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So there we were, stuck at home with Raine nursing the return of a persistent cough and groggy from her cough medication, and Skye hit by a sudden bout of food poisoning shortly after breakfast. Not sure what caused it – we all ate the same thing but none of us were struck down.

Oh no, not another boring weekend! Know that the mall is our second home on weekends. Take that away from us and we become grouchy and edgy, swinging from the ceiling fan and chewing on our toenails. Or better, watching Lady Gaga videos for entertainment !

My teens have long sensed that Lady Gaga isn’t someone I necessarily approve of. So it was something of a shock, to both me and them, that a boring Saturday night found me sitting there with my poker face on, watching the Gaga wreathing and writhing ever so unabashedly on the Today Show !

Sure, she’s bold and talented, I grant her that, and possibly even vaguely entertaining to a shopaholic family with no place to go on a weekend. Still I’d rather she had a little more fabric on her where it matters! I mean, my teens are watching, know what I mean?! Gah!

Congratulations to myself! I made it through yet another report card day. And why not? I’m a very experienced parent as far as report cards go, having gone from the once-a-year meetings during Steev’s time to the current thrice-a-year charade.

It used to be a very important event that I felt I just had to attend, rain or shine. But over the years, my interest, in meeting the teachers, not my interest in my children’s education, have waned somewhere along the lines of hearing only the negative!

Nothing positive, nothing encouraging – when there’s clearly nothing that drastically wrong with my kids or their behavior at school! I would return from those meetings wondering how to get rid of wrinkles caused by meeting people who have nothing good to say.

Now after umpteen years of going to report card days, I’m an old pro at waving everything off with a smile. Oh and you want my autograph too? You got it . It’s all purely perfunctory. I know my kids better than anyone else. They’re well-behaved and they get good grades, no matter what anyone chooses to tell me. So there!

Happy today’s meeting with my girls’ teachers took all of 2 minutes each and I was outta there with a big smile on my face!! Nicely done !

Lookie here, if you’re thinking this is just any old mac and cheese, you’re wrong! Steev cooked this last Saturday!

Looks yummy, huh? This is his first real cooking attempt though he could cook rice by the time he was 8 and has been cooking the occasional Ramen (instant noodles) since.

And while that mac and cheese was bubbling merrily in the oven, Raine took over the skillet and cooked these spicy tricolor spirals.

Not too bad, eh !!

I’m so excited that my home cooking classes have finally taken off! But somehow because of all our different schedules, it’s been really hard to organize.

When Steev leaves home for college, I won’t be there to cook for him so he’s going to have to learn in a hurry. Like I tell the kids, cooking is not hard once you get the basics down pat. So begins our crash course.

Looks like we’re off to a good start. If I keep up these cooking classes, he should be able to whip up a few easy meals for himself and the rest of us will need the best fat burners for sure.

Raine and 3 of her friends signed up for driving school over the weekend. Yes, it’s just a month since Steev got his driver’s license and now it’s Raine’s turn. The theory part is usually conducted at a center not too far away from where we live. I just assumed since Steev and all his friends had their class there that that’s where Raine and her friends were going to be at.

The driving school has a van to ferry them there which was all well and good.  I was going to pick her up and take her out to lunch. We had it all planned. Except neither Raine nor I expected they were going to be transported to another driving center located in a small town more than an hour’s drive away from the city.

Her text messages started coming in at the rate of 1 per minute. Mom, they’re taking us somewhere far! Where? Dunno!! and our text messages just kept flying back and forth. From some of the names of places they were speeding by in the van, Hip2bDad and I huddled over Google Maps checking out possible locations and calling up for directions.

We weren’t exactly panicked but we were really, really concerned. True, I hadn’t thought to ask but couldn’t the driving school have informed us? Within minutes, we were heading out to look for this place “hidden in some plantations with horses and mountains nearby”. We had no idea where it was. The only thing we had to go by were the sketchy landmarks Raine was texting us.

We sped down narrow roads, winding roads and near-deserted highways like this one:

… and drove past clumps of trees and bare land with no buildings in sight. Living in the city, we’re used to seeing buildings, lots of them and the thought of our princess out there in a place with no buildings was not a comforting one!

It took us 2 hours to find the ’shack’ tucked deep in an obscure spot off the beaten path. It’s absolutely the craziest place to house a driving center! This is the country road leading from the driving center. We could almost reach out and touch the hills and there was barely another human in sight!

We couldn’t even find a place to buy lunch for the girls We had to resort to pulling up at a gas station to grab some bread rolls, potato chips and canned drinks!! It was the best we could do under the circumstances.

After we dropped off lunch, we went home to wait. There was still a half day left to the driving course and the van was to bring them back to the city. To the parents of Raine’s 3 friends, this was not a big deal at all. The girls called home but their parents weren’t unduly alarmed. They were comfortable not knowing where their teenaged daughters had been taken.

Not us. We dropped everything and jumped in the car. We couldn’t not know! We had to see her and know where she was! It was a long day! Raine finally arrived home around 5 in the evening, safe and sound, after a 2-hour ride back in the stuffy, speeding van. She’d been away a whole day but it felt more like months. I’ve never been so relieved to see her!

Speaking of teens, I hear many high school kids are already pros at the clubbing scene, drinking, smoking, staying out all night and doing stuff that a mother’s darkest nightmares are made of. Sure, many of these things are probably happening behind the backs of busy parents.

But I’m told some of these parents are the very ones who drop their kids off at clubs and feed their expensive spending habits, apparently as some sort of compensation for not spending time with their kids . Aren’t hugs, kisses, picnics and the occasional personalized gift the stuff parents do anymore? Or am I falling behind in the ways of modern parenting here? Just sayin’.

For the past few weeks, Steev’s been working part-time at a service center. His job is to help the customer get a number, fill out a form and wait their turn.

Now if you’ve been reading my posts about Steev, you’ll know that besides being a total geek, he’s also a very friendly young man with impeccable manners and a really engaging smile.

So it’s not surprising that when customers approach him with technical questions, he’ll happily explain away though that’s entirely his own attempt at providing the best service he can, rather than part of his job specification.

Since Steev started work, he’s been like the shining star in a room full of dowdy service clerks who are grumpy and not too polite. In fact, several customers have openly commended Steev on his friendly disposition and willingness to answer questions as opposed to said clerks. That’s my son !

Sadly though, that’s the problem right there. The service clerks, fearing that they won’t look too good now that Steev is there, are making life miserable for him. The senior witch complained to the boss that Steev is flouting work rules which she claims is creating a bad image for the company. Say what ??

As a result, Steev’s had all his privileges revoked and said witch is watching him like a hawk. He’s been told not to be too friendly with the customer, not to answer their questions, not to use his cell phone or his computer even when there are no customers.

I feel really sad it turned out to be such an unpleasant experience for Steev. He’s 18 and raring to go and obviously he’s no match against a 40-something who’s an old hand at office politics. I’ve advised him to just do what he’s told, nothing more, nothing less. If they don’t appreciate his efforts, so be it, it’s their loss. I mean, what else can I tell him? *sigh*

Steev went for his driving test today and I was the one having nightmares last night. Isn’t it always the case that our kids will sleep blissfully the night before a test and we are the ones tossing and turning?

And sometimes it’s for good reason. He hasn’t had a whole lot of practice. Not as much as I would’ve liked. In fact, I think he probably has more practice driving a golf buggy than a car. So I wasn’t exactly wide-eyed all night for nothing.

Well, aside from a few ‘heart attacks’ with the test car which turned out to be a crickety old junk with a hand brake that wouldn’t release unless Steev physically hammered it down with his fist and a clutch that refused to budge, everything else went just fine .

So hey, we have a brand new driver in the family now! Woo-hoo for Mom who may actually be able to farm out her Mom’s taxi service some days! Hmm, nice thought that!

The kids took me out for an early Mother’s Day dinner at Friday’s last night. Between Raine, Skye and Steev, the decision was made. Steev was at the mall with his friends. Raine asked him to drop by Friday’s to make a dinner reservation.

It’s amazing how I used to have to make my own Mother’s Day plans. Now they can take care of it and I just have to jump behind the wheel and get us there. Beautiful! I ordered my usual Shrimp and Garlic Pasta, and we basically shared our orders around the table. With Friday’s shrinking portions, we definitely won’t be needing as many fat burners as I used to .

I honestly never expected motherhood to be this much fun and this much food . Through the years, I’ve grown up (just a little) with my kids, taught them what I know and learnt so much from them. Thank you, my babies, love our chats, love the cool stuff we do, love being your mom.

Hope all my mommy readers are having a fantastic day. Happy Mother’s Day!