And here comes the SMURFS.

"La la la la la la... la la la la la...!" The blue people have made a good comeback!

Yes, the very famous Smurfs have recently been introduced to those belonging to the much younger generation who had absolutely no idea how huge these creatures were to people who grew up in the same era as I did. (I'm now experiencing a flashback in my mind in which Hubby looked totally delirious with joy when he located, back at his parents' place, a whole bagful of Smurfs figurines he used to collect when he was younger. A selected few can now be found hanging out at different spots of our apartment.)

Well, now they do. And I must say that some of these young people I know are now self-proclaimed Smurf fans who'd love to live in the same land as these blue dudes. Just look at how fast the Iphone covers that featured Smurfs, sold exclusively by Bossini, were snapped up.

Apart from Bossini that brought in the classic Smurfs merchandise (in fact, I'm wearing a white blouse with Smurf prints that Hubby bought for me some time ago even as I type), it's all thanks to the recent movie "The Smurfs" that the craze was able to return.

But imagine Hubby's and my surprise when we discovered that there were actually graphic novels of the Smurfs that came in a series, with a few stories packed into each book. Hubby managed to get all five of what he found at Popular Bookstore @ Jurong Point:

Nice! Though I'm not exactly in the mood to read comics just yet, I WILL eventually get down to reading these titles. I mean, it's the Smurfs, whom I grew up with. After the daddy and mummy are done reading them, we'll pass them along to Baby Justin for his reading pleasure in future! :)

I want that Prada!

You know you really do love something you come across during shopping when it's so hard to walk away from it. There's that mighty strong desire to own it, sometimes despite a hefty price tag that comes along with it. Only real discipline can prevent you from whipping out your wallet and becoming somewhat poorer than before.

I lurrve bags, as much as Hubby does watches. Hubby says that one can be tardily dressed and still look cool with a quality watch on his/her wrist. I think that I can be dressed in the plainest and least expensive clothes and all it would take is an It Bag to raise the level of sophistication several notches.

But it doesn't mean that I'm someone who burns tremendously large holes in her pockets just to get her hands on the stash that Prada, Gucci, LV, Burberry etc. have to offer. I don't belong to the camp where everyone tries to go for a particular brand or style in season. Neither am I a bag collector of any brand. I just like to purchase bags that I have the 'feel' for; it just so happens that occasionally, those bags belong to certain luxurious names. And when I do have my eye on such bags, I'd be much more tempted to get them only if they come with discounts.

Temptation came last week, in the form of this:

Image taken off http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/Bagsire

Hubby showed me the page that featured the black prada work bag above, which I thought would be perfect as an incentive for me to return to work in a few weeks' time. I mean, it is nowhere near being a substitution for my baby boy, but at least, with a nice bag for my work documents to travel in to and from work, my spirits might be lifted a tad. However, it took me a long time to decide whether to get it. After all, with a baby to raise, we do need to be more cautious with our spending. Besides, I'm not much of a spendthrift myself, so it'll take me quite a while before I get tempted enough to part with my bucks.

Nevertheless, the big 'T' won the battle. I usually get a new work bag once or twice each year anyway, and I figured if I got myself this Prada, it would probably last me quite some time. But before we could take any further action, we found ourselves staring at the words 'SOLD OUT' beneath the picture of the bag.

Since that day, I've been thinking of the bag. What's worse is that I can actually see myself using the bag. And having seen the beige one above, I think I like that one even more, though I'd still be happy with the black one. But now, since I only want to get the bag on discount and the Prada page is now closed, I can only stare wistfully at this picture while Hubby's words keep ringing in my ears: "See lah, if that time we just get the bag, you would have it now. Sometimes you can't think too much one...like then get, else end up with nothing then you feel so lousy..."

SIGH. My only consolation now is that I'm not $900++ poorer than before.

Great movies related to parenting.

Stories reflect life, and some films tell the best stories to make me reflect upon my own life.

Hubby and I are still stocking up on our DVDs. A few weeks ago, we even blew over a hundred bucks on just DVDs alone at one go while out shopping. My taste in movies hasn't changed; I'm still enjoying action-adventure, romantic comedies, perhaps a few horror films even (none of those very gory ones though -- my eyes simply stay glued-shut half the time, no matter how much others around might attempt to cajole me into opening them, which totally defeats the whole point of even watching them in the first place). Recently, however, I've begun to take interest in a new 'genre' of films.

These are the ones which revolve around the theme of parenting. I realise that when browsing through DVD racks in stores, I now pay a lot more attention to those DVD covers that show babies, families, diapers, milk bottles... ok, you get the idea. Basically now, as long as I spy a film that tells a story of parenting, especially those set in more modern times, I'm more than willing to bet that I'd want to watch it. I guess being a mum now makes me appreciate such stories much more than before, as I can relate pretty well to the ups and downs of being a parent, as well as what happens when people try to take care of a baby.

Anyway, two films that Hubby and I watched lately are "Motherhood" and "Life As We Know It". Great films! The former depicts a story of a day in the life of a terribly stressed-out mum of two who tries to successfully organise and host a birthday party for her little girl. Several challenges and new experiences await her. Amidst the absurd and sometimes hilarious situations she encounters, one can sense the mounting level of stress she suffers as she goes through the day. It captures the very real picture of how a stay-home mum has to multi-task to the max each day and how trapped she feels in her own little social world, regardless of how much she loves her children.

"Life As We Know It" also includes comic elements, but there's a certain sense of tragedy involved as well. Two singletons who simply cannot stand each other find themselves the appointed guardians of their suddenly-orphaned baby goddaughter. They then have to go through a whole series of plans and routines in order to cope with their new roles as caregivers, not to mention each other as well.

Both shows feature very real aspects of parenting life -- the difficulties and anxieties faced when caring for a baby, how couples have to work through issues together etc. Before Justin came into this world, I  did a lot of reading up on coping with a new baby and the various routines to consider for him. While the new knowledge helped to a certain extent, it did turn me into a bit of a stickler, always thinking how things had to be done so that everything could turn out ideal. In fact, I constantly stressed myself out thinking the worst whenever there appeared to be a problem with Justin. Why isn't he drinking enough? Is he drinking too much today? Why hasn't he started drinking more milk and at longer intervals? Why isn't he sleeping through the night yet? Why is he crying while feeding? Blah blah blah. That certainly didn't help much to alleviate the problems then and, over time, I came to realise that while it is understandable that I should worry as a new mum, I had to include space for some flexibility in the way I did things and also let go of certain idealistic plans.

Rearing a child is a lifetime commitment. This is only the beginning for me. New situations will certainly arise as and when. With them might come new stress and anxieties, but ultimately, we as parents have to deal with them in a way that suits our own baby best, regardless of what books or the Internet might say. In the end, guidelines are just guidelines. If we can follow them and they work, great. But if reality doesn't really match what is said, we just have to consider the next best option and work around the problem. Ultimately, whatever method we choose to use, the most important objective in our parenting roles would be to ensure that our child grows up happy and healthy. It's certainly a long road ahead, but with each experience, a new lesson is gained, and that should count towards some improvement...