Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Counting Sheep

I colored all my sheep with all colors I had in mind and decided that pink was the best color a sheep could look good in. It reminded me of cotton candy with four legs... The fluffy pinks melted in your mouth... aaahh...pure heaven.....

Eh, what am I babbling about?

I counted sooo many sheep last night that I’m still seeing them in front of me as I’m typing this. My head is spinning, my eyelids heavy and my mouth yawning 60 times in a minute. Thanks to my mistake in taking the wrong supplements at night – I was wide awake last night until 4:00am!

Since I forgot to take my supplements for the first day of puasa, I kept reminding myself to do it right for the second day. Last night, in haste, instead of taking my Glucosamine+Chondroitin, I took Surbex Zinc - a high potency B complex – that according to Abbott is to help increase your energy levels and improves your stamina! There I was – in the darkness of my bedroom, counting sheep like there was no tomorrow!

But you know what, while counting and coloring sheep and reciting some surahs, I could hear the breathings of my loved ones in the room with me. How those sounds brought tears to my eyes... and how grateful I was that they were alive and healthy despite those ‘noisy’ sounds they made.

I was also grateful for my children still want to sleep with me. Only Haziq sleeps in his room... the five girls are all my sleepingmates!! They each have their own room but when it comes to sleeping at night, they like to sleep with us.

Whatever people may say, I believe that as long as your children want to sleep with you, let them be. Once they grow older, they’ll slumber out in their own rooms. I just want to cherish the time while we still have it.

What about the parent’s privacy? Well, there are empty rooms to count sheep in :)

30 comments:

Ibunim said...

I'm sooo undicipline when it comes to taking vitamins..Even now, I need to take calcium pun, always lupa..

Syaliza Abdul Rahman said...

that's sooooo sweet! i wish i had my own kids wanting to sleep with me ...snuggling up to get warm hehehehe

kak ja, i hope you don't take the wrong supplements tonight :o)

take care & sleep well.

Waterlily said...

Errr...parents privacy? Dont worry.."di mana ada kemahuan, di situ ada jalan".hehehe.

Btw, I'm taking Vitamin E, Healin Gamogen and honey as supplement. Hope all goes well with you tonite, jangan tersalah ambik supplement lagi...

Cheers!

Chahya said...

It's true kak, cherish while they still cling to sleeping beside us. Sleeping with children and having their arms wrapped around me gives me peace.
Salam Ramadhan and selamat berpuasa to u and family.

NURAZZAH8 said...

Ja.... kenapa you ambik Glucosamine+Chondroitin? Alahai...che Uda pun sepatutnya kena ambik tu juga... lutut ni dah buat mcm2 bunyi bila turun naik tangga... sbb tu kat rumah skrg kalau dah naik atas tu, alamat tak turun2, kalau kat bawah...buat semua kerja baru naik atas.... kalau ada barang nak ambik...pakat teriak kat anak2 suruh depa ambik mai turun ... hehehe...

hurm...I'm writing this comment at 2:30am... sbb tadi rasa nak buat kerja sikit, so pi bancuh kopi pekat satu mug! apalagi... ni mata masih keras tak mahu tido lagi...

hurm... rasanya eloklah jap lagi gi buat solat sunat tahajjud ka, lagi bagus kan....di bulan posa ni...

Lee said...

Ibu, berapa besar your bed? Enam orang tidur? Ha ha.
Malam ta'orang 'bedeboooob; on the floor, ha ha.
Lain kali ta boleh tidur minum susu or cocoa? Milo?
Or tengok late night TV, ha ha.
Hope your now tidur lelap, ada bunyi bulldozer? Ha ha Lee.

Anonymous said...

Ja,
talking abt supplements, everytime I tgk ad kat tv on Gamogen Healin, I selalu terasa mcm tgk you, 30 yrs in future punya version. Ala, tok yg cun dan gagah tu. Macam muka you, pa?...
Mana komen I hantar smlm ya? kena buang ka, tak timbul ka? (garu kepala..)
Selamat berpuasa Ja!

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Kak Anim dear,
I've been taking the vitamins religiously after I got the 4 big candles on my cake..hehe.. Before that I only took jamu. Reason: malasnya nak telan all those pills!

I think you should take glucosamine & condroitin tu coz it helps abang when the lutut bothered him last 2 weeks.

Calcium.. ayoyo.. that's a MUST for you dear... especially when you had hyperthyroid. Nak suruh Ja call everyday to remind you? (Tengah cekak pinggang ni...hehe..)

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Syana,
Hehe.. ramai-ramai tido macam-macam bunyi ada...

Wait till you have kids nanti boleh they snuggle up to you (ke the other way around?)

Anyway, I know that the master bedroom is actually a no-no to the children. There are a few friends of mine who don't allow their children even to enter the masterbedroom.

Memang betul tu what they did, masterbedroom is a sacred place for the parents, cuma I want to waive that for now. Children - they grow soo fast. Pejam-celik nanti tengok-tengok dah anak2 dara semua dah. Ajak keluar pun tak nak. Kalau macam Kak Ja 13yo dah ke boarding school, then ke US, balik kawin, dah tak boleh dok bawah ketiak Mak dah ...

You take care too dear!

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Hi Waterlily,
Betul tu...hihihi...

I memang teringin nak try Healin Gamogen tu. My neighbor ada makan, now rambut dia dah tak gugur. And honey is great too.

I dari dulu dok makan jamu Nona Roguy(for the postnatal one). Tapi lately ni malas pulak nak telan... Currently, I'm on Seresis, Flaxseed, Calcium, Surbex & recently Glucosamine+Condroitin tu.

Sometimes it dawned on me - kena ke take these supplements? Takut they do more harm than good...

Hmmhh...

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Hi Chahya,
Yes, time will come when they refuse to do the 'socializing' within the family. This I know from some friends who've been there. Ajak shopping untuk barang sendiri pun tak nak.

I know that time will come... alamak risaunya... I just hope that it won't be that severe...

Right now, as long as they want to be with us, let them be kan?

TQ Chahya, Selamat Berpuasa to you and your family too :)

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Che Uda,
Sunat tahajjud... I should have done that especially now it's Ramadhan & bila mata tak boleh pejam macam malam tu...

Actually, one of the paediatricians kat SJMC yg suggested suruh Ja amik Glucosamine+Condroitin tu. Terjumpa dia masa tunggu nak jumpa doktor mata kat SJMC (doctor pun sakit jugakkan...) So she went on telling me what we should take especially dah 40s ni.

G+C tu according to her actually for prevention and 'cure' utk org yg dah ada tulang bunyi-bunyi tu... I realized that my left lutut dah berbunyi. That was one of the signs of Osteoporosis in the making..tu yg kelamkabut cari kat farmasi tu..hehehe...

Selamat berpuasa to you & your family Che Uda!

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Hi Uncle Lee,
Hehehe... so far belum lagi yang 'bedeboooob'!

I'm teh Queen to susun things, so here goes - The kingsize bed only for 2.. the rest lagi 5 ppl all sleep on the mattresses all around the bed lah..

Luckily the kids don't snore.. my 6yo likes to grind her teeth in her sleep. So I gotta get up and squeeze her jaw to stop the grinding. But to no avail. Kids - even in their sleep we can't make them do what we want...

I sleep well now. No more taking the supplements in haste...

You take care Uncle Lee :)

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Hi Yus,
I lupa pulak lagu mana rupa Tok kat ad tu...takpa, kalau ada nanti I compare hehehe..

Laaa tak dak pun comment Yus? Tak masuk kot... sebab comments kat blog ni terus save saja without waiting for my approval. I dah penah kena kat blog lain, masa Streamyx tengah gelong, my comment tak masuk. You have to wait sampai dia keluar "Your comment has been saved" or s'thing like that, then baru comfirm yg your comment dah saved.

Anyway Yus, how's your berbukak puasa with the kids? Teh balik every weekend ka masa posa ni?

I hope we could meet during the Raya hols. My mom buat open house selalu 3rd raya kalau tak silap. Mai lah na?

Oh, Selamat berpuasa to you & your family... makan banyak sikit tau, cemuru I tengok you dok slimmm lagu tu... :)

wanshana said...

Salams Ja,

I hope dah selamat qadha' tido by now :)

The only thing that pernah did that to me was Nutrilite Siberian Ginseng + Ginkgo Biloba. Terkebil-kebil sampai subuh!

Selamat Berbuka!

Salt N Turmeric said...

Pink sheep ye Kak Ja. Comel gak tu. muahaha!

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Shana,
So penah jadi kat you jugakla..hihihi..

I dah qadho dah tido...

Selamat Berbuka to you too :)

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Hi Farina,
Mengarut betul Kak Ja kan.. tu lah, bila dah tak boleh tido, boleh imagine macam-macam....

Anonymous said...

Ja,
Teh balik sekali atau 2 kali sebulan je. so semenjak puasa ni,baru sekali tu pun sebab ada cuti hari kebangsaan hari tu, lajak sekali 1st day posa. The next time should be on 4th week of posa lah. I ni kira 1womanshow lah all the time...
Ha..surbex tu I pun makan, yg hijau punya. I pun religiously telan dekat 10 bijik supplements gak everyday. Kalau kena travel, bawakla bekal siap2, without fail. Cuma bulan posa ni saja jadi haywire sikit. Lepas raya back to normal kot. Anak2 pun I paksa at least 3 jenis supplements each. Nak buat mcmana, dulu I kecik2 pun my parents paksa we all makan mcm tu jugak, scot's emulsion la, waterbury's compound la, dgn all sorts of vitamins. Imagine masa masuk ITM pun, my dad made sure I bawa balik bekalan Vykmin everytime balik cuti semester. Memang salute lah kat makbapak kita, kan? Depa jaga kita sampai mcm tu sekali. I la ni duk harap kat maid je utk peringatkan anak2 makan vitamin ka apa ka. Even kalau demam ka, maid je yg duk hafal jadual makan ubat kat anak2 termasuk kat bapak I sekarang ni. Tu yg sayang sungguh kat maid I tu....
Ja, anak2 I pun 'menyerama' nak tidur di bilik I every weekend nights. Yg kecik tu memangla tidur dgn I sokmo pun. Privilege being the youngest. Patutla yg nomot 2 tu jealous sangat kat adik dia bila kena shift bilik tidur masa I delivered kat niza dulu. Sampai sekarang kut..tak boleh dekat lama2 sikit. Tapi kalau abah depa balik, haa..."mama kena teman abah na..? abah tu takut tidog sorang2 kat atas katil ni... yg lain semua kena tidog bilik sendiri. niza pun kena tidog kat bawah". hahaha... a couple of years ago, it would be a challenge to share teh dgn niza. I kena beralah tidog sorang, either on or off the bed. la ni dah okay sikit. she would say "That's okay mom, you can share my daddy" or sometimes "can I share your husband too, mom?" lawak la budak kecik tu.
My 2 elder kids insyaAllah tak dak masalah berpuasa. Last year pun dua2 puasa penuh.Hopefully this year pun penuh jugak. Yg tak penuh ni, mama depa...
OK Ja, kalau balik AS, helo2 lah. Selamat mengorder kuih tunjuk menunjuk pulak nu?...

Daphne Ling said...

Hey Aunty Ja,

Wah, wah...Sampai colouring sheep ah? Next time you can dress them in Dolce & Gabbana, LV, Salvatore Ferragamo and Christian Dior also ler ;)

Hehe...I usually have problem falling asleep too, although once I sleep, memang tak leh bangun wan.

But this few days, so tired out that put head down only, within minutes I'm snoozing away!

Good luck with the sheep!

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Dear Yus,

Supplements masa childhood..hmmh.. I couldn't recall taking any vitamins masa kecik2 dulu. I don't know whether it was due to a) I actually never took them or b) I couldn't remember those things due to urat putus banyak masa bersalin..hehe.. But I remember my Mak would always take jamu ka, makjun ka. Thus I ikutlah jejak langkah dia when I was in my 20s.

Maids - what can a working mother do? Kalau anak demam we just can't afford to be home to give them the medskan? I pun sama, cuma boleh call tanya sajalah whether everything's ok ke tak.

Anak-anak I cuma Hanna(11yo) and Hasya(9yo) yg posa. Last year pun penuh.. dulu I bagi upah but this year since depa dah besaq, I don't have to do that anymore. Kalau tidak, pancit aku!

Hahaha! Did Niza really say that? My God... budak-budak la ni haghu sungguh... depa faham semuanya kan? Lawak betui!

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Daphne dear,
Aiyoo... I don't own even one pun, so how to imagine..:( but I REALLY hope that I won't be counting them anymore especially in this puasa month when you have so little time to catch the Z.

You must be dead tired sampai boleh sleep that easy...hehehe... I guess it must due to your hectic schedule in the new land you're in.
I truly am happy that you're coping well there.

Study smart ok dear?

jabishah said...

Hi Kak Ja,

Hmmm.. mlm tak count sheep? ;- D

Nadeen of course still sleeps with me. But not the elder girls. Balqis once awhile esp when HB is away.

Betullah ckp Kak Ja. I will try to invite Yasmin & Wardah to sleep in my room whenever papa is not around. Mesti sukanye.. But if he is... no negotiation. Back to your own rooms girls! Hahaha!

Yatie_T said...

Hi Kak Ja,
hehehe..... why pink sheep? Kelakar betul! I was one of the kid yang tidur dengan mak & ayah until I was nine. Not sure which room my parents counting sheep .... lol
Selamat Berpuasa Kak Ja and to Kak Yus too. :)

Anonymous said...

Ja, tumpang lalu pi kat Yati, na?
Thank you Yati...Selamat berpuasa to you too..

Still on kids in parents bedroom, kalau tak silap I, dulu pernah ada dlm Oprah abt how shld a parent(s) behave when kids knock on their masterbedroom's door. Majority would open with muka bengis, or muka masam or like having that unwelcoming look. Psychologically,it would give a longlasting impact on the kids, be it positive or negative. I guess it's true for me, based on my own childhood memories. So, they advised that parents should layan anak2 bila depa cari kita kat masterbedroom.

Since then, I tried to bagi chan kat anak2 tidur di bilik I, though on weekends only and also to let them have the liberty of using the bathroom n toiletteries as well.They really look forward to Thursdays till Saturdays. Boleh main gomoi2 dgn mama (& abah- fortnightly) atas katil or on the floor, mandi guna sabun & shampoo yg lebih wangi dari di bathroom sendiri etc etc. Pendekata, I give them space and opportunity in whatever I had lacked when I was at their age. Kadang2 terfikir pulak, takut men'spoil'kan budak2 tu. What do you think, Ja? I just love my kids too much. Sedangkan anak orang pun I sayang, kan..? mcm arwah nurin, sampai sekarang I sedekahkan yasin every friday night, together with my 2 elder kids. Baca sama2 lepas solat maghrib malam jumaat tu.Tak sedar ayag mata meleleh bila tgk muka anak2 I. Looking at nini always reminds me of her. Same age, same built. Subhanallah. sori, dah melalut. ok, have a nice day.

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Hi Ja,

Counting sheep? Hehehe.. bulan puasa ni kurang sikitlah counting sheep tu...

Right on Papa Wardah! Kuasa veto Papa kena ikut tu... satgi merajuk kang... hihihi..

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Yatie,

Sampai 9 tahun okaylah tu. Mesti Yatie close betul dgn parents ni kan?

Kak Ja terliur betul tengok RX8 tu..lawa gila! Kalau 20 years younger with THAT amount of money, maunya Kak Ja drive sebijik..hehe..

(Dream on sajalah no...)

Have fun with the new car :)

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Yus,
I feel the same way lah Yus. Masa kecik nilah kita dapat gomoi depa. And it's normal when parents tend to give their children what they lacked when they were kids.

Ingat dak pasal pencil colors 36 batang dalan tin tu masa primary school dulu? I really liked those, tapi tak ingat siapa yg own that (was it you, Yus?) Teringin nak pencil colors dalam tin macam tu, but I never asked my parents to buy them for me. I guess I dah anggap that was for those girls kaya2 yg main piano..hehe.. An impossible thing to have.

You're not alone in this Yus. I pun give my children too much rasanya. Baju, buku, toys etc etc yang baru - dah tak payah tunggu birthday to get them. Mak depa yg gatai tangan nak beli.

Pokoknya, kids nowadays get what they want, moneywise ka, opportunities wise ka semua depa pulun, betui dak?

Anonymous said...

yup! couldn't agree with you more.
color tu tancik punya, tapi I jadi self appointed PA dia zaman tu. hahah...sapa nak guna kena mintak permission I dulu, termasuk tuannya sendiri. hahah...(kaki buli rupanya aku ni!)
Sekarang ni anak2 dapat color set baru almost immediately after they exhaust the first one, kan? In fact, I ada 2-3 set duk standby, buat stock la konon.semua jenis stationery pulak tu.Zaman kita dulu, jgn nak harap boleh minta rubber ka, sharpener ka like 2-3 times per week!
ha, la ni anak you dah main piano, dah dpt color 36 dlm tin...ibu dia yg mengidam tu sebenaqnya...heheh..

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Yus,
Oh.. Tanchik punya ka? Isshh.. masa tu teringin betui color pencil tu..

You're right, anak-anak kita la ni dok sedia ada saja. Tak payah mintak, dah ready stock kat rumah. Ibu dia yg mengidam... hehehe... betui lagi...