The sista came back for lunch today and we – Mum, her and I – sat at the kitchen table sipping our tea and munching on snacks. I can’t remember the last time we did that, the three of us sitting around the table and enjoying some familial time together, but it sure felt good. It also threw up some pretty funny and serious conversations.
Me: Why are you doing things in reverse? People get married first before buying a flat.
Sista: I don’t want to get married because I want to get a flat, you know what I mean?
Me: Huh? But as long as you two know that you are getting married for love and not for the flat, why does it matter? He didn’t propose by saying “should we get a flat?” right?
Sista: (ponders for a moment) Yeah, that’s true.
Me: So when will you be getting married?
Sista: Not so soon. Probably at the end of the year.
Mum: Good, good. If she is getting married at the end of this year, then you will be getting married next year.
Me: My boyfriend hasn’t proposed. Besides, I’m still young.
Mum: He should.
Me: …….
Me: You should have a baby before you hit 30. Biological clock and all.
Sista: Me?! I haven’t got any maternal instincts at all. If a baby wails, I would probably give it a good smack.
Mum: When it’s yours, you would think it’s cute and adorable when it cries.
Sista: That’s true.
Mum: You should give birth while I have the energy to look after your child.
Sista: That’s no reason to have a child, Ma!!
Mum: Oh yes it is. She (gesturing to me) will have her mother-in-law dying to look after her children since Jimmy’s brothers haven’t produced any. I can then devote all my attention to yours.
Me: I’m not the one getting married!!
Mum: You should be.
Me: …………
Next time, I should just keep my big mouth shut and let them natter away.
After that, we took the matriarch to a nearby Starhub shop where she finally got the mobile plan changed (to one that allows her to send SMS, she is very funky now) and a shiny new Nokia clamshell.
Now, my future brother-in-law and I have this ongoing joke where I would demand he buy the Sista a “bling” (read: ring) for their engagement. While at the shop, the Sista showed me a text message from her significant other: “Tell her I’ll see her around and that the bling is on the way.”
To which I instructed the Sista to reply: “Better make that a big bling!”
“!(imgcenter)http://static.flickr.com/32/101601368_2886b49aa9_m.jpg!(Mmmm…..)”:http://www.tiffany.com/shopping/lucida.asp
Yannisms 