(2003) Calling all 2003 babies

Hi Worry Mum!

Thanks for being he organised mom here! Otherwise, we would have lost track of the mommies here.
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Hi friends!
Just privatised my blog. If you can't access, please drop me an email.
 


Thanks, Worry Mum. You had a good break?

Moshi,
There's a tuina sinseh recommended by friend. Located in the east. Let you know when I pop by tomorrow. No booking, first come first serve basis.

If anyone is interested. I saw a tent from Ikea costing $11.50 (or $11.90).

K's mom,
Not sure abt the preggie girl details too. Let me go find the article.

Awesome! Guzheng...what made you learn this instrument? Are you into Chinese dance too?
 
To mommies with girls,
Does your girl come to you saying she wants nail polish, makeup? I don't wear polish, and even if I apply makeup, it's just powder to cover my pale face. And that's only when I go downtown, which is rare. Anyway, I think I have been sloppy in maintaining looks since become SAHM. Does that happen to you too?

The girls in her class attend school with bright red polish, chokers etc. So Daddy & I have been 'brainwashing' Hannah that such beauty routine will only be allowed when she reaches 18. Though I think it will happen sooner.
 
hi mommies ... I'm forwarding an email from another forum ... anyone, whoever, can help do something pls do. the one at Yew Tee would be dearly missed by my family if this happens ...

Hi parents,

Just wondering how many of you are aware of those small little children's libraries around your estates? They are know as CCLs. Some of you might be regular users. The government had made a decision to close down all of these CCLs by March this year. There are currently only 9 CCLs around and they are all going!!! Reason was the low patronage and operation cost which I think is not really that much actually. Does that meabns that reading for little ones are no longer impt! I just would like to find out if any of you out there are fighting to keep your nearest CCLs open??? We are trying on our estate and still working on it. CCLs are the best place for working moms who are bring their little ones to read and browse books. Just getting books on kids behalf is just not good enough to let kids love books more. The hours and distance is great for working moms if u have 1 near your place. If u have no time, it's safe for your caregiver to bring the child too!

CCLs to most regular users are the bets place for our little ones to learn about books and read. The big regional libraries are just too overwhelming for the very young ones and some are in fact pretty "cold". These CCLs are very cozy and just the right size for the kids. Not crowded with running older kids, lower shleves and appropriate books for the younger group. They are opened only in the late afternoon till abt 9 at night and afternoons on weekends. They are great places for you and your caregiver to spend some time introducing books to your little ones without the hassle of travelling to the bigger regional libraries especially if they are not within walking distance. Eg. if u stay in Yew Tee, it would be a lot easier for you to go to the CCL than to take a bus to Choa Chu Kang RL.

I would appreciate any updates on the other CCLs around the other estates. Thanks!
 
Hi ky!

Didn't know that CCLs existed until your post. Wow... so good, no need to invest in books at home. Actually, I used to bring Bryan to the Jurong West Community Library when we were still living there. If only I knew about CCLs then...

Am sorry to hear that CCLs will be closed down. It's a great pity. Can't people collect signatures for a petition to the MP? e.g. the parents that visit the CCLs will show that they don't have a low patronage.
 
Hi Meilan and all mommies,

I am also thinking of giving up being SAHM these few days .. I m in situation almost 99% like Meilan's ..guilty of shouting at kids, canning them, exploding ...blah blah blah .. and indeed my time at home is more of functional then educational, with my 2 kids spending time on VCDs and DVDs while i m doing my housework.

My kids are 4 yrs ds and 2.5 dd respectively. My boy is also very hyperactive and was commented as "naughty" on day 1 of his N2 class. He is now capable of shouting back at me, scolding me, and even kicking me today. Almost daily i get tantrums. Worst of all, my girl would learn all the bad traits from the gor gor.

I am still not feeling fine .. I still feel that i failed badly as a SAHM, with the kids behaving such but i hope to pull myself together, get over it soon, try to change myself (not to shout at least) and see what can i do to make things better.

I am happy that i m not alone.
 
Dear Mommies

Wednesday is coming and I'm loosing sleep again.. *sigh*

Feeling very confused like rojak. One moment, glad that the lump will be removed soon and he will be able to resume his daily activity. Next moment having fear as to what the outcome will be.. will it be removed completely or?? Will his voice be affected? (one of the risk mentioned by his surgeon) as the lump is quite deep into his neck.. will he be ok? I've been touching my keyboard for the past half an hour but these are all I can write..
 
Hi Serenade!

What's with your friend's very smart children that you were trying to tell me about?

Have really spent too much time on the blog this weekend... think I'm gonna take a break now, esp when my husband is going away for the next couple of days.

But am still tempted to post the children's great art work with water colours... haha!
 
Hi Sherlyn!

You are not the only one, of course.

I'm also guilty of all those things you've mentioned. I guess there are always days when we feel more up than down and vice versa.

Hmmm, I always wonder if situation would improve for my case if I had a bit more sleep... and the children had a bit more sleep too... as you can see, I like to sleep my problems away, literally, haha!

I do get cranky too, just like the kids when I'm exhausted, i.e. easily irritable. Is there any way you could take a break from the kids for like 48 hours? Or at least 24 hours so that you can seek some respite and at the same time recharge yourself? That's what I do when I'm back in Sg. Let my parents or my in-laws have the kids for the day on weekends and get some time off.
 
Hi Sarah!

Chinese dance, yeah! How did you guess
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But that was even longer time ago... now cannot move my stiff body, not to mention the extra pounds too... haha!

Actually my husband and I like to waltz a little... but that was also during our uni days... you know, we even went for dance lessons. Now, we've got to wait for our retirement and then sign up for senior citizen courses.
 
Moshimoshi!

You must definitely be the kids' art & craft teacher!

Actually, not too bad an idea like we could get the kids to read the same book and then get them to stage a play... for our own entertainment, of course!
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Hi Kei2!

Great idea with the stationery bag.

I still have treats left over from the Halloween, St Nicholas Day, CHristmas, Valentine's Day, CNY. Am secretly discarding them, whenever Bryan isn't home...
 
Hi Ky,
I didn't know that all CCLs are 'going away'. There's one which is just a block away from my mom's place, and has been closed since last March. I thought it was closed because it was very much under utilised, didn't know its all CCLs.
 
K's mom,
How about a change instead? Parents staging a play. We'll probably have a good laugh ourselves. We had role play few nights ago. Hannah was the big bad wolf, and Daddy the little red riding hood. She said "I don't want big bad wolf to eat daddy, I will be very sad if he's dead."
 
on CCL, Yew Tee has a very good one. I don't even bring Ben to the CCK libraray anymore. Came as a shocker to me on the closure. ya, K's mom, intend to find out more and see if wat can be done... I hear from the mother that there's a petition started for the one that's near her place already but they are trying very hard to find out out who's responsible for the closure.

Hi Sherlyn (& Meilan)
Hope this is just a down-time for u. Have you perhaps considering working part-time? A good fren used to stay at home and realize that staying at home full time isn't her calling. She felt miserable. Now, she's working part-time, half day each day and she's quite happy abt it. She even has the flexibility to choose for the morning or afternoon half, and with her available time, she even has time to go for parent-child playgroups.

.ky.
 
what's CCL huh?? i think the stationery bag is more practical than the titbits.. some parents may nt like their kids to eat too much titbits.
 
Joanne, Stay strong. All mummies, sisters and brothers here will pray together with u and Benny.. Our little Warrior Benny will fight through the battle.

KeiKei, CCL = Community Children's Libraries located at HDB void decks.

Sherlyn, Meilan.. vice versa leh.. me thinking of to spent more time with my DS.

Sarah, Yes indeed a very good rest.. during the holidays.. but Benjamin was sick during the trip. so most of the time spent time together with Benjamin in the Hotel..
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Mummies, here is the amended table..

<table border=1><tr><td>FORUM NICK</TD><TD>Name / Gender</TD><TD>Mth of Birth</TD><TD>Name / Gender</TD><TD>Mth of Birth</TD><TD>Home Sweet Home</TD><TD>Status </TD></TR><TR><TD>Ky</TD><TD>Benedict</TD><TD>Feb.03</TD><TD>Keith</TD><TD>Jan.06</TD><TD>CCK</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>KeiKei</TD><TD>Rachel</TD><TD>Mar.03</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>Sengkang</TD><TD>FTWM </TD></TR><TR><TD>AMum</TD><TD>Aston</TD><TD>Apr.03</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>Punggol</TD><TD>FTWM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Irene</TD><TD>G</TD><TD>Apr.03</TD><TD>Bryan</TD><TD>May.05</TD><TD>?</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Joanne (jojoscs)</TD><TD>Benny</TD><TD>Apr.03</TD><TD>Bryan</TD><TD>Jan.05</TD><TD>Bt Gombak</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Sarah (densar)</TD><TD>Hannah</TD><TD>May.03</TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD><TD>Changi</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Serenade</TD><TD>Brandon</TD><TD>May.03</TD><TD>Cheryl</TD><TD>Jun.05</TD><TD>Hillview (France)</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>MH</TD><TD>Wei Shuen</TD><TD>Jun.03</TD><TD>Li Shuen</TD><TD>Jan.06</TD><TD>Jurong East</TD><TD>FTWM </TD></TR><TR><TD>BlurPooh</TD><TD>Shawn</TD><TD>Jul.03</TD><TD>Shanon</TD><TD>May.05</TD><TD>Joo Seng</TD><TD>FTWM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Emily</TD><TD>B</TD><TD>Aug.03</TD><TD>B</TD><TD>Mar.05</TD><TD>?</TD><TD>FTWM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Kristins_mom</TD><TD>Bryan</TD><TD>Aug.03</TD><TD>Kristin</TD><TD>Aug.05</TD><TD>Tiong Bahru (Germany)</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Moshimoshi</TD><TD>Melody</TD><TD>Sep.03</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>Ang Mo Kio</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>WorryMum</TD><TD>Benjamin</TD><TD>Sep.03</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>Bt Gombak</TD><TD>FTWM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Ku</TD><TD>G </TD><TD>Sep.03</TD><TD>B</TD><TD>EDD May07</TD><TD>?</TD><TD>FTWM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Priscilla Neo</TD><TD>Kai En</TD><TD>Sep.03</TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD><TD>Toh Guan (Vancouver)</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Yasmine</TD><TD>Zo En (G)</TD><TD>Sep.03</TD><TD>Zo Ze (B)</TD><TD>Sep.06</TD><TD>?</TD><TD>? </TD></TR><TR><TD>Meilan</TD><TD>Jay Kai</TD><TD>Oct.03</TD><TD>Jay Cin</TD><TD>Dec.05</TD><TD>Sengkang</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Pooh</TD><TD>G</TD><TD>Oct.03</TD><TD>G</TD><TD>May.06</TD><TD>Joo Seng</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>moo87</TD><TD>Zavier</TD><TD>Oct.03</TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD><TD>Hougang</TD><TD>FTWM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Sunflower</TD><TD>Cedric</TD><TD>Nov.03</TD><TD>Denzyl</TD><TD>Dec.05</TD><TD>Punggol</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>miracle_bebe</TD><TD>B</TD><TD>Nov.03</TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD><TD>Henderson Crescent</TD><TD>SAHM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Sherlyn</TD><TD>B</TD><TD>2003</TD><TD>G</TD><TD>2004</TD><TD></TD><TD>FTWM </TD></TR><TR><TD>Minnie</TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD><TD>East</TD><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD></td></tr></table>
 
KeiKei :- CCL is Children's Community Library. Ben's school has disallow party packs this year ... too many goodies last year and even stationery or toys become a throw-there item which poor mommy has to manage. So I'm glad it's being done away.

btw, has anyone gone for the 4-yr old assessment or did a 3-yr old assessment before? Can share? We went for the 4-yr old assessment yesterday which is mainly a Vision Test. Ben's been diagnosed as a 6/9... nurse said the eye muscle is weak and still growing at this stage but this is a ok status. We need to go back to review in 6 months time. And she said kid at this age needs to take milk 3 times a day. I looked at her and said nope, he hardly takes milk. Her reply is there's calcium and pls take, and pls take veg for good eye-sight. And hubby and I kept telling her that yes, Ben takes an adult-portion of food and we are not worried abt the no-milk intake.... but she's still insistent on the milk intake. Anyone's kids not taking milk like mine?

.ky.
 
Yes, Kai went for his 3 yr old assessment last year. He did an vision test, did some drawing, reading some books etc. Kai is still taking alot of milk besides having lots of protein, vegetables since he is not much a rice (carbo) person except for potatoes (Mashed potato, bake potato or sheperd's pie). And he has his other source of his calcium from cheese, soy milk, beancurd and ikan bilis. I am also not worry about his carbo intake since he would also get them from his snacks and also from noodles, buns etc.

Hi Sheryln...welcome to the club.
 
Hi mummies,

Just a little side track...I was the one who started the post on closure of CCLs..CCL are young children's community libraries that started off as a community project. It was handled over to NLB a couple of years back and now they are closing all the remining 9 in singapore by end of the month. I am staying at Bukit Timah and we at our estate are trying to work on keeping our CCL. Personally, as a librarian myself, CCLs are the best place for your little ones to browse without any worries of being run over by big kids and the shelf and books are all just tright for the younger ones. Pls if u are one of the user, kindly do something abt it with your neighbours before it's too late. Our estate had posted a letter to the forum in the Straits Times and Today which we should be readig it maybe today or over the next couple of days. Pls look out for it. A united group with all other estate might be a stronger fighting force to keep all 9 CCLs..Thanks!!

Vivian
 
Hi Joanne
stay postitive! have faith and trust that the operation will be a success.

hi keikei
hey we are pretty near each other, i am at amk.
which school does rachel attend?

sarah
hope ur shoulders are better today.

k's mom
ur blog is simply wonderful, so much to read and see and informative too! i like the angbao on door idea, easy yet educatinal. u must have captured the kids' attention well, they look very attentive! and gosh, kristin, what a babe! lovely eyes! she doesn;t look like she has lost weight from the bout of diarrhoea but chubby and well fed!


hi ky
duno abt those assessment, do we do it at the PD?
mel stopped taking formula a few mths back, it had been a struggle all along, she simply hates the taste of it, she does fresh milk now, twice daily, abt 200ml each time, and yogurt after lunch. i supplement her calcium intake with toufu and enriched bread. seems like cod liver oil is also a good source, scotts emulsion is calcium fortified. ben loves CLO, i remember.


how do they do the eye test, the old way by covering one eye? any chance that the kid reads the symbols wrongly on purpose?
 
ky: We did not bring WS to the 3 yr old assessement...Is tehre a 4 yr old one too? Elder dd is not taking any Fm also...she was on BM till 2 and we never try to encourage her to take FM. We got take some FM sample (GROW) from the paed but she did not like those. She's thin on the side but otherwise healthy leh. She drinks Milo, Oatmilk, soya bean milk. I am a bit anti-dairy and my dh is a MILO drinker so elder gal dun get to drink fresh milk everyday. Occassionally her daddy indulde her by getting the goat milk from Hay Dairies.
 
Hi ky and mh!

Give milk... give as much as you can. Mix in the milo or give fresh milk or whatever...

It's important for the bones. I'm sure you want your little ones to grow, grow, grow.

Actually it's important for the teeth too. In comparison, my husband has a poorer set of teeth than me. Every time when we are at the dentist, his teeth always take up a longer time to work on... filling, chipped, sensitive... etc. Had a root canal and gotta do crowning soon. While I've got three fillings so far... two done when I was still in primary school and one was when I had a little accident when I fell down and chipped my tooth. According to my dentist, my teeth still are in pretty good condition even though I went through two pregnancies and breastfed the children both times, over one year each. I'm a milk drinker... even till this day. Now it's just fresh milk, but I had powdered milk till I was a teenager. Then my mom switched us to (yes, us, my brother too is a milk drinker) UHT or fresh milk.

Till this day, my brother and I always talk about which brand of fresh milk taste best... and nothing beats English fresh milk... mmmmh! When my husband first heard me down some English milk, he said I sounded like a baby!!! Haha!

Milk is my "comfort" food - as you can tell - and I do hope my children will take after me and include as much milk as possible in their daily diet. They still take FM three times a day.

By the way, for a real fussy eater, my brother's got a 20/20 vision. My eyesight is not all that good. But optomologists never gave me glasses. My husband is almost blind without his glasses. Then again, the eyesight thingy could also be hereditary. My mom's got brilliant eyesight until she's almost 50. Now she needs reading glasses. On the contrary, my husband and his siblings all take after my MIL, and have been wearing glasses since they were in lower primary classes.

Also my brother and I have done all the wrong things with eyes... we were always told never to watch TV too closely... hehe, we did. We were always told never to lie down to read and we always read in bed. In fact, that's the only position I'll do any reading for myself at all... My brother played on computer when he was younger, has to work with one every day and has his computer on all day during his free time. He only recently converted from CRT to LCD monitor. Whereas for me, I've always prefer the LCD screen laptop to the CRT desktop.
 
HI moshi2!

Thanks for the compliment. My husband and I still think Kristin has huge eyes coz she's small everywhere else in relation.

The chubby cheeks? The appetite has never been better after the stomach flu. SO what one mom told me is really true: Every time a child falls ill, he emerge stronger, taller, bigger after the illness blows over. I think Kristin must have put back all the weight just as quickly as she lost them.

Blogging? My husband complains that I've been spending too much time on my blog. Guilty as charged, I admit! But there's nothing that has been more therapeutic than blogging down wonderful things and the not so good days coz it helps me to balance out my stressful childcare situation at the moment. So when I blog, I slow down to look at things in another light.
Haha... I just realised I made almost the same no. of entries in march as I did in feb.... and march isn't over yet!

ok, chat later. gtg, pick Bryan up from school. Cannot afford school bus here. School bus fee is astronomical... like 1500 Euros per year!!!
 
Hi Sarah,

Usually we can't be bothered with the garden :p I did try to maintain it initially but when Cheryl came along, the interest just died out...

Still searching for a good way to weed the garden. The best method I heard so far is pour oil onto the grass itself. That will kill the weeds, and the grass, totally. That's what one guy did here and he bought seeds and grew the grass again. That'll probably be our very last resort. Currently, we are just throwing grass seeds all over and praying hard they will grow. Have you tried using weed killer solution?

I hate all the creepy crawlies too. But it will be good to show them all these stuff if we have the chance. But u bet one thing, I can never bring myself to touch them with my hands! So far, I have been using sticks, papers etc to catch the "prisoners". There was once we caught a big green grasshopper. Brandon had a great time feeding it blades of grass and water, hehe... I'm thinking of tadpoles when we return to Sg. He knows the life cycle of a frog but it will be interesting for him to see the changes ...
 
Hi ky,

Brandon is still taking FM 2-3 times a day. On top of that, he also take cheese and yogurt stuff almost daily. And recently, we have been introducing the kids fruit juices and fresh milk.

For food intake, I guess we are quite balanced except we don't take much fruits. Otherwise, the kids will have at least broccoli or carrot with some meat for lunch.
 
Hi Kristins_mom,

Will tell you abt my friend's kids another time. Not so nice to share it publicly,

Yup, we have tried all the science experiments (in different variations) you mentioned. In fact, I'm thinking of introducing more complicated stuff like the circuits. We just cover some areas on appliances and how they need electricity. Probably, he will find it interesting to see how electricity works. Another thing, have you "opened" any appliance up and show Bryan the "inside"? Have been telling Brandon about how the motor propels the washing machine and vaccum cleaner works. But few weeks ago, I saw him flipping our book to look at it again. Guess he might understand more if I can "dissect" at least the vaccum cleaner.

Btw, there are a lot of science gadgets on wonderbox. I'm considering to get them when we return to Sg...
 
Hi Kristins_mom,

Abt introducing kids on the private parts, we use "bird bird" & "pet pet" respectively. But couple of months ago, I started teaching them the actual names, "penis" & "vagina". However, they are still instructed to use only "bird bird" and "pet pet". Somehow, I feel embarrassed if my kids were to mention "penis" or "vagina" in public. :p Not that these are "dirty" terms, but it just doesn't sound so good in public.

Another thing I emphasize on is that they should never allow others to see or touch their private parts. Strictly no, no matter what or who...
 
Seem like I missed quite a bit. Still rather busy and waiting to get my hand to update the blog.

K's Mum and Serenade, I think it is important to teach the child the correct name for their private part, in fact, I taught Kai that from young. Haahaa...Serenade, Kai mentioned his penis in public a couple of time, and we just take it normally since he was trying to express to us that he needed to pee and his penis is very hard now. We also told Kai that never allow other to see or touch it.

For electricity lesson, have you try build circuits. You can include a light bulb or even created a buzzer. It is very fun for the child. Currently, we are at space for Kai and we talk about the planets, planning to get the model of planets for Kai and he is watching a dvd on space and astronaut.

Wow...lots of activities on the field (yard) as well. The weather here is still quite bad that we still do not have the chance to go insect hunting on the field, however, we do get to see huge fat squirrels running about. It will be fun teaching them about field community. Last year, we had a lesson on ants, bee and butterfly. I am hoping that we might be able to find some earthworm this year during the sunny days...haahaa...I also get contact to go visit and have a lesson in a insect shop that conduct mobile lessons for elementary and high school students here. About $35 per 30min-lesson as well as visit their collections of different insects (live).
 
Hi worrymum,

thanks for including me into the table. Incomplete details furnished here : B april 03, G Oct 04, stay in clementi, SAHM (instead of FTWM)

Hi kristins_mom,

I also sleep very little, and thus also flare up easily. definitely guilty on this part, so i often remind myself i shd not be angry if i m lack of sleep. I cant hv private time of that long period. my mother is aredi helping me during weekdays from 9am to 8pm so i dun want to burden her more on weekends since she also nid to catch up on her housework. my in laws are not in SG. most impt, my kids wouldnt allow me to go off without bringing them. Anyway i dun think my mother of age 60 can cope with 2 hyperactive toddlers.

hi ky,

I dun want to explore the option of part time even thou i m dying for extra cash that i can use without feeling guitly, cos i dun want to come bak tired and also to do housework while having to tend to kids. I also do not hv any skillset that could land me a job.

Thanks Pris.
 
Hi Serenade!

My husband just told me why a colleague of his or rather an ex-colleague now turned down a posting to Italy. Apparently, he's been bought out of his bond by a Swiss company, wow! And then offered a job with three times his previous salary, wow wow! And then he was made a partner of the firm, wow, wow, wow! So that's why he didn't come out here to Europe and quit even before his year end bonus last year!

Hmmm... I was telling my husband, if ever such an opportunity presents itself, then take it... coz that would mean I wouldn't have to work and could even stay at home with the kids in Sg.

It's definitely not easy to be at home 24/7, but there are also many happy moments. In Sg, things are alot easier for me coz my parents sometimes offer to take the kids out for a ride, to the zoo, or to East Coast or West Coast for walks. And this time round when I was back in Sg, my MIL even offered to help
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So I just let myself be pampered with the help.

Over here it's definitely harder. Coz it's either my husband or me. I remember the few weeks when each of us fell victim to the stomach flu, we couldn't even ask any friends for help. Coz we didn't want to pass the bug to others with families too. And any form of babysitting would be mercenary, and deep down, we still don't quite trust our children to others' care. School is different coz our kids are familiar with the environment, whereas a babysitter is only occasional. I'm sure you must have gone through the same thought process.

wow, so many science things to do! Actually Bryan hasn't quite seen any electrical innards. he's done ink filtration in school. Recently he's been asking me about chlorophyll. We were reading the Magic School Bus and he was amazed at why leaves change colour. I guess seasons changing here makes me more aware of these things.
 
Hi Kristins_mom,

That's WOW! 3x the salary and now the firm partner... if your hubby get such good offers, he should definitely go for it! Hmm, I'm also hoping one fine day an airline will come knocking on our door and offer my hubby highy impossible good terms. Then the both of us can really be tai-tais shaking our legs, haha... But looks like my chance is very slim. I would say it's zero :p At least your hubby still has a possibility there.

Hey, at least you still have your parents and mil to help out in Sg. Not me, it's still moi alone when we return to Sg. See, you are already better off than me!

Taking care of the kids 24/7 in a foreign country is definitely no joke. And to fall sick together is the worst thing that can happen. But I guess the experience here has also made me a better parent than I would be if I were to remain in Sg. Definitely more fun and quality time with the kids.

Same sentiments about the seasons. Somehow, I feel Brandon can identify better with the seasons. But not so for Cheryl since we are leaving soon.

It's a great idea to follow up on what the teacher taught in class. Are you buying more of the Magic School Bus DVDs? I got 4 of them, still thinking to buy the rest. But probably will do it only when we go back to Sg.

Ever explained to Brandon abt chlorophyll last summer but I think he has forgotten all abt it.

I'm not really into science experiments with Brandon yet. Currently, we are only doing simple stuff. Not so much for him to remember the results. Rather, the main objective is for him to learn to observe, investigate and deduce. That's why I didn't want to start him any earlier until he's about 4 years old. For instance, the float and sink experiment, I have him to observe first, then predict the outcomes, and conclude why. Quite interesting to see his reasonings though...
 
Hi Pris,

Kai must have a good time with the squirrels. Unfortunately, we haven't seen any squirrels here yet.

Yup, planning to do that. Probably will also get Brandon to investigate other stuff like what makes a good conductor/switch.

Space must be interesting. How much are you covering with Kai? Solar system, individual planets, sun/moon, constellations, blackhole etc? Possible to observe the constellations at where you are now?

It's really great to live in a English speaking country, isn't it? Things are so much easier. At times, I can't wait to go back to Sg.
 
hi xjysg, Rachel went for her 3-yr O assessment last yr at Polyclinic. She was suspected to have lazy eye and was referred to KKH Eye Specialist. She went thru alot of eye tests and she cried like 'hell' cos the nurse will drip eye drop 3x b4 the real eye test was done. She is due for the 4-yr O assessment next week and the KKH review the week after. I told Rachel tat she will b going bak to KKH 2 weeks later and she started to cry. She remembers the bad experience she had in KKH last year.


hi melmel, Rachel attends PAP N2 in Bt Batok cos my mom looks after her while I'm at work.


hi serenade, Rachel celebrated her bday yday in sch. Brgt her out to the goat farm and dragon fruit farm after her sch ends. Went home for a quick shwr b4 we went Globetrotters for dinner & Toys R Us for toys. Was super shag when I reached home. Even more tiring than working at home. Salute all SAHM who has the energy to run after their kids 24/7.
 
Hi Sheryln,

Sleeping well definitely makes life more bearable with the kids.

Sometimes we just have to take it easy. Just few hours ago, my 2 kids were happily throwing tangerines onto the floor from the sofa. Raised my voice at them but we weren't exactly furious with them. Actually we were more amused by the way they scampered off to the bedroom.

My kids weren't really TV addicts but I chose to impose a limited TV rule on weekdays. Previously, I was also using TV to babysit them for abt 2-3 hours a day. Now they get to watch only selected stuff on weekdays. Saturday is TV day for them. Things have been working well since. Though less pte time, the kids are doing more stuff. Sometimes, we do nothing except talking and tickling each other, which can be very therapeutic.
 
Hi Sarah,

I won't mind dressing Cheryl up. But not chokers - don't like the idea of something around the neck. And nail polish, definitely no no. The chemicals are bad for kids.

For me, I do apply makeup when we go out. Also only the basics like face powder and lipstick.
 
hi

to those who share on milk intake, thanks for sharing... I'm trying to give Ben milk though not actively. He's actually just slightly below 50% for height and weight, used to be 75% in weight and mid-way btw 50% and 25% at height. We are more concerned with height coz hubby and I are not tall and we've been told by my gynae at each Ultrasound that his legs' are shorter than the rest by 2 weeks ... his brother likewise, so I guess it's all in the genes.

Moshi, we did at the polyclinic. It's FOC! I was being 'chased' out of the room during eye-test. Nurse asked one parent to leave and Ben was going to cry when daddy was to leave, so I went out instead .... heard it's cover one eye to test the other, and ya, Ben always has problems with the numbers, 6 and 8 and the nurse found out during the test.

Hi Sherlyn
Perhaps hire a maid with PT job option. My fren's a secretary and does have a maid.

btw, anyone keen to join in a chinese jumpstart programme? I went for a trial yesterday and find that the teacher is quite good. She's very passionate about teaching. We shared so much until we were really really late for dinner. lesson supposed to end at 5.30 and we left 2 hrs later. Her 5-yr old son and a 4-yr old student were brillant. The 5-yr old is reading words at a P2 level... I do wish Ben would be able to enjoy chinese and have motivation at that level. It's homebased at Clementi and 1.5 hrs on Tuesday afternoon... pls pm me. We are trying to get 2 more.

.ky.
 
Hi Serenade

The blog belongs to a lady I know - Delci. Thanks for sharing coz she sort of "disappear" after her girl was born 2 yrs ago ...

btw, anyone saw the prog on Monday night, at 10.30pm (I think), ch 8 ... this lady had twins - boy and girl. She's my sec 4 classmate. Any idea what's the intro to her? It's not common to have "long feng tai"

.ky.
 
Serenade, we are into the work astronaut do in the space. Will want to cover the solar system as well as individual planets. It is sad that we do not see any stars here haahaa...will probably also cover the milky way, blackhole and the Big Bang.

Keikei, hope your dd enjoyed her birthday celebration both in school and at home.

Yea, Kai enjoyed watching the squirrels and over here the employees could bring their pets - cats and dogs to work so at time Kai also have fun looking at puppies and kittens of different breeds. Recently, we saw a very handsome 9 weeks old husky.

K's mum, if your husband gets such a offer, I think it is also good for you and your kids. We might be travelling down south depending on the terms offer by the university and research institute there, if it is better than what my dh is getting here, then will be in Brisbane and I am also looking forward to meet my friends in Brisbane that we have not meet as well as going back to the church we used to attend there.

Sherlyn, at time just ignoring the children might be a good way of showing that you are angry too. Sometimes, just used the cold war method, Kai is very frightened when we ignore him.

KY, Kai did all his assessment in the paed's clinic when we were home in September on his birthday. The eye test, they used shapes, numbers and alphabets. Wow...did not know that at the Polyclinic, it is free. Think his 4 yr assessment will be done here in Vancouver at our family doctors clinic where Kai has his own paed at the clinic here.

It is not easy been a sahm (24/7) and also living in a foreign land but the joy of watching the child grow is far more priceless than anything in the world. I also have the ups and downs that I faced and I always remind myself that I am in-control and that I will also do a counting in myself so that I do not flare up (I rarely flare haahaa dh and I think that it might be because we are growing older haahaa).
 
i asked Rachel if she is happy after i picked her fr sch. she said she's not bcos her teacher scolded her frds in school.
 
wow, experimenting with circuits already! where do u guys get the wires, bulbs, circuit breaker and all?

hi keikei, sounds like rachel had a FUN bday! Show us pictures ;)

hi ky
FOC at polyclinic? Great but do we have to wait long?? how long does the whole process take? am keen on the eye check, i caught her reading on her back many times.
do i have to wait for her bday to do the 4-yr assessment? it's in sep. or do i do the 3-yr one?

hi k's mom
couldn't agree more abt the milk intake thing. it's not my choice for mel to stop formula, she hates it, but i guess fresh milk is better than no milk.

ky, try Magnolia SMOO UHT milk, i like the vanilla n choc flavor


sarah
did u do the tui na? moi down with the ache again, just bought yoko yoko, doesn't work v well on me, pain returned after abt an hr, can we use it many times a day? stated on package only 2 to 3 times.

hey apricot, haven't heard from u, do drop us a one-liner.
 
Yes, she has great time. will take their express bus the next time we go there. i do not hv pics nw. will upload them these few days.
 
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Hi mommies!

Got 30 min before my laptop's battery conks out. Heehee good way to control time spent in front of computer.

HI Serenade & Pris!

I must say you moms are way more advanced and adventurous in trying out science experiments. We are still way behind with little discoveries only. I used to remember looking forward to science experiments in school when I was young. Hmmm, am just wondering how the teachers in schools are gonna cope with our kids in the future... coz we've been feeding them so much on science already... they have to work even harder to capture our kids' attention.

Hmmm, never thought of building a circuit. Maybe I should get Daddy to go it. He needs ideas to play with his children.

As for the job switch... I also wonder when the opportunity would come knocking on our door. So at the moment, we should choose to be happy with our lot.

But, hmmm, a commercial airline pilot - no harm sending out his CV, right?

Pris, are you still on NPL? Or have you quit? Can be on NPL for such a long time? I was told that there's a cap of three years. But I'm not too worried about the cap in my case since my husband's in a statutory board.

Hi Keikei!

Wow, you really pampered Rachel with such a wonderful birthday... children are really lucky these days. Then I was thrilled to bits when my parents celebrate my birthday with a beautiful cake. And that was what I would ask for.

Hi ky!

Hope Ben is enjoying his gym classes. Your jumpstart Chinese class sounds great. At least the children will have an environment to learn and use the language.

You know, every night before we sleep, Bryan wants me to pray for Ben too. I think he already sees Ben as a virtual friend since the day I showed him Ben on your blog.

Completely forgot about the 3Y assessment thingy when we were back in Sg. I knew there was something I wanted to do with him at the PD other than the check if he needed circumcision. Must really remember this time round in summer.

Hi moshimoshi!

Yeah, milk in any kind is always welcome. Get Mel to drink flavoured milk. Maybe FM tastes too thick to her. Sometimes I don't really make a full amount as given in the direction at certain times of the day. You know, it's just like sometimes we don't want a very heavy drink. But she's doing her yoghurt and cheese too? Good girl!

Hi Sarah!
I really like your idea of parents staging play... all for it, man! I'm sure Moshi2 will be pleased to make costume too, right?

Yeah, apricot! Where have you been?

And what about Emily? Anyone knows if she has delivered?

Meilan,
hope you are feeling great now. I find that not planning too much for the day makes things a lot easier for me. Otherwise I'd be impatient with the kids when they can't move according to my schedule. Let them take the lead. And if they don't want to sleep, then let's all lie down on the mattress together and read a book.

Or fill up the bath-tub and let them play with some water. This will pass time so quickly.

As for meals, tell your husband you'll do simple ones during the weekdays and a more elaborate on weekends. Do you do steaming using microwave? It's really convenient and fast. That will take care of one dish and then do something that has protein and veg in another dish. Viola! You've got a good meal there. As for soup, I boil some ginseng soup like about twice a week. DOn't be paranoid about nutrition. I think our kids are really well-fed compared with some from other parts of the world. Nowadays I don't spend more than an hour to prepare a meal, and that alrady includes all the cutting and cooking.

Hi Sherlyn!
That's great that your mom is helping you out. Get a breather then... or deal with one kid during those times when your mom is around. Or go run errands with one of them.

Kids usually get really happy when parents play with them or just being silly with them like what Serenade has pointed out. Actually the last time when I was back in Sg, I didn't get as much help from my mom as I used to. She's busy with her own life and activities in church too. So I was very grateful that she and my dad could still take the kids out for a few occasions.
 
Hi moshimoshi,
I was hoping you will know where to get all those gadgets. Not easy to find here.

Hi Kristins_mom,
Not so easy for my hubby to just switch. A lot of other considerations too.

Like I say, we are thinking of doing circuits, not into it yet.
happy.gif
 


Kristins_mom, when it's time to pamper, we pamper but when it's time to discipline, we discipline. Strangely, cane is useless to Rachel. She's more afraid of facing the wall (stand in one corner - timeout).
 
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