Let kids be kids

During our east coast road trip a while back, we stopped by the Cherating beach to stretch our legs and get a glimpse of the beautiful beach before continuing on our journey ahead....the kids were soo excited to see the beach! 

Alyssa asked permission if it was ok for her to get her clothes wet. 

After a moment's hesitation, I nodded. Beaming from ear to ear, she jumped into the splashing waves and within seconds, she was fully soaked. Soon after, her little brother followed suit. And there they were, fully clothed, splashing happily into the salty waters. I could only watch in horror and knock myself on the head for CONSENTING them to mess up their lovely attire. 

Honestly speaking, I didn't think the kids would go further than getting their little toes wet. Or else I would have taken the trouble of changing them into their swimsuits first. But I was totally wrong. The damage was done.

I wanted to get them to stop. But then again, I decided not to.

I reflected upon a heart-wrenching article written by a mother who tragically and unexpectedly lost her toddler in a car accident. 

She begged all parents to let their kids just live in the moment. 

Little reminders like for instance it's ok if the kids sometimes don't finish up the veggies on their dinner plates.
She reminded other parents not to yell out their frustration at their small kids for not living up to that ridiculously perfect expectation that we adult have unfairly imposed upon our little ones.

Little things like that.
Let kids be kids and have fun.

Because life is unpredictable.

 Today they're here, in one split second, Allah can take them away from us. And we might have big regrets later for not letting them have that five precious minutes of joy. Sometimes we have to let loose and shut out that perfectionist voice screaming inside our head things like"OMG these kids are ruining their beautiful Levi's and I'm going to have a hard time with the washing up later! Quick, make them stop!!!"

Before we open our mouth and be that spoil-sport mummy, just remember: 

No-one will remember the messy washing-up afterwards...nor the tedious task of ridding the sands from the car seats & floor.

But the sound of the kids' laughter as they splash in the waves...

The joy glowing on their innocent beaming faces as they venture deeper into the salty waters...

Priceless!

THAT is something that will remain in our memory forever. Not regrets about dirty clothes:)

So let's count our blessings and thank Allah for giving us these beautiful children. Bite our tongue. Continue smiling. And let the kids have fun and get dirty once in a while. Trust me, it's good for their immune system anyway ;).

Homemade Sausage Buns

Yesterday I received a bunch of spring onions from a neighbour (Isn't that sweet of her?). Frankly speaking, I'm not a big fan of spring onions. Kalau makan mee sup or any dish where they sprinkle spring onions on top, I would be the first to separate them spring onions and 'curi-curi' put them in Hubby's plate....huahuahua...

So, erm... how exactly do you prepare a dish where you can chuck in lots of spring onions without having to subject yourself to that awkward 'springy' aftertaste? 

By popping the spring onion-sprinkled dish in the oven of course!!!

So I decided to make sausage buns and sprinkled them with collossal amounts of spring onions on top. The results?

BEST!!!!!!!
hihi

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients (makes about 8)

For bread:

- 250g bread flour, sifted

- 1 egg

- 25g softened butter

- 125ml fresh milk

- 5g yeast

- 30g sugar

- 1/2 tsp salt

For topping:

- Sausage

- Mozarella cheese

- Mayonnaise

- Chilli sauce

- Spring onion, chopped 

Method:

1) Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, fresh milk and egg in a bowl.

2) Add in the sifted bread flour and knead for 2 minutes.

3) Mix in the butter and knead until you get a smooth and elastic texture.

4) Cover and let it poof until double size (mine took about 2 hours).

5) Punch the air out and shape it into a long oval shape, like this:

6) Place a piece of sausage and wrap it tightly.

7) Cut them into 8 pieces and pull each of them over

8) Let it rest for another 30-45 minutes. Top them with mayonnaise, chilli sauce, spring onions, and Mozarella cheese.

9) Bake it at 160degree Celcius for 12-13minutes....

....and VOILA!

Hubsy and the kids loved it! Every crumb of it was consumed within 12hours after it was out from the oven. 

But guess what???!

My super-duper picky-eater kids put aside the spring onions on THEIR buns and 'curi-curi' put them on MY plate :P