Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

This is one of the many songs I personally like.

The tune is nice and easy to remember, but most importantly, the lyrics serve as a great reminder to me.

That, it’s only because of God’s grace if I have what I have today, and if I could do what I do today.

It’s only because of God’s grace if I could even put my trust in Him.

And, it’s also a reminder that I must always learn to be responsible in carrying out the calling and tasks that are entrusted to me, and that God will always be with us, giving us the grace and strength that we need.

Every day. Every time.

…

GRACE ALONE

Every promise we can make
Every prayer and step of faith
Every difference we can make
Is only by His grace.
Every mountain we will climb
Every ray of hope we shine
Every blessing left behind
Is only by His grace

Chorus:
Grace alone Which God supplies
Strength unknown He will provide
Christ in us, our cornerstone
We will go forth in grace alone.

Every soul we long to reach
Every heart we hope to teach
Everywhere we share His peace
Is only by His grace.
Every loving word we say
Every tear we wipe away
Every sorrow turned to praise
Is only by His grace

Words and Music by Scott Wesley Brown, Jeff Nelson

…

“For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

Brie is now 20 months old.

And as far as I can remember, I think my two older kids – when they’re around Brie’s age now – have done more crafts / artsy activities than this 3rd child of mine.

I wondered why this is so the other day.

I mean, why does Brie do less crafts / drawing / pasting than her siblings when they were her age?

Well, I finally thought of these three main reasons.

Reason #1
Now that we’re in Jakarta, somehow our current (rented) home is not so conducive to us doing activities in the living room like we used to when we’re back in Singapore. Plus, my crafts stuff are still … well, inside our big boxes (read: not yet unpacked!)

(Can’t wait to finally move into our own apartment in less than 3 months time, and unpack everything!)

Reason #2
Now that I have three kids, I have less time to sit down with the kids to do crafts regularly.

Note:
I’m now working (mostly is done from home). My eldest is attending Primary 2, the other is ‘learning from home’ till this July when he enters Primary 1. And, I spend quite some time ‘on the road’ as well, driving the kids from A to B and not to forget, getting stuck in traffic jams here in Jakarta.

Reason #3
This is probably the ‘main’ reason : Brie still likes to put things into her mouth! Yes, at the age of 20 months. Though now she does it less frequently, she still sometimes bites into our erasers, coloured pencils, etc.

Anyway.

Here’s one activity that she’s been doing more of lately :  Drawing with a crayon and smudging it with her fingers.

It’s do-able, because nowadays she no longer ‘eats’ her crayons, haha.

Look forward to doing more regular activities and crafts with the kids.

I don’t know how familiar you are with Dengue Fever.

I know before I had it, I knew very little about it.

Anyway.

I thought just in case any of you need the info too, here’s a little more about Dengue Fever, and what I myself experienced in those first few days.

…

SYMPTOMS 

Symptoms usually begin 4 – 6 days after infection and last for up to 10 days, they may include:

– Sudden, high fever
– Severe headaches
– Pain behind the eyes
– Severe joint and muscle pain
– Nausea
– Vomiting
– Skin rash, which appears three to four days after the onset of fever
– Mild bleeding (such a nose bleed, bleeding gums, or easy bruising)

* My symptoms

– Fever as high as 39.5 deg Celsius (including chills / shivers)
– Headaches
(Panadol somehow did NOT help with my headaches at night, so I’d press on the two sides of my head while trying to get some rest)
– Pain behind the eyes (even moving my eyeballs sideways hurt!)
– Severe joint and muscle pain (mostly on my back of neck, shoulders and all of my back. Those areas ached very badly)

I had none of the other symptoms.

(Btw, I lost my appetite too and experienced some tummy discomfort. But then I thought the ‘discomfort’ was probably caused by the reduction in the amount of food I eat! I usually eat a LOT, and since I had Dengue, I can only eat about 40% of my usual serving)

…

SEEING THE DOCTOR

I went to see a doctor and had a blood test.

The blood test result showed :
– My platelets count (thrombocytes) is low
– It’s confirmed that I have Dengue Fever

The doctor told me how I should be hospitalised immediately, so I could get the IV drip on me, to get the thrombocytes / platelets up again.

The only way to get well and to get your platelets up again in Dengue Fever is through rest and LOTS of fluid.

Upon hearing that, I immediately thought to myself, … umm, hospitalised? I have three kids to look after, not to forget … one of them is still breastfed! How could I stay at the hospital for days?

We then asked about the IV drip and it’s ‘purpose’.

Basically, it’s to keep me hydrated throughout the day, because the only way to get well and to get your platelets up again in Dengue Fever is through rest and LOTS of fluid.

So we told the doctor : Okay in that case, we’ll do what we can at home (read: drink as much as I can) and we’ll do another blood test tomorrow. If my platelets count gets worse, I’ll stay in the hospital.

The doctor in the end let us have our way.

…

HOME TREATMENT 

To recover from Dengue Fever, one must : rest and drink as much as possible.

So I told myself to drink at least 2.5L a day.

(Not easy btw, because you feel bloated)

And, I drank (and drank and drank!) these:

– Pocari Sweat (isotonic drink)
– Guava Juice
– Honey mixed with warm water
– Plain water

And I had these too (supposed to increase my platelets / thrombocytes):

– Fu Fang E Jiao Jiang

This is available in chinese medicine shops. It comes in small tubes (pictured above), and in a 250ml bottle too.

– Ang Kak (Red Yeast Rice)

Mix with water, boil it, drain it, and drink the red-coloured water mixed with some honey. Twice a day.

…

The very next day, we went for another blood test, and THANK GOD my blood count went UP!!

I was like, WOOHOO!!!

SUPER DUPER HAPPY!

Because this means I do NOT need to be hospitalised, and I could just continue doing what I did and recover at home!

(Plus, NO hospital costs and hey, it also meant I could slowly wean Brie off breastfeeding, instead of stop breastfeeding her overnight which would not be a positive experience for her)

…

Health is given. It’s a blessing from God.

Anyway.

Frankly, I did feel ‘unproductive’ especially in those first 10 days after I was diagnosed with Dengue Fever.

Because really, I could NOT do any work.

But then I reminded myself how blessed I am.

Work can always wait.

Health is given.

It’s a blessing from God.

And yes, I’m learning to appreciate life and what I have even more.

I feel honoured to have been interviewed recently by the Young Reader Club in Singapore.

They asked me a series of good questions on blogging, children and the social media.

Since the questions are pretty much relevant to all of us, I feel I should share – from time to time – their questions and my personal answers to them.

Here’s one that I’d like to share with you today.

QUESTION:
“How should parents approach their child’s plea for a Facebook account or to own a smartphone?”

ANSWER:
First of all, parents should know the danger of the internet world.

Parents must always share such potential dangers to their children too : how today’s danger that we need to be aware of is not just in the ‘physical world’ but also in the ‘online world’.

Just like we must be aware of thieves, robbers, kidnappers, murderers, we must also be aware of the danger of online predators, bullies, including websites filled with ‘rubbish content and images’ that are out to ‘pollute’ people’s minds, hearts and thoughts.

Just like we must be aware of thieves, robbers, kidnappers, murderers, we must also be aware of the danger of online predators, bullies, including websites filled with ‘rubbish content and images’ that are out to ‘pollute’ people’s minds, hearts and thoughts.

Personally, I share this with my children, eg. How there are just so many things going on in the ‘online world’ that even adults can be deceived, tricked and robbed off their money, etc.

Browsing the internet freely, and owning a Facebook account is like putting oneself out there in the ‘cyber world’ that is full of such dangers, and young children will be ‘easy preys’ for these predators.

Explaining this to the children is very important. And, for the children to ‘accept’ the parents’ explanations, it’s important for the parents to have ‘positive and good’ relationships with the children to begin with. The children need to know that their parents genuinely care for their well-being.

Browsing the internet freely, and owning a Facebook account is like putting oneself out there in the ‘cyber world’ that is full of such dangers, and young children will be ‘easy preys’ for these predators.

For my case, I believe there’s no need for my children to have Facebook accounts right now.

Real friendships and interactions are the best and this should be encouraged more.

They can have their own Facebook account when their real age meets the minimum age requirement to open a Facebook account. And even then, I’d keep an open communication with them to ensure they’re aware of the danger of connecting with strangers, etc.

As to smartphones, to me … one needs to have a reason for owning one.

If there’s a need for the children to contact their parents from school, they can always use the school’s public phone. If they need to be in touch with the parents for some reasons (eg. Parents are away from the children due to work and other commitments), then a simple mobile phone with no internet access (eg. Pre-paid cards) can always be provided to these young children.

And why the ‘no internet’ mobile phones?

These days, children don’t need to ‘log into’ a computer or a laptop to freely browse the internet. They can do it conveniently from the very smartphones (or ipads, etc) their parents provide to them.

And again, as shared earlier, letting young children to freely browse the internet all on their own without our guidance and supervision (even for ‘school projects’) will expose them to serious dangers (eg. Obscene words, images and words).

…

… if as a parent, we don’t allow our child to walk all alone in a deserted park at night for fear of their safety, then why would we allow them to freely surf the internet which can potentially harm the well-being of their mind, heart and soul?

If you ask me, as parents we must strive to always communicate with our children.

Continually learn to know their interest, control ‘how much time’ they spend on gadgets and of course, spend real time with them, so that they can see how we genuinely love them and care for their well-being.

As to danger of the online and offline world to young children?

Well, if as a parent, we don’t allow our child to walk all alone in a deserted park at night for fear of their safety, then why would we allow them to freely surf the internet which can potentially harm the well-being of their mind, heart and soul?

The danger is really all the same.

Actually, it’s worse when it comes to the online world.

Because the very danger is no longer outside the walls of our home. It’s very well inside.

…

Let’s be seriously aware of the danger of today’s digital era.

For our children’s sake.

It was around 7pm, and I was in my bed the other night.

Still not yet recovered well from my dengue fever.

It was then when I heard Vai screamed out loud, ‘Mommy!!! There’s something up Brie’s nose!’

Anya rushed to look up her nose and she too screamed, ‘And it’s not her boogers!!!’

Anya rushed to look up her nose and she too screamed, ‘And it’s not her boogers!!!’

I went to see, and it looked a bit like bits of pasta that Brie’s having for dinner!

Great.

I used tissue and cotton buds.

Didn’t work a bit!

(While all this was happening, both Anya and Vai were nearby, all worried, cringing and holding onto each other)

Then suddenly, Brie looked like she’s about to sneeze.

So I covered her other nostril, and

‘HAAA…CHEEWWW!!’

Out came a full-sized Penne flying across her baby chair!!

(And both older kids burst out laughing and did their happy dance hand in hand)

All the while, Brie looked somewhat confused and unaware of what’s really happening.

…

I took a deep breath, looked at Brie right in the eye and said,

Brie, eat your Pasta please *point to mouth*

Don’t put it in your nose *point to nose*

No no no … *point to nose and shake head*

…

And I returned to my bed (and my headache).

Wonderful days of a Mom, eh?

By now we’ve in Jakarta for 10 month, and what do you know … I am in for a little surprise.

Around 4 days ago I started having headaches, chills, aching back of eye and high fever (averaging 38 deg C during the day and 39.5deg C at night)

All this only goes away when I take Panadol, and returns when the Panadol effect is gone (after about 5 hours)

Went for a blood test today, and there you go, … I am down with Dengue Fever.

I was told to totally rest and drink as MUCH as I can. Otherwise I’d need to be hospitalised to prevent further drop in my ‘thrombosit/platelet’.

So, I’ll need to be off from blogging for a few days yeah.

Do browse around my site if you haven’t done so 🙂

You may want to check out the Parenting category, or my Activity Ideas for Kids category.

Take care, everyone!

One of the things that I often need to remind myself is, I’m not just a Mom.

I’m also someone’s wife.

The ‘problem’ is, when you have kids, we are naturally inclined to focus our energy and effort on being good parents, than be good wives / husbands.

Yes? No? =)

…

Anyway.

Today I’d like to share this thought with you (inspired by an article on reviveourhearts.com)

It’s about encouraging our spouse (and the wonderful ‘effects’ this ‘exercise’ will have on our relationship with our husband/wife, if implemented whole-heartedly and consistently for weeks)

When we spend time criticising our spouse, it basically means we lose time that could be spent appreciating them

Let me start by asking: 

We all crave appreciation, don’t we?

We want to know that we are valued and loved, especially by our spouse.

The question is though, do we show our appreciation towards our spouse too?

Or do we tend to criticise and discourage our spouse with our words and actions? (consciously or unconsciously)

When we spend time criticising our spouse, it basically means we lose time that could be spent appreciating them.

So this week, why don’t we try to do this : 

> Do NOT say anything negative about our spouse. Not to the spouse, and not to anyone else.

> Every single day, take some time to let our spouse know something about him / her that we appreciate and admire.

eg. Her kindness and concern for others, his help with the children, her consistent faith in God, his compassionate heart, her effort in making sure the children are well taken care of, his gentleness, anything.

… if implemented consistently and with a loving heart, this ‘task’ will do wonders to our relationship with our spouse!

It may sound easy to do to some, and tough to some others.

Whatever it is, I’ve been told that if implemented consistently and with a loving heart, this ‘task’ will do wonders to our relationship with our spouse!

ie. When we initiate and consistently show our appreciation towards our spouse, say … for a month.

…

In the name of nurturing our marriage and relationship, let’s get ready to take up this challenge!

Encouraging. Appreciating. Everyday.

The other day I blogged about our recent trip to Desa Sawah, where we stayed right in the middle of rice fields (paddy fields).

(Click HERE to read and view some of the photos!)

And, guess what?

I managed to edit the video for my online channel, OUR CHANNEL! *YAY!!*

(Seriously, I’m SO happy that I got around to doing it amidst my other zillions things to do!*

Well.

As shared, I thought it was a really nice experience for our family.

And, I hope I get around to blogging more about the trip! Soon!

For now, do watch the video clip yeah! =)

Have a great week ahead, everyone!