Catch-22

Sigh.

Some friends I have huh. None actually messaged me to ask what happened to my account. Best part is , I actually SMSed one of my supposed close friends a happy birthday and not a word of thanks, nada! This just confirms my thoughts that if I really kicked it in, no one would know.

Question is, is it their fault or mine? Well, I'd leave it at that. I dun really feel lonely. I dun have that need to let everyone know I passed some test or I ate a this fancy restaurant or I bought my wife an expensive gift. Different strokes I guess.

Over the weekend, I was faced with the dilemma most parents face - letting their kids go. In my case, it's the perpetual tug-of-war for time with the kids between the parents and grandparents. Yeah, mundane, but you see, in my case, it can be more difficult than running across the PIE without getting run over. The problem that my wife and I face is the fact that my parents tend to be a little irreverent when it comes to time with my kids.

Honestly, I've never had a problem when my parents wanted to bring my kids out. I'm more than happy because it gives my wife and I a little time to ourselves. However, my daughter can be a handful, and being daddy's little girl, she's much more emotionally attached to me than anyone else. My son, equally a handful, is mommy's boy. So, taking them away from us requires a little bit of tact.

The problem came when my parents decided, at the last minute, after our late-lunch-cum-early-dinner, to take my daughter out "to a special place" and refused to tell us where it was. I relented, as I always do, even though it was 6pm and the next day was a school day, with the proviso that she does not come home late as she has homework to do. So, the 3 of us went home while my daughter followed my parents.

Fast forward to 9.30, I had finished my class and was getting worried that my daughter is not home yet. As it turned out, my parents also brought along our niece, who was sleeping earlier, and had to be woken up. My sister-in-law messaged my wife to ask if we knew where the kids were, and we didn't. I called my mom and, lo and behold, I heard an overseas ringing tone. That's not right, I thought. When my mom picked up the phone, she straightaway said that they were caught in an unexpected jam.

An unexpected jam on the causeway??? At almost 10pm on a Sunday night????? I was peeved to say the least. Why on earth did they venture across the causeway at 6pm on a Sunday in the first place????

Deciding not to wait around, I told my maid to get my son to sleep while my wife and I made our way to my brother's house where my parents would drop my niece first before sending my daughter home. In any case, I wanted to pass my nephew his belated 1st birthday present. So, we went, and we waited, the four of us sitting around feeling all frustrated.

All the while, lamenting the fact that if we didn't allow our parents to bring their grandkids out, we'd have an earful of their comments, especially my mom, and my younger sis. And when we do relent, this is the kind of things that happen. Frustrating is an understatement.

And now they want to bring our kids to Hong Kong at year's end. Should I let my kids go with them??????