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

Hi there ladies,

juz me
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Yes it's true, buying a reasale flat can be quite expensive especially when u get bank loan. Really need a lot of cash in hand. My present, although I don't need to pay owner any cash, got to pay agent fees abt $10K for the selling and buying of our flats, then need to pay 4% of bank loan in cash. Later still need to pay more money for some minor reno & paint job. Then more cash for movers! Of course my 5rm Woodlands flat is not that expensive compared to other area and it's about 40K difference from the 4rm flat that's why we decided to get a 5rm instead of 4rm.

One thing good about a 4rm flat, you'll get more subsidy but of course 5rm flat is bigger, usually with the extra study rm & balcony.

rona,
Yalah my life is always hectic, that's why I get to go for a break, I really sleep long hours and spend my day lazing around in bed, watching TV and muching like a bed potatoe (worse than couch potatoe) and when I "service" my body which is once in a looonnng while, I do it from top to toe; body scrub, body wrap, body massage, herbal bath, sauna, facial, manicure, pedicure, scalp massage, hair treatment ... usually 5-6 hrs!
 


precious gem:
Wow - 10K for agent fees!
Do you engage few agents to buy and sell or you give elusive rights to one agent?
Really alot of cash involve
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Hi Mummies

rona
My mthly bill is around $220, so waiting to see how much it will be next mth. We did dismantle the hotpot to cut down but seems not much..

I hv stopped drinking coffee or tea eversince I had my first kid.

precious gem
Yah you beta take care of urself... so long for the full works of scrub and all!!

juz me
Mine was handled by agent, we got our flat more than 5 yrs ago, it was a resale unit.
I suppose the first consideration is how much case you are willing to fork out.
Second is what size flat you are looking at.
If you see sth u like, just be normal about it, don't try to be over enthusiastic cos then the seller may try to coerce you to put a deposit.
Other things to look out for:
1. make sure ur seller is not in financial difficulty
2. check the flat whether it has a lot of attached cabinets - cos this means extra money needed to hack them off.
3. also observe the neighbours....
I find the cash nowadays is really ridiculous... how can newly weds afford?
 
Stylobb, i think the graduate newly weds can afford. Nowadays their 1st salary is so high that they cannot apply for the HDB flat directly cos of the $8k ceiling. Gone are the days when our starting salary was $1000 +/- even with a good honours degree. and an engineering degree got about +/- $1500. newspaper reports that nowadays the new business/general graduate are already drawing something like close to $2500-$3000 per month... really high. Even then, after working for so many years, we cannot afford to pay the high cash amount. Imagine paying $50k on top of the valuation of the HDB flat, and then still got to pay for renovations, agent fees etc etc... but our combined salary is just over the $8k limit and need both salaries to maintain, so i cannot resign from work to qualify for the $8k limit. I think this $8k limit is also ridiculous, it has been there for the past 15 years already I think. so sometimes i very frustrated with this kind of outdated policy.. i'm not able to buy a flat direct from HDB!

precious, wah, your pamper me time is so long... i really envious leh. i'm trying to go to the pedicure - my feet is dry and cracking already, but cannot find the time yet to go. found a place near my place which charges $30 for pedi and mani. hb will be in today, will see if i can go out for 2 hours to get this done. he will be in hong kong for 7 days from monday early morning onwards, so with PIL also not in (back only on sat), i will be left in the house with two maids (they do not see eye to eye), 2 kids (the 30mth gal still having fever), a 7 week old bb and an old dog... ;)
 
styloBB,
My latest bill is $371 ! The past few weeks have been very hot, we have to turn on the air-con quite often. This month I am determined not to turn on the air-con at all. Hopefully next month bill is not too scary.

juz_me,
The Centris, directly above Jurong Point, has 2 bedroom apartments selling at $600K now. I think the prices will go even lower due to the global recession.

Are you looking at resale HDB only ? I think some of the HDB flats at premium locations can cause more than private condo. I don't think it is worth it. If I want a central location, I would buy those old 3 room HDB near Tiong Bahru/Bukit Ho Swee, which are under $300K. Which are area you looking at ?

rona,
How is your girl now ? Hope she is feeling better.
 
StyloBB

Just received my Sep bill $108. increased by $10 from previous month
we don't have aircon at home. excludes PUB gas
 
sleepy,
Wow you really know how to save electricity and water. Any tips to share ?

styloBB,
You asked about why not go to KKH. I had bad experience there when my girl was hospitalized in KKH when she was only a baby. Their C class is cheap, but we get a different doctor everyday, all inexperienced, and a simple case dragged on to 7 days in KKH. They even made my baby girl take unnecessary tests. After that, I really don't like to go back there again. Anyway we have bought insurance for our kids which are supposed to be able to cover their stay in private hospitals.
 
Tamarind

your insurance with GE? how's your claim experience?

my pub bill has been climbing steadily from $50+ per month 8 years ago till now, double liao, even though not much changes in habits leh
we don't have aircon, use energy saving bulbs.
TV only on for 3 hours daily, fan & fridge is on 24x7, other than these few standard appliances not much consumption
I do laundry at least thrice a week, not sure how much water my washing machine uses.
 
sleepy,
Yes it is GE, I have not claimed from them before. This is the first time. We bought the rider as well.

My water bill is $68, how about you ? We have 5 adults and 2 kids at home, use washing machine once every day. My maid handwashed her clothes and my parents' clothes.

I think air-con really sucks money
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Tamarind

With rider, should not have to pay a single cent.

My water bill $21, usually fluctuates between $19 to $22. Hardly handwash clothes, only those that runs need to wash separately, otherwise I throw everything into the washing machine

must be the aircon then. Do you use those inventer type of aircon? suppose to consume less electricity
 
wow, sleepy your household is good! How many rooms flat are you staying in? My mum's 4-rm flat aircon only on for 3 nites, 3 hours every time for just one room, already using close to $220 for water, electricity and PUB gas a month. On top of that, she almost never use the flush for the toilet, she collects the water from the washing machine to 'flush' the toilet to save water. washing machine 8kg model thrice a week, rest is handwash clothes. how come her usage is so high? only 3 adults in the house most of the time.
This place where I'm staying, the water and electricity bill is about $400+, washing machine at least once a day, sometimes thrice a day. aircon everyday for 2 rooms only when sleeping. 6 adults and 2 kids... think the next bill should be around $600+, cos with my confinement and one extra room for aircon. my confinement lady needs the aircon AND the fan... the room she used is very very cold...

Gal is getting better. We send her stool for all the tests and cost us some $200!!! results not out yet but chances are its a virus. My colleague send his kid to the A&E at KKH and has got very bad experience. So I sent my eldest son to Gleneagles last time when he needs A&E, cos we can contact the PD we see and its really speedy recovery. Gal very whinny. getting on my nerves... if she is well, she will get punishment from me already. :p
My claim experience with AIA is quite good. got the money pretty fast. Not sure about GE. I got my gal's insurance from GE 2 years back, thought should not use AIA for every insurance. good thing I did that. with the financial markets falling, don't know what is safe?
 
rona c

My mom also recyle water from washing machine to flush toilet & wash floor but blast aircon so her bill is usually 50% more than mine even though only 3 adults in a 3 room flat. I think it's not so much the size of house but usage pattern. Aircon is the really killer

pub gas is another wastage. I felt I was over billed in my previous flat since I had catering then & didn't not cook at all but I was billed around $8-$15 per month regardless. I switched to LPG after I moved house & one cyclinder $36 can last me 6 to 9 months
 
rona,
Wa your confinement lady very demanding, needs room with aircon. Is she good ? I never have any confinement lady, I ordered confinement food catering, and my mom and maid helped me
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Glad to know that your girl is better
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My kids' insurance with GE, me and my hubby with NTUC Income. I think better not depend on one company alone.

sleepy,
I use inverter type, it doesn't save money at all. I am determined not to use aircon starting this month !
 
confinement lady is ok lah, at least she can look after my bb and i can rest knowing bb is in good hands. i'm a very chin chay person and not fussy, so quite ok for me. yah lor, kept saying that the bb scared of hot weather, i think most probably its her, she is quite plump and very scared of hot weather. bb has phelmge and breathing noisyly. but need confinement lady, cos my MIL doesn't help me at all. i even need to go ntuc and wet market from 4th day after giving birth onwards. anyway, brought gal and bb for tuina and its very good for them both. bb especially since he cannot take medicine and with tuina, i can see the vast improvement. no more noisy breathing!

yes, she is ok now. good thing too, else it maybe something bad. and she got spanking from me today too. asked her if she wants to go pee, she said no need. but i brought her there anyway and put her on the toilet bowl. she refused to pee and said no pee. ok, so i brought her back to the living room. and the next thing i know is she pee on the sofa!!! I was hopping mad and grabbed the cane and caned her twice. driving me crazy...

i have only one HSBC insurance but 3 AIA insurance policies. hb with prudential, eldest son with AIA, gal with GE, now got to shop for bb. looking at aviva and ntuc.. see which one cheapest with best benefits.

sleepy, my mum also didn't blast aircon much, only 3 times at nite, for 3 hrs only for a room. rest of the time, almost no one at home also... thinking of asking the people to come over to the flat to check.
 
hi mummies

Wow your utility bills make mine seem average. Mine's about 200+ average. Air-con in bedroom switched on only at bed time and my kids sleep with me.

Juz_me

Be very careful when u buy a resale. I've been staying in this resale flat with no problem for 2 years until last saturday, I came home to find a post it note on my main door. It has a Malay name on it, my unit no., a handphone no. and another name signed off. The signed off name stated Ah Nick and my ex-maid's name was Anik. Thinking that it was some man looking for my ex-maid, I called the no. and told the person that my maid is no longer in Singapore so please stop sticking notes on my door. Guess what? That man turned out to be a loan shark. Then, I looked at the malay name written on the note. I thought it looked familiar. It was similar to the name of the ex-owner's son. When I bought the flat from them, HDB allowed them to sell the new house after having stayed just 2 years because they were in financial difficulties. I have made a police report yesterday. I hope I can live in peace and the loan shark won't come after me with someone else's debt. Cross my fingers. What bad luck..sigh..so be careful don't buy resale flat from people who are in financial difficulties. Don't trust what the agent say too much either.
 
Thanks for all your advice.

I am looking at Bedok and Chai Chee area. PIL stay at Bedok North Ave 1. Hope to get a 4 or 5 room flat near them. If there is a loan involved, would have to borrow from bank as my existing flat, Sengkang is bought from HDB....

Do you gals engage a few agents to buy and sell flats or elusive right to 1 agent?

Did not know buying and selling flats can be headache. Worst will be buying a flat without realising - problem such as loanshark case, "unclean", crazy/bad neighbours.....
 
juz me, don't give elusive right to just 1 agent. not too many also else you will have headache too. maybe 2 to do the job and provide some competition. Bedok 4 room flat cost about $300k onwards. I just checked cos I'm looking around there too.

my gal has got the salmonella infection. <sign> no wonder its so bad for her this time.
 
Hi Mummies

Do your kids have motion sickness?
Went to collect medicine for my gals and sat in my sil's car but my boy vomitted! So we reached the destination with me soaked in his vomit... my pants/blouse were drenched on one side.. haiz... I was more concerned that he was ok now he is ok... and my poor nephew who was with us, he cud not take the smell and later he also threw up in the toilet... haiz...

rona
But the cash portion is still a lot leh... even if the graduates get high salary, who has so much cash to spare??

Salmonella - I thot someone mentioned this earlier... Hope she is better.

How old is ur gal? She is not yet toilet trained?? Don't beat her lah, maybe not prepared.

Aiyoh, u hv to do marketing after delivering...so siong leh...

tam
Wow! So high ah.. hb said we hv to find ways to cut down and I said, sleep w/o aircon loh... er...don't think he can tahan that... hmmm... actually I used to sleep w/o aircon before getting married...

Everything is going up, I just went to collect med and it cost me $40!!!
Plus today my boy went to see doc cos his eye was swollen.. another $28 given to doc liao...

I need to see my agent again, cos everytime she explains to me, me blur blur...hehe...

tam/rona
I also didn't hv CL after my delivery... I had someone to come and cook and my mom/mil helped.
2nd pregnancy, I already had a maid and I must say she did help me quite a bit.
At that time, I felt less people is better, otherwise w/ CL, mom, mil, maid, I wud go bonkers!

juz me
Actually I must way we were rather greenhorn when buying our resale flat.

My friend advised to look at neighbours too, whether they are the quiet kind, or do they burn a lot of stuff, or do they make noise, or hang a lot of things outside?? hehe...

Me also experienced ala loan shark, someone served a notice on my door which was meant for the ex-owner 5 yrs ago when we bot the flat. Tkfully we managed to ctc the wife and told her to pls stop it...

gingerbelle
Don't know leh, with the econ situation, maybe there wl be more ppl falling behind in repayments.
 
Rona

I go wet mkt once a fortnite if I cn tahan for tht long. I hate gng to the wet mkt =P . even tho I m sahm, weekdays I alw get up early .. so weekends r the only tm I cn laze in bed for a while longer.
I cn understd ur frustratn with ur girl . but mayb she is at the age when she need attentn now that ur new bb is here n also she is ill? Don’t get too mad ya . seems like ur IL doesn’t help out with ur mktg n the kids much . Must be tough for u.

Precious gem

I bot one of those hot plate stove to put on standby in the store rm. For emergency if my gas tank run dry (I don’t hv pub gas in my estate). Its abt $19 if I don’t rem wrongly frm HN.

Sleepy

Envy ur utlities consumptn so low ! 6 yrs ago my bill was $90-100. but after that yr, I nvr saw those figures again

Tam/ rona

I am quite surprised tht my bill this mth is $188. I thot sure overshoot $200. we hv 2 adults only at hm (me n hb), and 1 bb in the hse. I m sahm, the washg mach is on abt 8 tms a wk. We hv a dryer at hm. N tht is main killer for us. We on aircon every nite for 8hrs . heavy washg items include washg our master bedsheet+quiltcover every week together with bb’s cot bumper n bedsheets. btw , hw often do u ladies wash the master sheets? i am thnkg of nt washg so often

Stylo

Ono .. did u hv to rush hm to change? Btw, where is ma maison ? we were at indochine (asian civilisatn museum) for dinner 2 days back n the food was nt so gd. Ambience ws full marks tho.
 
Hi Mummies
So hot... some collicks are having sore throat.

Mink
I'm terrible... I confess I never stepped into wet market more than ten times in my life!

Nope, I didn't change...just dashed into clinic to get med and dashed out. Changed him cos had an extra set of clothings in his bag.
Poor guy, vomitted again on the way back, the watery liquid liao.
He told me his 'intestines are v full'...haha

I think dryer consumes a lot of electricity??
If weather is hot, maybe no need to use....

Ma Maison is at Bugis Junction and The Central.
Western Jap. No reservations.
If family goes to eat, father gets beer, mother gets dessert (I think), children get a toy each.

Btw if anyone likes to eat fish and chips, steak sandwiches, try the Tuckshop at Tanjong Pagar.
They also have yummy steak Caeser salad...

So far I usu hear food is good, no ambience. Good ambience, but food is so so.. hardly hear about two being good altho I'm sure there are.
 
styloBB,
This is the first time your boy vomitted ? May be he is not feeling well. My girl vomitted in the car when she was a baby, and we found that she was having a fever. Fortunately she was sitting on the child seat so my clothes were safe. But my hubby still had to spend a lot of time cleaning his car.

I haven't ordered from iherb.com before. I usually buy Sambucol from Nature's Way, it is cheaper at vitacost.com. Nordic Natural's children's DHA costs about the same.


Mink,
I also have dryer at home. No choice because really no place to hang clothes, we have 5 adults and 2 kids ! I also wash bedsheets every week.


Rona,
When my girl was 2 years old, she also urine everywhere, my working table, chairs, mattresses, sofa all kenna before. She even urine on my feet once. But my boy is much better. I wonder if boys can hold their urine better than girls ?
 
tam
Nope, he is not sick, he just suffers from motion sickness, and probably he ate too much dinner and went straight into the car. I used to be like that when I was young too.

How are ur kids??

Peeing - also it's quicker to salvage the peeing for boys... for gals, quite troublesome...
 
stylo

thks for the info on ma maison. will go try one day . u r quite the foodie
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i also like trying out new places tho' these days with bb in tow, the opportunity is getting lesser.
using a dryer is relly so addictv. esp if no helper like me. u just open up n throw everythg in. no need tm to hang up n keep when dry etc

tam

o u wash bedsht weekly too? hmm.. i think i will change once a fortnite for ours frm nw on but bb's bedsht we will still change weekly. Even all our floor mats n kitchn tablecloth etc, we also wash weekly n i did think of washing fortnitely, but hb don't agree. he prefer weekly.
u hv 5 adults , but i hv oni 2, so i if i interpolate, i roughly get the same bill as urs. There was a period, hb n me try to minimise dryer usage . but fail miserably. so we gave up trying to improve our bill frm cutting dwn on dryer. same for aircon =P . mayb hv to improve in other areas - eg , don't open the fridge door unnecessarily (i love doing that).
 
wah, you gals are lucky. I got to go wet market at least once a week even when i'm heavily pregnant and right after delivery. I also need to go grocery shopping at giant or ntuc. and cos i work, i need to go wet market before 7am, rush back home to change then go office. luckily got a car else i think i will have to call for delivery very often and my wallet will suffer even more. and because m staying with inlaws, mum does not feel convenient to come visit often nor stay overnite with me, so i've to do everything myself. so when people tell me that i'm very luckily to stay with PIL, and that MIL not working, I always ask why lucky? I think my quality of life deteriorated (is this the way to say) after i got married. still regretting the day i agreed to stay with his parents. anyway, stuck now until price for flat goes down and i buy one myself to stay.

aiyah, you know how the kids take advantage wen they are sick? then they get more whinny cos of all the attention they got when they are sick and then they get more demanding after they got well cos we tend to be more lenient when they are sick... anyway, its a vicious cycle. Gal still having sore throat now, she is heaty. Tam, gal is toilet trained already leh, and she really knows when to go and can tell. but still like that... headache, now trying to correct the 2 elder ones before they get worst. even my maid can tell me that the two kids are spoilt. i'm really not happy, i don't want spoilt kids!!!

stylo, hope your boy gets out of it soon. like that quite jielak. I suffer from sea sickness, can get it even when i go snorkeling :p but at least i don't go out to sea that often. but motion sickness quite bad, does he get it while on the bus?
 
mink, i really enjoyed ma maison's food. wanted to go there again today but was full house and cannot wait.
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i always go to the one at bugis.

stylo, i will try to go to the other ones you mentioned... but cannot find the thread... can you tell me again here? thanks! thought i'mk not sure when i can go... ;P
 
Hi Mummies

Mink
Yes, me/hb are foodies... he is always scouring for new places to recci and I wl always go along, rather the 5 of us wl just zip along to try.
The other nite, we realised Tuck Shop does not open on Sundays, and nearly ended up at HKG Food Street but I suddenly rembred the Mariners' Corner at Maritime Hse so went there. ALso the 7th Heaven ice cream shop nearby is closed on Sundays, so no go.

There is a nice pizza place called La Pizzaiola at HV.. but they hv closed and moved to somewhere near the Colbar area... more upmarket it seems, hv yet to try it.

Btw it's ladies nite on mondays at Ma Maison, so 20% off... maybe one day we can organise a dinner and eat there...hehe. But they don't take reservations.

You are SAHM? How come no helper?

rona
Quality of life...hahah...yeah, seems for ur case, things did not quite get better. Anyway, another story if staying with inlaws. Think we did discuss before here before... v difficult to stay together. Fort. my hb never even considered...when we decided to marry, we just went and searched for our own place.

Oh he told my mom not to overfeed him next time! hehe...
Aiyoh, me was worse, suffer from travel sickness, car, sea and air last time!!! Now much improved..hehe
Used to puke everytime I go overseas which is v embarrassing...
Nope, he doesn't get it on the bus, in fact he loves taking buses!

Sorry, what thread are you asking me??

tam
I think aircon is the main culprit. But w/o aircon, it gets warm plus sometimes the noise from the road gets to us....
 
aircon

we installed aircon in our previous house. Only switched on around 10 times over 6 years!
waste money installing so this house we do without aircon &amp; without messy aircon pipes
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we have 5 fans at home! wall fan &amp; tower fan in kids room. I think they are quite used to no aircon, no complaints from my kids leh
PD advised not to let kids sleep in aircon room, not good for airway especially for whizzy kids


spring cleaning
year end coming, have you all started spring cleaning?

I'm clearing the clutter in my study room cabinets. Gosh, just realized we never really unpacked, just shove in piles &amp; piles of books &amp; notes &amp; magazines, shut the cabinet door, out of sight out of mind
Hubby nagging me to throw away my 'precious' textbooks &amp; notes. I kept telling him 'in case' I'm going back to work...can recap...
although a little hard to explain why I'm still keeping my textbooks from poly days
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Mummies
We are off to KL today.
Will update when I'm there...hehe

sleepy
Just throw lah!! hahaha...
Information is updated and what you have is probably out-of-date liao.... actually I love throwing aways things..I'm still trying to throw stuff away, give away old clothes, get rid of my kids' clothes, throw magazines, etc...
 
styloBB

yeah, I love throwing things too. My house no storeroom (30 yo layout) so must throw throw throw to maintain the minimalist look
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BUT BUT BUT my soft spot is my 'precious' books, keep &amp; keep, agaonising over to throw, not to throw, then put them back again
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sleepy
I was also like you, I could not bear to throw my books, until I got married, hb came to my flat, saw the heaps of stuff and made me throw them away! hahaha...
I think the rule of thumb is if you don't need them for the next six mths, can safely throw lah.
 
<font color="0000ff">styloBB,</font>
My boy has fully recovered. But I am going to withdraw him from the nursery. Now thinking of where to send him to for the rest of the year. Or may be just let him stay home. His immunity is weak, very headache.

My girl did not develop anything so far, she is back in school now.

<font color="0000ff">Mink,</font>
My mother insisted that all floor and kitchen towels must be changed and washed daily ! My maid handwashed all these and hang up to dry. My floor towels are like those bath towel material, not very thick ones.

Actually there was a period when the weather is cool, we did not use aircon at all. Even with regular use of the dryer, our bill was $200+ for 6 adults and 2 kids, back then I had 2 maids. So I think that aircon cost a lot more than dryer.

I really don't like to hang up clothes to dry, I feel that no matter how long I hang, the clothes don't dry thoroughly. I cannot live without my dryer !

<font color="0000ff">rona,</font>
Oh dear going to wet market when heavily pregnant and right after delivery is very tough ! I remember going to NTUC the day before I deliver my boy, I had my maid come along with me.

Did you have to buy food/groceries for your in-laws too ?

I drive my mother to the wet market once a week, she buys for herself, my father, and also fish and pork for the kids. She think that fish and pork from NTUC not nice. I buy food/groceries for me,my hubby and the maid from NTUC.

My boy and girl sometimes still can forget to tell, long after they were toilet trained. It happens if they are very engrossed in playing. Now at 4 and 5 years old, they will always hold their urine to the very last minute then run to the toilet.


<font color="0000ff">sleepy,</font>
My hubby has over 2000 books at home. He refused to throw anything away. I have long given up the idea of spring cleaning before the new year. As for my stuff, I love to sell my old things
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I sold lots of my kids' old toys and clothes, my books/magazines/VCDs/DVDs, as well as handbags etc that I don't want to use anymore. It is quite easy to find buyers in this forum, since I usually sell at low prices. But it is still better than gathering dust at home.
 
spring cleaning - no have not officially started yet. but have been clearing things from my room and my kids rooms. My room is also my living room and bedroom, so there's a lot of things in it. FIL came to my room and commented that he cannot breathe in my room cos its so full of things, asked me to put some things in the store room or the living room. But if I do put the things out, they will get returned by the maid telling me that Mdm (my MIL) said that these are my things and I should keep them in my room or discard them if I've got no place to store them. So I've thrown away a lot of my things away including a big box of trophies, books and notes from school days, comics etc. I've recently packed my maternity clothes up, ready to give away. Maybe I should follow Tam's eg and sell some of the items.

Tam, yes, i do the grocery and wet market shopping for the whole family. I also pay for the gas and 3 different newspaper delivered to the house. Light bulbs, tubes etc too. Hb is the technicial cum plumber cum painter cum odd-job labourer. The only thing I don't have to pay is the electricity and water and maybe major repairs to the house. My SIL once commented that I can save loads of money staying with PIL. I calculated and did a comparison and I think we would be better off staying on our own. No choice, hb is the older son and his younger sister got married 2 years earlier then us and moved out. Right now, I've got no savings at all, my expenses are so high!

Well anyway, I think the weather is super hot these days. I used to remember Sept onwards to be cooling months but this month is super hot! I've been using the aircon very often. think I will get an earful from MIL when the bill comes.

Stylo, wanna ask you to put down the list of restaurants you like so I can try them when I'm free to get out of the house for lunch or dinner. right now, the only thing i get out of the house is to go wet market and NTUC/Giant. And got to be super quick too, usually before 1 hours time cos of the bb...
 
Hi Mummies
In KUL now....took jetstar with the three kids on my own! as hb was already here since Monday.
No sale lah, not much to buy either.. everything when converted back is not cheap.
Did stock up my Origins and MAC at the DFS in airport though...

rona
Will list the places when I'm back..hehe
 
rona,
It is not easy living with in-laws. I don't think it is right of them to expect you to buy everything for them so soon after delivery. I remember I went to Borders bookshop one week after delivering my boy, and I felt so tired.

I don't even know how to see whether the fish is fresh or not. My mother often commented that the fish I chose from NTUC is not fresh. She even complained that some fruits I bought is too bad to be eaten. So she prefers to buy food herself.

styloBB,
I also very peifu ! Did you have a lot of luggage ? Your twins guai guai follow you ?

My 4 year old boy once ran off by himself in a foreign airport and I almost had a heart attack chasing him.
 
HI Mummies

rona/tam
Thot I give it a go - there has to be a first time, right! and hb is supportive of it. Of crse the gramps were at first worried... hahaha

The gals never run about, it's more like my boy but I did warn him beforehand he has to walk slowly and help to hold one sister's hand....
I went to buy my stuff and after a while, my boy went "Mommy, one more minute..." haha

Only one hand luggage, cos the rest my hb brot to KL liao... anyway good that the flight time is so short, the plane descended before they got bored! hahaha..

It has been raining in the evenings here ... and this am T1 puked big time after T2 puked a bit before her at 4am! Think she is not feeling too well...refused to eat anything. Just now puked her milk...

rona
Can't rember off-hand.
But of crse we do eat at hawker centres
Adam Road
Beach Road
Waterloo coffeeshop
Zion Road
Tiong Bahru

Restaurants
Ma Maison
Al Dente
Da Paolo
Morton's (only for special occasions lah)
Whitebait &amp; Kale
Tuck Shop (for me, hb hasn't tried yet)
Shokudo (the basement of Raffles City)
Dome (usu I go w/ my boy cos we wl share the pasta)
Tampopo
Ichi-ban
Aerins
Kim Gary's (hb likes it but I only so so)
Fresh and French (tartines - Vivo)
Modesto's
Botak Jones
Chin Lee (at Bedok South)

THere are a couple of others but we only went once and didn't return...
But we don't eat so often lah... cannot anyhow spend money..hehe

In-laws - I wl find it very difficult to stay w/ in-laws, that's why we do not expect our boy to live w/ us next time. The youngsters shud go out and set up their own home...
I told my hb if I stay w/ them, I might go mental!
 
buying food stuff and grocery... sometimes it felt like i'm paying rental... but you are right, its very very tiring especially during the first 2 weeks. in the end, i sprained my back big time... couldn't get up at all. anyway, that's passed already. but i told myself i can't do the same thing to my DILs next time if i have the chance. and stylo, sometimes i really felt like i'm going crazy too. won't want to stay with any of the kids after they get married too. don't want them to suffer the same. worst, wat if i got bullied by DILs instead? hahaha!

stylo, where's this Tampopo? price? and where's chin lee? my mum stays in bedok south and me too until got married, but don't know where is chin lee... can try since nearest to mum's place. Hope your kids are fine.
 
Tam, my 5yo boy still struggling with 2a. same word appears same sentence, told him wat it is for that word and he promptly forgets it and can't read that same word which appears later in the very same sentence... help!!!

He is not stupid, but damn bo chap and not interested. wat do i do? wat should i do???
 
stylo, the food court opp bedok army camp is quite good too. there's this pasta and pizza stall, yummy pasta! around $7.50 for a plate of pasta. rest is quite good too!
 
most men listen to wives, no?
seem to be happening to my brothers, BIL leh

of course some listen to their mom more

hopefully my girls find 'obedient' spouses lor
biggrin.gif
 
sleepy, think so, does your hb listen to you? for my hb, its a discussion method, doesn't really listen to me all the time, else would have move out long time ago. think his breed dying off already, he is very obedient to his parents. don't know about my two boys next time, i always say this time round, its the boys who are the pei qian huo, not the gals. precious gem, if you are reading this, what i meant is last time, boys are deem as the precious one in the family who carry on the family line and they are supposed to look after the family esp after marriage. their wives are supposed to look after his parents and be submissive as well. Nowadays, its the other way round. so its better to have daughters, cos one gain a son when they get married...
proud.gif
 
rona,
That time my neighbour, a mommy of 3 girls, saw me walking around a few days after delivery. She was utterly shocked. She told me that I cannot walk around so soon, otherwise my uterus will fall out. But nothing like that happen to me lah :p

The words in the Ladybird series will repeat many times throughout the books. Your boy will read the same words many times more in book 2a and book 2b. You can ask him to read the same page 2 to 3 times a day, since there are not many words on each page. Next day just go on to the next page. By the time he finishes 2b, he would have repeated the word many many times, and he should know the word. We need to have a lot of patience with kids. They may need many repetitions to learn a word.

For every new page, I don't read to my boy first. I will point to every word and ask him to tell me what is that word. Then slowly I ask him to use his own finger to point to the words and read out loud.

The majority of children are bo chap when it comes to studying. I think the important thing is to establish a routine. Make sure that he reads at least a page every day without fail. Most children like routines and once they get used to it, they will not mind doing it.

<u>Staying with kids</u>
I think I will stay with my kids, only if they need my help to look after their babies for them. I don't mind helping, because my mother has been helping me. If they are married with no kids then I don't want to intrude into their privacy.

My dream for my old age is to own an apartment at Centris, above Jurong Point. Hundreds of shops just downstairs, and I can take the MRT to anywhere in Singapore. Even if I cannot walk when I am old, I can get around easily in a motorised wheelchair.

I agree with rona that it is better to have daughters nowadays. My brother and his wife moved to Liverpool and he is no longer giving any allowance to my parents. I am the only one supporting my parents, feel very stressed. My hubby does not give his parents any allowance, because he thinks that they are rich enough :p
 
rona

yes, he listens to me most of the times. I try to influence him rather than tell him do this do that. man have pride, must respect his ego so I try to be 'xiao nu ren' lor, have to ask gently &amp; sweetly. Hopefully my girls inherit my 'skill set'
wink.gif


So I imagine a typical conversation my girls will have with their spouses in future:
live with my parents lah..darling, please, honey.. they are very easy to maintain, only need a jacuzzi pool &amp; 2 seaters car...
lol.gif



Tamarind

my dream for old age is to hold hands with hubby &amp; tour the world together. If not much savings then we can go YHA. ok lah, the companion is more important, I don't have to travel lavishly
happy.gif


if I allow my imagination to run wild a little...the ideal travel arrangement is of course get suppl cards from my kids, let them pay for travel expenses. Hoorray! Alaska, here we come!
 
supporting us when we are old

even if I have lots of savings by old age, I would still expect my kids to give me allowance. Must let them get used to the idea of supporting parents. I even told them if they decide to be SAHMs, their hubby must support us. Daddy also give Gong Gong Po Po allowance

I feel that too much pampering may result in kids being self-centered. So I start with sharing favourite food with me. If I don't want then they can eat. Always parents first, not children first. Hopefully they get use to prioritise parents after 20 years of brainwashing?

When we see old aunties uncles cleaning tables or collecting tin cans, I will ask them do they want mommy to clean table &amp; daddy to collect tin cans when we are old? those uncles aunties children didn't takes care of them. Why Gong Gong &amp; Po Po can relax at home &amp; watch TV? because their children take good care of them

If they didn't take care of us in future &amp; we have no food, do they want us to eat grass? lots of grass in Singapore! would they want to try the grass 1st, whether tasty? &amp; if they don't study hard &amp; have no money, we have to eat grass with them. Oh no, I prefer sushi! so please be hardworking

haha! tough to be my kids hor? works so far, bring out the zeal in them since the prospect of eating grass is far worst
 
sleepy, you make me laugh and out loud too! yes, yes, i agree with you on the parent support part, must ingrain (right spelling?) in them this from young, else will be too late. Always parents first and not self first, you are very right to to that, I've not been doing it very wholeheartedly but now i will after reading your views.

In general, daughters are closer to their mothers and more maternal. Hence they tend to take care of their parents better. men are more bo chap and just do whatever the wives ask them to do. So if I don't have a daughter, i will die die try to give birth one more time just to have a daughter. don't understand those ladies who die die must have a son... having said that, we still need to teach them to be caring to old folks like us, whether they are boys or gals. but need to put in extra efforts if they are boys. But if my sons are like my hb, then i'm ok. but my gal better not be like his sister, cos she is totally opp of us here...
proud.gif


Tam, I give parents quite a lot too, cos they are always helping me take care of my kids even when they are sick. they also help me buy the freshest veg and the freshest fish for my kids too. And they are not rich themselves. so the best thing to do is to give them money lor. My sis also give them the same amount like me, but she is not married yet, though she earns more then me. So the money my sis gives them is savings for them and they try to make do with the little amount I give them. My dad still works part-time to past time, else he will be at some people's place losing money in mahjong games. As for my hb, he didn't want to give allowance to his mum, saying we are already paying and doing everything in the house. And we pay her nice gifts for mother's day, birthday and x'mas too. sometimes, we also buy little gifts for her when we see things that she may like. his father told us that he is much richer then us so no need to give him allowance too. SIL also does not give allowance to her parents. so hb is the saver in our household while i don't have any savings at all... :p sometimes, i feel a little unsecured, if something happen to us, i will be penniless and will have a hard time supporting the kids.
 


sleepy,
I told my girl "Mommy is not always going to be with you. One day when mommy is gone, who is going to buy food for you ? So you must be hardworking so that you can find a good job when you grow up."

Guess what my girl said ? She said "I will make my brother work and buy food for me." Hahaha I told her she always bully her brother now, don't have to dream about him supporting her.

I think nowadays it is very difficult to motivate kids to work hard. They simply don't know how to worry about the future.


rona,
Like you I also think that daughters tend to take care of parents better. I kind of hope that my son doesn't get married, because once he has a wife, he will forget about me. Nowadays whenever he is very sticky to me, I will ask him, when he grows up, will he still be sticky to me like this ? He said Yes !

I guess I sound selfish when I said that I don't wish my son to be married. But if he really finds someone I will definitely give him my blessing. Then keep a good distance from DIL. MIL-DIL relationships are really difficult to manage.
 
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