During the last 10 days when she wasn't around, it was like honeymoon period for her two daughters as well as the maid. Even though the grandma was here (and still here), it didn't really have much effect on the kids.
The landlady is just like any other parents nowadays. She sent her kids to tuition and wanted them to study all the time. This new maid, unlike the previous one, did not really monitor and teach the kids on their homework as frequently as the landlady wants. During the last week, the two kids spent most time playing and watching TV, which is something the landlady will not allowed when she's around.
Talking about the kids, sometimes i really feel that the elder one is spoilt. She would order the maid to do things for her in a commanding tone -- "Get water for me!", "I want Maggie Mee!", "More water!"... And guess where she picked this up? Uh huh, from the adults of course.
As for the little one, she is still cute. But as she gets more acquaintance with me, she would come into my room every evening. Even when i closed my door, she would knock and waited outside. If i do not answer, she would knock again and keep waiting. Then once i opened the door, she would just come in and then ask me, "what are you doing?"
Sigh, yeah, she's a cute pretty little girl whom everyone would just like so much. I do like her too, but then i do not like to be disturbed sometimes, especially after a long day of work and i'm in such lousy mood.
Anyway, i guess i gotta look at it differently. I should probably enjoy her innocent company. I mean, after all, she is really adorable. Yet, i'm never good with kids really. I do not know what to say to them at all.
Just the other day, the two of them saw a letter from the World Vision on my desk and with the picture of my sponsored kid. They then started asking me questions. I explained to them the idea behind the sponsorship and how the money could help the poor kids at other countries. I told them the importance of providing education to the poor kids so that they could be equipped with the education to feed themselves -- basically, the idea of "give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime".
I then showed them what my sponsored kid wrote, whereby he said he hoped to get a story book as present for next year (and i was cracking my head as to what book to get him because he's from Mongolia and i doubt he knows English). I then told the two kids that these children are so poor that they couldn't even afford story books and toys. I wanted to make them understand how fortunate they are to be in SG and they should treasure and appreciate what they have, which of course wasn't really going well at all. I mean, after all, one is a primary 3 spoilt girl, and the other is just a little girl still going to kindergarten.
The funniest part was that the elder one then asked me if my sponsored kid has a TV. I told her of course not. She then said to me why not send him a TV instead of a story book. I then tried in vain to explain to her that TV is actually a luxury and not necessity, which ended up with the two of them giving me the clueless looks.
So you see, i would talk to little kids like adults, and i'd tell them these dry things instead of playing with them. Really, i do not know how to handle kids at all.
Seriously, i may move somewhere else next year if i can get a better place. I'd have to clean up my own room and toilet if i move, but then at least i can get some peace and quiet after work. There's always trade-off and we can't have it all.
Labels: life
