Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Now.

THIS is one not-so-good example of what could happen when a 3yo boy :

… refused to listen
… insisted on brushing his own teeth but ended up playing with the water tap and licking his toothpaste off the brush
… screamed, cried and wriggled with all his might when finally told to stand on the bathroom stool while Daddy went to brush his teeth instead

Yep, our little Vai in the end slipped and knocked his tooth on the basin.

As I watched in horror.

We quickly checked, and *sigh* I was SO thankful that he DID NOT knocked ALL his front teeth or something. There’s no blood. Just very minor grazes on his upper lip.

He continued to scream and cry, but we noticed it’s not because he’s in pain. BUT BECAUSE he did NOT get to continue on with what he was doing!

*roll eyes*

Gee, I felt so mad at the time.

So. Frustrated.

It was like, ‘If only you had LISTENED, it wouldn’t have happened!’

I broke down when the kids were in bed.

I felt drained.

I felt like putting the blame on someone, but I knew I couldn’t because it totally was an accident. It’s just a phase.

*sigh*

Just one of the many ‘adventures’ we moms go through every day.

[Btw, Vai was all smiles and cuddly towards us again within 10 minutes after the incident! I think WE were more affected by what’s happened than the kid himself.]

…

You know, that night when I was feeling tired, drained and frustrated, I remembered about other families who have gone through ‘tougher experiences’ with their kids.

And I thought, ‘Well, at least Vai only chipped ONE of his ‘milk’ teeth’.

I felt much better and encouraged too when I remembered the message left by Andrea Stunz, in my post on Vai’s terrible three phase:

My now 18 year old daughter told me when she was about 3, “you’re not the boss of me!”. She has developed incredibly strong leadership skills but we had to help guide her away from being bossy to being a leader as she grew up. Your Vai may be the same way. Perhaps he is on his way to being a great leader. Being assertive is not bad. They are trying to find out who they are and what works and doesn’t work. Now it’s your job to guide them in that.

Put in the hard work and I promise you will look back with fond memories when you sit in your quiet house, typing a blog comment wishing they were little again.

And so told myself, oh well … my case is not THAT bad actually.

Let’s move on.

…

I’d love to hear about them!

[Our Everyday Things is in the I’m a Mom online contest! Voting is open till 10 November! Thanks everyone!] And oh btw, comments are disabled for this post ya … ]
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When we parents are asked about our kids and whether or not we have some kind of worries about them, I think we all would say, ‘Yes’!

When babies are born, parents tend to worry if they’re growing the way ‘they should’.

When it’s time to introduce solids and formula milk, parents tend to worry if they’ve chosen the ‘right’ one for their kids.

When toddlers start to walk, parents tend to worry if they’ll tumble and suffer injuries.

When little ones start going to school, parents worry about the kinds of germs they’re getting from their friends.

The list goes on and on.

And.

All this makes me wonder about whether or not it’s ‘okay’ for us to worry (about our kids, in this case).

Because really, as much as we’ve done our best for our kids, like boosting their bodies’ immune system, the reality is … we often still don’t have THAT ‘peace of mind’.

I read a book on this (called ‘Pengudusan Emosi’ or ‘The Sanctification of Emotion’, by Rev. Stephen Tong) and I just thought of sharing some points that I personally find insightful (and hopefully useful to you).

Here goes:

> People who worry will tend to regard everything else (other than THEIR worries) as not that important. They’ll tend to focus on their worries, and not much on anything else.

> According to one study on human psychology, 90% of what people worry about do NOT actually take place (ie. most of what we worry about never comes to pass)

> When we keep on worrying about things, we in fact are putting psychological boundaries around ourselves, limiting ourselves from doing things that perhaps will actually be more ‘fruitful’ and positive.

…

I think it’s all natural if we want to have peace of mind.

Especially when it comes to the well-being of our own kids.

Most of us would probably say,  ‘Yep, I want peace of mind. I know it’s better not to worry much. But HOW do I do that? What should I do to not worry much?’

…

‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 4:6-7

…

And here’s what I’d like to share:

> When it says, ‘… present your requests to God’, it does NOT mean we run away from our responsibilities and stop caring about the things that we used to feel worried about.

> ‘… present your requests to God’ means we should continually tell God about everything, about our worries and our thoughts, while we still carry out our responsibilities.

> It means, we should pray before Him, tell Him what we need and what we’re worried about, ask for His grace, and give thanks to Him for His help.

…

Now.

Coming back to having peace of mind in relation to my own kids, these are two things (out of many) that I know I should always remember:

While I pray for the kids’ health,
I must also remember to do things that will help boost their natural defenses (eg. balanced diet, vitamins, sufficient rest, exercise)

While I have concerns about the kinds of (bad) influences / pressures they may get at school when I’m not with them,
I must remember to not only pray for them, but also lovingly instill and teach them important life values since young, so that they too learn to make the right choices on their own, and naturally fend for themselves and their beliefs.

…

I should perhaps further elaborate on what I’ve shared above. But this post would then be seemingly never-ending *smile*

Well.

All I know is that, I still have SO many things – about life and about being a Mom – that I still need to learn and implement.

And that I need to rely more on God’s grace and help every day, to have the true ‘peace of mind’.

As you’re planning your family activities for the weekend, I’d like to point you over to the event happening this coming Saturday, 31 October, 6.30pm – 7.30pm at the Arts House.

Adeline Foo, bestselling children’s book author and Christine Lim Simpson, a talented illustrator who tells stories well through her drawings, are both personal friends of mine, AND they both will be launching TWO of their books this weekend at the Singapore Writers Festival!

[Adeline is a mom of three, and Christine is a mom of two!]

Really. I’m always amazed and inspired when I see other people exploring and maximising their talents with such dedication.

And I hope our kids learn from such people too.

Their hard work and commitment. The exploration of one’s potential and talents. Their dedication towards what they’re passionate about.

So.

Please click HERE to RSVP on Facebook.

And if you have questions, you can contact Adeleena
Tel: 6846 4771 or email: events@ethosbooks.com.sg

See you at the Arts House this Saturday!

If you live in Singapore, it’s common to see people in work suits on the train, on their way back from work, at 11pm!

When I myself was working fulltime, I remember how I would reach home past midnight. And, I’d be back at work in the weekends too.

Not because I wanted to stay back and work for longer hours (I didn’t get ‘overtime’ pay). It’s more because the job ‘required’ me to stay and return in the weekends.

I loved my job. But I realised how it’s not doing any good to me, my health, my social life, and my marriage (the kids were not born yet at the time)

Now that I’m a fulltime mom of two who works from home, I still find myself trying to balance so many things as best as I can.

But the reality is, it’s HARD.

Kids. Housework. Online business. Freelance work. Blogging. Photo shoots. Supporting my hubby’s business. Church ministries. To name a few.

Oh … not to forget, twosome time with hubby AND that time to be quiet by myself, to wind down and relax.

Now.

You see, I love doing what I do … but since we all only have 24 hours in a day, I know I can’t always do ‘everything’. No one can.

So, on some days I tell myself to just accomplish more of A, B and C.

On other days, I do more of D, E and F.

But even then, I find there are still SO many things that need to be done that I have YET to do.

And one thing that I also realise is, in my attempt to juggle everything, I’d usually sacrifice … rest.

Which, I know, is a really BAD idea.

Because when we’re down and sick, we too can’t do much at all, can we?

…

Anyway, I just thought of sharing with you this article.

It was shared by Wilson yesterday and it’s helped me reflect on things.

Here’re some excerpts of the article:

He was a hardworking man who wanted to give his best for his customers at his drycleaning store.

But Tan Ying Rong’s dedication to his job cost him his life as he died from overwork earlier last week.

Mr Tan died from heart exhaustion, possibly caused by overwork, said Lianhe Wanbao.

Click HERE to read the story.

And HERE to read a ‘review’, of the same story, done by another site.

…

The way I see it, … work is important, but we do need rest and leisure too to balance it all.

We need time for ourselves. Time with friends and families.

Our time is limited to just 24 hours a day, and so how we spend it … is crucial.

Do we spend time with our family and friends ? Do we spend most of our time (read: too much time) on Facebook and work, for example?

Anyway.

I’m glad Wilson shared the article with me.

Because I feel once in a while, we do need a reminder or two to bring us all back on the ‘right track’, and to see what’s really important in our life.

And what’s not.

…

What’s your view?

What do you think of Singapore’s lifestyle? How do you balance everything in life? How do you find juggling your roles everyday?

I love to hear from you.

I’ve been wanting to post arts and crafts activity ideas for the longest time.

The photos are all there, but somehow the entry keeps getting postponed.

Anyway.

Here’s one today, ie. when Vai and I made our little tortoise out of styrofoam bowl!

What we used:

– One styrofoam bowl
– Carton (eg. rather thick paper, recycled cereal box)
– Coloured Paper (for the patterns on the tortoise’s shell)
– Crayons
– Scotch tape, scissors and glue

– Using paper from Vai’s ‘drawing book’, I cut out hexagon shapes, the ‘four legs’, one triangle (for the tail), and a shape for the tortoise’s head (see image below on how I cut and folded it)
What we did:

– Using coloured paper, I cut out hexagon shapes (to stick on the coloured shell later)

– Vai then coloured the styrofoam bowl with his green crayons (btw, I love this brand called ‘Titi‘. It’s so easy to apply. Okay, it smudges, but I still love the ‘thickness’ of each stroke!)

After some time, Vai told me how his fingers were getting ‘tired’ of colouring the bowl, hehe. So I helped and covered most of the bowl with the green crayon, and let him do the final touches.

– Vai then glued the hexagon shapes onto the ‘shell’

– We used scotch tapes and stuck the legs, tail and ‘already-folded head’ onto the ‘inside’ of the bowl

– Vai drew the eyes and mouth on the tortoise’s head

And that’s it!

PS: Vai placed a little red sharpener below the tortoise just before I took the shot above. It’s the tortoise’s BABY, he said!

[With Julie and Fiona from Asia PR Werkz]

So this is it.

The Awards Nite. At the Pan Pacific Hotel.

And as for the results, … the Best Parenting Blog category was won by … Australia! (childhood101.blogspot.com)

*Congrats Christie!*

So no I didn’t win it, but I still do feel honoured and privileged though for having been recognised and selected as one of the top five in the Asia Pacific. For being the only ‘local’ blogger and all in the category.

Thanks.

Thanks everyone for nominating and voting for Our Everyday Things. Thanks for supporting and reading my blog all this while too.

[Ming and Tim, founders of Nuffnang, who btw are still in their twenties!]

Thanks Nuffnang and all the sponsors for the GREAT NITE!

It really was organised well, and I’m sure everyone involved worked super hard for it!

We met up with sooo many other bloggers, and we sure enjoyed ourselves a lot that night!

[Thanks to Juita and Hendro, again, for looking after Anya and Vai! And for giving me a pair of contacts to wear that night! Heh … ]

Anyway.

We took heaps of photos … and here’s a few I’d like to share with you.

[Bottom Left – Right: with fellow Best Parenting Blog finalists, Redmummy and Christie and little Immy, the winner!]

,
[Clockwise from Top Left: With Jayden, Xiaxue who won 3 awards that night, Tammy from Ohsofickle, and Joanne Peh, winner of the Best Celebrity Blog]

[With Best Geek Blog finalists, Michael and Arnold … Arnold came out as the winner, btw! Congrats!]

[The lovely ladies from Bonitochiko, winner of the Best Blog Shop with the emcee of the night, Allan Wu, actor and host of Amazing Race Asia]

We had JC Sum and ‘Magic Babe Ning’ doing some entertaining illusions at the beginning of the night, and the band Electrico playing it live towards the end.

AND.

Last but not least, I’ve put together some photos and the video clip which was played just before the ‘Best Parenting Blog’ winner was announced!

Click HERE to watch it on youtube.

Enjoy!

Some weeks ago I wrote about our recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and how it was like for the kids and I when we went out and about by ourselves on public trains.

Today, I thought of sharing how it all went when we chose to travel to KL from Singapore by Tiger Airways (and hopefully it’ll give more insights to you who’re planning your trip to KL)

Well, you see … we’ve tried taking the bus from Singapore, and driving there ourselves.

But this time round, we thought it’d be ‘faster’ and ‘more convenient’ (since we had the two kids coming along) if we flew there instead.

So, we bought tickets from Tiger Airways (It’s promotional price was like, S$65 per person, to go to KL and back!)

AND.

That’s when we found out that apparently going to KL by a budget airline was NOT better in terms of ‘time-efficiency’ or ‘convenience’!

And here’s how it all went for us:

1) We board Tiger Airways at the Budget Terminal. So upon reaching Changi Airport, we had to take the airport’s special shuttle bus to get there.

2) Our plane did not stop at KL’s International Airport. Instead, we reached KL’s LCCT, which stands for Low Cost Carrier Terminal (something like Singapore’s Budget Terminal)

3) From LCCT, we then took a shuttle bus called Star Shuttle.

We bought the tickets from their booth at LCCT (RM8 per person, and the kids were free). We waited for about 30mins at their ‘bus stop’ and it took us a good one hour to reach Jalan Pudu, the nearest bus stop to our hotel (we had to ‘hurry before the officers came’ when getting off the bus ‘by the roadside’)

4) We wanted to take a taxi to Swiss Garden Hotel, which was only about 8-10mins walking distance from there, BUT we happened to meet a taxi driver who kept on ‘scolding’ us really rudely for asking if he’s using the taxi meter (taxi drivers knew we’re tourists and so they charged really expensive rates. Taxi meters are usually not used and so we need to ‘bargain’ with them)

In the end, we chose to drag our feet and luggages all the way to the hotel.

…

When it was time for us to fly back to Singapore, we chose to take a taxi instead, all the way from the hotel to LCCT (we paid about RM85)

And the ‘surprising’ thing about our budget airline trip was, … just 5 minutes before it was scheduled to take off, we’re all told that the flight was delayed for FOUR hours.

Man.

SO many people were complaining to the airport staff, especially those who already had tickets to fly to another country upon reaching Singapore! (but since there’s no one from Tiger Airways there, there’s nothing much anyone could do)

As for us, we’re okay if the plane was delayed so that they could fix any technical problems with the engines, etc.

But, to have only known about the delay just 5 minutes before the scheduled take-off time … well, I thought they could do much better than that. We didn’t expect the delay to be that long too.

[Btw, they gave out food vouchers, so we all had our dinner there while waiting for the plane to come]

Anyway.

I’d LOVE to hear your stories.

What do you think is the best way to get to KL? (especially if you’re traveling with kids!)

Please do share. I’m sure it’ll benefit everyone else who’s planning a trip there!

Thanks everyone!

He still likes to climb and jump over things.

He still likes to read books about sharks.

He’s still into Lightning McQueen (from the movie ‘Cars’ by Pixar)

He still likes to be silly and giggly.

He still likes to make ‘snorting pig noises’.

He still is the very first one who asks, ‘Are you okay?’ when I hurt myself. The one who asks if I’d like him to kiss it better.

…

Yes, he may be rather difficult, especially in the last 2 – 3 weeks, but each day is still filled with many sweet moments which we’d treasure too.

And.

We so thank God for entrusting him in our little family.