What do you see when you see little children?

Whether we realise it or not, the way we regard little ones will greatly determine how we treat them, consciously and unconsciously.

If we see children as ‘understanding nothing’ and ‘capable of doing little things though they ask about big things’, then we’ll have a tendency to (verbally and non-verbally) trivialise their actions, contributions and thoughts.

Now here’s one food for thought :

A child (or even an adult) who seems incapable of doing many things TODAY can indeed do great things in years to come IF he/she grows and explores, develops and actualises his/her God-given potentials.

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And THAT is one good reason for us all to remember to look beyond what our eyes can see today, isn’t it?

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Someone recently suggested how I should perhaps consider ‘recording’ my Facebook status ’somewhere’, especially those day-to-day happenings where my kids did and said THINGS.

And so I thought of sharing three recent ‘Facebook Status’ today, involving our cheeky little boy today (who turned 3.5 years old last week!), as our way of remembering (and recording) his growing up moments and the little antics he did as a 3.5-year-old boy.

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February 23
My soon-to-be-6-yo girl asked, ‘What are you cooking, mommy?’, ‘Beef Teriyaki’, I replied. Wanting to repeat my answer to his sister, my 3.5yo son said in his naive loud voice, ‘Jie jie Anyaaa, Mommy’s cooking Beef Very-Yucky!’ Great!

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February 11
Before bedtime just now, both kids took turns in performing their ‘magic shows’. When it’s my 3.5yo son’s turn, he stood on his bed, bowed …and farted! well, THAT sure is magic!

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February 1
I was in my bedroom when I overhead Vai loudly saying ‘HELLOOOOOO…’ outside, but there’s no reply. It’s only when I came out and saw how he said it FROM THE VERY TOP of our gate to some people who passed by our place. They were probably too shocked to say Hello back upon seeing a little spiderman near the top of the ceiling!

…

And errr, okay … I’ll include this (embarassing) one as well!

January 28
On our bus ride home from school, my 3yo son asked (loudly), ‘MOMMY, ARE YOU THIN?’, immediately my 5.5yo girl responded (in an even louder voice across the aisle),’DADDY IS THIN…MOMMY JUST HAS A BIG TUMMY!’ *gee, thanks kids*

…

If you haven’t already … you’re most welcome to add me on Facebook (do let me know if you’re a reader yeah).

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If you have been reading my blog, you would’ve noticed that I rarely write about food.

And it’s simply because I’m not a ‘food’ person.

I am not adventurous when it comes to food. I don’t snack much. I am not creative when it comes to cooking and mixing ingredients. And, when I see photos of food, I simply am not inspired to ‘try preparing it myself’.

Now. Last month I suddenly felt a little differently though.

I saw a friend’s photo album on Facebook and how she made her own cake for her son’s birthday.

AND I felt … moved.

I remember thinking, ‘Hey, I’d love to try making my own cake too! Like, for Anya’s 6th birthday!’

[We bought a plain cake and decorated it ourselves for Vai's 3rd birthday last year]

When I shared my little ‘mission’ with Anya the other day, she said, ‘Mommy, you’ve never tried making one before though.’

I replied, ‘Yup, that’s right. And before you learned how to rollerblade, you also haven’t tried rollerblading before, right? After lots of practice, falling and getting back up again, … can you rollerblade a little now?’

She nodded and continued to listen.

I went on and said, ‘There are many things that we all haven’t tried doing. But if we never give it a go, we would never know. It takes a lot of practice to learn about something. Mommy doesn’t know anything about cakes, but Mommy’s ready to learn how to make a simple cake for your birthday because it’s a special day for you and we love you.’

Since we had that conversation, I noticed how Anya looked all excited when I went to look for baking pans and other little tools.

And though she’s not into eating cakes, she asked to be involved in the process of making it with me (read: mixing and all). Which actually is the greatest thing about all this, because to me, the process of trying and learning how to make it together with the kids is much more important and precious than the results.

(Of course if the result is really yummy, everyone is happier too! Hehe)

Anyway.

Her birthday is due in TWO WEEKS time.

And I still need to practice A LOT!

Oh well … I guess we’ll see how it goes.

…

Top Photo:
Here’s the result of our chocolate cake experiment the other day and Vai ate quite a bit of it. We don’t have an oven at home, so it was ’steamed’ instead.

If you have simple yet yummy ’steamed cake’ recipes to share, please do share with me yeah! Thanks *smile*

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Last weekend, Wilson and I had the opportunity to share, with our church’s Youth Group, a little insight on Parenting.

The response was positive, and I was asked if I could share some of these points again over on my blog.

And so I thought, sure … why not.

I plan to share more parenting thoughts from time to time, and today I’ll start with : the importance of BOTH Mommy and Daddy playing active roles in raising and educating their little ones.

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Children are given and entrusted to us by God, and as parents, both Mommy and Daddy are given the responsibility to raise these little ones according to God’s ways.

Together they jointly make up the complete world of the child, put together with affection, sense of security and thoughtfulness.

Now. The thing is, many still (falsely) think that the ‘task’ of raising and teaching kids in the family lies in the hands of Mommy (because Daddy’s main task is just ‘to bring home the bacon’)

In families where Daddy goes out to work and Mommy is a fulltime parent, it’s true that Mommy naturally spends MORE time with the children. She gets to be more actively involved in raising and teaching them on a day to day basis.

This however, does not (and should not) eliminate the importance of Daddy’s active involvement whenever he’s with his family.

In our family for example, when Daddy is around:

… he’d help the kids get ready for bed, while I wash the dishes in the kitchen.

… he’d read them books before bedtime, while I take some time to relax and enjoy a good uninterrupted shower.

… he’d step in immediately if any of the kids speak in a disrespectful tone towards me. And I would do the exact same thing if the kids behave in a disrespectful way towards Daddy.

… he’d take turns and discipline the kids when necessary, while I step back and keep mum

…

Basically, I strongly feel both parents should always support each other and work hand in hand in carrying out their parenting responsibilities.

In reality, it’s not easy though.

Wilson and I are still in the process of working things out continually too, for our family’s best interest.

And it’s all made possible because of God’s help.

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Each week we try to spare some time to do arts and crafts together. It’s not always possible though because we may have tonnes of other things to do throughout the week.

And so, since arts and crafts is something that the kids and I enjoy doing together, we’ve sort of ‘dedicated’ our Monday as our ‘Arts and Crafts Day’ (though we still keep our activities flexible as always)

…

Now today is Monday, and … we made this.

A watercolour painting using handprints and stencils.

It’s SO simple to do and the kids (and I) LOVED it!

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What we used:

- Drawing Paper (white)

- Watercolour, palette and brush

- Paper carton (for you to draw on and cut out as stencils)

- Glue stick and scissors

What we did:

- I asked what the kids wanted to have on their drawing. Vai wanted to have a shark and a small fish. Anya wanted a butterfly.

- I drew the animals on a piece of paper and cut them out (Anya cut hers on her own)

- I applied VERY thin layer of glue stick onto the cut-outs and stick them on the drawing paper.

- I mixed the watercolour, brushed it on the kids’ palms, and they made colourful handprints all over the drawing paper

Note:
I prepared the watercolour one colour at a time (and this eliminated potential distractions and arguments like, ‘Oh I don’t like green, I want to use yellow FIRST!’). While we’re at it, I also talked to them about the colours and let them see the result of mixing different colours together]

- The kids covered as much white surface as possible with their colourful handprints

- Once done (and the watercolour’s relatively dry), I slowly removed the ’stencils’.

And VOILA, you get this!

I like!

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Ever since I made my first Bento some two weeks ago, I did try making a few more, on my own, for the kids.

And today I thought I’d share some things about me and my attempts to make Bentos so far.

Here goes:

1. Usually my ‘interest’ to make Bentos comes around ten minutes before I actually start preparing for it (read: it hasn’t been a well-planned one).

I usually just use whatever ingredients I have at the time, as opposed to going out to get the ingredients PRIOR to making the Bento (IF I had gone out to buy the ingredients first, I guess my Bento would’ve looked more COLOURFUL and contain ‘more’ variety, heh)

2. I don’t have cute Bento boxes, except for the ones I got from my recent Bento workshop. I sometimes feel tempted to get more of those $2 ones from Daiso though, BUT I tell myself I really shouldn’t since we actually have more than enough Tupperware and other lunch boxes at home.

3. I usually ask Anya for Bento ideas! Like for example, she was the one who came up with the idea to make a ‘cross’ shape out of carrots (Top photo)

…

Anyway.

Here are two more ‘experiments’ I did over the past week.

Very VERY simple Bento.

I don’t know if you have ever tried making one before (or if you’re in fact a Bento EXPERT!). Well, I just want to say that if you happen to have never made one before, I hope this blog entry can somewhat inspire you to start experimenting.

Because really, you don’t have to be an expert (or an organised food planner!) to try making these.

I know I am not.

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[A precious old photo of my now-90-years-old grandpa, taken at his home in China in the early 1920s]

My parents and grandparents used to tell us how things were so different back when they were growing up.

In THEIR time, there were no fancy cars. No microwaves. And definitely no cool, remote-controlled toys.

I’m now a parent myself, and I look at how my kids are exposed to things that we didn’t have when WE were their age.

In OUR time some three decades ago, there were no mobile phones. No internet. No access to really nice library books.

[Public library facilities here in Singapore are excellent, if you ask me!]

Things just keep on changing. It’s just the way things are.

But are all things changing for the better? Are we better off today than some twenty years ago? Will things be better thirty years from today?

Well. Technology-wise, yes, it’ll sure be so much more advanced.

But, I’m not sure I can say the same for the people though.

So many things can be done so fast these days that we are becoming less patient, aren’t we?

Meals can be ready (eg. taken out of the freezer and plonked into the microwave) so fast that the process of cooking from scratch (read: peeling, cutting, steaming, frying, serving) may no longer be that appealing to many (unless you’re passionate about cooking to begin with, of course).

We have gadgets to remind us of appointments and important dates that we tend to remember LESS things now than the time when these gadgets were not invented.

[I used to remember MANY phone numbers before I started using mobile phones and relying on its phone book!]

And, are young ones today groomed and taught to think and care for others MORE, or are they more interested and focused on the game console in their hands that they ignore personal interactions with friends and family members nearby?

And how about other areas like, materialism, consumerism, morality and fidelity in marriage?

…

As much as I see myself as a relatively care-free and optimistic person, I know I can’t ignore the fact that the future will most likely be more difficult for our kids to live in - IF they were to live life ‘righteously’, that is.

Honesty, integrity, patience, and a consistently faithful and monogamous life may be rare to find.

Hmm.

If you ask me, I’d say I totally have NO idea how my two kids will be like ten, twenty, thirty, forty years from today.

Will they follow and be part of crowd? Or will they stand firm in what they believe is right, AND influence others in a positive way?

I may not know the answer to that, but there are two things I know for sure.

I know if I’d like my kids to be the latter, together with my husband we need to teach and raise them in God’s way as best as we can TODAY.

And, I also know how crucial it is for us to constantly and humbly pray and ask for God’s mercy and grace.

Because we parents are imperfect sinners ourselves, and there are way TOO many external influences that can easily sway our kids from whatever positive upbringing and teachings we’ve imparted while they’re still in our care.

May God help us and all little ones be the kind of people He wants us to be.

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[Monday, 15 Feb, 7.45pm, second day of CNY and this was what I saw when I looked up to the sky. I like!]

It’s Chinese New year! And each country celebrates it differently.

Our uncle and aunt in the snowy and cold Netherlands cooked some meals and had a nice get together with friends at their home.

We made international calls to our relatives in Indonesia and we were told that it was totally festive back there in Jakarta.

Restaurants were fully booked (and charged higher rates). Shopping malls were very crowded and organised different CNY programmes!

[The fountain at Bugis Junction was all quiet on the first day of CNY]

Well, it’s kind of the opposite here in Singapore.

MANY places are closed (at least on the first day of CNY). The streets are quieter too.

[Except for Sentosa ... I heard the newly opened Resorts World Sentosa was PACKED during those CNY days. Yet to check that out myself!]

…

We have no families to visit (or get together with) here in Singapore, so we spent our CNY days with friends.

Kids had a good swim with many other little ones.

Some thirty to forty of us cooked some yummy steamboat food.

A group of us went to East Coast Park, cycled and roller-bladed, and ate junk food.

Oh, we tried to fly a kite too!

[It was 1pm and the sky was very glary. This shot was 'unintentional' as I sort of estimated where the kite was without looking at my Canon Ixus' LCD screen. I like how the shot turned out though!]

Our colourful kite from Cotton On sort of ‘crashed’ to the sea side after a few good seconds though. Oh well. Gotta try it again next time!

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Many people asked : What else can we do during Chinese New Year holidays, anyway?

Now I hope I can get some ideas from others too.  Please do share …

It’d be a great reference for many others when CNY comes again next year!

Thanks everyone!

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With so many red packets lying around this Chinese New Year, we knew we just ‘had to’ recycle them.

And so we made our own ‘hongbao binoculars’.

A personal request by Vai.

What we did:

- Cut out a few red packets (note: you may want to mix the plain ones and the ones with patterns)

- Let the kid randomly stick them onto two toilet paper rolls, covering all surfaces

- Tape both toilet paper rolls together with sticky tape

And that’s it!

It’s simple and so quick to make.

Happy crafting, everyone!

Gong xi … gong xi …

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We’re staying put this year. No trips to Indonesia. No family members coming to Singapore. Just us - and our friends - in sunny Singapore.
 
We’ve scheduled some activities for the long weekend though (note: Monday and Tuesday are public holidays here in Singapore) and we look forward to that!

Anyway.

Here’s wishing you all *roaring* great things in the year to come!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

[Vai kept giving me this 'face', as if he's about to squash the oranges with all his might!]

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