1 post tagged “family”

makings of a chef

Today, I am out of facial cleanser. The household is also out of bath soap and shampoo. Hair conditioner has congealed on the sides of the tub, and there's no way for me to get the goo out in the soonest time possible. Meantime, anybody who uses the bathroom has to slip-slide on the gooey floor in order navigate their way to the bowl. And all the loo paper have been turned to a soggy big mess under the bathroom sink. The only thing that escaped the mass annihilation of toiletries is the tube of toothpaste.

The time has come for me to acknowledge that there is really a child in the house. A four-year old preschooler with a beguiling smile, a sweet disposition, and a cuddly personality that could melt your heart in an instant. A child who is the very picture of innocence as she sits quietly in front of the TV, watching Spongebob Squarepants on DVD. Angelic, innocent... until your back is turned, and the mayhem begins.

Months ago, she was just content with observing what the grownups do. She asked questions, and we gave simple answers so she can grasp the significance of our day-to-day activities.

That was ago. This time, tired of the toys that she usually played with, she's begun checking things out around the house for herself.

Now, we are stowing things in hard-to-reach places, keeping breakables under lock and key, as well as in the process of rearranging the entire house to make it more child friendly. Cutting implements have to be placed out of sight and out of reach. These days, I often catch myself prising broken pottery or rusty cutlery from teeny hands, and my word of the day is "Don't."

Then, she has discovered her inner chemist, and yesterday, she began a major experiment with all the liquids she could find in the bathroom, much to our distress (the 250ml shampoo was meant to last for a month, and the bar of soap was for two weeks, the facial cleanser could have gone for six months under my sparing use).

Sorry folks, we didn't expect that there's going to be a child in the lives of my partner and myself at this moment. It just happened so suddenly that we barely had time to prepare for her (more on how Sakura came to be with us in a later post ). Basically, we're still like frantic new parents, and we are still learning as we go about this child-rearing bit.

We have installed baskets to hang stuff out of reach. The house now resembles a handicrafts shop, with all the baskets and other stuff hung overhead on the rafters and on nails. It's our way of coping with the growing curiosity of the little one.

Meantime, all those plans of turning the house into an artistic enclave would have to be put on hold for maybe two years or so.