Hanna is 5 !!

March is the most awaited month for Hanna... kept counting days since February looking forward for her birthday... (this is one of the way I did to help her learning the concept of days, weeks, months and how to read calender). She was so excited about it! Dan aku malas la nak pening2 kepala... plan nk buat makan2 sket and doa selamat je kat rumah jemput rakan2 seagama (berapa kerat sgt kenalam Muslim kitorang kat sini selain dari org2 ofis abaji yg 2-3 org tu) and most probably mcm thn lepas, repeat small party je kat skolah dia. Hmmm... but a week before the date, tergezut jugak bila dia kata, "I don't want to celebrate my b'day at school." Her firmness on her decision made me wonder if there were anything wrong at school.

Tried to find out what was going on (it wasn't hard to find out, as I'm a part time teacher helper on volunteering basis) I didn't find anything weird or unpleasant with the school or her friends or her teacher. In fact, I was so happy (and relieved?) seeing her intellectual and social progress. That derived me with a conclusion, that she is simply her... doesn't like crowd too much (like her Abaji).

Maka dengan itu mak pun sudah melompat kegumbiraan, sbb tak yah la fikir nk beli party favors, snacks and cakes utk 11 org budak dlm kelas dia... hehehe... Kita buat kat rumah je yek?... And she gave me another surprise when she only wanted to invite Auntie Wan, Auntie Zarina, Sarah, kakak Hajar and Uncle Hamid ONLY!!!!...
Lohh?? what about Uncle Iqbal, Uncle Amir, Auntie Sara and baby Redha? (dia mmg cukup jaki kalo aku main ngan baby Redha... jeles tak hingat!!). Dia tak bagi invite... aduih laa... serba salah mak dibuatnye.
Since Zarina and the girls couldn't make it (sbb buat on the week night, weekend mak bz...), maka the guess of honor were only Auntie Wan and Uncle Hamid...

On the birthday itself (during the day), Zarina called nak blanjer Hanna kat Baskin Robin with Sarah and Hajar dgn bagi hadiah la bagai... ohh.. rupa2nye twice celebration jugak b'day dia thn ni. Thanks Zarina!!! I didn't go with her sbb hakak (std la las menet...) baru la terkedek2 nak cari hadiah dan gi Vienero's beli cheese cake super sedap dan gemok itu... Mmg sedap, no wonder it's Governor Zeti's favorite. Kalau dtg sini mesti tapau bwk balik M'sia hakak Zeti itu. Well, party utk 5 orang je, tp mak dengan rakusnya membeli kek saiz XL hehehehe... (dgn penuh keinsafan, purposely beli without toppings / decorative icings). Hehehe... ni mak ke anak yg nak makan nih??... Dgn penuh rasa guilty (sbb x jemput Iqbal, Amir and his family) Abaji tapau ler sikit bawak gi opes kesesokan harinye. And the rest, cuba teka sapa yg langsaikan??... kehh... kehh...

Happy 5th Birthday anak mak sayang... semoga membesar dengan sihat, kuat dan menjadi anak yg solehah... amiin...

Maid in Manhattan...

Nenet hulur $35...

"Mak... saya nak mintak belikan besday prejen utk Hanna... baju prinses2 gaun yang cantik2... tp duitnya ini aja," kata Nenet.

Aku TERSENTAP!!!...

Sebak...

Sayang betul dia kat Hanna... Alhamdulillah...

Bila bercerita pasal maid di kalangan kawan2 dan saudara mara... selalunya yg keluar hanyalah segala kelemahan dan kekurangan Nenet... Hanya sesekali aku bercerita tentang kelebihan dan kebaikan dia... (dah kwn2 tu pun dok bincang pasal perangai buruk maid masing2).

Walaupun tiap2 raya kitorang saling mintak maaf, adekah itu mencukupi?... Semoga Allah ampunkan dosa2 aku yg banyak mengumpat nenet...

Nenek bukanlah orang gaji yg perfect... banyak kekurangan dan kelemahan dia yg aku terpaksa bersabar dengannya. Tapi bila timbang balik, kelebihan dan kebaikan dia lebih banya berbanding kekurangannya. Dan aku pun bukannya majikan yg perfect... mungkin lebih banyak dia bersabar dengan kekurangan dan kecerewetan aku berbanding aku bersabar dgn dia...

Semoga Allah memberkati rezeki, kesihatan yang baik dan kebahagiaan kepada Nenet... Aminn...

NYC Parents Gone Crazy!

Hanya pasal anak nak masuk tadika... mak bapak yg gelabah!



Although I'm not as crazy (and obsess) as them, being a part of the community of the most "cutting throat" city in the world, I share the same anxiety and hope like those parents (featured in the youtube) since my child is going to kindergarten soon. Owh... sudah besar itu budak - 5 thn suda... umur WAJIB ke sekolah according to NY law.


Of course with the same reason ~ WE WANT THE BEST FOR OUR CHILDREN ~ and since I want to be a good Muslim and my perspective of BEST comprises of dunia dan akhirat, I have already targeted a non-conventional kindergarten/school in KL which I thought the school would be the BEST for her, for me and my family (according to my perspective of BEST). I already have this plan since she was three months old (wayyy back in 2005 - ok la... i admit... I'm an obsessed mom!!).


Tapi sapa sangka yg aku anak beranak akan terjebak kat NYC ni??!! So, my plan to get her the "best" school in Malaysia will still be on once we are back for good, (Insyaallah... kalau ade rezeki la... kalau dia layak diterima masuk skolah tu...), but at the moment I'm restless in and out of surveying the "good" school for her. (Well... that explained why I was on the silence mode for the past 1 month??.. apart from malas dan bangun sampai tgh hari seperti biasa... hahaha).


While public schools are free, they are often perceived as less good than private. Private kindergarten on the other hand, will cost us about $26,000/year (average). While money is not an issue here, I noticed even the best private schools in Manhattan are not up to my standard since they are mostly either run by the Church or a bunch of secularists yg perasan elite!! Well, don't get me wrong... I'm not an anti-Christ and I'm a living product of secular education in hedonism environment!!. It's just because my perspective of 'BEST' as I mentioned before, makes me uncomfortable with the mainstream education system - both public & private - di sini dan di M'sia.


And while other parents have applied as much as 10 schools for their kid (for there is no guarantee you'll get the school u applied - both public n private) , I only applied 2 (both public schools). And I'm considering to apply another one school - private Islamic school (the only Islamic School in Manhattan with some drawbacks in term of location and transportation) or maybe I have to consider homeschooling seriously???!!! - iskkk... mmg kena solat isthikharah nih!