Support a Home

All the camps and worskhops finally over as of yesterday. There's still the Church Christmas Party this Saturday (but that doesn't really count)... so I'm set to relax. Of course I still have Fitline and Breastfeeding... that's year-round work. (Actually not work la, since I really enjoy doing it, so it doesn't feel like 'work' - more like hobby. But I get paid for these hobbies! Good eh?)

I've always have an interest in Homes for Children. These homes not only take in orphans but also kids whose parents are not able to take care of them. Whenever I start talking of these Homes, invariably some people will comment that some of these Homes are very 'high-profile' ie, they have big corporations and many influential people supporting them. These people will also comment that they rather give their money to lesser-known Homes. and when I asked them which Home do they support, most will not be able to give me a name!!!

As I've been working closely with some of these 'high-profile' Homes, I found out a few facts:

1. Yes, they may be well funded, but all the monies goes towards the welfare of the children. These children, like any children deserve:
good food
good clothes
good education (it's difficult to get anyone to volunteer to tutor them for FREE, so tuition teachers have to be paid)

All the above can be bought with Money, and most of the time, all the money donated to these Homes are actually not eough! Home Administrators sometimes have to go looking for donation when they should be spending their time looking after the welfare of the Children.

2. It's a fact that most people are more willing to just give money, but not their time

3. And even if Big Corporations and Influential People support these Homes, they do not visit the Kids on a regular basis and give them what they need most - a warm, caring and loving HUG and ADULT EMOTIONAL SUPPORT - on a regular basis.

I know of this company. My friend was in the committee. They wanted to do some charity. When my friend suggested these 'high-profile' Homes, the other committee members shot down the idea, saying that these homes already got the support of many big organizations. They wanted a lesser-known Home. Guess what? 2 years later they still have not done any 'charity' for any Homes. Why? All Homes suggested do not meet their criteria of deserving their help. So what happens to the money collected? Dunno.

Why are many people against supporting these Homes? Some refused to give anything because they say the Home Administrators will only take for themselves the rice or canned-food donated. Do they have proofs? Mostly it's just hearsay. It's just rumours passing from one mouth to the next without a thought to find out for themselves if it's really true. It's really a bleak way of looking at people - with suspicion, thinking that all these people who worked for the welfare of the less-priviledged as dishonest or worse - crooks!!

If you can help just ONE child by regularly giving your help and love, you might just have changed this CHILD's future. And if you really want to support ONLY 'lesser-known' Homes, then do it!! Don't just yak about it.

Kudos Damian and Marcus!

UPSR Results were out last Thursday (19 Nov).

As expected - 5As for both Damian and Marcus. (out of 87 students, 19 of them got 5As.)

Now we can all relax. The weeks before the exam.... the weeks after the exams.... were pretty torturous for Damian , and me! Damian - because that's Damian la. He allows his imagination to run wild with 'what ifs'.
What if he wrote the wrong thing,
what if he accidentally shade the wrong box,
what if he calculated wrongly.

And torturous for me - coz - he keeps 'what if-ing' with me!

One of his teachers was telling them about a student who didn't get the results she expected and she killed herself! I told Damian (the day before the results were out) that if he kills himself, I'll kill him!!!

So... UPSR so important meh? 5As so important meh?

On results day, one of the boys were seen with his fingers crossed, eyes screwed shut and chanting to himself "Pls let me get a C! Please let me get a C!" (He was expecting a D for his BM paper!)

Another boy who was totally not expecting it, continued to stare off into space when his name was announced as amongst those who has gotten 5As!

A girl cried coz she worked so hard for her BM, score the A, but then scored a B in another paper!

Seriously ... how important are the As? Yes, of course it's great to have, but seriously.....does it really determined our kids future?

Stephanie and Josehine is now worried that they can't get 5As. I always told them.... no need to compete with kor-kor. Be the best they can be. Always either do better or maintain their own standards. Good advice? And when they've tried their best (and don't get an A), I really think they deserve a reward for their efforts.

Manners, dear

A friend, W, told me that she passed on my name to a market research company. They were looking for bloggers to be part of a focus group (or something). She didn't think I would mind.

No, I don't mind. In fact, once in a while, I do like to do this sort of stuffs. Get me out of my usual routine, add some spice and the like, you know.... well sort of (as if I don't have an already exciting life with 4 kids and lots of relatives!)

Well, anyway, since W already informed me, I was ready when someone called. This was how it went:

Caller : Hello, are you Gina? I'm from Company SNV
Me: Yes, this is she. How may I help you?
Caller: What's your full name?
Me : (huh?) You called me and you want my full name without introducing yourself?
Caller: Yar, because on my list your name is only Gina. So, what's your full name?
Me : My dear, why should I give you my full name when I don't even know who you are and why you are calling me?
Caller : (sounding irritated) Miss Gina, I already told you I am from Company SNV.
Me : And you assume I know what company SNV is? (actually I do la)
Caller : Yes, we are a market research company, doing market research and I would like you to participate in our latest research. So, what's your full name please?
Me : My name is GYMK (gave her the full name, since she said 'please')
Caller : ok, Gina Yong, what's your IC number?
Me: Are you seriously thinking that I will give you my IC number when I dont even know your name yet?
Caller : As I mention just now Gina, I'm from Company SNV and we're doing market research and I need your IC to continue my questionaire

I am flabbergasted! Didn't Company SNV train their people on how to handle these calls? They didn't even bother to ask if I am willing to participate.

The maid is here!!!

I got my maid!!! Yahooooooo!!!!!!

She came on Monday... so, have been with us for 4 days already. I've been praying for a good maid. Really praying. We tried to get one from the agency. Do you know that we have to pay about RM8700 to get a maid now? Agency fees plus 6 months salary in advance!! Needless to say, that's a huge chunk out of anybody's pocket!

My friends (husband and wife) had a maid who wanted to try greener pastures. So I got her to work for me, without having to go thru the agents! Thank God for great friends. They helped me to get her! Well,, yes, she's only been with me for 4 days, so it's hard to really tell if she's any good. But so far, she's been ok - willing to learn.

And suddenly I find myself with time. YES! Time to get back to work!!! So... guess what? I played games on FB!! (Something I said i wont waste time on). But hey... games on FB can be quite fun (and therapeutic)! :-P

Ok ... better get back to work! Got a few people to talk to the next few days. I know they're serious about losing weight and getting healthier, and I'm sure I can help them! Great!!

Chefs in the Making

I have been now maidless for more than 2 months!! Really really tough. But now getting the hang of it. It ain't that bad. I got part-time cleaners, at least. But I'm tied down - can't go out as and when i like - can't go hospital anytime to help someone to breastfeed, making apppointments for fitline in the mornings, then have to rush back to cook and get the kids from school

Kids got it tough too. They've learned how to wash plates properly, sweep the floor, fold their clothes and put them into their proper place in the closet and cook!

Yes cook!

Damian cooked this Fried Rice (a bit wet tho) - I just gave verbal instructions and he did everything. The orange? His idea. he even cut them himself.

This dish was cooked by Josephine - all by herself, without me standing next to her!

The two girls having a blast. This dish (Seafood spaghetti), I got help la.

Not having maids can be a blessing in disguised.... but I still want one!!! I think I can 'see ' one coming soon! ;-)

I need more than 24 hours!!!

So many things to do (when there's no maid)!

1. Get kids ready for school
2. Separate clothes for washing in the machine
3. Wash 1st Basket of clothes (usually dark coloured ones)
4. Wash up after breakfast
5. Marketing
6. Answer Phone (usually on Breastfeeding)
7. Hang clothes to dry
8. Put Marketing stuffs away into Fridge or cupboards
9. Sweep and Mop
10. Answer Phone
11. Log onto Net, Check emails, Facebook, etc
12. Shower
13. Answer Phone
14. Prepare Lunch
15. Pick up kids from school
16. Lunch
17. Wash up after Lunch
18. Talk to one of the kids
19. Phone again
20. Talk to one f the kids
21. Wash 2nd basket of clothes (usually whites)
22. Phone
23. Talk to one of the kids
24. Collect Clothes when dried (or scrambling to get them in from the rain)
25. Hang 2nd batch of clothes to dry
26. Talk to one of the kids
27. Help kids with schoolwork (maybe)
28. Phone
29. Talk to one of the kids
30. Fold and Iron Clothes
31. Talk to one of the kids
32. On the Net
33. Phone
34. Prepare Dinner
35. Talk to one of the kids
36. Walk the Dog, kids go cycling
37. Dinner
38. Talk to one of the kids
39. Wash up after Dinner (Anthonsiti will do this part)
40. Hide in the loo to escape the family (read a book)
41. Shower
42. Talk to one of the kids
43. On the Net
44. Tell Kids for the thousandth times to go get ready for bed
45. Prayers before bedtime
46. PEACE and QUIET
47. on the Net
48. on the Net
49. on the Net
50. zzzzzzz (usually at 2 am!)

Hyperventilating now.....

I need OXYGEN .....

I need HELP ......

I take my hats off to mothers who has to work and also manage their families, day in and day out without a maid to help.

Maids

There are 2 new maids at home .....

Because the 2 maids are new to the job, they're not used to hard work. By the end of 1 week, both were scheming about running away.

The kids were very sweet.

They helped to wash plates (after which Ginawati has to rewash, due to the soap and sometimes grease and food still stuck on the plates).

They helped to sweep the floor (moving the dirt and dust from one end of the room to the other end.)

They helped to wipe the tables (sweeping all the food residue and bones under the table.)

They helped to tidy up their room (dumping everything out of sight into the cupboards.)

They helped.

Thanks!

............................. I mean it!!!

* kisses and hugs for them!

Good to be home

I went to Singapore last Wednesday and came back on Sunday 2am! After 5 days away, I was exhausted. Saw this:

Aren't they the best? Makes all the hard work so worthwhile.

I'm 'HELP'less

So, my old Indon maid left on April 30th and I've got a new one on the same day. This new maid is a foreigner, but her hubby has been here for almost 5 years. She said she needed to work to make ends meet. Have to feed a family (kids, cousins, etc) of 10! She gets off work on Saturday morning and comes back on Sunday night.

And she just QUIT!!!! From her limited English and BM vocab, she said it's simply too much work!

My two indon maids in the past (the first was with me for 5 years!) did EVERYTHING! Cleaning, washing, ironing, cooking, Babysitting and bathing the kids when they were younger. And everyday, they managed to squeeze in at least 2 hours of sleep/free time in the afternoon. (I know coz I found them sleeping many times!)

This new one - No need to cook. No need babysitting. She has not even clean/wipe any wondows or shelves or fans or make the beds since she was here almost 2 weeks ago!

In the mornings, she takes an hour sweeping the floor, another hour mopping it. I put the clothes in the washing machine and she hangs them. She then spends the rest of the time ironing. Oh she does the dishes after meals too. But that's too much for her. So, today during dinner, she literally threw in the towel. Wants to go home NOW! So, I sent her home lor.

Sigh... I am now HELPless. No HELP to do all the housework, which up till now, I have taken for granted. Although the 2nd Indon maid was not that good, if I close one eye, she's really ok. Futhermore, my kids like her. *Wail* I really miss her!!!! *Wail*

Then.... (maybe law of attraction?) she sms me from Indonesia. Said she wants to come back work for me. I called her immediately!!! Now have to find out how to go about getting her visa. Wish me luck!!

I need more than 24 hours a day!

There's not enough time for all the things I have to do!!! Today, I did the following:

1. Get kids ready for school
2. Walk them to school (hopefully new maid can help me out here in near future)
3. Restocking the fridge and food cupboard
4. Exercise
5. Answer emails, check facebook
6. Update websites
7. MSN or yahoo-chat with some friends :-)
8. Keep in touch with cutomers
9. Answer at least 3 calls a day relating to Breastfeeding
10. Make at least 3 calls a day for Fitline
11. Meet prospect and make a presentation
12. Deliver products to certain consumers so that can keep in touch with them (build relationship, not becasue I like being a delivery-man)
13. Cook 2 meals a day (Thank God I don't have to wash up)
14. Supervise/teach kids homework
15. Take the kids cycling, at the same time, walk the dog
16. Break up fights among kids
17. Threatened Jeremy with bodily harm (like 100 times a day!)
18. Hug Stephanie 1,000 times a day (must squeeze hard! - so exhausting!)
19. Talk to Jo so she doesn't feel neglected
20. Assure Damian I believe he'll get 5A's (he believes too - just need daily motivation)
21. Make sure the new maid eats!
22. Prepare Happy's food
23. Make sure the kids don't kill the hamsters
24. Read books (I'm reading Gandhi, The Princess Diaries, St Therese of Lisieux, the Feb issue of Reader's Digest at the same time)
25. Think of new ideas to promote my biz
26. Update accounts for income tax
27. Pay credit card bills
28. Update my blog!

My eyes closing now. Got panda eyes. Must sleep. Anthony's in Penang for work, so I'll have the whole bed to myself (that is - if none of the kids crawl in in the wee hours of the morning!)

Night! *Yawn*