5 January 2016, by Evelyn Tan

Paris with Kristen 

Hi there! Time flies and it’s been months since my last blog! I know I wrote then that I will upload my next blog ‘soon’, but ‘life happened’ and time just whizzed past in a flash and before I realise it, December has passed!

So as I enter the new year and reflect on last year, I resolute never to have something like that ever happening again! (I really don’t like the feeling of committing to do something but not having the time to see it through — Whatever the reason maybe! Sorry readers for bearing with my irregular blogging!) You see, life with four gets a little unpredictable at times, so we can’t always have it the way we plan it (but it does make life very interesting — we ‘wing it’ all the time, go with the flow!!!) And by the time the kids hit the sack, I am pretty much ready to do the same soon too!

So, my solution: I will say ‘Sayonara’ for now till the time comes for me when I know I can commit the time to do this regularly enough! So till then, here’s wishing everyone a blessed year ahead in 2016 !

Oh … And one more thing. You know, the funny thing was, while I was living in guilt all this while, feeling bad about not having the time to churn out my next blog, I actually had this blog (which you will see below) ready several months back!  I had it written while Kristen and I were holidaying in France but once I was back, it was straight ‘back to work’ again for me and I forgot all about it! Anyways, enjoy !

Thanks to Singapore Symphony Children’s choir, Kristen got to go to Paris as part of the entourage representing Singapore in the Singapore en France Festival. I immediately jumped on the bandwagon and booked myself an air ticket to join her after her work was done to spend some romantic mother-daughter bonding time together in Paris!

Just before Kristen set off for her leg of the tour to France, she went onto the Internet to google ‘the top ten places to visit in Paris’ (whoever taught her that?!) and decided that we had to go to Disneyland! After much persuasion on her side, I finally relented to include this as part of the itinerary we would have while in Paris. ‘Much persuasion’ was needed because Paris is where you shop and dine and see yourself being romanced by the beautiful sights and Haussmann architecture, and not throw yourself around 360 degrees in some daredevil ride, scaring yourself silly, then laughing all the adrenalin out on your way to the next scarier ride! (Sometimes you get so scared or it gets so dark, you close your eyes throughout the ride, you don’t even get to see what is happening around you, so whatever for?!)

'Young and old' at Disneyland Paris

‘Young and old’ at Disneyland Paris

Anyway, this is the story of how I got the time to write this blog —  both of us were spending time with our electronic devices while queuing for our turn to board the elevator of ‘Hotel Twilight’ — her with her kindle book and me with my notepad and blogs! So much for bonding time!

The 'not- so- old' young -at- heart.

The ‘not- so- old’ young -at- heart.

But we will oblige won’t we, simply because we love them — Like how we still sing the ‘ABC Song’ even though we have nailed down that the 15th letter of the alphabet is O since eons ago! Well, anything to have those precious shared moments together. Fortunately we still had some time for sight-seeing (and shopping!) and with a 10-year-old, the love shown has found an appreciative heart and Kristen has either verbalised that on the trip or just come forth to hug me. (“For no special reasons”, she would say, but with a smile.) My heart just melts and all those roller coaster rides seem very worth it.

Outside The Lourve. We got to see the Mona Lisa!!!

Outside The Lourve. We got to see the Mona Lisa!!!

Overall, it was very therapeutic for me as a mum to be able to revisit those times when there was just Kristen, and I appreciate how blissfully quiet it is with just one child! I am sure the other boys would have loved to be in her shoes being able to just spend alone time with their parent(s) and I made a mental note to make sure more of such opportunities happen for them. It need not be an elaborate trip like this (otherwise they will have to wait a decade for it to happen once!) — maybe a trip down the supermarket or to the library when attention can be given to just that one child. With four,  I have to get creative, otherwise I will be making four trips to the library in a week; but would I have wanted it differently? Nah …it’s a marketplace for now and a tough juggling act to keep but it would be but for a season — they grow up fast I have been told — plus, it’s four times the joy and fulfillment watching them grow! Now, this is the kind of ‘ride’ I enjoy!

 

Posted on : January 5, 2016

Filed under : Uncategorized

1 Comment

Celine

January 6th, 2016 at 6:33 pm    


You are old? LOL. You must have had such a great bonding time with Kristen!

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