Yes we did it! We took Khaira who is one year and four months old to the movies last night. Pergi layan Maleficent okengg. I have to admit, walaupun nampak muka cool dan chill walaupun ada pandangan atas ke bawah kiri ke kanan daripada mereka2 yang melihat kami bak gerabak keretapi ke panggung wayang, tapi dalam hati ada taman yang sedang ditiup angin2 gelisah (gittewwww).

I actually started taking my kids to the movies as they reach three years old. So for Khaira, it is a personal record for us coz she's so young.

Begini caranya untuk buat si kecil tidak meraban dan menjadi punca kalian di halau keluar daripada panggung kerana memekak, menangis dan mengganggu ketenteraman...

1. Prepare food. Bukanlah nasi lemak, nasi ayam bagai. All those jajans yang ada jual kat kiosk wayang tu, buy them! Unfortunately, TGV kiosk only sells popcorns and hotdogs, but we took them.
Bila dia nak nguek jek, offer makanan. That distracted her, sambil memenuhkan perut.

2. Keep her calm, jadi kamu kena tenang. If you start a screaming match with your child, tak kesudahan dan confirm kena halau. And tak perlu garang2 nak suruh dia diam. Distract her, we were lucky Maleficent is a beautiful movie, so banyaklah benda2 pelik you can show her during the show. Kids will appreciate.

3. Jangan masuk panggung too early. When you are 'punctual' you go in a super huge quiet room. And when the screen starts showing those super-loud advertisements, and the lights go off, your kid is going to panic and she will cry. That's what happened to my eldest when she was younger. Being a kiasu mom, memang lah nak sampai awal je kan, macamlah main chup2 seat padahal dah tahu tempat duduk. But I have learnt, kalau nak enjoy the movie, masuk je lambat skit. We were almost half and hour late, coz long que at the jajan counter. Went in, the ads were still blaring. Khaira adjusted her sight and hearing, tadaaaa... she was curious. But ehem, she's a huge fan of advertisements so adjusted well.

4. It's okay to bring a stroller along. Mana nak bawak air, popcorn, hotdogs, twisties etc dengan dukung anak, make sure anak lain pun tak berterabur lari, you atleast need one child contained lah haaaa... And atleast can sangkut whatever is in plastic bags on your stroller. You can leave the stroller at the back of the hall while you're enjoying the movie.

5. You can talk to your child during the show, tapi janganlah bersembang kuat macam kat rumah. Keep your voice low as you whisper in her ears. That will keep her calm.

6. You can let her walk around, but within you kawasan and be careful jangan sampai tersentuh kepala orang depan or menghentak their seat. I get very annoyed if there's a child dok tendang2 the back of my seat so I don't let my kids do it too.

7. Bawa plastik sampah. Kids make mess, that's just how it is. Supaya nampak macam parents yang hebat skit, (haha) bawa plastik sampai to thrash whatever bekas makan yang ada. I always teach my kids to not leave their sampah on their seats when the show is over. Cari tong sampah lepas keluar wayang.

So yes, if enjoy your movie. Have a great time (tak bermakna kena ketawa terbahak2 pun). Praise your child/kids if they behaved well, itu doa supaya dia teruskan dengan perangai baiknya...

Us girls after the movie. Depan ni pun jadilah..!

Selfie babies!

Ya, sepatutnya dah lena. Must be disciplined for the kids, tapi Mummy ngelat. One, my throat is not behaving nice. Two, Iqbal Umar is wide awake and singing "7 Hari" dengan lirik "naak susu." Padahal, dah dua botol gone in the past hour. And Daddy dok jawab dengan lagu "susu habis, susu habis." Bertekak lah dema ya.

Anyways, a friend brought up this subject. How to make sure our kids can read by the time they reach Primary One? Kalau ikut pengalaman sendiri, thank god for kindy - to Umaira. But with her, we started early. 4 years old dah belajar ABC in school (kat rumah Mummy malas nak ajar heheheh). So she goes thru the stages of learning to read ikut syllabus skolah la pendek kata. But with Ulfa, she's 5 bila jejak kaki kat kindy. Somehow, macam tak belajar ABC. Ulfa now kena "read" Peter n Jane and revise with Sally and gang book at home. Lagi pendek kata, she's actually memorizing the words thru the shape of the words. Don't think she knows ABC by heart just yet, dah test, memang tak dapat markah penuh. Yes I'm worried, but it's not only past 3 weeks of kindy. We shall see if she gets her ABC right by this sem.

Kalau ikut pengalaman diri sendiri, my kindy days were filled with lots of colouring and main kejar2, dan yang penting, Jumaat is terjun pool day! And hujung tahun konsert nari lagu kain pelikat u ols! Oklah, ada lah jugak belajar ABC, but I think I learned to read masa formal school. Masuk darjah berapa ntah baru lancar membaca. I turned out just fine ye tak?

My dua sen: Don't give up. Teruskan usaha anda (ewah). Kalau penduduk kampung Pendekar Mustar in Pendekar Bujang Lapok can learn to read agak dah tua bangka gitu, anak2 zaman sekarang jauh lebih bertuah. 3 tahun dah leh gi skolah tau sekarang.
Keep the reading habits tahap "meletop" di rumah, let them practice to read menus at restaurant, read road signs, read Cosmo (sempat selit tu), baca subtitles kat tv, and importantly JANGAN BERKIRA BILA ANAK MINTA BUKU (reminder to self ni). Sah sah leh claim potongan cukai pendapatan.

Ok, good nite. Nak join Daddy and Yoboy bertekak pasal susu. Umar dah tahap buat gulungan pembesar suara letak kat telinga Daddy dia sambil jerit "Nak susuuuuuuuu...!!" Haihh...

First and foremost, Alhamdulillah!! Called home tadi, Mama cakap Umaira dah baik. Like dah sihat, no fever, no temperature. Biar benar? It must be the (tok) Mama-touch/vibe/doa (Doa mak saya sentiasa makbul). OR it was just Mummy's plain advice to Umaira this morning. I told her "Umaira must get well soon today, sebab tomorrow you have to go to school and amik your concert costume." Nampaklah bersemangat sikit. And mulalah "bebelan" Mummy suruh dia minum lots of plain water, sebab bila minum banyak akan kencing banyak so bila kencing banyak maka kuranglah panas badannya. It goes to show that my 6 years old actually understand the logic, tak kiralah how gross it sounded. Ahaks!
And yeayy!! Petang ni dah sihat...Lega. Hope terus kebah and sihat sebab Mummy dah tak sabar nak tengok my sepet-Terengganu-looking-eldest jadi Kajol/Aishwarya Rai/Kareena Kapoor this weekend! Acca Heyy!!!!

Yes yes, Umaira demam panas yang jenis mengejut punya. She's been coughing earlier this week, ingatkan sebab gatai minum sejuk coz I know Bibik jenis selalu memenuhi permintaan anak2 like apa saja. Yang tak bagus tu lah yang dia tak kisah nak bagi, sbb bagi dia "cucu2" dia mintak, cant say no.
Iklan: geram tengok Umar pakai baju Thomas (the train) belang2 with seluar belang2. Nampak bontot jek, grrr...
Back to Umaira, so pagi tadi dia sudah high fever - 39.1 degrees. One thing, dia jenis sangat jarang jatuh sakit, but when she does, memang agak scary. Coz Mummy was super tired, last nite ada event yang memerlukan kaki lurus selama 4 jam lebe so memang tak sedar apa pagi tadi, cuma dengar sayup2 Daddy cakap anak demam, but he will take her to the clinic. Makacihlah Daddy...

Back to the subject above, what you need to do...
1, Don't panick! If u start panicking, lagi susah nak handle the situation. You need to think straight, tolak tepi itu panick button k.
2. You must have a digital thermometer, to know exactly suhu badan anak. Jangan main agak2 guna tangan jek, mungkin rasa tak cukup panas, mulalah nak take for granted and lengah pi doctor. Cannot! Panas dalam kita tak tahu apa rupanya. Sesal dulu pendapatan ya.
3. Bawa anak ke Paed. Kenapa pakar? Well, they explain things better to you. It has always been my preference, my kids pergi kat Klinik Pakar Kanak2 London dari kecik, we heart Dr Lai, coz she's soft spoken and tak keluar statement pelik2 like "Kenapa you memandai diagnose sendiri?" (ini berlaku when I told this one MD Umar wheezing dek batuk teruk, belakang, itu MD sudah keluar itu statement. Mind you, this is not the first time Umar wheezing, dah banyak kali and by this time, I kinda know lah what's causing it. Ingatkan dapat membantu doc buat diagnose, tak pasal2 kena marah plak. Sabar je lah! Siap cakap "kalau you rasa nak nebulizer up to you lah." Pulak?? Masa ni terpaksa jumpa that MD yang ada beribu patients waiting, PKKL dah lepas its opis hour, so terpaksa sabar je lah!)
4. Lagi satu sebab Paed is better, somehow, the meds are better. This is ofcourse from my personal experience lah ya. Masing2 punya pengalaman berbeza kan. Kalau my kids, makan sekali dua ubat from Dr Lai, dah kebah demam.
* Terbukti ari ni, Daddy bawak pi jumpa MD biasa, every 4 hours jolok ubat, temperature masih sama jek. Haih...malas nak komen, nanti kecik ati plak!
5. Tuam badan guna air sejuk. This works fast and leh turunkan suhu badan.
6. Mandikan anak bila nampak dah kepam. I dont get kenapa orang kata takleh mandi bila demam? I mandikan my kids sekerap boleh sbb so far, terbukti temperature lagi cepat turun and they feel so much better each time lpas mandi. Siap dia yang mintak mandi lagi... How?
7. They can either baring (kalau pening) or continue main with toys kalau larat. Buat macam biasa, kalau layan sangat sakit tu, memanglah berpanjangan. I managed to psyche Umaira to get well real soon sebab her concert is this weekend, and she needs to pick up her costume on Friday. Must. Get. Well. Soon!
8. Lots of love and kisses. Sedia maklum, sentuhan dan pelukan heals any penyakit, anytime!
G'luck!