The ties that bind

Most people who heard that the Lau Lang were staying for a whole month thought us mad. How can you cope, they cried? A WHOLE month living with your parents again.

Between you and I, the time has gone far too quickly. I wish we were back to week one again. I wish time would just stand still.

In the past couple of weeks, there has been such joy in this house and such warmth in this home. Munchkin is happy, ecstatically happy. He has behaved commendably, slept when he should sleep, eaten (a huge amount) when it was time for food. He has found a play mate and a partner in crime in his Ah Kong and thrived under the wise (and very firm) council of his Ah Ma.

This is the sort of care that can't be bought. It stems from love and love alone. They adore him and he knows it. Yet, he also knows not to take advantage of it (too much!). Somehow a deep bond has formed and with it a certain respect. Watching him with them, I see myself in his place. I see them doing all that and more with me as a child and it makes me proud to have them as my Lau Lang.

The apron strings might have worn a bit thin over the years and the many miles might have stretched them a little but the ties that bind, still do just that, more strongly than ever before.