Mak & Bapak

I was chatting with Nazrah on Yahoo Messenger when I received a call from my dad & mom...




YESSSSS…my parents are coming next month!!! It is more thrilling to know that my mom is coming here, after 2 years.

You see, my dad is the ‘always so protective’ grandparent who likes to apprehend their kids when they try to discipline his grandkids. He used to come to San Francisco every 3 months. Most times, his visits would always turn out to be nightmares! My husband and I could not even ‘jentik’ the kids. Nak marah? Jauh sekali. So that’s when the battle between the ‘so well rooted to his traditions’ asian dad and ‘I am American, this is my family and let me rule my family’ husband started. Errr me? I am the middle person, usually on my husband’s side as we both are raising the kids but at the same time always trying to condition bad situations between them.

My husband does love my father. They have so much in common. They both love to talk, go on long drives and they’re both just as bullish. As we all know, the position of a stepfather and a grandfather are worlds apart. One is the man of the house and he rules and the other, always saying ‘Takperlah kata budak-budak!’, and blames the parents for the kids’ misbehavior.

When my father visits by himself, the trouble is always more than when my mom is with him. My mom is like me. She puts her foot on the ground when she needs to be with the kids. She can be ever so loving with the kids but she abides by my husband’s and my rules. If we tend to get pretty harsh to the kids, she would let the whole episode go by, and then talk to us in private, unlike my dad.

After dad’s visit last year, we laid the ‘hidden’ rule indirectly for my dad, through my sister and mom…that dad is not advised to visit unless mom comes along. Mom understands that fully. She knows the whole drama mama whenever dad is here to stay (let’s not also mention the day when dad drove on the wrong side of the road and the parking ticket he accumulated).

Coincidently, mom’s company was outsourcing to China. Mom volunteered to take the early retirement as she says that she needs a break and would like to spend more time with us here in San Francisco.

When mom talked to me on the phone last night, alangkah bahagia nya beta when she said that she is coming with dad! How much I miss her. How much I long for her warm smile and sweet voice.

She said that she would very much like to see Los Angeles (she didn’t get the chance to go to LA the last time she visited). Sure, LA ker, Reno ker, no problem. I am also thinking of giving them a nice surprise…2 nights accommodation at a hotel on Union Square (heart of San Francisco)!

I am sure this visit will be a very nice and successful one. Wish I could keep my parents here for good. But they keep saying ‘Abih, anak sedara kau lagi dua tuh sapa lagi nak jaga?’…now shall I start another new topic on that?

I do love my parents just the same, believe me I do! My dad is the World's Greatest Grandpa voted by my kids...he's just keeping up to his title :)

Ooohh, I'd better call my mom now and give her the list of things that I might want from there, like my ever popular soon to be 'kebaya' or baju kurung. Mom says that she is going to start baking in a few days as she needs to feed her grandkids with homebaked cookies and Ely wants her kueh tart nenas and kueh makmur.