everymorning u will said u want to follow Mama to work. And Mama had to twist it another way by saying that u can follow me to the car.. and it works ! I know how u wanted me to stay at home & play with you..Once in the car, I have to take u for a short trip. And u will want to wind down the windows or press the horn or turn on the wipers just before bibik pick u up from the car.. U wouldn't want to leave if u didn't get to do all these things..

U are so smart to come up with so many excuses if u want to delay something ( this u do so in order for u to get to do the things u wanna do la ) .... How clever of u darling to say "please wait mama!" or "mama, wait mama ." when i rushed you to do other things... Another thing is during your bedtime.. U will asked to switch on the tv or ask mama to make u your milk.. And I can't leave u in the room with your baba so that i can go downstairs to prepare it for u.. " mama, arissa nak follow!" U love the idea of going downstairs with me .Why, coz u get to stay awake and talk with bibik while mama prepares your milk... Do u finished your milk? Well, sometimes yes, and sometimes no...

You will cry when I told u to have your evening nap.. U will be crying while sleeping next to me.. " Mama, don't want to sleep"... and shortly u fall asleep...

U will ask me or baba to sing for you Laa ilaa haillallah before going to sleep..Currently this is your favourite lullaby baby.. U also will ask us to open & hold the Laa ilaa haillallah book... Then u will ask to read what ever words u are pointing in that book. This u do will snuggling next to me..You head will be ontop of my right upper arm & baba will be laying down next to you on your right side.. Yes dear, most of the time u will insist of having baba to lay down next to you during bedtime.. Mama too will have to dukung you just for a while when u are almost sleepy.. Dont know how to stop this things..

And when u wake up in the morning(weekdays) , u will cry sometimes, asking "where is Baba?" or 'where is mama?". U normally wake up late as u normally fell asleep around 11 pm! It's so hard to change your sleeping time !

You have a very healthy appetite dear .. Almost all food, be it spicy or not, u will eat.. U ate redang negeri yg pedas ... and curry too... And choc too... Funny when u only eat the choc layer and not the wafer .. And the murukku tuh.... Yes, we let u have all this but in moderation as u are still young and you dont brush your teeth well ... Mama don't want u not to have no front teeth ok.. Alhamdulillah , u can understand us when we told u to stop eating as u had enough of the food..

U listen more to your baba than your mama... With me, u will give me that look ( boring look) when i forbid u to do certain things.. Like walking in my shoes & sandals.. Or playing on the staircase.. I have to reason it outwith u and then only u will agree not to do it.. Or i will let u do it for a few minutes before calling it short.. This I learnt from your Baba la.. And for a toddler your age, your comprehension is very good.. Alhamdulillah.

U will insist on playing when u are actually sleepy...

U like to do the "no more dirty diapers" dance. This u learnt from watching Elmo's potty time VCD.. And u like to sing & dance " Who is afraid of the big bad wolf" . This u got it from watching Disney's cartoon.. It's from the 3 little pigs story. Apart from Elmo which is your favourite puppet, u like Mickey mouse too..

U love going out for a walk around our neighbourhood. U actually love running ... U will say " Arissa jog mama!" ...Park is your favourite place..And u can identify well where the parks are located.. we have about 4 parks around my house.. All in the walking distance only... That's what u get when there are different housing developers around the neighbourhood..
During the walk, u can tell also which house has a dog ... And u will want to touch the cat when u see one...

Arissa, mama thinks that's all for now... Mama will definitely post another entry like this whenever possible ok..

Hugs&kisses,
Mama

Love or Lust

Hubby took me out for a movie date yesterday :) I told hubby I wanted to watch this movie ,Stardust , after seeing its short clip during Resident Evil.. I must say I didn't expect it to be a love story movie. Anyway, I love it as it was funny and it's a love movie!

I think this movie is suitable for couples, in the sense it made u think about what is love all about actually... It makes you ponder is it love or lust that you have at this very stage of your love lives! This movie also can be a point of reference for those who are about to embarke into marriage life.

Love or lust? U can be rest assured that it is love u have there when you are willing to sacrifice anything for the other half. U will find yourself willingly (without realising it so much initially) to make the time, spend your money and give your energy just to make that someone happy.... Of course we do this to our best friends. But this time, u will be doing it with that very extra special feelings that u yourself can't described nor expressed into words...

And it is love when u can accept that person at a face value ( ni mcm accounting jargon pulak!).. U find yourself accepting the person's bad points which is actually tolerable to your standards but much to the dislikes of your best friends! I found this happening to most of my friends and collegues... I guess this situation is what we can term it as completing each other's needs & characters .. Just like in that tom cruise's movie "You completes me ! " Hmmm! Until today I found myself saying it to my hubby . Be it in our happy times and bad times. Its the best assurance when our marriage is tested by God .

To be in love , to found love is the very special gifts from The Almighty to all of us.... And it is so sweet when love found you when u are not looking for it... I think this situation is the best things that can happened to any one of us... The best gifts also to those who has lost one ...

As it is not easy to find love, I salute those single status people who are making the extra miles just to meet and know other people ... It is never an easy matter making that bold steps nor going through the routines of getting to know new people again.. This was what I saw last nite when me& hubby went to his friends' deeparaya open house. This chap who is my hubby's & host's friend was giving himself a chance of seeing some other girl who is a friend of another hubby's & host's friend . This guy is a nice person la ..Not like the some playboy la.. What I like about him is that he is willing to open out himself to see other people after an unsuccessfull relationship. I know he is looking for some nice girl to settle down. Just that he wasn't that lucky in that department yet... And he didn't mind when the girl he was going to give a call later is one year older than him... Talk about giving others and yourself a chance too..!

To other's who are still have not found their soulmates, go easy on yourself when meeting new people.. I find it easy when we dont put any benchmarks or criterias when meeting new people. The road in front of us will be a bit rocky when we grade people by our benchmarks.. We wouldn't want others to do the same things to us... Give others a chance as we want to be given the same chance by others. I know there are certain single people outthere who sticked this " I wanna find mysoulmates" into their heads when meeting new people.. This kind of attitude is actually not benefitting them at all.. It's better to go out just for the sake of meeting someone new. Who knows if that person has another friend who could be your soulmates...

Have a marvellous weekend peps!

Dating

I had a date with my hubby on the 1st saturday of Nov . It's a date to me eventhough we did it after attending hubby's company's open house. I accompanied him even he was on duty on that day.. So many people turned up as our PM too was there to launch the new coffetable book in town. I wish the antique phone that our PM got can be used as it still look good!

Since we still have some time left for a short drink, hubby suggested that we go for a drink somewhere in Bangsar. So the easiest and convenient place is BV2. Treat was on hubby as he asked me to choose the place. I wanted to go Bakerzin ( opposite Starbucks) but was closed for renovation. EEEE! We did checked out the one in BV2 but less variety on the desserts!

So off we went to Delicious. It's been quite sometime since i last went out for a drink with hubby to a place like this... Finally I got be there.. Thumbs up on the delicious apple pie crumble. SERVED with ICE CREAMS! The pie pastry was SEDAP! Better than the one at Starbuck. My Death by IcedChoc drink was heaven!

We did glance at what other people were having . And I must say, the food presentation was superbly done. They make a sandwish look so appetising ! Hubby said we should have ordered the brownie which was served with icecream. But I said no as it didn't look like the one at Chilli's.

Spending time with hubby even for just a drink at mamak stall is something precious to me. And it matters most now when we have a child. This going-out things will be the time we get to spend each other company and talk any topics freely without the interruption from our child.. And we get to eat certain food that our child can't have yet...

Actually going out just the two of us always make me feel like we are one childless couple. I always have that feelings when we were out without Arissa. I feel like a young couple! And when we go back to our house after our dating, how nice getting a warm loving hug & smile & kisses from Arissa.

I know it's not easy to leave your child behind. But when u can and when there is help around ( be it from your parents or siblings or maid ) , do go out with your spouse...

And tomorrow , I'll have date with hubby ..Hopefully he got the movie tickets.. And Arissa get to spend her time with her tukummi!