(2008/02) Feb 2008 MTBs

Artemis, that's a good one. But sigh, with 2 kids I'm too tired to keep such close tabs. Most of the time, as long as none of the kids are crying and I can catch a nap, I'm more forgiving of the mistakes she make. Cos she does night duty for Raelynn albeit bring her over to my room for feeding but I don't let her have afternoon naps (she doesn't have time anyway cos need to prepare for dinner when we r sleeping) so I open and close 1 eye lor. :p
 


bkkgal.. ur list is very detailed. Though i am not getting a maid now but certainly can use it when i need one. Thanks!!

All the maid woes u all have really make me think 2x abt getting a helper.I think i better stick to part time helper first.. still can live with some messiness at my place. :p

Clover.. can pm me the contact of the PT helper also.. need one badly..very inconvenient for me to clean up the place.. does she have any specific areas she work at, eg east side or west side? cause i noe some pt helpers prefer to stick to a convenient location.

bkkgal.. ur pt helper very ex leh... thats almost $18 /hr.Any reason why she is more expensive? the most ex rate i heard was $12/hr.

Xy.. i also suffer from a bit of incontinence.. everytime cough or sneeze will leak.. super frustrating.. Like iso must wear panty liners daily else will "smell" .. haha

Pauline.. after i gave birth i still have same problem.. it actually took quite a while to recover..
 
bkk,
i know what you mean....i feel the same way too. no need to feel guilty - i think everyone deserves a break after looking after a crying baby for extended hours. i also prefer to do household chores. my tolerance for crying is very low so it's something i always told EL before we had kids (no suprises there).

EL is a lot more patient with J - he keeps telling me that she is a small baby, she cannot help it and she's trying her best ask mama not to be angry / impatient with her (when he comes to the mama not to be angry bit, it will also make me tear....cos he's right!)

He will say see how big A is now and how we miss when she was a few month old baby? so we should cherish the moments with J now (the good...which also comes with the inevitable crying)

EL's famous words - this too shall pass....
happy.gif
 
jeannie
yaaaa, smelly and wet, yucks! sometimes i also dun realise my bladder is so full, so will "leak". at least we can talk about it here and not feel pai seh, haha!

gar
it can't be easy to have patience with all the kids especially when you're tired, jia you ok!!
 
iso,
thanks! i will jia you =) ya, really not easy. especially for someone who is not very maternal (even after two kids i have to admit...)

oh, btw are you familiar with usborne reading series? i'm into book buying spree now - looking at the step into reading that you recommended also.
 
morning...

bkkgal,
dun feel bad, i feel the same way sometimes too. lke what Gar mentioned, it's very draining dealing with kids 24/7. and i only have 1 toddler!
 
RE: Maids

We actually thought of it after our first maid. Cause I feel that it does not matter how well we treat them (not that we can treat them shabbily). They come all the way here and leave behind family and friends to work for money. So their biggest motivation should be that and just make it so that they are sufficiently motivated.

To be honest, my house rules are a lot more than bkkgal's as I dictate even how she must address us. :p

Otherwise, we are not strict with what my maid eats or drinks in our home. She knows to toe the line without us telling her. My HB and I are grocery junkies. We buy lots of chocolates and snacks but sometimes really no time to eat, so we always ask her to finish up before they expire. When I sometimes make the effort to cook, she always keeps the leftovers to eat for her own next meal even though I told her is not good for the body and to throw it away.

When we eat out at restaurants, we also let her eat the same food as us, albeit a little later cause she has to feed Danica first. For our first maid, she took it as if it was her right that we provided all this to her. Our current takes it like a privilege. So I guess the attitude is very important in the person factor of the maid. I believe there needs to be a humbleness and appreciative attutide from them.

During the initial stage, I was very fierce with my current maid. This is something I learned after my first maid who told me she didn't want to work for us after I raise my voice and scolded her for not putting my expressed milk in the freezer. That was the first time I scolded her in 9 months. I don't want a repeat of that incident. :p

Hi Pauline,

I don't really keep close tabs too. Just that some of their mistakes can be quite glaring and you take issue with that and settle it with them before it becomes a irritation. :p I very strongly believe that wrong must say immediately or they will take it as okay.

RE: Second child

I really salute all of you who took the plunge to have #2. I find myself so exhausted just keeping up with all the changes in Danica. I don't think I'll have the capacity to take care of another right now.

Hi Garfield,

Your HB is very supportive and wise. :p Just need to look at A and you know that he is right. Must appreciate your time with J now. It passes so quickly.
 
morning ! finally have time to post...
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re: maid,
wow.. hmm... i'm not that organised i think and definitely not strict. maybe because we have had a maid in our household ever since i was little! we always treat the maid like our own family... my maid is there to look after my son + clean the house only... cooking is taken care of by my mom or if she's not around then by me... cooking wise - my maid is not that good though she's improving but rather than focusing on trying to cook and loosing sight on C, i'd rather she focused her attention to cooking.

During weekends, usually either Sat/Sun she will need to clean the 2 toilets apart from occasionally feeding C. These days when we go out, we hardly bring her unless if we go to church because i know she can meet up with other Indon maids there. I try to put myself in her shoes as well - must be tough not having anyone to talk to so I don't mind she make friends as long as it doesn't interfere with the work. She has a handphone but I spotcheck her handphone a few times... she has a boyfriend backhome, so most of the time she will sms to the boyfriend and the friends. My mom and dad is not really fond of her because they don't think she's sincere enough and that she doesn't tell the truth at times.

Few times i flare up at her was because 1) she talked back impolitely to my dad 2) she ruined my $80 shirt by not asking if it should be handwash or not... so she "assumes" 3) she took C out when he was sick to the playground because she wants to meet up with some friends... (i scolded her really bad because of this). My rule of thumb is that if you dunno then ask, and i always emphasize this to her. For C, when he's sick... not supposed to go out.

Salary wise, I gave her a bonus after her 2 months contract and now I give her 1 day off every month but she doesn't take it. I think she's quite reasonable but then not sure if I'll ever trust leaving her with C alone and that's my biggest worry. I think I would worry less if she is more open to me and tell me more about her family, background etc. Not sure if she's holding back or hiding something... and that's what kills me !!

Oopppsss... long post ! :p

gar,
your hb is so patient! it's good to have someone who keeps our head cool at times like that huh..

btw - the bp you're looking at is mama21's huh? she has a few step into reading books... btw, her little quack is very nice ! C loves them.. too bad she only has 2 books... for usborne books, i have full set of usborne phonics... so far ok we have read goose on the loose and sam sheep can't sleep... i think it's ok though some phrases are not easy to understand, but you get the whole juice of the story... other usborne books i like is the "that's not my ..." series, have a few of them as well... think can tell from here C has lotsa books... started giving him paperback books as well and thankfully he has not torn them apart
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iso,
your shirt doesn't look tight leh yesterday... still looking good
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bkk,
yeah i know how you feel ! me too love to cook and cooking is such a stress reliever... first few months is the toughest, so hang in there! i'll bet all those tiredness will go away once you see SM smile for the first time, or when she calls mama for the first time
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artemis, tute,
ya very thankful to have a v patient and level headed hb. i am the super emo type, breakdown easily. i call myself the drama mama queen...
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tute,
ya looking at mama21's BP. are her prices ok? the quack duck also caught my eye. were you the one who shared the 30% discount at MPH? do you know if MPH carries usborne series?

haha...i recall you mentioning you have tons of books not opened yet. good that C doesn't rip up the books. a lot more options when it comes to buying books not to mention cheaper too! board books are sooooooooo ex. my paperbacks are all dog-eared and crumpled. my gal doesn't treat books well. i have to say that the books feel "pain" when she abuses them, then she will stop for a while.

i stopped buying for a while cos same like you had tons unopened. but have started to read them, and getting bored. also need to engage in online retail therapy to keep sane cos no time to go shopping la. any other recommendations?

re maid - i think it's all luck. some maids - you treat them like family, they reciprocate (my ex neighbour's maid has been with them for 14 years. they love her to bits, and she loves them to bits too). some maids - you treat them well they take advantage. sigh...no one single method works lor
 
bkkgal/genice, will pm u when i hv some pc time tonight.

Bkkgal, the mkt rate is $50 for 4hrs. Is yr house big so the helper more?

Genice, dun think she picks but of coz dep on her availability.
 
gar,
not sure if it was me - but the MPH at Raffles City had a big closing down sale in jan/feb and they were selling the books at >50% even. so i bought quite a lot of books during that time - usborne and thomas series books.

recommendations - are you looking for story books or activity books? C loves the Eric Carle's Head to Toe... he will imitate the movements or Barney's Follow Me. He also loves Where's Spot but we lost the book somewhere. He's also obsessed with Thomas and Disney Cars books... :p I have not introduced him to a lot of reading books, just started with Usborne Phonics and the little Thomas books.. if the story is too long, he will also get bored.

For activity book, I have only bought him Sticker books so far, found this sticker book to be very good : http://little-bean-sprout.blogspot.com/2009/10/early-learning-super-sticker-book-1250.html because it helps the kids to match shapes, colors and pictures... plus the sticker book pages are all laminated so you can reuse them. There's different sections in the book e.g. food, transport, animals etc. Just that you need to guide the kids because the stickers for each section located on 2 pages with indicators which stickers goes to which page... I usually give C the sticker, then point him to the page that he needs to complete and ask him to match the picture and the sticker... Hope you understand... It's a bit more expensive for a sticker book but I think it's worth it.
 
Thanks tute for the recommendation. That book is very popular at least I know why now.
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gar raeanne loves the duck too. N her fav kumon book is the sticker n paste one. She wants to bring her glue n scissors even to bed. Lol.
 
ooh sticker books
i never thought of those!

gar
i have some usborne phonics books, frog on a log, and a sheep one, but i find phonics books a bit strange, because it feels so unnatural to read it out loud. phonics is supposed to be to teach them how to read is it?
i also have one of the usborne first experiences books (going to the dentist) but it's a bit long for his age, sometimes i paraphrase part of it when reading to him! heh.

Step into reading
oh forgot to mention that some books are "write-in" too, which means in between the story, they have pages where they have questions or activities. I don't quite like it cos i rather concentrate on the story! heh.

kitsune
which kumon ones do you recommend? and where did u get them?

tute
haha.. more bottoms and bras, even my shoes all not fitting well!! tops can still find some that can fit..
 
ooh sticker books
i never thought of those!

gar
i have some usborne phonics books, frog on a log, and a sheep one, but i find phonics books a bit strange, because it feels so unnatural to read it out loud. phonics is supposed to be to teach them how to read is it?
i also have one of the usborne first experiences books (going to the dentist) but it's a bit long for his age, sometimes i paraphrase part of it when reading to him! heh.

Step into reading
oh forgot to mention that some books are "write-in" too, which means in between the story, they have pages where they have questions or activities. I don't quite like it cos i rather concentrate on the story! heh.

kitsune
which kumon ones do you recommend? and where did u get them?

tute
haha.. more bottoms and bras, even my shoes all not fitting well!! tops can still find some that can fit..
 
tute, iso - thanks for the recommendations. i think my gal is the don't follow instructions type...hahaha...

kumon books - i have - she will ignore our guidance and doodle all over the place

sticker books - i have - she will ignore our guidance and remove the stickers and stick them all over my furniture

so i have given up on activity books cos i puke blood when i try to get A to engage in the activities
biggrin.gif
read a loud books are easier lor
 
gar
LOL!! i actually let E stick stickers on his bed, so it's highly possible that he might want to stick other stickers there too!!
 
gar,
According to the milestone, it is a norm for A to doodle rather than following instruction. I learn to accept C from doodling all over the house. On window, floor, wall, etc. I used to do tt when I'm young too and y parents accepted the way we were. So I also have to do the same as well. Fortunately, these days we have something called "Washable" "erasable"

Pt cleaner:
Hmm... I nv know you gals need to be so detailed in things. I will let the pt cleaner do whatever she need to do like mopping floor, cleaning toilet and windows,etc. Then still invite her to dine with us. It is too generous?

mattress protector
Any spree? I need a single mattress protector.
 
Iso the first steps workbooks r a good start. I got 7 out of 8 books cos the last book is oos. Raeanne likes the let's cut paper n let's sticker n paste books most.
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Pauline. . Hehe . I think I can also imagine e extra help if I really got a not so bad 'helper' cross fingers till e day i nd a helper.

Re:kumon books
Pauline u talking abt e ones selling at $7 plus per book. I very stingy , hehe tot that it is a bit ex for activity books. But maybe I shld get a few to try.

Btw, what scissorrs u buy for R to use?where to get it?

Clover. Thanks!
happy.gif


Posting from sakae sushi at century square, waiting for my frens.
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gar,
LOL.. the way you describe it is really funny.. actually C does that sometimes i.e. doodling on the wall or floor (luckily our flooring is stained-proof and we only give him erasable pencil) and stick stickers on furnitures... but now not so much. he knows that he needs a paper to draw on, in fact everytime he sees a paper he will asked for a pencil as well and starts to doodle or asked us to draw... so maybe it's just a phase
happy.gif


btw - C's sat school uses Letterland and i find some of the stories to be quite interesting, maybe you can try that
happy.gif
the bp by xiaochuan is selling some letterland's books.

pauline,
the kumon books needs to cut and paste using glue?

iso,
i agree with the strange phonic book's phrases ! am thinking is it just the usborne phonics books or all phonics books are the same :p kumon books i know some bp selling. the one i mention organised by xiaochuan also selling i think.
 
Hi moms! I havent been able to read, not to mention post anything here until today. The thread page only shows up till Jan (2008) MTBs. Anyway, it's good to be back.

Doodling
Not to mention a 2yo doodling, my coming 5yo son still draws on the floor/wall/door/table... Already punished him to clean up the mess but he's still doing it. Don't know how to teach.

Books
I HATE sticker books! The stickers never end up at the correct place, it's all over the house and it's very annoying trying to peel them off esp after a long period of time. For young children, I still prefer board books.
 
Genice, yup I thought they were expensive too but after buying 2 books(thanks to Gar for the recommendation ;) ), I (not RaeAnne) got hooked. haha.

Can buy those pure plastic scissors from Popular for $1.65. We just bought one recently. I'm so 'suaku', didn't know got such scissors until one of the PG classmate's mother (ex teacher) told me about their existence. :p

Tute, first few pages are stickers so just need to peel and paste. Subsequent pages must cut and paste. I usually use uhu glue stick and RaeAnne occasionally wants to apply the glue herself. Most days, she is very clever. Will supervise me to do it so that she will not get her hands dirty. :p
 
June, LOL, my maid is from Iloi-Iloi and she's definitely super vain. No $ still die die must buy deodorant. Always beowing new clothes, panties, bra, hp etc. ;P
 
Re: coughing
My PD suggests drinking low-fat milk instead of whole milk or 2% fat, becos the high fat content in milk will make the kids produce more phlegm.

leila,
congrats!
 
kitsune
i saw that kumon has a Let's cut paper (or something like that), wonder if it's any good? E loves to cut things..

tute
xiaochuan selling kumon books? later i go see
happy.gif
 
Iso, yup I bought let's cut paper but my peeve about this book is there is nowhere to paste the cut portions so I stopped after just 1 page cos very messy. Just asked hubby to buy a separate sketch book or drawing block for pasting the parts before I will continue with that book. :p
 
iso, s loves to cut things too. i havent got the pastic scissors for him, so let him use the baby scissors which i use to trim his nails.
 
kitsune
that's an idea! i love to do arts and crafts, so i'm q excited, hahah... i also bought some kids glue a while ago.

PG
i was thinking of putting E into PG near my place, but twice a week for a month is $600! wah piang.
 
tongtong
not branded but think got some (or a lot?) of ang moh kids. $800 also not cheap hor, for around $700 can go to branded half day CC already?
think i will discuss w hubby...

tute
thanks! er.. which range of books were you recommending ah?
 
RE: playgroup

Wah... $600? $800? :p Is the curriculum very good if not why the high price tag for just a playgroup? Danica's playgroup is the RC type $135 per month. I find it fits the purpose for which I enroll her in it (to socialise with children her age).
 
clover
no, playdays. near my house in clementi. if go daily it's $1.4k!!
proud.gif
is JG around that price also?

artemis
wow! that's cheap! unfortunately none near my place.. :S
 
Hi Isobellies,

Yeah... Mine is weekdays for 2 hours and it's only opposite my block. :D

I feel quite worth the money. Every day Danica comes back with worksheets that she colours, stick on coloured paper, cotton wool, etc. And she has become more vocal (although I am still not quite sure if that's a good thing :p) and loves to sing songs (though she doesn't get all the words correct :p).

I seriously cannot imagine paying so much for a playgroup though. @@

Next year I intend to place her in a pre-nursery near my place also $150 per month weekdays for 2 hours.
 
Iso,
can share with me the pg you have shortlist? Im also looking for pg at clementi, where MIL stays. so far visited Pat's at Jubilee Rd...wondering if more around to check out.
 
Iso,
got a lot all around singapore one leh. at RC and CCs.

Mine is also around that price. $145 for 5 days a week, 2 hours a day. Dun expcet much in curriculum.

But at this age, very hard to keep them still to be interested. I"m thinking of switching her to the other "CC" when she turns 3. It's $500 for 4 hours (9am to 1pm) but got Chinese/English/Japanese plus outdoor play, music & movement etc. Better teachers too. Called Arts Junior Montessori.
 
Hi lezy,

Maybe my standards very low. :p Danica's one got English (3 days a week), Mandarin (once a week) and Mathematics (once a week). Before they start, they always "work out" with action songs. I think quite okay for their age.
 
piglettail

where do they stay? i'm at sunset way, so playdays is just down the street from where i am, can walk. the rest are a bit too far for me. but i've seen a few around the area when SIL was looking..

lezy
i don't want to go too far because this will probably be short term, and i might have to pick him up myself with a new baby in tow, and may not have car! the other option is to put him in same half day CC as my nephew, but it's almost $700 a month, and hubby thinks he should have some time apart from nephew, haha..
 
Gar said i never share Ruth's first day...but seriously, there was nothing to share cuz i was there for the 2 horus and she was ok.

It was day 2 onwards that she'd cry everytime we leave - whether we leave at the beginning or halfway, telling her or not telling her.

Usually will cry about 5-15 minutes, then she will be ok.

Hopefully today was better.

ANyway, I was so bored during the 2 hours cuz I purposely just sit one corner and try not to engage her at all so I ended up noting down what was happening....which was nothing much.

But like artemis said, it's just to give her the social interaction she doesn't get at home.

9.15
Tots filing in, getting their hands sanitized and putting away school bag and water bottle. Tots automatically find toys to play and keep themselves entertained while teachers attend to everything else.

9.50
Still free play.
Arts/Craft starts...but not all are interested.
Teacher tells Ruth to colour one colour only...she keeps taking other colours. Teacher patiently puts back and tells her one colour only.

Ruth waits, then when teacher not looking, she put back and take another colour. I NEARLY WANNA LOL!

10.15
Ruth loses interest in colouring.
3 out of 9 tots at table. Rest are just running around, doing random things. Teacher k doing arts n crafts.
Teacher m just doing arts n crafts doesn't control tots much.

10.30
Chaos. Everyone's just all over the place. Ruth lies on floor occasionally. I try to ignore her.

10.40
Toys are kept.
All sit down. Sing song but teacher m is kinda tone deaf?!?!
Ruth looks on. (flash cards, sing songs etc)

They take attendance, talk about days, months. More out of tune singing. Oh my poor ears.

11am
Done singing songs n flashcards.
Drink water time. Ruth drinks with them.

More free play. Teachers just doing their stuff.

Kids get packed, line up, sing a goodbye song and pooft!! Off they go!
 
I'm feeling SUPER unmotivated today, despite LOADS of work to do.

JUST DON"T WANNA WORK! (one of my colleagues also feeling equally restless...)

Horrible la. heh.
 
Hi lezy,

Lol... Ruth so smart. :p

I think Danica's class goes something like this:
9 a.m. to 9:15 Children file in to have hands sanitised and check mouth for HFMD.

9:15 to 9:30 Song and dance

9:30 to 10 Art & craft cum free play

10 to 10:15 water time

10:15 to 10:45 Story telling

10:45 Get ready to go home
 
We've switched Ruth to the 11.15am class. She seems to "play better" with older kids generally. My mum says the 11.15am class has her 'favourite friends' from the playground (where she plays everyday) so hopefully she is happier there.

The 9.15am class has younger children - around 2 y.o. - and quite a few are quiet and keep to themselves, esp the girls. There 3 (older) boys who play together. Most of the girls dun seem to be very "gum1" and play on their own or stick to teacher.
 
artemis,
i dunno if the 'curriculum' will change. According to the schedule it should change and etc...but since i only there for 1 day, that's what I know. ha. So far she only come home with one "easter egg" which i think the teacher spent class time making cuz I was sitting there looking at her make. sigh. dunno la.

Eh, does your operate in June? I read something about mine not operating in June. I have to ask her daddy (teacher) to start playgroup of his own liao if so. :p
 
Hi lezy,

Nope, not in June nor in December. :p The last March 1 week school holiday, Danica was so hyper every day. @@ Not sure how to survive June or December.
 


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