SKYNI

‘What is my car’s name’ Linn asked one morning on the way to school. I never thought about it and never named our Mazda after my first car, Hilda the old Merc. I replied ‘Mazda’. So I took this opportunity to tell the kids that Papa has bought a new car in Sweden.

‘What is the new car’s name’ Linne asked quickly. I told her ‘Audi’. So that is how ‘Goodbye Mazda, Hello Audi’ came about. But the kids don’t want to know Audi.

‘No…it is Hello Mazda, Goodbye Audi’ our cheeky monkey says. The kids then try to teach me how to say Mazda…’No, it’s MAZda….no, it’s MazZZZZZZda…no, it’s MazDA’. They really like the Mazda.

I must say that it is a great family car. It has served us well. Just yesterday, a car dealer asked me what is the mileage. My response of 50,000 km was quite a surprise for a 2 year old car and Shu Ping asked me to check if it is correct. I thought about it. We have been making 30km trips x 2 each day with the car, picking and dropping the kids to school. We have driven to KL, Malacca and driving cross country have never been an issue for us. We sometimes just go for car rides to get them to take their afternoon naps.

So, we will miss you Mazda. Specially your sliding doors.

I was totally not prepared to go through the birds and bees with Linn. I know that Nicke has been telling her ‘Boys have penis and girls have vagina’ part but I wasn’t expecting her to fully understand.

Just the other day, she stood naked next to me and poked my breasts. She proudly said ‘We are Girls..we are the same’ and she proceeded to point at the groin and said ‘Boys have this long thing that shoots out’. After that, she insisted that we go to Jon, pull down his pants to examine his ‘thing’. My immediate reaction is that she cannot pull down boys’ pants to look at their ‘thing’.

I will have to explain to her that these are PRIVATE parts. Thanks to Anan’s mum who came to visit us with Anan on Saturday. She told me that she explained to her kids that only mummy and daddy are allowed to touch these parts…no one else can without permission. I think that is a good idea…so now, i will find some ways to tell her.

How time changed. I don’t think my own mum ever told me anything about the birds and the bees.

She is only 2 and she is already picking out her clothes, telling me that she doesn’t wear a specific dress because it is not pretty. These days, she picks her own bags and shoes too.

I know that I should let her develop her own dressing although i must say that the combinations are alittle ‘off’ sometimes. I get a little concern when she tells me she rather wears her brother’s clothes and that she prefers to wear pants.

So, i wonder if i go crazy if she picks something i don’t like. Will I let her step out the door wearing something I totally disapprove? These days, i try to influence her by telling her that the combo is not nice. Like how can you wear Bob the Builder socks with crocs and a pretty spaghetti strap floral dress? and no, you should not mix yellow with purple. and honey, yellow is not your colour.

Maybe I think that her dressing reflects on my own taste as well. I will only be deceiving myself to say i will let go and let her do her own thing. I will try to exert my influence or at least until she stops listening to me.

So now, to satisfy my little fashionista, i give her options. but i make sure that they are all approved options in the first place.