Creating Time

 

When i first started out as a SAHM, i was upset when someone would hint or mention in passing about how much time i have on my hands. I mean, look at me, i get to stay in my PJs and unbrushed hair all day, roll out of bed at 10am and still be in time for breakfast, take naps and watch telly all day long. I thought no one understood that i could barely find time for changing and eating proper meals with two hands, and that feeding a baby 2-3 hours daily meant that i had to sit down and veg in front of the telly, even if i very much wanted to do something else.

But i'm glad to say that over the years, i've gotten alittle more balanced, or blinded by choice, or whatever. Everyone, working or not, have their own difficulties. Sleep has become an elusive concept, so let's all be kinder to one another.

Moving on, let's talk about one of my greatest unsolved mystery - finding time to do something non baby or household related. Like using the computer or getting my nails done or preparing materials to teach the babies. I marvel at how mummies (and yikes, some of them are my friends! So it's true, these people do exist) manage to set up a blog shop, blog frequently, sew (uh huh, that's you!) and play online games while i barely find time to surf the net (no count if it's on my phone).

I thought about it, grumbled to the hubs, sat on it.. and finally after being brutally honest to myself, i settled for a few factors why we find it so so hard to find time. One of them would be my perfectionist streak. I enjoy researching and preparing materials for the babies to learn at home. If i have a perfect lesson set up, with a lesson plan and laminated materials no less, i wake up excited, ready to conquer the world with Mama school. On the flip side, if i cannot find the time to do what i want to do, i.e., planning, printing, laminating.. i find myself stuck and eventually giving it all up. Crazy, i know.

We decided that this perfectionist streak must go, and that i need to work with what i already have. It was tough at first, almost like abandoning my principles, ideals and standards, but eventually it proved to be advantageous on many levels.

The first lesson proceeded with on-the-spot writing and drawings. I thought the children would lose patience and walk away to some toys or kick up a fuss. But i was pleasantly surprised to see that they actually participated and waited till i finished writing and drawing. There was once i had to google to find out how a cartoon dog looked like and Shanah was so entertained by that idea. It dawned upon me then that i was demonstrating to her how to search for answers. By doing things on the spot, the children get to see me pick up a marker, write and learn how things get done (e.g., googling, tearing of paper, etc). They learn by modeling and observing.

Eventually, they did lose patience, but for reasons far from what i feared - they couldn't wait to get their hands on the markers and draw on the paper. And because my materials were far from perfect, i kept the couple of nice ones to display, and threw the rest away. Easy peasy clean up equals plenty of time for free drawing and writing! 

Well, i still love a well planned and thought out lesson with laminated materials and brightly printed illustrations. But i'm learning to let it go till i find the time to do so, and embrace the beauty of working with what i have on hand. Perhaps we can call that creating time?

When attention span runs out, have a child friend tweezer and some pompoms at hand to practise fine motor skills. And when the interest for that runs out, they will start throwing the pompoms all over the house. Have fun picking them up and searching for them under the sofa!

Materials featured: 

Pip squeak markers from Crayola (Non-toxic and water soluble, comes off clothes and floor easily. Stains on fingers may linger for a day or so) 

Large paper roll from Ikea

Tweezers from Learning Resource 

Large pompoms from Daiso (Small ones are choking hazards! Even the large ones are, so do watch your child)

Colourful bowls from Ikea (Comes in packs of 5, in different colours. Good for sorting activities too)

You are not my friend, But i miss you

It's been so quiet in here i thought a book review was perfect to break the silence and the awkwardness. After all, I've been spending plenty of time trying to get my hands on the brand new books in the library and browsing bookdepository.com, imagining what it would be like to own many many new books (crazy person alert). Don't you love the smell of new books?

Title: You Are Not My Friend, But I Miss You 
Author and Illustrator: Daniel Kirk
Suitable age group: 2 - 4 years

We snagged this book from the library and loved it so much we ended up buying a copy for ourselves. The book revolves around a monkey who was upset with his friend, Dog, because the latter snatched his ball from him. The initial part tells us how Monkey was upset because Dog didn't share the ball with him and how he felt that Dog wasn't a good friend.

Monkey went on to prove his point that he didn't need a friend - he could play ball all by himself or with inanimate objects that wouldn't snatch his ball away. However, he would soon find that it really wasn't as fun playing by himself. That was when he realised that perhaps he wasn't a good friend too. The story ends with Monkey being friends again with Dog and promising to share better.

 

We love this book because my 3-year-old is at a stage where sharing and friendships are at a precocious stage - as how toddler friendships can be. She complains about being upset with her friends for various reasons while i know that she isn't completely innocent herself. Toddlers at this age are naturally inward looking, hence I like how this book teaches them to look beyond themselves but to treat others as how they would like to be treated. 

It helps too that the little boy loves anything about balls.

I totally judge a book by it's cover, so illustration wise, i would give the book a 8 out of 10 rating. The brightly coloured pictures draw young ones to the book while the clean pages makes it easy for them to focus on the main idea each page was bringing across. The only reason why i wouldn't give a higher rating for the book is because I'm biased - I love love water colour illustrations and these are not. Haha! 

If you are interested to find out more about the book, you can click here for a short clip on it. Enjoy!

Siblings - mostly love

I love this photo because it shows how the two little cheeky monsters are playing with each other first thing in the morning. Neither of them are really engaging the other party but in their own ways and their own baby language they are playing along side and sharing.. Noah looks on at what Shanah is playing with and gets intrigued, demanding to eat whatever jiejie is doing. Shanah peppers on in her own ways and occasionally goes, 'Noah, see this? For you!'

Ah, such young tender love.

For awhile. Hahah.

Mostly we have Shanah, the prefect, coming to me saying, 'Mummy, see Noah put this in his mouth' or 'Mummy, Noah snatch my toys'.

When Noah was first born, we introduced him as 'Noah Didi Boy' to Shanah and the name kinda stuck for a couple of months. It was really cute watching her proudly introduce her brother like that. I knew the moment wouldn't last for long and true enough, it ended after i proudly told my friends how cute she sounded and she caught on and learnt quickly that that ain't her brother's real name. These days she refuses to call him didi and prefers to address him as Noah.

They fight (the boy screams when you take the toy he's playing with) and bicker all day but when you try to take Noah away from his sister, she screams in protest. Not the i-know-you-are-kidding scream but the real deal. She refuses to be apart from him and from a young age she understood that her brother is here to stay. A couple of weekends ago I told Shanah that we were gonna have a mother-daughter thing and watch a ballet together, just us. I thought it was a great idea and she would be thrilled (i certainly was!) ... well, let's just say i was disappointed. Her first response was, 'where will Daddy and Noah be? I want to be with them' BAH! All these spend time with individual child nonsense. Ok, i take that back. I think it works well for older children, whom you have real conversations with. Perhaps i'll try again in 6 months.

Noah adores his sister. When he was still an infant, his gaze would follow after her. Today, the first thing he does each morning (after giving me a heartbreaker smile that is) is to look for his jiejie and climb all over her. He goes when she goes, in the room, out of the room, in the kitchen, out of the kitchen. He wants to play whatever she plays and do whatever she does. Which makes home learning alittle tricky with a 10-month-old trying to eat stickers and play with paint/scissors (yikes!).

And have i mentioned that they sleep in synchrony too? Isn't it amazing how God created siblings to be similar in the cutest ways? Like how they turn when they sleep and how angelic they both look - same same but different.

If anything, these little ones have been teaching mean what love means - doesn't mean its perfect all the time, but it's the real deal - raw and real, unafraid to fail and love again.

Stuff we say

When the hubs and I were dating, i could barely be apart from him. We met many times a week for dinner and movies and even then i found it hard to say goodbye when it was time to go. Thinking of those days brings back some really wonderful memories and i wonder if Shanah will go through the same mushy and sappy stuff when her turn arrives (in about 50 years young lady).

Naturally with marriage, children and time we became less of everything because we just want to veg out on the sofa and watch some TVB lame drama. So on days when i'm in an oddly good mood like last night, i began to embark in conversations like these:

Me: (Sucking in my stomach big time) Check out my abs. If you press in on my tummy, they are really hard.

Hubs: (With a look of disbelief) No seriously, core muscles?!?!

Me: Come on, I've like 6 packs underneath this stuff.

Hubs: The only core muscle you have right now is the core of a muffin and cake.

Hhehhe.

(I did force him later on to admit that i do possess some form of abs muscles.)

Shanah has been saying funny things recently. Well, actually she has always been pretty funny. But now that she expresses herself better and perfected her deadpan look, things can get pretty hilarious around here. What's with these toddlers and their literal sense of everything?

Another wave of illness has hit the family, so we have been visiting the doctor pretty frequently.

Me: Shanah, do you like Dr Toh?

Shanah: I like her sweets. (Deadpan expression)


P.s. The flowers were from this year's Valentines.

Day out at Eat Play Love cafe

Cafes are the current in thing in Singapore. If you can find a nook, you will probably find a cafe. Not all of them serve nice coffee and food but their ambiance does give our little tiny dot of a country an up on our chic factor. Recently, the hubs and I were particularly excited to explore one of the cafes that had rave reviews, accompanied with brilliant and bright photos. Unfortunately we left with a semi hole in our pockets (prices were exorbitant for a cafe!) and hungry unfulfilled tummies. The saving grace was a corner seat and some space for the children to sit, eat and explore alittle. It really left us wondering how do the many youngsters in the cafe afford to pay such crazy prices for food and drinks. Errm, wasn't Macs considered kinda expensive when we were younger?

Maybe we are old foggies. Actually, scratch that. We are NOT old foggies, we are young and hip. Some cafes are just not very friendly to our pockets, tummies and children.

On the very same day we visited Eat Play Love cafe. While their Thai-Western cuisine menu wasn't all that impressive, their prices are pretty reasonable. We were unable to order savoury items as the kitchen was preparing for dinner, but the local dessert we decided on was refreshing for a warm humid afternoon (it's also alittle hard to go wrong with grass jelly and nata de coco).

Their weekends are normally crowded so it's wise to call ahead to book or check if there are seats available. Better still, go on a weekday afternoon where children are either sleeping or in school. You just risk having a grumpy pants doing craft.

 

Happy troopers!  

 

Grumpy serious pants  

Eat Play Love cafe boasts of a unique experience where adults get to eat and children get crafty and dirty the place with glue, macaroni, feathers and the likes. Every child gets a piece of activity sheet free of charge. For $5, you get an activity pack (the one that S is crafting with above) with some paper, foam stickers, feathers and glitter. Markers and other craft essentials are free for use everywhere in the craft corner.







If the basic pack may seem alittle kiddy for older children, you can pay extra to purchase other craft activities. The prices for these crafts are not exactly cheap and i'm pretty sure i'll find the same item with much a lower price elsewhere.



The current craze in the cafe is shrinky dink plastic where you purchase a piece of shrinky dink plastic for $5, draw on it and pop it into the oven where it will shrink and harden up. We thought $5 was too much to pay for a piece of plastic so we played with some scraps that were left on the tables and wowed at how the plastic really shrank and well, hardened up. Hehe. It is waaaay more fun and entertaining than how i described it.

 

 The oven that shrinks the plastic 

Will i return back to the cafe again? Well, probably, if I'm in the vicinity with time to spare or if my girlfriends organise a play date there. But I don't think i will make a deliberate trip down unless the cafe offers a greater variety of crafts and materials. Personally, $5 isn't a reasonable sum to pay for some paper, stickers and glitter when such materials are easily found in greater quantity and lower prices in the stationary stores. Similarly, i don't agree with paying high prices for the alternative activities that they provide for older children. 

Given that it is a craft cafe, i guess i would like to see a greater variety of crafts available for children of all ages. I wouldn't mind paying alittle more for better craft ideas, more materials and maybe even a member of the staff there to guide the children into creating their little wonders. 

Would i recommend the cafe? Well, yes, especially if you are not into cleaning up the mess at home. And if the little ones are driving you up the wall with their insane amount of energy.. this would be a good place for the adults to chill and the children to have some fun. Even Noah enjoyed himself watching the older ones and taking in the mad explosion of colours in this happy place! 

Home Learning: free printables

 

 Source: Mr Printables 

Look at these, can you believe that they are made of paper? More importantly, can you believe it's free? I had to triple check to make sure there were no strings attached. And then i fought the urge to whatsapp everyone i know about this site.

I love planning for home learning and other projects. There are a million things i want to do and non of it has to do with a magic clean mop.. or a stove.  Pinterest gets me started and then the ideas keep coming in. Unfortunately, that's where it often stops. To be honest, i find it pretty hard juggling chores, spending time with the children, making time for the hubs and my family and then finding more time to do me stuff or fiddle with the computer (in that unfortunate priority). And I'll go a week or two psycho-ing myself (getting pretty good at this, now i know why i majored in that!) that it's ok before my next im-so-pathetic outburst. Please tell me i'm not alone.

Anyway, sob story aside, i have been thinking of a few ways to find more time to get my projects ongoing. And one of them is to finally admit that I don't have the time to design everything myself. The web is a myriad of information and i'm often surprised by the goodies that are available for free!

Source: No Time for Flashcards

Source: The Artful Parent

 Source: Education.com (awesome worksheets!)

Traveling with Tots: Stanley Beach, Hong Kong

Back in 2012 we were traveling to Hong Kong on a monthly basis, partially on work and leisure. While the traveling did take a heavy toll on our pockets, the experience in this buzzing city was memorable and very rich. Shanah came along with us on each trip and while Isaiah was busy donning his working gear, the little girl and I trooped around town in our carrier.

We are no strangers to the MTR and cha chang tengs in HK. Though i have to admit that the lunch crowds do scare me and the lack of nursing rooms leaves much to be desired in this area. We would avoid the lunch crowds (and grumpy overworked waiters) and make trips back to the hotel for naps and feeds. Besides these though, we learned that 3pm was a great time to have egg tarts at Honolulu cafe (less crowd less haste) and that the nooks and crannies of this metropolitan city often leaves us pleasantly surprised.

One weekend, the Yans brought us and a few others along to Stanley Beach for a leisurely walk. Directions here are complicated (something involving walking to an interchange in central, buses and transfer) and i believe you can easily find better instructions on google maps :) But it's definately worth the hassle. The roads are windy and we watched on in slight fear as a fellow lady passenger retched on the way down. Tip to brave souls: face front, look ahead and prepare a plastic bag.

Stanley Beach on a weekend is crowded with tourists, families and Hong Kongers in search for a respite from the metropolitan city. There a splattering of touristy shops (prices are not the best but not that steep) and a mishmash of western and eastern delicacies. For children, there's a playground and the area is often visited by the Mobile Softee. It's well worth a trip to escape from all the shopping and eating madness!

Alright, enough ramblings. I'll let the pictures take over.

Oh our little little Shanah, those first little steps and toothless grins :)

Little girls & Nutters in love

Our little girl, fast asleep like an angel. I feel almost schizophrenic saying this because just hours ago, she drove us nutters with her whining and antics.

We love to visit the bookstore. In my mind, it's all about picking a book together and finding a nice corner to snuggle and read it. Never mind that i have a little boy stuck to me, we'll work that out. Unfortunately, we never got past picking a book together because little miss grown-up always seem to choose the books suited for children twice her age. No way am i gonna read that! Today's selection was a hot pink Dork Diaries book which she stood at the display and thought for abit before selecting, like a big girl! I'm still keeping my hopes up on that little dream of mine so despite having to convince/coax/bribe her into putting that book back, a trip to Takashimaya is always accompanied with a drop in to Kinokuniya.

We often visit the nursing room when we are out and Taka's one is our favourite! It's super clean and the nice lady who takes care of the place also ensures that no guys come into the area and that the queue situation gets monitored. The difficult part is coaxing Shanah to come along with me to the nursing room. It's crazy and it often ends up with bribery. I know right. Actually these days, everything ends up with bribery.

I think in toddler language, no actually means yes and everything else actually means the opposite of how it sounds like. Or maybe they have a secret competition to see how many mommy/daddy buttons can they push a day and there's some high score board somewhere. I was fiddling with some gadgets and from the corner of my eye, i spotted S asking for it. Tired, i said no and she continued to ask.. until i heard a crash. Our little princess actually stood on the pram, leaned all the way back and crashed to the floor. The security label broke and so did my camel's back.

BUT BUT BUT. When i look at my babies asleep, i feel a huge sense of pride. I recall how S went on a non-stop storytelling fest for 15 minutes and counting at lunch. She told us about her day, how her teeth broke, how mommy flosses and she peppered 'so funny right' here and there in her story. I remembered the times where she obeyed all my instructions and repeated them in different scenarios. Most of all, i thought of the times where we snuggled and rolled in bed before the afternoon nap and how she talks herself to sleep, mostly pretending to be a teacher.

Then i feel all guilty about being upset with her and start reminiscing her babyhood days - how did she get so big and tall? Where did my baby go? Am i too strict with my baby?

Parenthood. They drive you mad.. madly in love with them.

P.s. Imagine how much MORE God loves you!

I Love You too

Dear Isaiah

You have always been the tracker between us. It was you who reminded me that 14 Feb 2014 marks our 8th Valentines together. And I'm rather sure that you remember where we went for our first date, what we ate and what we did. One would think that the girl remembers such things, but no, you have always been the one who remembers.

Between us, you have always been the one who's sweeter, more loving and more accommodating. It was like this when we were dating - you put up with my whines and complaints. And it is the same today - you put up with my silly clean freak requests even when you see no sense in it (psst.. sometimes i don't see sense in it either). You have such a big heart - you love my family just like your own because you know what matters most to me.

Sometimes i look back at our wedding pictures and i'll feel so blissed out. It's nothing short of a miracle that God has placed you in my life. Being together with you has taught me so much about love, God's love. The closer we come together, the more I'm aware of how much God loves us. I remember telling myself some time back, if this is what love feels like, I can't imagine how great God's love is.

To say that many things have changed since we walked down that pathway where we first held hands, or since we walked down the aisle, would be a major understatement. We are no longer young undergrads or newly weds. The pressures of work and family do weigh us down quite a bit and sadly, there are times that i rather spend time with the computer (like now) rather than with you. Not because we are upset, but because we don't get much time to do what we want. But i'm so glad that i have such a grand supporter in you. Every idea that i throw up gets supported - you are always there to add on your thoughts and to spur me on. Every time i need a listening ear to complain about how lousy i feel about my under-used degree, you are there to listen. When i need a foot massage, you gladly oblige despite your tired self.

I don't say it often enough, and i really should.. but thank you darling for loving me despite my many flaws. I know i'm full of them, but thank you for explaining time and time again that God loves me despite them and you love me too.

I'm so so glad that I have you to walk this life with me. I'm so so thankful that Shanah & Noah have you as their daddy. And i'm so so in love you with you - just because of who you are.

I know we said no gifts this year, but we each ended up with a gift for each other. I really like it this way. Almost like a surprise surprise. Thank you for the flowers. I really thought that the flower giving thing would have ended after the last ants infested bouquet. But you being you... well, i shall just dwell in the love.

Happy Valentines my darling. I'm so glad i have you to grow old with. It's always better when we are together.

I can't imagine two worlds spinnin' apart come together eventually. 

And when you're standin' here in front of me

That's when I know that God does exist

'Cause He will have answered every single prayer

Hello 2014!

Hello 2014!

I just received wonderful news about a result we have been waiting for for some time. And that's such a great relief. Please, everyone, heave a big sigh of relief on our behalf. That's how happy we are.

Sometimes we make such a big deal about how much control we have in our life. We want to make choices, we fight for our rights and we demand for things we do not have. Not that it is always wrong to demand and that we should just go with the flow with everything, but first and foremost, we need to be very certain who is the giver of life in the first place. The one who created the universe, who understands the deep physics of it all and yet loves us enough to send His son to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus died so that you and I can have a chance, a chance to be in heaven and a chance to experience heaven on earth.

I'm just thinking about how fragile life is. What an oxymoron as to how this post started out. I'm typing this post because I want to document how glad I am with the results, yet at the same time, i feel like i'm holding on to shreds of happiness. Why shreds? Because I'm beginning to understand that the fragility of life is like a weak twig - a phone call, a bad fall, an unexpected lump... and everything you think was perfect falls apart.

As depressing as that thought is, I personally find it kinda empowering and releasing. Finally, I'm beginning to understand that as much as i can make choices for my life.. it is the God that holds my tomorrow that hold me in His bosom to protect and nurture. It is the same God that will watch me and my family. The God that loves me more than I can imagine.

Isaiah once asked if I was scared of dying. It was a no-brainer. I was. Alittle terrified to be honest. Afraid to make my dear ones sad, afraid to not see the little ones grow up and experience life with them and afraid of what's gonna happen after and if I really have a place in heaven (now we know that we do if we believe but i'm gonna be honest and say yes). I used to think that I'm young, healthy and fit. These days though, i find myself praying that God grant me the honour to grow old, to enjoy old age together with Isaiah and my family. My treasure is turning into happy times with my loved ones. I'm beginning to see long days on earth as a blessing from God.

I have no idea how to end this post. I'm still deliriously happy about the results and I'm still the old human me, filled with fears. But i know God is faithful and righteous and He holds our life in His palms. My prayer for you and I is to live this one life with no regrets, to be brave enough to do the right things that matter and make a difference where ever you are. It's only the beginning of 2014, it's not too late to start it right. Our prayers are with you!

Ascribe Greatness to our God the rock
His work is perfect
And all His ways are just 

A God of faithfulness
Without injustice 
Good and upright is He