Away From Our Children

My hubby had to go to Minneapolis one week before the September school holidays for a conference. I joined him one week after which coincided with the September holiday. School ended on Friday and I flew off on Saturday morning, 4 September. We came back Singapore on 12 September, so that gave us 7 days in San Francisco (plus 2 days in the plane). It's a good break for us at the right time.

The children stayed over in their grandparents' place and they were happy about it because it was like a sleep over party. At night, Phoebe wanted to sleep with her grandparents on the king-sized bed while Reuben prefered to sleep with Auntie Nia in the living room. Only Phoebe asked for me but there was no whining or crying. Reuben was too young to be able to tell the difference between day and night :) We spoke to Phoebe on the phone once (4 Sept US time and 5 Sept Singapore time) and that was it. That short 7 minute talk actually cost S$27.40 which I didn't realise until this week when I received my handphone bill. But I guess it was alright :)

Throughout that whole week, I tried to give Phoebe 2 pages of written work to do each day, just to keep her occupied. There was a variety - Chinese, English and Mathematics. Her gong-gong sat with her just to make sure that she did her work even though there was some coercion, persuasion and coaxing each day. I think Phoebe still needs to instill that discipline in her, despite the fact that I do give her a short piece of work to do daily on weekdays.

It was my third time in San Francisco. We did some sightseeing and of course, bought lots of stuff for the children, parents and ourselves. Even though the children were not with us, we never fail to talk about them all the time and shop for them. I've also bought some Coach bags for sale, not so much to make money, but mainly just for fun. We also met up with my gu-ma, cousin and her family who live in San Francisco. We have not seen them for a few days, so it was a good gathering. Coincidently, it was also US's labour day, hence they were able to show us around and we had quite good discounts.

We reached Singapore at about 1+ a.m. in the morning of 12 September. We were pleasantly surprise to see two drawings on our pillows, done by Phoebe and Reuben. Apparently, my parents took them all over to clean up the place 2 days before we came back. How thoughtful of them! :)




I was very happy and missed them so much. In the morning at around 9+ a.m., we immediately went to fetch them, despite having only 3+ hours of sleep. I unpacked the luggage till 6 a.m. in the morning.

So this is our first time away from our children. We did enjoy ourselves very much without them. But there were many times I wish that they were also with me to share the beautiful scenery and fun experience. I will definitely take them to US or anywhere else for holiday, but not when they're older because I think it is torturing to make them endure the 19 hours of flight. In the meantime, we'll just go to the neighbouring places for short trips.

I'm very thankful for my parents. It's because of their joint efforts in looking after the children so well, that we can have the peace in mind to go for our trip. I'm also thankful for Auntie Nia for helping out in the household and tending to the children well. Of couse, I must thank my hubby for my air tickets to US and the acommodation that he has paid for. Most importantly, we also thank God for making all these happened and His wonderful timing.