So we have moved to our temporary accommodation. We are sharing it with a cricket teammate of Viv's (henceforth referred to as A). I'd noticed the onset of a sore throat at the beginning of the weekend, and now it's become a full-blown case of totally-lost-voice. I can't talk or sleep and so I'm up at 6:30 am, doing what I can at least do -- blog.
Over the last four days, we have done an amazing amount of sorting, throwing, donating, selling and packing. We didn't even have to go through the guilt of throwing perfectly usable stuff which we don't want anymore. We donated our washing machine through PassItOn.org.sg to a needy family. Also, I found a recycle group of Facebook where you can simply post stuff that you don't want but is in good condition and people will just come and take it off your hands within a day or two. In fact, there will be mara-mari over it. One person's trash is truly another person's treasure.
Here are some snippets of the chaos that our place experienced over the long weekend.
Xena (looking at all the stuff on the floor) - Mama, what is happening???
Me - We are packing to move, baby.
Xena - To a new house?
Me - Yes.
Xena - The new house with my own room? With the rainbow on the wall and the bean bag and the Elsa bed and Olaf pillow? Is it ready?
Me - No, not yet. We are moving to uncle A's house first, so contractor uncle can make your new room here. Then we will move back.
Me - Beats me.
Viv - We need to get rid of it.
Me - Yes, we do. Now is the time. If we look at something for more than 5 seconds and can't decide, toss it out.
Viv - Yes.
***
Me - Omg Viv, we need more cartons.
Viv - Again??
***
Me (spotting Viv poring over some Mumbai memorabilia for half an hour) - Viv, please don't get senti. Keep it or toss it.
***
Me (watching Viv open an old carton) - Omg what is in there?
Viv - An old 14" CRT TV.
Me - We have an old 14" CRT TV? Why??
***
***
Xena - Mama, are you making the carton without me???
Me - Of course not. I wouldn't dream of it. Come come.
Me - Xena, don't sit on that. Dangerous.
Viv - No, don't stand on it either.
Xena - Dangerous.
***
Viv - Where is the masking tape?
Me - It was right here. Where did it go??
Viv and me - XENAAAAA!
***
Viv - Are you excited about moving to Uncle A's place?
Xena - Yes.
Viv - Are you going to play with him?
Xena - Does he have children?
Viv - No, he's not married yet.
Xena - Maybe he can find an aunty and marry her, and then have children and then I can play with them.
***
Viv - Where is the marker?
Me - It was right here. Where did it go??
Viv and me - XENAAAAA!
***
Xena - Mama, what did you write on that carton?
Me - 'Shoes'.
Xena - Can you write 'Xena's shoes'?
Me - No need to do that. All shoes are in here.
Xena - And what are you writing on this carton?
Me - 'Dressing table stuff. Hairclips.'
Xena - Can you write 'Xena's hairclips'?
Me - All the hairclips in this house are yours, Xena.
Xena - But can you write 'Xena's hairclips'?
***
Me - Viv, shelf wala banda aa raha hai.
Xena (when the doorbell rings) - Is the banda here??
Me - OMG. Erm, Xena, not banda. It's the uncle who is buying our shelf.
Xena - But you said banda.
Me - Sorry, banda is wrong. It's uncle, ok?
Xena - Ok.
Later...
Me - Viv, washing machine wala banda kal aayega.
Xena - Mama, you said 'banda'!! It's wrong. It's uncle.
Me - Yes yes, it's uncle. Sorry.
***
Xena - Mama, why are we giving away my clothes and toys?
Me - Well, you have so many. We are giving it away to a child who doesn't have a lot of clothes and toys.
Later...
Xena - Mama, why is daddy taking out the washing machine?
Me - We are giving it away to an aunty.
Xena - She doesn't have a lot of washing machines?
***
Xena - Mama, why is the house sooooo messy?
Me - Because we are moving.
Xena - Ok. Then the contractor uncle will come and make it clean and nice?
Me - That's right.
Xena - Can you ask him to put an Elsa bed for me?
Me - Errr... he won't do that. We will do that later.
***
Xena - Mama, can you ask contractor uncle to put a purple and pink tap in my bathroom?
Me - Errr...
***
Me (spotting Viv poring over an old X-ray of his titanium-ed hand from 8 years ago) - Viv, please don't get senti. Keep it or throw it.
***
Xena (watching me pull the masking tape off a carton) - Mama, slowly! You're scaring Blueberry. I'll go and save him!
Me - Huh?
Xena (running to Blueberry) - Blueberry! It's okay, baby. Mama is just pulling the masking tape off.
***
Xena - Mama, Blueberry is scared of all the noises. Let's feed her.
Me - Him.
Xena - Let's feed him.
Me - I've already fed him.
Xena - But she's hungry again.
Me - No, she's not.
Viv - He.
***
Xena (carrying something incredibly heavy for her, such as a book) - Mama, look how kind I am!
Me - Huh?
Xena - I'm helping you. You said kind people help others. So I'm kind.
Me - Right. Yes, you're very kind. And thank you.
Over the last four days, we have done an amazing amount of sorting, throwing, donating, selling and packing. We didn't even have to go through the guilt of throwing perfectly usable stuff which we don't want anymore. We donated our washing machine through PassItOn.org.sg to a needy family. Also, I found a recycle group of Facebook where you can simply post stuff that you don't want but is in good condition and people will just come and take it off your hands within a day or two. In fact, there will be mara-mari over it. One person's trash is truly another person's treasure.
Here are some snippets of the chaos that our place experienced over the long weekend.
***
Xena (looking at all the stuff on the floor) - Mama, what is happening???
Me - We are packing to move, baby.
Xena - To a new house?
Me - Yes.
Xena - The new house with my own room? With the rainbow on the wall and the bean bag and the Elsa bed and Olaf pillow? Is it ready?
Me - No, not yet. We are moving to uncle A's house first, so contractor uncle can make your new room here. Then we will move back.
***
Viv - Why do we have such much stuff??Me - Beats me.
Viv - We need to get rid of it.
Me - Yes, we do. Now is the time. If we look at something for more than 5 seconds and can't decide, toss it out.
Viv - Yes.
***
Viv - Again??
***
***
Me (watching Viv open an old carton) - Omg what is in there?
Viv - An old 14" CRT TV.
Me - We have an old 14" CRT TV? Why??
Viv - I won it in a competition in NTU.
Me - Why do we still have it? Can we throw it?
Viv (testing it) - It works. See?
[For the record, I sold it for $12. The guy who bought it for his sons' room was thrilled. Kept thanking me for the 'very good deal'.]
Me - Why do we still have it? Can we throw it?
Viv (testing it) - It works. See?
[For the record, I sold it for $12. The guy who bought it for his sons' room was thrilled. Kept thanking me for the 'very good deal'.]
***
Xena - Mama, why are we playing music on the iPad all the time?
Me - Because we don't want it getting buried under something and getting lost.
Xena - But I don't like this song!
Me - Because we don't want it getting buried under something and getting lost.
Xena - But I don't like this song!
***
Me - Of course not. I wouldn't dream of it. Come come.
***
Me - Xena, don't sit on that. Dangerous.
Viv - No, don't stand on it either.
Xena - Dangerous.
***
Viv - Where is the masking tape?
Me - It was right here. Where did it go??
Viv and me - XENAAAAA!
***
Me - Xena, please move out of the way.
Xena - But where do I go then?
Me - Go to the other room.
Viv (in 'the other room') - Xena, please move out of the way.
Xena - But where do I go then??
***
Xena - But where do I go then?
Me - Go to the other room.
Viv (in 'the other room') - Xena, please move out of the way.
Xena - But where do I go then??
***
Xena - Yes.
Viv - Are you going to play with him?
Xena - Does he have children?
Viv - No, he's not married yet.
Xena - Maybe he can find an aunty and marry her, and then have children and then I can play with them.
***
Xena - Mama, are you putting all my toys in the storeroom?
Me - Not all. You can choose ten to take along with us. The rest will go into the storeroom till we return.
Xena (dragging her biggest and bulkiest toys over to me) - These three... and...
Me - Omg noooo....
Xena - But you said ten.
Me - Ten small ones, baby.
***
Me - Not all. You can choose ten to take along with us. The rest will go into the storeroom till we return.
Xena (dragging her biggest and bulkiest toys over to me) - These three... and...
Me - Omg noooo....
Xena - But you said ten.
Me - Ten small ones, baby.
***
Me - It was right here. Where did it go??
Viv and me - XENAAAAA!
***
Xena - Mama, what did you write on that carton?
Me - 'Shoes'.
Xena - Can you write 'Xena's shoes'?
Me - No need to do that. All shoes are in here.
Xena - And what are you writing on this carton?
Me - 'Dressing table stuff. Hairclips.'
Xena - Can you write 'Xena's hairclips'?
Me - All the hairclips in this house are yours, Xena.
Xena - But can you write 'Xena's hairclips'?
***
Xena (when the doorbell rings) - Is the banda here??
Me - OMG. Erm, Xena, not banda. It's the uncle who is buying our shelf.
Xena - But you said banda.
Me - Sorry, banda is wrong. It's uncle, ok?
Xena - Ok.
Later...
Me - Viv, washing machine wala banda kal aayega.
Xena - Mama, you said 'banda'!! It's wrong. It's uncle.
Me - Yes yes, it's uncle. Sorry.
***
Me - Well, you have so many. We are giving it away to a child who doesn't have a lot of clothes and toys.
Later...
Xena - Mama, why is daddy taking out the washing machine?
Me - We are giving it away to an aunty.
Xena - She doesn't have a lot of washing machines?
***
Me - Because we are moving.
Xena - Ok. Then the contractor uncle will come and make it clean and nice?
Me - That's right.
Xena - Can you ask him to put an Elsa bed for me?
Me - Errr... he won't do that. We will do that later.
***
Me - Errr...
***
***
Me - Huh?
Xena (running to Blueberry) - Blueberry! It's okay, baby. Mama is just pulling the masking tape off.
***
Me - Him.
Xena - Let's feed him.
Me - I've already fed him.
Xena - But she's hungry again.
Me - No, she's not.
Viv - He.
***
Xena (watching Viv carry a super heavy carton) - Daddy, you are so strong.
Viv - Yes. You can also be very strong if you have a lot of... (pauses)... Mama, fill in the blanks?
Me - ... dal and rajma... and milk... and vegetables... and fruits... and rice... and parathas!
***
Viv - Yes. You can also be very strong if you have a lot of... (pauses)... Mama, fill in the blanks?
Me - ... dal and rajma... and milk... and vegetables... and fruits... and rice... and parathas!
***
Me - Huh?
Xena - I'm helping you. You said kind people help others. So I'm kind.
Me - Right. Yes, you're very kind. And thank you.
***
6 comments:
This is funny... your old tv??? LOL
Reminder, there's a linky for the A to Z challenge reflections post on Monday. Look for it on the main blog. Thanks!
Maui Jungalow
It must be a pretty bad sore throat to keep you up -- hope you feel better soon!
BTW, considering that all she knows is being turned upside down, I'd say Xena is taking it all quite well. :)
Have you tried feeding her pani puris?
Been thru this recently; can totally relate to all the non-Xena conversations :-) Get well soon.
Purple and steel!
This totally made my day :) On other news, I am moving next month, is it really this bad? :O
Post a Comment