Not us. Not just yet. Perhaps. lol. However, a distant relative is. She has pulled out her Std 3 daughter because she says she doesn’t want her daughter to grow up timid afraid of teachers, afraid of everything. So she is going to home school her. However, I guess she can’t be used as an example of whether parents will pull out their kids from Chinese School. She has taken her son out from Chinese school to Kebangsaan or Public School to homeschooling and Private school. Yup! She has tried all four avenues.

Another one of my daughter’s classmate left this week for a private school. Yet another will leave at the end of this term in about a month.

While another parent in my daughter’s class went to school to collect report card copies etc to be submitted for her application for a private secondary school. My daughter is only in Std 4. I haven’t even decided where to send her in secondary school and people are applying already?

Education system and education choices here are in a sad state. I don’t know where to send my girl to in Secondary school and we are hanging on to Chinese school despite the crazy homework load and it IS crazy. Everyday, all she does is go to school, have meals in between, do homework and sleep. There is not time for ANYTHING else! I feel sorry for her. Heck. I feel sorry for me. Ok. Enough Ranting. I must leave my energy for homework guidance later in the day.

Cactus Flowering Plant

I don’t have green fingers but I can grow these. They are Cactus Flowering Plants. I don’t know what they are called exactly. My sister gave them to me. All I had to do was stuck the stems into pots and they grew and grew. They can grow straight up or as a bush depending on the size and shape of your pot.

The flowers from my cactus flowering plant don’t look as good because I keep on watering them by accident! lol. I’m not supposed to water them since they’re a cactus plant. In bright sunlight the tiny pink flowers will flourish and grow beautifully.

This is the only type of flowers I can plant. The rest are all eaten up or damaged by insects because I don’t have the patience to look after them. Once, I saw someone place brightly colored cactus plants in a row. They look so beautiful. Just take a look at these cactus flowering plants images. Don’t you think they are beautiful?

Gift Book For Mothers

I’m busy with my new self published book. Busy but loving every minute of it.

Let’s see what I have been up to today:

1. Today I shared the story of how my new book came to be on Squidoo. I wrote How to Self Publish Your Own eBook and Print On Demand Book.
2. Next, I wrote an Editorial Review of my own book on my Mothering Times Blog. I wrote Gift Book For Mothers on Mother’s Day. Hopefully Google will pick that one up. Strangely, I find it much harder to write a review for my own book than to review someone else’s book.
3. Then I was busy setting up ads and pages for my book on my various blogs. Not all as I didn’t have the time to do it all.
4. Elsewhere on Squidoo, I was happy that my Plants Vs Zombies Collectibles was featured on the Squidoo front page. I’m glad I took the time to update those links. It was embarrassingly full of broken links before.
5. I was also happy that my Easter Egg Toys made it to the 50 Fun Easter Gifts monsterboard on Squidoo while my Easter Bunny Craft Kits was selected and my profile listed as one of the 25 Squidoo’s Craftiest Lensmasters in the 2012 Best of Squidoo Spring and Easter Crafts Showcase plus I made it to the Squidoo Top 40 list for a while again. Yay!

Super Mom Tee

Super Mom, Super Wife, Super Tired. That’s what this T-Shirt for Moms says and that’s what I am feeling at the moment. That’s what I think I’ve tried to do. I’ve always tried my best to be a good mom and a good wife but some days, I’m just super tired like today. Must be due the April Fool effect.

I’m tired. It’s not easy trying to live up to the high expectations of your spouse. The man thinks I don’t support him, when the kids do not behave it’s always MY fault. I’m so tired, really tired. What about me? What about my own dreams and aspirations. I am very excited about a project I am working on at the moment but who cares about it? No one accept me. I am so excited about it I want to burst but the kids are too young to understand and when I show it to the man, he is not very interested as I had expected.  He is more interested in me not spending too much time on it at the expense of the family.

Anyway, I don’t want to write about this too much. Writing negatively makes me think more negatively which only results in me being more upset which is why all my spaces online are positive ones. No ranting. I’m going to need some exercises to work off these bad feelings. In fact, I think I’m going to need to run a half marathon to work this one off.

No negatives. Only positives. So I’m going to forget about my Super Mom Tee and stick a 13.1 sticker on my current t-shirt instead to remind myself to work off the negative vibes.

Mother’s Day is coming soon. I’m not expecting anything from the family. The kids are always still too young and the father never makes an effort to “go get something for mom” so I’m just going to make myself happy by working on my project quietly. Oops! I forgot. I started ranting again. That’s no good. I’m going to go go run a half marathon now instead. A good sweat is what I need right now.

“Am I The Only One To Feel This Way?” Have you ever asked yourself this question. I think at some point of our lives we would all have asked this soul searching question. Sometimes having to ask ourselves this make us feel even more alone somehow.

I have asked this question many times before. I was a lonely teenager. My mom died when I was 10. Father was too busy with work and making sure the 5 of us siblings had a good education. I had to grow up fast on my own. Due to the nature of Father’s job, (Father was a policeman), we had to go wherever he was stationed or transferred. This meant that I had to change schools often. I felt like a nomad.

I was fortunate that dad was stationed at the same place for the first 15 years so at least I had some stability during my early school years. I stayed at 4 different states when I was 15, 16, 17 and 18. Each year was different. I had to adept by making new friends in new circumstances and surroundings. It didn’t help that I was shy and taciturn. When I was 17, I didn’t have my family around me. I stayed with my father’s sisters. I was the only one there. Between my 5 siblings and my dad, we were all living in 5 different states. We were all in different places, separated.

I was lonely. I cried a lot. It was during this time that I made a good friend. She is Kopi Soh. Kopi Soh and I used to dream together. We dreamed of helping others. We also dreamed of writing. I am so proud that Kopi Soh has done what we dreamed about. She helps others a lot in her line of work ie counselling. She has also written an e-book and is in the process of finalising another one.

Her first e-Book is called “Oh, I Thought I Was The Only One”. The book is for everyone who has ever asked or is asking that question. Am I the Only One To Feel This Way? It will make you feel less alone knowing you are not the only one. The book is in the form of personal real life stories with Kopi Soh’s insightful comments and thoughts based on her counselling background. Kopi Soh has a Masters in Psychology, Specializing in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling. Her area of specialty is in working with children, adolescents, couples and families.

Here are some excerpts from the book “Oh I Thought I Was The Only One”

Finding Meaning in Your Personal Struggles…

• “Do I Dare To Be Me?”

• “Do You Ever Feel Alone… Sometimes?”

• “Why Can’t People Understand Me?”

• “Aarggggh! I can’t stop snacking at night!”

• “I Hate The Way I Look”

Friendships….

• “A friendship that almost destroyed me”

• “How Do You Know He Loves You, And Not Her?”

Relationships….

• “People Say Marriage Is A Beautiful Thing… But Is It Really?”

• “I Am Your Wife, Not Your Mother!!”

• “Help! My Husband is a Pefectionist!”

Kids….

• “Teaching Your Teenager How To Care About Others”

Growing Old…

• “When Did I Become Old?”

Coming to Terms with yourself….

• “Go Ahead, Do Not Be Afraid To Be Happy…”

Plus MUCH more!

I am proud and pleased to offer this book to anyone who visits this page at a special price plus 2 audio gifts. Here’s what you get for just $9.90

Self Help Book

The e-book “Oh I Thought I Was The Only One” which retails at $37.00

Relaxing Music

Relaxing Music Collection (Worth $19.95)

Ambient Sounds

Ambient Sounds Collection (Worth $19.95)

You read that right. You’ll get all 3 for just $9.90 Check it out. Click on the link below.

“Oh, I Thought I Was The Only One”

We are all not alone even in our deepest moments of loneliness. Sometimes it helps just to read an inspiring book and listen to some relaxing music.