It’s 3 weeks into the new year and things are falling into a nice routine around here. That is if you can consider the madness that goes on around here routine. I like to think of it as an organised chaos, a beautiful mess.
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For starters, there’s the return of the dreaded 听写 list. I try to pretend like I already know all the words on the list because I have to inspire confidence and make it look like this is easy peasy, you guys can totally nail this because mommy can too.
Except that all the chinese words I’ve learnt 30 years ago have since been pushed out of my brain by more important things like the new season of Sherlock (okay guys, we need to talk about this!).
Yesterday, I was marking Truett’s 听写 while feeding the baby in the room and for the life of me, I could not remember how to write 练习 despite having just seen it ten minutes ago. I tried several permutations of 练 (all wrong!) and when Tru saw me struggling, he was all “hahahahaha you also don’t know how to write this, so difficult right??” So when I was done feeding, I came out to learn all the words with him again until we could both get them all right.
Solidarity. Because if we have to suffer, we will do it together.
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Getting the kids to save has been going pretty well this new year. The dollar-matching offer still stands, wherein for every dollar they save, we will throw in another dollar into their savings account. They can also choose to pack a snack for recess – a sandwich, some fruits, cookies, that sort of thing.
Kirsten loves the soup noodles in her school canteen and her idea of splurging a little is to have it from time to time, but she will go for the plain version with just noodles and soup, no other ingredients. I’ll be like “it’s ok, just order it with some chicken or meat or fishballs, you need the protein” but she will insist that she wants the plain version for 50 cents so she can save the rest. I try to make up for it by loading her up on protein during lunch and dinner.
Then there’s the question of why. They know that it’s good to save but they aren’t saving it with a purchase in mind, so right now, it’s just a generic savings fund for something they may or may not need in the future. I tried explaining the concept of saving up for a rainy day.
Tru: Actually, I don’t really need all this money in my savings. I don’t have anything to buy anyway.
Me: It’s important to save so that one day when you do need the money, it’ll be there. Trust me, having savings is better than not having any, even if it’s a few dollars.
Kirsten: Ya, like next time if you want to buy some minecraft toys, you can use your savings.
Me: Ummmm, we’ll have to discuss the purchases but yes, that’s the general idea.
Tru: It’s ok, I don’t think I’ll need it. Maybe I’ll just give the money to KK. (KK is what he calls his sister these days)
Kirsten: YESSSS JUST GIVE IT TO ME. I’ll use it to get you surprise presents.
Tru: Ok deal.
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