Monday, December 01, 2008

Post-China Reflections

We went, we saw, we shopped, they (the students) laughed, they yelled, they sang, they connected, they cried. That about sums up the 11 day Zhuhai trip.

I was very glad to be home, mainly because of my daughter. This is the first time I've been away from her for so long.  I thought of the night before I left for China, how she insisted on sleeping with me, how she clung on to me and cried herself to sleep, how I had to leave the house for the airport as quietly as possible so I wouldn't wake her up and have her go through another heart-wrenching sobbing episode, how I later learnt from my husband that she had wailed upon finding me gone. She had then gone to school, teary-eyed and sniffing and she later related to me how some of her friends had laughed at her in school for crying in class. All these, is enough to make me want to rush home to be reunited with my flesh and blood.

So, while the shopping in China was fabulous, and for once, I felt like a rich tai-tai because many things seemed so affordable compared to the cutthroat prices you pay in Singapore, there is nothing that can be compared with the joy of seeing my girl trying to hold back her tears when she saw me at the airport. I don't think I want to be away from her for so long again, at least not until she becomes a teenager and begins to find me annoying and uncool and can't wait for me to disappear for a while. Until then, I want to be there to let my girl be mummy's girl.