猴年：初一

We started off the morning in a typical frenzy. This year, our days are also peppered with study time that the husband has had to put aside to accomplish his assignments. Bad timing/clash of work + play, but as with life, we just gotta roll with it, and make the best we can. So after a bout of disciplined work-time in the morning, we all got dressed and ready.

 

The first thing, is to have the children pay their respects. The first time we did it was last year, and we definitely wish to continue this tradition.

 

Paying respects

 

Seah family, 2016

 

Our first stop out of our home was to my mom's place. There, we had some yummy home-cooked food and a round of well-wishing and angbao exchanges too. Then, yet another tradition where we take a family picture on our family couch... this set of pictures has been taken for many years and I hope that we continue this always. It's amazing to see the past and present, to make comparisons and smile at how silly we are, and how much the kids have grown and how different we may look.

 

My family.

Monkeying around

 

After Mom's house, we did a dash between the MIL's home, my Grandma's home and an Uncle's place. All in a span of 2 hours. It was slightly hectic. Though if it is a form of tradition, this dash from one to another seems to be the case as everyone seems to be hosting lunch and we can only pretty much fulfill as much within a lunch window period!

Cousins

 

I am always reminder how family is important, especially during Chinese New Year. The sharing of family ties, the time spent together... so I recognise the irony of dashing from one place to another which really defies that. However, at the same time, I'm balancing reality of what the kids should remember.. and hopefully, it is not the dashing about, or the grumpy outcome as they suffer from lack of rest, or how 'boring' it is because they much prefer to play with electronic devices. Rather, I hope they remember the festivities, the bustle whilst visiting and the time they spend playing with family (cousins) and how happy we are because we are blood.

 

Growing up together

The girl tribe

As always, as another form of tradition, dinner on this first day of CNY is hosted by my amazing mother and it's a standard evening of eat-until-you-burst, of food, games and drinks.

HUAT AH

So that ends our first day of CNY. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that time really passes so quickly... and with such festivities, I am thankful that my family are well to spend this lovely day together in love and happiness!