Really … there are SO many family-related activities going on this weekend!

Another one that I’d like to highlight to you is the big Family Day Out Carnival!

When : Saturday, 30 May, 10am - 6pm
Where : Singapore River (near Asian Civilisations Museum)
Admission : FREE

It is National Family Celebrations’ Launch Event for the year.

National Family Celebrations has been held since 1985, and it is an annual national campaign to celebrate the importance of the family.

And this year, the month-long celebration starts tomorrow (Saturday, 30 May) all the way till Sunday, 28 June (the end of our kids’ school holiday!).

Click HERE to read more about what it is.

And click HERE to check out the Event Calendar (ie. what’s happening when and where!)

…

For tomorrow’s Family Day Out carnival, heaps of activities happen by the Singapore River throughout the day.

Click HERE to see what you and your family can do for FREE at the Family Day Out Carnival!

One of happenings tomorrow is a talk by nutrition experts “Make Breakfast Time Family Time” (two sessions: 3pm in English; 4.30pm in Mandarin)

And I was invited to join the panel (to be part of the discussion, NOT to deliver the talk, hehe). Basically to also make the discussion more relevant to the challenges we parents face when it comes breakfast time.

I’ll be there at the 3pm panel discussion, and I hope to meet some of you there too!

Anyway.

Hope you get to plan your very own family day out for the weekends (and throughout the school holiday!)

It’s a great time to bond with the kids!

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When it comes to Singapore, one of the things I value is its effort in promoting family-related activities.

And this year, it has International Museum Day (IMD) celebrations running across 10 days from 23 – 31 May 2009!

And the theme this year is “Holiday Fun at Home!”

An excellent effort to promote a museum-going culture among families and their children from a very young age.

Heaps of activities available (eg. workshops for kids!), and today I’d like to highlight its OPEN HOUSE DAY this Sunday, 31 May, when museums are open to the public for FREE!

[Anya and Vai checking out Asian Civilisations Museum]

A friend of mine, Christine (a mom of two who’s also a very talented children book illustrator!) wrote a very good blog post on International Museum Day. Click HERE to have a read!

And btw, she’d also be doing a workshop with a few other authors as part of National Museum’s special event for kids. The event title is ‘Behind the Scene of Picture Books - From ideas to words and art’ on Saturday, 30 May and Sunday, 31 May, at 10am - 11.30am. She’d host the 31st May workshop! Click HERE to read more about it!

So there you go!

Not much excuse for NOT going out with the whole family and having fun this weekend, yes? *smile*

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My 2-year-9-month-old son saw the really tall umpire’s chair on the badminton court near our place this morning. And he asked,

“Mommy, can I go up and sit on the chair?”

“Sure. You’d need to climb quite a bit there, just be sure to hold on tight, okay?”

“But Mommy, I want you to hold on to me while I climb”

“I’ll stand nearby and watch you go up, but you’d need to climb the steps by yourself”

“But Moommyyy … I want you to hold on to meeee …”

*smile* “I know you can climb it all by yourself. If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to climb it at all.”

(Note: I know of Vai’s climbing skill and how he had learned to always hold on real tight when climbing anything)

Anyway.

Vai thought to himself for a good 3 seconds, and he started climbing. He took giant steps while holding onto the two side poles.

And yes, he reached the top.

With a huge smile on his face. Hehe.

He sat up there for one minute (and told me how he’s so HIGH up!) before going down, by himself.

And after that, he went up and down that tall (and err, rusty) umpire’s chair two to three more times.

…

When he was up there, an old man happened to walk past the tall chair, looked up at him, smiled and (seriously) said to me, ‘He better be careful ya!’ and walked away.

And what I found interesting was Vai’s reaction upon hearing his comment.

He turned to me and said, “Mommyy… help me get downnnn. I don’t want to come down by myself. Please come over and helppp ….”

Of course I didn’t budge. Hehe. I still sat on a nearby bench and calmly told him how he just needed to turn around slowly and come down all by himself carefully.

And I guess the fact that I was quite casual about the whole thing made him feel better and secure.

And he did come down all by himself. With no problem.

…

A few thoughts and observations:

If I had helped him from the very beginning, I guess he wouldn’t have known about his own capability.

He wouldn’t have gripped those side poles extra tightly (because no one is there to ‘hold’ him)

He wouldn’t have pushed himself further beyond his usual comfort level.

He wouldn’t have felt the satisfaction of accomplishing something difficult, all by himself.

And he wouldn’t have gained that extra confidence.

And I was reminded again too how a child tends to view and treat HIS world according to OUR response.

If I had immediately brushed off his interest in climbing, if I had sounded anxious or worried, or if I hadn’t felt confident about him climbing the tall chair all by himself, he would’ve felt the same way too. Our child’s initial courage would most likely be dampened by our response and reaction.

As I sat on a nearby bench, I DID feel a little ‘tingly’ watching him climb up and down the really tall chair. I DID feel the adrenaline inside! The chair WAS high! (it’s just that I chose to keep my cool in front of him so that he kept his courage and confidence in what he was doing, hehe)

Hmm. Interesting, isn’t it, how our reaction and response as parents greatly affect our child’s courage, confidence and accomplishments.

…

Have you ever encountered such situations with your child? How did things go ?

Please do share. I’d love to hear stories from other parents!

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*drums rolling*

Here are the names :

1. Clara
2. Grace Koay
3. Ky
4. Yi Huey
5. Helen Ng
6. Olivia
7. Henny
8. HL Ng

CONGRATULATIONS!!

I’ll be in touch with the lucky eight winners real soon, and they’ll receive their choice of Spring Kids items in the mail next week!!

Big thanks to everyone who left encouraging comments and who participated in the giveaway contest!

Thanks heaps for supporting Spring Kids!

…

More new items have been added to the shop too, btw!

And oh, don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter for updates on promotions and other great offers!

Happy browsing!

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A Philosopher of Ancient China - Lao Tse -  once said, ‘Doing nothing, but nothing undone’.

Or, in other words, ‘Doing everything but nothing is done’

People are busy. But their busy-ness does not literally mean they’re doing SOMETHING.

Throughout their lifetime, many people do ‘everything’ so tiringly, so relentlessly. They’re simply SO very busy. But NOTHING is actually done.

This philosophy was shared some 2700 years ago.

And 300 years later, a similar concept was understood by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher.

And after that, another explanation that’s even more complete and perfect was written. In the Bible.

The unseen God is the God who created everything that’s seen.

It seems that God has done nothing, but nothing is undone by God Himself.

…

When you look at a spinning wheel, the centre looks like it’s not spinning much. And the outer side of the wheel spins the MOST. The busiest part of the wheel!

The centre is the focal point.

Don’t be someone who’s always so busy working, but who has actually done ‘nothing’ by the time we’ve reached the end of our life.

…

In a concert hall, music is most important. Not the hall itself. Music is heard, but it is unseen.

So which one is more important? The concert hall, or the music?

What makes a good concert? It’s the MUSIC. And what makes great music? It’s the great conductor.

In a concert performance, all instruments make sounds and noises, but the most important out of all makes NO sound. The conductor is the silent one (without a conductor, music can still be played, but it’ll be less organised and coordinated)

A conductor is merely someone who attempts, at his/her best capability, to understand and interpret the music composer’s thoughts and feelings.

But in a concert, where are the music composers? They’re most likely no longer around for they’ve died hundreds of years ago (eg. classical music composers).

Music composers may not be around but their music is still played and heard.

What we can’t see today had in fact created something that we can see today.

And so where is God? God who can’t be seen has created what we can see. It is because HE has created the whole world that can be seen that God Himself is unseen.

Praise be to God.

…

[As shared by Rev. Stephen Tong in one of our church's Sunday Services]

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We were at Marina Barrage again last Saturday.

For the opening of Singapore Arts Festival!

Love the Giant Praying Mantis. The French acrobatic performances. The big open space. The view from the roof top. The fireworks.

PS: Shooting fireworks with my Canon Ixus was SO hard. Especially when I had one 5yo kid sitting on my left hip too. I had to press on the shutter 2-3 seconds BEFORE the fireworks ‘burst’. And, this is the only okay shot I managed to get *smile*

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What are you passionate about? Have you gone out to pursue your passion, or has the idea to ‘explore it further’ been shelved all this while?

One of the things that never fail to amaze me is my husband’s passion towards tennis.

He’d wake up at 6am on a Saturday morning for his twice-a-week tennis session with his friends, even if he had to clear his work and sleep very little just hours prior to it.

He doesn’t mind traveling far, by public transport, even when he can only play for less than an hour.

He’d bring along his tennis racket and bulky tennis shoes to his 3-day Jakarta business trip, just so that he can play (with his Dad too) before he starts work.

But, despite his passion towards the sport, he’d be willing to put it aside for something that’s more important.

Like, if it coincides with an important seminar he had to attend at church.

I’m sure our kids observe all this too. Without us telling them anything.

How they too need to have a passion for something. How they need to consistently pursue it, develop it, and improve it all the time.

How keeping fit is important.

How keeping a balance in life - between work AND play - is equally important.

How they need to prioritise, and how at times they need to put their passion aside for a moment, and use their time for something else that is MORE important.

…

Hope we all get to explore and pursue our very own passion too.

And learn every day to keep a good balance in life.

I for one am learning too. Every day.

[Loving their moments on the court]

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I started a Giveaway Contest last Friday, where people can select one item from my online shop ‘Spring Kids‘ (under the brands Pumpkin Patch and Chibiko Corner) and stand a chance to win what he / she has chosen!

[A simple way for me to share the joy of having had the opportunity to start my own little business too]

And here’s a gentle reminder to everyone who’s yet to enter the contest : please do remember to leave your comments before midnight tomorrow!

Click HERE to read the giveaway contest post.

Anyway.

Giveaway contest aside, I do sincerely hope to get your support in spreading the word around about Spring Kids.

I’ll be uploading quite a bit of new items to the shop this weekend, so please do come by and browse!

You may find things you like to get for your little ones. Or to give as gifts to others.

Just drop me an email if you need any help.

Thanks heaps, everyone!

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Children cry.

Children whine.

Children demand and their persistent disobedience is mind-numbing.

But.

When children smile.

When children run to you for a big hug.

When children ask for you to be by their side so they don’t feel alone.

We too as parents can smile and feel loved.

And be thankful for having been entrusted by God with these precious little children.

And such moments indeed are some of the many more reasons why we should love life with children. Everyday.

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