Planning a trip

Ho is taking the kids to Niagara for a night without me next week.  After our family trip to Hong Kong, I only have 3 vacation days left.  I have to save 2 for the kids’ field trip in the coming school year.  Besides, I can’t go anywhere because the office will be very busy in this planning time.

Me: Livie, Adrian, listen to mommy – when you go out with daddy, be very careful and stay close them him, especially when he’s shopping.  You don’t want to be left behind in the store.

Olivia: Then we’ll stay at the hotel.

Me: You go all the way to stay at the hotel?  Besides, who’s going to look after you?  Mommy is not going.

Olivia: Adrian will!  He’s older.  He can look after me.  We can, play, read stories, watch TV… We’ll have lots of fun… fighting!

Olivia’s “Funny Story”

Livie and I were playing house with her Hello Kitty toy house.  She was the daddy who’s trying to tuck me (in the role of Hello Kitty) in to bed.

Olivia: Time for bed!

Me: Ok!

Olivia: Do you want a story?

Me: Yes, please!

Olivia: Let me tell you a funny story.  It’s really funny.  Once there’s a man, who found a lady.  Now here’s the funniest part – and they fall in love!

Me: …?

Olivia: The End!

Me: … ?!?

Olivia: Wasn’t that funny?  It’s so funny, they fell in love, hahaha…

Me: ………………

Car Pool

With help from Jennifer and Francis, Ho and I could go to a Brazilian restaurant to celebrate D’s birthday without bringing the kids.  That place is just too loud for children.  A friend offered to drive everybody down with his rental van.  When we left the house, we told Livie that we didn’t need to drive.

Olivia: 你哋點樣去呀？ (How do you go to the restaurant?)

Me:  我哋 car pool 囉。(We are doing car pool.)

Olivia:  乜嘢叫做 “cow poo” 呀？(What is “cow poo”?)

In Love

Early last week, Ho picked up the kids from school.  He told me a conversation between the kids in the car.

Olivia:  Daddy, I’m in love with Adrian.

Adrian:  Yuck!  I’m not in love with you!  If you are in love, you are going to marry that person.

Olivia: Daddy, who am I going to marry to?

Daddy: I don’t know…

Adrian:  I know…  you are going to marry Aston*.

*Aston is a boy in Livie’s class.

Part II happened today in the car again.

Adrian:  Olivia, you are going to marry Aston.

Daddy: No!

Olivia:  Yes, I’m going to marry Aston!

Train of Thoughts

When all four members of the family are in the car, usually both kids occupy most of the talking time.  Same case this time.  I’d been trying to say something but couldn’t get my first word started.  Very soon I forgot what I wanted to say.  Ho had taught them the phrase “Train of thoughts” before, so he decided to remind them about this phrase.

Ho: Kids, you guys are talking non-stop.  Mommy can’t even remember what she wanted to say now.  What do we call this again?  Mommy has lost her… what?

Both kids finally stopped talking and started to think.  Livie tried to answer first.

Olivia: Her patience?

Ho: Good try, not that though.  Adrian, do you remember?

Adrian thought for a little while and said, “Her mind?

Ho: No, but probably very soon…

Sore Throat Spray

I was developing a sore throat when I was in Hong Kong.  My aunt gave me a spray to help relieving the pain.  I explained to Adrian that I should not talk for a few minutes after I had sprayed it in my throat.  Later in the day, Adrian was so caring to remind me to do the spray.  Then he said:

“Any last words?”

Future – Livie’s version

We were having dinner together, Livie said to me:

Olivia: Mommy, when you are very old, I’ll help you.

Me: Thank you, Livie.  How old will I be when you help me?

Olivia: When you are old and cannot walk, I’ll help you.

Me:  I see.  How will you help me?

Olivia: I will buy you walking stick or wheel chair.  I see all old people need that.

Then she told me that she saw an old person using both walking stick and wheel chair at the same time.  She thought it was very funny.

Not sure why suddenly both my kids thought about me getting old.  Do I really look that old?  I think it’s because we met a lot of older relatives when we were in Hong Kong who make them think people getting old.  At least this is my wishful thinking :-).

Future

I was making dinner tonight when Adrian said to me:

Adrian: Mommy, I think I’ll miss you a lot when you are dead.

Me: Oh… thank you, I’ll miss you too.

Adrian: I’ll want to come to visit you in heaven.  Can I?

Me: Of course!  But you don’t have to hurry because mommy wants you to live longer, healthy, and happily ever after.

Adrian:  I”ll do a lot of good things so I can go to heaven to see you.

Me:  Good!

Adrian: Mommy, I want you to live for a long long time…

Me:  If I live a long time, I’ll be very old.  There will be things which I can’t do myself, I’ll need someone to take care of me.  Will you?

Adrian:  Yes, I will!

Me:  Then you’ll have to study well, learn a lot, be a useful person, and make enough money to look after us.

Adrian:  I will!  I’ll give you all my money so you’ll be rich.

Me:  Wow, you’re so nice.

Adrian: But then I’ll be very poor.

Me: No, you won’t be.  Besides, mommy will save the money up for you. Then I can give it back to you when you need it…

Haha, I love talking to my kids!

Book Report

Even though Adrian and Livie had done some worksheet at the hotel but they still missed a lot of school work because of this HK trip.  I tried to get them to do as many as possible before school days resume tomorrow.  I saw Adrian did a book report.  He answered each guiding question with a short answer, usually one sentence only.  Yet the end of the instructions says that the student is supposed to do a 5-min speech to present the report.

Me: Adrian, how can you do a 5-min speech with so few words?

Adrian: I’ll just say the words slowly.

I couldn’t stop laughing for a long time.

On the flight back

Finally the last day in Hong Kong.  I kept my promise by taking the kids to the hotel restaurant for buffet breakfast.  All they wanted was rice crispies with milk.  That’s a HK$98 per kid buffet man!  They just enjoyed the freedom of going out to the food table to take whatever they wanted.  Luckily the manager was so kind not to charge us for Livie.  Well, anybody can tell she doesn’t eat much.  She’s so tiny.  Ho didn’t join us because he had to do the last minute shopping, ha!

We were on the plane back to Toronto.  There were a lot of kids on the plane.  Wow, there were a brother and his little sister, should be younger than 2 years old because she didn’t occupy a seat.  They were fighting 70% of the flight.  The sister was constantly crying and the brother was constantly yelling at her.  I felt so bad for those sitting around them.  Strange thing was, they were sitting with their mommy and their daddy was sitting at one row behind.  If I were the one sitting beside the mommy and kids, I would have offered to exchange seat with the daddy so he could help to separate the kids.  Well, maybe there’s a reason I don’t know.  Anyway, compared to those kids, Adrian and Livie were so quiet and well behaved.  Livie was a little grumpy because she was tired but didn’t have enough room to stretch and sleep.  She was fine most of the time.  She had a comment about the airplane when I took her to the washroom.  I accidentally hit her head with my elbow.

Olivia: Mommy, did you know your elbow hit me?

Me: I’m sorry, but we don’t have much room when 2 of us are in the washroom.

Olivia: Why do they make the washroom so small when the plane is so big?