Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Vai is four years old in 3 months time and he STILL doesn’t like getting his hair cut.

It’s not as bad as before, at least.

He doesn’t ‘reject’ the idea, but I can see how tense he gets and how he just can’t wait for the whole hair-cutting episode to be over.

He dislikes having prickly bits and pieces of hair on his neck and shoulder, and I almost always need to stand nearby to help and keep his head still.

(When he was one to two years old, he’d literally cry and scream, and try to escape the ‘scene’ with all his might! I wrote blog posts on this, click HERE and HERE)

Anyway, I’m sure he’s not the only one who dislikes getting his hair cut. And I’d like to hear about your kids, or other little ones you know.

Do they hate getting their hair cut?
What do you think are the reasons behind it?
How do you handle the situation?
Any tips to share?

Here’s one exciting news!

Our Everyday Things is in the TOP TEN finalists in the Best Photography Blog category again this year!

WOOHOO!

[Thanks to you who’ve rallied for me! Thank you.]

Errr … but, here’s the reality.

This Best Photography Blog category is a TOUGH one.

It has strong candidates going for the Award too.

Last year, I stopped at being a finalist in this category, and I must say I’m really blessed to have been shortlisted again this year, out of more than 1000 other blogs. Being the only Mommy Blogger and all too.

And so, I really am hoping you all can support me with votes!

Voting starts today till June 30th, and you can VOTE for me ONCE A DAY.

Public votes make up 30% of the total votes, and the scores from their panel of judges will make up the other 70%!

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And, … why would I want to win, you may ask.

Well, as I’ve always shared throughout my blogging years, I really hope to reach out to a bigger audience, to make a positive difference, to inspire others, … families, individuals, anyone who comes across Our Everyday Things, my writing and my photography works.

And if by winning this Best Photography Blog Award helps me get there, then YES, I want to win!

But I can only do it with your support.

And I sincerely hope you will support me all the way, every day, till 30 June.

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Frequently Asked Questions:

– How do I vote?

Please go to http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/category/ and look for Our Everyday Things under BEST PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG category.

Login (at the top of the page), OR if you haven’t ever registered, do create an account with them (it’s FREE!).

Voters can win prizes too, btw.

– I’ve logged in and clicked on your photo / profile under Best Photography Blog category, how do I know my vote has been counted?

You need to click on the word ‘VOTE’, and you’ll be asked to click one more time to CONFIRM that you’re voting for Our Everyday Things. Only when you’ve clicked to confirm that your vote is counted.

– I don’t live in Singapore, can I still vote?

YES!

When you create your account, just enter your country’s ID no. or Passport no. (this is when they ask you for your ‘NRIC / FIN no.’ … which basically stands for ‘Foreign Identification No’). You may not be able to win the prizes set for local voters though.

– How else can I help and support?

If you can help and get your friends to support me too, that will be really, REALLY great!

You can share this blog post on your Facebook (there’s a ‘Share This Post on Facebook’ link at the bottom of the post), or you can tweet about it as well *smile*!

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Anyway, I just want to THANK YOU so SO very much for reading and supporting me all these years.

Thank you.

I’m truly honoured.

Let’s see. What can I say about this little guy.

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He looks out for his sister.

He is more generous when it comes to sharing with others.

He loves it when he can make others laugh.

He can’t sit still for long.

He likes watching me cook.

He’s less reserved towards new friends.

He would sob and weep when he’s sad.

He likes to find just about any excuses to avoid going to bed.

He walks into our bedroom and snuggles up to me in the middle of the night.

He knows more Chinese than his parents.

He drinks 3 glasses of milk a day.

He likes to eat.

And, he randomly said the other day, ‘A is for Apple, B is for Ball, D is for Giraffe, and I is for Monkey’

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Our little Vai has added colours to our lives.

And we thank God for him.

We went to check out Singapore’s Universal Studios last week!

It was warm and slightly cloudy that day, BUT it did NOT rain and it wasn’t scorching hot! *phew*

And, here’s how it all went!

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[Anya, Vai and my parents who were here in Singapore for a few days!]

Now. I guess this is one of the ‘must-have’ shots, haha.

[Photo Tips: To take a shot with the ‘globe’, you can try standing a little further away from the globe to get a ‘wider’ shot, like how we did it in the photo above]

The Universal Studios here is ‘divided’ into seven different ‘sections’:
The Lost World (Jurassic Park), Far Far Away (Shrek!), Madagascar (you should know this one!), Ancient Egypt (The Mummy), Sci-Fi City (Battlestar Galactica), Hollywood and New York.

And, Anya and Vai totally LOVE Far Far Away!

We watched the Shrek 4D show, took photos with ‘Shrek and Fiona’, AND the four of us (yes, BOTH kids included) went on the rollercoaster ride, called ‘Enchanted Airways’ (the red one below)!

[Review: The 4D show was nice; Shrek and Fiona come out for photo sessions with the public at specific timings and you need to be at least 92cm to get on the rollercoaster ride! Vai loved the ride, Anya kept on screaming and holding onto my arm real tightly haha, and I thought it’d be nicer if the ride could last a little longer.

Tips: It’d be great if you’ve already watched any of the Shrek movies. Anya and Vai have watched ‘Shrek the Third’, and they LOVE it. Bigger kids who’ve seen the movie would be more excited about ‘Far Far Away’, naturally]

Be sure to not miss the ‘WaterWorld’ live show (at the ‘Lost World’ section). Lots of stunts and explosions. More for bigger kids though, if you ask me (As we have no intention of letting Anya and Vai watch WaterWorld the movie, I explained the actions and sequence to the kids throughout the show)

[Left: Jurassic Park Food Court; Right: Anya, Vai and Daddy on the Madagascar’s carousel]

We had lunch at the Jurassic Park Food Court.

And, … it was not a nice experience.

It was 1pm (on a Friday), and the queue was VERY long. We waited for more than an hour before we finally had our chicken rice and bak kut teh set meal, and … the food was disappointing.  The chicken was plain and tasteless, and the bak kut teh’s soup was very VERY diluted (read: almost tasted like plain water).

Glad that at least we had our $10 meal voucher to pay for our lunch.

[In the month of May, you get $10 meal voucher and $5 retail voucher for every ticket purchased]

While we’re at the Jurassic Park area, we went on all of the rides!

We went on the Dino-Soarin ride, and the Canopy Flyer! (photo above and below).

I sat next to Vai on the Canopy Flyer, and as I have this fear of heights, I squeezed his hands tightly when the aerial ride took off.

This 3.5yo little guy was totally cool about the ride though, and he was the one who said to me, ‘It’s okay, Mommy … Don’t be scared …’

*smile*

And I thought the ‘comforting bit’ should be the other way around? Hehe.

We went on the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure too.

It was fun, but again, I wished it lasted a while longer *smile*

We all need to be at least 107cm tall though, and since Vai was 106cm, he couldn’t join us on this one *Boo*

And so, Vai went on the Dino-Soarin ride with my Dad instead.

[Tips: Bring along your raincoat, because you could get drenched on this ride]

Here we’re at the Ancient Egypt section! Love the statues and the atmosphere.

Friends told us to not miss the ‘Revenge of the Mummy’ show, but we didn’t go for the show as we felt it’s not age-appropriate for Anya and Vai.

We didn’t try any of the rides here either as the estimated queuing time was 45 mins (!) and we thought it’d be much better to use our remaining time to watch shows that we can enjoy together with our parents AND both kids instead.

[We walked past the ‘Sci-Fi City section’ too as the huge rollercoaster was not in operation, and the spinning ride called ‘Accelerator’ would give us all a bad headache!]

We went towards New York and Hollywood area.

The ambience was nicely done, I thought, and we took heaps photos there, … with ‘Charlie Chaplin’ too, hehe.

[Tips: Find out the ‘timings’ of the ‘celebrity appearances’. Apparently there should be a leaflet or something that states ‘who’ comes out ‘when’ for photo sessions with the public]

Anyway.

We checked out ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’ (‘hosted’ by Steven Spielberg).

It was really NICE, I thought!

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We were there till Universal Studios closed at 7pm (actually, by the time we left it was already 7.30pm!]

It was a really nice day out with our family.

[Photos: All photos in this post were taken using Canon S90]

Before I end the post, here are a few extra tips I’d like to share:

– Click HERE to find out about how to get there

– Bring along your hat / umbrella / raincoats, since the weather here in Singapore can get rather unpredictable. Raincoats especially will be ‘useful’ when you get on the Rapids Adventure (Jurassic Park)

– If you can, do avoid weekends or the school holidays. The queuing time will be much longer, which means you’ll have ‘less’ time going around and checking out other rides and shows.

– Go and buy your tickets online a few days in advance to avoid disappointment.

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And if you have little ones:

– They have strollers available for rent (Single @ $10, Double @ $15).

– Children below 4yo need NO tickets (free of charge)

– Drinks and food are rather pricey there, so you might want to bring along your water bottle and some snacks for the little ones, especially.

– If your kids are below 92cm tall, you may want to consider going to the Universal Studios with other families and friends. This way, you can take turns and ‘babysit’ the kids while the adults enjoy the rides themselves too!

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Have fun!

Here’s one quick announcement for everyone!

I’m doing a HUGE clearance sale right now!

All items under ‘CLEARANCE SALE’ MUST go.

And I mean, you’re looking at 40% – 60% off for most of the items!

It’s the PERFECT time to shop for nice gifts for loved ones!

Hurry!

Hop over to Spring Kids’ Facebook Page now!

One last thing, please help and spread the news to friends and families yeah.

Thanks everyone!

THE SITUATION
In Washington DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent – without exception – forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Three days earlier, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story.

Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organised by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognise talent in an unexpected context?

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One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

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On April 7, 2008 it was announced that this provocative think-piece by Gene Weingarten was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.

Click HERE to watch Joshua Bell playing the violin at that underground train station.

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After reading the article and giving it a lot of thought, I ask myself these questions:

Have I failed to listen and appreciate my kids’ excitement as they eagerly ask us to check out their latest drawings?

Have I placed HIGHER priority for things that have LESS eternal value?

Have I failed to notice, appreciate and be thankful to God for the blessings that have indeed been showered to me in life?

Sigh.

I know, I have indeed failed. Too many times.

May God forgive me.

Finally, we managed to check out Singapore’s own Universal Studios yesterday!

The four of us went on most of the rides. Took HEAPS of photos.

Will share how it went. Reeeal soon.

Anya is now 6 years old, she’s in K2 (Kindergarten) and she’ll be in Primary School next year.

AND, she already has weekly ‘chinese character writing’ tests!

[Btw, I’m TOTALLY clueless about this. Yes, I help her review the characters before the day of the test, but I hopelessly have NO idea what they mean, unless Anya tells me what they are. She would tell me what the characters mean and I’d write ‘how I should say them’ above each character *hehe*]

Anyway.

I can see she’s doing well with writing and memorising chinese words / rhymes / songs, BUT she’s not that keen on expressing what she thinks or feels IN Chinese!

[The fact that both Wilson and I can’t speak Chinese also doesn’t quite help the situation]

[Anya and her Chinese Rhymes. Click HERE to watch the video clip on youtube]

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And now I wonder:

– If you have kids in Kindergarten here in Singapore, do they have Chinese (and English) tests every week too?

– Do you speak Chinese at home?

– How’s your kids’ overall response / attitude towards learning Chinese so far?

I hope to hear your views and stories!

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PS: Personally, I still think Singapore’s academic expectations on kids are on the ‘too high ‘side. At such an age, I’d love for them to enjoy more ‘play’ and less ‘academic pressure’.