Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Had my first swab test (nose and mouth).

And?

The one in the mouth was fine.

The nasal one, on the other hand

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Some told me, “The nasal swab just kinda felt uncomfortable.”

I wouldn’t say it was ‘kinda uncomfortable’.

It was more like, UNCOMFORTABLE.

Okay, perhaps that’s too exaggerated.

But really, it was as if my inner flesh really far up my nose was getting a good wipe for a few seconds.

And that uncomfortable feeling stayed for some 10 minutes.

Teared up, naturally..

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Oh well, anyway.

A new experience many need to go through somehow, starting this year. Hope everyone is well

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Update:
The result was given two days later, and it was negative!

Banyak orang tua yang memberikan kebebasan kepada anak-anaknya dalam hal penggunaan HP.

Anak-anak, bahkan di bawah usia 10 tahun, diperbolehkan untuk memakai HP dengan bebas/men-download game/membuka situs-situs TANPA supervisi orang tua.

“Memangnya berbahaya?”, tanya orang tua.
 
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Beberapa pemikiran tambahan:

– Internet berisi hal yang berguna, juga sampah. Perlu kedewasaan, kewaspadaan, pemilihan konten yang lebih bertanggung-jawab, dan ini belum dimiliki oleh anak-anak (maka dari itu, anak-anak janganlah ‘bebas’ menggunakan HP, internetan, buka Youtube dan cari-cari video sendiri)

– Penting sekali untuk orang tua tetapkan batasan/peraturan yang jelas, dan secara konsisten.
Misalnya:
>> Anak harus selalu minta izin kepada orang tua sebelum menggunakan HP
>> Main game di HP diperbolehkan, jika tanggung-jawab anak sudah dituntaskan (sudah kerjakan PR, latihan musik, dll.)
>> Diperbolehkan main game di HP dalam batasan waktu tertentu, misalnya hanya 1 jam per hari, maksimal.
>> Di atas jam tertentu, anak tidak perlu memegang HP lagi (misalnya, di atas jam 6pm)

– Orang tua perlu juga share ke anak-anak sejak kecil tentang potensi bahaya dari internet, dan membangun komunikasi/relasi yang baik dengan anak-anak.

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Sebenarnya ada beberapa pemikiran lain sih, tapi saya stop dulu di sini deh.

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Oh, yang terakhir, ada yang bertanya, “Jadi, pada usia berapa anak diperbolehkan ‘punya HP sendiri’?”

Dalam keluarga kami, minimal anak perlu berulang-tahun ke-13 untuk punya HP sendiri, dan itu pun perlu disertai dengan bukti sikap dan penggunaan yang bertanggung-jawab, dll.

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Semoga Tuhan memberikan kita para orang tua bijaksana dalam membimbing anak-anak di zaman digital ini.

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Food for thought.
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PS: Ada ga hal-hal yang baik dari internet? Tentu ada banyak juga, tetapi ini bukan yang lagi dibahas di sini =)

It’s been a long while since we last got the kids together like this.

And I’m glad we did it a few days ago.

Met up and enjoyed a good gathering together.

(Looks like this will be the ONLY gathering we’ll have for now due to the pandemic)

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Anyway.

The above photo is for us to treasure many years from today.

Perhaps we can re-create this photo some 15 years later, in 2035 =)

 
There will be a time when kids leave and live their own lives.

In the mean time, … while we still can …

“Babies don’t understand anything!”

“What can they understand anyway? They can’t even speak much.”

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Adults often assume the first 3 years of a child’s life is a period where ‘they do nothing much, other than growing physically’.

They hence easily ‘hand over’ their ‘babies’ to other people who will care for their physical needs, e.g. Nanny, helper, and care centres.

They hardly communicate / teach their 0-3yo children anything much, because they can’t reply anyway.

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What many often fail to realise is, children (0-3 years) are NOT ‘designed’ by God to DO MUCH, because what they mostly do is ABSORB everything around them, like a huge SPONGE.

They see, watch, hear everything with NO ‘filtering system’ within themselves.

They assume everything as the truth.

What they mostly do is ABSORB everything around them, like a huge SPONGEIf an adult JOKINGLY tells a 2yo child that stealing is okay, that elephants can fly, and that scary clowns will take them away if they eat slowly, the child will not understand it as a joke.

The information is registered and absorbed ‘as it is’ by the child.

And.

Between the age of 0-3yo, they tend to test authorities and ‘order in the family’ (i.e. obedience is not their favourite word), so … no wonder we parents are reminded again and again about the importance of being involved, consistent, authoritative and the need to instill clear boundaries and limits.

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Having been reminded of the above, active involvements of parents in raising and teaching children since day one is unquestionable.

Let’s not trivialise our children’s early years.

They are placed in our family for a reason.

How have we responded to it?

Food for thought.

 
Here’s why I love twosome time with a child.

It’s the heart to heart talk we can have, with minimal to zero distractions.
 
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“Brie, sometimes when we feel angry, we talk a lot in our head. Have you experienced that?”
 
“Yes. Yesterday, when I laid down on your bed feeling very angry, I had a lot of things that I wanted to say to you in my head.

But then I chose to not say it out, because I thought it would only make things worse anyway.”
 
“I did that a lot, too!

When we feel angry towards someone, we are actually sinning against GodI tend to have a lot of things that I want to say in my head when I feel angry towards someone, but then often I don’t actually say it.

But I have those thoughts going on in my head.

You know, Brie, when you can sort out what you should say and should not say, because after thinking about it you believe what you say wouldn’t do any good, that’s an improvement.

I’m glad that you have changed and are better in this.

There’s another thing that we should do though after choosing to not say something negative out loud.”
 
“What’s that?”
 
“I’m reminded again and again lately that whenever we have negative thoughts about things, when we feel angry towards someone, we are actually sinning against God.

Many people think that we are ‘wrong’ when we actually ‘do something wrong’. But many things happen ‘on the inside’.

We think negatively, we feel angry because we don’t get what we want, etc.

Whenever that happens, even after we choose to not speak angrily out loud, we should immediately come to God and ask for forgiveness.

We should really just come to God and admit our inability to control all these negative thoughts, and we should ask Him to help us.

God loves it whenever we come to God like that … I also have to remember to do the same, Brie.”

 
“But I don’t immediately feel helped after I pray.”“But I don’t immediately feel helped after I pray.”
 
“Yes, we often assume we immediately have to feel something after we pray.

Like pressing a button and something MUST happen immediately after.

It doesn’t work that way though.

I do pray for you, for Koko and Jiejie, that you three will experience what it’s like to be helped by God, to feel His goodness and love. ”
 
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Treasured moments spent with the youngest.
 
Raising her and the other two has its many challenging days.

I know it’s God’s way of shaping me, and reminding me that if there’s any change at all in our children’s attitudes of the heart, it’s purely God’s work, not the parents’.
 
But anyway.
 
I do hope to remember conversations like this for many years to come ❤
 
Something that I hope she’ll treasure, too, … perhaps decades from today.

 
Let me share with you a bit about this towel.

It’s called Tesalate Beach Towel, and it’s designed in Australia.

It’s best known for being SAND-FREE and absorbent.

Yep, SAND-FREE.

 


 
Now, we haven’t been to the beach since the pandemic started out in March here in Indonesia, so I haven’t actually tested out this towel at the beach, on actual sand.

But.

I have tested it out when we went for our morning walks over the weekend!
 

 

 

What I like about it:
– Really nice designs to choose from (double-sided!)
– Lightweight!
– Comes in a small pouch. Easy to bring along.
– Available in two sizes
(The bigger-sized towel is meant to fit 2 people, but in our case, we can all lie down and sit on it! Haha)
 

 
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When I first touched the material, I thought, this is not a ‘towel’. It doesn’t have the usual ‘towel’ texture and feel.

Kinda feel more like, a ‘mat’.

BUT, since it is meant to be absorbent, easy to bring along, and most importantly, SAND-FREE (read: sand will NOT stick to it!), I don’t mind the ‘non-towel feel’!

We spread it out on the grass and sat on it, and it’s all good!
 

 

I love how we could actually sit down, rest and lie down on the grass by the lake.

We could never do that before (no benches around, and we are not keen on sitting directly on the grass itself)
 

 
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(If you ask me, it shouldn’t be known only as a ‘beach towel’, because it can be used as a mat, and even a blanket =)
 
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Anyway.

I look forward to using this towel when we go to the beach again.

Because, like everyone else, I love the beach, but not loving the sticky sands on our towels, feet and legs, especially when we’re getting back into our car!
 
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Oh wait, … so do I recommend this towel?

Yes, I do.

If you don’t mind the slightly higher price, I would recommend that you get the double-sized towel for the family.

(Free shipping worldwide, btw! Awesome!)
 
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Go to www.tesalate.com to read more about it, and to order yours!

 
Because learning should start from home.

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Brie baked fresh banana muffins for everyone, with no help from anyone.

Yum!

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Brie: 9 years, 4 months