Tuesday, September 29, 2009

What an evening!

I went visiting a friend today so I didn't cook. I was on my way home to keep the pram that Jayna was in so that I could pick Joash up more easily (cos the way to Joash's school is very pram unfriendly) when I realised that our lift was under maintenance. Disappointed, I thought that if I were to go and buy our dinner and pick Joash up first, the lift might have been fixed by then. Thus, I did just that.

Poor Joash, he saw Jayna's milk bottle in the pram and started crying for milk when I met him at the school's doorstep. I promised him his usual enzyme juice when we get home and he calmed down enough to hold my hand as we headed back. When we reached the stairs on the way out of the building, Joash didn't understand why I had to let go of his hand and use both my hands to push the pram up the stairs and he cried again. By then, Jayna also woke up crying because it was very bumpy going up the steps. With two crying children, I reached our lift only to find it still under maintenance!!!

Knowing that this would be a tough one, I went down to Joash's level to explain to him that the lift was spoilt and we had to take a longer and more difficult route to get home and that I needed his cooperation. He seemed to understand and stopped crying. We went to another lift which goes to the 9th floor and walked down the stairs to reach our storey. Joash obeyed me when I told him to wait for me to guide him down the flight of steps (he is still too young to go down a flight of stairs unsupervised safely) till I finished carrying the pram with Jayna and all our barangs+dinner in it to the next stair-landing. I had to repeat this four times before we reached home. I'm so proud of Joash!

When I thought my ordeal was over, the pram tipped backwards due to the weight of the bags and packets of dinner once I let go of its handle at our doorsteps. Down came tumbling all our stuff and the packet of tom yam bee hoon soup I got for Joshua exploded and the soup went splashing onto the pavement together with a few pieces of crabmeat and fishcake. Thank God that Jayna was buckled in and thus escaped unscathed but was nevertheless horribly frightened. Trying not to freak out, I told Joash to take off his own shoes while I settled everything else.

I'm so very proud of Joash! He did take off his own shoes and place them nicely back where they belonged and dutifully went to wash his hands and feet as he was usually taught to do. He climbed onto his toddler chair and waited patiently for me to prepare his enzyme drink and dinner. Poor Jayna! She didn't know what was happening and could only keep crying since I left her at her playpen so that I was free to do everything else. Joash finished up his meal entirely on his own without much mess as I salvaged my husband's dinner, cleaned up the mess outside, brought all our stuff into the house, kept the pram and finally bottle-fed Jayna (poor girl) with my left hand while I ate my dinner with my right hand (I was totally famished by then). Oh, and did I mention that I was just so proud of Joash? *grin*

After all the drama was over with two kids fed and all evidence of the chaos minutes ago disposed of, Joshua came back.

Me: "Did you take the stairs too?"
Joshua: "Nope. The lift was working."
Me: "........" *crows cawing in the background*

No comments: