ZOE

Zoe...Jonathan's classmate. A sweet girl, with long and silky hair. Full of life and freedom of speech, unless you zero in on her, said to me during snack time:

"Aunty Serene, you are wearing green color shirt today."

"Yes", was my reply.

"You should wear bright colors, like blue".

"Blue? You mean dark blue?"

"No...light blue!"...she makes a face, indicating that you are silly to ask her "dark blue?" when she mentions bright colors....haha.

Ya...I'm a dark t-shirt person. It hides my extras so i don't look so big..haha. Mabye...just maybe...one day I'll surprise her with a light blue t-shirt.

Zoe means life, freedom. She sure has them. She's one person who doesn't bother about what you think of her. She wipes off Jonathan's saliva without even thinking twice about it. She saw Jonathan drooling and said, "Aunty Serene, Jonathan's got saliva on his face. I'll wipe it for him." and she did it.

That's something many of us ought to think about.

HAVE I BEEN A DISAPPOINTMENT?

I have been very impatient with Jonathan lately.

I have been raising my voice at him when he refuses to listen to my instructions.

I have not been spending quality time with him.

These negative things....I pray for more patience. I pray for forgiveness. I pray that God will not take him if He thinks I haven't been doing a good job, but to allow me to improve myself further as a mother....

NIGHT SAFARI

It's the school holidays. We haven't decided what we want to do cos Jonathan is down with flu...although not the serious one....but still required anti-biotics.

That reminds me of the night we went to Night Safari. All we could take were dark pictures. Finally downloaded them from my camera to the computer.

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

H & I were married on 12 March 1994. Today, we celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary.

My sister sent me an e-card showing animals in twos. One animal will speak, then the other will follow.
The message: After being married for so long...you can actually finish each other's sentences.

That was cute.

After so many years....we are still careful not to hurt each other with words that we regret later. We encourage each other time and again...yes...still. I still shower him with lots of kisses until he asks me to stop. He buys me Joyce Meyer books to read, wants me to build up my spiritual life. We pray for each other and we involve Jonathan in many things we do.

13 years is 3 more than a decade. 3+10, 2+11, 1+12. No matter how you add it up, it still has the same meaning...

THE MEANING OF TRUST, FAITH AND LOVE.

NICE TO PLAY...NO MATTER HOW OLD

This toy computer was given to Jonathan 10 years ago by H's boss.

It's old and run down now. The speaker is not producing loud clear sounds like it was before. It was tucked away in the cupboard cos I thot Jonathan is too old for it.

Then one day....Jonathan's homework was about writing a few sentences about his favourite toy.

One would have thot Jonathan would say I like to play Wheel of Fortune. I like my portable DVD player. I like to play with word cards.

NO....

He decided that he wanted to write about his toy computer. I have since long forgotten about it.

He didn't. So he asked me to write down for him about his toy computer....

"IT HAS A SMALL SCREEN" "IT HAS MANY BUTTONS AND A KEYBOARD" IT MAKES SOUNDS AND MUSIC"..something to that effect.

Next day, teacher read and asked him to bring it to class. He said yes. I had to search for it. Thot I threw it away. But...found it in the cupboard. took it out to clean and to Jonathan's delight...it still worked....although he has to strain his ears or go near it to listen.

So...it's been his favourite before and still is. He will ask for it. He will stretch out his hands to touch the buttons, altho he randomly touches becos of his fine motor skills. That was the first toy he ever liked and still loves it.

I tried him with new toy computers, even one recently given by a friend. But no....he still likes the good old computer that says "Hi! Lets play" when you turn it on.

That's Jonathan. "Let's play" and he continues to play. Not tired of it so long as it produces the sounds and allows him to stretch his arms, and of late, legs, until this 10 year old toy becomes too old to perform any more. It will remain his favourite toy and always will be. It's the love of his life...

TOO YOUNG TO MAKE AN IMPACT?

Children...they bring joy, laughter, frustration, sadness, anger, peace....LOVE.

Overheard in Jonathan's class:-

Teacher was giving math lesson to 3 of them. Kah Whye, Kelvin and Jonathan. she read a problem sum from a math workbook:

Tr: "Denise read 159 pages from a book and has another 189 pages left to read. How many pages are there in the book? i will write it on the whiteboard for you to read."

While writing, KW said: "Teacher, you didn't put 'The' infront."

Tr: "The?" Why do I need to write 'The'?"

KW: You said "The niece" what. So you must write T-H-E in front."
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On another occasion. All the kids were brushing their teeth after snack time. kelvin was sitting on a chair, with his mouth all puffed up. Looked as if he had his mouth stuffed with food. Teacher talked to him but he was unable to reply. She asked him what he was doing....Then, he started shaking his head left and right, to which some water came out of his mouth.

It dawned on us what he was doing.....he was rinsing his mouth....
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Jonathan was almost disciplined again for making too much noise in class. If he's able to vocalise words, he would probably be noted as a talkative boy....just like me...haha.

I enjoy them. They make me laugh alot. Sometimes I get really angry with Jonathan but most of the anger don't last long. Jonathan and his friend showed me more about love than anyone. They take care of Jonathan no ordinary child would. They are willing to wipe the saliva off his face and mouth when normal children cringe at the sight of it. I must admit I do too when I see other children drool. But not Jonathan's friends. They willingly push his wheelchair, even Muhd who helps me return the wheelchair to the locker room and says to me, almost everyday, "I'm very helpful what!" I agree. No one is more helpful that good young Muhd.

The kids are very open to me, sharing their experiences. They hug me, come close to me, yet they don't do that with the teacher...haha. They are a clever lot to know who is the authority. Me? I'm just someone who likes to play with them. I share their sadness, i share their pain, only to realise that they don't allow it to affect them too much. This includes Jonathan too. They know there's love everywhere, even if teacher is a very strict lady. She showers them with gifts whenever they do well, watch over them and try her best to help them achieve.

It's true, they bring laughter, joy, sadness and anger....all rolled into one. But the thick cover of LOVE over the big ball of expressions will allow them to move on in life. Better than anyone else....whether highly educated or just a simple primary school education.

The kids make a great impact. Not only on me, but to alot of people who are oblivious to this side of the world.

That's their way to show LOVE :)