Sunburn, Genting, and Patience with Jordan

Good news
After missing my swimming lessons for 3 weeks, I finally got to swim last Saturday. Seng Chor and I arrived at the club at 8 am. Jordan was at the babysitter. We waited for the rest of the divers until almost 8:30 am. While 4 of them including the instructor dived and ‘rescued’ each other on the other side of the pool, I swam. I started swimming about 9 am, and showered at around 2 pm. In between, I had breaks including lunch.

Bad News
I got sunburn on my back. I applied sun block on my face, hands and legs but I forgot about my back. My back and shoulders were rather painful the next day. It’s better now. Seng Chor got sunburn on his head because he has shaved his head. Hehehe!

Another Bad News
Even though I was swimming for about half a day, I still didn’t improve much. Sigh. I can float. I still use the float to move forward. My hands and legs are not coordinating. I tried but the moment I started to move my hands, my legs seemed to kick less, and I would sink. The breathing part is poor too. It’s worse because of my runny nose and blocked nose. I feel like giving up, and moreover, I don’t need to know swimming to learn diving. On the other hand, I am also thinking of getting a personal instructor to help me. This month, I am able to attend only one lesson. Hopefully, it doesn’t rain this Saturday evening. Well, just see whether I can progress further after this round.

Genting
After showering at the club, we picked Jordan from the babysitter. Then, we went home to pack. It was almost 5 pm before we left Genting to join the rest of the Teoh family members.

It was a good reunion. I haven’t seen one of the cousins from Johor for a few years. There were altogether 28 of us:

1) Seng Chor
2) Cabokia
3) Jordan
4) Pa-in-law
5) Ma-in-law
6) Huey Pin (sister-in-law)
7) Danny (Huey Pin’s hubby)
8) Jeffrey (Huey Pin’s son)
9) Li San (sister-in-law)
10) Tua Pek (Eldest uncle)
11) Tua Um
12) Kang Wei (cousin)
13) Tua Ko (Eldest aunt)
14) Ling Ling (cousin)
15) Ling Ling’s husband
16) Sa ko (Third aunt)
17) Uncle Wong
18) Christine Wong (cousin)
19) Fatty (Christine W’s hubby)
20) Nicholas (Christine’s son)
21) Tony (cousin)
22) Uncle Tong
23) Ming Wei (cousin)
24) Ming Wei’s girlfriend
25) Xian Chek (youngest uncle)
26) Xian Sim
27) Li Yuan (cousin)
28) Li Chen (cousin)

Disappointments
I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t take Jordan to the Theme Park. He had 3 indoor rides – that’s it. Hopefully, we can spend more time as a family next time.

I felt rather stressful actually. Before the trip, I kept telling myself to enjoy my time with Jordan. I know that I would have to take care of him full-time in Genting. I need lots and lots of patience. Unfortunately, I lost my temper with him on Saturday night when he refused to sleep. I think I smacked him almost 10 times during the period of 1 and a half hours. Smacked, cried, then up he went again. I was so tired after the swimming and my back was aching. It was so frustrating indeed. Finally, probably about midnight, he finally quiet down, and lied down on the bed.

Screaming Monday
It was before 10:30 pm when I asked him to go upstairs. Everyone was already upstairs. I switched off the lights in the living room. He refused to go up. I scolded him. He almost reached the room, when he wanted to go downstairs again. I scolded him loudly, and dragged him to the room, and put him inside the cot as a punishment. Then, immediately I went downstairs, leaving him with Seng Chor. I needed to cool down. I tidied up his toys. He was still crying when I went up – it was about 5 minutes. He threw all the toys out from the cot, sat at a corner. He didn’t want me to touch me. I said sorry to him few times and tried to carry him. Eventually, he allowed me to carry him. I almost cried too. After awhile, he calmed down.

Super patient Tuesday
Last night, I was super patient with him after screaming at him quiet badly on Monday night. About 10 pm, I took him upstairs. He washed up, drank his milk and watched Thomas for awhile. We turned off the lights at around 10:30 pm. He didn’t want to sleep yet. He was gathering all his pillows, bolsters and napkins together. Each time something dropped, he would ask me to pick it up. He didn’t allow me to sleep at the side, and kept asking me to move. There was anger inside of me boiling. I tried to reason with him. I told him nicely to sleep and lie down. It didn’t work. I ignored him. It didn’t work as well because he kept asking me to move and pick up things for me. He also kept asking me to roll up the napkins. It was supposed to be his ‘trains’. He would say, “Mummy fix Thomas”, “Mummy fix Percy”, “Mummy fix Toby”, “Mummy fix Rheneas”. It was non stop until almost midnight. I almost smacked him. Seng Chor woke up a few times to scold him, but Jordan just ignored him, or replied, “Don’t want”. Eventually, he grew tired, I guess and he lied down quietly, and slept.

Throughout the 2 hours, I was really helpless. I didn’t know what to do. Smack? Scold? Reason with him? I know that I shouldn’t smack him or scold him. Reasoning doesn’t seem to work. Ignoring him also didn’t work. All I did was complying with all his demands with extreme patience until he knocked out. This is not the first incident. It has happened many times, and probably many more to come. Any good advice?