I'm a full-time mummy

Yes, I totally meant water! Over a week ago, the pipes which rely on the main water tanks just dried up. Not a drop of water out of the pipes and thank God, our bathroom's shower are connected directly to the main water pipe located downstair and we could still shower and use some water in our room.

The ones that got affected are connected to the water storage tank which are the sinks, balcony and hubby's office room. Hence, we have not been spending time at the balcony since there's no water until hubby managed to borrow a super long ladder and climbed up through our bathroom to the main water tank outlet and fixed the problem.

So when we finally have the water back, I waited a day for the pressure and air to clear before venturing back to our balcony and let Ben play in his water pool again.

So, yes, dearest water, WELCOME BACK!!

To: The Management Office of One Utama Shopping Centre,

I would like to express my dissatisfaction over the customer service we received while we attempted to rent the toddler’s ride on car (kiddie ride) at your mall recently.

We were told by one of your customer service staff to wait for 4 more months in order to be able to use the ride-on car and were then reminded about the requirements in order to rent the ride-on car. Did I mentioned that your staff said it sarcastically to us? Oh nevermind, we as parents generally have higher tolerance level for things like this...

Yes, it was then that I saw your notice board stating that the kiddie ride is fit for 2-5 years old and height below 90cm. FYI, my child is 20 months old and his height is 89cm.(Btw, a quick search on Google will get you to a mummy blogger who proudly mentioned that she lied when asked whether her child is 2 years old as "not that they even bother to check".)

We then mentioned that we have no problems using the similar ride-on car at Ikano shopping mall, to which a reply of “That is Ikano, this is One Utama” with an arrogant look shot back at us. Oh wow... first came the sarcastic comment, now we get an attitude as well?!!

Is that how your customer service staff is trained to communicate with your mall customers? I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to politely inform us about the reasons and such of your ride-on cars requirements.

We then asked for the baby stroller instead, and were told there’s none available. So what do you expect your mall customers to do? Wait until there’s one available? Or perhaps your customer service staff should have taken the initiatives to offer other alternatives to us? We get NONE. We were just left standing there figuring out by ourselves.

As we were about to walk off, one family returned a baby stroller and we rented that unit. After all, there’s not much choice we can take anyway… I mean, we already get the 'complimentary' sarcasm plus an attitude, what else can any parents (not to mention, PAYING CUSTOMERS) ask for?

You really have to look into how your customer service staff communicates to your mall customers. After all, if we have been treated politely, we would’ve enjoyed our shopping experience and spend more.

Really unhappy customer,

Everytime before Ben takes his meals, we always go through the following routines:

1. Ben will push his high chair towards the dining table.

2. We carry Ben up and put him in his high chair.

3. Ben put on the safety belt for his high chair by himself.

4. Get ready with Ben's food and drinks.

* (If eating out, Ben would be either waiting patiently for his food, or busy wiping the table or his high chair with a wet tissue or tissue paper)

5. Ben prays before he starts his meal.

It takes a while but it's worth the perseverance to follow through and keep up with the routines. It's satisfying when I see Ben doing all this during his meal times.

I'm not sure at what age a child supposed to do all this, but I feel good manners starts from young. In time when he's tall enough or when I'm confident he can manage it, I'm going to teach him to put his plate and utensils into the kitchen sink after meal times. (of course, I'm not going to make him wash it.. yet.. heheheh...)

So what about your child? What routines do you guys practise when it comes to meal times?