Fish for Daddy.... almost!

Christa (almost 3 yrs old) came running to me to show me a paper collage and crayon colouring. She must have had some help from the teacher but I thought I'd just shower her with some praise. She beamed with pride holding it in front of my eyes. I think I made her day and hence, she was going to behave very well today. She would not fight with Clarissa. She would eat on her own and not require anyone to feed her, dress her, or put her in her bed.

Wow...! It's magic what a little praise can do!

Tropical Fish and Tobacco Doesn't Mix!

I usually bring Clarissa and Christa to the Aquarium at One Utama where they would be busy staring at the huge tropical aquarium with large kaloi, kelah, koi, catfish, etc. They also get to feed the 'koi' with the fish food (RM2/packet). We always watch and see whether the fish have been fed before feeding them.

The only problem is that the shopping mall's smokers also puff away in the surrounding. Some even do it with their children around. How I would wish that Health Officials are better at enforcing the 'No-Smoking' rule! Besides, 31st May is World No Smoking Day!". Clarissa in protest tells me, "Daddy, why that uncle is so naughty smoking here and dirty the place?!".

Laptop attack!

I left my HP laptop unattended for 5 minutes last week and Christa (1+ yrs) was quick to plug out my Data cable while Clarissa (3+ yrs) went on to test all the keys on the keyboard. When I came back I found out that the laptop was off (someone pressed the blue on/off switch) and Christa was finishing off the touches of removing the plastic connector of the Data cable. (Since then the data cable comes loose on its own and I had it replaced for RM10)

Clarissa was quick to run away but insisted she didnt do anything. "Daddy, see Christa pulled out the wire!", she said pointing at Christa who held the wire in her hands. Christa immediately threw the data cable away thinking that I may reprimand her. She ran up to me and hugged me tightly with a grin on her face.

Talent at writing new lyrics?

Clarissa (3+ yrs) learnt a new Nursery song called "Mr Sun" last week. I joined her after changing the lyrics to "Mr Bean" knowing that she liked the hilarious character. The whole family had a great time watching the movie, "Mr Bean's Holiday" during the preview screening.

The lyrics went like this:-

"Mr Bean, Bean! Funny Mr Bean. Drink up your cup of tea!"
"Mr Bean, Bean! Funny Mr Bean. Come out and play with me!"

Within a few minutes we were all singing the same song. She then tried to get her little sister involved by changing the lyrics,...

"Mr Bean, Bean! Funny Mr Bean. Come out and play with Christa!"
"Mr Bean, Bean! Funny Mr Bean. Come out and play with Christa!"

Everyone she knows had since been incorporated into her nursery rhymes and any songs she hears. Amongst her favourites are.....

"God is good! All the time!"
Changed to "Daddy's good! All the time!"

Will she go on to be a lyricist? Or will she just use this to get other's attention?

Playing a game in pitch darkness!

Fancy getting caught in a power failure at an apartment and someone switched off the generator for the lift. We came out of our car and saw the lights go off suddenly. Not a comforting thought to have to carry the 2 girls 10 floors up the stairs (and mommy is pregnant too!). Thinking that it would be a short blackout, we all went to the guard house to enquire further.

Nobody had any clue of what was happening. "Shucks!" At a distance I could see the flikering lights from the candles of a 'mamak' (a slang for indian muslims) shop. "Let's go for 'teh-tarik' (special brewed tea, drained from a height to oxygenate the tea to add a spectacular flavour to it)", I said. Both Clarissa and Christa was elated. Feeling a bit adventurous, I decided to get Clarissa a tender young coconut. Clarissa was thrilled having a coconut to herself. It's the type of feeling when she received her first soft toy. An hour later, the generators came on for the lifts and corridor lights. By the time we went up, Christa was already fast asleep.

"Daddy, I want air-cond!", Clarissa demanded. "Daddy, I am very hot and sweating. I want air-cond!", she reiterated. I tried as much as I could to explain to her about the blackout but nothing worked.

"Let's play a game!", I said. "You hold the torch and shine into the aquarium tank while daddy pour in the fish (newly bought at East Aqua, IKANO)". In my mind, I was thinking whether I would get to resuscitate the fish on time as they were already gasping for air.

Clarissa felt in control. She had the only torch and took charge (but the light was shining all over the living room except in the tank!). She was a gem and she helped mommy and I unpack, clean-up and even held the light while we took turns in the shower. I managed to keep the fishes in two 4 foot aquariums by giving periodical air supply via the aerator tubes. We had an old cardboard folder each to fan the girls as it was already late. Clarissa soon fell asleep at 11.30pm.

At 1.00am, the electricity supply resumed to my relief.

Naughty, naughty fish!

Knock! Knock! Knock! The sound of tapping on the glass of my 4 foot aquarium made me feel nervous. Knock! Knock! Knock! Again, there was the same sound. But this time it was followed by a reprimand, "Naughty, naughty fish! You cannot fight! Stop fighting alright!". To my surprise Clarissa was teaching the fish a lesson for engaging in a jaw-lock biting competition.

"Hmmm...! Learning from mom and dad again!", I mumbled. I then reminded her that she was not to tap on the glass as it might crack. "No-oh! It didn't crack!", she replied. "The fish was very naughty and didn't listen to me!", she protested. "It's alright. I will teach the fish to be good like you, ok?", I asked. "Ok, no more biting ok", she again reprimanded the fish.



I was glad that mommy was not around to see the whole episode. My aquarium hobby will be at stake if she did.