It's Friday already?

Time flies during the school holidays. I just realised I have not posted since Tuesday. My computer time has reduced this week in general with Caitlin at home. Today, she had a school friend over for a play date.

Her friend was to be here for three hours but just 20 minutes before her mum came to get her, I asked if they wanted dinner (it was almost dinner time)and she eagerly said 'yes'. So I served them dinner. They beat their own eggs for an omelette each and ate up the steamed fish, mushrooms and carrots (they avoided the celery!), egg and soup. Caitlin's friend is a good eater and asked for second helping of everything (except the omelette). I've yet to come across a child other than Caitlin who is a small and slow eater....

Her mum arrived while they were halfway through their meal and after they finished, the girl asked to play for a little longer. So I chatted with her mum. When they really had to leave, she refused. A few failed suggestions and persuasion later, we ended up agreeing to another play date tomorrow. And we're going swimming. She had actually asked to go swimming tonight....

They were quite manageable today except for the few little moments of wanting the same things, like the only pink rose on the cake at tea time, and the only pair of pink cutlery and a Disney Princess mug at dinner time (luckily I had two of the same Sesame Street dinner plates!). Then the opposite was also problematic. Caitlin wanted to read and did not want to play with her friend who wanted to play cooking, Caitlin played VSmile while her friend wanted her to play cooking again....

They also took turns to practise the piano for a while and did some art and craft.


It's going to be a longer play date tomorrow as her friend will be arriving first thing in the morning and leaving only after lunch. It looks like another long day for me tomorrow with probably zero computer time.

I sure hope Eugene will be able to stick around tomorrow. One adult with two water-loving girls at the pool sounds like a daring attempt.

Unethical credit card sales agents

As I was about to enter a hypermarket with Caitlin this morning, I was approached by a credit card direct sales agent. I've been approached by many such people before and I ALWAYS decline their invitation and temptation with all sorts of benefits (free for life, 3 years annual fee waiver, free supplementary card, etc etc).

Firstly, I don't need another credit card. Secondly, even if I entertain their pleas to help them achieve their sales target and get a free gift, I know my application will not be approved simply because I am a homemaker with no fixed income. Therefore, a waste of everyone's time.

Most of these people back down after I tell them I'm not interested or I don't qualify. But this morning, a young persuasive gentleman from ABC* Bank (*the initials are fictitious although it is a local bank with three alphabets for its name) approached me AND Caitlin with a nice remote control toy car asking me to help him meet his target and spend five minutes filling in an application form. At first, I declined but he was persuasive enough with his free gift toy car and his plea for help that I agreed. "Approved or not, it's ok, I just need the application form filled," he said. He was very friendly and even let Caitlin choose which car she wanted (they came in different colours and models).

He helped me fill in the necessary personal particulars and told me to sign on the dotted line. After that, he went back to a section which required my employer's details to which I told him I'm a housewife. He then proceeded to ask me if he could list me as 'self-employed' to which I said 'no'. Not giving up (I guess they are paid for every approved application), he suggested that I could still be 'self-employed' and assume I'm working part time!

Realising what he was up to, I took the pen from his hand (I felt some resistance initially) and wrote on the form myself 'housewife'. Immediately, his shoulders drooped and he said it couldn't work that way. So I told him that he was misleading me into lying/cheating and it was unethical for him to lure prospects the way he did. I had put my signature on a declaration that "I hereby confirm and declare that all information provided by me is complete, true and correct..." Imagine the consequences.

And in the event the bank had been duped so to speak to approve such an application, they would have acquired a customer that could probably be defaulting payments in time to come.

While the credit card industry is very competitive, banks or card companies should ensure that their sales agents are properly trained to handle prospects and be brainwashed with proper ethics and the do's and don'ts of their job scope. It is sales agents like these and people who are easily persuaded, not aware of what they are subjecting themselves to, that are contributing to problems in the financial services industry and the economy as a whole.

Training is a very important aspect that many organisations overlook. It is not merely equipping staff with the necessary product knowledge or technical procedures but encompasses other 'soft skills' such as ethics, proper customer service management, image, etc etc.

Oh, and he returned the application form to me and I took the car from Caitlin to give it back to him. As we walked into the hypermarket, I explained to Caitlin why we had to return the toy car. She already knows the no-telling-lies rule so she understood, and in a very serious and earnest tone, asked me to teach it to that guy.

Abandoned

If a woman's pregnancy is unwanted, they should not dump their baby like a piece of dirty tissue. There are so many couples who are childless and would give anything to have a baby. Why can't these women give their child up for adoption instead? Maybe they are too embarrassed or ashamed that their child is conceived out of wedlock?

Even animals don't abandon their offspring.

Here's yet another case which just happened in the southern part of this country in a town called Batu Pahat, reported by local daily The Star:

Businessman gets baby in return for free ride

BATU PAHAT: A good Samaritan who gave a lift to a woman was shocked to find a baby abandoned in his car after dropping her off at the bus terminal.

Batu Pahat OCPD Asst Comm Ibrahim Aris said the businessman in his 30s was driving past a hypermarket on Sunday at about 8.30pm when the woman stopped him and asked for a lift.

“The woman, in her 20s, was not carrying anything except the baby in her arms,” he said, adding that woman got off from the back seat of the car on reaching the terminal.

ACP Ibrahim said the businessman realised something amiss five minutes later when he heard the baby cry on reaching Sri Gading.

He lodged a police report when he could not locate the woman after a search at the bus terminal.

He urged those with information to contact the police hotline at 07-2212-999.

Louis Armstrong

Get ready to watch lots of YouTube here.

Louis Armstrong is probably best known for his "What a wonderful world" in his deep, throaty bass. However, his fans would also be very familiar with his other songs and his trumpeting. But what I enjoy most is when he teams up with the other stars of his time like Dizzy Gillespie, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra to produce such enjoyable, swinging, jazzy, bluesy, romantic and soulful sounds.

Found this on YouTube and it makes me want to watch Casablanca again. I wonder if I can still find the CD somewhere around the house....


And here's one for the road... La Vie En Rose, the signature song of French singer Edith Piaf.


For a more current version of "Life through rose-coloured glasses", check out Celine Dion's version here.

School break

picture from bigfoto.com

The two-week mid-term school break starts tomorrow. This means I'll have Caitlin with me 24/7 for two weeks and I will not have the mornings to myself. However, her mandarin and music lessons are still on so it means I'll still have some sending and fetching to do.

In the past, I used to plan and make sure I have some enrichment activities lined up for her to make sure her time at home is well-spent. This time around, I have not and am tempted to just leave her to her own devices! I'm too lazy and tired but who knows, maybe I'd feel guilty and whip up some activities on the fly...

I think modern parents take parenting too seriously at times. The competitive spirit starts from as early as when the kids are in preschool. Parents send their kids to all sorts of enrichment activities to boost their knowledge and abilities, leaving the kids little time for free play. And if they don't, they constantly feel the pressure to do so, fearing that their kids may not be at par with others. The cycle is vicious.

It's great if you can afford it as these enrichment classes are not cheap at all. You can leave the tutoring of your children in others' hands and not face the challenge of having to teach them yourself. Kids tend to listen to people other than their parents more easily it appears. However, if you can't afford it or if paying others to teach your children is not feasible somehow, then you'll just have to be content with whatever you think you can do best i.e. teach them yourself, limit the number of activities or not provide them with such activities at all.

Parents who homeschool their kids are really brave. I admire their courage to take the plunge and educate their children themselves so to speak.