It’s been less than a year teaching here and it took a lot of persuasion from the Deputy Director and prayers on my part before I accepted the appointment.. 

And as expected, there was some unhappiness among the team, all of them been here much longer than me.  In fact, I heard that one of them was so upset that he stormed into the Deputy Director’s Office after the announcement.  Guess I need to pray very hard for God’s guidance and wisdom for this new appointment.

And then God allowed another surprise last night when I received a call from an ex colleague.  There will be a re-structuring in the department and they asked whether I would like to return to work for the company again. 

This is not the company with the nasty boss, but it’s the first company I joined after I graduated from NUS.  I was with them for 12 years before I left in 2007 to be a stay home mom.  It was not an easy decision then.  12 years is a long time.  The company had been really kind when I raised my concerns about the kids and they actually created a part time job for me!  ( Never heard of in the long history of the company).  And when I decided to quit eventually, they were gracious enough to have an open invitation for me to join them if I decided to return to full time work. 

And now I need to pray really hard whether it’s God’s will for me to return to the industry as I had been in the teaching line for only 6 months.  I really enjoyed the teaching and the students.  So what shall I do?

Teaching is fun too.  I teach about 18 hours a week and the rest will be doing admin stuff like setting test papers, preparing lecture notes, tutorial sessions etc.  Busy but manageable.  What I like best is that we can leave on the dot of 6pm.  Not like my previous place whereby you are expected to stay beyond official time to impress. 

And I am also getting quite close with a bunch of students, whom I taught for two semesters already.  I had invited them over for Chinese New Year and they are very excited about it!   And I also managed to share my faith with some of the closer ones. 

I also have some students who are deemed “trouble makers”.  They discrupt classes, make lots of noise and swear so frequently in their conversations.  The swearing appears in every sentence that they uttered, just like punctuation marks.  I was so fed up with the group ( 3 boys + 1 girl) during one class sessions that I threatened to send them to stand in classroom corners if they don’t stop swearing and start behaving.  They thought I was joking and was stunned when I did just that.  The rest of the students were so amused when they witnessed three big fellow ( 17 years old) being sent to the corners.  I know they are no longer kids but hey it worked!  Now, they are much more serious during my class, knowing what’s in store if they mis-behave..  They answered questions and followed instructions when given.  In fact, I was pleasantly surprised when they provided very good answers during the class.  I really hoped that they had truly changed deep within. 

I know it sounds so cliche.  But teaching is really fulfillling.  Knowing that you can make a difference in the young lives.

I commented to hubby that God is indeed good. He has blessed us so greatly.  That the family can have birthday parties for all three kids every year. Sometimes, it’s McDonalds Party, sometimes it’s one at home. I am glad that my kids are not asking for the special ones, like to have a magician or special performace at the party. They were just happy with their friends around, playing board games, treasure hunt and some other simple party games. And last night, I prepare some cup cakes and they had a great time decorating their own cup cakes!

Here’s some photos!

I looked back and remembered my own birthday parties when I was their age ( many years ago lah!) Birthdays celebrations were just a cake, ordered from the neighbourhood bakery. We would “aim” the design that we wanted for the months before the birthday and went straight to it when it’s time to order the cake!  We never felt deprived that we did not have big birthday celebrations at all!

I wonder, can I do the same for my kids’ birthdays too?  Just a simple cake cutting without all the fanfare?

But a few days ago, I really lost my cool at this new work place..  You must understand, it is really unlike me.  But the boss whom I worked with now is simply terrible..  He shared some info during a meeting and gave our team the direction to go for a certain project..  But when I verified with him again one week later, he claimed that he never gave us the direction as mentioned..  I was totally confused and got another team member to confirm.  Even when both of us confirmed that we heard the same thing from him, he insisted that we were putting words into his mouth..  We tried the contact the remaining team member but he was insistent that we were lying.  This is not the first time when he would deny what he said.  He would tell you to do A today and change to B a few days later, insisting that I was not listening to him..  What made my blood boil was his cutting remarks every time when we disagree..  I finally lost my cool and banged on the table to insist that he did say what we heard..  Not proud of myself and was unable to have a good night sleep on that same day..  I nearly wanted to just type out my resignation letter and throw it to his arrogant face!  Is God trying to teach me some things here?  Maybe to be more humble?  Or more patient?  I don’t know,,  But I just know that he is one of the push factors for me to consider taking up the teaching opportunity.

My new job is demanding and I would be mentally drained by the time I dragged myself out of the office..  Hubby is very understanding and he made a point to pick me up from work every day so that I need not take the public transport back.. He has also offered to take over some of the housework so that I will not feel so stretched..  Thank God for providing me with such as a supportive life partner.

A new development came last week when the poly that I was teaching part time asked me to join them as full time staff..  After much praying and thinking, I decided to give it a go..  Retailing is probably not a sutable career for mothers who have kids..  You are on “duty” as long as the stores are open..  In fact, colleagues from stores sometimes call me as late as 11pm to ask me about work stuff.    And so I opted for the teaching job as it will have more stable working hours.  Do pray along with me, that whatever decisions I make, will be pleasing to God and be within His will for us..

And when we had to cancel out mission trip to bangkok this week due to the circumstances in that country, we rushed to book the air tickets and hotel once our pastor declared the cancellation of the mssion trip..  Thank God we managed to get the tickets and hotel reservations..  Yippee!  I am looking forward to the trip..  Though i always go Hong Kong for business trips, this is our first trip as a family..  Can’t wait 

So now, i am preparing myself and the family for the coming changes..  Kyla is not happy that mommy is no longer able to fetch her from school.. Hope that the family can all adapt to the changes, me included..  Having stayed home with the kids for about two years now..