In the name of ‘love’, parents tend to provide ‘everything’ for their children. Buying for them what they like. Giving to them whatever they ask.

And when the kids are so much older, they’re still supported and provided for, even financially.

When parents continue to treat their children in such a way, these children will most likely grow up having no ‘fighting spirit’ as they’re hardly ever in a difficult situation where they have to struggle and ‘fight’.

[Even mother eagles train their babies to fly by throwing them down from a very high place and catching them just in time before they hit the ground below]

Diamond needs to be polished. Gold must go through extreme heat to be purified. Cloth and materials need to be cut too if we’re to make a beautiful dress.

Each of the above goes through a process that may seem ‘uncomfortable’. Even painful. But through that process and ‘pain’, something more beautiful emerges.

Let us introspect the way we educate and bring up our children.

For their own good.

…

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way
you treat them. Rather, bring them up with
the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
Ephesians 6:4

Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Note: The points I share at ‘Sunday’s Food for Thought’ posts make up only about 1% (if not less) of the total sermon delivered by Rev. Stephen Tong.

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As much as I love this little guy, I’m secretly thankful to God for giving us only ONE Vai.

Not three *smile*

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Lots of people used to tell me how ‘easy’ a kid Anya is. How she’s relatively obedient, eats whatever meals given to her without much fuss, not physically agressive towards others, can fall asleep easily by herself on the bus, mrt, pram, etc.

But the thing is, I only get to really REALISE and UNDERSTAND what people’s been telling me AFTER I had Vai, who is the opposite of his sister in so many ways.

He can hardly sit still. He wakes up easily from sleep. He needs to be carried in a sling (AND at most times, breastfed!) if I want to make him fall asleep when we’re outside.

He’s so much more physically active. He dares to try seemingly ‘dangerous’ acts. He keeps on doing what he did earlier, even after he’s just had a ‘bad’ experience a few seconds ago.

Yes. As their parent, I do get to see how two siblings’ characters can be so different from one another and how unique and special each of them is. I also get to constantly learn how to to tackle and manage challenging situations - that happen within and outside our home.

And if I used to say ‘every child is unique, one approach may apply to one child but not to the other, and we need to address their needs accordingly’, I can now say it more convincingly. I can even throw in a few ‘REAL-LIFE examples’.

Ah. The stuff you continually learn and discover as a parent.

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The October issue is out and they have this exclusive article on parents who blog about their kids. And quite a few blogs are featured there. Including mine *smile*

(and oh, you get two complimentary bibs and a sachet of porridge from Nestle when you buy the magazine. Heh.)

An interesting read.

Go and check it out!

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Nowadays Vai walks a lot.

[He still stumbles at times - especially when he's really sleepy and tired but simply is NOT interested in resting - but he'd get himself up again and continue on walking about]

And so now that I have TWO kids who are growing in their independence, I somehow come to a realisation that my ‘total-number-of-words-spoken-in-a-day’ sort of goes UP, even more than before.

From the moment we all wake up to the time the kids are fast asleep at night, I find myself saying stuff like …

Please don’t touch the bin. Please don’t put the toy inside your mouth. Please eat your meals quickly. Please share your toy. Please don’t snatch the book off your brother’s hands. Please don’t scream. Please say sorry. Please be gentle. Please turn off the TV. Please sit on the sofa. Please don’t sit on the water puddle. Please … Please …

I explain. I give instructions. I rebuke. I remind. I negotiate.

And by the day’s end, it’s amazing how one can actually feel ‘verbally tired’.

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I’ve heard it from other moms. I’ve read it somewhere before. But really, before I had Vai, I never thought I’d find these stuff inside my own child’s mouth.

Things (read: bits and pieces) I’ve found - and immediately removed - from Vai’s little mouth just within these past thirteen months (to name a few):

- Rubberband
- Crayons
- Paper
- Hair
- Carton box
- Plastic bag
- Cloth
- Toy
- Coin
- Leaf

AND hmm … a piece of Anya’s balloon. TWICE.
(you know, the ‘knot’ part where you tie your balloon)

I found out about it because I SAW the bright blue balloon IN his soiled diapers!

*Mom shakes her head nonstop*

And who knows what ELSE has gone in - and OUT - undetected! (other than what’s SUPPOSED to go in, of course)

Really. Now that we have two little kids in our family, we get to see even more frequently evidences of how God constantly cares and watches over us.

Over our curious little ones, especially.

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Went out with three other moms and their kids today. All Indonesians.

And the interesting bit. Everyone got to know each other from a ‘cyberworld’ called ‘Multiply‘. Hehe. (For my case, it’s my first time seeing them all in person)

Anyway.

I think it’s great that today’s digital era can somehow broaden our social circle - across the globe, even - letting us meet, know and befriend with more and more people from different walks of life.

Cool!

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Although I’ve always lived in a city, I’d somehow still choose to see more greenery than skyscrapers.

It feels fresher on the eyes too.

The thing is, Singapore being a small island is filled with more buildings than parks. More cars than trees.

(A couple whom we met in New Zealand told us how they once flew over Singapore and saw its many buildings, and somehow wondered how people ever managed to live in a place that looked so much like a ‘LEGOland’. Heh.)

Anyway. We came across a bit more greenery today. Though we’re in the middle of town.

And it was nice.

PS: [in the pic above] Anya’s pointing at a huge waterbottle air balloon and she said that if she ‘drank’ from it, she’d get really bloated and ‘airy’!

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