Jul
20
2015

Paternal Grandmother

We went back to Darling’s hometown today. When Ethan was younger, my mother-in-law was always anxious that they were unable to communicate with their one and only grandson (then) as my parents-in-law do not speak English and Ethan doesn’t speak Mandarin. By the time Ethan was 4, he began to pick up Mandarin after we started sending him to BaoBei much to my in-law’s delight.

Now, Ethan will spend time talking to his paternal grandmother every time we go back to my in-law’s place. Ayden doesn’t speak Mandarin yet but fret not, he will pick it up eventually. I don’t see any problem though as eventhough language is a barier, the kids entertained my mother-in-law just fine with their cheeky selves!

Ayden is much more sociable now. He was very friendly from birth until around 5 months old when he started to refuse being carried by anyone other than Darling and I. He is now okay with anyone close to us carrying him. Both my parents and Darling’s parents can carry him around now.

Paternal Grandmother 1

Ethan acting all cheeky.

Paternal Grandmother 2

My mother-in-law pointing to a lizard. There are many lizards here. If you can’t sleep, you can count lizards instead of sheep :P

Paternal Grandmother 3

Ayden is cheeky too. In fact I don’t know who is cheekier, Ayden or Ethan. I guess both are equally cheeky. Darling said they take after me but I beg to differ. I’m a good girl :D

Paternal Grandmother 4

There! I rest my case. I did not teach them to do that. They must have learned this from the monkeys in the zoo >_<

Tags: Paternal family

About the Author: Merryn Tan

6 Comments + Add Comment

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suituapui July 20, 2015 at 6:56 am

LOL!!! Love that last shot! So cute, your boys.

Do your in-laws speak Malay or their own Chinese dialect? Many here are like that these days but usually the young ones, kids and teenagers – not even their own Chinese dialects, all died out already. They can only speak Mandarin. Their Malay sucks, English even worse – if they are able to speak at all…despite all the years in school.

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Rose July 20, 2015 at 8:16 am

Haha. I love looking at the photos. Cheeky like mummy I am sure. ;)

My parents also worry about communicating with my children due to language barrier so when my Jan and Jay were smaller, they were not close to my parents. Now my girl speaks Chinese while Jay still picking up the language, my kids can communicate more with my parents. Jamie us the closest to my parents than my in-law. Some more Jamie looks more like my dad. Lol.

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Choi Yen July 20, 2015 at 10:46 am

Auntie must bevery happy when the grandsons visit :)

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Sandy July 20, 2015 at 3:11 pm

No worries, young kids learn fast, especially below 6… My daughter can even speak Cantonese now. Smattering. Considering we only spoke to her in English for the first 18 months of her life. Then off to childcare where she picked up Mandarin from very good teachers and caregivers. Now she can read and write more Mandarin than me, almost.. Haha!

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mun July 21, 2015 at 1:20 am

Your mother in law must love them a lot! So funny the last photo. Ayden can do all the action that Ethan does.

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Michelle Adams July 21, 2015 at 5:19 pm

hi,

These boys are so cute. They made their grandmother happy by just being there.
Thanks for sharing this.

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About Me

Home is where MY heart is.
I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.