Back to normal.

Next Monday, my schedule will be back to normal. Yup! School will be reopened next Monday, and it going to be rush at home and on the highway. I hope all four kids will have no problem getting up in the morning and going to school. 

Since Zaki had his circumcision last week, I was quite worried with his condition. I was worried that he might not recover before school reopen, but Alhamdulillah, he was running and chasing ball this evening. Eventhough, he has not recovered 100%, he can now wears his pants, walks properly and runs.  When I reached home today, the four of them were playing football, and Zaki was chasing the ball with Syafiq.

I seldom see them play together especially during weekdays because most of the time, I will be reaching home late. Hmmm...I should try to get back early, and spend more time with them. 

Since we have not gone anywhere during the school holidays, I was thinking of taking them to see the movie. There are so many good movies showing now that I don’t know which one to watch. Zara wanted Kungfu Panda whereas the boys wanted to watch X-Men First Class. There is also Pirate of the Carribean that I wanted to see. Ahh…why should I cracked my head? Lets their dad decides which one. 

Talking about movie, we are supposed to watch Astro First tonight, but there’s nothing good to watch. The last one we watched was ‘Hantu Mak Limah balik kampung'. Heh! That one was really funny. The whole time, we were laughing. 

However, I missed the ‘Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa’ and ‘Cun’ when it was shown on Astro First. Everyone that I know said it was a good movie, and I hope that Astro would show it soon on the free channel. 

Meantime, I need to check on the school homework. No movie if they didn’t finish their school works. So kids, you know what to do if you want to see the movie.

Salam.

The difference between today's circumcision compared to forty years ago.

Today everything is back to normal. Hubby went back to work after taking the day off yesterday and left me with the kids. I have no complaint about that. It was a lovely time for us to spend our time at home together.

I thought that I was going to have a tough time to take care of Zaki, but he was such an easy boy to take care. He also didn’t lie down on his bed all the time. In fact, he went up and down the staircase making me worried that he might fall, and make it worse. If I compared his circumcision with what my brothers went through before, it was totally different.

When my brothers had their circumcision done, it was such big occasion for the family. The whole family and kampong folk celebrated their journey to manhood. My Bang Ngah was 12 years old while my abang Zahir was two years younger than Bang Ngah. To celebrate, there was a big feast where everybody in the kampong was invited.

The event started early morning. The kampong people would come dressing in their best dress and brought some food or cookie with them. The morning tea was served and later, the womenfolk joined my family members to cook foods for lunch.

While the kampong people prepared the food, my parent was at the hospital with my brothers. At that time, it was uncommon for boys to circumcise at hospital. Most of the kampong kids had theirs done in the traditional way. Hmmm... I don’t encourage any of the young boys to go through that.

Before noon,  my brothers reached home, and they were helped by the men to the house. They were taken to their special bed in the living room. At the living room, the ceiling was covered with a special cloth and so did the wall surrounding the bed. I didn’t know what it was for, but it has something to do with our customs.

My brothers were then put side by side, and their sarongs were then tied to a string which was strung to the special cloth. This was done in order to avoid the sarong from hurting the newly cut skin.

They were treated like princes, and they were not encouraged to get out from the bed. Foods and drinks were sent to them. There were always someone with them, and at night time, there was music to keep them company.

It was not live band singing rock songs, but a violinist and his group singing folk songs. The group was led by an old man known as To Ki Jambut, and it was the main event where everybody was looking forward to. Not only people from my kampong came to the house, but those from the next kampong also came to watch the performance by To Ki Jambut.

Heh! I don’t know whether my brothers enjoy the music, but for one thing they can still remember the old man.

Looking at what my brothers went through and what my kids went through, It was such a vast difference.  We don’t have a big feast, no musician, no special treatment, no special place for them to sleep and the only common thing is the sarong still needs to be tied to avoid hurting the little birdie.

Ahh… modern world!

Oh! Sakitnya...

Alhamdulillah! Zaki circumcision went well. He cried for a while after he came out from the Operation Theater. Maybe because he was still drowsy and confused, or he was in pain.

Let’s see how the day begin. We have to be at the hospital by 8am for admission. Therefore, we have to leave the house latest by 7am. We also have to send  b my in-laws to my sister in law house in Kajang because my sister-in-law and her youngest daughter were going for Umrah today.

My husband’s plan was only me, Zaki and him to go to Ampang Putri Specialist Hospital, but the kids have a different plan. Zaki insisted that Amir to come along, or else he would not go to the hospital. When Amir goes, it means Zara will also go. When Zara goes, Syafiq needs to come along and looks after her because my husband has to leave by 9.45am to go and send her sister to airport. So everybody went to the hospital to cheer Zaki.

During the trip to the Ampang Putri, Zaki was very quiet. He was not his usual self. He also didn’t play his PSP like usual. When we reached there, I could see that he was worried. He didn’t know what to expect as the stories and experiences shared by Amir and Syafiq were conflicting.

After the registration, we went to the ward. The nurses were good. They engaged him in conversation and finally, he forgot about his worries. After they had taken all his details, I helped him to change to the hospital gown.

The nurse asked who would be accompanied him to go inside. I said my hubby. Zaki wanted me to go with him, but I told him that I would wait for him when he came out.

At 9.20am, the nurse called him in. He kissed me, and my husband took his hand and walked to inside. I prayed that he would not cause any problem and chicken out. Ten minutes later, my husband came out and said that he already knocked out.

At 10.15am, the nurse came and told me that it was done, and Zaki's in the recovery room. I followed her, and I saw Zaki was restless and started to cry. He also tried to get up. The nurses and the doctor had to hold him down.

When I reached there, he was yelling, “Sakit! Sakit (Painful).” I looked at the nurse, and she said she had given him medicine. It took me a while to calm him down. When he was okay, we pushed him back to the ward.

He still cried when he was in the ward, and when I asked him whether he wanted Amir and Zara to come in, he nodded. When Syafiq, Amir, and Zara came in, he looked a little bit happy. I also showed them the skin that was cut off.  He kept asking for it, and holding it, as if, part of him was missing.

At 12pm, he said he was hungry. He hasn’t eaten since 10pm the previous night. The nurse gave him warm water first to make sure that he would not vomit. He didn't vomit, and after waiting for half and hour, I got him sandwiches and Milo. He finished the sandwiches and wanted more.

My husband reached the hospital at 1pm from the airport. The other three went out with him to have lunch at McDonald while I helped Zaki to change into his t-shirt and sarong. When my hubby came, he bought us Mc Donald for lunch. Zaki finished his while I didn’t finish mine because of my sore throat. I can’t swallowed anything without feeling pain.

 I thought when he reached home he would just lie down on the sofa, but he didn’t. He went up and down the staircase, holding his sarong and walking slowly. When I asked him whether he felt any pain, his replied, “Sikit aja (a lit bit only).”

I am worried how he is going to sleep tonight knowingly that he likes to sleep on his stomach. He will be sleeping in Syafiq’s room tonight, and I definitely will have a sleepless night.

Oh yea! He wanted Wii as his present to go through the pain. No more RM10 that he wanted earlier. It must be his older brothers’ idea. Will he get the Wii? I don’t know. The father has to pay for that, but I overheard that he promised Zaki next week. Let’s wait and see!

Sekian. Salam.

I can't wait for school holidays

I am really looking forward to the next two weeks. It is a school holiday, and I’m not going anywhere. I will be taking two days off to stay at home with the kids. 

I'm always looking forward to school holiday. First, there is no rush in the morning. On a usual school’s days, Syafiq left the house by 6.50am, and he has no transport to go to school. Every morning my hubby will send him and then come back again to get ready to work.

When he leaves the house early, it means that I have to get up early too to prepare for breakfast. Since I’m not a morning person, this is very challenging. There were times that I was too tired that I doze off on the sofa.

Secondly, the traffic will be less. Most people are going for holiday; therefore, the road will be less crowded. Will there be no traffic jam? I don't know, but let's pray no jam. Oh yeah! There will be plenty parking lot available too.

Thirdly, I will have time to myself. On school’s night, I normally sit down with them to go through their homework and revision. Sometimes when I reached home late and tired, they would be waiting for me. When I asked them to go and asked their dad, they would reply, “Ayah don’t know.” 

Fourthly, Zaki has decided to 'bersunat' (circumcision). Yup every Muslim boy has to go through this. Some did it a very tender age, and some waited until they were thirteen or fourteen years old. I’m glad he decided to do it now. Actually, he has been asking for this since last year, but I have no confidence about it.

I already booked the appointment at Ampang Putri Specialist Hospital for him this coming Wednesday. Not sure how he will react when he has to be warded for half-day, but for one thing, he wouldn't feel the pain because I have asked for the full GA to be given to him. He would be totally knocked out and wouldn't remember anything or what has been done.

The only thing I’m worried is that he might change his mind last minute, but let’s pray that he will stick to his decision. And he also said, “Ibu, I don’t need anything special from you except give me RM10.”

“Really? RM10 is enough?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied. To him, he can get two PSP games with RM10. 

Okay, I gotta go now. They kids are calling. Salam.