Obviously I have time on my hands! Well, it's the holidays. During the school term, I'm out of the house by 6.25am and back at 3pm and really don't feel like doing much work after that. Much less typing or thinking...I spend most of the days facing the written words either on the whiteboard or in students' books or in lesson plans... so come 3pm, enough is enough.
Well, obviously this chapter is about my second born. If he ever reads this, Zaim, please don't think you're all that special just because you're my only son, ya? Hahaha! This has reminded me of a question he asked a few months back. He said, 'Mum, who's your favourite of us 4?' When I said 'no one!', he didn't quite believe me. But that's God's honest truth! I'm sure there are mums out there who favour one child to the other, but I honestly don't! They are different people in more ways than just their physical looks (though many people would attest that we are all clones!) so, how can I favour one to the next?
Anyway, back to Zaim. Oh gosh! The stories I have about this one! Hmmm. First let me say that my other half really wanted a boy after Nadia. Like really, really! I was fine if I had another girl coz I thought a boy would be harder to care for (as in super hyper active as opposed to Nadia who was 'fragile' and clingy (oklah, manja) etc). When I told Mr. Z that I was having a boy, he grinned from ear to ear all the way back home from the check-up. So excited he was, that he insisted he named the baby.
As a baby and toddler, Zaim was a guzzler! He'd drink his bottled milk then toss it away and ask for another before you even turned your back! And true to my prediction, this boy was the definition of super hyper active (you wouldn't think that seeing him lie in bed all day long these days!). Anyway, he'd just be full steam ahead all day long and the moment he lay down at the end of the day, he'd doze off in seconds!
Typical of a mischievous brother, he was almost always the cause behind someone crying. We have a few video recordings of the kids when they were younger and you can always hear either the father or me saying, 'ZAIM!' in the background telling him off for something or other! Haih!
Zaim likes to read. Not !! And that was one of my biggest problems with him at school. So different from Nadia, this boy, and I was always at my wit's end. But in saying that, he would continuously surprise us with his results. We realised that Zaim was not quite academically inclined not because he wasn't smart enough but rather the education system wasn't working for him. From as long as I can remember, he'd always been a curious boy. He'd ask me questions non-stop that he often drove me up the wall ! It was always 'Why?' or 'How?' or 'What?' and as much as I tried to give him answers, many a times I'd just say, 'Enough!' 'Stop asking!' 'Errr, shut up'.
-So much for learning child psychology at university. Lol.
His lack of passion for reading (hahaha) worried me a teensy weensy every time he faced an exam to the extent that I would beg him to write an essay for me to mark.
Nope. He never once did.
I wasn't too worried I suppose, as he spoke (and still does) well and in fact if you asked Zaim a question in Malay, he would almost always reply in English. I must say I owe Mr. Yu BIG time for helping Zaim with his BM because he was painfully atrocious at BM !
Luck was definitely on his side for his SPM English paper. When I picked him up from school, he confidently told me that he had aced his paper and when I didn't show much confidence, he said, 'Don't worry, I had ALL the facts coz I watched a documentary on Tiger Woods LAST night so I wrote everything about him!' Phew! Thank you Astro.
Well, that's Zaim!
Along with his curiosity for EVERYTHING, comes his wit and he is one very witty boy (I'll always think of you as a boy however old you are). Until today, even when surrounded by his younger cousins, you can bet the reason behind everyone roaring with laughter is something Zaim has said!
He would always make me laugh out loud over the smallest things and his ridiculous jokes.
I have told this next little anecdote about him to a few people because it's something I'll never forget. Well, he was young then, maybe 5/6 years old, and we were all in the car. Of course as I was driving, he asked me all sorts of questions and what with the traffic jam and everyone feeling hungry and complaining all at the same time,naturally I got a little irritated. So after several times of him asking me something irrelevant, I just said, ''The next person to call out 'Mama' has to pay me 50 sen!''
Several times after that he 'almost' called out for me but stopped JUST in time.
After a few minutes however, he tapped on my shoulder and said, 'Excuse me, may I call you Liza?' !!!!!
I swear I almost swerved when I heard that as I burst out laughing! Well, that's Zaim!
There are more stories, lots more and I'll probably add on to this entry as and when, but for now, I would just like to say that Allah has given me a beautiful son in you, Zaim. For that and much more, I'm eternally grateful to Him. I can just feel it in my bones that you will have a bright future ahead and I'll be proud of you no matter what.
Anyway, back to Zaim. Oh gosh! The stories I have about this one! Hmmm. First let me say that my other half really wanted a boy after Nadia. Like really, really! I was fine if I had another girl coz I thought a boy would be harder to care for (as in super hyper active as opposed to Nadia who was 'fragile' and clingy (oklah, manja) etc). When I told Mr. Z that I was having a boy, he grinned from ear to ear all the way back home from the check-up. So excited he was, that he insisted he named the baby.
As a baby and toddler, Zaim was a guzzler! He'd drink his bottled milk then toss it away and ask for another before you even turned your back! And true to my prediction, this boy was the definition of super hyper active (you wouldn't think that seeing him lie in bed all day long these days!). Anyway, he'd just be full steam ahead all day long and the moment he lay down at the end of the day, he'd doze off in seconds!
Typical of a mischievous brother, he was almost always the cause behind someone crying. We have a few video recordings of the kids when they were younger and you can always hear either the father or me saying, 'ZAIM!' in the background telling him off for something or other! Haih!
Zaim likes to read. Not !! And that was one of my biggest problems with him at school. So different from Nadia, this boy, and I was always at my wit's end. But in saying that, he would continuously surprise us with his results. We realised that Zaim was not quite academically inclined not because he wasn't smart enough but rather the education system wasn't working for him. From as long as I can remember, he'd always been a curious boy. He'd ask me questions non-stop that he often drove me up the wall ! It was always 'Why?' or 'How?' or 'What?' and as much as I tried to give him answers, many a times I'd just say, 'Enough!' 'Stop asking!' 'Errr, shut up'.
-So much for learning child psychology at university. Lol.
His lack of passion for reading (hahaha) worried me a teensy weensy every time he faced an exam to the extent that I would beg him to write an essay for me to mark.
Nope. He never once did.
I wasn't too worried I suppose, as he spoke (and still does) well and in fact if you asked Zaim a question in Malay, he would almost always reply in English. I must say I owe Mr. Yu BIG time for helping Zaim with his BM because he was painfully atrocious at BM !
Luck was definitely on his side for his SPM English paper. When I picked him up from school, he confidently told me that he had aced his paper and when I didn't show much confidence, he said, 'Don't worry, I had ALL the facts coz I watched a documentary on Tiger Woods LAST night so I wrote everything about him!' Phew! Thank you Astro.
Well, that's Zaim!
Along with his curiosity for EVERYTHING, comes his wit and he is one very witty boy (I'll always think of you as a boy however old you are). Until today, even when surrounded by his younger cousins, you can bet the reason behind everyone roaring with laughter is something Zaim has said!
He would always make me laugh out loud over the smallest things and his ridiculous jokes.
I have told this next little anecdote about him to a few people because it's something I'll never forget. Well, he was young then, maybe 5/6 years old, and we were all in the car. Of course as I was driving, he asked me all sorts of questions and what with the traffic jam and everyone feeling hungry and complaining all at the same time,naturally I got a little irritated. So after several times of him asking me something irrelevant, I just said, ''The next person to call out 'Mama' has to pay me 50 sen!''
Several times after that he 'almost' called out for me but stopped JUST in time.
After a few minutes however, he tapped on my shoulder and said, 'Excuse me, may I call you Liza?' !!!!!
I swear I almost swerved when I heard that as I burst out laughing! Well, that's Zaim!
There are more stories, lots more and I'll probably add on to this entry as and when, but for now, I would just like to say that Allah has given me a beautiful son in you, Zaim. For that and much more, I'm eternally grateful to Him. I can just feel it in my bones that you will have a bright future ahead and I'll be proud of you no matter what.
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