Archive for June, 2011

Today, one day short of my …. wait let me count. 1966 to 1976 is 10 years….to 1986 another 10 years…..to 1996 (10 years) , 1996 to 2006 (10 years) taking it to 40, then 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 err err 45 years. Thats it. 45th birthday. After my 30th birthday, I have to start counting like this to remember how old I am.

Oh well, the brains may be old and the body needs some oiling but the mind and heart is forever young. The body certainly needs some serious oiling though. Yesterday, I was playing catching with the kids. We were running around the car in the porch laughing and oh how they love it when I trick them and run around backwards and almost catch them. They would let out a squeal and scream out in delight (I am not so sure the neighbours are that delighted by our commotion though…. ) Anyway we were running when suddenly I felt my left knee go weak. I must have pulled something somewhere. Fortunately, it was only very slight and I stopped myself in time. I was as good as new after a short rest. My brother who was playing badminton with his son once had to have his leg in a cast for more than 6 months because he had forgotten his age and tried to reach out for the shuttlecock like his 13 year old.

Yes, age is catching up with us. I caught up with the sisters and dad today. Dad remembered my birthday yesterday but unfortunately today he is back to his own world. He started talking about how we would be attacked in a war soon. Poor dad. I had a heartshaped strawberry cake. Its the very same heartshaped strawberry cake I had picked for second sister for her birthday. I chose it for myself because I loved it so much. In my house I only get to eat chocolate cake because the man loves chocolate so much. Eldest sister told me to slow down because in 5 years I would be 50 and that would make her 58. By next year, all my brothers and sisters would be within the 50 over range and that leaves little ole me. Hehe. I shall forever be a little sister, the baby of the family, whatever age I am.

In 5 years I would be 50! Wow! So what have I learned at 45? I learned that I had better dress up when I still can! (Before the face and everything else sags beyond recognition. . So if you see a crazy lady dressed up to the nines while shopping for groceries, it is probably me. lol.

I find that the older I get, the younger I feel. I am usually about 10-20 years behind in the mind and heart. However, I am squinting a little now and sometimes I put on my grandmother specs (to see far not near yet but I shall need bifocals soon) and my bones aren’t as good as it used to be. Apart from that, I don’t feel in the least bit 45. Happy Birthday to me! Where else but in a blog do you get to wish yourself a Happy Birthday.

I am lazy to write today. Everytime I am away from my blog for a while, I suffer a loss of momentum and a loss of words. So I am just going to write in point form roughly what we did for the school holidays before I forget it. We….

• celebrated the girl’s 9th birthday
• did all the mandatory school holiday homework from school and prepared for a coming school project
• caught up with all the piano classes that was put aside due to exams and illness
• went for doctor’s appointments
• went for haircuts
• played Monopoly, Chinese Chess and Plants vs Zombies
• watched Kungfu Panda and X-Men at the cinema
• did some magnet craft which the girl chose for her birthday present
• played RC helicopter at the park a few times (another birthday present)
• went to Port Dickson for an overnight trip and swam, walked, biked and ate
• watched Harry Potter and Yogi Bear at home
• made homemade soya bean and pandan kaya for the first time ourselves

With that, 2 weeks flew by………. just like that. The girl would often say “Mummy, why is it that whenever we ask to do something, you and daddy would say wait for the school holidays, we’ll do it during the school holidays.” She does have a point there. Well, my sweetie, I think we did most of them, didn’t we? All accept for that candle art craft which you said you’d change your mind about doing because you wanted to play Plants vs Zombies instead.

Learning to let go at every stage of parenting is not an easy thing. It is a fine line, loving but not loving too much.

Yesterday we were denied entry at Pizza Hut, Mid Valley Megamall by the Shift Manager because dad was on a wheelchair. Imagine that! This is what happened.

There were 7 of us. My sister and I, my two kids, dad on his wheelchair, a maid and dad’s nurse. It was about 2.30 to 3pm. Initially we had gone to Dominos. However we decided to go to Pizza Hut instead because we thought that the Dominos place was a bit small and we would be a bit more comfortable at Pizza Hut. When we got to Pizza Hut, we were happy to find two tables for 4 each which could be joined together. Just nice for our party of 8.

Sister and I and the kids were walking ahead looking for a place to sit. I turned round to gesture to the nurse to show her which table we were at but she was gesturing something to me so I went over to her at the entrance. She said that they were not allowed to go in because of dad’s wheelchair. The lady who had denied my dad, the nurse and the maid entry confirmed it. She said that the wheelchair was too big and it would take up space and make it difficult for people to move about. It was just an ordinary wheelchair, not very bulky.

Now, we have taken dad to many places to eat before. We have been to more crowded places, like a crowded mamak shop during peak hours where the place was very hard to move about and all the staff did was help us move the tables around to make dad more comfortable. It is as simple as that. Usually, all we had to do is remove one chair from the table and push dad right up to it.

Yesterday, we were there AFTER peak hours. The lunch crowd had left. We had found a table. There were several other empty tables. Though the place was small, we would not have been blocking any other diners because it was no longer packed. But that is besides the point. The point is this lady, who is supposed to be the shift “manager” turned dad away, a senior citizen on a wheelchair. She was not in the least apologetic about it either. She pointed to a group of diners and said “Look, we have no space, even that has to be at left at the side”. At first I thought she was talking about a shopping trolley but I turned to see that she had pointed at a pram. How ridiculous is that! It is also ridiculous of her to deny us entry even after peak hours just because of dad’s wheelchair.

We were terribly annoyed. We gave her a piece of our mind and left. Perhaps we could have made more of a fuss and got a place to sit eventually. However, we were late and everyone was hungry and I no longer had any desire to have my meal there, even if it is for free. Worse still, I no longer wish to part with my money for lunch there! So we left. We went back to Dominos and sat ourselves down promptly without any fuss.

I thought that dad who has dementia and is sometimes a bit blur may not have noticed what was happening but he did. He started telling a story about how his friend used to frequent a place for his birthday and how they went to the place and could sit anywhere they want because they had money. Poor dad. No one wants to be wheelchair bound and being turned away from an eatery because of it is worse.

I was upset, I dreamed about it again in my sleep last night.

Updated: I have spoken to the Restaurant Manager who was most apologetic and kind when she heard that we were refused entry because of dad’s wheelchair. She said that they would normally place wheelchair users at the front of the restaurant for more ease and mobility. She said that we could call her personal number anytime we want to go and she will reserve a place for us. Ok. At least I know that this discrimination is not a policy of the restaurant. I hope that she will have a word with the staff with the wrong attitude. Thats settled then.

This one was written for Mother’s Day some years ago. A reflection on how my children has changed me as a person… into a better person, that is.