Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

At times I lose my patience over the kinds of things you say and do.

Often I feel unappreciated too.

But here’s one thing I’m very sure of:

There’ll always be this thing called love.

…

Love you both.

I was tidying up our living room when I saw Anya’s choir file, with this A4-sized ‘note’ inserted into the very front of the plastic sheets.

[Anya joined our church’s children choir since she was 4 years old and she has a choir file where she keeps her song sheets]

I knew she wanted to write or draw something for her choir file, but I had no idea how she would do it.

Until I saw it.

And smiled.

I treasure the naivety of her thoughts.

And, I like that last sentence she wrote, hehe.

…

After reading this note, I was reminded of how as parents we have this ‘responsibility’ to nurture our children’s God-given talents. In Anya’s case, we need to let her continually develop this love for writing without us making it feel like a ‘chore’.

Not easy.

May God give us the wisdom to know how best we should do it.

I’ve been into snapping quite a lot of  kids’ jumping shots for sometime now.

It’s FUN!

And, I love the spontaneous expressions captured!

Btw.

As kids LOVE to jump around, such jumping shots would very most likely work well when taking photos of a group of kids too! (We all know how taking photos of a few little kids together is not easy, ie. One would walk away, the other would run off in a different direction, etc)

So here’s my usual attempt:

– Get them to line up and squat down (I tell them to get ready to do a big jump together)

– While they are all squatting down and all ‘ready to jump’, I’d quickly take a shot of them too, hehe.

– Enthusiastically go, ‘ONE … TWO … THREE, JUMPPPPPP!!!’ and take the shot!

Kids LOVE it and they’d usually be giggling away and doing all sorts of silly poses!

…

Three extra tips from me:

– Make sure you have the right setting ready to capture the ‘up in the air’ actions!

[I set my Canon Powershot S90 to ‘low-light’ setting, and it works well for the above shot, taken indoors at Marina Square]

– Get the kids to do a few jumps (one jump per shot) in a spacious area (the less crowd the better)

– Squat down as well, and shoot from a low angle (allowing the kids to look straight towards the camera instead of them looking up towards us who’re standing up)

…

The reality is, the more kids the harder it’ll be to get a shot of them all up in the air at the SAME time.

But hey, it’ll sure be fun!

Whether we realise it or not, we receive God’s grace and countless blessings every single day.

Our health. Our food. The air we breathe. Security at home and where we live. Our family. Friends.

And THAT is just to name a few.

The problem is, when we receive such blessings (often, ‘too easily’ as we receive them almost ‘automatically’), there’s a strong tendency for us to take them for granted.

After a while, we feel as if things are just ‘meant to be’. That we are ‘supposed’ to receive these blessings. That we ‘deserve’ God’s grace.

We EXPECT to continually be given these blessings by God.

…

The Bible tells us about what happened to the city of Jericho and Ai (in Joshua 6 and 7)

The city of Jericho was ‘given by God’ to the Israelites. The Israelites did what God asked them to do, walked around the city for seven days, and the wall of Jericho collapsed.

The Israelites won the war, but they then took God’s grace and presence for granted.

The Israelites were ‘used to’ receiving God’s grace and mercy, and they felt defeating the small city of Ai would be a piece of cake (especially since the city of Jericho was defeated ‘so easily’ just earlier on).

They relied on their own strength, AND worse, a man named Achan went against God and took the possessions that weren’t his.

The Israelites in the end were badly defeated by people of Ai.

…

A man can lose his fame and wealth overnight.

A person who eats well and exercises regularly can lose his health in a split second.

A great kingdom can lose its power and dignity in a matter of days.

Yes, a person’s ‘downfall’ may not always mean he / she has done ‘wrong things’ that are against God.

But, let the story of Jericho and Ai reminds us today to always be thankful to God for His blessings and presence in our lives.

If we are healthy today, then let’s remember that it is purely God’s grace.

If we’re blessed with wealth and material comfort, let’s remember that THAT is also because of God’s grace.

Let’s learn to always be thankful for everything that we have.

Let’s learn to be responsible and accountable for all the blessings that we receive every single day.

…

[A personal reflection based on Rev. DR. Stephen Tong’s discussion on the story of Jericho and Ai]

… we just need to think a little differently than usual.

Like, when it suddenly drizzled and we had no umbrella, we made an impromptu decision and used a cardboard box as our ‘cover’ instead.

[We happened to see a clean stack of them outside a neighbourhood supermarket on our way home]

Lesson learned by the little ones:
Never be afraid to think differently, and try something (positive) that you haven’t done before.

I made this for breakfast today.

Apple Pancake.

[Found the recipe in a cook book I borrowed from the library]

I tested out this recipe, and I liked it.

Simple enough for a beginner like me (and quick enough to have some ready for the kids before they leave for school).

And I thought, many others may want to try and give it a go too.

So here’s how you can make some yourself.

Ingredients
2 apples
2 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I skipped this one as we don’t have any at home at the time)
maple syrup or honey

1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg F (about 93 deg Celsius)

2. Peel, core and very thinly slice the apples

3. In a pan, over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, until it begins to bubble

4. Spread half of the apple slices evenly across the pan, reduce heat to medium

5. Cook for 2 – 3 mins

6. While waiting for the apples, grab a bowl and whisk together the eggs, milk, flour (and cinnamon), until smooth

7. Pour half of the mixture over the apple slices, cover the pan, cook for 2-3 mins, or until the pancake begins to set up and the sides look dry.

8. Flip the pancake over, cook for another minute, then move it to an oven-safe plate, and place in the oven while you repeat the above and make the second pancake.

9. Serve with syrup (I served mine with honey)

[We occasionally bring Anya and Vai to the tennis court and let them watch Daddy play. They’d watch, run around and play with tennis balls by the court side. It’s our simple way of ‘exposing’ them to sports activities]

When we think of the word ‘exercise’, we’d usually imagine going to the gym or playing sports.

But for children, exercise can actually mean: playing and being physically active!

Other than activities like swimming and playing soccer, … riding a bike and running or playing ‘chase’ near the playground are forms of exercise too!

…

I came across quite a few articles that talk about the benefits of children keeping a physically active lifestyle, and if I were to mention just three, they’d include:

> having stronger muscles and bones
> less likely to become overweight
> better able to handle physical and emotional challenges

There’s one thing though.

While we as parents hope to encourage our kids to be more physically active, we need to ‘walk our talk’ too, and be active ourselves!

Because, regardless of what we say to them, children do watch our actions, reactions, preferences, and values. And, they have a strong tendency to mirror us.


[The three of us would occasionally go cycling together around the neighbourhood. And hmm, Vai kept giving me a silly face when I wanted to take this shot!]


Anyway, here are some tips and thoughts that I’d like to share today:

– Our attitude towards ‘winning or losing’ a game will indirectly teach little ones about sportsmanship. So, let’s remember to set a good example to our kids, as spectators and participants.

– Encourage through doing the activities together with them, eg. Bike rides together

– If the child joins a team or attends a class, be there for them too.

– Go outside and play with the kids too, eg. Kick a ball together. Little ones LOVE spending time with their parents doing fun activities like these!

– Take the kids to watch live sports games, eg. Check out the upcoming Youth Olympic Games together!

…

Have fun!

Yes. We now have an oven!

A simple, medium-sized oven.

Me. SO. Happy.

[Read: No more steaming of cakes that are supposed to be baked in the oven, hehe]

…

We borrowed a few recipe books from the library and we’ve been experimenting quite a bit ever since.

The kids are involved ‘in the making of things’ most of the time too.

[I want them to learn to be an active and helpful member of the family, to appreciate the efforts needed in the making of something, and to give and share the ‘fruits of their labour’ with friends and neighbours]

…

In these photos, we’re about to make a Banana Cake, and they both helped in mixing the ingredients together.

Btw, just in case you’re wondering if the kids bickered at all during the process, … the answer is YES. They did make a fuss, once in a while, about who’s supposed to be doing what, etc.

But if you ask me, despite the slight headache their bickering gives me, I still believe it’s just part and parcel of learning about team work in the family. It’s a necessary process.

I mean, they’d never learn ‘how to’ work together, contribute and share, if they themselves never experience necessary conflicts in the process. Yes?

Anyway, here’s Vai presenting to you the fruit of his labour.

A slice of our yummy banana cake!