Events on 29 - 30 September in a flashback........I was the driver for the family starting from the first day of my home coming. The teacher who drives my kids to school was sms-ed that she got the raya off plus 1 day pre-raya and 4 days post-raya in the following week. I would first drive my wife to work in KL, then back to Klang to send the kids to their school. I would pick the kids from school in the afternoon, hang around with them, drive back to KL to pick my wife and then back to Klang.
There was so much talking in the cars, to catch up things. So we didn't mind the traffic jam. The kids would sleep when they got bored. Then we changed the subject to talk about adult stuffs. When Hadiff woke up with his, "Are we there yet?". We switched back to the topics for the kids.
Aimi did well in her fasting. Initially, she had difficulty to wake up for sahur. Once my wife missed sahur and asked Aimi not to fast. She cried wanting to carry on. I probed to understand what really motivates her. She said her best girlfriend ( I forgot her name) and her best boyfriend Nabil never miss fasting. So it's peer pressure, for good. In the end she did a remarkable 27 days, full day fasting. She missed a few days in the first week for not having sahur and a day when she met the dentist to pull one of her 2, now missing milk teeth. I promised her a present.
Hadiff couldn't rely on peer pressure since none of his friends had started fasting. But he did half-day fasting until 2PM for almost every day. Around the 2nd week of Ramadan, he told me over the phone that he tried but there was nothing else in his stomach to last him until evening. I told him it's great that he tried. I promised him a present too but I'd ask the toy assistant to axe the toy of his choice into half. A week later, my wife told me Hadiff was able to stretch a full day fasting. I asked him, "How come?". He told that he started to eat taugeh and he slept at 2PM until evening so that when he woke up, it'd be very close to buka puasa. In the end he made it up to 5 days. We tried to encourage him to make it on the last Ramadan so that he would add another day. He repeatedly argue that he is 5 years old and 5 days is enough for him.
After school we went shopping. The boy who made it for 5 days was more fussy and argumentative about his present than the girl who made it all the way to 27 days. He picked up his choice. He watched the demo...
He explained to me how he'd play with it. The instructions are written in Japanese. But he got it all figured out from the demo he watched. He tried to convince me it's the best buy.
I told him to get something else half the price, since I'm only manufacturing chocolate, not money. He got sulky, sulking on the floor.
Seeing this I got melted. He won. He walked out with what he wanted. Parenting is never easy. Yet, I have friends with 4 kids! We went to a book store to get them books. Aimi was excited having to pick 2 out of 5 options of classic.
Hadiff got hooked on the Pokemon game book, which I stressed upfront a big NO, NO. I got him a classic and he acted out his objection. I told him I still have the receipt that I could cash back his toy. I won. He walked out with Tressure Island condensed classic.
I had an hour to take the kids to see my father. I told Aimi and Hadiff not to tell my mother about the visit. I just didn't want to hurt my mother, for seeing my father first before I met her. Days after that I came to know that my mother knew it anyway from Aimi. I should have thought about it because I know she has established a good cable with my mother. This thing got complicated because my mother and father got divorced many years ago. Meeting my parents means meeting them in separation. I don't feel like digging old stories here. I have moved on from the dreadful past.
That day we all had buka puasa at my mother's house. It was a pleasant reunion with great food on the table. I went shopping with my wife and Hadiff that night after iftar. Aimi stayed back to light the bunga api and spend the night with my mother. Days after that, I cornered Aimi to ask her why she broke the promise. She said, "Tapi papa, nenek tak marah pun". So at least I came to know a little something else.
The next day we had our last minute shopping at Shah Alam Complex. Many had left the city on this Tuesday morning. But still many were seen at the complex to get the best last minute bargain of clothes and cookies.
There was an empty stage in the middle of the shopping complex. The kids climbed up the staircase. Hadiff had unleashed all his energy to showcase a puppet dance. He asked for iced Milo right after that. That's why he didn't make it to the 6th day of full fasting.
We left Shah Alam to start our journey to Johor Bahru. The highway was full with south-bound cars. But the traffic moved without any massive jam. We sms-ed raya wishes to friends in our phone contact list. We received replies along the way. We bought food and stocked them in the car, anticipating the R&R would be very crowded in Seremban. We were right. We didn't stop for iftar. My wife was like a mother bird, feeding, suap-ing her mate and the nestlings, as I drove along.
We reached my wife's parent's house at night. Another reunion, full with greetings and exchanged news. My wife, her mother and sisters stayed up until wee hours to prepare the raya dishes and to work on other preparation. I tried to convince them to get things ready earlier, sleep early, wake up fresh in the morning. There's no need for the night shift. It's been their tradition, the night before raya has been the best part. I slept at around 1AM with Hadiff. Aimi slept at 3AM. The others slept for 1 or 2 hours.
I end this part with Hadiff's puppet dance, unchoreographed, unplugged.
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