Your Workbench

This is your workbench. With this, you will be busy for hours making your ‘inventions’ out of used stuff. Then sometimes, you name your inventions with some cool names, like “the ten thousand megatron”, “the nine thousand time machine” or “the dorkatron”.

And what can those interesting inventions do? Apparently, the Dorkatron can change people! So if there is somebody who is lazy and crazy, we just have to point the Dorkatron to this person. Zap it, and after awhile this person will become a cool person.

Yupz…., that is what the Dorkatron can do….

The Kite Museum

Another three days to go before you are back to school. I called a few friends and relatives, wondering if they’d like to join us to spend the day. But I guess I was a bit late in calling them and everybody seemed to have their own plan already.

Well, what the heck, we’ll have fun even if it’s only the two of us, won’t we? We decided to go to Museum Layang-Layang - the Kite Museum, in Lebak Bulus area. And it turned out to be worth visiting.

The entrance fee is Rp10 thousand per person, a more reasonable price compared to the National Museum which I think is so under-priced. The tour started off with a video show about various types of kite. Then we went in to the display room that showcases different kind of kites, from different places in Indonesia as well as from other Asian and European countries. And we were amused by the tiniest kite in the world, which was only about 1,5 cm long.

Next, you were given a chance to make your own kite. Kak Hendra, the tour guide, was extremely friendly and helped you made one with Ben10's Ghost Freak and Four Arms drawing on it. We also saw how big kites were made in the small workshop they have.

And we found out that there’s going to be a Kite Festival this week-end in Rancamaya. Sounds like worth going too, isn’t it?

A Client-PR Consultant Conversation

This afternoon, you managed to build up a three stack cards. You were so thrilled, and I hurriedly took a shot of it so that you can show it to your dad later on. And then, we had this funny conversation:

You: Mama, can you arrange so that the picture would appear in the newspaper?
Me: Why would you want that?
You: So that people would know that I managed to make it
Me: Yeah, but why would the papers be interested to publish it?
You: Becoz it’s not an easy job to do, and I can do it
Me: Yeah, but there are a lot of things happening out there, and there are many things that are much more important to be published. You know that the papers have only limited space….

Hahaha, I felt like I was talking to a client. Don’t worry hon, I’m publishing it in our blog. So hopefully, people would know……

My Sweet Little Boy

10.30 pm, we were in the bedroom, and I was occupied with myself, scribbling and surfing the net. Apparently, the cappuccino I had this afternoon was quite strong.

Just then, I noticed that you were also busy with yourself, making something out of an empty yakult bottle, tissue roll, scrap paper and an empty face powder box. I wasn't sure what it is until you explained excitedly that it is a high tech weighing machine and microscope, where you can see the numbers automatically (??). Hmm, okay, another invention….

I went back to my notebook after we talked a bit about what your "new gadget" can do. And then, from the corner of my eyes, I saw you quietly put it away, leaving the playing area neat and clean, before finally settling in for your night sleep.

What a sweet little boy you are! You bring nothing but laughter and cheerfulness. Never nag, never been a hassle, never ask for too much.

And for tonight, this is all you asked for:

“Mama, can I please have a choco sandwich before I go to sleep?”

Sure honey, I’ll get it for you…., right away! It’s always been - and will always be - my pleasure to serve you.

Pop-Up Card

Last night, when I got home from a farewell of a colleague, you showed me your latest artwork: a pop-up card! And you did it all by yourself, just by following the step-by-step shown on a TV program (not sure what it was, but you said it was similar to Faber-Castell – but it’s not)

Your pop-up card showed Four-Arms (one of the super heroes Ben 10 can transform into) at the center, talking to you, standing on his right. You are surrounded by other kids, and I think there’s also a little monster behind you. In front of Four-Arms, there is also another kid – yes, it is a two-dimensional card. I think it was so cute and so smart of you to make it all by yourself.

So what are you going to be when you grow up, honey? An Art Director?

Quality Time?

Sometimes I wonder how it feels to be the only child, with a working mother. I remember when I was little, the nicest thing when coming home from school was to find my mom busy in the kitchen preparing my lunch. Until now, I can still feel the warmth of having a hot meal each time I got home.

I can also still vividly remember the family tradition of having afternoon tea. Your grand dad was a civil servant, and he usually got home at 2 pm. So, after having his afternoon nap, we – me and my bros - all got together at the front porch, having tea and warm snacks - fried cassava or banana, or my mom’s specialty, fried lumpia – while talking about the day’s activity.

Now, how can anybody afford having that kind of family tradition nowadays? And this is what you do when you want me to come home early, you draw a picture of a wall clock, pointing at the hour you want me to get home, and ask me to sign on it.

Hmmm, I really hope that what they say about quality time is better than quantity is true.

PlayStation

You are always good at making stuff, and very creative too. Yesterday, when I got home, I found you with something that I first couldn’t figure out what. But when you hold it in the proper way, I couldn’t help but smile, a make-believe-play station!

You know that I wouldn’t buy you that game, yet. You never really whine for it, but I know that you actually want it, very much. Hence, this silly make-believe-playstation, made from two plastic photo frames (got them as a game prize in my last office away day), complete with a cable that you can plug into the TV.

I think there is still a controversy on whether this kind of game is good for kids your age. I once read a child expert (Kak Seto if I’m not mistaken) commenting that playstation can actually bring a positive impact, because it involves strategy and quick decision. But of course, as long as the kids are not addicted to it.

And now, there is this new kind of playstation at a quite reasonable price, Rp399 thousand. The game comes in various cartoon character version, such as the Hot Wheels, Avatar, and many more. Toy City and Metro display this new version of playstation at strategic spots and kids are allowed to try and play that game. In fact, just this afternoon, you spent almost an hour at Toy City playing that game (it was the Avatar version, your fave).

Seeing how much fun you had when playing that game actually makes me so tempted to buy it for you. But I’m not sure that you will not get addicted. And you know I will not always be around to remind you to stop if you are playing the game for too long. So until I am absolutely sure that I can trust you with that game, I will not buy it for you. I hope you don’t mind. (I still think your make-believe-playstation is so cute though……)

A Spaceship On A Sunday

Today, for the second time, we spent the whole Sunday just the two of us in our bedroom. And we enjoyed it all the same.

Your project for today is a space ship, made by carton boxes i got from Hero Supermarket yesterday. It was really cool!! Someday, just someday, you might be able to build a real one

(written on December 3, 2006)

Drawing

I was amazed. Yesterday, as I came home from the office, I found you with a drawing. It may looked like an ordinary drawing of a 6-year-old. But then I realized that it was actually a copy of Einstein Kristiansen’s drawing that you saw from the Faber-Castell VCD. Which means that you can actually memorize and visualize what you saw in the VCD and then put it together on your own!

The drawing is actually quite complicated. On the VCD, Einstein begins by drawing ten straight lines which then turned out to be the feet of two dogs standing opposite each other. On top of the dog, there are three penguins, two hens and a smiling face (supposed to be Einstein’s). And below, hey, it's a monster!

(Written on 30 August - on my way to the office)