(2008/02) Feb 2008 MTBs

Clover,
Congrats! 2 boys can play together.

Clover/bkkgal,
Don't know genders yet, hopefully at next Gynae visit.
E said "mei mei", and told neighbors "I will have mei mei".
Hehe…….maybe will get 2 more girls. ^_^
 


re: maid
i dun think i hv much choice, so giving FDW a try. i'm a sahm which do minimal housework and i already find there's not much time for my kid.
 
clover, i might try becoming a sahm for 1 or 2 weeks in july,another excuse to give my nanny a short break hehe. If i'm fine with it i will carry on staying at home with S. I wonder why did you say you have not much time with A?
 
clover,
really depends on your needs - if it's for childcare, it's tough to find a maid that can look after kids well (the better calibre ones all dowan to be maids these days, prefer other occupations). better off with a part time nanny. else everyday puke blood ah...
 
tong/garfield, it's more for housework n to help me with organising. I dun hv much childcare support fr my in-laws who live closed by. I'm doing minimal housework coz i hv a pt helper. Daily housework like cooking, wash up, laundry. I dun think i do a lot, yet i find myself either no energy or time to interact more with my #1. quite a dilemma.
 
Gar,
Yeah I know what you mean. I was looking forward to escaping the house, the maid woes but nearing the date, I'm having mixed feelings too cos SM is now so cute, and K also became closer to me. At night, she will kiss me and say I love you mama.

Clover,
Is it becos you are pregnant now so you have less energy?
 
Gar,
I think you guys are coping very well without a maid. If you can, then dun get one lor.

For us, just the morning rush to get ready for school and work is enuff to drive us nuts. If MIL/mom stayed over the night before, things are still ok, as in they will be responsible for getting K ready for school - wake her, make her milk, feed, brush teeth, wash face, change clothes. I pack her school bag the night before and get her waterbottle. But if they dun stay over, I have to wake up, latch SM, pack my own pump things, shower, change for work, clear breakfast stuff, get K ready, make the bed, throw in the laundry while UJ makes brekkie, gets himself ready, and then we all trundle into the car to go to our respective places. All that has to be done in 1 hr or less. If K can't get up early, then the rush is even worse. It's really really crazy!

And then coming home from work, I need to latch SM, put her to bed, wash and sterilise my pump stuff, MIL/mom feed K dinner, then we eat dinner and we help to wash up, make K's milk, put her to bed. After both kids sleep, then we keep laundry, or iron or do admin work. It's truly tiring. With a maid, hopefully she can do some of the washing, sterilising, laundry, dinner washup while we spend quality time with K. Sometimes, my mind is on clearing up the housework so much so that I wish she could sleep earlier! And I can't concentrate on enjoying the time with her. it's so bad
sad.gif
 
bkkgal

*Hugs* can understand how u feel. i'd been thru similar thou i only have 1 kiddo it's a rush!by the time i reach office, im completely exhausted, feels like it should be the end of the day at 9am. ;p

Last Sunday was the first time since i moved out that i could sit down, play with G and watch TV at same time while maid cooked dinner. i felt a moment of 'bliss and peace' then...

haha but it's short lived ah. hb has dropped decree for me to cook (translate: learn to cook by cooking) that's why i've been flooding kitsune with cooking questions.
 
clover,
i think with 2 kids, and a 2 year age gap - it'll be quite tough handling alone.

bkk,
ya...so sweet right? never mind we try to spend time with them when we go back to work!

re living with 2 kids without maid,
it's tough. no doubt about it. v often, i am soooooooooooo
tempted to get a maid (especially in the mngs when i'm perspiring like a pig and at night when i have to drag myself to wake up after putting A to bed).

there is EXTREME INERTIA to get a maid cos we didn't have one for #1. so reluctant to do so now. also partly amongst my peer group quite a few friends with 2 kids without maid - so i draw strength from their experiences too.

without a maid, something's gotta give. for my family, food is not a big deal - so we sacrifice on breakfast (eg. eat cornflakes + milk at my office desk) and dinner (just tapau and wolf down within 10 mins). that frees up time to handle the kids and chores.

cos all along no maid - a lot of things we have developed a Std Operating Procedure which cuts down on time taken for major tasks. like i'll come home, shower, dump clothes into
washing machine + sterilize bottles, latch J, eat dinner while hb wipes down J, wipe down A, read bedtime story to A (and 2nd round latching if needed), lie down with A. then wake up
to a flurry of activity (hang up clothes, prepare EBM for the next day + pumps, A's stuff, tidy up house, change bb sheets, do dishes, admin etc). The time taken gets shorter with practice. So usually takes about one Hr. Luckily these days few night calls for work else lagi jia lart!

lastly, we try to synch the two gals' routines as much as possible to encourage bonding. eg i latch J at night while reading bedtime stories to A.
 
garfield
me too. staying with 2 kids without maid. i think i rather get a part time cleaner than having a maid 'cos i know that i am not good at handling the maid.

bkk
totally understand your rushing schedule.
my days are also very rush. for me, i need to wake up at 550am to prepare lunch for the family. after lunch is packed, got to wake up my 2 kids for breakfast. then, help my gal to change to cc's uniform, we will send the younger one to in law's place and the elder one to cc. then hb will drive me to work. the preparation work must also be done in 1 hour time.
then, after work, most of the time, i got to rush to mrt station to take train back home to pick up the kids.
after reaching home, unpack all the kids stuff, make milk for them, brush teeth, read story books and tuck them in. after they lie on the bed, i will need to start preparing the ingredients for tomorrow's lunch. luckily, the kids can sleep by their own.
 
Hi,
any tots here not eating their greens?
The only veg my boy eat is corn and carrots.. anything green and esp leafy, he will just spit out. How?
 
fairfield
mine also don't eat greens except for corn. he'll ask for the vege to be removed if he sees it. sometimes managed to camouflaged in the food and he didn't notice. he'll eat beansprout that's cooked together with noodle.

sunny
good for you - kids can sleep by their own. my elder one still ok, can sleep on her own most of the time. my younger one will cry for me. so i have to stay with him till he sleeps.
 
fairfield,
Mine don't touch greens at all, not even corn. he will take 1-2 bites of carrot and will give the puking face on my third attempt.

we will boil soup (e.g corn-carrort-potato soup or watercrass with meat) and he will drink the soup. but i guess that does nothing for the fibre intake...
 
QL
how was yr cake? Thot u baking cookies, saw yr fb update.

Piglettail
why not tapao food or eat out for weekends? So stressful to think of what to cook during off day! U need a break too.

Gar/sunny
yr days sound shiong! I'm lucky to live near work and ils are willing to travel to my place (for now).

Both my mom/mil cook lunch and dinner. this is their practice since no1. Food is impt hence this is one step that could not give way. Only recently that we tapao for lunch and once or twice for dinner, otherwise we cooked everyday.

Since last week I oso started to outsource
some chores liao eg send bedsheets and hb workshirts to laundry. I got a laundry service to come pick up and drop off. That way can save time n effort to iron the sheets/shirts.

Breastpump
finally got my dream pump! The medela freestyle! $699 from first few years. Paragon has a promo
now giving away $30 paragon vouchers for $xxx spent which
works out to $669 for the pump. Robinsons was selling the freestyle for $834.
 
Bkkgal,
actually i only need to cook during weekends, Mon-Fri we will eat at MIL place before fetching G and maid back. Next morning pack them over again.
becos of lack of practice, i'm terrible at cooking. also didn't like it all along (cooking was my worst in Home Econs)
Every meal is like a major work out for me and not really possible to cook/prepare in bulk (to leverage on bulk effort e.g: chop/mince lots of garlic at 1 go and keep) cos the next meal will be 7 days away. Can not 'recycle' the same food/ingredients for next meal/next day - will kena rejected by hb.
the place where i'm living now is not that accessible and doesn't have food centers within walking distance. gotta drive out to tapao...which will be the hubs. oops.
i will try lar...will cook 1 dish and ask maid to cook 1 dish. then cook soup using those soup packs...keke.
 
stephie/piglettail,
thanks for feedback regarding eating of veg.. So looks like this is quite a common problem we face. So strange, last time when they were babies, they would eat mashed spinach etc, then now just refuse. Sigh!

Sometimes I totally give up on getting him to eat greens, since i know it will cause a major meltdown. But at the same time, i worry that if too long dun give him to try, all the more he will reject.Dilemma.
 
Piglettail
me too live at a place where there's no hawker centre nearby. some weekends when too tired to go out and eat, hb will drive out to tapao or else, if i can get to a supermarket, will buy chicken thighs, sausages and do a simple roast with pasta.

How abt asking MIL to teach maid to cook? Then on weekends, she can cook and you can relak.

Fairfield
Maybe it's just a phase? K eats lotus root, carrots, corn, and sometimes spinach. Last time, will take broccoli, mushrooms, sweetpea. Maybe slowly reintroduce the greens? that's what i do, once in a while, surprise her with a new veg. recently, discovered she likes edamame and cucumber.

Sunny
how can i make the kids fall asleep on their own? sometimes can waste up to one hour lying on the bed waiting for K to sleep.
 
bkkgal, I thought your mum and MIL handle the kids cos I remember you said the maid keeps requesting to carry your kids. Maybe it won't be so bad cos at the very least, they will be closer to the grannies rather than the maid, still part of the family. Both K and SM are so close to you and your hubby cos of the foundation that you have laid.
happy.gif


I love the freestyle too, very convenient and compact. Bought it for much cheaper cos I got from spree but no warranty though. :p

Anyway, whether FTWM or SAHM have their own sets of problems/sacrifices lar. For me, I got to forego the extra disposable income (forget about upgrading car though ours is too small for 2 car seats, forget about private property, forget about branded pre school that costs more than $1k per month) and the 'me time'. On a bad day, the maid and the 2 kids all drive me mad and I'll keep smsing hubby to ask him what time he's coming home so that I can 'offload' my problems to him. ;P But I like to think I am just putting these plans on hold until I decided to return to workforce.

But I do wish RaeAnne will like our maid more so that I don't have to 'play referee' early in the morning when I'm latching Raelynn. Cos RaeAnne will go No, No, No! whether it's the maid trying to clean her face or brush her teeth or change her clothes or bathe her and I always have to intervene if not she will push/beat the maid. At night, me and hubby always have to go over to her room in the middle of the night cos she doesn't want Aunty even if she has wet her pants or really need to go to the potty/toilet.

Sometimes, I wonder if it's because she and my maid "ba zi bu he," nearly 1 year of living under one roof and one room still like that. Hiaz. :p

Pigletail, any funnel will do. I got mine cheap from Ikea. Your hubby sounds like me, I hate having to eat the same food twice at meal times, even the same soup I don't like. Maybe cos my parents use to cook in bulk (eg pan fry 7-8 fishes, keep in the fridge and eat one everyday without refrying or microwaving :p) and we keep eating leftovers, that's why I got phobia. :p Luckily, my hubby is not as fussy as me so he is quite bo chap whether I cook or the maid cooks. I'm the one who wants to experiment/cook sometimes cos I can't stand my maid's cooking. :p

Fairfield, I'm lucky cos RaeAnne likes to eat veg. Maybe last time she sees it in her porridge everyday so she's familiar with them. When she has few teeth, we would cook porridge with broccoli or spinach or sweet potato or local spinach with meat/fish everytime.
 
Bkk,
yup definitely shiong. But most shiong is my mom ... She is my role model and whenever I see how much she does for me n my family - helps me grit my teeth n push on. Not sure if I have the ability to do the same for my two gals next time.

Home cooked food more healthy. So it's good that your family has this practice.

Hang in there! Am sure your maid woes will turn out fine eventually!

Sunny,
jia you! Not easy but we will get thru it
happy.gif
how's your part time arrangement working out so far?

Fairfield,
me me me!!! Used to love carrot corn etc. Now will only eat fruits n tomato. Every other green gets spit out. She even pre empts me by saying no vegie even before I show her the
dish. I am hoping it's just a phase.


Pauline,
Lol! Yes I do the "when are you coming home" thingy too! Not easy being SAHM. Don't worry - your interaction with raeanne
is worth more than any childcare branded or otherwise. For
FTWM, it's bopian... Like now - i feel v guilty going back to work cos going to hv v little time with my two darlings. And it just dawned on me that A is growing up soooo quickly. And even though I try to spend as much time with her as possible still not enuff. It's just all v sad lor. So you Jia you ok? Doing a great job!
 
morning everyone!

been catching up with the posts and really envy all of you who are have a no.2 or going for no.2...

I have no maid, thus hubby is very reluctant to have a second one....

right now our schedule is pretty rush...

wake up at 5.50am to pack her stuff like milk etc for school
then hubby wake up at 6.20 to get all of us out by 7am
er most of the time i bring her to sch then change.... no brushing of teeth every morning...

then we will start work at 8am... at 5pm, i will sneak to the pantry to cut some fruits for her... 5.30pm leave for sch to pick her up.

from 6 to 630pm i will be in school with her, giving her fruits. the carpool will come along to pick us at 630.

hubby is home from 6pm to cook till 7pm...

so when we arrive home at 7pm, i bath her then feed her while hubby eats his dinner. at 8, i will eat my dinner in 15 min and then bath and wash my clothes...

actually not much of an interaction time, cos while i bath and eat, hubby will play with her. then after i am done, i take over, to do some puzzle, reading or some games with her. this is the time hubby quickly wash up the dishes

go to bed at 9.15, most of the time, she will zzz at 10pm.... hubby can officially knock off at 9.30pm. i will be out hanging the laundry at 10pm then pack her clothes for sch next day.... and zzz at 11pm...

This is ideal case if there is no work brought home to do... if there is OT to be done, work can only starts after 11pm sigh.....

thus, i think with all this in place, hubby is very scared to have a second one, we cannot imagine putting in infant care and pick pick drop drop and then one more to clean and more bottles to wash......

i dont seem to be able to persuade him...
 
good morning!!!
yippie!! the monsterous big big lady boss is finally leaving!! :D
anyway, it's not going to concern me as our team just transferred to another department/cost centre/big boss.

the morning/evening rush that everyone is describing freaks me out.
we are currently handling well with the help of MIL. but can't imagine the days when #2 comes along.

6 am wake up. wash up, prepare her stuffs - milk powder, snacks, clothes, towels for school, have light breakfast. and rest for a while..
7 am hb wakes up, C wakes up. hb makes milk for C and change C.
715 am send C to CC and off to work.
615 pm reach PIL place. hb fetch C from CC. MIL prepared dinner and fed C dinner.
7 pm dinner and stayed a while at PIL place.
8++ pm go home. bathe C.
830 pm hb put C to sleep.
9 pm our relax/TV time. sometimes we sleep at 930 pm too.

for laundry, we do many rounds on the weekends. no cooking..
:p

next time when #2 comes along, the time required to latch, pump, sterilise, wash bottles... sure rush like mad.
 
ql, how's your earl grey cake yesterday??

garfield/sunny, it's really not easy to handle 2 kids without a maid! you are doing great, keep it up!

fairfield, try to cut the veg into smaller pieces, easier for them to eat. if the veg is too long, my boy will pull it out from his mouth too,so i always cut into small piece.

Tips on how to make your kids eat veg: You can tell him/her, if he eats his veg, he will grow tall and strong like the popeye! else he will remain tiny tiny tiny little boy.. when my boy sees veg, he will always say " gao 1 gao1!"
 
re: veg
C used to like veg and hates meat (pork, chicken).
she can take stir fry asparagus from the plate and chew chew about 1/2 year ago.
and now she picks whatever green things out from her food.
for meat, it's totally opposite. she doesn't want meat last time, and now she wants them. but the favorite still the meat floss.. hai..

i ordered the power blender liao.. hehe.. hope next time can camouflage veg puree in her food. :p


re: weaning
tong,
C slowly wean off from my breast when my ss drops due to the pregnancy.
she knows that she can't have enough milk by latching and agree to take milk bottle. initially need hb to offer bottle without me being around, slowly, she accepts me to offer her the bottle instead of breast.
for her, it's a very smooth transition.
happy.gif
 
hi mummies!
been busy the last 2 days since A came back on Tuesday.. think he's still getting used to being at home, first day he can't sleep, now getting better.

bkk
the freestyle is nice right?? now i'm thinking whether i should buy one, cos i borrowed from a friend, but also not sure how much i'll use it if i might not go back to work. i find the timer thing and rechargeable battery sooo convenient.
 
morning mummies! Sigh, my cake bottom layer I tink still moist moist,not that soft n puffy,upper layer is ok done..when I flipped out the cake cracked..cos bottom sticks to pan
sad.gif
,1 word..disaster...Hahah.... My dad says its the thought that counts...Haha..so reasurring..

Bkk-i haven't found a simple enough to make recipes for cut out cookies...u have any recommendations?

Morning rush-i am also scared of it when its my turn to go back to work...zz.. Sigh...so tempted not to go back to work...
 
morning ladies...

bkkgal,
thanks! your idea sounds good too... hmm how come i never thought of all these cooking options? i'm absoultely clueless and my minds comes to a blank for food when the weekend draws up.

actually the maid's cooking is ok, so far she has stir fried vegies, steam fish and stir fried prawns. will keep asking her to try new dishes and learn from MIL to satisfy hb's tastebuds.

Kitsune,
thanks!heee..sorry for asking u so many cooking questions. haven't found the oil blotter yet but will be able to do so at the 'japo-ware' shop near MIL place when i pop by this evening.
happy.gif


hb has been utterly spoilt by MIL in terms of food (and housework! but that's another story altogether). My MIL is a good cook and was a coffeshop/school food seller for years hence she can whip up many dishes in record time. she is usually done with dinner cooking of 4 dishes in 30mins...! so i have big shoes to fill ah.
 
piglet/pauline,
i think there are 2 types of laddle for oil.
1 is a deep laddle with some zig zag edge.
another is a mesh type that looks like a sift. i am using the mesh type and find it's good.
can try to find it at Isetan. ever saw it there.


tong,
yes. it's vitamix.


iso,
happy for you that A is back home.
happy.gif
 
Iso
i'm just using it now as I type, still dunno how to use the handsfree clasp...keke, but it feels very compact and "intelligent"...dunno can get the yield or not..the mobility part is what's so attractive for me. i can do some chores while pumping v good.

QL
i got a choc chip cookie recipe, tried and tested many years, but it's not cut out cookie hor.

winnie
wow, yr hb cooks? capable daddy!
 
gar, hope so. Do feel guilty sometimes cos she seems to learn less than other kids. The PAP pre nursery that I enrolled her for next year is so secretive about their curriculum n the teacher is too stingy to even show me the kid's progress file. I dun feel comfortable cos if your school is good, wouldn't u want to rave about it and impress your potential customers? How good is a teacher if she is so guarded n uncommunicative even rude to a parent? The worst thing is all 3 classes of pre nursery r taught by her so there is no escape. Hiaz.

Xy, thanks, next time I go over n see. The one I have is the zig zag edge one. :p
 
hi ladies...

on the topic of schools, can i find out what age are they suppose to attend sch? is childcare (CC) interchangable for school for 3-4 year old? i'm confused.

Here's what I know:
3yo: ?
4yo: Nursery
5yo: Kindergarten 1
660: Kindergarten 2
 
piglettail-i tink 3yr is playgroup.below 3 which Heidi is attending,they name it toddler class which starts from 18th mth to 3.

Bkk-i wld like to try making cut out cookies cos I have so many shapes cutter..Haha..id tink Heidi will b excited to see the cut out cookies..as hoping to decor the cookies with m&m too..hee..i still can't find simple good cut out cookies recipe. So far only seen one at allrecipes.com which they use oat meal...looks Yummy n healthy..maybe I will try that.
 
3yo is prenursery, I think, or at least that's what st James kindy calls it :p

I hv some things here anyone interested?

Medela cooler carrier with cooling element
2 brandnew Ameda valves
1 Ameda charger (good for leaving in office)
1 Ameda hand pump attachment
1 Ameda tubing attachment (not the tubes)

everything is used except the valves, not for fussies
happy.gif
 
pauline
you reminded me that shawn eats sweet potato too. when i munch on sweet potato, he will come over to eat it.

fairfield
i think the kids will grow out of the phase when they are older. my girl didn't quite like vege when she was younger. now she eats vege albeit only the leafy portion. she claim the stalk is bitter.
 
veg
my boy likes any kind of veg but he doesnt like egg. Think he goes for texture. Maybe coz i always have a veg side in his meals? My hb n i werent big on veg when we were young.

Now i know why i'm so v tired coz of many things happening in our life. Since we r bk fr our trip, neighbour's loan shark prob, car accident w someone bumped into my car, something else n now my hb has chicken pox. Is this suayness or God is training me to me superduper mom?!
 
Hello mummies!!

Iso: glad to hear A is back home!

Re: big bro/sis
anyone has this prob with #1 keep "disturbing" #2 esp when #2 is sleeping? N likes to scream or shake her didi cot when didi is zzz. If not will pull his legs or hands. Poke his face or head. Dunno how to stop her. She will cry her lungs out if we scold her, make matter even worst....

Re: breast pump
i hv been expressing my milk rather than latching all this while. But am getting sore nipples from expressing... ( the area between nipple n areola). Very painful now with every pump..... What shld i do???
 
clover, my boy doesnt like eggs too especially poached one, he only likes fried egg, maybe more fragant.

hey, speedy recovery to your hub! adults having chix pox is more tiring than kids, take care. think got to quarantine or separate him from alex?
or how?
 
diana, i think for sore nipple it's still applying your own breastmilk to heal it? or the suction of the pump is too great?
 
<font size="+2"><font color="0000ff">DEAR MUMMIES!!

Seeking your support when I start my I NUOVI BP in a few weeks! DUN BUY DURING GSS. I'll give u a better price!

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</font>
</font>
 
clover,
C doesn't like egg too. the only egg she likes is fried egg + cai po + egg until crispy crispy. avoid the cai po for her. :p


tong,
too bad your bamboo fibre BP doesn't work out. was too busy during that time to support your thread.
my sis got bamboo fibre waterproof mat too.. it's really soft and dun have that kind of 'plastic' sound when rubbing.
happy.gif

http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/cgi-bin/forumboard/show.cgi?581296/4031123


lezy,
what's inuovi's star product?
was wondering if i should start using BB cream. now my dark eye circles are surfacing with the lack of sleep.

garfield/bkk,
any BB cream from HA to introduce? don't need to remove by make up removal kind?
 



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