My junior chefs

My junior chefs

28 Jan 2018 Sunday

Lucas 7.5 yo

Luis 5 yo

I want to capture this day before I forget it. 

So I was lying on my bed and it was around half past six. I was having a headache. The boys have woken up from their nap. Luis was playing in the living room and Lucas came in to lie down with me. I asked him if he was hungry, he said yes, I said what shall we eat and that I have a headache. I jokingly asked if he can make dinner. Then he said “Okay. Tell me one thing I can use.” I said “salad”, because thats what we have been eating for our Sunday dinners. And off he went. 

The following conversation took place:

Lucas (talking from the kitchen): Luis, I’m going to make dinner. Do you want to help me? I will cut the pomegranate and you can squeeze the orange juice (into the salad, like what he did last week).”

Luis: I’m still playing. 

Lucas: Ok you come when you are done, ok? But remember to wash your hands first because... (can’t hear the rest from the room).

I was a proud mama. Lucas is a caring boy who takes care of others. All those cooking sessions I did with them prepared them well to be independent. Of course there’s still a long way to go. 

Apart from Lucas, Luis is quite the chef too. That afternoon he made movie snacks for us. Yoghurt with frozen fruits. He was so professional, I was not allowed to add more yoghurt or do anything extra to what he was preparing. 

Starting their dinner preparation. Lucas loves pomegranate. 

The dinner. Luis loves sweet potato. He added the sweet potato left over from lunch, which he cut with his fork. 

Luis preparing our movie snack immediately after coming back from Tien Hsia, cutting banana with his fork. 

Our afternoon movie snack. By the way, we watched Monsters vs Aliens. 

Balestier road

One day our family was driving along Balestier Road and suddenly I felt a wave of sadness. It was really weird and I was wondering why. So I looked around and then I saw it. We passed by the animal hospital which we used to bring Bobby once every two days. 

How amazing, that my emotions were associated with Balestier Road at such a subconscious and deep level. It has been two years since Bobby passed away. Thinking back, those last few months of Bobby’s life were really tough. He had seizures and his subcut sessions were so painful that he sometimes howl. 

On one occasion, I brought Bobby to the Boon Lay Place vet for his subcut where he’s injected with liquid, somewhat like kidney dialysis. At the vet he had a seizure and the vet advised me to bring him to the animal hospital. I was alone and afraid he would have a seizure in the car so I requested for one of their nurses to follow me. That was the first time that we brought him to this animal hospital on Balestier Road. He had to stay there and I was crying buckets when the nurse at the reception desk asked what was the limit we want to incur if Bobby requires emergency treatment. I called my husband and he said we will pay whatever was required. What made it worse was that I had to fly to Europe for a business trip that night. At night we went to visit Bobby before I flew. Thereafter my husband visited Bobby the next two days and sent me updates of his recovery. 

That was one of the painfully memorable times. After that we often brought Bobby there for his subcut because they were fast, the nurses were helpful and they open 24 hours. Which was really important for us during that time partly because my mother was also hospitalised and my husband and I had to juggle so many things. 

When I had my realisation and I told my husband, he confided that he also thought of Bobby a while back and teared. Bobby was an important part of our lives. We adored him loads but guiltily less when the children came along. But he was always there and we see him in many of our photos and videos :)

You are the best, my dearest ‘mi mi’.