#wfhdiaries Days 28-32

It dawned on me earlier this week that I am currently responsible for the boys’ vegetable intake. Prior to the CB I depended on childcare and to a lesser extent, grandmothers, to enforce vegetable consumption, so I knew the boys got at least one meal with vegetables a day. At home, Daniel kicks up a huge fuss if there is so much as a sliver of green in his food, and Andrew is at a stage where he just follows suit, so for most CB meals they’ve just eaten carbs and meat, and get their fibre from fruit and wholemeal bread. And, hopefully, Meiji biscuits (with oats – that’s the green coloured one). My mother is probably shaking her head as she reads this, but now she knows why we are all so vague in our responses during video calls. Are you eating vegetables? *giggles* *act cute* ok say bye to Popo.

The aforementioned epiphany struck when I realised that the big 32-pack box of Meiji biscuits with oats that I’d bought on Tuesday was more or less gone by Friday (each packet contains 7, I think Jon and I combined only ate 2 packets at the most, so by elimination you can guess where the others ended up). By Thursday, Daniel had already taken apart the box to make the beginnings of a “house” that has been torn down and is awaiting recycling.

M helpfully reminded me that there are “veggie” Meiji biscuits (tomato and assorted vegetables?), but I haven’t seen them anywhere recently; even the 32-pack boxes only made an appearance at my preferred NTUC on the day I purchased them. Perhaps other parents are facing the same dilemma as we are regarding vegetable consumption, though from what I can see on Instagram, it seems like everyone else’s pre-school children are more than thrilled to consume vegetables (but maybe those whose children are eating Meiji veggie biscuits in lieu of fresh vegetables aren’t posting about it, obviously not).

The theme of Daniel’s English/ Good Citizen class this past week was recycling. All well and good, but then 20 minutes before Andrew’s Chinese class a few days later I read the instructional email more closely (common theme, this. I confess to Nelsonian blindness on first readings) and realised that we needed two empty plastic drink bottles for the craft. We have not purchased drinks in plastic bottles for a very long time, and I wanted to tell laoshi that even if we had I’d have recycled them. Why isn't there a common theme across classes? So I ended up providing two take-out containers for the craft. Whatever floats your boat, right? 

Yes people it's a boat ok

Except that the boat also ended up getting taken apart before we could see whether it floated. Andrew’s English teacher has also sent me a message to ask me to send pictures or videos of Andrew’s “crafts” and any “work he has completed”. I sent her the  above photo of the boat, which she said she would forward to laoshi, and repeated her request, this time emphasising that she "needed" them, and adding cute thank-you stickers.

She can see the double blue ticks on that last smiling cat emoting a pink heart but I have not replied her. I suspect the stickers are her way of hiding how she really feels about the fact that I have allowed Andrew to, essentially, anyhow-ly with korkor, is my best friend! (Awwww.) After the Meiji biscuit with oats debacle, I realised that most afternoons Jon and I just ignore Them and really work, and we have no idea what They do. Or what Daniel does after Andrew finally deigns to nap (Mummy, I’m very tired, I want to lie down. *proceeds to moodily mooch at the window*). At least this past week we know he was consuming Meiji biscuits with oats.

Jon recently got through an intense period at work (well he’s still working intensely but the previous intensity was for a different reason) and so I felt more expansive this past week about the food we ordered. I went out on a limb and decided to try Artichoke’s Vietnamese deli set. It wasn’t mind-blowing, maybe because it was takeaway, but what it had going for it was that it was thoughtful and comforting. I appreciated how much they stuffed into the hoagie, and what they stuffed into the hoagie – the large, thinly-sliced pickles were a nice touch, just like how you would make them at home.

It was also the first time EVER that we tried anything from Artichoke (children, etc.). In fact I got lost searching for it, although we used to walk along that stretch of road back in uni when it was nice to stay out late and just walk around. We always called that yellow building the faux church.

I also took the plunge and ordered The Secret Mermaid’s all-day drink set. This was my third drink delivery from them during the CB (fourth if you count the drinks I sent to R). This CB is unleashing my inner alcoholic, except that I pass from the pleasant buzz to grumpy sleepyhead stage in less than half-an-hour, so perhaps it’s a bit of a waste. The drinks are excellent though, and they don’t stinge on the alcohol.

Frankly, I don’t think many of us will be going back to work in our respective offices any time soon (even after the CB is over) so for your reference, I leave you with a list of the best places we’ve dapao-ed or ordered take-out from this CB. Largely for the Clementi/Dover/Holland/West Coast area (one cannot cook all the time. Really. I love cooking but ---):

1. Nude Seafood (I drove down to collect it). Yes, it really is as good as it looks on your friend’s IG stories.
2. La Pizzaiola (Sime Darby). Currently 1-for-1. We usually order the four cheese pizza and spaghetti bolognese, and we finish it all in one meal. #carbs4lyfe
3. Blk 19A Dover Crescent kuey chap. The uncle collecting money and taking your order is grumpy AF but don’t be deterred. Order extra duck, you won’t regret it. The gravy is divine. Also at this coffeeshop: the best ice lemon tea in Singapore (price and taste wise, ask for siu dai, bring your own container), the shao la I ate a lot of when I was pregnant and therefore cannot eat so much of now.
4. 365youreverydayfood (Science Park).
5. Sunset Railway Café (down the row from Daily Scoop Sunset Way). Won’t deny it, we’re supporting the gentrification of our neighbourhood.
6. Sushi Tei. Nothing like a Rainbow Roll, no mayo.

#wfhdiaries Days 24-27

It has been a while since we’ve done any activity that required either Jon or me (usually me) to be the designated driver (“Designated Driver”). Not that we undertook many activities that required a Designated Driver before all this circuit breaking took place, especially after the boys came along. Jon used to say that he could probably still drive better than me even after he’d had a few drinks, not that this theory was or ever will be tested. It wasn’t that long ago I was sitting in the bowels of the TP building, signing minutes. The fate of a man, the power of a pen, and all that.

But far more important and enduring than the Designated Driver is the designated dishwasher (“Designated Dishwasher") (surprise, also me!). So imagine my consternation when Andrew sidled up and had the gall to solemnly inform me that I had to wash dishes like Papa, you know?, as he rubbed the palms of his hands together in imitation of Jon’s dishwashing. I suppose it has increased 100% compared to pre-circuit breaking days (1 to 2 represents a 100% increase), but the fact remains that as the Designated Dishwasher, even if I wash my hands off the dishes, I will still be washing my hands off the dishes. Instead, my nod to the customary Mother’s Day household chore concession was to only mop 2/3 of the house. Not that the last 1/3 mopped itself as part of the customary Mother’s Day do-goodery by one’s husband and children.

This past week, mothers all around Singapore were given the privilege of making a Mother’s Day craft with their child as part of HBL. Daniel, of course, interpreted Mother’s Day craft to mean that his mother should be the one assisting him in its creation, despite my pointing out to him that what this really meant was that his father should be doing so. But I got my own back when Teacher P asked what have we planned to do for mummy for Mother’s Day this weekend? by gleefully informing the assembled six and almost-six year olds and their accompanying parents (almost all fathers) that whatever we were doing, it would involve A L C O H O L. I kid, I kid, though I’ve probably had more cocktails in the past 3 weeks than in the past six years, thanks to delivery services and the fact that there is no need for a Designated Driver.

Teacher P replied Chloe, I thought Daniel was supposed to be making the flowers?  

I slunk off, properly chastened. But once the Zoom meeting ended, I finished the craft. Might as well make it pretty.

This morning, I got to enjoy almost 3 hours ALONE with a run and my favourite ice lemon tea because everyone else slept in (Jon splurged on aircon). Not a bad start to Mother’s Day at all.

   

#wfhdiaries Days 20-23

Keeping small children alive, the house in a livable condition (the cleaning lady hasn’t been coming, obviously, so the standard which constitutes a “livable condition” has unsurprisingly plunged dramatically) and having to decide, AGAIN, what we’re going to eat for dinner (and now lunch and sometimes breakfast), was exhausting before the CB started, and is still exhausting now. Who knew?

I finished my training plan for the cancelled Income Eco Run last week and took this week off running completely, which means I have spent an irrational amount of time fretting about how this will affect my Strava stats. Funnily enough, I had more motivation to keep to a plan when life was going on “as normal”. I peaked just before the CB started, and it was a struggle to get to the end, though I knew I would feel worse if I just called it quits. I ended the training cycle with a crappy time trial, which made me sad for a while, but overall I was just glad to have some closure and certainty during this unsettling time. It’s been a weird couple of days without getting outside for a run, but I made the discovery of the CB just last week: I can cast my phone screen to my TV screen without a Bluetooth dongle. It has made Les Mills On Demand workouts more fun; almost like being in a live class where you know exactly what joke the instructors are going to crack next.

Other family members have decided they would also like to do a spin class

On Monday, Daniel’s class had Show-and-Tell. The topic was “A Weekend With My Family”. What the kids were supposed to have done with their families over the weekend that didn’t involve TV and multiple naps eluded me, although when I read the email again I realised that they could talk about a weekend Before CB. It didn’t stop one of his classmates from happily chirping, “Last weekend, I watched TV and play phone!”, a perfectly acceptable way to spend a weekend these days. Teacher P’s response was disappointing but expected; she suggested that this kid tell her parents to read to her more. Daniel drew a picture showing him taking the bus to music class with Mummy and Andrew (I later wrote “I like taking the bus to music class with Mummy and Andrew” on a separate piece of paper for him to painstakingly copy onto his worksheet as I tried not to freak out that he is 6 this year and does not appear to know how to spell “I”.)

On Wednesday, I logged on to my work laptop bright and early and made sure my IM status was an optimistic, green, “Available”. I continue logging in as “Available” every weekday morning despite the fact that it is an untruth because it makes me feel like I am “Available” and actually doing what WFH Parents are supposed to do, namely, WFH. But right after that I usually go to the living room and turn on the family laptop to play the videos the boys were supposed to have watched a couple of days ago for that morning’s HBL. That day I also double-checked the timetable which I received at least a week ago and remembered that I blatantly ignored the fact that there was craft, because we have no craft materials – when you let two small boys muck around on their own around the house pretty much 90% of the time, you end up getting rid of a ton of craft stuff, otherwise the mess is unbelievable  (I collected all their oil pastels and stored them in a washed take-out container and put it in the storeroom after I spent a good part of the first CB weekend scrubbing oil pastel stains off the floor).

My mother thinks I should instil in them the good habit of Cleaning Up After Themselves. I agree, but am currently lacking the fortitude required to undertake this herculean task. In 5 years’ time I will be complaining about how no one helps around the house, and I will only have myself to blame.

I tried to start working but Andrew got really emo seeing all his friends and teachers on Zoom instead of in real life, so I allowed him to sit on my lap and look solemnly at the laptop screen while laoshi did her level best to engage a bunch of four/almost four year olds. I told her we didn’t have any construction paper and she said oh, any kind of paper will do, which is when I remembered the stack of old Economists lying around. Andrew snapped out of his emo-ness long enough to create a craft from an article about the future of artificial intelligence and a hastily retrieved roll of masking tape.

The theme was "traffic". I am available to clarify your interpretation of the craft.

During my trip to NTUC this week, I noticed that some enterprising member of their staff had brought in a whole bunch of assessment books for ages 5+ and up. I only threw the Spelling and Writing one into my germy cart which I was pushing without disposable gloves on before I realised that there were at least three other topics available, so I took one of each. Daniel is obsessed with writing the answers down as neatly and perfectly as possible, which means that he keeps erasing and re-writing and then I have to get out the vacuum cleaner to vacuum up all the eraser droppings. But I did have the foresight to replace our very old, on its last legs vacuum cleaner just before the CB started. We have the amazing Phillips PowerPro Expert 2100W, and I have to say, I have never enjoyed sucking things up more.

****

See you next week. 

Even Though It Hurts

Two Saturdays before the half¹, I fell about halfway through the last long run of the training cycle. I was running along the pavement just after Trevose Crescent, around the Raffles Town Club area, when I tripped on some uneven pavement and didn’t regain my balance in time. I sustained external injuries to both knees and my left elbow, and there was a weird feeling in my left knee. I didn’t think too much about it at the time because I’ve fallen while out running before, and the worst pain is usually during the first shower after the fall, and to the external injury. Anything that felt weird internally usually resolved itself pretty quickly. 

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¹ I feel like I should refer to it as the “Singapore Half-Marathon 2019” because I think that’s what the organisers intend, what with the WMM bid and all, but it’s just been so many years of “Eh are you doing stan chart this year?” and “Ya, but half only”, I can’t refer to it any other way.

So I ran home, which took another hour or so, to finish that run (it was meant to be 2 hours long). I didn’t have much choice really because I needed to be home to get the boys to their Saturday morning let Husband sleep in activity, and I didn’t bring my ezlink card or my phone². 

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² Though I did see Riana from Coached out running on the way back, I recognised her from social media and the video Coached released (a meet your teammates kind of thing), but how weird would it have been to have stopped her mid-run with bleeding knees? In retrospect, perhaps I should have, but I put it down to Singaporean paiseh-ness.

***

One to two hours later, it became clear that something wasn’t quite right. There wasn’t any swelling or bruising, but every time I stood up and put weight on my left foot, my left knee was horribly painful, like I would gasp in pain kind of painful. I had to hobble the first few steps before the pain eased up, and I came to dread sitting down (because I’d have to get up).  

Needless to say, I Freaked. Out. Wouldn’t you?!  We had a birthday party to attend later that Saturday, and Sunday was the school concert, so I had a lot to distract me³, but if you’ve been my real life friend for a significant enough period of time, you will know I magically still had the ability (and energy) to freak out⁴.

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³ Andrew’s class did an “Under the Sea” item (the Chinese version), and he was a red starfish. Daniel’s class did “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”; by virtue of age alone, the cute factor wasn’t as high, but I feel that I need to give a shout-out to both boys, because I am trying to be fair that way. 

⁴ Probably why I don’t have that many real life friends. I am thankful for those who stuck around, all four of you. Five if you count Husband. 

I Googled “knee injury” incessantly for the next few days, and kept praying that I would wake up one day sooner rather than later, with my left knee magically feeling better, and I could get on with tapering as planned… But surprise, surprise! obviously that didn’t happen. By the Wednesday after my left knee was still giving me problems every time I stood up, and I was freaked out enough to get in touch with two doctor friends (Kok and Mark), and made an appointment to see an osteopath. Because I had some slight swelling behind my knee, and Google said it was a Baker’s Cyst (the osteopath had his doubts), and Google also said osteopathy was helpful. I probably rely on Google too much.    

The osteopath was really nice – after doing some tests he said he couldn’t find anything wrong with my hamstring, and I think he did some tests to rule out a meniscus tear, so he said based on what I described, the not quite right feeling, it was probably a ligament sprain or tear (you can imagine the effect this had on me). He couldn’t make a formal diagnosis, but suggested I consider an MRI, if only because the half was so soon. He did also say that even if I had torn a ligament, I could probably still run because I would be running in a straight line. Being a paddler (he seems to have represented NZ at competitions), he was really understanding about my wanting to run despite this injury, and he didn’t discourage me from doing so. He encouraged a wait and see approach, and told me it was ok to try spinning and some easy running (I will be eternally grateful for him). Mark, being an orthopaedic doctor, did try to dissuade me from running, but I told him I was going to wait and see because I’m stubborn AF. 

Anyway, I sucked it up, plugged in to Les Mills On Demand⁵, and spinned. Spun. Did spin class. Went spinning, by myself. (Which is the correct way to say it?)

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⁵ Not the cheapest, and a bit silly because Les Mills classes are part of the Fitness First membership,  but it proved to be a good decision to subscribe. It also helped when I had ITB issues earlier this training cycle.

I continued to spend Too Much Time at work Googling knee injuries and just generally freaking out. My No. 1 Supporter, (Jon, for avoidance of doubt) said that the greatest injury was to my BRAIN, and given his experience with sports injuries, he was sure I would be fine by the time the half rolled around. “No, you have not got an ACL tear.  I have seen people who’ve torn their ACL, and I am very certain you have not torn your ACL.” He also said he thought I had been on the brink of overtraining, which is why the fall affected my left knee so badly (“The way you fell, it’s almost impossible to have sustained such a bad injury”), and that it was just as well I had an enforced break from running. 

***

I was grumpy and cantankerous and a pain to be around, but on the bright side, it finally gave me the ba*ls to do what I have always longed to but been just ever so slightly humchee to do. One week after the fall (so 3 days after I saw the osteopath and consulted doctor friends), we were at dinner at La Pizzaiola (Sime Darby Centre), and were seated at a table next to a family of five – father, mother, two teenaged girls and one teenaged boy. The oldest of the kids couldn’t have been more than 16 or 17.

The very first thing Daniel did after the first round of food and drink came was to knock over his glass of lime juice⁶ right after we had told him to be careful around it. Somehow being at a dining table turns children into bulls in china shops. 

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⁶ This is atas, freshly squeezed lime juice, and is wonderful. So this was a tremendous waste, both of the lime juice and money.

Jon was uptight because I had been on the friggin’ edge the entire day (missing running terribly, Googling knee injury recovery time, fretting about whether it was a sprain? A tear? If it was a tear, what did I tear? Messaging the long-suffering R miles away in Dubai but still willingly subjecting herself to my s**t because that’s what friends are for, worrying about how much fitness I was going to lose, OMG, etc.), and as the lime juice trickled off the table (Daniel did not get any on him, can you believe that?!), he said quite loudly and irritably, “GET OUT”.

As Jon swept Daniel out of the restaurant, one of the teenaged girls said, very audibly, “Why did he have to say ‘get out’? You can say, like, ‘Can you follow me outside, please?’”. 

I turned around and rolled my eyes at her. Without any fear!!!

To her parents’ credit, I heard them sheepishly mumble something like “You don’t understand, you don’t have children….”

Later that night, to make me feel better (and despite how annoyed he must have been at my level of unwarranted cantankerousness), Jon told me about the year he won at national schools after sustaining a hamstring injury two weeks from the competition (“I just did what I had to do to maintain my fitness, like push-ups” *mimics rapid succession of push-ups in the air* – this earned him an eyeroll, because not everyone can do push-ups in rapid succession like a 14 year old national schools pole vaulter, least of all ME), and the story of Steve Hooker at the 2009 World Athletics Championships (this is super inspiring, give it a read). I am hardly (and am unlikely to ever be) an athlete at Jonathan Lau’s level, much less Steve Hooker’s, but I have to say I was inspired and cheered up enough to actually take up Jon’s suggestion of giving pool running and swimming a go the next day⁷.

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⁷ I was waiting for Jon and the boys to pick me up for church outside Clementi 321 when this guy started chatting me up – he was from India and was here studying, and he was just really weird. When I finally managed to get away, right after refusing point blank to give him my number, HE FOLLOWED ME AND ASKED ME FOR MY NUMBER AGAIN. I just said no and walked away. The worst part was despite the number of people around, I felt no one would have helped because in their Sunday morning stupor, they wouldn’t have realised if anything was wrong.  

***

I recovered sufficiently to do the last two runs of the taper plus another spin class, and really, in the week before the half, I felt God reassuring me that I would complete this half and that my knee wouldn’t give way and I would have to give up running FOREVER and I would never find another sport as fulfilling and----- 

It wasn’t about PR-ing this time. Of course, one always hopes that one’s best effort on a given day will result in a PR, but I knew it would be difficult and a lot would depend on the weather, despite the whole “first time it’s an evening race!!!” thing. It may be cooler in the evening, but it also has the potential to be really humid, more so than the ungodly hour of 5.30am. 

It was that I’d put in a whole lot of training, committing to doing my weekday long run after work for about 6 weeks (this was dreadful, mentally) and all but giving up dessert and sweet things for about 5 weeks⁸. I’d also eaten the same thing for lunch for almost a month⁹– probably more – because it just worked for me calorie and nutrient wise and was easy to digest. I had promised myself that after I finished the half I would go on a major baking spree, starting with this apple pie that caught my eye a couple of months ago, and I knew it wouldn’t feel right if I went ahead with the baking spree without completing the half¹⁰. 

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⁸Redman sells Bob’s Better Bars – I stocked up on the PB & Chocolate on Wednesdays. $2.50 a bar before the Wednesday 10% discount. And I did allow myself some dark chocolate and a few bites of Jon’s grandmother’s birthday cake. 

⁹Rosemary chicken sandwich, no lettuce, add avocado, on rye bap or spinach bap or beetroot bap or sourdough or if they were out of all the aforesaid breads, country white. The counter staff at Cedele Metropolis now start shouting out my order, down to the type of bread, the moment they see me walking up. 

¹⁰I question whether this shows that my relationship with food has regressed?

Most of all, it was just about having some closure to this training cycle. I knew that I shouldn’t sacrifice long term knee health, especially since I’d already got runs planned for the first half of next year, but as I told my boss (yes, this wore me down to the point where she noticed and asked me why I seemed so tired and I told her I was tired from being grumpy because I was worried about not being able to run the half on Saturday), I’m just one of those shen2 jing1 bing4 people who will insist on wanting to do this kind of thing despite being, essentially, injured¹¹.

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¹¹Actually what I said was, I was one of those “irritating” people who would do this kind of thing, because it IS irritating. But she didn’t hear me because I mumbled it sheepishly so I went with shen2 jing1 bing4 instead when I repeated myself.  

***

I rushed through the race expo on Friday, stopping only to chit chat with Ben for a bit at the Coached booth, and was almost at the exit when I spotted a booth selling Bauerfeind knee guards. There was a cheerful young chap with neatly combed hair, and a bald uncle type with a tag on a lanyard that read PHYSIO. After listening to me rush through why I thought I needed to buy this very expensive kneeguard ($145), bald uncle type casually said I probably had a cartilage problem (my already frayed nerves almost snapped at this point) and informed me with a smirk on his face that I probably shouldn’t try to PR on Saturday. 

I had prayed – this sounds silly, but bear with me – that God would lead me to things that would help me get through Saturday – and impulsive as it was ($145?!?! On a kneeguard I didn’t even Google because I was in a rush to meet D for lunch?!?!) and as annoying as I found smirky uncle, I got fitted for one by cheerful young chap, handed over my card, and rushed off with the box containing the kneeguard sticking out of my resuable shopping bag where I had earlier stuffed the race pack. 

***

The half itself was, to be honest, quite horrible at parts. Despite the cooler evening air, it wasn’t pleasant running weather because of the humidity. I knew I didn’t have enough experience and training to tough it out at a PR or even close to PR pace, so I focused on just putting in a sustained, consistent effort. I ran a positive split, which I expected – as I came off the West Coast Highway (about the 16km mark) my core was hurting, I was slowing down despite putting in the same effort as I did at the start, and I wanted to give up so badly and run/walk the rest of the way. But I knew I would be disappointed with myself if I didn’t at least hang on to the end, and my training with Coached this past year and a bit helped me to keep on keeping on. I didn’t even get a rush of motivation when I spotted Jon and the boys at the side of the road near his office – the best and nicest surprise of the night. 

It was a HUGE relief to finally finish, and I was really happy with my time (and the kneeguard!!!) because I knew I’d given it my all (even more than at Gold Coast earlier this year). Walking to get my bag was a literal PAIN, as was the walk to the nearest MRT station after that (I’d also sustained a huge blister on my right foot from dumping water over my head, which soaked my socks and shoes), but I was happy and relieved and above all thankful that I got to run at all. And my left knee felt okay! And I knew Jon would say I TOLD YOU SO but I didn’t care!

Maybe I will never run well in Singapore – and I don’t have the time or money to fly around the world to races with cooler weather¹²– but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop working hard and trying. 

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¹²There is a whole conversation to be had about running and privilege, bla bla bla; I think of this way too much already so nope not going there here. Haha. 

***

To apple pie, chocolate cookies with mint chips, chocolate chip cookies, maybe cheesecake again, a tea pound cake?, and most definitely BANANA CREAM PIE! I wish you a blessed December. Also, Jon has declared that he never wants to hear the word KNEE again. You know what to do the next time you see him. And D, I know you’re reading this – thanks for eating Cedele-esque food for lunch on Friday. It's been ten years since we did pupilage together, and as you predicted right after you issued the challenge, I failed to not not mention the K-word for the whole of Saturday before flag-off spectacularly.