Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Anya and I went to the playground downstairs. Like we usually do soon after Anya’s breakfast. Normally there’s hardly anybody else around, which is great, because Anya then gets to play on the slide by herself. No bigger kids running around. No chance of anyone stomping on Anya’s tiny fingers or pushing her off the slide.

This time round there’re two other kids. A girl and a boy. The 2-year-old boy followed Anya wherever she went. Anya seemed to like his company too. They patted each others’ hands, waved, smiled, talked in a baby language. I stood and watched with a grin on my face. It was cute.

Now, the other girl was not half as nice though. She’s probably about two and a half years old and she was there with her grandma.

Anya was on the steps when she came to her, slapped Anya’s back and screamed ‘Go!’. Anya got pretty confused and I – though pretty surprised with what I just saw – maintained my cool and smiled. Ah, kids do these things and it’s okay, or so I thought. But she didn’t stop after that. She did a few other things to Anya and got her pretty scared.

The kid obviously didn’t know how to be sorry for the nasty things she’s done.  Out of the few times she ‘bullied’ Anya, even the grandma herself never said sorry to us.

*Sigh*

Where have manners and courtesy gone to these days?

Kids tend to follow how we adults behave. Things we do. Things we say. How we say them. Kids observe all these whether we want them to or not.

I know it’s not easy to always do the right thing 24 hours a day. But I guess the least that we parents should do is to give our best. I believe it’s part of our character-building too.

PS: After the incident, I do wonder about HOW I should’ve reacted if similar incidents were to happen again to Anya. Do I let her learn how to fend for herself? Do I step in and remind the other kid?

On one hand, I’d like to give Anya a bit more space to learn the harsh reality of life. You know, to figure things out herself. To find out how her world is not all about kind and nice people.

On the other, I feel as a Mom (taking into consideration Anya’s tender age right now) I may need to come to her rescue (though not immediately, I guess).

Definitely something for me to think about.

I’ve read about kids who completely reject the idea of brushing their teeth and I’m just glad Anya’s not one of them.

I introduced kid’s toothpaste when she turned 18 months. At first she gave me a’Huh? What’s this?’ look, but after that first brush, she’s all okay!

And oh, she’s now mastered the art of spewing water from her mouth after a good brush too. And we use the word ‘Choo!’ for the action.

The other day I was asking Anya to chew on her food, and I said, ‘Anya … chew!’. And apparently it sounded too similar to her usual ‘choo’. No wonder she gave me a confused look, and spewed some of her lunch out!

Oops.

I can’t quite remember the last time I had a really good night sleep.

An article I read recently says that in the first year of a baby’s life, the primary caregiver stands to lose 700 hours of sleep. That’s a LOT!

Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m writing all this not because I regret having a kid. No no. I’m proud of my role as a Mom. I don’t mind waking up at night to prepare Anya’s formula (yes, she’s completely weaned now! Yipeee!!) I don’t mind changing her diapers, bathing her, preparing her meals and all other things that full-time moms do. I’m happy with my role as a wife too.  Life’s been good for me.

I was just thinking that as Mother’s Day draws near, it’d just be nice if husbands and kids also remember that moms do and always appreciate little gestures from the family. Gestures that show they care and appreciate moms’ contribution and role.

A little hug. Words of thanks for the nice meal prepared. A gentle pat on the back.

Stuff like that.

I don’t know when it exactly happened, but Anya now somehow has double eyelids! On both eyes!

Okay, let me explain a bit.

She’s born with single eyelids. Then she had a double eyelid on her left eye when she’s about five months. And now that she’s 60 weeks old, she has it on both eyes. Err, actually the one on the right eye still comes and goes. Weird.

Interestingly, I too wasn’t born with double eyelids. I was about 10 years old when I somehow had a ”slight crease’ on both eyes. My double eyelids were obvious only when I was about 19 years old!

Moral of the story:
If you wish your kids have double eyelids, you still have hope. But really, even if they have small-asian-eyes with single eyelids till they’re 80 years old, what’s there to complain?

We often tend to think that outer beauty matters the most, which I think is a false concept that sadly is endorsed strongly by the media nowadays.

God creates each one of us beautifully, unique in our own ways, and there are just too many things that we must be thankful of everyday that there’s just no time for complaints over such things.

Found some interesting ‘did you know facts’ and I thought it’d be fun to post them here once in a while. Here’s my first one (rather shocking, really!) …

The greatest recorded number of kids that have been born by ONE mother is 69! The lady gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets AND 4 sets of quadruplets!

Babies on strollers tend to attract attentions whether you like it or not.

Strangers may come up to Anya, smiling and playing with her tiny hands. AndAnya sure doesn’t mind.

Generally I don’t mind too since I’d also like Anya to be friendly towards everyone.

BUT. Of course there are times when people step a little beyond what I consider as ‘normal actions toward a stranger’s baby whom you’ve just met a few seconds ago’.

Like when a man on the MRT wanted to play with Anya and started poking her ‘softly’ with his umbrella (read:the other end that goes on the ground when he uses it as a walking stick!), or when a lady cleaner squeezed Anya’s cheeks right after she wiped the oily food court table!

*sigh*

Oh well, I’m sure these people have good intentions at heart.

It’s been a super busy week for me.

Meeting deadlines, preparing quotes for clients, endless phone calls and emails. And not to forget the 13.5-month-old-kid who’s with me nearly 24 hours a day.

I guess it’s worse when my hubby has to go out and meet clients too because that leaves me juggling everything at home, ‘alone’.

Working. Getting Anya’s lunch ready. Working. Feeding Anya. Working. Getting the kid to sleep. Working again. Hmpf. Definitely it was NOT easy.

And oh, not to mention a shocking encounter with a lizard on the kitchen floor last night!

My sis, her hubby and son, Travis, are here for a few days!

Though Travis is 8 years older, Anya’s definitely enjoying his company. A friend to play peek-a-boo with. A brother to hold her hands while she attempts to walk, too.

Travis doubles up as Anya’s babysitter too sometimes, hehe, which gives me a little extra time for breakfast + newspaper!

It’s interesting how everyday activities as plain as having breakfast and reading the newspaper can become so enjoyable to a busy mom and wife.