It was wonderful to be home, really. I loved being back home, in familiar surroundings, but I also knew that I will dread confinement month. I don't mind the foods being served to me (the lovely and precious Mother is sacrificing her leave to help out and I really love the food she whips up, even if - according to her - I'm never eating enough which, by the way is an untruth. I always feel stuffed after every meal and I have snacks of biscuits and whatnots in between too!) nor the fact that there is an extra pair of hands to do mostly everything (I'm very lucky, I know) but what I really detest is the fact that I don't have air-conditioning and all I can rely on is the natural breeze. I guess I'm lucky that I stay on a high-enough level that there is natural breeze (at times, mostly in the evenings and in the night) and the most horrid bits of the day are from 2 to 5pm where the sun is blazing and if the air is still, oh boy, my temperature and temper shoots right up! But just so I'll remember, here's how the past week has been (timings may change but the sequence is pretty much the same day after day after day - did I already mention that confinement isn't the most fun-filled affair?!)
7am: Kate is usually up by this time and so does the entire household. The husband leaves for work, the Mother is up bustling about the kitchen and I'm either feeding or trying to wake up or not wanting to wake up but it's usually futile because there's just too much commotion happening. The mother will urge me to have breakfast, Kate will come into the room, Jake will be fidgeting and yup, I'll get up and start my day.
Kate cheche will hop onto the bed wanting to "see Jake didi" and there goes my plans of going back to sleep.
7.30am: Breakfast. My confinement breakfast is pretty standard. It's a hot cup of Milo/Horlicks which I'll have with some cake/bread/biscuits. I'll also have a bottle of chicken essense, a half-boiled egg (I eat so much egg during confinement it gets rather scary and I really don't prefer it anymore for the next few months!). Breakfast is a busy affair because while the Mother and I are trying to have it, Kate will be running around the house, dropping her breakfast all over the floor while we try to stop her from doing so. Jake will usually be sleeping in the room and Kate will also be making visits to him and every time she does so, one adult will have to go take a look because we have to watch that she doesn't disturb him too much. Her over-enthusiasm with him (like he's some real toy) makes it endearing, yet rather tiresome because she will hit him too hard or smother him while trying to sayang him. But because we want her to bond with her brother and not let her feel that she's restricted because of him (it may backfire with her feeling resentful of him) we allow her this freedom of going to see him when she fancies. Breakfast is over not when we finish eating. It truly ends after we clean up after Kate - she'd have littered her food all over the floor so part of the deal is to make the house not look like we'd fed an army in it (& they were eating off the floor).
8.30am: The mother will either be playing with Kate, or brought her down to the market to do groceries or run errands. This will give me some quiet time to feed Jake.
Peaceful baby post-feed. You can see my orbit pjs that I bought from the market because they were long pants. I never wear anything long cos it's usually too warm anyway! But I wanted to make some effort since the mother doesn't fuss when I wear t-shirts & 3/4 bottoms in the daytime.
10am: I invested in a 7-day post-natal massage package and this is the hour that I get kneaded (hopefully) back into shape. The oils are meant to aid in blood circulation & to keep me warm. With Kate, the whole confinement & post-labour stress got to me so much I didn't enjoy these sessions then. The most beneficial lessonI got out from then was how to massage my breasts. The then-masseur taught me how to unclog my engorged breasts and helped me tide over the engorgement pains. This time, I'm more collected and actually am able to relax during the sessions.
11am: Massage over and I now feel like a ba-zhang. I'm binded so tightly that I can't move or breathe freely (it loosens as I move about through the day) but I persevere to keep the binding on till dinner time because I want to lose that tummy flab!
The mother will start preparing lunch as I then take over to play with Kate. We play with her toys, do drawing or read her books. She doesn't have enough toys in the new place but we're trying to make do. It'll take a long time before we are able to clear everything from the old place!
12.30pm: We have lunch. It's usually mee sua with liver/fish/meat/veg and it's always yummy and I always finish a huge bowl. Then I'd feel rather uncomfortable because my stomach has no space (I'm ba-zhang!) & well, I just deal with it. I then spend the next hour or so trying to wiggle my body or keep it really straight as there's no other way I can deal with how full I am!
The mother will either have lunch together, or sometimes she (or my Dad) will bring Kate out of the house so that everyone regains some sanity (I'm the only one confined really, not them!). They'll go to the park or the mall to eat and/or buy things.
2pm: The troupe comes home. Kate will be given milk and put to take a nap. Ideally, if Jake was napping too, this will be the time that the Mother and I have time to do our own thing. I usually surf the net, blog or something; otherwise I'll try to take a nap. The operative word is "try" because this is really the start of what I call the dreaded bewitching hours. It's the peak of the afternoon heat and when you're feeling all hot and sweaty with no means of air-conditioning, I'm at the mercy of the winds. And on days where the winds are absolutely still - OMG, let's just say it's not the most fun thing to endure. Some days, it's so muggy that I get drugged to sleep with the heat (yes, whilst drowned in my own sweat). Most days, it's so warm and uncomfortable that I just lay there and sneak fanning myself. It's terribly uncomfortable.
4pm: The household gets busy again when Kate wakes up from her nap. We then take turns entertaining her, making sure that she's taken care of and the Mother then starts to prepare dinner.
5.30pm: The husband comes home from work - hooray! He can then help to play with Kate - by bringing her out to the playground or to the shops just so they take a walk - and I'll have time left to spend quietly with Jake.
6pm: Dinner is served. The father and the sister will come over to have home-cooked food and time passes quite quickly from here. The sister is great help by taking care of and playing with Kate - so much so that very quickly within this week, Kate's taken to asking for her favourite yiyi in the daytime. It's so sweet "yiyi coming later?" - she'll ask. Or on another occasion, I ask if she wants to have dinner with me and she replies, "No, I want to wait for yeye and yiyi to come"- aaww isn't that a sweetheart!
7pm: The sister will start playing with Kate after her dinner and everyone gets to do their own thing for a while.
9pm: We put Kate to sleep; either the husband, Mother or me.
10pm: The kids are down and the husband and I spend some time catching up and talking to each other. We go through the day's events for both of us and well, just talk about things both important and unimportant. I really enjoy this time because it's pretty much the time I have adult conversation and well, it's the only time where it's quiet enough for me to share with the husband my thoughts and feelings (and worries).
11pm: I head to lie on the bed and by this hour, the winds start blowing and it's actually comfortable. I'll browse on my iPhone for a bit before I try to go to sleep.
7am: Kate is usually up by this time and so does the entire household. The husband leaves for work, the Mother is up bustling about the kitchen and I'm either feeding or trying to wake up or not wanting to wake up but it's usually futile because there's just too much commotion happening. The mother will urge me to have breakfast, Kate will come into the room, Jake will be fidgeting and yup, I'll get up and start my day.
Kate cheche will hop onto the bed wanting to "see Jake didi" and there goes my plans of going back to sleep. 7.30am: Breakfast. My confinement breakfast is pretty standard. It's a hot cup of Milo/Horlicks which I'll have with some cake/bread/biscuits. I'll also have a bottle of chicken essense, a half-boiled egg (I eat so much egg during confinement it gets rather scary and I really don't prefer it anymore for the next few months!). Breakfast is a busy affair because while the Mother and I are trying to have it, Kate will be running around the house, dropping her breakfast all over the floor while we try to stop her from doing so. Jake will usually be sleeping in the room and Kate will also be making visits to him and every time she does so, one adult will have to go take a look because we have to watch that she doesn't disturb him too much. Her over-enthusiasm with him (like he's some real toy) makes it endearing, yet rather tiresome because she will hit him too hard or smother him while trying to sayang him. But because we want her to bond with her brother and not let her feel that she's restricted because of him (it may backfire with her feeling resentful of him) we allow her this freedom of going to see him when she fancies. Breakfast is over not when we finish eating. It truly ends after we clean up after Kate - she'd have littered her food all over the floor so part of the deal is to make the house not look like we'd fed an army in it (& they were eating off the floor).
8.30am: The mother will either be playing with Kate, or brought her down to the market to do groceries or run errands. This will give me some quiet time to feed Jake.
Peaceful baby post-feed. You can see my orbit pjs that I bought from the market because they were long pants. I never wear anything long cos it's usually too warm anyway! But I wanted to make some effort since the mother doesn't fuss when I wear t-shirts & 3/4 bottoms in the daytime.10am: I invested in a 7-day post-natal massage package and this is the hour that I get kneaded (hopefully) back into shape. The oils are meant to aid in blood circulation & to keep me warm. With Kate, the whole confinement & post-labour stress got to me so much I didn't enjoy these sessions then. The most beneficial lessonI got out from then was how to massage my breasts. The then-masseur taught me how to unclog my engorged breasts and helped me tide over the engorgement pains. This time, I'm more collected and actually am able to relax during the sessions.
11am: Massage over and I now feel like a ba-zhang. I'm binded so tightly that I can't move or breathe freely (it loosens as I move about through the day) but I persevere to keep the binding on till dinner time because I want to lose that tummy flab!
The mother will start preparing lunch as I then take over to play with Kate. We play with her toys, do drawing or read her books. She doesn't have enough toys in the new place but we're trying to make do. It'll take a long time before we are able to clear everything from the old place!
12.30pm: We have lunch. It's usually mee sua with liver/fish/meat/veg and it's always yummy and I always finish a huge bowl. Then I'd feel rather uncomfortable because my stomach has no space (I'm ba-zhang!) & well, I just deal with it. I then spend the next hour or so trying to wiggle my body or keep it really straight as there's no other way I can deal with how full I am!
The mother will either have lunch together, or sometimes she (or my Dad) will bring Kate out of the house so that everyone regains some sanity (I'm the only one confined really, not them!). They'll go to the park or the mall to eat and/or buy things.
2pm: The troupe comes home. Kate will be given milk and put to take a nap. Ideally, if Jake was napping too, this will be the time that the Mother and I have time to do our own thing. I usually surf the net, blog or something; otherwise I'll try to take a nap. The operative word is "try" because this is really the start of what I call the dreaded bewitching hours. It's the peak of the afternoon heat and when you're feeling all hot and sweaty with no means of air-conditioning, I'm at the mercy of the winds. And on days where the winds are absolutely still - OMG, let's just say it's not the most fun thing to endure. Some days, it's so muggy that I get drugged to sleep with the heat (yes, whilst drowned in my own sweat). Most days, it's so warm and uncomfortable that I just lay there and sneak fanning myself. It's terribly uncomfortable.
4pm: The household gets busy again when Kate wakes up from her nap. We then take turns entertaining her, making sure that she's taken care of and the Mother then starts to prepare dinner.
5.30pm: The husband comes home from work - hooray! He can then help to play with Kate - by bringing her out to the playground or to the shops just so they take a walk - and I'll have time left to spend quietly with Jake.
6pm: Dinner is served. The father and the sister will come over to have home-cooked food and time passes quite quickly from here. The sister is great help by taking care of and playing with Kate - so much so that very quickly within this week, Kate's taken to asking for her favourite yiyi in the daytime. It's so sweet "yiyi coming later?" - she'll ask. Or on another occasion, I ask if she wants to have dinner with me and she replies, "No, I want to wait for yeye and yiyi to come"- aaww isn't that a sweetheart!
7pm: The sister will start playing with Kate after her dinner and everyone gets to do their own thing for a while.
9pm: We put Kate to sleep; either the husband, Mother or me.
10pm: The kids are down and the husband and I spend some time catching up and talking to each other. We go through the day's events for both of us and well, just talk about things both important and unimportant. I really enjoy this time because it's pretty much the time I have adult conversation and well, it's the only time where it's quiet enough for me to share with the husband my thoughts and feelings (and worries).
11pm: I head to lie on the bed and by this hour, the winds start blowing and it's actually comfortable. I'll browse on my iPhone for a bit before I try to go to sleep.
u ate soft boil egg n chic essence every morning during the whole confinement?
ReplyDeleteTyphoon hit Tokyo Japan. hope u n ur family r nt affected. May god be with u. blessing everyone in Japan.
ReplyDeleteHi hi, yes I was very obedient and had chicken essence and eggs everyday. Some days when I couldn't stomach it, I would take the essence but not the eggs.
DeleteI'm not in Tokyo, but in Singapore but thanks for your concern anyhow!
i was told to eat everyday and i find it scary, so i search online n found ur blog. nice reading ur post.
Deletei saw ur recent post, tot u in japan. glad tat everyone is safe.
It's not too bad. But can be a bit boring and feel gross after over-consumption. Just take a break every few days. Thanks for dropping a msg and for reading! Hope you survive confinement! (You will, but well, not be scarred)
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