Princess is beginning to look more and more like a teen.

Angsty one. You could almost feel the raging hormones in her whenever her emotions run high. Qinzhi’s not so adept at conflict situations and she tells you so by shouting at the top of her voice and banging the door to create her own space. But often after that, she comes out fine. She just needs to let go.

Initially I thought this part about managing emotions is something I have to teach her. But now as I am writing about it, it dawned on me that this is something she is showing to me and —-teaching me.

If I m angry, let it out. Don’t keep it in for any internal struggles and having inflammation.

We finally moved out of Redhill on 10.10.2020

This space was where we stayed for about 11 years.

The last few days the house was pretty messy, but we continued to carry out the activities as always.

Qinzhi wanted to make cupcakes with loads of chocolate chips and we did.

I took some photos of Qinzhi in this space, in case in future Qinzhi looks back and she would be able to find this space which nurtured and protected her,

We packed and Qinzhi packed. And she let go of many things too, one of them , the soft toys Ah Seng jiujiu bought for her, she is mindful that these were bought using hard earned money and I m proud of her for being considerate,

She gave them such a hug before saying goodbye to these. And before long, we are out of this space and in a new one. We came back to the flat Mommy lived in when I was not married,

And you both settled down readily. Its not a big space but Grandpa and ah mei yiyi are just next door. And we had dinner every night. Where Qinzhi and Huaihao sleep is where Grandpa used to sleep in and because daddy is working night, is now sleeping in the room I used to sleep in.

Every morning, Grandpa would fetch Qinzhi and Huaihao all the way to Alexandra Primary School and in the afternoon all the way back. While we are deliberating if we want to transfer Qinzhi and Huaihao to a school nearby, I am extremely mindful of Qinzhi’s feelings.

Qinzhi has her friends in school and the teachers she love. While in the past she hates Math she now tells me that now she looks forward to Math and loves the subject. I texted her teacher to thank her for not giving up on my Qinzhi and for instilling this interest in Math in her.

Separately, this month we saw Qinzhi drawing a lot more

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Seeing the eye Qinzhi drew made me think of the world that comes in at her eye. What exactly is Qinzhi seeing?

And we celebrated Ah Hui ayi’s birthday one week later after we moved.

Then in the afternoons, we made cookies 🙂

Asked Qinzhi if she wants to transfer from Alexandra Primary School to a school nearby and she says no.

Much as out of convenience and for her well being, I wanted to move her to somewhere closer, but I am also learning to respect her wishes. A school is not just a place to learn and be educated, its even more, its a sense of belonging together with friends, teachers.

Its not something we can easily take away with the word convenience.

We are also teaching Qinzhi about decision making and to be committed to make a decision work.