What is important, Mum?

Tonight I reached home around 9.30 - my earliest since the New Year.  I had my dinner and was just about "dumping" myself in my favourite corner of the sofa when Damia came "dumping" herself right next to me.

"Ibu, can you show me how to print? she started asking.
"I will but later, Darling." I responded.
"Ibu, is energy saving important?" she asked again.
"Yes, Darling, it is." Heaven knows where this is going to, I thought.
"Ibu, what else is important?"
Little that I know that I was going to be caught by a six going on seven-year-old.
"Being polite, being clean,...." I answered almost absent-mindedly. Then when she answered back, I was almost ashamed with myself, for she said,
"But Ibu, I thought Love is the most important thing of all."
And with that, I looked at her. With different eyes this time.
"Yes, Darling. You are right. Love is the most important thing."
"What if people have no love, Ibu?"

Now, it's time to think properly before giving an answer.

People with no love? Will they necessarily be cruel? Mean? Heartless? Will they search and search for love? Well, I seriously have no answer to that. At least not yet, not tonight. Maybe I can get away tonight for she was busy watching £1,000,000 Drop after receiving no response from me. But, I know I cannot get away for long.  Between tonight and tomorrow night, I will have to come out with an answer.  Till then... let me have my forty or a hundred twenty winks. For to be frank, I have yet any clue for the best answer. Moments later when I felt something warm resting on my shoulder, I can't do much but kiss her forehead and cheek and whispered in her ears that no matter what I will make sure that she will get the most important thing of all - all her life - LOVE.

The past two weeks were very tiring for me. On top of cooking, amahing & reading, I have to add tutoring my two elder children as well - normal day it involves only further explanation on the lessons for the day or just a certain topic but nearing exam week it is covering all the topics that they have covered which took a lot of my time. And worst still, my youngest just refused to deposit himself until 2.00 or 3.00 o'clock in the morning (yes, I'm talking about 2.00 a.m. & 3.00 a.m). And he wouldn't let me doze off either. He poked my eyes with his finger and asked me to listen to his version of Ultraman - as of todate, I have been introduced to a few species & hybrid of Ultraman - Taro, Dyna, Agul, Mebius, Cosmos, Zearth, Ace, Seven and Ultraman Brothers (I'm not sure if I have the right spelling but these are spelled according to my 3 year old pronunciations which can be different from time to time depending on his mood.) Imagine! Night after night of the Ultraman tales - I really feel like running away from home - I can't even sleep when I want to!

Now, my two elder children - Danish (the eldest - a Y5 student) and Hakim (the 2nd in Y3). It's a little easier on Hakim as he is always the more disciplined between the two. And he is better in his focus and concentration - so, not really a problem until he answered B. menambat to fill the blank in this sentence : Pn Wahidah menambat langsir di ruang tamu. But, at least that's reparable.

With Danish, it's a different story. I'm not sure whether I should cry, or strangle him or just wonder if there is anything wrong with his chromosome or whether his temperal lobe cortex is having problem connecting to his limbic system - sometimes I also wonder whether he is from another planet or whether I really have any biological connection with him...Ok! Ok! I may be too much! But, it is soooo... frustrating when he keeps on forgetting! He forgot to put the squared sign after finishing the problems on area, forgot to put the cubed sign after almost every problem on volume. And there are only numbers without the measurement unit required by the questions at every circumference problem. And worst still, sometimes he answered only half of the problem. And, it's up to me to pick and choose which is his answer and which his workings (hopefully you can see what I mean from the sample attached) - I'm going senile earlier than I thought.

Luckily I have a daughter. Since we bought her a set of water colour, she keeps on painting and painting and such, oblivious to her surrounding. I am so glad that she does not have to sit for any exam, at least yet. And how nice to get new paintings every day. As if she understood how stressed out I was, she brightened my day by giving me her "creation" like the two attached.

Being a stay-at-home Mum, I know that I have to arm myself with a lot of patience and TLC. For Danish & Hakim, after two weeks of "slave-driving" them, now what I can do is just pray that they will breeze through their exam. For Mia, we will be doing some craft work soon now that I have more time and for Aqil, I just hope that he'll start sleeping his normal time again - if not I really am going to pack my bag (:-D. - ohhh how sleepy & tired I am! Anyway, to all my children - Ibu loves all of you Oodles & Oodles & oodles & oodles......You are the Best Gifts I've ever had and with you, my Life is Blessed!