THE BOOSTER I NEED

It's about time!

This pretty little thing came for me a few days ago. Well, actually I went to get it myself. Ordered it online sometime in October from a BabySayang.com which costs me 1/2 the price of the stores here. Can u believe that? What a rip off!



At first I decided to cancel the order and let Nunu eat on the floor for the rest of her baby life when Teresa (the SAHM-cum-online entrepeneur whom I envy soooo much) e-mailed me & informed me the delivery cost (which was absurd). I gotta thank my lucky stars because coincidently, Teresa hails from Penang and was planning to come home to her hometown for a couple of days. She could bring my order over & I can collect the item without additional charges. How sweet is that?

So we made the necessary plans for the most convenient pick up date & place for both of us. She gave such an excellant guide via sms to her sister's house somewhere in Butterworth, somewhat an 'uncharted territory' for me, that even the blur 'sotong' (who has zilch sense of direction & a tendency to get disoriented even in her own kitchen) like myself had no problem finding the place.

When I reached there & dingdong the bell for a while (nobody in the house seemed to hear it!), the aunty next door who looked like she was preparing a feast (for human or ghosts, I'm not sure) asked me whom was I looking for.

I said 'Teresa."

"Ini lumah Cina punya duduk tau." Either she thought Teresa is a Malay name or she has a hearing problem.

Teresa came out apologetically, saving me from further argument with the aunty. We chatted for a while, about business mainly - the baby product market & the computer market. As she opened her car trunk to get the seat, I mentioned 'road side business' to her as I have to pick up stuff from my suppliers by the roadside all the time when they can't send the items to my shop, and she happily chirped, "Pasar malam!" How typically Malaysian! Apparently, that's part & parcel of an online business too. She always drop off things to make it more convenient for her customers.

As I was holding Nunu, she offered to carry the item to my car, and took one look at the my cluttered interior. I was a little embarrased I made an excuse that I think all mommy's car look like mine. She agreed totally & added that even if the car is spick & span, then we know it's not the mommy ferrying the kids here & there! LOL, it was a nice meeting such a genuine and warm person.

Back to the booster seat, installing it was a little tricky - thanks to Nunu who was constantly interrupting her abah. When it was done, Martian said, "Are you sure she will stay in there?" He was concerned that it might be another 'bad investment' like the playpen, the 'buai', the cot (we still co-sleep most of the time) etc.

Ok, there might be more white elephants in my house than the real ones in Malaysian forests, but I was determined to train Nunu with good eating habits. That means, meal times must be spent in the booster chair, no more running around the living room & congee smearing all over the carpet & sofa.. & my clothes.

We tried to get her on the seat without strapping it to a chair, just to see her reaction. Of course, she freaked out & tried to climb out. We resorted to a trick we are too familiarised nowadays - get Minnie to sit on it.

When Minnie sat there so quietly & docile, we cooed & patted the 'good & clever Minnie' while ignoring Nunu. It worked. She 'apppp'ed and 'heeepp'ed & pushed Minnie down from the seat & tried to climb in.



So, operation booster seat was a success. Feeding time was a little bit more in control and less messy. I can now finally be at peace in the kitchen, while she happily eats her biscuits or bread on the seat (not the mention making a helluva mess on the floor, but hey, you can't win all the time.)

But I'm not ready to let her eat congee on her own just yet!