Thursday, August 23, 2018

"No Phone, Be There More."

This is my new... Well... You can say it's a motto or whatever. It's just something that I’m trying to tell/remind myself. Especially when I’m together with my loved ones, like families & friends who really matter to me. Why? Because lately I just don’t get it. You say you want to spend time with your families, your friends, or whoever it is, yet you’re busy with your cell phone. I’m not saying that I’m throwing my iPhone away or totally keeping it inside my bag like 100% whenever I'm spending time with someone. Because for those who know me well, I really like to take pictures. First of all I’m a photo hoarder & photos help me to remind things (another way to cheat :D). Especially moments that are to me personally are too precious to forget. BUT playing games or talking or chatting on the cell phone while you are actually WITH someone? I think it’s totally rude. Sadly it’s becoming a common sight though… Where everybody is busy with his/her phone instead of having a real conversation with the person next to him/her. A family gathering for example looks more like people being in a same room but don’t really care about each other's presence. 

A couple of days ago my aunty came to our house with her daughter & son in-law. I didn’t invite her. She was just passing by. I was surprised, in a good way of course. I was delighted that she made some time to visit me. But it didn’t take long for me to be disappointed or should I say…confused? Why? Well… Because almost the entire time she was here, my aunty was busy talking on her 2 cell phones on both ears. Yes. I say it again: 2 cell phones, 2 ears. Obviously she wasn’t talking to me, her niece who was sitting right in front of her. I did however had conversation with my cousin & her husband. But there were definitely lots of awkward moments. Such as silence or they were busy with themselves instead of talking to me. The person who they visited. I didn’t know what to do. So I started to walk around the house, playing with Moochi & I even went to my bedroom, closed the door & sat on my bed for awhile. When they said goodbye, I was actually relieved. 

Yes. I’m very much aware that my aunty or at least my cousin would read this posting. But I’m not worried. Am I sorry? No, I’m not sorry for writing this. Why should I? I'm not doing anything wrong. This is my way to tell everybody who wants to visit, meet or spend time with me that: if you DO want to meet me, then BE here with me. Spend time with me like... Oh I don't know! Just talk to me, tell me what’s going on in your life lately, where are you going to, what’s happening, what’s the latest movie you’ve watched, what are your plans, who is your latest crush, ANYTHING!!! JUST. TALK. Don’t come here or tell me that you want to see me but then your eyes are more fixated on your cell phone. Because if you do that, you’re wasting my time. 

Yesterday on Idul Adha day Hubster, Kukka & I went to Bogor to visit Mom & Dad. And alhamdulillah my big sister & her family were also there. It was such a great time. We had some coffee. We talked about the kids: Namira, Alyna & Kukka, who were also there & shared their stories. We had meals together. We talked about the past. We laughed, hugged & kissed. There was a moment when it made my eyes all teary. When we were all set to go home, I hugged & kissed my mom. Then she said “Sering-sering atuh ngumpul kaya gini… Kan seneng ngobrol, cerita-cerita. Mani rindu…” (More or less: “We should spend more time together like this. It’s fun to share stories. I miss it very much.”). I still shed some tears when our car was already far away from Mom’s house… Heck I'm crying right now as I'm typing this!!!

Anyways later on I tried really hard to remember everything & wrote the things that happened in my diary. It was really hard but I took it as a brain exercise. I must say I did pretty good :) Minutes later when I was reading my writing (I always do this because many times I write the same stuff over & over again.), something just hit me & I had to write it down: “No phone, be there more.” And I was like... Okay I have to blog about this & share it. Maybe it'll do something good. Maybe by reading this piece, you'd realize that you actually spend more time with your cell phone rather than with your kids, parents, other family members or friends in real life. Then that sad day will come, when you can't be with your loved ones anymore. Together. Ever again.

And then you'd finally fully aware that you certainly can't turn back the time.




Thursday, August 02, 2018

Just Another Chapter In Being Parents

Let me take a deeeeeeeep loooooong breath, iiiiiin & out...........................................................................................................

Okay. I'm ready. So here's the story. The last couple of weeks have been stressful & very tough for the three of us: Hubster, Kukka & I. Why? Well... Some of you who know us (quite well) must notice (by now) that we are the kind of family who like to do things... Differently and mostly without any planning in advance :)) The latest unplanned "thing" is about Kukka's education. Which iiiiiiiiis: to move Kukka to another school. Yes. You read that right. Kukka doesn't go to Sekolah Cikal Cilandak anymore. The school she had been going since she was in Kindergarten (Junior & Reception Year). Why so sudden??? Right when Year 5 just started & there's only 1 year left? Well... There are lots of reasons. 

But if you ask Hubster why, his answer is simple & consistent: SiBapa wants his beloved baby girl to be happy & have fun :) He wants Kukka to enjoy her childhood & do things that she loves. Of course without neglecting the Must-Study subjects like...math :p Yes, Kukka. You still have to STUDY FRACTIONS EVERYDAY! Me? I totally agree with my husband. So after a long & well-thought-out discussions, we started to look for schools especially that are closer to home. It was very difficult. Especially because lots of schools don't accept new student anymore since the new semester has began. Kukka already missed 1-2 weeks of studying. Also there are many schools which don't accept new kids anymore because they already reached their quota. Fortunately though there were schools that still have seats & are able to accept Kukka as their new student. BUT of course, nothing is THAT simple. Kukka had to take some tests: english, math & Bahasa Indonesia. .............. Yeah :D It was totally predictable in which subject Kukka received a low score. Yes. Bahasa Indonesia. :D It's funny to think that at first Hubster & I were more worried about Kukka's math. That's why Hubster gave her a private "intensive math course" at home with the motto:

(MATEMATIKA MATEMATIAN - MATH TO DEATH)

As you probably can predict from the picture above, there were tears but also laughters during this course. Kukka said her beloved Bapa is better in math & explaining things than me but he is very scary :)) Oh yes girl! I bet lots of people who knows your dad will totally agree with you :))) But everything paid off. Kukka's math is getting better. Thanks to her beloved SiBapa. Meanwhile I am in charge in teaching Kukka Bahasa Indonesia. This is not easy for me because I'm never good in teaching. Hell in some cases I'm not even good in explaining simple stuff!! :)) And since I got sick, there are 3 languages that mixed together in my brain: Bahasa Indonesia, english & german. Sometimes even sundanese!!!! Many times I have to struggle to stick to 1 language while talking to other people. It's easy when I speak in Bahasa Indonesia AND english because most of my family & friends speak english too. But not many of them speak german! So it's easier for me to chat through apps than to talk face-to-face because I have the chance to look up in the german-english dictionary first! :)))

Now back to Kukka! 

Alhamdulillah after Kukka went through observations & trials at potential schools & SiBubu spending lots of sleepless nights, finally on Friday, July 27th, I received a message that Kukka is accepted in Sekolah Alam Tangerang. For you who don't know & curious about SAT, just click on the link. The second we got the message, Hubster & I were sooooo relieved & obviously grateful. Because unlike Kukka, who btw IS THE ONE who DIDN'T HAVE any school at that time, was totally cool about it -_- She was just like "Yeay! I got in Sekolah Alam!" and then back doing her own thing. Kids nowadays. Unbelievable. Well... Kukka was actually more worried about my condition rather than hers. She was worried because I was very stressed out & many times she saw my hands shaking uncontrollably. I even had diarrhea for days!!! :))

Aaaaaaaaand of course not long after I received the news that Kukka is accepted in SAT, other schools sent me messages too. Guess what? Kukka is accepted. Yup. Life likes to have fun with your...life!!! :))) First you're sooo stressed out that your kid might not get accepted in ANY school. The next second you're confused about how to write a polite & friendly Thank-You-But-No-Thanks note to decline others. But thankfully the other schools were nice & understanding. Thank you very much :)

Now here we are... The Ica Lawendatus. Ready for a new adventure. Because in SAT apparently the parents are expected to be very involved. Once a month, on a Sunday, parents have to come to school to know how their kids are doing. No excuses. This is going to be very interesting. Right Bapa??? :)))

As to you, my precious Godsend, congratulations! Have fun in learning at your new school & be a good girl :*






-Kukka ready for her first day of school at SAT-