Recovery Movement Control Order ("RMCO")

Salam my lovelies,

RMCO kicked in on 10 June 2020 and we have been much happier since.

YAMAHA has resumed music classes at its Subang Parade branch. Girl donned her child-sized surgical mask to class yesterday, and washed her hands immediately after class. Due to registration requirements, she now carries her first smartphone to login MYSejahtera, SELangkah and QR Code Scanner. The same routine of face masks and check-in apps will be required of her when she goes to artistic gymnastics training tomorrow. My prayer and wish is that she stays as safe as possible as I can no longer just keep her at home with screen time or the park and bicycle routine. We have all read many books and played endless rounds of board games, trust me. It is time for return to society in a brave new world.

Bean will resume music classes tomorrow, and I sure hope he can follow all the safety steps. I have in mind to brief him in 3 simple steps using simple visual cues on the whiteboard before he leaves home. He turned 7 a few days ago and we hosted a simple dinner at home to celebrate with The Grandparents. It was a joyous occasion to be gathered every once in a while. I pray extra hard for his safety as he returns to the brave new world. He wished for swimming pools to be opened and his wish will come true on 25 June 2020! Alhamdulillah! We will be cautious and maybe fill up our large inflatable pool on our roof deck instead of using the common pool, we shall see.

EAP Malaysia hosted Family Day 2020 Lockdown edition on YouTube Live on 20 June 2020 and that was fun too. Bean was given a few speaking lines and he did really well. The edited videos turned out better than when we saw them being recorded during early days of MCO. He was given free rein without any of my intervention so we could all see for ourselves pure Bean in his element. His friends were all equally impressive. Bravo, kiddos!

Both children have completed their Virtual Sports Day and GL Assessments. Next up will be Parents Evening (Report Card Day) and Year End Concert and Speech Day. School has been wonderful in many ways and I cannot applaud them enough for always innovating for semblance of life for everyone. Bravo!

Onwards and better, inshaAllah.

P/S: Girl won Role Model Award, bravo! 

Term 3 AY2019/20@Home

Salam my lovelies,

Eid Mubarak and Maaf Zahir Batin. The one single day we were allowed to have The Grandparents over for lunch and tea was magical! Absence had made hearts fonder. Video calls cannot replace physical presence.

Since the onset of Movement Control Order on 18 March 2020, Girl and Bean have been schooling remotely/online from home starting at 8:00 a.m. with adequate offline time to complete worksheets/activities/video recording/rest time and an hour lunch break at noon. They sometimes finish lessons by 3:30 p.m. and seamlessly move on to Netflix or games on the iPad which got me worried because too much screen time is simply not healthy. We ordered a pair of blue light protective glasses for each kid and they have diligently put them on. Improvement to their sleep cycle and quality improved were immediately noted, and we now recommend these protective glasses to all our friends and their children.

We do not fuss if they do not submit all worksheets, videos, projects or assignments on the dot of 4 p.m. daily simply because if we were to run this marathon of remote learning from home, we first need a happy and harmonious home. Mental wellbeing is far more important than timely submitted school work at this point in time (78 days since 18 March 2020, that is). Star of the Week, Star of the Day, DojoPoints and end of year examinations and awards are not high on our priority list right now. Girl fares excellently and that is fine. Bean prefers not to participate in every single Zoom class and that is fine too. He catches up in so many other ways.

Both Girl and Bean had earlier spent their Term 2 break at home with us 24/7. There were no complaints about not going anywhere for vacation. Staycation maximum indeed. We read, played board games, played imagination/role playing games, baked new cakes (Basque Burnt Cheesecake being a huge hit), baked Irish Soda Bread when yeast was nowhere to be found, painted, crafted, played music, sang, danced, soaked in the tub, practiced indoor exercises and watched many movies on Netflix. Like the rest of the world, presumably.

Luckily, Conditional Movement Control Order was enforced from 4 May 2020 onwards. They have since  mastered cycling without trainer wheels within a day without any saddle pushing or holding  (yay!). We have been heading out once daily for 20 minutes at our courtyard corridor and park for some sunshine and fresh air. This is a pleasant daily routine we all look forward to.

The Other Half has improved in efficacy of his weekly grocery trips. He bought me a zucchini instead of cucumber once and I will live to retell this funny incident, preferably not in his presence. There was one trip I made to the local mall for some clothes, office supplies, kitchen tools and it felt like a huge treat. I would highly recommend a weekly dose to maintain sanity and "me-time". How I miss my carefree window shopping and walking at the mall...it is something I feel like I will never experience again. We now use MYSejahtera, SELangkah and QR Code Scanner and have our body temperature taken before entering any shops. 

Other than cooking and baking, I picked up another necessary skill - hair styling. A set of professional grooming scissors, clips, comb and bib is now one of my best lockdown online shopping/investment items. Both kids allowed me to cut their hair. I also tidied up The Other Half's hair cut which he first attempted using an electric hair trimmer. The ultimate trust test was when I asked Girl to cut my low down ponytail. The short bob she left me with is tres chic and I love it! The lock of hair may be donated to Lock of Hope, we shall see.

My circadian rhythm has been out of whack since Ramadhan but I hope to reset it soon for everyone's sakes. It is not healthy to be nocturnal and miss out the morning or feel like a zombie before a nap.

I hope you are having a safe and healthy lockdown, wherever you may be. 

Till we meet again, inshaAllah.