Play Time

It's been a good week for Joshua. He's been to his best friend, Alexander's house twice after school just to play. The first time was on Wednesday and yes, that was his very first outing to a friend's (his own friend, I mean, not kids of his father's friends) house.

He was having so much fun performing Pokemon battles with his pal that he didn't want to come home with me when I went to pick him up 2 hours later. I didn't want to impose on Alexander's mum, Rosemary. So I insisted that he gather his things and leave.

But Rosemary kindly offered to let them play for a few more minutes. So while we waited for the kids to stop playing, we had a nice chat between us. To be honest, I haven't exactly been a social butterfly since arriving here. It's usually hi and bye for me whenever I see the other mums at Joshua's school. But Joshua's hanging out with Alexander after school at the latter's house had given me the chance to at least get to know another parent better.

I found out that Rosemary actually lived in Butterworth as a child. Her father was with the Royal Australian Air Force and was posted at their base there more than 30 years ago. Interesting. She also loves cats (she has 2 of them) - something in common with me.

But the best thing is - she has asked me to bring Joanne along (which is what I did today) to play with the boys. I was hesitant at first because I didn't think it would be nice to make her "babysit" my kids for 2 hours. After all, I didn't know her that well. Still she insisted, saying that it was actually quite alright because the kids don't usually bother her when they are that preoccupied with their own games. Which is quite true. I can relate to that too because whenever my nephew Andrew comes for a visit, I actually manage to finish more work! So I left my 2 kids in her care for 2 hours today.

What bliss! Ha ha. Maybe I should socialise more with the other mums too. Play time after school for the kids turns out to be a great thing for both the kids and me.

The Double Bunk Bed

It's funny how kids can turn almost anything into a toy or in this case, a playground. Our newest purchase, a double bunk bed, arrived this morning. Well, it was still in various pieces but the minute the kids saw the boxes and the new mattresses, they were estactic.

Well, they saw how the bed would look like at the furniture shop. So they knew what awaited them once their dad fixed the whole thing up. But even while Alex and I were busy assembling it, Joshua and Joanne couldn't contain their excitement and kept interrupting us, until we banished them from the room.

Once their new bed was put up properly, they started climbing up and down the bunk bed. Not surprisingly, both wanted to sleep on the top bunk now. There's something about the top bunk, I guess. Probably because it reminded them of the playground. I certainly did when I was a kid.

To be fair, I told the kids they had to take turns sleeping on the top bunk. And to my surprise, they readily agreed. If only they are so agreeable with everything else!

I think it won't be hard to get them to sleep early tonight. I just hope whoever is occupying the top bunk will not end up on the floor in the morning!