Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

One Sunday morning, our 5yo Brie came to me asking if she could help out in the kitchen.

I was about to prepare some pancakes for everyone’s breakfast. So I thought, sure, she can do some pouring and mixing on the bowl.

She helped willingly and enthusiastically, and that’s when I thought of letting her try pouring some of the mixture on to the pan, with me standing next to her.

In the end, I taught her how to safely hold the pan’s handle, how to hold the turning spatula, how to lift the pancake, etc. I stood next to her and she did it all, happily =)
 

And voila!

We had one very satisfied kitchen helper and cook, and everyone had a good, yummy breakfast too! 🙂

…

It’s never too early to learn and try new things, as long as we are there to guide and supervise these little ones, yes? 🙂

Anyway, here’s a video clip of Brie’s first real cooking experience!

Enjoy 🙂

What can you make with ice cream sticks?

Vai chose to make a barn and farm animals for this school project, all on his own.

Glad that it’s finally done!
 

(Umm, just in case you’re wondering ‘Why PINK??’, well, that’s the colour we have at home =)
 

Anyway.

You know what’s the tough part of this project?

This young man needed ‘multiple’ reminders to finish his project by the deadline! (read: It wasn’t completed within a day or two)

Pfft. A procrastinator.

(Like Mommy, I guess =)
 

Don’t throw away those old magazines!

Because if you fold the pages of your old magazine, you can actually create … coasters and bowls!

A few notes:

– The thicker the magazine paper, the better. 

– I used a rather thick magazine paper, vertically halved the page and folded it (each strip is about 1 cm wide) to make the coaster.

– To make the bowl, I prepared different-sized strips (Mostly 1cm, and just a few 2cm ones)

– To glue the rolled-up strips, I used liquid glue

The kinds of ‘shape’ you are making is entirely up to you! 🙂

Have fun recycling and crafting!

This outdoor food festival is on till 22 May 2016. 

Info:
We checked out the satay and dessert stalls, and their prices start from Rp30,000.

You’d need to get some kind of a ‘card’, put money in it, and use the card when paying for your purchases. But if you have a BCA debit card, you can use it at all stalls.

Anyway.

It’s a nice place to hangout with the family 🙂
 

‘Mommy, what can I do now? I’m bored!’

‘What else can I do now? Give me something to do.’

(In the car) ‘What can I do now? I have nothing to do.’ 

…

Sounds familiar?

Here’s one undeniable fact we see today:

Kids these days get bored easily. They crave programmed activities and continual entertainment.

And I think, one of the major causes is, the presence of technology / gadgets that readily go everywhere with them. 

(Perhaps I should rephrase it to: the presence of technology / gadgets that are given to the children so that they are kept occupied / stimulated, wherever they are)

…

The way I see things:

– Our world is full of ‘trends’ and they’ll keep on changing over time.

– Whether or not we ‘follow the latest trend’ is a decision we need to make for ourselves.

– It is up to the parents who’ll create their own ‘family culture and habits’ from the start (and explain to the children the values attached to the decisions as they grow up)

 

[February 2015]

…

One of the latest trend we see today is: ‘Everyone has a gadget, regardless of their age.’

If you’re a parent, what is YOUR belief and why do you have that belief?Children naturally compare themselves with their friends and they will ask (continuously) for a gadget to land on their hands.

It’s a fact all parents face today.

But I guess, the more important questions are:

If you’re a parent, what is YOUR belief and why do you have that belief? What culture / habits that you’ll introduce to your own little family from day one?

Food for thought.

…

To be ‘under-stimulated’ is uncomfortable. But really, this ‘discomfort’ is exactly what they need todayAs for our family, we choose to not saturate our kids with ‘electronic media entertainment’ as there are soooo many other activities to explore and do, so many other ways to spend their time and day.

Which includes ‘doing nothing much at all’.

If asked about ‘children and their longing to be continually entertained’, I’d say:

It is OKAY to feel bored.

It is OKAY to not have any ‘media entertainment’ for a period of time.

It is OKAY to have ‘nothing to do’ in the car.

 

[No games on gadgets for Brie so far means she craves none and enjoys interactions with family and friends]

 
Because, when our children are ‘allowed to be bored’ (read: having no media entertainment nor structured/programmed activities), they are faced with opportunities to :

– Think – on their own – of ways to keep themselves busy
– Exercise their creativity and imagination
– Be calm and self-reflect
– Problem-solve their situations
– Interact with siblings and real people

…

Children today are heavily stimulated little people.

Children today are heavily stimulated little peopleTo be ‘under-stimulated’ is mildly unpleasant and uncomfortable. They’ll most likely complain about it.

But really, this ‘discomfort’ is exactly what they really need today.

What say you?

One of the things that my husband and I try to do often is to go out as a family.

All five of us together, with or without our friends and their children, or with our big family.

It may sound very ‘normal’, like … isn’t THAT what families do? They go out together all the time, don’t they?

Well you see, not really.

I know of many families who don’t do it much.

If going out as a family is never a habit to begin with, if it’s never something that they enjoy, … then they have very little to missSome parents choose to leave their kids at home while both parents go out together (or separately with their friends).

We just prefer to not do that with our kids.

I personally believe that going out as a family needs to be a ‘habit’ that the children are used to since they’re little. It needs to be something that they look forward to and enjoy.

Sometimes, going out as a family may mean accompanying Mommy and Daddy to their meetings, but then again, I hope the children learn that being a family also means being there for each other and learning to wait for one another, even though you have nothing much ‘for yourself’. Just like how Mommy waits for piano lessons and tennis lessons every week?

That’s what families should do for one another.

I know this ‘habit’ especially will come in very handy when our kids enter their teenage years, ie. When they’d prefer to be with their friends ‘more’.

I mean, if going out as a family is never a habit to begin with, if it’s never something that they enjoy, … then they have very little to ‘miss’.

They’d have nothing much to ‘crave’.

…

I can’t stop our children from growing up and wanting to spend more time on their own and with their friends, when the phase comes. 

I just hope that as they grow up, being with their family and spending time together will be something that they’ll miss and wish to still have.

(Kids, you’re growing up too fast. Slow down yea. Mommy miss you already)