Syawal is in a few days time and I'm very sure that some of you are busy making and preparing kuih, or rushing to buy your Aidilfitri outfit too.  Well, I have settled mine months ago except Juan have not found his baju Melayu yet. 

For this year, I have prepared myself a maxi dress and as usual from Poplook. It's never easy to find clothes with my size, petite. Let alone shoes *I wear size 3*. For shoes, I shop at the kid section *kid you not*. To avoid embarrassment, I normally asked Juan to ask the shopkeeper what's their smallest shoe size. It's easier if I were to shop in Vincci, I'll just get the staff to hand me any size 3 shoes or sandal, lay them in a line in front of me, then from there I choose the ones that I like most *fefeeling chauffeur gitu kan* I think because of my petite size, people hardly take me seriously *sigh*

Syawal preparation are as usual *not that I started baking*. The first Raya morning will be at the in-laws, then we'll be leaving to my hometown the same afternoon. Traffic will not be as bad as the night before *you'll cling to your steering wheel and cry*. I bet that happen all over Malaysia as everyone are rushing back to their hometown.

That WAS the initially plan. But changes has to be made. Working with others is not the same like having your own company. It's not that flexible. A colleague of mine had asked me to cover the 1st Raya as she and her husband with their kid will be spending the Raya holiday in KL. She's a non-Muslim and I will not reveal her race *don't want this to be a controversial thing*.

Ok, I'm trying to keep my cool here. I'm not trying to rant but I was REALLY looking forward to spend the holiday with my parents. I rarely have 4 days of holiday and I rarely take the time off from work. So I'd thought that I could take the Raya holiday as opportunity to spend my time with both parents. So when I knew I had to come back to the office on first day of raya, what do you think?

I keep my mind on the positive side. Taking my father's word 'You do good, you get good things'. So that was the first news I receive pre-Aidilfitri :-(

Wearing Kipling sling bag, By Alexa Blue printed cotton shawl (coming soon)

We have so many myths that we Malaysians know are untrue.

For example, if you were to sing and cook in the kitchen at the same time, you will end up marrying late or marry off with an old man. Correct me if I'm wrong.

But....

It's not applicable when it comes to changing your telco. Moving from one telco to another is not hard as how it was last time. Now it's only 1,2,3,4. #confirmsure can punya. Easy right. Plus, U Mobile also provide free call to all U Mobile numbers. The starter pack starts at only RM8. Call rate is only 10 sen flat.

As for the internet plan, U Mobile is offering rate for as low as RM40 per month! *faint*.

Visit U Mobile to find our more on their latest news and promotions.

Being at home full time with the kids means you gotta divide your time between cooking, feeding the kids, laundry, planning for tomorrow's menu and whatever that needs to be done. I'd say that SAHM is all in one job. From planning the parts, to marketing to accounting to buyer and planner, to manager, to makcik cleaner, to baby sitter to driver to chef. The end product is a squeaky clean house, food on the table. Pheeww. I have a full time job 8 to 5, but when I get home, the 'housewife' mode is switch on. I get the laundry done, it's either me or Juan does the cooking and washing the dishes, get the toilet clean, sweep and mop the floor. During the weekend, I do spring cleaning. But now I do the laundry twice a week, unlike previously, I do it on a daily basis because I can't stand having laundries pile up. There is no way I can be a perfect housewife where I can get everything done perfectly at the same time, having to manage my workload from the office.

All this is done without any children or baby with me. Imagine adding a baby into my daily chores. Me.cannot.imagine.

*On another side, I broke my mop wood into 2 like 3 times within 7 months span* My mum said it's either I chew on the wood or I had superwoman power. I rather take the 2nd one:-)

It's never what you have but who you have in your life that matters. As long as the Almighty is your centre of focus, success will follow.

~Mufti Ismail Menk

So I went for my facial session after soooo long. Seriously, like wayyy too long. This time, it doesn't require any help from Groupon . I'm a total cheap skate when it comes to this. It was a dermatologist that I bumped to when me and Juan were on our way to tapau our sahur.

I walked in and was surprised with the price. It was reasonable. There were many types of facial but I chose the basic facial. Wanted to give it a try first before I become their regular customer. What I like first about this place is that it is located nearby to my place. So I don't have to drive way into town just to get my Groupon facial. By the time I reach my facial center in town, I would have thousands of wrinkles on my face due to STRESS. Living in the city is a total STRESS.

The session lasted for a good 2 hours. My face looked much better compared to before I had the facial. All my whitehead and blackhead were removed. I'm one satisfied customer. However, there was one part which I don't quite like in every facial session I attend. The 'promo' session where they'll bring you to a room. Asking how was it, evaluating and explaining about your skin condition and bla,bla, bla. So how do you avoid that?

I hardly say No to people because I will feel bad saying the big N-O in front of their face. I will usually say 'I'll think about it first'. But in this case, I used Juan as a shield. Hahaha. Ok not funny. I said 'Can I discuss with my husband first?'. In this situation, asking Juan means 'No, I'm not interested' but in a nicer way.

So, if you were in my shoes, do you say the No at that moment or you use the same excuse as mine?

I know that having kids are a lifetime commitment. You cannot give up half way through the process. It's like once you're in it, you're in it for life women!. 

Kids are a gift from God. A little human that is very fragile to almost everything. As parents, we're responsible in keeping them safe make sure that we have provide everything possible for them. The best I can say.

I do not have kid of my own but I had the experience of taking care of my sister. Our age gap was 10 at that time so I had the first hand on how it was like. 

As parents, we're afraid of many things. Things that might harm the children or perhaps the uncertainty of what lies in the decision we make for or on behalf of them. I get it cause I saw it in my parents. Fearing of what the society can change their kid into especially social illness.

Well, growing up process takes a lot of experience and patience. Along the process we make mistakes and through these mistakes, we learnt our lesson. It takes a whole lot of patience on the parents side and it can be frustrating at times. It's like you have failed in playing your role as parents in shaping your children to b a better person. As parents, there are a certain limit or level that we can control, the rest of the element comes from the outside. Friends and environment. Small children also observe and then pick up habits that they see from adults. So it is important in making sure that you show good example and walk the talk. 

Kids nowadays are good in reasoning and negotiating, which I think a good thing cause this is part of the creative and critical thinking process BUT up to a certain level.

Setting a good example to your children at a young age is really important. From saying 'thank you' to teaching basic survival skills. Everything has basic rules. That rule has to be a strong foundation, then only your children will not stray from the right path. Even that doesn't guarantee. 

At times, you need to give your children the power in making their own decision but within your guidance. Assist them if you think their decision might have negative impact on them. Don't let your fears rub off to your kids. You need to find common ground with your children or compromise with them. Modern parenting is not about listening to one party like how it used to be in the old days. Modern parenting is about reasoning, explaining, finding common thing, compromising, walking the talk, making decision TOGETHER.

If you think parenting is all about giving a beating of their life, shouting at them, scolding them or ignoring them, then you're wrong. This may cause you to grow apart and in the long run, your children may not respect or see you as their role model.

You can browse FRISO Gold on how to turn a No to Yes, how to find common ground with your children, how to not let your fears affect your children and what compromise is all about, you can view their YouTube story here.

Tell me that you can't resist the new collection from the collaboration of Hana Tajima and UNIQLO.

I.just.can't.resist *pulling husband's hand to Unqilo now*.

You know that Juan will ignore me when I ask when can we shop there. His justifications are 'Do you need it?' or 'You have so many clothes already'. Hello, women will always complain that their wardrobe is not fill with enough clothes. Just try to accept the fact.

My favorite will be this one. The WOMEN Rayon Drape Long Dress

Photo courtesy of Uniqlo