Leaving the Nest.....

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Well, sort of…..

When Nazzim left for boarding school late last year, our lives changed a bit. Whether we like it or admit it or otherwise, our schedules revolves around him or his availability or unavailability. We do take into account Sofia’s sentiments. He needed a lot of things each time he comes home and when we buy things for him, we probably have to buy something for Sofia too, even though she does not need it.

He has adjusted superbly into hostel life. No major complains or grouses, only small ones that are part and parcel of hostel life. After the first week of school this year, he came back and asked Lina to teach him how to iron clothes. You got it, some seniors asked him to do that. He does things for the seniors from running errands for them, clean the rooms, do their beds etc. I guess I can only listen to that and not let my paternal instincts take over. Oh, he doesn’t tell me all these things, he only tells Lina because he's afraid I might run riot. But then he also knows that whatever he tells his Mama will find its way to my ears. No, I will not run riot, I’ll let him discover hostel life on his own. But whatever it is, I told him, if anyone assaults him, asks for money or do the nasty to him, he got to tell me for there are limits to everything. Lina was not too pleased when she heard about the juniors’ washing the seniors’ clothes so I volunteered - should any senior ask him to wash their clothes, I’ll go to the school and wash the seniors’ clothes. If I feel a bit melancholic, maybe I’ll let them take them off first. No worries, no one has been scrubbed yet, no clothes washing involved so far.

For a few weeks he averaged spending RM 50 a week. Oh my Zod………

“Makanan kat Dewan Makan (DM) tak sedap la pa…..”

”Uh, I know the food at the DM is no gourmet food but you have to learn to eat there and not head for the canteen every time the food is not to your taste…”

Meaning, bukan lauk ayam lah tu.

“Ya, OK…..”

And that is on top of the supplies that we send him every week or rather, every three or four days, hehehehehehehe. But we finally struck a deal. He will have enough money to spend should the food be tak sedap all the time but he should eat at the DM a bit more. I guess it worked for his spending has came down quite a bit. Whenever he comes home, he sleeps a lot. It figures, at school, he rarely sleeps before midnight and wakes up by 5.30 am.

But he enjoys the school. At the start of the year, him and a few others were called up front during assembly because they scored something like a hundred or something like that in music or something like that, to receive a certificate or something like that and a RM 5 voucher.

“Alah, RM 5 aje….”

“That’s not the point.” I said. “See what could happen when you work hard and do your best? You were not expecting the RM 5 were you and when you got it, it felt rather nice, didn’t it?”

And I rambled on and on and on, oh god…… even I forgot what I ranted on but it was long and lingering. That’s me in my father mode.

Lina later told me that he said he’d like a lot more of those vouchers and certificates.

Go for it, son….

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Merry New Year

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Another year gone by, another year older. I have a T-shirt that was given to me while I was on Y2K duty. That shirt is seven years old. It’s still good. It’s been seven years since what could have happened. The biblical famine in ancient Egypt would have ended. The bad luck for breaking a mirror would have too.

Sometimes when I sit down with friends, we ended up talking about things that happened ten, fifteen, twenty years ago. Well, not too much of the past for if we keep looking too much at what have happened, we…., we…., we…., well, it is simply pointless to be too nostalgic!!! But memories being what they are, we can’t help it. Spoke about someone with someone (you know who you are!). Well, I reckon that most of us, me and my friends that is, do have the luxury of experience. And I reckon that I agree with the adage that youth is wasted on the young. Well, I guess in many cases the not so young would probably waste it too, should they be given youth again. And probably do it again after that too. Ah, wishful thinking.

Priorities differ with age. For Nazzim and Sofia, their priorities are simply hogging the TV, watching their favorite DVD’s over and over, video games, cousins of similar age, fast food and other things that we parents swear would ruin their lives.

Nazzim is back in boarding school. He has to do things that seniors tell him to do. He seems to enjoy boarding school. He calls home like five times everyday. He prefers that none of us goes up to the hostel with him. He gets less sleep, less time to himself, less TV and lesser quality food but he does not really complain about it. That surprised us a bit. Maybe we being close by helps. Maybe he realizes that he could get closer to his potential there. Maybe. I remember hating going back to school after each holiday. With a passion. Each time we see him, he’d tell us about his friends. They are still a mystery to us as we don’t know who is what, whom or which. Yet.

Sofia, as usual, is finding it difficult to go to school, to do schoolwork, to go mengaji, to do things what she should as a ten-year old. She pleads not getting enough sleep every morning when we wake her up, claims fatigue after coming home from school, which happens to be just before ugama school and professes sleepiness by 9 pm whenever she is doing her schoolwork, which is every night except for Fridays and Saturdays. She gets jealous of anything and everything we get for Nazzim (for his stay at the hostel) and she gets pretty much of what he gets, in some instances, even when she does not need them.

I spoke with an old long lost friend and his wife is pregnant with their sixth child. Yoweeeee..!!! Five going on six! Some people are lucky… I’d be happy with three, four would be nice….. Ah, Nazzim and Sofia would have to suffice then.

New Year’s resolutions? A few, and some are well under way. But resolutions are like promises, many are made to be broken. Yeeccchhhh…..!

May 2007 bring all of us what we need and then some. Maybe not what we want or deserve, just what we need.

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