Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

I’d just like to highlight to you that if you have a blog and you’re hoping to get a FREE pair of cute Polliwalks Shoes, your chance is SUPER high.

Currently there are less than 13 entries in the Bloggers’ Category, and with TEN pairs to be won in this category, that literally means almost everyone who leaves a comment to enter this category will receive a FREE pair!

Click HERE to leave your comment.

[And do remember to include a direct link to your blog post WITHIN your comment]

Contest ends today at 12.00am midnight, Singapore time!

We made this the other day. Newspaper castles. One for each kid.

And surprisingly, it’s quite simple to make.

What you’d need:

– Newspaper
– Water colour and brush (we used toothbrushes too)
– Crayons, scissors and glue
– White-coloured paper carton (or in our case, we used 1cm styrofoam boards as the base)

What you do:

– Get the kids to watercolour the newspaper sheet – about a size of an A4 paper, one colour per sheet

– Once done, put it aside, let it dry and continue to your next preferred colour

– Cut out triangular and rectangular shapes using the different-coloured newspaper [As I cut, I emphasised what these shapes are called to Vai, to help him learn and remember]

– Kids glued the rectangles and triangles onto the base, making ‘castle-looking’ structures
[Vai didn’t finish the glueing part because he WANTED to play with the liquid glue instead. When I didn’t allow it, he got cranky and Anya offered to stick the ‘castles’ for him!]

– Once the kids are happy with their castles, put the board aside and let the glue bits fully dry

– Once dry, the kids can outline the shapes with dark-coloured crayons and draw windows, doors and stuff!

And that’s it!

We all loved their artwork!

Here’s my final reminder to everyone :

The Polliwalks Shoes Giveaway Contest ends tomorrow, 15 October, 12.00am midnight, Singapore time. Twenty lucky winners will then be selected by the very people who bring in Polliwalks into Singapore, and the results will be announced here on this blog within the next few days!

The only question is : Are you already in the running to win a FREE pair for your little one?

If you haven’t and you’d like to stand a chance, then you’d only need to leave a comment HERE.

Hurry! Time’s running out!

All the best, everyone!

Parents who are materially well-off are to be more careful when raising their children. Because in such families where money tends to not be a big concern, the children – since very young – tend to be supplied with whatever they ‘need’ and ‘want’, ie. living a comfortable life with little difficulties and struggles.

eg. When a child sees a bike and says he likes it, some parents may buy it without much consideration.

Or, to cheer a sad child (or a ‘scared’ child who’s rather apprehensive about undergoing a certain something, eg. surgery, exams), some parents may go out and buy (or promise to buy) one of the latest toys or gadgets.

While it is perfectly normal for parents to want to make their children feel happy and ‘loved’, when a child gets almost everything he asks for throughout his childhood (materially), hardly goes through ‘difficulties’ and ‘struggles’, and hardly faces ‘negative consequences’ of his own misbehaviour, the end ‘result’ of such an upbringing and conditioning is most likely: an adult who’ll find it extremely hard to face difficulties, rejections and stress of everyday life.

If a child is used to living a pampered life (eg. ‘must have’ air-con, must dine in ‘good restaurants’ with ‘food that I like’, must buy what I ask), when he grows up and faces problems and inconveniences at school, in the office, and in his family, will he be the kind of person who’ll have the mindset and capability/willingness to ‘accept the reality’, to ‘remain strong’, to ‘survive’, to ‘move forward with determination’, to ‘persevere’ and to ‘fight it through it all right till the end’?

…

Finding the right balance in parenting is never easy. Raising children and equipping them with the ‘necessary tools’ (morally, mentally, spiritually, etc) is also a tough task.

But I guess, if we realise how incapable we are and how important it is to seriously bring our children up, we’ve taken that first important step of being a ‘better parent’, because we’ll then learn to equip ourselves too as we teach and guide our children.

For our case, we know we can never do it ‘alone’, for we need the strength and wisdom from God to be able to to go through each day as parents who’re called to be instrumental in the upbringing of both Anya and Vai.

A tough yet an honourable task.

We went go-karting yesterday at Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia!

The last time we went go-karting was over a year ago! And this time round, the group trip was organised by the Indonesian Professionals’ Association (IPA) and we joined in the fun!

There were some thirty-five of us (not everyone was in the photo above) and we all took taxis from the City Square Shopping centre.

And just like last year, we went to Permas Go-Kart Club again, BUT they’ve moved to a different location not too long ago. It’s now at ‘Plentong’, a smaller town in Johor Bahru.

The good news is, the circuit is now bigger and better.

And the not-so good news is, errr, the road leading up to the circuit is unexpectedly … bad! I mean, literally, it was offroad!

Our taxi had to slowly drive through what, more-appropriately, should be called a ‘jungle’ (on our left and right) for a good 3.5km! Gravels-and-mud-covered road tracks! And, the earlier rain and drizzle didn’t help much too.

Our driver – and all other taxi drivers who took the group there – was not at all happy. They claimed that if they had known about the bad road condition and how it’s so far into the ‘forest’, they wouldn’t have taken us there in the first place! And, they all asked for at least double the meter charge, if not more.

[We had a deal with our driver in the end : he’d wait for an hour and he’d take us back to the city]

Anyway, other than THAT, the go-karting experience itself was, refreshingly goooood!

The very first time I went go-karting was when I was in Perth. I was 15 years old then. My second time was last year. And so today was my third go-kart drive!

As I stomped on the gas to the max, I remember feeling how good it was to experience something so completely different from our daily routine! It was just, so refreshing!

Wilson and I so needed that (well, don’t we all?)

Anyway.

Here are more photos of the day!

[While waiting for the other group before us to finish, Vai observed his surroundings and Anya, well, she got herself busy wiping her Polliwalks duck shoes clean!]

[Anya’s checking out daddy’s hair cover, while Vai looked on, perhaps thinking how silly she looked with it on her head, haha!) Btw, every driver must put this on before wearing the helmet]

[Wilson and I took turns so one of us could be with the kids, who btw watched the many go-karts swooshing by quite intently!]

[As I sort of expected, we’re the only ones WITH kids! Hehe]

Anyway.

We both enjoyed our go-kart outing today! And hopefully we don’t have to way till ‘next year’ to have another go!

…

Hope you had a great weekend!

In my previous post I wrote how I made a music video for Vai out of pure fun, and how I think this personalised music CD – where you can insert a specific kid’s name into the songs – makes such a great gift! Be it for birthdays, Christmas, the birth of newborn babies, etc. Kids (and especially their parents) will LOVE this gift, I reckon!

I love the fact that there are more than 1500 names to choose from too. From Eric, Toby to Shanice and Elissa … you name them!

And so, here’s something that I’ve worked out for Our Everyday Things readers!

From now till 31 December 2008, when you order two or more personalised music CDs from 75volts.com, you will enjoy 20% discount off their music CD price!

And here’s more info on the promotion:

– Click HERE to see the available Music CDs
[See if the name you have in mind is in their list! Btw, look for the ‘pronunciation’ of the name rather than the ‘correct spelling’ of the name you’re looking for, and check out their music samples with your chosen name afterwards!]

– Minimum order : Two CDs

– To enjoy the 20% discount, you MUST type in the promotional code “OET08” when you’re checking out. The words “Our Everyday Things Promo” will appear after the code is keyed in and activated

– Orders are made online and they accept and deliver internationally (delivery charges apply)

…

This promotion is completely for you guys to enjoy, ie. I don’t get anything out of it other than a really nice feeling from sharing something worthwhile with readers of this blog (and their friends and friends’ friends and so on).

Let me know what you think?

In the mean time, I’ll definitely be ordering one for Anya! I know hearing her own name in the songs will put a big smile on her face!

Vai’s little friend, Rachel, gave him a very cool personalised music CD from 75volts.com for his 2nd birthday!

When we first opened up the present, we had no idea what it was UNTIL we listened to it! And I LOVED it, instantly! His name – Levi – was sung as part of the songs, and was repeated so many times! It was SO special! So JUST FOR Vai!

[You know, I think I treasure the CD much more than the kids at the moment since at their age they’re yet to understand and appreciate how meaningful such a personalised CD is]

Anyway.

The kids love the songs and I must say, this ‘One of a Kind’ song is their favourite! They’ll practically wiggle themselves silly and dance their hearts out whenever they hear this song! [Check out the dance moves I’m talking about towards the end of the music video!]

And so since this song is dedicated to Vai for his 2nd Birthday, I’ve compiled quite a few meaningful clips (starting from when he was 1.5yo till some recent ones), and made a fun music video out of it!

Click HERE to watch the music video!
(I’d recommend that you wait till it’s completely downloaded before you play the clip)

And here’re the words of the song:

One of a Kind

Just like the stars that twinkle in the night
Levi, you’re precious in God’s sight

Just like the fish that wiggles in the sea
Levi, God made you and me

So clap your hands
Stomp your feet
Nod your head
Shout ‘God loves me!’

You’re one of a kind
God is with you all the time
Jesus knows you and He loves you , Levi

You’re one of a kind
And God made you by design
You are special Jesus loves you, Levi

Just like the moth becomes a butterfly
Levi, God changes you inside

Just like the birds in sky so blue
Levi, God watches over you

…

Indeed, every child is special and precious in God’s sight. Truly one of a kind!

Enjoy the video, everyone!

PS:
This CD makes such a special gift! If you’re interested in getting one or two (or more!), before you go and make your online order, there’s more good news about this personalised music CD from 75volts.com! I’ll post the info real soon!

I was looking at our old photo archives the other day and found this!

Anya was only one year old in that photo. And to think that THAT was taken three and a half years ago again made me feel how time is ticking real fast!

As I look at these two photos and type this post, I whisper a little prayer inside:

God, please help me treasure my moments with my little ones and be the kind of parent YOU want me to be. For I am far from able.