Days of a Mom

Art for thought this Teacher's Day!

2011-08-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

"My Mentor", Acrylic on Canvas
For Teacher Yan (Chinese Teacher)

"Summer is here!" - Acrylic on Canvas
For Teacher Liz Tan (Form Teacher)

"It's Spring Time" - Acrylic on Canvas
For Teacher Emily (Piano Teacher)

I encouraged Ethan to paint for his teachers this year. We have always made something for teachers on Teacher's day such as cards, cookies together. This time round since he has experienced using acrylic on canvas, I decided to guide him through something manageable and it turned out pretty impressive! So first of all, we got the canvases from Art Friend and he did 3 pieces over a week for 3 teachers. My role was to teach him the steps, the strokes, mix paints. In terms of degree of difficulty, "My Mentor" is higher because of the circles and curves but I am glad he managed and am proud of him. So here they are!

The Other Loft by Adeline Oon: Shop Feature : Pixie Suzie

2011-08-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

The Other Loft by Adeline Oon: Shop Feature : Pixie Suzie

What would you do if you see your child being bullied right in front of you for nothing?

2011-07-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

Ethan was cycling around our estate this evening and I was just sitting around watching him. A few boys around his age (one of them he knows) were playing some PSP and he was curious. He went over and wanted to say hi and see what they were doing but was not welcomed. So he continued to cycle around cos he is not keen in computer games anyway but again was being stopped by both the boys eventhough he was only riding around the area without even stopping to bother them. Instead they stopped him. One pulled his bike while the other pushed. I waited for awhile to see how Ethan will react. He tried to ride away but couldn't as they continued to tugged at his bicycle. I couldn't tahan, walked over and told Ethan to stay away and told the boys that Ethan was simply cycling, not trying to join them at all. One even lied and said Ethan wanted to snatch his PSP when I was watching them throughout. Dunno if there should have been a better way to deal with a situation like this. On one hand I wanted to wait and let him deal with it but on the other hand it was a mother's instinct to help.

Ethan's art inspirations

2011-07-23T06:01:00.000-07:00

Ethan is not extremely interested in art but since he started Kinderart, we are surprised at what he is capable of. Here are some of his recent art pieces inspired by different Artists he learnt about. Only "Spring Time" is the one I did with him at home.

TV Man inspired by Keith Herring
Watercolour and Oil Pastels

Merrilyn Monroe inspired by Andy Wahol

Collage and Oil Pastel

Sketch - Inspired by Keith Herring

Explosion inspired by Roy Lichtenstein

Oil Pastel

Sunrise inspired by Roy Lichtenstein

Tempera paint

Spring Time inspired by Renoir

Acrylic on canvas

An update on Ethan and his school

2011-07-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

Ethan has since switched to a 3 hrs Kindergarten program as of June 2011. He was extremely unhappy at his previous childcare centre. We are glad we made the right decision as he is very happy with school since the change. It is a church kindergarten and the approach is quite different from his previous school. In fact the syllabus is less stressful and more age appropriate. I realised that his previous school has been teaching the Primary 1 curriculum at K1. I was quite shock. I found out after looking through some of the Primary 1 assessment books at Popular one day to see how tough is primary one actually these days.

While his previous school has already started with both spelling and 'ting xie' at the beginning of 2011. His current school only has weekly English spelling for them which is quite manageable. I also realised that his previous school has already been teaching them Han Yu Pin Yin while he is not even doing that here. Nevertheless, Ethan seems to enjoy learning Han Yu Pin Yin and so I will continue to follow up with him at home.

I am just happy that he adapted so quickly at his new school. While he cries and weep everyday when we dropped him off at his previous childcare, he went in confidently without a drop of tear on his first day at his current kindergarten and even made instant friends :). It is important to me that a child enjoys school thus if the school is pushing them to hard that it starts killing the children's interest in learning, I will rather they go slower. Afterall, he is K1 not Primary 1 yet.

Reflection as a parent

2011-03-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

I have been quite occupied and worried for Ethan lately over several things. As he is growing up fast, Wilson and I have been trying to keep up with him to make sure we grow with him as well. We are constantly reflecting upon our own actions, behaviour, decisions etc that may indirectly or directly influence him in many ways.

Since he started kindergarten one, Ethan has been trying to cope with some changes in school. Apart from the change in teachers (his favourite left), he had to cope with the new K1 'atmosphere'. I.e.less play in school, more work time. His teacher has already preempt us right from the beginning of the year that these changes may raise some behavioural issues, some resistence to school for some children and they all came true for Ethan. On top of that, they are now given weekly spelling lists for both languages plus Abacus homework on a weekly basis. I have to set aside time for homework which is usually a short 15 to 20 mins. He is gradually adjusting to it and I am glad that he is not so resistence to school anymore. I told him that in life, there are certain things that needs to be done and going to school, working, eating, doing chores are just the few mandatory things that we need to do whether we enjoy them or not. We have to learn to like them. He told me then that 'I have to learn to like school'. From that statement on, he stopped crying as I dropped him off to school.

But ultimately, to me as a parent, I am contended as long as at the end of the day, my children grow up to be good people. Seeing teenagers getting into loads of trouble these days makes me worry as Ethan enters his teenage years. At this point, my focus is still on his character building and it is not easy at all. He need not be a high flyer or anyone great. Just can't become a pest to the society. I think that will be one great achievement on my part if my children can just grow up to be good people. The rest will depend alot on his capabilities but I will always emphasize to him that it is not the results that matters to me, it is his attitude towards learning and doing things that matters most. Truly!

What have I been up to?

2011-03-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

I am finally back to my full time mom status afterabout 8 months. Full time work as an Art Instructor cum Operations Executive has been an intense experience for me. Why intense? Postive and Negative intensities I muyst say.

I love the teaching part dearly. Very much in fact. The relationships I have built with the parents and childrens over the months was most memorable. My colleagues are wonderful. We worked closely as a team, no matter how tough things get. It was a small team to begin with. Just mainly me and one full time colleague, Pam plus another part-time teacher, running the show, from operations to classes and parties. It was almost like running our own art school. We indeed have a strong sense of belonging to the place. Going to work feels like going home. Our boss gave us alot of autonomy which we appreciate. We were excited and motivated, looking forward to grow this new branch and looking forward to more colleagues. But we grew really exhausted over the months when it was still just the 2 of us and the part-time teacher.

Our boss is a great person. She is as busy as a bee since she has another business to juggle plus two young children. We understand and tried our very best to help in every way we can. But Ethan, my boy, felt left out through this period as I am also required to work on weekends especially when there are art parties to conduct. Teaching, especially young children, takes up alot of energy, physically and mentally. When I return from work, I just couldn't give him as much as I use to. Somedays, totally drained. Ethan is one reason I have decided to stop working again and along with that, we have bigger plans that do require more of my focus right now. I can now understand how tough it is to return to work once you embarked on the journey of a stay home mom. Unless you dread being with your children, you will find difficulty getting back to full-time work. :)

Getting back to the workforce

2010-07-21T23:39:00.000-07:00

It has been almost 4 years since I quit from the workforce. Well well well.....

In fact I had a job offer right after my confinement was over (Ethan was 3 months old then). I was excited about getting back to work initially and I almost signed the contract. However, after the offer, I had second thoughts. The thought of not being able to see my baby for the whole day feels terrible. I finally turned it down and decided to stay home full-time.

It has been one of my greatest experiences in life so far. I learnt a great deal.....how to be a good parent and learnt to cook. It had been quite an achievement for me.

I started teaching music to children on a freelance basis while Ethan was 8 months old. It was good to get away for a few hours a week. Kindermusik has been a wonderful company to work for. It was a dream job for a full-time mom who gets to pick the dates, timing and locations to teach.

Now that Ethan is coming to 4 years old, we have finally decided to switched him from half day to full day childcare. For me, I feel it is good for my kid as Ethan tends to be very dependent at home and refuses to pick up life skills readily no matter how we coax him. He learns more readily and effectively in school be it life skills or academics. I realised that he is highly motivated when there is peer pressure. I is a very sensitive child for his age as he feels terrible when he can't do something well. He wants to do it but at the same time gets frustrated easily especially with us around. Although I felt his school is getting a little too serious with academics at Nursery 2 initially, I realised that at 4 years old, it is perhaps not a bad time to start building a strong foundation, knowing how tough our education system is getting. at home we give him as little pressure as possible though we have been enouraged by his school to put in more effort in academics from home. No matter what, my principle is never compare my child with any of his peers. Teach him to challenge himself rather. It is more healthy that way I feel. So Wilson and I still adopt a more relax method when it comes to learning. I generally prefer to focus on building up his general knowledge at this age.

So that aside, since Ethan started full day childcare, I have decided to get back to full-time work. I want to use my time more constructively. I have been hoping to get into the social service sector or education sector. These are my areas of interest. But at the same time, my work must not supercede family, especially now that Ethan is young and still needs the attention.

Therefore, I have turned down a very good offer as an Education Therapist for Dyslexic children. The time commitment for the job plus the additional courses I have to take will take up almost all of my time. Plus weekends are all burn for that job. as I was on the verge of signing the contract, I decided not to as it is a 3-year contract. I thought perhaps this is not the right time to join the social service sector as the commitment are mostly very high.

I decided to focus on looking out for positions in the education sector and finally, I have been offered a role with a renown art school for children to help run the operations of their new branch plus cross-training as an instructor. I was thrilled. The location and work hours are pretty good. The people I have met are nice too. So as of 1st August, I will be officially starting my full-time work as an Operations Executive.

I spoke to Ethan about it to prepare him for it. hubby is all supportive. All the best to me!!

Ethan, Nestor and Clara

2010-07-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

When Ethan and Nestor get together, both their 'crazy' mode with be swtiched on. Well kids being kids, they can also end up quarelling out of a sudden....here are some candid shots of them playing a fool while waiting for Uncle Alan to get the drinks and ice-cream at Vivo's BK.

Some nice cheeky pictures of Ethan

2010-07-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

Our trip to HK Disneyland

2010-07-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a wonderful holiday. We stayed at the HK Disney Resort and it was a great choice. We and Ethan thoroughly enjoyed the rides and photo-taking with different characters. He loved the Hotel too. We stayed at the Disney's Hollywood hotel which is the more affordable of the two hotels. The other hotel is more luxurious but much more pricey too. The only downside was the weather. It was terribly hot at 34 to 35 degrees celsius. We got a nice tan though.

Eventhough Ethan was down with a cold before and during the trip, he wasn't quite bothered by it. He continued to play, eat and went out and about without much complains. That's the great thing about Ethan when we travel with him. He is pretty easy for a child his age. Food is not a problem, tiredness is not an issue. He just rested or slept on the rented stroller whenever he feels tired. After that he is re-energized and get going again.

He was so thrilled when he saw the various Disney characters that he knows....Buzz, Woody, stitch and Lilo, Mickey and Minnie, Goofy, the princesses etc. We had breakfast with the characters on the first morning. It was a great experience.

Our rating for HK Disney...with the promotions, it is well worth it, especially when you are with toddlers and preschoolers. Very suitable for them. We managed to complete almost 85% of the rides and shows within the two days plus photo-taking and all. The meals are affordable. Just have to pick the right eatery. But it was crowded as it was summer holidays and some just enjoy cutting queues which wasn't very nice.

We also met up with Pauline, Wilson's cousin in HK and she brought us to a Xing Jiang restaurant for mutton. It was a nice experience too as we had belly dancers dancing around us while we enjoyed the food. Ethan was thrilled!

Overall a great trip!

Self reflection for the day:

2010-06-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

1) Do we love our children more than ourselves or vice versa?

2) Are we willing to give up most of our own leisure time to play and do kids stuff with them wholeheartedly even when we are dead tired from work and household chores?

Wilson and I enjoy Ethan's company alot right from his birth. We naturally want to be with him during all of his waking moments. Although at times we really wish for a break, like couple time, we hardly bear to leave him alone even with his beloved grandma at home while we go enjoy ourselves. 95% of the time, we only go for couple time after his bedtime which is about 10pm these days. As such movies are usually midnight movies and the next morning we are mostly zombies as Ethan wakes up about 7.30am and he will come knocking at our door eventhough grandma tries to entertain him.....hahaha

Everynight, without fail since he was a baby, we will read a few stories and sing him about 5 songs before he goes to bed. When he starts to be able to talk and express himself pretty well, we included one more ritual which we all enjoy, chit chatting.

Out TV time is limited to during his bedtime. At times if there is work to be done after he sleeps, TV is always last priority. At times we have not time to watch those DVDs we rented (which is really a waste). Yet, all these don't quite bother us. We are happy and satisfied just to have done all our chores for the day, spent enough time with him after he returns from school and finish our work.

YES! We do love our dear Ethan boy more than ourselves....very much! No matter how busy or tired we are, we try not to let him feel left out or that our own time and work are more important than him. He is a really sweet child though we have our fair share of bad moments with his tantrums....who don't. But I am happy to see improvement in his behaviour as he matures. The strong bond we have plays a very important role. He is beginning to be more and more understanding and caring too. He accepts explanations and that makes it alot easier for us teach and guide him.

Sometimes when I see some couples with young children around us who seem to have so much luxury of their own time, I wonder if Wilson and I are 'over-parenting' and beginning to loose ourselves. But isn't becoming parents all about being with our children, doing things for them, working for them, loving them ? I personally think so and we feel a sense of fulfillment when we know we are good parents to our child. Nothing else quite matter.

Some parents may feel that even after having kids, we should still have our own lives. They may feel very unfair to allow the children to take over most of their lives. But personally I disagree. I feel that once we have children, they are an important part of our lives. It is no longer just hubby and I. In fact becoming parents make Wilson and I feel we have grown so much from it over thse 3.5 yrs. We feel a sense of achievement as we learn to juggle almost everything on our own instead of relying on in laws and parents all the time. Old folks are there to enjoy their grandchildren, not take over the role as parents. There is a huge difference.

At the same time, I also got to know many parents who are extremely dedicated and I lift my hat off them. I must say I have very good role models along the way besides my mom. Their attitude towards parenting and family certainly have great impact on how I preceive and approach my life as a wife and parent. :)

What is your take?

Some of our recent projects with Ethan

2010-06-03T08:05:00.001-07:00

Did our 1st attempt at lapbooking on the Strawberry fruit. It is a very simple one with no fancy pockets and stuff. Lots of room for improvement with my next attempt. Ethan is however really thrilled to have a homemade book and is eager to share with his cousins.

He did a 'lotsa love' card with people and things he love in the card. In fact he was the one who chose the topic for Art & Craft for that day. When I asked him what shapes he wished to cut, he said just hearts. When I asked if he could draw people or things he loves, his very immediate response was "I love myself", then followed by "I love mommy and daddy" and "I love my house". :)

As he is recently pretty interested to know more about space and planets after watching and reading Lilo and Stitch and Toy Story - Buzz Lightyear the space ranger, I decided to do some research on the topic and attempt to give him an idea on how space is like and where Earth (our home) is togerther with all the other planets. It is really interesting for me as I am never really interested in Astronomy. But doing some simple research, actually expanded my knowledge with some basic and simple knowledge about each planet. Making the wall chart was a challenge as I had a hard time trying to fit the whole picture into the A3 cardboard.

We also made paper bag puppets for our very own animal story with the Tiger as the villian, the cat as the victim, the elephant as the informer and the bear as the hero. This is really fun!! Ethan enjoyed it and repeated the dramatization over and over until I told him mommy needs a break.

Lotsa love to Phoebe!!

2010-05-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

We have been really quite occupied with Ethan being unwell one episode after another (Rotavirus then Herpagina). Going through my typical day recently, I realised that I seemed to be dashing in and out of the kitchen, bathroom and wherever Ethan is. Occasionally stopped to put on the required eyedrops for Phoebe. She is on about 3 to 4 different eye drops at different times of the day to ensure she is comfortable.

At about 9pm, as I was again walking out of Ethan's room after sending in his cup of milk, I saw my little Phoebe curled up in her bedding sleeping right outside Ethan's room. My emotions suddenly swelled....memories of my little Phoebe being once such a lively, cheeky, playful dog and the joy she brought us came rushing back all at once..... She is totally devoted to Wilson and I. We love her as much and more than ever. Images of her wrestling with other doggy friends, playing catch and hide and seek with us at home filled me with empathy for her. Now that she can't see at all and has to go for routine check ups and ongoing daily eyedrops, she is getting more and more lethargic these days. She sleeps alot (I guess her eyes are tired), she is not interested to play even when we try to coax her. She can't go for daily walks with harness even as that will increase her eye pressure and cause discomfort. So she is mostly confined at home and a weekly visit to my mom's place where there are some enclosed open space for her to walk about. Whenever these thoughts come to my mind, I feel myself totally in her shoes. I wish we could do more with her to make her happier as I try my best not to make her feel left out.

She is however quite 'manja'. She will go to Wilson, me or my MIL and signal with a paw to indicate that she wants massage whenever we are sitted at the living room watching TV. She seems to care for Ethan and will come pawing our door when she hears that Ethan is awake. She is the sweetest dog to me always.....with lotsa and lotsa love to Phoebe!!

Not again!!!

2010-05-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

Just as I was praying that Ethan will not get another round of HFMD (he got it when he was about 2 yrs old) by being more vigilant with personal hygiene at all times since his school has 3 cases so far, he had high fever this evening after dinner and we spotted some red dots on his inner throat. However, he was still playful and cheery and had both his lunch and dinner. He even finished his cup of milk before bedtime. We are of course glad that he is not having any discomfort apart from the fever which dropped quickly after a dose of paracetemol. Hopefully it will be mild this time since he had it once which he took it really well too.

What's more, our planned holiday to Resort World next week will have to be cancelled altogether. Hopefully the Hard Rock hotel will allow some refund for cancellation. Will most likely have to be postponed.

Well well....for a first-time mom and dad, Wilson and I are truly experiencing and learning all about parenting and nursing our child. Good or bad? Hmmm.....I'm neutral....Bad as no one want their children to suffer from illnesses. Good as we learn the harder way and learn to stay compose and calm when illnesses strike. In fact my in-laws are more calm these days as compared to 2 years back whenever Ethan is unwell. Furthermore, I take all these as boosting his immune system further.....that is to be optimistic as a mother.

I realise that, when we parents are calm, our child tends to be even more composed when crisis, emergencies or even danger strike. Rule number one, no matter how worried and unsure we are we never display anxiety, fear in order not to scare him. So far he has been great with doctors and they find him amazing to treat as he is fully cooperative even when he is extremely unwell. Even putting on the drip the last round at KKH was easy breezy. Brave child!!

Anyway, let's look forward to another speedy recovery for Ethan so that we can all proceed with our holiday plans. While others in govt schools or kindergartens are having school holidays, Ethan also has his fair share of 'school holiday'.

My dearest Ethan....

2010-05-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

My poor boy contracted Rotavirus lately and it was bad :( .it was a painful sight to see him throwing up over 20 times in just one afternoon. Yet my little one never whined and cried (even I can't believe it). He repeatedly asked for water and food saying "Mommy I am very thirsty and hungry". The moment he ingest anything (even water), he threw up. While in hospital for 3 days and put on drip, he hardly even whined and was rather cheery and cooperative when he felt better after putting on the drip. It is definitely our negligence not having him jab for Rotavirus.

Ethan has indeed grown alot. His ability to reason is getting very strong i.e. we can talk sense into him at 3.5 years old. For example, he is quick to correct bad habits or usage of words and mannerisms. Since he is in school, he does pick up various bad habits or unappropriate usage of words and manners from classmates. As soon as we notice him displaying them, we correct him by giving him a logical and valid reason, He tends to undo it pretty fast for a child his age. For instance, he started using a phrase "my ownself.......". We had to diligently correct him each time he says it. Told him he can correct his classmates or even daddy, mommy or grandparents when we do not speak correctly and he actually will do it. It effectively undo his mistakes and at the same time it reinforces it when he corrects others.

He is writing alot now and starting to read . The best thing about Ethan is we realise he is very self-motivated at this stage to read and write especially with us not being pushy yet super encouraging when he does well. He is one we know cannot be forced and pushed too hard. He will not want to learn anymore. Though many of his classmates are ahead of him in writing, reading and counting, Wilson and I still strongly believe in following his pace as far as possible and not get overly concern when teachers say he is weak in this and that. Of course, we will do our part to guide him and reinforce from home but not with a demanding and competitive mindset.

But one thing we keep emphasizing with Ethan is that, when he chooses to do a piece of work (e.g. practice writing letter 'A') he has to do it properly and not fool around (which he sometimes will). We believe that is a good habit to cultivate...to learn when to take things a bit more seriously and learn to focus better

So much for now....more to write about! Time to zzzzz

Back back back!!

2010-05-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

A long long break from my blog. Seriously tied down and mentally drained to write anything thoroughly in the last couple of months. All family issues finally settled.

I'm back with many things to talk about Ethan and myself.

My Sensitive Child

2010-03-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

Ethan is becoming a very sensitive child. Too sensitive at times to handle. It is another challenge (or should I say all the while it has been a challenge) for us in this area. At times he has problem playing with children who are less sensitive than him i.e. children who are unwilling to share, snatching without asking, possessiveness etc. E.g. He feels very angry when a child or adult snatches away a toy from him out of a sudden without prior notice. He can get really upset and will throw a big tantrum. In such a situation, I will try to distract him and calm him rather than reprimand him as technically, the other child is at fault. It wouldn't be fair for me to punish or scold him I feel. But when he calms down, I would tell him that so and so was wrong to snatch from him but it was also very rude of him to throw such a big tantrum over it. If he had not reacted so badly than mommy would have a chance to talk to the other child to tell him what he did wasn't right.

There are many more incidents other than the above which I am currently dealing with. For sure, my boy has a very strong character and rather mature for his age. As such, he only accepts logical answers and at times we need to show evidence that what we claim is true before he buys it. Gosh!! What a child. I am definitely foreseeing a very long road of challenges ahead for us with him. Definitely!

On the other hand, I am also very proud that he has a mind that is more mature for his age. He wants knowledge that perhaps not many of his age are interested yet. He is very willing to share what he has with his peers (accept for me....hahaha), he has a soft touch for animals, he is well behaved generally when we go out and about (unless provoked....hahaha).

Many would praise him when they see his good side as he can be really good for his age in terms of behaviour but some who see his sensitive side (when he gets mad) may think he is spoilt or why aren't mommy punishing him there and then. Well, I have learnt that, I have to fair to my child (whatever people around thinks). He only deserves punishment or a reprimand when he is wrong. I should focus on teaching him how he should handle his anger when provoked. Which I am still working hard on. Wish me luck!

It is too early to teach values?

2010-02-24T00:14:00.000-08:00

I am a mom who is very concern about teaching my children the right values. I constantly evaluate myself and my own actions and try to correct them in order for me to teach my own child to be a better person than myself. Some parents may feel I am being too concern too soon. Many say to take it easy. Children will grow up well, don't worry. Is that really so? I constantly question that. I am definitely not a overly strict parent (I am quite sure) but yet when it comes to certian behaviours that concerns important values, I am particularly sensitive and concern. Reason being, I believe that a person with poor or no value system is as good as nothing, no matter how many PhDs he has achieved. I simply cannot allow my child to get away with 'it' too often. Like every bad habit, people get hook on to them very easily and find it difficult to correct it after that.

Areas I am very serious with Ethan are his basic manners, his respect and empathy for people and animals, keeping promises and his eating habits. Some told me at 3 or 4 years old, they are too young to understand empathy and there is no point reinforcing whether positively or negatively. Well, I agree that they may not be able to fully understand the underlying concepts but it is never too young to start cultivating and making them understand the importance of these values gradually. For example, wasting food unnecessarily is a no no to me. I am not going to allow wastage till he is 8 or 9 years old (a age when some parents feel they can understand rationales) to start telling him it is not right. By then, it may have become a bad habit and the child may question me "Why was I always allowed to throw away food until now? Why didn't you tell me then?". Well well...I am tongue tight by then. If I also allow him to be self-centred and selfish at a young age, it may just get worse as he gets older. Why not teach them along the way, through positive and negative reinforcement if necessary, and gradually cultivate some important virtues in them. As they mature, they will be able to grasp what we are trying to say.

To enable young children to understand what we are trying to tell them, I feel it will be more effective to show them visually what we mean, through pictures, stories and even experiences whenever possible. For example, showing him pictures of starving children, homeless people etc will all help to reinforce our points. Our daily actions will also model to them the right behaviour. For example, greeting people....if we do not greet people and be friendly, why should he be? We are not even in a position to tell him to do so if we do not model the right behabviour.

Even Ethan's pre-school is including world news on disasters in their curriculum to expose young children to the outside world rather then always staying in a well protected 'shell' and get all complacent. I feel that our future generation does need more of such education as they are living in a very comfortable world, too well protected and sheltered. Even our NS boys are getting all the perks these days to assure parents that your children are in good hands. Will the real war zone be so kind?

Honestly, despite all my efforts, there is no guarantee that my child will grow up to be as good as I hope he will be but at least, I know I have done what I had to do as a parent. But I do believe that with a close and strong bond, our efforts will not be totally fruitless. :)

Forgive and Forget

2010-02-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

The phrase "Forgive and forget", easier said than done to some. My take on this, I feel it depends on how bad the case is and how sincere and determine is one willing to FORGIVE. To FORGET is perhaps purely idealistic especially if the issue had set a very deep impression on a person. I am writing this because I am seeing alot of unforgiveness around me which in fact can be done to make life better for everyone. The question is 'Do you want to forgive?'. In many situations, perhaps forgiveness is the way to resolve many emotional issues trapped within oneself for a long long time which in turn can be creating alot of problems for those close to the person.

Forgiving is emotional while forgetting is a little more 'technical' I feel. What is in our long term memory can be there for life and perhap need a thorough 'brainwash' to clear it away. For me, when I forgive someone for something, that something can still be there somewhere in my head and I may still bring it up whenever a situation leads to it. But if I have truly forgiven the person for it, even when that matter is raised, the feelings are neutral already as compared to the point when it was still unresolved and unforgiven.

Though it is difficult to forget, it is possible to forgive if you really want to. It boils down to our thinking. Think positive, think about giving the person another chance, think about the position that person was in at that moment and bear in mind that no body is perfect. If one is sincere about forgiving someone, it can be done with some effort and right mindset. If one keeps projecting negative feelings toward another whom he/she is unhappy about by swearing, cursing and blaming, then one can never forgive.

In fact I feel that bearing grudges is emotionally and mentally draining. Letting them go and start to forgive makes life alot easier on ourselves.

Change and adaptation

2010-01-30T01:35:00.000-08:00

While we all are so comfortable with Ethan's current school, we received an announcement last month that the Pasir Ris branch will be taken over by another management, totally new to the industry. That was like a bomb to us! Wilson and I thought through and Wilson suggested that we should transfer him to the Bedok branch instead which isn't too far from our place either. I was so relief when he came up with this idea. At least, Ethan will be following the same curriculum, his school uniform remains, the colour code of the school and rules remain the same.

We brought Ethan to the Bedok branch to meet his new teachers and took a look at the environment. He was pretty ok with it though when we asked him, he will say he prefers his current branch. Nevertheless we still decided to to attend the parent's meeting with the new management held this morning. I went alone as Wilson was not in town.

I can sense the anxiety of the parents in the hall as the presentation progressed. The presentors were bombarded with lots of questions which they were obviously not very prepared to answer as they are really new as childcare operators, though one was a vice principal of a primary school previously and the other had been in preschool teaching for 15 years. Parents were not the least bit 'nice' to them. I felt sorry for the ladies as the tone of the parents were really quite strong and demanding. Many want them to ensure no change of teachers, no change of teacher-student ratio, ....etc....I feel it isn't fair as these are not totally within their control. If teachers wish to leave, what can they do? If the student-teacher ratio doesn't increase, how can they sustain from a business point of view and that is precisely why the current operator had to give up this branch. There are simply too many big players around Pasir Ris....many well known ones indeed but none creates such a warm and homely environment for the kids i must say which is why parents are so concern about the change as we are all so comfortable with the current centre. Can things remain status quo? I seriously doubt so. If student-teacher ratio doesn't increase, they are going to close in a year or two which means further changes. That is the last thing we want to go through. Thus, after today's meeting, rather than having so much concerns which can't be addressed until they new management takes over for some time, we made our final decision to transfer Ethan to the Bedok branch. Though there are changes, it isn't as great. Afterall, his current teacher will be leaving too. So no difference to us.

Our children will need to learn to adapt to some extend. Teachers come and go. We can't expect them to stay just because our children are attached to them. Parents are so worried that their children will have a difficult time adjusting. In reality there isn't a choice. So as parents we need to be always prepared for such changes and more importantly teach our children to do so. It is tough as I experienced it with Ethan with his recent change in Chinese teacher. He soon got better as he bonded with her. I am now prepared for another round soon. If I don't, it means he has learnt. :)

A New Year gathering with ex-colleagues

2010-01-03T22:58:00.001-08:00

I have known this group of ladies since more than 10 years ago when I worked for a employment consultancy company. Almost every year, we will organise at least a gathering. It feels really good that despite all the busy schedules with work and family, we still bother to do that on a yearly basis. This year, I invited them to my place. We had a simple lunch with some finger food and the main course was home cook mee siam for the adults and beef stew for the children. Like always, it is both fun and physically exhausting to host with no helper but Wilson and I enjoyed every bit of it seeing that everyone had a good time together (including the children). We had to use disposable cutlery as there would be too much washing up if we don't.

Some new recipes

2009-12-30T18:15:00.000-08:00

My mom always comes up with very delicious and simple dishes that we all love including Wilson. I tried her very own steam 'Dou Chiong' pork ribs with lime. It is a very appetizing dish that takes only minutes to whip up.

Steam 'Dou chiong' Pork Ribs

Ingredients include soft pork ribs coated with corn flour, some 4 to 5 garlic, 1 big onion, 1 tbsp dou chiong and 2 red chilli minced together for the paste. Fry the paste with some sugar till fragrant. Season the pork ribs with the paste for at least an hour (the longer the better). Before steaming, add just 1 table spoon of water, mix well and steam for 20 mins (note that water should boil first before putting in the ribs). Once ready, squeeze in half a small lime (suan gan) and garnish with cilantrao. For the paste, I prefer to grind more and store the estra in the fridge so that I can use it whenver I want to. The paste should go quite well with chicken too.

Another recipe I tried over the weekend is Indonesian soup kambing (mutton soup). It was 'sedup' (delicious). I got the mutton from Giant. It was really jucy and tender. My parents love soup kambing and so I put in alot of effort to make it nice eventhough this is my first try.

Indonesian Soup Kambing

Ingredients include mutton (coat mutton with corn flour and some meat tenderlizer if you prefer), lots of onions chopped (about 5 medium ones), 5 garlic and 1 pc ginger (30 grms) minced together. Then fry them all together till fragrant. Add 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of fennel seeds, 2 tsp of ground black pepper (more if you prefer spicy). Add in mutton and fry for 1 min. Add 1750mls of water and allow it to come to a boil. Add in 2 pcs of pandan leaves (knotted together), 1 star anais, 1 cinnamon stick , 4 cardamoms and 4 cloves. Let soup simmer under low heat until mutton is tender. Fry 2 tbsp of corn flour without oil separately until it turns light brown. Mix the flour with a little water (1 tbsp) and add mixture to the soup to thicken it. Depends on the consistency you prefer, you may lessen or add more corn flour. Add salt to taste. Add in fried shallots and fresh cilantro or coriandar and continue to simmer for another 5 mins. Garnish with some fresh coriandar before serving. Seive out extra oil formed on the top of soup if you prefer less oily. Glad my parents loved it!

My little fan of Susan Boyle

2009-12-30T03:52:00.000-08:00

When Ethan was 2.5 yrs old, he chanced upon the video clip of Ms Susan Boyle's audition at 'Britian's Got Talent' while I was watching it on youtube. Ever since, that day, he has been asking for her clips over and over, everyday. Soon he picked up some parts of the lyrics and started singing along, copying her hand and body gestures. We were so amused that I took a video of him while he was singing along with her to 'I dreamed a dream' (2.5yrs old) and posted it on our youtube account. Never did we expect it to draw thousands of views and comments in 2 days and it even ended up in the Susan Boyle's fan site.

Just this month, we were invited to do a clip of Ethan as a fan of Susan Boyle by the producer of the Susan Boyle's Christmas Show in UK and a brief interview with a NZ live radio show where he sang a rendition of 'I dreamed a dream' live. It was quite an experience for us.

Yesterday we decided to get a copy of Susan Boyle's new album. The moment we walked into the CD shop, Ethan spotted the CD right away and brought a copy to us. He was all eager to listen to it, especially to his favourite, 'I dreamed a dream'. He was holding on to her CD cover and admiring her pictures through the drive and when I asked him 'Why do you like Susan Boyle', he said "Because she sings very well".

Here is the YouTube link on the NZ radio interview with Gerry Boyle (Susan's brother). Played till 4:30 min and you will hear him sings..... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx5wcb7bgkY&feature=PlayList&p=5444B05E9EDB5ABA&index=25) Although the lyrics are all over, it is certainly heartwarming....

Here is the 1st video clip when he was 2.5 years old (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD5Mxoyj-NM)

Susan Boyle's album is very good indeed and I highly recommend it!

An auditory learner

2009-12-29T19:50:00.000-08:00

Some time back I blogged about dermatoglyphic analysis whereby the fingerprints, which are formed based on the genetic make up of our brain, are analysed and study the traits and learning styles of people. Such analyses were first used to study children with down syndrome. As these children are born with an extra 21 chromosomes, their fingerprints are also very unique in their own way.

Ethan's principal is a certified consultant and we decided to take advantage of the offer extended to us to do the analysis recently. The results were indeed amazingly accurate about his inborn traits. He turned out to be more of an auditory learner who has very strong communication skills. Music and sounds therefore appeal to him alot. His cognitive development is shown to be advance for his age and thus we will be facing quite abit of challenges ahead of us in nurturing him. He will tend to be a weak visual learner and not quite like to follow and take in others ideas. He tends to have a whole bunch of his own ideas and can be very stubborn. He is however a goal oriented person by nature and adores creativity. We had a consultation session with his principal and she suggested some ways we can help to work on his weaknesses and how we can tap on his strengths. As logic and inference is indicated as a weaker area, we may expect him to be less interested in Math and alot of other structured activities like puzzels and maze. These are already very apparent right now. Another important area for us to note is that, flash cards will not likely to work for him as he is not a visual learner. His principal suggested working on phonics with him is a better way to get him to read. With discipline, he is a child who can become more difficult as of age 7 to teens IF we parents do not have a strong bond with him as he has strong opinions and thus being a 'friend' to him is vital to allow him to communicate with us consistantly as he grows. As such, she suggested we have sharing time every day when daddy, mommy and him will each take turns to talk about the happy or sad moments of the day. We were also cautioned not too compare his weaknesses with other children's strengths as he has a very high ego by nature and any attempt to bring him down will only cause him to give up tasks that he is weak in totally. With the appropriate approach, he is one who may grow to have strong leadership.

We took all the comments very postiviely and will start working with him now that we know what is best for him. I personally feel that the analysis will give parents a good insight into their children individually and choose appropriate methods and tools to assist their development.

This Christmas Season........

2009-12-25T17:31:00.000-08:00

Our very own little Christmas Tree

Ethan having a great time with Uncle Leng Kar, yiyi's BF from USA

Cousin Isaac and jiu jiu giving out presents.

Ethan with a few of his cousins, Jared, Aloysious and Eunice....all ready for the log cake.

Gingerbread man cookies for the children

A hat decorated by us and Ethan for his school's "Mad hatter's Christmas" theme

Like every year, we gathered at Uncle Victor's and Aunty Patsy's house for a nice Christmas lunch on Christmas Day. I am always amazed at how Aunty Patsy manages, for years (since we were young), to whip out a dozen of different dishes plus desserts (different types of cakes, including log cake) for all the relatives and friends who will stream in from as early as lunch till dinner time. She is 60 plus and she does it all by herself. Her menu always includes a wide variety of Christmas dishes like the hot old Turkey, the best baked ham and whole lot of nonya cuisine (she is peranakan) like beef rendang, curry chicken, mee siam and many more which I do not even know the names....kekekee...just eat and eat...With no maids I asked her if anyone helps to prepare and wash up...she said "The cook is the one who prepares, cooks and cleans"... phew!! She has to start out the day as early as 4am and on top of that she goes for the midnight mass on Christmas eve. Can't think of anyone else I know who has that energy and spirit at her age. She believes that God has given her the health and strength to continue to host and cook every single year and seeing people celebrate and rejoice on Christmas at her party is in a way her gift to God.

Here are some pictures I have taken on Christmas eve and Christmas day.

Some recent pictures from Ethan's school

2009-12-22T06:32:00.000-08:00

Parents-teacher meeting

2009-12-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

We had the first parents-teacher meeting last Friday (18 Dec) at Ethan's school. It was a fruitful one and we had a thotough insight into what he has been doing in school daily. His form teacher put together a slide show of how they teach their daily cirriculum. We are glad to see that most of their cirriculum are taught in very creative and fun ways with as little paper work as possible. She did however highlight to us that as of next year (N2), they will start to focus a little more on writing and reading.

Through the meeting, we are glad to know that his teachers and school does pay alot of attention to individual students. His form teacher understands Ethan's personality and that is to me really important. She has even compiled a cd of 100 over photos of Ethan from June to date. I am impressed with the amount of work and dedication these teachers have put in. It's not easy. It's a job that requires alot of passion. His teacher even sends me email updates of him close to mid-nights sometimes....she is young but her energy is amazing!

Perhaps I am an educator to children as well, I really appreciate the efforts put in by these teachers. Similarly, I receive more appreciation from parents who are teachers themselves than any other parents. They are more tolerant of mistakes made by the educator, they are more understanding and in fact less demanding in many ways which makes our relationship with them and their chlidren more warm, sincere and fulfilling. Of course there are also many non-teaching parents who are equally appreciative but I must say that generally the mass aren't. Perhaps another 'Singaporean syndrome' ....overly critical and judgemental.

Little green fingers

2009-12-21T07:47:00.000-08:00

Ethan and his cousin Isaac planted their first papaya tree at my mom's place. Wilson saved some papaya seeds the other day and told the boys they will plant them together. They were looking forward to it. It was a short but educational session for the kids. Great experience! Let's hope we will have some home grown papayas to eat soon.

Christmas cards for teachers

2009-12-16T06:39:00.000-08:00

I always enjoyed making cards for my parents, teachers and friends in my school days with different types of crafting materials. So I suggested to Ethan that we make his teachers X'mas cards this year.

I bought some coloured construction paper and a pack of puffy paint today. We've got some coloured foam sheets left over from last year which are lovely. We sat down together with daddy and did our first 3 cards together. As Ethan enjoys cutting lately, we drew the shapes of the various parts of the pictures for the cards and had him cut them out and paste them on the cards. He then decorated the pictures with the puffy paints and stickers with Wilson and I guiding him of course. He actually had some diffculty squeezing out the paints nicely and so we had to guide his hands along. His concentration level was good enough for 3 cards today and we are really glad about that. Once the paints dry up, we will blow the paints with a hair dryer so they will puff up. Can't wait to do that.

Great fun!

A playdate with Nana

2009-12-13T18:55:00.000-08:00

Nana and Ethan had a great Saturday together. Nana even stayed back to take her nap while her mommy and daddy went shopping. Ethan acted like a big bro to Nana. It's so fun to watch kids talk and play.

Icing our own log cake!

2009-12-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

We were at Jurong Point today and we came across a very interesting cake shop that allows its customers to ice their own cakes. We asked about the price and it was quite reasonable and so we decided to give it a shot. I have not iced a cake for the longest time but I thought it will be fun. Ethan chose a chocolate coated log cake. It was bare and we were given 3 icing pipes and a bunch of decorative candies. Wilson and I took turns to put patterns on it. Ethan wanted it to look good and kept asking us to do it instead of him. The result wasn't too bad. 3 girls beside us even commented that our log cake look nice. :) It was a wonderful experience.

Cultivating Racial Harmony - another important responsibility of parents today

2009-12-08T00:43:00.000-08:00

Our government has long been promoting racial harmony among us. It is indeed important as our society, like many others, is continuously expanding in terms of population and races. The influx of foreign investors, employees and immigrants is certainly notable in recent years.

It is no doubt an animal instinct to prefer our own kind but in our human world, I feel we have to look beyond that. I definitely see the need to inculcate the importance of this value (racial harmony) in our future generation. Sad to say and very truly, with my generation, though we are very educated and exposed, many still hold on to stereotypes of the various race we mingle with and like some of our parents, we may unintentionally pass this thinking on to our children. I seriously feel we should think again. As our society progresses and gets more afluent, people of various races also begin to work towards better quality of life. So do not think that you are a better race than others. I think we should just put aside all stereotypes and encourage our children to mingle more freely among the different races in our society. Learning each others' cultures and even languages will certainly promote more social cohesiveness which I believe is very very much needed.

There is enough religious and racial turmoil around the world today. I think it is high time we teach our future generation to be more receptive and tolerant with everyone around them. Like all teachings, it will have to start from home.

Stews - simple and nutritious!!

2009-12-02T06:22:00.000-08:00

I always find stews the simpliest yet nutritious....be it lamb, beef or chicken.

Today I bought some really nice and fresh beef from Giant at a very reasonable price. So I decided to do beef stew for dinner. With all the right spices (thyme, parsley, garlic, onions, black pepper and bay leaf) and loads of vegetables (celery, carrots, potatoes) and white button mushrooms, it sure tasted yummy. A little worchester sauce and red wine made it just perfect. Using a mixture of butter and olive oil to brown the beef before stewing makes it taste really good. Initially I never understood why we had to brown the beef or lamb first before simmering but after reading through, I realised that browning before simmering will add extra flavour and a rich colour to the stew. The whole family loved it!!

Updates on the latest milestones Ethan has achieved

2009-12-01T05:56:00.000-08:00

Ethan is one child that cannot be rushed into learning and doing things. We learnt that there is no point forcing and rushing him as he will resist and refuse as long as he is not ready. There were many things that he started really later than many children. One good example is sucking from a straw. While most babies are able to use the sippy cup even before 12 months, he never did until 18 months. I bought him all kinds of sippy cups before 12 months old but he was never once interested to even play wit the straw. So at last I gave up and told myself, he will suck from the straw one day. So he did one evening at a restuarant when the waitress gave him a cup of water with a straw. hahaha. We were of course very pleased to see that. So along the way, we tried to introduce him to new things but we understand that he will take his time to pick up and we just have to relax and wait for that moment. So at 3 yrs 1 month, here are some of the milestones that he has achieved.

1) He is very interested in cutting and is able to cut better and better. I bought him a craft book for him to practice cutting all kinds of lines which he enjoys.
2) He is totally off the bottle and drinks his milk now from cups and straws.
3) He is constructing better sentences each day when he speaks, both English and Mandarin.
4) He is beginning to reason better and certainly much less temper tantrums.
5) He is learning to persuade us into doing things very tactfully, like giving us reasons to buy him certain things. e.g. My blue bus is spoilt already and so I need to buy another one. But the good thing about him is, he doesn't throw a big fuss when we tell him he can't have it as he has other toys to play with.
6) He is able to put on his underpants and pants independently.
7) He is able to put on his velcro track shoes and take them off himself though quite slowly at times.
8) He is able to ride the bicycle.
9) He enjoys re-enacting scenes from fairy tales and movies like Snow White, Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. So Daddy and I got to play some of the parts he assigned to us. He will choose to act his favourite characters like the Witch in Snow White and Uncle Bert in Mary Poppins.
10) He is learning to keep promises better these days.
11) He is learning to show more empathy and care towards others. e.g. he told grandma to sit on the chair and play with him instead of the floor cos her knees are not so well. When crossing the roads, he will turn around and tell us " You che, Xiao Xin" (be careful of cars in Mandarin). When he ask for one more story and I tell him "Mommy is tired and needs to rest." He understands and he will not insist. He will go to bed and then sing and talk himself to sleep after I leave his room.
12) His latest favourite phrase " I accidentally......." Every mistake is accidental, hoping to be excused. Hmmmm.....goodness!

Phew!! I guess that's about all for now. These are things a mother can't help but document them as they will always bring back lovely memories in time to come. :)

Dermatoglyphics Analysis

2009-11-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

Wilson and I were both doing some research on Dermatoglyphics Analysis recently as Ethan's school principal brought in the tool and program and is offering to students of the school at a special price. The tool is able to analyse scientifically through finger prints of individual child as young as 6 months old to determine his/her personality type, unique learning style, strengths and weaknesses and their intrinsic potential of the brain so that parents and teachers can reinforce or structure the learning environment and communication methods to suit and benefit each child, so as to maximise their learning potential. For example some children may be kinestetic learners, while others are auditory learners and yet some are visual learners. Knowing may help us better identify what is most suitable for our children along the way and develop their potentials as early as possible.

At first I was wondering if it is similar to palm reading but after reading through some articles, I realised that no, it isn't because the lines on our palm changes throughout our lives whereas are finger prints are formed even before we are born and they never change. In fact they typically outlast us. More importantly, their formation is dictated by chromosome gene and that is why they can be reliably used for fields like medicine and criminology.

Like any other psychometric tools, I believe there is no 100% accuracy. But it is definitely an interesting area to read and know about.

Speaking Mandarin

2009-11-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

There is defintiely a growing concern among Singapore parents that our children should be bilingually good. Our mother tongue, especially among Chinese in Singapore has obviously been rather neglected over the years as compared to those of other races like Malay and Indians, which is rather sad. I came from a non-Mandarin speaking family as my mom speaks mostly dialect (Cantonese) to us while my dad is only strong in English. However, because we were in neighbourhood schools, we had a large pool of friends from Mandarin speaking families during the 70s and 80s. The Chinese subject had never been one of my strongest or favourite subjects in school, however, I am definitely able to converse pretty well in it.

The sad thing is that, many parents say they can't speak Mandarin and therefore can't converse in Mandarin with their children. Hmmm...Is that so? Can't speak or not used to speaking? I guess if we want our children to speak Mandarin, we have to show them we do too which means putting in the effort to at least speak basic Mandarin to them every now and then besides merely focusing on English.

I was watching Talking Point last night on CNA and they touched on this topic. I agreed to many of the points brought up during their discussion such as parents being a role model in speaking the langauge (just like in any other areas). Children learn through us. When we are interested, they will be. They also mentioned some ways parents can help kids get started. One way is to pick up the language and learn with them,Secondly, enrol them in classes that encourage Mandarin speaking. Encourage watching perhaps their favourite cartoons in Mandarin. If he or she is learning piano for example, choose a Chinese speaking teacher instead or even choose a preschool or kindergarten that is 80% to 90% Mandarin speaking. From my experience, this last point is a pretty good and effective suggestion.

Though at home, Ethan has been exposed to Mandarin as his grandparents and us do converse in Mandarin at home. But still he has a choice at home to speak English or Mandarin to Wilson and I and somehow, he chooses to speak to both of us in English more. However, after attending a childcare centre for 6 months since he was about 2 yrs old, he started to speak and sing more spontaneously in Mandarin. We realised that that was because in that childcare, 80% of the teachers are from China including his form teacher whom he spends alot of time with. We were glad to see him progress in that sense. Neverthelss we pulled him out after 6 months as there were other areas that we were really not quite happy about with the school then. On hindsight, I felt it was a blessing in disguise that he spent some time in that school which spurred his interest in speaking and singing in Mandarin.

Chinese is definitely tougher than English in many ways. While there are only 26 alphabets to grasp in English, Chinese characters seems to be endless. So I believe that cultivating an early interest in the language and subject is vital for our children today. As parents, it is up to us to help our kids.

First Stage Performance

2009-11-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

The whole family was looking forward to see Ethan perform at their school concert last Friday. Most parents arrived early at the RELC International Hotel and were excited to see our children in their costumes and performances.

At 7.30pm, the lights dim down and the curtains were drawn apart. The K2 children kicked off the concert with a lovely start. It was a dance followed by presentation of certificates and a poetry recital in Mandarin. We were impressed as it was a very long poem and they can actually remember it. Amazing!!

Of all, we enjoyed most when the various N1 and N2 classes performed. They were really adorable and no matter how well they practiced, when they are were on the stage without supervision, there were bound to be a few who seem quite lost. One started crying half way through his performance and his classmate tried to console him. They are 3 year olds.....it was so sweet.

At about 8.15pm, it was Ethan's turn to peform with his classmates. Their performance was entitled "A friend like you". We watched with excitement and anticipation and were pleasantly entertained. Here's the clip....not the full clip as hubby did not switch to the video mode when it started.

At the end of the concert, during the finale, all the children came out on stage once again for a final song. Ethan was eagerly looking out for us and when he finally spotted us, he started crying his lungs out as his teacher tried to console him. Poor boy....hehehe

Well, I finally experienced the feelings of a parent watching their children perform. It was heartwarming. :)

2 days to Ethan's Concert

2009-11-04T06:54:00.001-08:00

Ethan will be participating in one of the performances for their school's annual graduation concert for the K2s. It will be held at the RELC Hotel this Friday.

He has been excited about it and has shown us the dance umpteen times. However, this Friday, his teacher says he will need to stay in school and nap in school as the bus will pick them up to the hotel at about 4 plus. I told him about it but he was't really keen. I just hope he doesn't freak out and I hope he can fall asleep in school cos he always needs his afternoon nap, otherwise it will not make it through 5pm....keke. Let's see!

Ethan's Happy and Magical family

2009-11-04T06:37:00.000-08:00

Ethan decided to give names to the figurines in his doll house. He named the little girl Isabelle, the boy , Mike, Daddy is Sam and Mommy is Lucy....oh yes and the dog is Dilly. Everyday, Mike and Isabelle will take the blue school bus to school. Mike tends to bully Isabelle and she will complain to daddy or mommy so that Mike gets his punishment.....he will have to stand at his naughty corner. He told me they have magic and they can climb up the walls using magic.

I made him an elevator using a cardboard box and ribbon anyway so he can lift them up to the attic. He has to pull the ribbon to lift the elevator to the attic and he finds it interesting. I am having fun playing with the house too. During my days, I made my own doll house with all kinds of boxes and boards I can find. I think I was about 8 or 9 yrs old then. But it was rather wobbly and kept falling apart. But still my siblings and I had great fun then. Those were the days!

Trick Or Treat!

2009-11-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

My good friend, Wendee and her husband Chris, organised a mini Halloween party at their house this year just for the kids. Ethan said he wants to be a witch and so we got him a very cute pumpkin witch outfit from Toys 'R' Us for $19.95. The outfit was simple to wear and not warm. So it is perfect for Ethan. He likes it.

So last Saturday the kids had a great time knocking on some of Wendee's neighbours' doors doing "Trick or treat". They collected quite a fair bit of candies and were all delighted. It was a wonderful experience for us all. Here are some pictures to share :).

Weak mental energy

2009-10-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Had a short chat with Ethan's form teacher when I picked him up this afternoon. As usual, she would give me some updates of the day and then went on to talk about some of his strengths and weaknesses.

I told her that I always have a hard time trying to get him to do some structured activities at home like puzzles, tracing, colouring etc. Instead he loves to engage in pretend play with his doll house, buses, stuff toys.....She said in school, he needs alot of pushing and encouragement when it comes to structured activities. He enjoys pretend play in school and does very well. He would come up with his own lines for the scene etc and is able to process information and store them very well.

She mentioned that some children have weak mental energy. They can be very good at processing, superb memory, talks well, but has weak mental energy. They feel tired readily when doing something more structured. As such, early training will do them good otherwise, they may worsen when they reach age 5 to 6 yrs old.

She mentioned that Ethan has shown tremendous improvement in some activities like threading with straws and cutting independently. At home he will ask for a pair of scissors and paper and start cutting it into pieces. I allow him as I think it is good practice for him. Just last night I started playing puzzles in his presence and when he sees me doing it, he asked me to stop and play with him instead. I told him I prefer to do puzzles right now and I really enjoy it. After awhile, he came over and offered his help and I let him complete it by himself. But after one or two sets of puzzles, he told me "Mommy, my head is very hot"....Gosh!! hahaha Maybe that's weak mental energy....hahahaha

3rd Birthday celebration in school

2009-10-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

Ethan celebrated his 3rd birthday yesterday in school. It was heartwarming to see that he had fun with his classmates...... 8 in all (2 from N2 class and 6 from his N1 class). The boys were very excited but extremely cooperative...haahaha They were eager to see how the cake looks like and all ready to sing Ethan a birthday song. The most touching was that one of his teachers, teacher Judith, made a birthday banner for the backdrop specially for Ethan a day before the party. That was really sweet!! I have put together some pictures of the day and a video clip here.:)

Forest Fire - Ethan's interpretation.

2009-10-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

This is Ethan's interpretation of a forest fire which he says are burning and all the animals are trapped, running for the lives. He told us that his classmate Xave was talking to him about forest fire yesterday. We were like....hmmm.....that's quite 'chim' (complex in hokkien) for their age.

Turning 3 yrs old

2009-10-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

Its' October and this year, Ethan turns 3 by 25 October. We see him growing in every way each day. On Saturday, we got him a bicycle from Giant. He tried on it and only managed to pedal on one side intially. Later on, after demonstrating ( with me riding on it - I am glad it did not puncture)to him and explaining to him, he got it. By Sunday, he was able to cycle a much further distance on his own. Watching him cycle on the bike was heart warming as he suddenly seemed to have grown so much.

He is definitely looking forward to his b-day celebration in school with his friends this Friday. LIke many kids, he just loves birthday parties and cake cutting moments, whether it is his birthday or not....kekeke

Buddies meet again

2009-10-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

Ethan had a good time with Nestor and Kayla again last Sunday at the Science Centre water play as my friend has free passes. I was quite drenched and so didn't capture any shots during water play. But it was really fun. We then proceeded to IMM for lunch and then stopped by at the playground. Here are some pictures of the day.

Cultivating good play habits

2009-10-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

Although I do not restrict Ethan's choice of toys (They can range from toys for 'boys' to those for 'girls'), I do not believe totally in letting him play freely without guidance at all times. He can play anything he chooses from his selection of toys at home at any time but if Wilson and I are with him, we always can't resist teaching him to play appropriately. In a way, I am happy we did. For example, with his kitchen corner or doll house, he plays with them very gently and never messes them up with pieces all over the house. When it comes to his trains, they are always played only on the track in the room. With his buses he pushes them everywhere, including the playground. Crayons always back on his little red table etc. In a way, we are glad we guided him an an early age as his toys are mostly in good condition so far and he hardly loses them. I feel it is a good habit to cultivate despite allowing 'free' play. 'Free' play has a limit I feel, especially when they reach the stage when they can understand instructions and play with others.

As such, Ethan will complain when his older or younger cousins messes up his room and toys like putting them all over the place, drawing with his markers and never cover them back (so they all dried up), mixing his dough colours, messing up half way as they play pretend.

Just yesterday, he was playing with his cousin Isaac (2 yrs old). They were playing with a road mat and had some toy construction workers on the mat. While playing, Isaac suddenly decided to mess up the construction site by pushing down and sweeping the toys. Ethan's reaction to Isaac was, "I am angry. Cannot do that. I don't want to play with you if you do it again." Being cheeky, Isaac did it again and laughed to see Ethan's reaction after we rearranged everything. Ethan turned around and walked away saying "I am angry, I don't want to play with you." When Isaac apologised and placed them back, he said "good job!!" and gave him a hug. It was really cute!!

As children, they do not know what is right or wrong. As much as we allow freedom to play, I feel that as parents, we should try our best to guide them during play by showing them how we play with the toys instead of merely sitting there telling them 'cannot throw', 'not like that', 'Cannot mess up' etc. As the saying goes, 'Action speaks louder than words'. It may not work immediately but over time, they will learn. Play time is the best time not just to bond but to cultivate good habits and virtues that others will appreciate.

Although we are happy that he has pretty good play habits with toys, he is now at a stage when he will fight for toys, especially with those he calls 'gor gors' (older boys) or his peers and we are trying to guide him so he doesn't turn into a little tyrant. With younger children (those he calls di di or mei mei), he has not gotten aggressive as yet though....*phew!*

Aggressive behaviour of a 3 yr old

2009-10-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

Ethan has really improved a great deal in controlling his emotions and temper these days. Though he still throws tantrums, the frequency is less and they are pretty short ones. More importantly, he also showed improvements in reasoning. For example, he used to throw a big fuss when I need to be away to change, shower or go to the toilet. But these days he will continue to do his own things when I tell him where I will be off to. He is more independent when it comes to playing by himself too. He still tends to shout 'no' at times and motion his hand to hit to show his displeasure. When we warn him he will stop and keep quiet instead of blowing himself up. But he is never really aggressive towards us.

However, his teacher feedback to me that in school he has been rather aggressive to his friends lately, like hitting pretty hard and screaming. I was rather shocked. He was never even agressive to his own dog at home no matter how unhappy he is. In fact, Ethan has always been very willing to share and take turns when it comes to playing with other children. He mingles really well. He has never really gotten into fights with other children. With his cousins (2yr old and 3 .5 yr old) he hardly get into any fights with them too. With the 2 yr old, he gives in to him all the time even when his cousin hits him (he never retailiate so far). With the 3.5 yr old, they are buddies. They only fought once when his cousin hit him after he took his toy without asking. In fact, at the playground, he will not hit or scream when another child snatches his favourite toy from his hand and runs off. He will stare and then report to us and ask us to help him take it back.

So I asked his why he beat Thomas (one of his classmates) in school the other day. He then told me "Because he spit at me" and showed me how his friend spit at him and he didn't like it. So I told him, he should tell his teacher if that happens again and also tell Thomas not to spit as it is rude, instead of hitting him.

I will need to observe further and try to correct such behaviour before it gets worse. I read about agressive behaviour of 3 yr olds and most experts say is normal since they still can't control their emotions well and they have not developed empathy for others but that of course doesn't mean we don't do anything to correct them. My boy needs a firm hand at times. *sigh*

Time for some more updates....

2009-10-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

It has been a tiring two weeks for hubby and I. While my MIL is away on holiday, I am proud that Wilson and I managed pretty well.... from cooking decent meals for everyone, to cleaning the house, to ironing, washing, work and of course Ethan.

Ethan is turning 3 this month. How time flies. He and I were looking through an album of his baby photos just yesterday at my mom's place and we had some wonderful memories of him when he was just that small.

Well, growing well, he is a tough nut to crack! Witty, cheeky, stubborn, playful, attention seeking , more independent, able to reason better, becoming really nosey etc etc. It is a good mix of laughter and anger.....hahaha. Oh yes, not forgetting that he is now less interested in trains (though he still loves them) but is obsessed with buses. Plays with buses day in and out, brings his favourite toy bus to bed every night and of course, asking for youtube videos on buses. So now Wilson and I have to 'change gear', and talk to him about the different types of buses as and when we come across them.

Just received some wonderful updates from his teacher today that he showed improvements in terms of his fine and gross motor skills. His concentration is better now when doing his class assignments and is getting less picky with food served in school. But back home he still tries his luck.

Here are some pictures to share from his teacher. They had a funfilled Children's Day celebration though Ethan was disappointed that the pre-planned Children's Day pinic at West Coast Park was cancelled last minute due to haze. Just before he slept earlier, he was just trying to explain to us how the game was played with two teams.....when we got quite confused with his explanation, he took a toy cup and demo to us how it is played....it was hilarious!!

Kids Kampong

2009-09-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we decided to take Ethan to the "Kids Kampong" at Pasir Ris farm way. We normally go to the farm to get dog supplies for Phoebe at the pet mart. There is a Great Dane in that pet mart (a resident pet) that roams around the store and Ethan likes it alot. It is really huge but tame.

At the Kids Kampong, children and parents get to experience catching 'long kang' fishes with a net. It looks easy but really not so. Ethan tried but needed Wilson's help to catch them. After about half an hour, my boy was no longer interested. He was more interested in feeding the farm animals there. However, we find that the entrance fee a little high at $14.00 per child plus parent. It includes a pail, net, some feeds for the animals, a bottle of water and an ice-cream. But it was another nice experience for us.

How tricky 3 yr olds can be these days

2009-09-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday when we were picking Ethan up from school, his teacher, told us about his progress and mentioned something we found quite amusing.

Ethan is never really keen in colouring but he knows his teacher always makes them finish the piece of work assigned. She told us, he will do his colouring as long as she is around the classroom. The moment she moves away to say take a phone call, he will start peeping around to be sure she isn't around and then stop colouring, not knowing that she is still watching over them from the nearby angle. As soon as she says "I am still here", he quickly resumes....kekekeke

One of his classmates, Nicolas, amazed me even more. The teacher told me, when she moves away, he will whisper to Ethan and the rest, "Teacher Juvine is not here", (and they will all smile at one another) again not knowing she is tall enough to see them from where she was.....its quite amusing coming from a 3 yr old.

I cannot imagine, what they will be like as they get more mature. I think we have to be prepared to be more witty than them in order not to eventually be 'tricked'....hahaha

A visit to science centre

2009-09-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

We finally brought Ethan to the Science Centre. We were not sure if he will enjoy it as he might not quite understand much eventhough we try explaining to him. Nevertheless, we thought we will just give it a try. Afterall, Wilson and I have not been there for the longest time.

Surprisingly, though not all are suitable for Ethan, there are some very interesting things that he was curious about e.g the ' cloud ring', how the chicks hatch and he enjoyed the garden walk where he got to see what's in the pond.

We all enjoyed the trip and will certainly visit again. Perhaps to try the Omni theatre next time.

Education and schools

2009-09-02T00:41:00.000-07:00

Having read Nic's recent post on 'Competition', it reminded me of a recent conversation with a mom of one of my former K2 student. I bumped into her and we started chatting and catching up. Her son is now in Secondary 1, measuring at 1.74m. WOW!! How time flies. I still remembered his fair looks and mild personality in class but extremely confident child.

His mom told me he is now in Dunman High doing a 6 year program (no need to take 'o' levels). I am happy for them. She also mentioned that he was from one of the neighbourhood schools in Pasir Ris. So who says we must only put our kids in 'Good' schools? As she has been a tutor to primary and secondary school children for years, she highlighted that, parents strive to put children in good schools because they know that these elite schools will push their children beyond the national standards which neighbourhood schools can't because the children can't cope. As such she mentioned that it is important that as parents we need to help our children who are in neighbourhood schools by giving them papers from 'good schools' to practise if you think your child has the potential to do better than what his school is offering. I feel that as a parent, it is our responsibility to help our children at different stages of their lives for at least the 1st 20 years or so. Children can't identify their potentials very much, we can. Though I do not see the need to push my child so hard to be the best, I believe it is my reponsibility to help him identify his potentials along the way and verify if they are worth pursueing further.

It is competitive these days, from school to work. Even the aunties selling kopi at foodcourts tend to compete who does the job better....I have seen it. However one important thing to teach our children is how to handle the competition out there with grace. Like Nic mentioned, in every competition, there is always a winner and a loser. Our children needs to understand that it is ok to lose and not feel dejected. It is ok to be last in class as long as you have tried your best. One can always do better the next time.

So, parents, neighbourhood schools aren't the end of the world for our children. Even if we get them into elite schools and if they can't meet the standards, they will still be posted out. That will be even more detrimental to their self esteem and confidence.

Happy Teacher's Day!!

2009-08-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

The time of the year to show appreciation to all the teachers who have dedicated their efforts and time to teach and nurture our children.

About a week before Teacher's Day, we received a letter from Ethan's school to urge parents not to buy gifts for the teachers but instead put the money into a box they will be preparing on that day as a donation to all those in need from the recent typhoon in Taiwan. This, they mentioned is in conjunction with this year's theme for Teacher's Day at Treasure Box, to help and care for those who suffer from natural disasters. I thought it is meaningful. Although our children may not fully understand the theme, it is never to early to start explaining and reinforcing it. Ethan came home and told us the helicoptor will safe those people from the explosions. I show him pictures every now and then of children from other places who are starving to death and have no proper clothing and housing, hoping he will gradually understand that we are really fortunate and should not take things for granted.

Nevertheless, Wilson and I decided to bake our favourite shortbread cookies together with Ethan for his teachers to show our appreciation for their hardwork. Ethan enjoyed putting the M&M candies on the cookies and as he helped, he munched away....hahahaha. Ethan named 7 teachers in his school that he wants to give the cookies to and so we pack accordingly. We had fun baking and packing them.

Here are some pictures.

Like Father, like Son

2009-08-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

This set of T-shirts is a Father's Day gift f I got from Leonny's online store. Its lovely and so so apt for them. What do you think?

The Pledge

2009-08-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Ethan's teacher mentioned in her email that he recited the pledge in English during bath time yesterday and though it wasn't all clear, its there. He picked it up gradually as they are required to stand, sing the National Anthem and say the pledge every morning during assembly. Though the children (including the toddlers) do not really say and sing, they listen to the teachers and go through with it as part of the morning routine.

This morning, he recited the Pledge in Mandarin to us and we were all pleasantly amused, especially my in laws. Again it wasn't all clear, but its there. Here's a clip on it.

Other recent photos from school

2009-08-27T08:30:00.001-07:00

Ethan made seafood salad

2009-08-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hmmm....it tasted really good. He brought back some from school and I finished it as part of my lunch....kekeke

Ethan thinks, wonders and speaks.......

2009-08-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

Ethan is no longer just talkative. Turning 3 by October, he talks with alot of sense and can carry quite a good conversation with adults. His Chinese teacher realise that too. He is able to remember incidents and relate them back in great details.....and you can almost trust him when you need the truth about something. Just need to probe more.

This afternoon, he was taking a walk to the playground with his daddy and they were walking along the pavement. He decided to walk on the curb, next to the road around our estate. Wilson told him not to as there are cars and they may hit him. He told daddy that that won't happen as cars do not go onto the curb and pavements.

At the playground one evening, after playing in the sand for sometime, Wilson told him to stand up so he can clean off the sand on his clothings. Shortly after, while playing with the sand, he accidentally sat down. Wilson said " Aiyah, I told you not to sit down" and his reply was rather shocking to daddy. He rebutted "But I fell down mah", giving daddy an innocent look, indicating that it was just an accident and he did not do it on purpose.

During one chit-chat session with him a few nights ago, we were talking about his old school and his principal (a very stern lady), he told us that principal is very fierce and that she scolds the children "....but she never scold me because I am a good boy".

He even tries to correct others when they mispronounce some words he knows. E.g. He told his grandma "Its not Hoteh , is Hotel", told his 3.5 yr old cousin "Its not Allo is Hello". When it comes from him, it sounds really cute and hilarious.

These are just a few recent ones I can remember. But we really enjoy talking to him and likewise, he loves to fill us in with information....hahaha

Horse riding pictures

2009-08-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

Here are the horse riding pictures of Ethan. Wilson finally downloaded them from his mobile.

Che Che Koolay

2009-08-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

'Che Che Koolay' is a song game played by children from Ghana. This is one of the activities I do with the children in Kindemusik classes. It is a very simple game but my children love it and they will want to do it again and again. Most of all, I think they really enjoy singing the song as they play. When I sang it to Ethan, he too likes it instantly and learnt it after he echoed me a few times.

The difference between Kindermusik and some other music programs is that, they put together a variety of song and games from different cultures for children to experience...from African music, to North American music, to Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese etc etc etc.

The other game young children love is 'Ring Around the Rosey'...another simple cricle game suitable for children as young as 18 months. There are many more and so far, the children love all of them eventhough they are simple games.

These days, our children miss out alot on circle games. They play to much toys. We use to have lots of that with our neighbours and cousins. Not anymore for out kids today. So I feel it is really very good to have programs that incorporate simple circle and song games for our kids today. Its great for social interaction.

So here is Ethan's rendition of 'Che Che Koolay'....I have yet to teach him the actual game to it as this one needs them to be able to take instructions well. However, he enjoys 'Ring Around the Rosey' a lot.

Ethan's rendition of a Cantonese Er Ge

2009-08-13T06:20:00.001-07:00

This is one of those Cantonese Er Ge that my grandma and mom sang to me and my siblings when were were young. Ethan just loves it the moment he heard my brother singing it to his baby girl. So he asked me to sing to him. He picked it up after listening to it for a few nights. My mom is so thrill to hear it. :)

Ethan and his developments

2009-08-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

After a tough tough phase, Ethan is more manageable now. How has he grown? Well well.....

1) He still talks non-stop
2) He now will give you reasons when you ask him why he did it....
3) He is loving trains more and more.....an obsession with all kinds of trains (bullet trains, MRT, LRT, skytrains, Thomas and Friends, he watches trains from all over the world on you tube and is super fascinated with them, he builds trains with his blocks endlessly....day in and out.)
4) He is now more selective with the types of vegetables. He likes mainly broccoli, pumpkin, potatoes and his meat and rice. However, in school, he eats anything and finishes every meal, plus fruits.
5) He is recognising words from books that we read to him. A friend advise that as we read, we get him to point to the words and it really works. A much better way than flashing boring cards I feel.
6) He still loves to sing....more and more....still obsessed with Susan Boyle
7) He enjoys playing pretend....pretend to be doctor, chef and parent to his stuff toys
8) He latest movie is Mary Poppins
9) He also enjoys the disney version of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and he is particularly fascinated with the witches and magic in these shows.
10) He is rather rude at times yet quite sweet and loving too. *sigh*
11) Motor skills still not fantastic for his age
12) He is can differentiate between left and right pretty accurately
13) Still not that adventurous with heights and stunts
14) loves to perform

I am glad he is growing well and maturing day by day. As a mom, the best bonding session between Ethan and I is chit-chatting. I really enjoy those moments. We can sit by the window and talk about space, satellite and stars for 30 mins. He loves to ask and he also listens well for his age. He tries to understand and I try hard to make it as simple as possible. He retains information really well. Recently I taught him an African song and game from Kindemusik and he picked up the whole song in African on that same night. Its amazing how well kids learn!! But first of all they must learn to focus and listen well I believe.

Hmm...that's about it. I'll share more soon. :)

A trip to Genting

2009-08-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

We brought Ethan to Genting over the National Day holidays together with a Wilson's family and his relatives. My mom came along too. I was worried about he bus ride but surprisingly, Ethan enjoyed so much throughout and never fussed.

The trip was ok...not as good as I expected. The whole place isn't very good for children. Though there are plenty of indoor rides for them, the place is filled with smell of tobacco. THere is little restriction on smoking indoors. The outdoor rides are to tough for them so we stayed indoor most of the time. I brought him to 'Snow World' just so he get to experience something really different. He enjoyed it.

Ethan enjoyed himself but he said he prefers going on the Star Virgo cruise. So we will plan another cruise soon. I love that too. :)

Ethan and school recently

2009-08-12T05:49:00.000-07:00

Ethan is enjoying more and more in school these days. I am really happy with the way he is learning is school. They do lotsa crafts, cooking and games. I can see him blending in better and better each day with his classmates and teachers. I guess the activities in school and his teachers make a difference. He looks forward to water-play every Thursday. Today, they cooked their own pasta for lunch and he finished it. I wonder how it was like.

Sometimes, I will peep to see how he socialises with his peers. Its really cute. I often see them chit chatting while waiting for parents to pick them. His classmates are very well-behaved kids too. Still all boys in his class but I think Ethan likes them cos they aren't rowdy.

The National Day celebration in school seemed like lotsa fun too. When I arrived to pick him, I saw flour all over the entire outdoor porch. The teacher told me they had a race whereby the kids had to carry a ping pong ball on a spoon and walk. When they reach the table, with trays of flour, they had to plunge their faces in to get the sweets out with their mouths. I thought this is really something quite adventurous for kids their age but I am happy they enjoyed it.

Well, it is great progress so far. :)

After a long long break......!!

2009-08-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

Phew! It has been such a long time since I blogged. There are so much to update espcially about Ethan.

First of all....we went through a very tough period with him. Little Ethan turned into a little 'monster' over one night. We woke up as usual, and he just decided that it was time to 'rebel' ...hahaaha. I remembered clearly it was after the Sunday I brought him for a play with Nic and her son Will. He was ok on Sunday, though his fussed but it was nothing exceptional. However, the next day (Monday)....it all began.

Wilson, myself and even my in laws were devastated at the way he behaves. We were all not prepared for it and didn't know how to handle him. He will burst into bouts of temper tantrums that seem totally uncontrollable, screaming his heart out, as if losing his mind. No amount of coaxing, warnings or even threats could stop him. I almost went nuts. He would start a tantrum over the most minor thing. We were all stressed out while playing with him as we have to anticipate that he will act out any moment eventhough at that point he seemed really happy. We didn't know what to do, until my MIL too got really upset. One evening when she was looking after him for just an hour or so, it was so bad, she teared.

Even our neighbours could hear him going on and on for days. There were uncountable number of tantrums in a day after he returns from school. I spoke to his teacher and she said he was quite temperamental in school at times too though he never threw huge tantrums. She told us to observe him and update her on a daily basis and at the same time she would reinforce with books and activities in school to help him understand better why he shouldn't behave they way he does. She assured us it is a phase and that we need to be very patient.

Wilson and I sat down and discussed our strategy. We decided we need to be very very patient. It was the ultimate test of our patience. So we did. Whenever he starts, we will stay calm, continue to talk to him nicely, comfirt him eventhough he struggled and screamed, hoping to teach him how to stay calm when he is upset. It went on for almost a month or so. We were all very very tired, mentally and emotionally.

However, the good news is that our patience paid off pretty well. We saw gradual improvement in his behaviour. He is able to reason better, shorter tantrums, able to control his emotions better and most of all, he is blending in really well in school.

Of course, he is no angel, he is still a toddler and he has bad moments but we learn to deal with him better these days after that ultimate 'terrible two' period. Wilson and I truly experience what 'terrible two' means....its much more worse than we thought.

TO parents who are experiencing similar moments with your toddler, hand in there and we just have to control our own emotions and be very very patient. I must admit that it wasn't easy and we had to be mentally prepared all the time to handle those terrible moments.

Horse riding at Pasir Ris Park

2009-06-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we brought Ethan to Pasir Ris Park after breakfast with the intention to feed the ponies. He was all excited!! However, as much as Ethan was really enthusiastic, reaching out his hands to the ponies with the food, calling out to them, the ponies were not at all interested. I think they must had enough for that morning and didn't even bother to smell what's in his hand.

He was a little disappointed but we told him we shall come back later and maybe they will be hungry by then. So we went a little further to watch some children taking their rides on the horses. We asked and were told that they allow children from 2 yrs onwards to ride. Ethan kept saying he wants and we made sure he knew what it takes...he had to wear the helmet and has to be on the horse by himself. One parent is allowed to walk beside while the attendant lead the horse along. So he did. He enjoyed it and patted the horse after his ride. It was a great experience for him and we are glad he did it. Will upload some pictures soon.

Some updates on Ethan with his new school

2009-06-22T07:29:00.000-07:00

Ethan has been doing fine in his new school so far. He is beginning to bond with his teachers as he comes home and tells us more about them. With him, he will only start telling us more about his school when he is happy with it. Otherwise, when we probe, he will ignore us or talk about other things. So as soon as he voluntarily starts to talk about his teachers, friends and sings new songs he learnt in school (including our national anthem), I know he is beginning to blend in.

In fact, his principal did tell us not to probe him about school for a start. Instead allow him time to adjust and when he is ready he will reveal more about school even without probing.

As a parent, I am happy that his English and Chinese teachers take turns to write detailed reports daily about what they did and how he responded for the day. They were also very honest about how well he ate daily and what are some of his strengths and weaknesses they observe when doing class activities e.g. His form teacher noticed he is still not able to jump and land with both feet while they were playing some outdoor games and that his hand-eye coordination is not quite good through a craft for Father's Day that required threading. They also noticed he is very observant in class and has a very good memory as he picks up quickly what has been taught in class and that he prefers painting and colouring to crafts that require pasting. I think through observing his classmates, he began to learn quickly how to jump and land with both feet and lately, he demostrated to us at home and yes, he did it! It may seem like something simple to many of his age, but we are proud that he has achieved it with some guidance and encouragement as he is never quite confident with his gross motor skills especially.

It is certainly good to know that we have made the right decision to take him out of his previous school and switched him to a better learning and interactive environment.

Ethan started with new school

2009-06-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

As of 1st June, we enrolled Ethan with Treasure Box, his new school, with a 4-hour session. I stayed with him for the first 3 days. The last time, I was really inexperience and made a huge mistake not to stay for the 1st 3 days to see how the classes are conducted and the teachers' response towards the children. As compared to his previous environment, I must say this is much more homely. It is in a private terrace and its very clean too. The fact that they have infant care makes a difference I think cos they have to keep it hygenic.

Ethan's class size is 6 at present to two teachers (An English and Chinese teacher). For the first 3 days I was there, I saw what they did and the activities were fun and engaging. They begin the morning with assembly whereby they will all stand and sing the national anthem, followed byt he pledge in English and Mandarin. Then it will be music ans movement followed by an activity conducted by a teacher, show and tell or moral education. Then they proceed to their respective classes. On the first day, Ethan learnt the letter B and so played with a huge gym ball, played with bubbles outdoors, did the feely bag to feel the broccoli and then did broccoli printing. The only worksheet they did was trace the letter B and drew things starting with B. On day 2, it was Kitchen corner (play pretend), playing with flour and water to make dough during Chinese lesson. Then on the 3 rd day, its was learning about the starfruit. So they did tasting of the fruit, printing and learnt to star jump outdoors. It was alot of fun for the boys (oh yes, all boys in his class right now but pretty well behaved). On the 3rd day, Ethan was comfortable to be in class alone with the rest while I moved away.

Besides teaching, I also observed that the teachers are very concern when it comes to drinking water. After every activity (approximately 30 mins), the children will be given their bottles and they have to consume some water, followed by going to toilet if they need to. The one thing I wasn't comfortable was that the teachers want the children to finish all their food in the bowl. They will feed, coax etc. But I feel that everyone has a different appetite and everyday is different. Some days the child may not eat that much, so as long as he/she as finishes more than half of the whole bowl (quite a big bowl - slightly bigger than our normal rice bowl), I think its fair to allow it if the child says he/she is full. We should respect that. So I told them not to give Ethan so much to begin with as he doesn't have such a huge appetite. If he finishes and wants more, then top up.

Ethan was so afraid to wash his hair in school, he went around telling the teachers not to wash his hair and they were so amused. His form teacher and chinese teacher took turns to write detailed reports on his communication book on the next two days when I was not around. It was good to know that besides asking for me during meal and bath time, he was very good and he did not cry. The only time he cried was when I left him in the morning to the teachers and I observed that it was only for a short while. He stopped quickly once the teachers distracted him.

He told me today he tried his star jumps during Chinese class and Wu lao shi told him not to as it was story time....getting mischievous.

I hope Treasure Box will be a place to stay for Ethan as I really like the way the classes are conducted. It didn't seem like they had any lessons going on within that few hours but they learnt alot in a fun way. Learning through play is so much more effective for children than merely flashcards and worksheets (which his previous school does). Moreover, the teacher-student ratio is small and they all get enough attention from the teachers. I observed that it is definitely less overwhelming for the children and teachers and they socialise better too.

Will update again soon.

Ethan is a huge fan of Susan Boyle

2009-06-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Ethan simply adores the latest singing sensation, Susan Boyle. I was watching her audition version one day and he walked in. He sat on my lap and watched with me. He ended up wanting it over and over again. He commented that "Ah Po is so pretty."

He went on to watch her semi-finals when she performed "Memory" and then the finals when she did "My dream the dream" again. He saw it so many times and each time he will mimic and tries to sing along with her. It is so sweet to watch. He will ask for her video clip everyday lately and watch it several times in a row. He even ask for her CD.

So we recorded one episode when he was watching her finals and singing along. Wilson downloaded onto our youtube account just for the fun of it. Check it out! hahaha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD5Mxoyj-NM

Chicken Pox

2009-06-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

Eventhough Ethan took his chicken pox jab in Jan 2009, he still got it anyway about 11 days ago. So it is not fool proof. However, it wasn't that bad but the recent weather is so hot that, he developed heat rash. Hope his skin condition will be back to normal soon.

Met a new friend at the park

2009-05-18T00:48:00.000-07:00

Ethan and Hannah pretending to cook porridge with sand.

A funfilled Sunday with friends

2009-05-18T00:15:00.001-07:00

Wilson and I enjoy hosting and now that Ethan is 2.5 yrs old, we can manage better.

We had two families over together with their toddlers (Kayla and Nestor) and babies (Clara and Xavier). Ethan had fun with Nestor and Kayla. Now that they are all 2 and above, we see them interacting more and are able to kinda 'play' together.

Nestor and Ethan had lotsa fun in the pool with the daddies while the mommies chatted. I had a good time cooking my 'Bak Kut Teh' and 'Chicken Stew' for the gang.

It was indeed a wonderful day for the kids and the adults to get together. We are all definitely looking forward to the next round.

Above are some lovely pictures of the day. Look at how mesmerised my son is with the charming little Kayla.

A visit to the Zoo

2009-05-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Since the Kidzworld Rainforest at the Zoo opened, we had not brought Ethan to the Zoo until last Friday. Here are some pictures of the day.

My Wire Art creations

2009-05-03T23:21:00.000-07:00

Before I had Ethan, designing wire art accessories is one of my hobbies. Like some, I also made it into a home business. I participated in art fairs and club fairs with the help of my hubby and sister, Wendy. It was really fun! The logo was designed by Wendy and we love it!

It has been some time since I picked up my tools again. Now that I have settled down at our new place and since Ethan is in school, I have the chance to continue where I left off. My husband is really really enthusiastic and excited that I am doing it again. He finds that it is a very viable home business apart from teaching music and I should not let my interest in this area go totally.

Well well.....and so I did....check out my online gallery: http://www.wirart.ecrater.com/

Rekindled with Fairy Tales

2009-05-01T23:46:00.001-07:00

When I was a child, I remembered how badly I wanted my dad to buy me the book "Snow white and the seven dawrfs". Everytime we go to the bookshop, I will try to persuade him to get it for me. But he always says we can borrow from the library :(.

Eventually, he got it for me for my birthday. I was really happy and I can still remember it was a lilac cover with some pictures on it.

I grew out of them of course and lately I found it so refreshing and enchanting to read them (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, Jack and the beanstalk, Goldilocks, Ugly Duckling, Pinnocchio, Hansel and Gretal) again with Ethan. He will request for them over and over again. He has his favourite characters with each story and I am really glad he can sit through story after story. listening and asking questions. It shows that his attention span has improved.

Lately, I came across some DVDs with some of those stories he is familiar with. They were selling at 3 for $10....Walt Disney productions with Mandarin and English to choose from. The quality is not quite good as I think they are reproduced in Taiwan. But for that price it isn't too bad. I don't think it is pirated as I got it from a shop in a shopping mall selling DVDs or all sorts and they displayed so many cartoon DVDs including Popeye. Anyway, my son, my hubby and I enjoyed watching them. But I must say the Walt Disney productions are really really good. The animation is fantastic. The way the characters move on screens are so real. Worth it!!

M&Ms is heat resistent

2009-04-29T21:44:00.001-07:00

I just found out that M&M chocolates can resist the oven's heat. I am pleasantly surprised.

I promised Ethan we shall make some cookies last weekend and mommy with get some M&Ms to decorate them. Thinking that they will melt under heat, I decided to bake the cookies first and then while it is hot from the oven, place the M&Ms on the cookies, hoping that the candy coating will melt slightly and stick the candy onto the cookie.....well well....I failed big time. They can't stick!

I went to the net and found out that I should just press the M&Ms onto the dough before putting the cookies in to bake. So I tried it with the remaining dough and it worked. I am sooo happy with the results. The cookies look so pretty with the candies on them and Ethan simply loves them.

A SAHM's Dilemma

2009-04-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

I was having my hair cut and came across an article about the challenges women today face in managing their different roles...a career woman, a mom, a wife, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, etc etc and one lady mentioned that she really looks up to women who are willing to give up their career to take care of the family. I wonder how many people give credit to SAHMs like she does. Many told me, "Wah, so lucky, no need to work....like tai tai" ....excuse me? There is a HUGE difference between 'Tai Tais' and SAHMs. Huge huge difference which I believe only SAHMs will know what I am talking about.

For me, I chose not to work full-time just so I can take care of Ethan myself...from cooking for him, to playing to showering him just like many many SAHM these days who gave up their jobs as well. As much as I really wish I could put my degree in Psychology to good use after so much effort I have put in to achieve it, I still cannot reconcile with the fact that I work full-time. I have explored the idea but simply can't....I still want to make sure he eats well....I want to cook for him stuff he likes to eat, I need to teach him the values I feel my child should embrace , I still want to bring him to the playground every evening, send him to school and pick him up.

One most important value I must instill in him is 'DO NOT DISCRIMINATE anything, any race, anyone, including animals and DO NOT be overly JUDEGEMENTAL'. I do not look up to people who are discriminating and overly judgemental and I definitely do not want Ethan to become one. It is too common in our society.

I always ask myself why can't I just be like other working moms.....I just can't. I can leave him with a good childcare centre....I have no doubts about the teachers once I establish the trust with them but I can't live with the fact that I need to rush to work at 7am and only return at 7pm or later. Which means I can't send him to school and pick him from school (as I do not want him to be put in the centre for so many hours), can't cook for him, can't go to the playground with him etc.

I really am looking forward to working again but for now, I can only work on a freelance basis. I think once you give up your job to be a SAHM, its tough to just switch back to full time work.

Ethan withdrawn from current school

2009-04-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

Wilson and I have finally made up our minds to withdraw Ethan from his current school. It wasn't an easy decision and we have been hesitating in the past two months or so whether the environment is right for him.

There are so many factors that we had to consider. If the school is downright poor in everything, it would have been an easy decision that we could make even after the first month. But in this case, it is not that straight forward.

First of all, why are we hesistant to take him out?
Ethan really like his teachers and I can tell they love him too, especially his Chinese teacher, Wan Lao Shi. He will talk about her even over weekends. He also learnt a great deal in terms of his Chinese Langauge especially. He now loves to talk in Mandarin too and is able to talk in pretty full sentences. I am really happy. At the same time because I converse with him in English at home, he will talk to me and daddy in English and Mandarin to Grandparents. He also learnt a great deal of 'Er Ge' from school and loves to sing them everywhere he goes. Its really cute!!

Besides his school is really really clean. I have seen so many childcare centres around our estate and none is comparable so far in terms of cleanliness. They even keep the children looking clean when they have runny noses which is not the case in other childcares (some of those I teach music at are terrible). The environment is generally not rowdy and perhaps too controlled I realised and this is one of the reasons that made us worried.....

Now then how else are we parents not comfortable or satisfied ?:
Having spoken to parents with children in the same centre, some still there while others withdrew too, plus another reliable source, a former teacher from the school who just left, we realised that the centre impose very strict obedience among the children. The methods of teaching are not interesting and fun with little hands on activities. They are too focus on memory work....doing lotsa of flashcards and memorising chinese poems etc which Ethan never likes and I never forced him since young (cos I never believe in flashing cards to young children)....but do this young children understand them in the first place? I do not see the point if they do not understand what they are reciting. There is little playtime, no play pretend corners. The principal is very very stern with the children and the punishments can be inappropriate (I don't wish to mention the details here as it is very astonishing). Even the teachers are afraid of the punishments imposed. One mother of a 3 yr old (my former neighbour) told me her son didn't want to go to bed cos he said he has not learnt his alphabets and that he will be reprimanded in school if he doesn't know them. He is a very cheery boy we know before he attended this school. I was surprised.....how can such pressure be put on a child so young. Besides Ethan wakes up every morning crying saying he doesn't want to go to school and that he is scared of the principal. All these plus I noticed that Ethan's class size is getting too big (15 children to 2 teachers). The teachers are usually very tired and stressed out. It started out with only 12 children. So we have finally decided to withdraw him. While other children seem happy, I don't think it is the right environment for Ethan. We have not settled for another school yet....but do have 1 very potential one in mind. I have always liked that school even before we put Ethan in his current one. We went back to see it last month and Ethan really liked it and has been telling me he wants to go to that school instead.

My final verdict about sending him to school......I think going to school at Ethan's age has been a great opportunity for him to learn in many ways. It has given him a regular chance to interact, play and learn in a bigger group with less supervision. He has also built alot of self confidence and is not afraid to perform or talk. Of course such skills can also be achieve by sending him to expensive programs (twice or 3 times a week with parents in class). But I really don't think we need to spend that kind of money. Besides, he also learnt to comply with rules and regulations outside home. More importantly, his focus attention is further enhanced. Furthermore, I noticed that he has learnt a great deal through peer pressure (things that he won't normally want to do when I ask him to). The only thing we need to overcome is the separation anxiety....especially our own anxiety!! And I think we should be able to handle that better than our children. :) In addition, finding the right environment for your child is very important. I realised that an environment suitable for one child doesn't mean it is right for ours cos they are different in terms of personalities.

Fighting Spiders

2009-04-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

Ethan has never been quite a TV addict and he is usually not interested in most programmes except perhaps for 'barney', 'sesame street' and 'Hi 5'.

Tonight while he was in my room, I turned on Ch 5 and 'Fighting Spiders' was on air. Surprisingly, he took interest in the show when he saw the three boys. I began to relate to him the story and I think he was interested because there were several scenes that he could relate back to some of the fairy tales that he is currently crazy about (sleeping beauty, Goldilocks, Jack and the beanstalk, Tom Thumb)....'the forest', 'the treasures', 'the witch', the boy peeing on a lady (which Ethan did to his daddy recently during his shower) and was caned by his mommy.....etc. He finished watching the show and demanded more. I told him he will have to wait for the next episode.

It is a very nice show. Worth watching. I think it should be better than 'Red Thread'.

Phoebe losing her sight

2009-04-17T01:20:00.000-07:00

Just last Wednesday, Phoebe started bumping around after her dinner. Shortly, we realised she is losing her sight on the other eye too (the only good eye left). We were devastated. She was nervous and started trembling. Poor girl. It was at night and we can't see the Vet until the next day. Its glausoma again and I can tell she is in pain cos her eye pressure is getting high. With glaucoma, every hour counts. But we can only wait till the next day before she can see the eye specialist, Dr Heng at Clementi MOunt pleasant. She couldn't find her way around the house cos I think she lost her focus totally and was desparate and in pain.

We kept comforting her and patting her to relieve her stress, guiding her everywhere. However, when I called Mount Pleasant the next day, Dr Heng was on leave and won't be back until Monday. Luckily she had records with them and Dr Ang, treated her with similar medication. Her condition improved in the next few days and shecould slowly manage herself better. When we returned to see Dr Heng, it was a relieve to know that her optic nerve is still good and her eye pressure has dropped from 46 to 27 (the norm is 25 and below). Dr Heng recommend that we have to try harder to save her one good eye this time since the optic nerve is still in tact. She precribed further medication to help lower the pressure further by draining off access fluid from the eye and to protect the optic nerve. She said there is a good chance Phoebe can regain some vision this time though not 100%.

I was sooo relieve. She is due for another check next Tuesday. Meantime, she is responding well to the medication. I just keep my fingers cross. I mean, I know this day would come as Dr Heng did pre-empt us that once one eye is gone, the chances are high the other eye will get it too eventually. I won't know if she will ever go completely blind eventually but well, I just want her to live well as far as possible. All the best to Phoebe!! Muaks!!

Behaving like bigger boys, not toddlers

2009-04-16T23:56:00.000-07:00

Just the other day when I was picking Ethan up from school, I overheard him talking to his classmates from outside. He took his school bag from his class and two of his classmates came along (Enrique and another boy). He took his shoes and climbed up the bench while the other two boys stood around him. While wearing his shoes, he told them "I am going home already, bye bye. My mommy is there....". The boys looked at me and turn back to him, perhaps feeling quite envious :).

Another incident was an exchange of goodbyes between him and a boy call Jayden ....."Bye Jayden" followed by "Bye Ethan". Its soooo sweet and heartwarming to me at least. When I arrived, both were sitting side by side on the bench waiting for their parents I suppose and watching other children being picked up. They looked really adorable on the bench. I wished I had taken a picture.

I never expected two-year old 'friendships' to be like this....it was spontaneous yet unexpected!! No one was there to tell them its time to say goodbye to one another.

Toilet training in school environment

2009-04-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

I have been training Ethan to use the potty and I am glad he has achieved success after he started wearing briefs at home. However, whenever he is with diapers, he will not want to use the potty. So recently, I decided to let him go diaperless in school as well since he is now quite settled in school and has bonded well with his teachers.

He was all excited to wear briefs to school as I guess its much more comfortable than diapers. For the first 2 days, he had accidents in school. On the 3rd day, he told me he wants to wear diapers to school. Of course not. On top of that I noticed he got really worried about going to school. He started crying loudly when I leave which I am quite surprise as he has been really fine until he go diaperless in school. I spoke to the teacher and she told me Ethan is not very good at removing his pants yet and so when she told him to go to the toilet by himself, he messed up quite abit. Following that, everytime, the teacher asked him if he needs to go, he says 'no' and moments later, peed in class. I analysed and realised that perhaps he felt really lousy when he had no help at the toilet and messed up all the time in school. I spoke to the principal and told them that Ethan's fine motor skills are not as good as some children of his age if they have noticed and so even at home, he will try to pull down his own pants to pee but still needs help. I told her I need their help to guide him through so that he will not develop further phobia of coming to school again just because of toilet training. She agreed and from that day, Ethan had no accidents in school but still reluctant to let me go off in the mornings. HOwever, whenever we pick him from school, he is always in a very happy mood and will tell us what went on in school. So far, nothing bad happened to him besides the toilet training part. I just hope the phase will pass soon. He is one clingy little fella (manja baby) I have to deal with.

The Kiasu syndrome worsens

2009-04-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

It was my MIL's birthday and my SIL suggested going to 'Hong Xin' restuarant for tim sum. We got there by about 9.30am and started queuing for a table. Very long queue indeed.

We can almost feel the Hong Kong "Yum Chou Cha" (morning tea) atmosphere with the crowd and all the commotion going on while queueing. The food is pretty good but service not that great. Worse of all, Singaporeans simply couldn't wait for the trolleys to reach them. At first we were wondering what took the waitresses so long to push the trolleys around to each table. We soon realise that it was because many stopped them in the middle of no where and started taking plates of food off the trolleys instead of waiting for the them to reach their table. GOSH!

The whole idea of "Yum Chou Cha" is gone. Instead of sitting down in a relaxed manner, chatting and waiting for the food to reach us and then enjoy the food, it was a mad rush for food!! Seems like the Kiasu syndrome in Singaporeans is getting from bad to worse. What's going on??

A ride on the Singapore Flyer

2009-04-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

We went down to the Singapore flyer to take a look on Good Friday with my family. This is the 2nd time we brought Ethan there. We had no intention to go for a ride as we feel that it is too costly. However, we were really lucky as there was a promotion going on that day and the first 500 singtel mobile users to show their phones at the ticketing booth gets a free ride. Surprisingly, there was no queue. 4 of us are Singtel users. So we paid for 3 more adults. The two kids are free to ride. It was indeed a good experience and the boys had fun. Too bad I forgot my camera once again and only took some shots with my mobile which are not quite appealing :).

Too trickly...not that innocent

2009-03-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

At 29 months, Ethan is no longer that gullible. In fact too tricky to be true. To the extend that I cannot take it at times. My husband and I dislike those tricks he uses to get around stuff that he doesn't like doing. For example, this afternoon, I told him to go for his shower, but he said he wanted his pasta first. I asked him if he is really sure (cos for the past week, he has been really naughty. He will ask for some food, but when served, he will reject right away, making us really mad). I told him he must be very sure before I cook cos I do not want him to waste food all the time. He insisted. So I started cooking and got it ready in 10 mins. THe moment I served it, he said he wanted Milo and Tau Sa Pao instead. I warned him that he better not try to be funny and get onto the high chair to have his lunch first. He did but refused to even take his first mouth. Started giving all kinds of excuses. I was fuming mad, not simply because he is not eating but because he lied, despite my warnings. I was really upset with him and gave him a good scolding for wasting food and telling a lie once again just to get away with the bath. My tone and facial expressions were really intimidating at that I point I suppose. He dared not utter a word but followed me to the shower room to take his shower. After his shower I told him, I do not wish to talk to him then. He walked away (which he normally won't) and went looking for his grandmother, who also told him she is not happy with him. He was then told by his dad to sit on the naughty chair for such bad behaviour. In awhile, Wilson and I got out of the house to get some food, without even saying bye to him, while he sat on his naughty chair.

Getting out was good to relieve my anger at that point. I am just soooo soooo mad about the tricks he is using on us when we don't even attempt to lie and trick him. I wonder where he got all these ideas from? We repeatedly remind him that we always keep our promises and so must he. I wonder what went wrong....*sigh*

Daddy's birthday at new place.....

2009-03-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Mommy's Birthday at old place

2009-03-24T18:57:00.001-07:00

Daddy was out of town but I had two handsome boys to help blow out my birthday candles this year....:)

Before and after shots of our new place....

2009-03-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

Finally settled down....

2009-03-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

Phew!! Its has been almost two weeks or more since I blogged. AS much as I wish to, my mind and body have been too tired to do so. The unpacking was the most tedious. But like some of you said, the joy always comes when we see our beautiful new home.

All furnitures finally arrived. The Ikea Kitchen system was quite satisifactory except for the plumbing work which we are not too satisified. So they'll have to look into that. Overall, better than we expected :).

Ethan settled in readily on the first night. He loves his room (that's what he says...haha). Phoebe my dog, too. She seems to enjoy it here too and on her first day here, she knew where to do her business. What a good doggie!! So proud of her. My in-laws like it alot cos the house is very cooling as compared to our previous place. There is no morning or afternoon sun all around the house except for a little evening sun in the living room.

I have yet to take any pictures of the house. I will definitely do so soon. :) Ciao for now.

What an Ikea experience!

2009-03-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

Wilson and I finally decided that we shall tear down the existing kitchen cabinet at our new place as we discovered that the condition is actually quite bad especially with the wet area. As we are running short of time, we decided to look at the Ikea's Kitchen systems.

With Ikea, we have to be the ones designing the kitchen system ourselves with the help of their online tool. It was pretty good and simple to use. Taking accurate measurements of the kitchen is vital on our part. Having done the design we brought it down to the Ikea kitchen planner and discussed it with him. This is the tedious part. We spent about 4 hours or so finalising on all the items. They had to check every single item and we had also to determine if all the dimensions are accurate. The whole process was really tedious. But the service is pretty good. The guy serving us was indeed patient and detailed. Luckily Wilson and I know exactly what we want and had all our measurements done thoroughly. We also had to take note of all the electrical points, gas points, piping etc. Challenging for two non-pros indeed. The down side of placing the order is that, the staff had to check and key in every single item into the system including each and every hinge, door, shelve, cabinet and of course the colours and sizes. When we were finally done with him, we made payment and proceed to the delivery section. There we were told we had to wait again as she has to key in every single item once more into the delivery order. MY GOSH!! My jaws dropped....she said it is the new system. They have to do it. What can we say. Talk about efficiency. Ikea still doesn't get it! But anyway, now I am just hoping that the end result will be very satisfactory. I will update again. Meantime, its time to zzzzzz......gd nite!

Moving to a new place

2009-02-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

House moving is something I dread because of all the packing, unpacking, renovations, settling in and now with Ethan, its even less straight forward.

As much as I look forward to having a new place with a new environment, I really have to prepare myself for exhaustion for the next month or so. On top of that, Wilson will also be travelling shortly after we move into the new place.

Guess I may not be blogging for short while..... :)

The power of Santa!

2009-02-21T06:29:00.000-08:00

I was blogging about Ethan not sleeping through out of the blue for the past 1 over months and the worse was he would wake up and scream till the who town wakes up. I tried all ways to explain to him firmly but to no avail. I even ended up going over to sleep in his room when he cries and screams in the middle of the night. But he went on until last Monday.

We were chatting as usual before going to bed and then we ended up talking about Cai Shen Ye and Santa Claus. He says he likes Santa more. So I took the opportunity to tell him that Santa knows each and every child and he has this big book that he records all the children's names and whether they are good or bad. All the good children in his book will receive big presents during Christmas while the naughty ones will have none. Immediately he said he wants Santa to be happy with him. So quickly (and desperately) I told him he has to stop crying and screaming in the middle of the night and in the mornings when he wakes up. Otherwise, Santa will not be happy. That night onwards, he has been sleeping through and wakes up talking to himself in his bed (just like old times). I hope this will last. Keeping my fingers cross. GOSH! How much more desperate and creative can I get to handle my 27 month -old toddler. Some days I run out of ideas.....Urrrghh!! Keep going, keep going Karen!! ;)

Phoebe OK!

2009-02-19T23:42:00.000-08:00

Eversince Phoebe lost one eye two yrs back due to Glaucoma (an eye condition that blinds the eye), I have been checking her other eye very often to make sure there are no similar signs of glaucoma. Lately, I realised she has alot of red veins in her good eye and so thought I better bring her back to the vet (one of the two only eye specialist in Singapore for animals at Clementi).

Dr Heng's appointment is extremely full and we had to book in advance. So finally I brought her over and my heart was pounding hard during the examination. To our relieve, it was normal. Not Glaucoma, just conjunctivitis. So she was prescribed some eye drops. But I'll have to continue to keep a close watch as once one eye contracted glaucoma, there is a high chance that the other eye will get it eventually. This is especially common with Cockel Spaniels. I'm really happy she is fine. :)

Having 2nd thoughts about school

2009-02-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Ethan used to be excited about going to school. He started 2-hour playgroup at a student care centre when he was 20 months and loved it! He likes both his teachers and his classmates sooo much that he will always tell us about what went on in class. Everyday, after his lunch he will tell us "I want to go school now". He walks all the way to school everyday and is very cheery. He even talks about the teachers these days.

When we switched to the 4-hour program in his current school cos the previous one doesn't provide 4-hour classes, he was still enthusiastic initially. However in the 2nd month, he started telling me in the mornings " Mommy I am not going to school". But still he never refused his uniform and got out of the house willingly. The only difference was he wants me to carry him all the way to school and I do not see the joy in his eyes anymore. Whenever I ask him about school and teachers and friends, he is not as keen to talk about them as he used to. When he does tell us, its usually nothing very positive. He will tell us he is afraid of Ms L cos she scolds the children. He will tell me the school is scary....that scares me too. He will tell me he never play toys, teacher's singing is not nice and its seems like he doesn't enjoy his English teacher very much. As I observe the teachers after hearing all these from my child, I realised that they aren't very enthusiastic with the children. The environment is rather cold. There seem to be alot of restraints. Its a very quiet place which at first I thought was a good sign cos this shows that there is some form of discipline going on. Children do not run wild and punch each other, which is also a good sign compare to other childcares that I have seen. But now I am starting to suspect that the school management isn't quite conducive for the children and teachers. Some parents I got to know pulled their children out as they thought Ms L is too strict and the children are very fearful of her, including Ethan. We have plans to eventually put him in full day care once he is adjusted to the environment when I return to work on a more full time basis. BUt looking at the situation, I don't think it is gonna happen. We may decide to hunt around for another school which is something I do not like doing as changing environment for Ethan again is not quite healthy. But in the long run, if he is unhappy here, what is the point. He must have a sense of belonging if he goes there everyday, spending so much time there. So this time, I know better what to look out for. *sigh*

Valentine's day mean more to me than just celebrating love....

2009-02-13T06:23:00.000-08:00

I am always grateful I am born on this lovely day that so many people are sharing their love with each other, in one way or another. Its certainly not a day just for lovebirds.

This year, Wilson is not in town to spend my birthday with me. He will only be back from Houston next Sunday. Anyway, we usually celebrate it in advance cos its so expensive and crowded to do it on Valentine's Day. Not romantic and memorable at all. His boss MSN me just the other day and thanked me for being supportive of his job nature. Well, I told him, I totally understand the responsibilities of a regional role. Afterall, as husband and wife, we need to be supportive of each other in order to motivate and bring success and joy to the family. Restraining him from not taking on such roles will only dampen his career opportunities in the long run. The important thing is that he must enjoy what he is doing. Like the saying goes "Every successful man needs a supportive woman behind him." and I am trying my best to be that woman...;)

Separation Anxiety

2009-02-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Lately, after Ethan started his half day playgroup, he has been getting more clingy than usual. He sticks on to me like super glue and the moment I am out of sight, he will start getting anxious.

Recently, he just recovered from a cold and during which whenever he wakes up in the wee hours due to blocked nose, we will go over and pacify him with a song or too. But after he recovered, he continued to wake up in the middle of the night asking me to sing him songs and each time he gets up, he will cry and scream for me. He used to sleep through and in the mornings when he is awake, he will sing to himself or talk to himself until I wash up and bring his milk over. But now, he will start screaming the moment he wakes up. I can't even wash up. I will have to rjump out of bed and rush to the kitchen to prepare his milk as fast as I could as he continues to wail louder and louder. So lately, if you hear him, he has lost his voice.

Despite my reasoning to him and he verbally agrees not to cry when its still dark outside cos everyone is asleep including mommy, he still does. I am at a lost. If you have any suggestions or similar experiences, please share. A zillion thanks!!

This is how far Ethan can get sometimes

2009-02-01T23:43:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, after having his milk, Ethan insisted on having more. He started crying, like he really needed it. So I prepared another 60 mls for him. Immediately when I put on his bib, he told me, he doesn't want it anymore. I asked him who ask for it and he said "Ethan". I asked him what am I suppose to do with the milk now and he told me "pour away". I was fuming inside and I sternly told him I am not going to pour it away and that he has to drink it. A stubborn child he is, he refused even after 5 mins. So I had to sternly told him that if that is the case then he shan't have his last milk feed tonight since he has just wasted some milk. He accepted it. I shall have to follow through so that he understands the consequence. *sigh* BTW, this is of course not his worse moment :).

Ethan likes to re-enact scenes

2009-02-01T06:17:00.000-08:00

27 months old - In the past week or so, instead of merely play pretend, he re-enacted scenes he saw from his favourite movie "Sound of Music", his classroom happenings and occasions when he was reprimanded by Wilson or I. Its really really amusing as he acts out those scenes all by himself with a prop, with lines and actions close to the real thing.

One scene from school was patting his pretend child (his toy snowman) on the back, saying "Alright, alright alright". He told us when he cries in school, that is what his teacher does to him.

The scene from "Sound of music" was the one where the children crowded on Maria's bed singing "My Favourite Things". He re-enacted on my bed cos we have a similar thick comforter.

The latest one happened this evening at my mom's place. He took a toy tortoise that makes music when ever he pulls it along on the floor. He pretended to walk the tortoise at the park and started telling the tortoise "Why? cry again ah.....Don't cry ha....don't be so naughty.", "Why? cry again ah? want carry ah?" Then he picked it up and carried it around. When the tortoise started playing music, he put it back and said "Cannot cry ah...you cry somemore I put you on the naughty chair." . He then put the toy on the naughty chair that we usually use at his po po's house and told the tortoise to stop crying, saying "stop it, stop crying har". He went on and on telling the tortoise not to cry, not to smile and that he is still angry (showing his angry face), walking back and forth telling the tortoise to stop crying.....hahaha......really hilarious. He would then go back to the tortoise and 'sayang' the tortoise when I tell him, ok, tortoise stopped crying already.

This is something really new. I will try to record one scene soon. On one hand its so entertaining, on the other it shows that children really capture all that they experience and can you imagine the effects that our actions would have on them? So we have to be really more careful with our words and actions.....its a huge challenge, considering what a terror he can be these days!! But I am glad he is able to tell me what goes on in school. At least I know what's going on when I am not with him. :) BTW, he has mastered our most well-known "SINGLISH" too !!

Effects of excessive control and corporal punishment on children

2009-01-28T06:07:00.000-08:00

I was chatting with one of my cousins during CNY and she was lamenting about how tough it is to manage her 4 children especially the 3 teenagers age between 14 to 16 yrs old. She said that they are getting way too rebellious and defy her all the time. They disagree and argue with her over little things (even over what clothes to wear for CNY e.g. the daughter insisted on wearing full black). They just do not want to please her. They simply do the opposite and worse of all they often lie. She is always scolding, nagging, whacking, checking on them by calling the schools from work etc....

Through my conversation with her, I realised that she has perhaps been checking on them, nagging and beating them too often from young right up till now. There is, I guess, little bond between mother and children. There is little trust between them too. Buying things like computer games (their favourite) and clothes seem to be the way she pleases them. I can understand how tough it is to handle children, less to say teenagers. The thing I feel needs to be change immediately is stop the whacking and start building trust and bond. Teenage years is an advance stage of the "Naughty Twos". It is another stage when they want more control over their own lives, want more freedom. They are very vulnerable to outside influence as well. They have high egos which can easily be dampened too if the foundation was weak. It is important, as parents, we ensure that this does not happen. Having trust between parents and teenagers is the most important in order to allow more freedom. When we exercise too much control over them from young, together with corporal punishment, it is likely that they start to lie to us in no time just to get their way without getting the rod.

We refuse to use the cane eventhough these days we are pulling our hair off almost everyday. I admit that we sometimes do spank Ethan once on his thigh when he gets really out of hand just to let him know that he is really getting way too far. But I told Wilson that, we have to resist the rod no matter what others say. Every parent has their view on corporal punishment but if it has to be use, do use it with care and think of the effects that it may have on our children if used too often. In fact even words we use can have effects on them. Of course we may not be perfect but exercising control on our part to restrain ourselves from being overly harsh can be done with some effort.