Changing perspectives

I am blogging right now cos I'm feeling a little bit smug about Iffah's achievement. As usual, I was lying on my bed with sleeping Akif and waiting for Iffah to fall asleep. Tasha was on his afternoon shift and usually gets back around midnight. However, after 20 min, I did not see any signs of Iffah's sleepiness. In fact she started humming the ewa ewa besok hari raya song. Not wanting to fall asleep while waiting for her to sleep (like i always do every other night ) , I decided I had enough and told her I will be outside in the living room "doing my own things" . Well, she did peep a bit and rolled on the floor a bit but eventually she did fall asleep on her own ! A major milestone for her. Alhamdulillah, she has gone through and matured a lot this year.


Well, that brings me to the main thing that I have been wanting to write about. About how my perspectives have changed since having 2 kids.


With no.1 , I was quite excited over developmental milestones. Every day was a new eye-opening experience. Mothering was an adventure.. from trying out new recipes .. to painstakingly making DIY Glenn Doman flashcard. Every little thing I did with Iffah must have an objective in mind, be it physically or emotionally . Right now, maybe my standards have slid a little, but accelerating Akif's developmental milestone is no longer on the agenda. In fact, I often wonder if I neglect him cos he seems to be merely co-existing with the rest of us in the family.


My main concerns are their health and my sanity. Feeding my kids well is on high priority. What's the point of being so intelligent, but so sickly and scrawny. Mummy shall not just be good in teaching them ... Mummy wants be a good cook for them too.


As for my sanity. The desire for me time has never been more pressing now that I have 2. With one, I can be sane even though I was with her 24/7 for a year. After all when she naps or sleeps, I can do other things right ? But with 2 ? and how about 3 or 4 ?? And while I used to brush off the idea of setting aside couple time without kids, I now see the logic of it. The four of us can be together the whole day ... but for the entire day, Tasha and I would not have had any decent conversation at all cos we are just centred on minding the kids. So I would no longer frown on others who are often seen without their kids.

Thus, my conscious effort to do the Supernanny thing. Tell a story. Kiss them good night , tuck the kids to sleep and get out of the room. Previously , while I liked watching Supernanny, I could never think that I could do such a thing. But now I am beginning to appreciate the rather organized and ordered scenario she could create. Iffah's dawdling n moving about during mealtimes were initially tolerated cos I wanted her to eat as much as possible, plus I had the time to entertain her. Now that there is Akif to watch over, I have gone to the extent of setting time limits and withholding snacks to ensure that she finishes her food quickly. And the results are amazing. :)