Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Here are three quick questions to ponder:

Do we have health?
If we are healthy, it’s a blessing. But while it is a good thing, it can also be a bad thing, ie. When someone who is healthy goes to waste his life, doing things that are meaningless, or worse, … things that are harmful to others (note: A robber is very most likely a healthy and strong person, yes?)

Are we good looking?
People generally wish to look beautiful or handsome. While many feel ‘happier’ when they are physically good looking, one’s ‘good looks’ can also be ‘dangerous’, ie. When it becomes a factor that leads to infidelity or extra-marital affairs.

Are we successful?
When one considers being successful as equivalent to having money, then the state of having money itself can be a good thing, ie. When used to help others who are in need, not to satisfy own greed, etc. However, having lots of money can also be a bad thing, ie. When it pushes people to be even more greedy, and to manipulate others in order to get more and even MORE.

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We all only have one life to live. And we can’t reverse the time that has already passed.

How we live our life is SO crucial.

Let’s be responsible in living our life.

Let’s fear God.

Let’s remember that everything is a blessing from God. And be thankful. Everyday.

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[Note: This post is inspired by today’s sermon, delivered by Rev. Stephen Tong]

The video is up on Youtube now!

(and on their maybebaby.sg site)

Happy watching! =)

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And here are some ‘behind-the-scene’ photos : Click HERE and HERE.

Last month Anya and Vai were involved in the making of a video clip.

It was produced for I Love Children, an organisation that communicates the importance of parenthood and one that celebrates children and the joy they bring.

And, it was their first time being involved in such a video production.

I must say, we’re glad that it was all good and the kids had fun doing it too! =)

[Click HERE to see more photos of the shoot that day]

A few days ago, I was told that the full version of the video will officially be launched this weekend (Saturday-Sunday, 15-16 Oct) at Jurong Point where I love Children and Mediacorp will have their roadshows there.

And, I was also told that Channel NewsAsia did a little media coverage of this pro-family campaign too.

How nice! =)

And here’s the video link to Channel NewsAsia:

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We haven’t seen the full version of the video ourselves.

Definitely are dropping by Jurong Point this weekend to check it out! =)

Last month, I was invited to be one of the panelists on the Breakfast Forum, put together by Nestle Breakfast Cereals.

(It was an honour to join the other four panelists -from far left :
Ms Gladys  Wong, Chief Dietician and Senior Manager, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital,
Ms Annie Chow, President, Singapore Nutrition & Dietetics Association,
Mr Valerio Nannini, Managing Director, Nestlé Singapore,
and Mr Lim Soon Hock, Chairman, Centre for Fathering)

And I thought I should quickly share some interesting ‘breakfast-related’ results from a recent survey:

– More moms (this year) think that breakfast is a chore for them (compared to those surveyed in 2007)

– Getting children to wake up is most challenging for moms in general, especially for children 11-16.

– Getting children to finish breakfast is also another challenge, particularly among kids aged 6-10.

– On weekdays, kids generally have these for breakfast : Milk, Cereals, sliced bread, biscuits and egg.

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As a mom of two school-going kids, I personally believe in the importance of having breakfast in the morning, especially before the kids go to school.

We’d generally have a combination of the following : Sliced bread with jam, whole grain cereals, milk, eggs, french toast, and sometimes they also want to have last night’s dinner leftovers! =)

Anyway, when it comes to breakfast and meal ideas, I thought it’ll be great to hear from other parents out there.

And so asked a question on my Facebook … and received many responses! Cool!

*Thanks to everyone who shared their mealtime ideas!*

I’ve listed out the shared ideas in the comment section of this post.

And, if YOU can share what you guys usually have for breakfast as well, it’ll super!!

Check out the comment section yeah!

Thanks all!

– Gets to this ‘on all four’ position more and more often these days. And she’ll then start to rock her body back and forth for more than ten seconds, before getting back to her tummy and her ‘flying action’ again =)

– Still wears Medium-sized Drypers

– Takes a bath (in a bath tub) twice a day since birth (late morning and night before bedtime)

– Sleeps through the night for at least 8-10 hours in one stretch

– Gets more easily distracted when breastfeeding (ie. feeds, stops, looks around, looks at Mommy, feeds again, stops and looks around again =)

– Starts to get rather vocal, and screams out loud repeatedly when she’s bored, sleepy but can’t fall asleep, or simply is asking to be picked up

– Starts to grab a toy

– Likes to ‘stand’ or ‘step’ on my tummy when carried facing the back and while holding onto my shoulder. Doesn’t stay still.

– Giggles and laughs out loud a LOT!

Here’s something yummy to share!

Milo Cookies recipe!

We made this yesterday, and Anya and Vai love these cookies!

(The original recipe can be found here. Read about my ‘baking mistakes’ and how I made some adjustments towards the bottom of this post)

Ingredients

125g Butter

1 cup Caster Sugar

1.5 cup Self Raising Flour, sifted

3/4 cup Milo

1 egg, lightly beaten

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1) Mix (melted) butter and sugar (I actually just whisked both together in a bowl)

2) Beat in egg, then fold in the Milo and sifted flour

3) Roll into small balls, lightly press with fork

4) Bake in 150deg Celsius for about 15 mins

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Tips:

– When I first mixed everything together, it’s rather runny. I couldn’t shape it into a ball, so I used a spoon and placed small spoonfuls on a greased tray. I put the tray at the very top deck, at 180C. Bad idea. When the oven went ‘DING’, the whole set of cookies were black. Burnt!

– Second time round, I learned from my mistake. Using the leftovers mixture, I placed the tray in the middle section now, and had the oven at 180C, for 12 mins. It was good! But I could still smell a tinge of burnt aroma.

Btw, the spoonfuls of ‘milo lumps’ sort of ‘melted’, and I ended up with thin and big sized cookies. So I broke them into smaller pieces (see picture)

– Third and fourth batch (this is still using the mixture I made), the cookies turned out yummy!!
Here’s what I learned  =)

a) I put the mixed ingredient bowl into the fridge for about 1.5 hours. By the time I took it out, the mixture has ‘thickened’, and I could actually ‘shape’ it to a ball. The ‘lumps’ did not ‘melt’, and I ended up with roundish shaped Milo cookies!

b) I lowered the temperature, from 180C to 150C, placed the tray in the middle section, and baked it for 15mins. It worked! =)

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Anyway, do share with me any other tips you have when baking this yummy Milo cookies yeah!

I still need to learn a lot from you guys!! =)

Happy baking and experimenting!!

Are you a Mom?

Do you feel like your day-to-day ‘job’ is pretty much … IT?

Laundry. Diaper changing. Mopping. Laundry. Cooking. Sending and picking up the kids. Laundry *again*!

I read about this analogy quite a long while ago. And I’d like to share it with you today.

It goes something like this.

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There were three busy builders.

Builder X carried rocks from point A to B, day in day out. The weather was warm. Passers-by didn’t seem to appreciate his hard work. And he felt exhausted. He said, ‘What am I doing, carrying all these rocks again and again everyday! Such a tough job! I can’t wait till the day is over!’

Then there’s Builder Y.

He carried sands and pushed his wheelbarrow from point A to B, under the hot scorching sun too. Day in, day out. No one seemed to appreciate his work, and he also felt the same as Builder X. He said, ‘I honestly can’t wait till my job is done! Pushing this wheelbarrow here and there, sweating away! Sands getting in my eyes too! URGH!’

Then Builder Z walked pass Builder X and Y.

Builder Z carried stones and rocks. He was sweating away under the same scorching sun. He looked exhausted too, but somehow he looked as if he didn’t seem to mind doing such hard work.

Curious, Builder X and Y then asked, ‘What’s YOUR story? I haven’t heard you say anything since we started working together.’

Builder Z who has occasionally heard what Builder X and Y talked about all day long everyday, smiled and said, ‘You guys see what you do as ‘just’ carrying rocks and sands from point A and B. I carry stones and rocks, just like you both, and I get tired too. BUT, I don’t see myself as ‘just’ carrying them from point A to B. I see myself as being part of a big project. I’m in the process of building a beautiful tower!’

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As parents, … yes, we do get unappreciated. We change diapers. We are exhausted. We deal with tantrums (often in public too!). We get back-talks. We cook and yet they’re not eaten at times. We feel emotionally drained a lot too.

But.

When we choose to spend time with our little ones, when we instill values in our day-to-day interactions with them, when we choose to become a positively and actively involved parent in our children’s lives … we ARE in fact taking part in a much bigger project.

We are building characters.

We’re nurturing a soul!

(And before you know it, they’ve all grown up and left our home, and we have not much opportunity left to be with them)

Let’s look beyond the ‘everyday-ness’ of today, and find the joy of doing what we do everyday!

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(It’s what I remind myself too when the going gets tough with the kids)

Kids.

They’re so full of energy. Full of life. Full of hope.

So much for us adults to learn about life from these little ones!