If nobody believes me that becoming a mummy has made my brain cells deteriorating at an alarming rate, well believe this - I've been obliviously driving around with an expired license for 2 whole months! Hubby saw the 'dead license' in my purse and asked me last night whether I've renewed it in March and I went, "Eh, dah mati ke lesen? Did I, or didnt I?" I couldn't even remember whether I went for the renewal recently. Pathetic or not?
So this morning, I drove (yes, drove, without license. I've been doing it for 2 months, does it matter if I do it for another 1 day?) to JPJ for the renewal and to play it safe, I extended the license for 2 years. It will save me the hassle to remember these things for next time when Nunu is bigger, and who knows - maybe she'll have a sibling by that time.
Made a detour to Mama's place to drop a few things. Mama wasn't home so I lazed around while waiting for Zuhur. After prayers, I went into Mama's room for some powder and moisturizer and was pleasantly surprised to find, in a drawer full of odds and ends, a semi-mechanical pencil way back from my school days.
Y'know, the type of pencil that has a plastic handle and little removable nibs inside it, so that when the nibs gets shorter, all you have to do is take the top nib out and insert it to the bottom side of the pencil, and voila! The fresh new nib under the top nib will be pushed up. Ok, there's hardly mechanical about this pencil but it's surprising how well-kept it was. I must have misplaced it long ago and Mama has kept it in her drawer ever since. I dont think they sell these type of pencils anymore.
Flashbacks of schoolday memories came rushing to me, and I remember how Mama used to buy stationeries by the bulk, and then handed them to us 3 kids, reminding us not to be wasteful and always bercermat. Once our belongings are worn out/lost/misplaced/stolen/broken - we have to report to her and if we're lucky, our supplies are replaced/ replenished without interrogation.
Yup, Mama was always meticulous and careful with money. However as a child, I've always mistaken her prudent spending as penny-pinching - and I used to have a huge issue with that. I remember listening to her reading out loud in detail the costs of our breakfast menu of eggs and bread and how pleased she was because they were cheap. That wasn't so bad.
When I was 17, and desperately needed new specs, Mama decided that I should use her old frames because they were sturdy (and terribly ugly). I was too polite to repudiate (my protests would fall on deaf ears, I'm sure) and for 3 years, I was forced to see the world with such huge and hideous-looking specs. I was the ugly, pimply-faced girl with enormous, 70's style specs - and I dont know how I managed to go through such traumatic experience. Ha, sure I looked funny. It wasn't funny then, but it's sure funny now.
Now that I'm a mother myself, I realized how much I've taken after my mother - I inherit not only her smile and bunion feet, but her thriftyness as well. Call it whatever you want, scrooge, penny-pincher, smart-spender, or cheapskate. We're cheapskates, and we're proud to admit that. But we know a good deal when we see one, and we scrimp and save because we know better.
Recently, I asked Mama, did she realize that her frugal attitude affected us kids, that we might have felt deprived of certain things. She said yes, she saved so that she could give us better things and luxuries that we've never thought of - like piano/swimming/taekwando lessons, treats at the country clubs (I sadly miss their hainanese chicken chop *sob*), holidays at nice hotels and a million other things we take for granted.
Mama sacrificed a lot for us. When I found out how she had saved our family time and time again, I can't help feeling so lucky to have her.
Now I'm glad Mama wasn't a big spender, otherwise my company wouldn't be able to run without her fixed deposit for the bank loan :P
Happy Mother's Day, Mama. We love you.
Mama with the little gremlin
Pressie for Mama.
So this morning, I drove (yes, drove, without license. I've been doing it for 2 months, does it matter if I do it for another 1 day?) to JPJ for the renewal and to play it safe, I extended the license for 2 years. It will save me the hassle to remember these things for next time when Nunu is bigger, and who knows - maybe she'll have a sibling by that time.
Made a detour to Mama's place to drop a few things. Mama wasn't home so I lazed around while waiting for Zuhur. After prayers, I went into Mama's room for some powder and moisturizer and was pleasantly surprised to find, in a drawer full of odds and ends, a semi-mechanical pencil way back from my school days.
Y'know, the type of pencil that has a plastic handle and little removable nibs inside it, so that when the nibs gets shorter, all you have to do is take the top nib out and insert it to the bottom side of the pencil, and voila! The fresh new nib under the top nib will be pushed up. Ok, there's hardly mechanical about this pencil but it's surprising how well-kept it was. I must have misplaced it long ago and Mama has kept it in her drawer ever since. I dont think they sell these type of pencils anymore.
Flashbacks of schoolday memories came rushing to me, and I remember how Mama used to buy stationeries by the bulk, and then handed them to us 3 kids, reminding us not to be wasteful and always bercermat. Once our belongings are worn out/lost/misplaced/stolen/broken - we have to report to her and if we're lucky, our supplies are replaced/ replenished without interrogation.
Yup, Mama was always meticulous and careful with money. However as a child, I've always mistaken her prudent spending as penny-pinching - and I used to have a huge issue with that. I remember listening to her reading out loud in detail the costs of our breakfast menu of eggs and bread and how pleased she was because they were cheap. That wasn't so bad.
When I was 17, and desperately needed new specs, Mama decided that I should use her old frames because they were sturdy (and terribly ugly). I was too polite to repudiate (my protests would fall on deaf ears, I'm sure) and for 3 years, I was forced to see the world with such huge and hideous-looking specs. I was the ugly, pimply-faced girl with enormous, 70's style specs - and I dont know how I managed to go through such traumatic experience. Ha, sure I looked funny. It wasn't funny then, but it's sure funny now.
Now that I'm a mother myself, I realized how much I've taken after my mother - I inherit not only her smile and bunion feet, but her thriftyness as well. Call it whatever you want, scrooge, penny-pincher, smart-spender, or cheapskate. We're cheapskates, and we're proud to admit that. But we know a good deal when we see one, and we scrimp and save because we know better.
Recently, I asked Mama, did she realize that her frugal attitude affected us kids, that we might have felt deprived of certain things. She said yes, she saved so that she could give us better things and luxuries that we've never thought of - like piano/swimming/taekwando lessons, treats at the country clubs (I sadly miss their hainanese chicken chop *sob*), holidays at nice hotels and a million other things we take for granted.
Mama sacrificed a lot for us. When I found out how she had saved our family time and time again, I can't help feeling so lucky to have her.
Now I'm glad Mama wasn't a big spender, otherwise my company wouldn't be able to run without her fixed deposit for the bank loan :P
Happy Mother's Day, Mama. We love you.
Mama with the little gremlin
Pressie for Mama.
1 comment:
Awww .... nice post! I hope I can be as prudent with my spending as your mummy. There's so many temptations, so many nice things to buy. I hope I'll be wise about these things when I grow up.
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