I LOST MY NAME

1 August 2007, Wed


5.00pm

I received a call from Ms Shira (one of Emelia's Teacher).... "Hi Emelia's Mummy, I'm Shira. Emelia wants to confirm if you're coming to pick her up this evening?"...


Hmm, a thought struck me. Since I became a mother, I realised that I lost my beautiful first name... All of Emelia's acquaintances & friends (doctors, nurses, teachers, friends' mummies, friends) address me as "Emelia's Mummy". I lost my identity. What happened there? Months ago, I realised that I began to introduce myself as "Hi, I'm Emelia's MUMMY. And you're?" When I was at work, meeting business associates or new colleagues, I found myself dumbfounded. I couldn't introduce myself and say my first name. Knock-knock, wakey-wakey, Emelia's Mummy.


The second thought that came to my mind was "Ok, Emelia, if Mummy & Daddy don't pick you up from school, did you think that you will take a taxi or walk home on your own? [Don't forget you are only 3.5 years old]."



5.30pm - 8.00pm

Shut down my computer and made a dash to school. Brought Ms Emelia for her favorite wanton noodles. Gosh, she ate the whole plate of noodles plus dumplings plus cheese cookies plus some buns. She said "I'm so hungry, you know!".


She had her face and nose stained with the noodles' sauce. She looked real cute with the mess on her face and I regretted not taking a pix of her. But as she was wolfing down her noodles so hungrily, perhaps others would think that we've not been feeding this child at all until dinner time. I made a mental note to also ask the teacher about her appetite during the day.


Ms Emelia was able to "report" to MOTH that we went to the noodles store that is really near her school. Wow, we are impressed by her navigation skills. She is able to recognise routes, landmarks, and the location of her favorite food stalls.