Happy Mothers' Day!

I understand how it feels to be a Mom even though I have no kids of my own.  Looking after my Mom who now acts like a kid, I understand her handwork in bringing us up especially when she is a single parent.  She worry we don't eat enough, worry about our health, worry about our studies etc.  Of course she discipline us as well...BUT...I am always the one who gets the caning, cause she felt as the eldest, I should act as a good example to my younger brother.  Thus even if brother did something wrong, I will be the one getting the beating...Life is such a bitch hor?!  In many ways, my role today as a Caregiver is similar to her when we were kids...hmmm except the caning part (EVIL GRIN, well..can I? HAHAHA!) and the dating part, she is so sold liao, I no need to worry she will kenna cheat by men lor...LOL!

Anyway being a Mom is no joke!  Its a 24 hours a day job and 365 days a year, no annual leave or MC de...I truly appreciate her efforts and handwork now.  In fact all Mothers are very 伟大！  I would like to wish all Mothers out there, a Happy Mothers' Day!

I baked a flour-less Nutella Souffle Cake for Mom on Mothers' Day, she is happy :)

She received roses from brother, he sent them from China via a local florist...see her smile? haha!

Childhood Dishes

When we are young..our Mom will always cook delicious and yummy food for us....there are a couple of dishes which I remember fondly...

Luncheon Meat with Potatoes and cooked with Ketchup - this is super YUMMY but sinful lah! 

Braised Chicken with Mushrooms - this is a traditional dish at our home :)

Steamed Chicken with Wolfberries - Wolfberries is supposed to be good for liver, lungs and eyes!

Now I will cook them for my Mom coz she can't really recall how to cook them.  She loves them :)

So how about you?  Any dishes that your Mom cooks for you and your family and its your all time fav? :)

Being a caregiver

Last Sunday, I read an article from Sunday Times and started to tear....this article really hit a raw spot within me....Title of the article is "Role reversal in caregiving"

Caregivers face huge emotional and physical stress especially when it comes to looking after a elderly patient.  Mom's dementia and depression issues makes her more vulnerable.  And its so common for patients like her to be in constant denial of their health conditions.  One have to be extremely patient, a virtue which I do not have...Guess its tougher in my case coz I am the only one here for Mom since brother is working overseas.  Thus I practically do not have much life?  I meant...personal life...work, social life...its almost like a 24 hrs x 7 days kinda commitment as a caregiver...365 days a year...no rest..cant afford to fall sick?...

Luckily I have a very supportive Boss, friends...they understand my situation...and will "work" around my schedule and commitment ...so at times I am able to join them for movies, meals etc....I have wonderful neighbours too!!  They will help me when I really need to run errands...look out for my Mom...even my hairdresser!  She will also offered her help ...I am so grateful!

Mom's doc...besides assessing Mom...she also assess my mental stage too!  Well..apparently I was told caregivers tend to fall into depression too..coz of the pressure we face...I heard horror stories of caregivers committing suicide...sigh

Its never easy watching Mom...becoming frail...memory failing...health failing...hearing failing....she used to be so independent and strong....she used to be my pillar of strength....Now...its reverse role...I am her pillar of strength...she is like my kid and I am like her mother now...When I was just a little girl...Mom will let me eat first and then finish the bowl of leftover...now its reverse...I will let my Mom eat first and then eat whatever that she can't finish...

Whatever it is...I guess I will try to be as positive as possible...as active as possible....at the end of the day...she is my MOM..:)

Fighting!!  加油!  not only to me BUT to all the caregivers out there who is really working very hard...:)

Oreo 泰迪熊 Cheesecake Cups for darling Mom!

My Mom have sweet tooth BUT I do control the amount of sugar I used when I bake and cook for her...lately I've baked 2 versions of cheesecake cups for her...she loves them!  Well so does my friends :)

Cute?  可爱? kawaii??  hehe!  Well...My Mom is like a kid nowadays...and in order to make sure she have a healthy appetite, I will try to make my bakes and cooking more interesting...

Both recipes taste good and it depends if you like lemon or more oreo bits..  I can't take credit for the Teddies coz I saw some bloggers shared, thus I just follow :).  Thx to them...my cheesecake cups looks so cute huh? :)

My Mom certainly enjoyed them...she say can't *bear* to eat them :)

Introduction

Well, I had saved this blog name for the longest time (actually almost 2 yrs) since I started to work from home coz of Mom's medical condition.  It's going to be a blog where I will share my daily life of staying with Mom.  I kept pending to start this blog coz of various reasons....

Let's start with a brief intro re my Mom.  Well both of us are born in the year of the Dog and that seems to be a major problem coz dogs are very territorial.  Makes it worst that she has to come and stay with me since my darling brother have moved to China coz of career commitment.  She is not too old, only about 68 years old BUT her body is very old.  She went through many surgeries especially on her legs during her 40s to 50s and thus had became rather weak.  That plus the fact, she's been diagnosed with dementia and depression.  Therefore I made the decision to stay at home and work so as to look after her as well.  Due to her depression, her weight was only 39kg when she first moved in with me, initially we thought she was suffering from ...well you know..the C word which everyone dreads coz her weight loss was so drastic.  But after going through various medical checks, I found out that she's not been eating while I am at the office.  Ok not to worry, after 2 years of tender TLC and major feeding from me, she weighs 48kg today :)

It's no joke working and looking after a patient at the same time especially someone who is super fussy and have major OCD re cleanliness.  She expects me to mop the floor up to 8 times a day, wash toilet daily and mind you, we are only staying in a HDB 3 Room Flat....

Ok this blog is dedicated to my Mom...as long as she can still remembers us, I would like to write and share more about our *fun* life together...to tell you frankly...I've always preferred to stay on my own thus its a big challenge for us to adapt to each other all over again.

Do watch out for this corner...more coming up.

:)