Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Can you tell? - part 2

Jon's so matured now.  Can't believe he's grown so much and come so far.  Yes!!!! I'm vindicated n proven right to trust my feelings!  I have listened to and followed the right advice from the right people!

Can you tell?

Check out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiLrqsiTkYY)  or go to Youtube.com n search for Ah Family: Saving the Environment.

Is Jon really dyslexic?  Can you tell?

Jon is now 13yo.  After nearly 7 years of constant remedial work with teachers from the Persatuan Dyslexia Kuala Lumpur (including many years of 1-to-1 tuition with a teacher there) I now see the fruits of his labour!

This is proof that dyslexia is a gift that properly used, can be great!  Oh, one more thing...half of those kids you see in the youtube....they're homeschooled!  So non-homeschoolers, do not spend any more precious energy listening to the nay-sayers!  Homeschooling kids do socialize...as long as their parents socialize!  These homeschooling  kids socialize better than most of the non-homeschooling kids as their parent/s have the time to take them out on shopping trips to learn more about life n stuff so much so much so that I envy them (the parents), having so much interaction with their kids whereas we, working parents, barely have enought time to work thru their homework n then get enough sleep.

Learning challenged children will definitely do better homeschooled than being in a regular school unless they are fortunate enough to have really good teachers to guide them.

By the way, one of the girls is dyslexic ...can you identify her?  I've already given you a clue!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Security?

Yesterday would be remembered well by Jay, my youngest.  Our house was broken into last night while we were out for dinner.  The thieves tore the rubberized stop of my auto-gate and cut the padlock at our grill door.  They had left the main gate open n our neighborhood security guards on patrol saw the gate open while on their rounds. Fortunately for us, there were two wedding dinners going nearby n the hosts had requested for more frequent rounds by the guards; otherwise, no one would have noticed a missing car and lots more stuff from my house.

The guards thought we were in and called out to us for nearly 15 minutes before calling in their manager.  The manager then called us to inform us that we had forgotten to close the auto-gate.   Since they have no permission to enter our compound, they didn't know the thieves were still inside!

So the guards helped closed the gates and continued their rounds.  When we came back about 40 minutes later, we noticed that the stairwell lights were on and the padlock missing from the grill door thought both the sliding glass doors and the grill doors were closed.  Missus and maid went in to have a look-see downstairs while I waited in the car with Jay, engine running n the gates open wide for emergency escape.   Once they saw the mess left behind, we called the security manager to come over for help.  He arrived a few minutes later with a guard as backup.

We then asked him to accompany us in to check what the thieves had taken and also asked him to call for a patrol car's assistance.  While waiting for the patrol car to arrive, we did a preliminary check for missing items and found that the thieves had run off with about RM4K and our maid's passport which were kept together in a bag, Jon's hand phone and missus' watch.  Further checks with the patrol car's crew revealed nothing else of value was taken.  All the locked drawers were broken in, the rooms ransacked and my car unlocked with the keys still in the house.

My company's laptop was still where I had left it on Friday after work and my digital camera was still in its bag which they had taken out from the storage cupboard.

The cops' guess was that the security guys had found the gates open just after the thieves had gone in and while the manager was on the line with us, the thieves were planning their escape which they did right after the guards closed our gates n left.  Hence so many valuables and expensive stuff were left behind.  They had to run without making too much noise attracting the neighbors.  Strangely, our next door neighbors didn't report their dog was barking like crazy through out the break-in.

Jay was so frightened though he didn't show it, that he vomited and my hands were shaking like a leaf that I couldn't dial  my mobile.  By the time the Investigating officer arrived, we had settled done a bit and Jay was ready for bed.  All in all, the patrol car responded within 10 minutes of getting the call from their dispatch which took about nearly another 10 minutes to get through on a mobile.  The first call wasn't successful due to bad lines.

Jon, whom this blog is about, was safely and happily away at a 3-day, 2-night Dharma Camp at KKBC.  When everyone settled down at about 1230am, Jay knocked off almost immediately and I had a 'badder-than-usual' sleepless night generously sprinkled with nightmares and a few dreams.  Tomorrow's going to be a very hectic and busy day for us; going to Brickfields for the official police report, then off to the Indonesian Embassy for the temporary passport for the maid.