Any Mommies in mid-late 30s or over 40 with small children?

Hi Reiner,

LTNS you.....my DD's orientation is next Monday....spending $$$ time.

Ha...ha...I am going to collect advertising commission from Ikea liao. But, frankly, my kids also like the table alot. This desk comes with adjustable height that grows with the child. Now, I set it to the lowest height at 60cm. Installation was a breeze too
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Hi Mumusings - My kids like to go Ikea for their 50cts ice-cream
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Greetings mummies!

It appears everyone is busy with our respective activities as the end of the year approaches.

Have not been posting much as not a lot to contribute on my part in terms of topics discussed but enjoy reading and absorbing as usual.

Quite a few exciting events happening at my household for November and December. A family wedding this weekend, where all 3 kids of mine has important duties as page boy, flower girl and ring bearer!!

Then a photography session so that we can send some nice pics to their grandparents in England.

Our Xmas tree is up and its beginning to feel very festive...
 
Hi Mumusings,

Yes! Time really flies.....My DD1 is going to P1 next Jan......Happy Holidays everyone
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This year, my DDs requested that we do up a X'mas Tree at home. My hb bought a X'mas Tree from Giant at $18.90 (6 ft tall!) and we bought the X'mas deco from Ikea to do up the tree.

Starting to feel the festive mood with the X'mas tree up
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Snowball,
The curtain or blind that you showed, is it fabric material?
Can share where you get it?

Looking for someone to re-do the blind in DS room. Current one too thin or transparent, can't block out the sunlight @ morning.

Thanks ...
 
Good Morning aa,

The curtain I made for my kids' room is Roman curtain. It is fabric material. For all bedrooms, I use single layer fabric material (washable) which can block about 70% light when let down...no need for day curtain.

I can PM you the curtain maker's details if you are interested. He can give good advice on the type of material to use.
 
Hi mumusings

Thanks for the update. now it is more convenient to view the items. we have not decided if we shld install these hidden beds as they do not have anyone to do site measurement. we might just buy those bunk/loft beds from casa kidi. the gals just love the castle-like beds.... now we must go ard scouting for these beds and compare prices n quality. there goes my hols....
 
Hi Helen,

Have you been to Ibenma at Funan IT mall -- 4th/3rd level I think? They have twin-sized/super-single bunk beds with storage steps. Alot safer than other bunk beds I've seen. Made from Finland pine but assembled in China. Similar to Flexa's but at half the price. They also have castle-like shelves and single beds.


Hi all,

Terrible me - I ate up an entire plate of the black hokkien noodles from May Star (MBS). I didn't think I'd enjoy it so much but I did. All the fried bits of lard and noodles have kept me bloated from evening till now
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http://mumusingseat.blogspot.sg/2012/12/may-star-malaysian-food-kl-hokkien.html
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Will see if I can do a halal or non-lard version with udon this weekend...
 
Hi mumusings

we just settled for Flexa yesterday. We went to Ibenma and was not too happy with the quality of the bed frame. workmanship not up to standard and they have the metal L joints that are exposed. after adding up the curtains etc, it amounts to about the same price. The quality of the curtains is very very different. Flexa curtians used thick and good quality fabric. The others are all very thin and will definitely not last with kids "mishandling" nor washes.

Hubby did asked me what is my budget I told him not more than 2K but end up we paid 2K plus. Hopefully the product lives up to its name. We bought Moll System table and chair from crosscom but the after service is not so good and the seat of the chair which is wobbly after a while. Next week the "specialist" will be coming to "take a look", good thing it is 5 yrs warranty, or I will need to fork more money...
 
Hi Helen,

Flexa is definitely very sturdy and pleasant
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My son's into jumping off stairs etc so not quite reasy for ladders and steps. He likes the spaceman bed and Ikea's sofa bed! Wondering what to get still (after viewing all possible options) 'cos safety is my top priority since he's a very gregarious kid.
 
HI Mumusings

If you have the space, you can include the slide, so he need not jump off the stairs. We do not have the luxury so have to do away with the slide and make do with the slanted ladder(i feel that this one is safer compared to the straight one). My younger gal is the hyper one so we are also fearful she might be jumping off the bed! But have to teach or even warn her about jumping off the bed: she will be "grounded"(ie sleep on the lower bunk till she knows how to use the ladder diligently).

The bunk bed will be placed on a platform, so the height will be even higher. geez, i know my mum is going to give a lot of comments when she sees the bed. BUT this is the best time for us to train them to sleep on their own.

Btw I found out about this
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=12743481553&ali_trackid=2:mm_14507416_2297358_8935934:1354887991_4k7_2110792143

have you heard about it? Very tempted to buy.... my elder one has not grasp the basic concept for Math. Kinda worried for her since she is going to P1 next year. The previous childcare killed her interest in the subject and she is so fearful when it is Math time! sad....
 
Hi Helen,

The slanted slide is the scariest 'cos he was fooling about on the platform when we were at Flexa! We like all the Flexa beds but seeing what he was doing we were imagining the worst alreadt.

We already have a slide at home so will likely keep to a low-rise sofa or platform bed. The fellow is not afraid of heights
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Thanks for sharing the taobao link. My son is learning and playing all day at the same time. Ask him to count = skipping numbers (eg. "0 1 2 5 6 7 10") BUT give him his microcharger and he can rant ("7 6 5 4 3 2 1 go!")

He's going through the Sally Brown stage (Charlie Brown's sister)... 10 = one-ty, 20 = two-ty. 11 = one-teen, 12 = two-teen because 13 = three teen and 14 = fourteen....
 
Hi Mumusings

Kids seem quite "cool" about heights huh?

My younger gal also says something like that for her numbers hahaha i cannot remember exactly but it makes us laugh the way they "dervied" they own vocab.

My elder gal knows how to recite the leapfrog song but has no idea what it means when i ask her to count by 10 she has no idea what it means. Now i am having prob trying to teach her from zero again.....sigh....
 
Hello Mummies,

Time really flies....its the year end holiday seasons again. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you and family :

A very very Blessed and Joyous Christmas and a Fruitful and Successful year of 2013 ahead

Cheers
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Hi Helen, mumusings,
My kids learned counting by watching Richard Scarry Best counting video. The Leapfrog math circus DVD gives a good explanation of the meaning of zero, and the math adventure DVD teaches counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. I think these dvds really helped because I spent very little time to teach them maths before entering P1.
 
Hi snowball,
Let us know about your DD1's first day in school. Are you going to take leave on that day ?

I took leave to watch my kids during their recess on their first days in school, still remember the excitement
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Now my girl will be a buddy to take care of P1 kids, time really flies !
 
Hi Tam,

Yes, he's watched the dvds before but insists on calling the numbers as he wishes.



Hi all,
MERRY XMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
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Our Daiso tree and my mini nutella-coated-tiger-roll logcake which we did just now
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I can't bake, so bought a box of mini rolls to coat with nutella and refridgerate.

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Hi Tam,

My DD1's school only allow parents on 1st day to observe our child. We have to attend the whole afternoon of orientation at the school while kids attend their class orientation. We can watch them during recess time. The sch arranged for 8 days of orientation for the kids to get them used to pri sch life. During the 8 days, each child will have a P5 child as buddy.

I am looking forward to the 1st day of sch
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Will keep up updated of our experience.

Hi Mumuings- Nice logcake
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Hi Snowball,

Thanks. I dont know how to bake cakes + no interest so I simply smeared nutello all over and ran lines over to make the wood grain, sprinkle some of kid's milk powder, add strawberries, chocolate and decorations before leaving it in the freezer for 15 minutes. Total cost = $3. No point getting a log cake from shops since the kid is only interested in the chocolate and the covering of the log cake!

All the best for the new school term. Exciting year ahead for you!
 
hi tam
will try the richard scarry for my elder gal. Thanks for your suggestion. am going back to the Logico to "re-establish" the concepts again. She likes it and does not feel threatened. Am also getting the 数学起步set, hopefully it will help too.

I am taking leave to be with my gal on first 2 days(pending approval from boss tho). forgot to check how many days we are allowed in sch....better check with the sch by this week...

Looking forward to 2013 but feeling kinda "unsure" as there will be changes to the normal routine. getting my gal to wake up so early is the biggest challenge as she normally has prob waking up at 8am and getting ready for childcare which starts at 9am. partly my fault as i sleep late and wake up late too.... now only a few days for me to start her going to bed early....wish me luck....

Happy 2013 everyone! May you be blessed with good health and happiness for the year to come
 
hi mumusings

i remember u were asking abt the sale of the calligraphy set that your relative got for your boy. Seems like now it it pretty common here. my friend got 2 sets for my gals. costs $10 per set and it comes with the strokes and empty boxes and a brush. good deal!
 
Hi Mummies,
Happy New Year to all!

I saw this new preschool called Giving Tre3 when I went to Thomson Plaza last week. I think their webpage is www.givingtre3.com. It was next to Thomson Plaza along the main road. Its a new preschool cum enrichment centre opening in Jan 2013. I decided to go drop by unannounced cos just nice my boy turning 3 next year and I want to put him in Nursery. The lady was very nice and friendly and showed me around the place.

I must say, I loved that place alot!! It was not very big with only 3 classrooms, 1 class being dedicated as a computer lab for their reading enrichment programme and 2 other classrooms. But it was very cosy! Like a home feeling. Their boss is also very sweet and she shared that she's been in the early childhood industry for more than 12 years. I don't really like those big organisations cos most of them just care about the business and making money but I could feel her passion for children even through talking to her.

They also have an outdoor area, although not very big with water and sand play. It was really nicely done up!

They also had reading enrichment and Pri Sch Preparatory programmes. Their reading enrichment programme is from Australia and its partially an online lesson. I think the name is Reading Eggs. Seems very interesting cos I went to the reading eggs website just now and the lessons were very fun. My girl quite likes to play on the computer and I think this will attract her. Besides having the online lessons, the teachers will also conduct activities in the classroom. I think will be a good balance.

They also have this Pri Sch preparatory programme sounds quite good too cos besides English and Maths, they also have this social and emotional learning lessons, something like learning how to listen, problem solving skills, focusing and paying attention etc. Which I feel my girl will need help in....she's quite hyper and can't really focus on a task for long.

They having opening promo now. Got waiver off registration fees and discounts too. I've decided to sign my kids up cos they have sibling discounts too.
 
HAPPY NEW YEAR....

really hard time to get my #1 to wake up @ 6am... tired 3 weeks... and she takes years to finish her milk... dont think she'll have time for have a light breakfast..... arrrghhh!!!
Her sch bus is @630am, and it's the 1st stop...

Hi Snowball,
what are the books your girl is reading now? or rather which type of books? #1 is reading those science/ information books only.... can recommend? she said she prefer #2 type of books so she just read to #2... sigh!!....

#1 school not allow parents to step into sch at all... even on 1st day... so no point for us to take leave yah.... sch cater recess-in, i.e the P1 will have their food deliver to their classroom during the recess time for 2 weeks.... then following 2 weeks with buddy to the canteen.... 1st 2 weeks no formal lessons, no need to bring any books to sch too... will be R&R for the P1....


Hi Tam,
althou my girl has complete P&J book 12, she's still not in chapter books. she finished the mercy watson, lighthouse family series (thanks to the books in your blog)... and she still requests to re-read these 2 series... and she's not keen of others, even those fairy, princess kinda... can recommend others alike series books? with lots of pic and big words.... and "long" enough. thanks...
 
Hi Reiner,

My DD1 is ready P & J book 12c with all the short stories. We also bought some Enid Blyton's storybooks for her. We visit the library every month to borrow 6 books, mixture of English, Chinese and non-fiction books (at least 1book is of science/ infomation books). I also bought some Dr Seuss books and my colleague passed me the whole series of Magic Schoolbus books for her to read.

Sometimes gotta push her to read lah. My rule of thumb is she has to ready at least 15 min before bedtime every night (alternate days between English and Chinese books), 5 days a week.

But, 1 thing good, her Pri School has a 20-min silent reading time everyday before school starts and they are supposed to bring a book to read
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My DD1 is in the pm class. But, I put her into Student Care as I do not want her to watch TV the whole day. So, she still gotta wake up by 6.30am everyday.
 
she got a Enid Blyton bk - given by her childcare tr... but she said so many words, make her dizzy... she likes dr seuss bks too...

magic schoolbus - shall go library to borrow...

she used to complete one mercy waston bk in one nite but now she keeps on saying the chapter books are too long.... so she just wants those sci/info books... and read #2 bks yah... sigh!!! tot me can leave her alone and start to teach #2 yah... wonder how to motivate her yah?? hubby said she's still a baby need more time to digest chapter bks...

recently she likes these 2 books, she has been re-reading every nite since borrow:
http://www.amazon.com/Man-Moon-Guardians-Childhood/dp/1442430419/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356665447&sr=1-7&keywords=man+in+moon

http://www.amazon.com/The-Sandman-Sanderson-Mansnoozie-Guardians/dp/1442430427/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y
 
Hi mommies,
Happy new year !

snowball,
Hope that your dd enjoyed her first day of school today.

My kids are not too happy to return to school. My girl said she did not like morning sessions, need to wake up so early !
 
Hi Leereiner,
My boy used to like the Astrosaurs, Jack Stalwart books, and Stink books by Megan McDonald. These books are easy to read, they are chapter books but less wordy compared to Enid Blyton. After finishing these books he read many other books independently, including the first 4 books of Harry Potter in P2.

You can look for Judy Moody books, and Dick King Smith books about animals in the library.

After my kids completed the Peter and Jane level 12, I continued to ask them to read out loud to me everyday from good chapter books. Here are some of the books which they read between age 5 to 6.
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.sg/2010/03/importance-of-reading-books.html

They started to read independently about 1 year after they completed Peter and Jane.

My advise is to read with kids for as long as possible. We still ask our P3 girl to read out loud to us 2 to 3 times a week, she completed Animal Farm by George Orwell which used to be my O level literature text. Reading with kids will help to improve their vocabulary and proficiency of the language.
 
Hi Tam,

1st day of school orientation was done quite orderly by the sch.

Hb n I sent DD to sch then attend full 1/2 day talks on the ciiricilum. Only get a glimpse of DD during her recess.

DD told me she enjoyed her orientation but tiring.

Tmr we cannot go into sch, can only send n fetch at sch maingate....anyway, tmr letting the studentcare send her to sch.

Btw, how much pocket do u give to your P1 kids? Today I browse the sch canteen n realised that $1 is not enough as food generally cost between $0.70 - $1.20. So, am thinki ng to give DD $1.50. Should be enough for a decent tea break. Any opinions?
 
Hi Reiner,

My hb bought a few Enid Blyton books, each consisting of few short stories. Not that wordy actually.

Hi Tam - Thnx for sharing....I'll bring my DD to go library find those books on animals. I am looking for easy to read science boks to start my DD1 to read science books. Found some on animals n plants from library. Anymore recommendations?
 
Hi snowball,
Good to know that your DD enjoyed school
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I give $3 to each kid everyday. They save $1 in their piggy bank and take $2 to school. I allow my kids to buy drinks like milo in school.
If you ask your DD to drink only from the water bottle, than $1.50 is definitely enough.

Here are some science books that we have :
http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Pops-Ocean-Roger-Priddy/dp/0312494653/ref=pd_sim_b_1

http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Pops-Jungle-Roger-Priddy/dp/0312494491/ref=pd_sim_b_2

http://www.amazon.com/First-Science-Encyclopedia-DK-Publishing/dp/0756642965/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357172055&sr=1-7&keywords=science

http://www.amazon.com/First-Human-Encyclopedia-Reference-Series/dp/0756609976/ref=pd_sim_b_1

The following is my boy's favourite between 5 to 7 years old. It's not easy to read, words are small, but the photos are amazing and will entice kids to read on :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Animals-Childrens-Encyclopedia-Visual/dp/1405328754/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1357172233&sr=8-2
 
Hi Tam,

Thay is precisely my plan....to give DD just enough $$$ for food. No extras for cold drinks
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The popup books look interesting. Can I check with you the shipping cost if I order & delivery time if I order from Amazon?
 


Hi tam, need to check with you regarding maid.... My Pilipino maid will be taking two weeks leave to go back home. Is there paper work that needs to be done? Go to agent o can do online?
 
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