by Penny on September 30, 2010
Today marks a memorable day for Ryan and us. He attended his first day at a playschool today.
We have been looking around at several schools for him in preparation for next year. I asked around for recommendations and opinions on schools as well as doing some search on the internet to see what others have to say. I found several sites where some mummy bloggers have been extremely helpful by providing lots of information on various schools. I hope to do the same when I have more time on my hands, to write about what I think of the schools we visited and the fee structures.
When we visited the schools, what we typically did was to enter the offices to ask about the school system and fee structure. Some schools allowed us a tour around their premises, while some didn’t offer. For those that we didn’t feel we particularly liked, we didn’t even bother asking for a tour.
We visited 5 schools thus far, and still have some on the list that we didn’t visit just yet. But yes, you read the title right, Ryan is already attending one of the schools we visited. The reason is that it is the only one that allowed a child to join them anytime and not necessary to wait until the new term starts next year.
It is also very flexible in terms of how many days we would like to send him there a week, it doesn’t have to be the full 5 days from Mondays to Fridays. We like the flexibility of this system which essentially allows us to start Ryan off immediately to attend school. For us and also for Ryan’s sake, it is more of a trial so that we can gauge how he will do at school.
But more importantly, it is also a great way to gauge if Ryan likes this particular school. Incidentally, this school is the one we feel most comfortable with and we think Ryan feels the same. You see, for most of the places we visited, he would want one of us to hold his hand as we tour the schools. But at this school when we visited, he was comfortable enough to go ahead and join the other kids in their activities.
Ryan with his playmates on his first day at school
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by Penny on September 23, 2010
I know it’s believed that new mothers tend to suffer from hair loss after a few months from delivery. Something to do with the hormones working in the body, that’s what I hear. But is it common for mothers to lose hair long after that?
I noticed some time ago that I was dropping hair and it was rather scary. I didn’t see any professionals for help as I didn’t think it was a big problem. But I did ask some ladies at the hair salons for their opinion. No one knows for sure the cause of it though.
But for now it doesn’t matter, it’s just something I wonder if most mothers go through. Anyone care to share some thoughts?
By the way I’ve found a great shampoo and hair mask that does wonders for the poor condition of my hair and helped just a tad bit in the hair loss problem. You can read the post here if anyone wants to give it a try. Note I was using it for several issues including hair loss, and it is not to be confused with it being the best shampoo for thinning hair. I think it’s quite a different issue altogether about loss of and thinning hair.
by Penny on September 22, 2010
A few nights ago we brought Ryan to a small gathering to celebrate an early Mooncake Festival so that he can play lantern with some friends. He enjoyed himself a lot. He’s definitely a kid who enjoys being in a crowd.
After that last gathering and a few before that, he has started to enjoy being at parties and asked what’s next. Well, I guess the next one will be around Christmas time. But if we really wanted to have one sooner, we’ll have to see if any of our friends are gamed to dress up in Halloween costumes and come for a Halloween party.
Sounds really fun right? But for the kids’ sake, maybe we should set a rule to say no dressing up as scary characters. Hmm…I wonder where we can rent Mickey and Minnie Mouse costumes 
Ryan will truly have a great time to meet such characters!
by Penny on September 12, 2010
It just dawned on me that whilst Ryan hasn’t started school, we could take time off to travel and have a holiday anytime we wanted to. We don’t need to go according to any company schedules to take annual leave, and Ryan doesn’t need to skip any lessons to go for a holiday.
But all this will change when he starts schooling next year. Although it’s just nursery school, I got a feeling we will start joining the rest of the parents who would only plan holidays around the school holiday period. And therefore, we will soon join the crowd in having specific time to make our family vacation.
I kinda forgot about this when thinking of the “freedom” of time that we have since we left employment and be on our own. I forgot that we still have to go according to the school calendar. But I guess there are more time-off for school going children than there are for adults working for corporations right? So it’s still a winning edge, I would say.
Many of my friends have been amazed that I took such a big leap of faith to leave the world of employment so suddenly. Although some are keen to take the same path for the sake of their children or preparing for motherhood, they have yet to be able to find the courage to take the same leap and give up the security of a fixed income, social security benefits, and other miscellaneous benefits that a company typically offers to employees.
But I truly have no regrets as I lead a much better lifestyle now. Having some form of freedom of time is the most rewarding thing ever and to me, it is worth so much more than all the benefits I was given by a company who tied me down for time in exchange for service.
by Penny on September 4, 2010
No I’m not talking about my dressing nor how I feel. 
I’m just very excited right now, waiting anxiously to receive my brand new laptop some time next week. All the three laptops I’ve ever owned in my lifetime have been kinda boring ones with metallic colour covers. So this time when I have the chance to choose something a little more fun, I decided to go for a tomato red Dell.
I spent a couple of weeks deciding whether or not to get a new notebook. I knew exactly the brand I wanted so I didn’t look at any other except for the Dell models. I looked online and in shops and finally found that it’s still cheaper for me to order the laptop online. I even purchased an additional year of warranty as I think it’ll be quite worth it for just an additional of about RM120.
This is what I’m waiting for:
Can’t wait to get the new baby…does it make me a red hot mummy? Nah, I don’t think so but I just love how red it is!
