Why do I miss Boston?

I have been retelling my life in Boston to many people I met recently including my colleagues, relatives and friends. The more I retell my time as SAHM, the more nostalgic I became of our life in Boston that was just merely two months ago.

What do I miss?
1. I miss the crisp, cool and fresh air in Boston!
Baby Br and I have been coughing non-stop since we are back in SG. The doctor said that I have bronchitis and it being a result of us not used to the dusty air in SG. Now, Ry is down with the cough too! I really miss our great health back in Boston!

2. I miss the fresh fruits like strawberries, blueberries and the crisp vegetables.
SG depends so much on the import of our fresh produce that it is difficult for us to get really fresh vegetables nowadays especially during rainy season or the price is extremely expensive! K and I think it is a joke that we call SG a food haven when most our food do not taste as nice and fresh without the extra seasonings.

3. I miss the four seasons and especially the winter and snow!
Although it is freezing cold in Boston, we would rather stay there then wilt in our humid weather where Br and I often gets bouts of eczema flaring because of the sweat and humidity. I sorely miss the winter now as Christmas creeps close and without the cold and snow, Christmas season just simply lost its appeal!

4. I miss the great service and friendly chit chats with strangers!
Enough has been said about the poor service in SG! I think I would rather pay the 15 - 20 % gratuity to ensure great and personalised service like those that I have encountered in Boston then to suffer generally poor service when I still need to fork out mandatory 10% service charge, without getting even the slightest smile and thank you from the service staff. Needless to mention that I do not expect to see greetings like "Good Morning" and smiles when you meet strangers on the street or on the trains.

5. I miss my life as a SAHM!
Most importantly, I sorely miss my life as a SAHM when I could whip up my own healthy meals, spend quality time with the kids and plan their daily activities.

Penguin Daddy!

Recently, TCS 8 has a new 9 pm show called Daddy at Home (企鹅爸爸) which talks about 2 stay at home dads. K and I have been watching a few of the episodes and are pretty entertained by the show. Most importantly, it is quite a reflection of our current life. K is still "jobless" and waiting for his deployment from his company while I have started work a month ago. So now, K is the penguin daddy who stays at home taking care of the two boys, cleaning up the house and doing grocery shopping twice a week.

Initially, I thought K would be quickly bored by the mundane routine but to my surprise, he actually find the whole process entertaining and rewarding as he gets to spend quality time with his two boys. To my envy and jealousy, my boys are turning to him for comfort and TLC instead of me. In fact, Ry is so close to him that I think Ry hardly miss me or think of me while I'm at work.

I am thankful of having a supportive hubby who's able to take care of the house and the two boys while I'm at work and doing such a great job that I do not have to worry about the boys. Even though there was this minor accident last week of which Ry fell down and had a small cut at the back of his head which resulted in us rushing down to Changi A & E department and giving me a big scare and made me really angry with K for causing this to happen.

However, having only boys also make me realize the importance of the role of daddy since he could understand their lingo and attend to their needs better than me, like knowing that boys love to play catching game, play trucks and cars better with more enthusiasm than the mommy who has little interest and is clueless on how to get the boys interested. I am glad that the SG government is now looking at the importance of the role of daddy in child raising that they are launching a campaign to support the cause. Definitely, I think that more could be done to levitate the status of dads in the children's life for which I think most Singapore daddys are still not doing enough.

At our 11 years anniversary (7 years wedding anniversary cos they share the same day - 20 Nov), I would like to say to my hubby, "Dear, thank you for whatever you have done for the family! I really appreciate you accepting and forgiving all my little flaws and mistakes! May we have another 10, 20, 30 .... more years to go hand in hand together!"

A photo taken when we sort of by the way celebrated our anniversary at a lunch at Swensen after Ry's speech therapy at Ion Orchard.

Hugz!!!

Every morning before I step out of the doors for work, Ry will run out of the room and shout, "Hug, Hugz!" with his arms open. As usual, I would always give him a big hug and plant him a kiss on his plump cheek before I grab my handbag and leave for work.

I'm awed by the amount of happiness and satisfaction that I can derive from such a simple routine. All I can say is that at this juncture of my life, I'm glad and contented to have become a mother of two boisterous boys that may possibly turn my hair grey and add a few lines to my forehead with their angst and nonsense in their teenage years. But before this happens, I think I'm still going to enjoy my daily morning routine and the bliss from the hug and the sweet little voice that say, " Hug ... mommie".