As I grow older, I begin to appreciate and cherish the intricate rituals of Chinese New Year. How festivities and routines are completely similar year after year. How our elderly relatives ask the same old questions year after year. These grew more endearing to me these days, reaffirming just how precious family ties are.
We are lucky to have very close bonds with all our relatives and family members. Which is why we had 8 family gatherings and visits over the first week of Chinese New Year - and enjoyed every single moment of these. The girls got to know 4 sides of their different families from Hubby's and my family trees, and they delighted in getting to know their great-grandmothers, grandparents, uncles, aunties and cousins more. Little Bee is the one who really looks forward to such gatherings, and would often feel sad whenever these occasions come to an end. She would not fail to entertain everyone with her outspoken antics and her comical expressions!
Big Bee, on the other hand, is now a little adult. She had stopped playing with the little kids totally (much to Little Bee's distress) and had become more self-conscious. Most of the time, her nose is buried in her current favourite book (which is the Divergent series by Veronica Roth for now). Other times, she would join the adults for some casual chatting. She is in an in-between stage, and is finding her way around, yet enjoying the process, which I am relieved about.
This year, we also visited Chinatown in early January, where we were privy to the celebrations of the Chinatown light-up. We did not even plan for it, so we were pleasantly surprised to hear the deafening firecrackers and be dazzled by fireworks exploding in the skies just above us. Most of all, we enjoyed eating super yummy food in the Chinatown hawker centre and strolling around in the nostalgic People's Park.
On the eve of Chinese New Year, we had a sumptuous and festive reunion dinner with the girls' great-grandmothers. How rare it is to have a four-generational reunion dinner! That is so special in every way.
As we wind down from these convivial celebrations, I constantly have to remind myself not to limit our interactions with the extended families just to an annual New Year gathering. Let's hope we get to see more of our family members this Horse year!
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