We all got problems, for example the toddler who refuses to finish his dinner unless there’s hockey on TV, or refuse to go to bed until he’s finish his bedtime story of the entire family playing hockey with barn animals. But compared to mothers with child still missing after the quake and/or tsunami, at least I can hug my tart, rock him to sleep, and kiss his forehead just before I put him back in his crib with his Teddy bear gang…my problems are very ridiculously silly.

As a mother, I can’t imagine what it’d be like to watch my child get washed away…while I get rescued only to learn that my child is still missing…maybe she’s still floating in the city, or maybe she’s already gone…the pain of not knowing, of hopelessness and the fear of the worse. No mother deserves such pain and fear.

I can’t fly to Japan to help them, so maybe all I can do is pray for all the mothers in Japan, for strength to continue to hope for the best, and the strength to accept…and live on. From a mother to another mother.

Toronto – Our chouchou would be 2 months old, which means I would still be “swollen” and s/he would still need to be nursed every couple hours. The flight to Toronto is a bit over 4 hours and we’ll still be in Canada.

Hong Kong – Our chouchou would be 5 months old, which means nursing would be every 4 hours and s/he would sleep for longer periods. S/he get to see many of our relatives and old friends in Hong Kong and we can go on major shopping sprees for baby stuff there. The flight to Hong Kong would be at least 12 hours and we’ll be in a “foreign” country. We’ll most likely have to fly JAL to break the entire flight into two parts.

Or should we just forget about either trips and just go visit them when chouchou‘s a bit older?

The problem is, chouchou is still 15 weeks inside my belly, so it’s impossible to what’s going to be the best option and I need to let Elaine know asap if we’re planning to be at her wedding or banquet.

But starting next year, I am sure things will be so different. First, there’ll be Santa Pictures, the long lineups at Toys R Us…We’ll probably do the whole Christmas theme at home, too: christmas tree, ornaments, stockings over the fireplace, lights, wreaths, snowman in the front yard, hiding presents, bake Santa cookies…

Afterall, Christmas is for kids.

Oh oui, we’re due on July 10, 2009.