Shasha and Aiman

The cheery boy on the left is Aiman and the seemingly subdued girl in red in the middle is Shasha (Auntie needs to explain this because Auntie is imagining that there are more than 10 people reading my blog and the 11th or so person don't know about Auntie's family). They are two of Auntie's kiddies. By 'kiddies' means they are the 'little' (not so now as they grow) extensions of Auntie even if they do not come from Auntie's womb. They are auntie's first children even if auntie and AH may get little ones of our own in the future, Godwilling.

Anyways, today's entry is about Shasha and Aiman. They are cousins. Aiman's dad is Auntie's old bro (can see his blog in my blogroll) and Shasha's mom is Mommy, Auntie's non-blogging -but-FBing sister. Aiman is second amongst his siblings (Along/ Ya, Jijin and Ajmal) and Shasha is elder sister to Qin.

Yesterday was a great day for Aiman and Shasha and a serendipitous start to their long school holidays. They have done very well in their UPSR. What should make their success a more prideful moment for their parents and family, in auntie's view, is the fact that they have gained this success not at the expense of their enjoyment of their childhood. Auntie have observed that many children are so pressured to be academically excellent (within a very narrow Malaysian-education context), that sometimes they become deficient socially and in their personal developmental wellbeing (mamachupan, betul ke pyscho-language ni, ke psycho-babble je?). Auntie observes both Aiman and Shasha have deep interests and excel in non-academic things also. They generally know what they like and don't like and they can express themselves pretty well. Most importantly, they are comfortable expressing their thoughts and anxieties to their respective parents and close relatives. Auntie rasa these are things that are important in children. Their academic achievements are then a bonus and auntie hopes the adults around them don't expect these to be the be all and end all of their young lives.

OK, enough serious pondering. CONGRATULATIONS Aiman and Shasha. Many more exams to come but Auntie is sure you both will take them in your strides. For Aiman, don't sweat the Science grade. Auntie tak terror science pun boleh jadi doktor. Tapi of course la auntie boleh treat ill birds and cats jek (tu pun illegally). Kalau treat manusia sakit, harus manusia tu jadi tak sakit tapi...mati! Kekeke. In any case, auntie tak rasa Man nak jadi doktor kan? Ada banyak lagi profession yg lebih interesting, kan, kan? On the other hand, maybe Man is too smart for primary school sciences. Nanti kat secondary school and university maybe more interesting sciences to learn and you'll excel.

OK, to all Auntie's kiddies and pseudo-kiddies, enjoy the long school holidays. Looking forward to kiddies' Penang trip (hopefully jadi!).

Lotsaluv,
-Auntida-

PS: The other two people in the pic are Along/ Ya and Uncle Joe. This was taken during a treasure hunt game (for duit raya), an emerging family tradition on raya morning.