Shocking follow by sad…

The spouse messaged me and said that one of his Singaporean colleague died in Nanjing. I was shocked. I have met this guy before. What was really sad was that he has a five-year-old son. The last they heard from him was at 10pm last night over a conference call. Today, he is gone.

This again reminded all of us the brevity of life.
Missed by one mark

Kai came out from school and told me that he missed his top Science award this year by one mark. Being a mum, my first concern was if he was sad and disappointed.

me : Are you sad?
Kai : No
me : Are you disappointed?
Kai : No. Jason (the boy who beat him) deserved it.
me : Did you congratulate him?
Kai : Yes, I did.

That's great!. I think reminding him constantly that if he is good, someone else will always be better. Because he is top, there will always be someone who wants to beat him. I am happy, Kai took it very well. We aimed for a clean sweep this year, he didn't get it but you know something, this result is his highest in all his three years doing Science. Well done, my son!
Children – mine and others

We were on our way for dinner at one of the more popular newly opened mall. It is often frequented by expats children, mostly in their teens. There were four expat (not judging but it is really easy to identify them) teenagers outside the mall, two girls and two boys. They were loud, spoofing around, screaming and laughing out loud, taking a public place as their own home. Basically, it was a nuisance.

I was silent. Little Ann was holding to my hand and turned to look at me.
Ann : I won't be like that.
Me : Ok, good
Ann : (Her tiny face turned and look up one more time) I promised, I will never do that
Me : (Turned and looked at her with a reassuring face)Yes, I trust you
By the way, Ann is seven turning eight this November.

After dinner, we went to H&M to pick up some jeans for the kids. You can't imagine how fast they have grown.

Ann and I went to the fitting room for her to try out her jeans. A group of teenagers (expats again), boys and girls were turning the fitting room into a market place. I was very annoyed. The staff did nothing to control them. Actually, it is very difficult for them to control these kids. Some of them really think that they are the princes and princesses of the city.

Expat parents, while you are earning big bucks, are you even aware of what your kids are doing out there?