Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Children.

They can give me a headache, they can make my mind go numb.

They can make me feel frustrated, they can make me want to snap.

They can be willful and rude, they can drive me up the wall.

But you know what.

They too can make me laugh, they can make me go silly.

They can cheer me up, they can make my day.

They can make me feel proud, they can make me feel loved.

Yes it’s funny how, despite all the tough bits children give you everyday, you just can’t BUT love them all the way.

Yes, you got it right!

I wrote about what Polliwalks is all about AND now YOU have a chance to WIN a pair of Polliwalks shoes too!!

If you’ve come across shoes giveaways before, I’m sure you’d notice that they’d generally offer just ONE pair to be won online.

BUT.

The people who’re bringing Polliwalks into Singapore are so unbelievably serious in doing what they do, and they’re here to offer not just one or two pairs to giveaway, but TWENTY pairs of Polliwalks shoes!! (that’s close to S$1000 worth of prizes to be won)!!

Yes, huge thanks to them, TWENTY lucky winners will get to own cute Polliwalks shoes!!

AND, it’s SO very simple to take part!

There are two categories : Bloggers and Non-Bloggers, and ten pairs of shoes are ready to be won for each category.

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ALL YOU NEED TO DO:

1. Visit Polliwalks official website and check out their entire collection (styles, colours and available sizes)

2. Come back to Our Everyday Things, go to the comments section of THIS post, and let me know which shoe style, colour and size that you want IF you won! (Polliwalks has tiny shoes, size 4, for babies too!)

Recommended: Write ‘a bit more’ in your comments – eg. WHY you choose that style and colour, etc. Polliwalks will choose the twenty winners, not me, so my suggestion is : distinguish yourself from the rest of the commenters!

3. Make sure you enter a valid email address (and your blog URL if you’re entering the ‘bloggers category), because that’s how we’re going to contact you if you won!

Important :
– Your email address will not appear / be displayed
– If you’re entering the bloggers category, you need to write the blog URL of that post in the comments portion itself
– One entry allowed per email address
– If you’re one of the winners, we’ll contact you and ask for your mailing address

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BLOGGERS CATEGORY :

To enter this category, all you need to do is :

1. Blog about this contest (you must mention “Our Everyday Things” and create a “http://www.oureverydaythings.com” link in your blog post to qualify)

2. Include the URL of that blog post WITHIN your comment (together with the shoe style, colour and size you wish to win)

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MORE INFO :

1. Contest is open to everyone in the ASIA PACIFIC! (isn’t that cool!)

So even if you’re in Indonesia, China, Australia or anywhere in the Asia Pacific region, you’re eligible to enter, and if you’re one of the twenty lucky winners, you’d get your chosen shoes DELIVERED to you for FREE!

2. A ‘quick link’ to this contest is also on the side bar

3. Contest ends on Wednesday, 15 October 2008! (So, hurry!!)

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The retail price of these Polliwalks shoes is S$48.15 nett, and so really, I think this is one of the EASIEST and BEST way to try and win anything!

So many shoes are up for grabs, a bigger possibility of actually winning AND so little effort is needed from you all!!

Gee, I’m SO excited!l!
[It just feels so good to be able to give something tangible through this site!]

Anyway.

What are you waiting for?

Choose which shoes you like, blog about it if you’re a blogger, leave a comment, tell your friends and families about this Polliwalks shoes Giveaway at Our Everyday Things!!

All the best everyone!!!

I just very recently found out about Polliwalks!

These shoes are designed and launched in the US just last year and they’re apparently SO adored by little kids.

Unlike the usual foam clogs we know, these ones are purposely designed like they’re toys for kids’ feet – they come in animal shapes : alligator, ladybug, duck and frog! The very first of its kind specially designed for kids (ie. no sizes available for adults!)

AND, it comes with ‘animal footprints’ at the bottom of each shoe! So when your kids walk in sand, mud or dirt, they’ll leave behind cute footprints!

Now, apparently these fresh new clogs just recently ‘entered’ Singapore some three months ago, AND when the people who bring them in approached me to see if Anya and Vai want to ‘test’ them out and I then share about it on my site, I thought “Cool! Let’s do this!”

I was curious to see how they’d respond to Polliwalks clogs, and so before we got them, I browsed through their official website and showed Anya and Vai the different styles and colours. Their first reaction was like ‘Oh Mommy LOOK, LOOK!’. Anya immediately liked the duck and the ladybug!

[Btw, to get a feel of their many different range and colours, click here]

And really, I’m not surprised if kids love these shoes.

They look so cute and fun. Like toys ready to be worn on their feet!

And so you can only imagine how excited the kids got when they finally put them on!

They even put their hands into them and went “Quack…quack!” and “Arwwk … Arwwwk!” to each other. Hehe.

I checked out the shoes too of course and hey, as a parent, I love the fact that they’re SO easy to scrub and clean (I just found out that you can even throw them into the washing machine! Will try that out!)

They’re light and easy to put on and take off (Vai, a 2yo, does it easily – and fast – all by himself)

The other day, we’re all in a taxi when I noticed them stretching out their legs and knocking their shoes against each other. And I was like, “What ARE you both doing?” and Anya said, ‘Mommy, the crocodile is trying to get to my duck!!’ Hehe.

Anyway, other than their official website, I recommend that you check out these sites below too, to find out what they are, their features and why they’re loved by many :

– “What are Polliwalks?” by LoveThoseShoes.com
– “Have you heard of Polliwalks?” (interview: husband and wife team who’re the brains behind the shoes) by PlayLibrary.com
– “Polliwalks Clogs” by Gruntlings.com

If you’d like to get them for your kids (or your nieces, nephews, friends’ kids, etc), right now they’re available for sale at the Zoo, BirdPark, a couple of OG outlets, and seven of Kiddy Palace’s stores! Retail Price: S$48.15 nett

And and and.

I can’t wait to say this : I have other SUPER GOOD NEWS on these cute Polliwalks shoes! I’ll share with you all very very soon!

*so excited*

– It is totally common and normal if we have someone whom we greatly respect and highly regard, but it is necessary to remember that no one is 100% perfect and that we should not treat anyone as if he/she is like God.

Every single person has flaws and weaknesses. By bearing this in mind, we will be more ‘accepting’ (read: less ‘crushed’!) when we happen to somehow discover a not-so-favourable thing or two about that person that we completely disagree with (or even perhaps, despise)

– What is ‘perfection’?

When people talk about ‘perfection’, many feel that it’s when someone achieves what he / she initially aims to achieve. Like when someone wishes to be a Ph.D and finally finishes the programme and gets the title.

The thing is, if a person gains the coveted Ph.D title and does little afterwards (ie. no further developments of self) then the ‘progress’ has in fact ‘stopped’ for this person (such things are most likely  ‘known’ only by the person himself, though he may not even ‘realise’ his own ‘stagnancy’)

The ‘process’ of struggling and striving to get up from ‘falling down’ is in fact ‘perfection’ itself. It is one’s ongoing journey where he / she continues to grow, develop and struggle through difficulties.

It’s about the process of going from A to B and to the next.

Note:
These are just some of the points I personally learned from today’s sermon by Rev. Billy Kristanto (which probably makes only 1% of what he shared today)

I find it almost hard to believe that it’s been FOURTEEN years since I last sat for my high school exams. The time when I said bye to my all-girls school in Perth and started my University days.

One of the girls whom I hung out with a lot during those growing up days is Cath, AND today the kids and I (Wilson’s overseas) met up with her, her fiance Ben – who’re in Singapore only for a couple of days – and a few other friends!

The kids behaved relatively okay throughout the day, of course there’re cranky moments here and there too at times, but mostly they kept themselves occupied with some colouring, scribbling, drawing, walking about, AND taking photos of everyone with my Ixus! [eg. That top left photo was taken by Anya]

A nice and refreshing day out!

[Yummy dim sum lunch at Ngee Ann City; Vai’s having his short nap here]

[Coffee at Big-O, Wheelock Place]

And to end the post, here I present to you Vai’s ‘photography works’, hehe

I chose his ‘best’ 6 shots (out of like, 30!)
(Btw, no cropping or photoshop works on the pics below)

Enjoy!

Just recently I was asked by another mother,

“Leonny, are you frustrated … at being a housewife?”

And my immediate reply was, “No”
(at the time I felt slightly puzzled, thinking why I should be feeling frustrated in the first place anyway)

I must say, the reason why I didn’t think long and hard for my answer was because I know my standpoint and my reasons for choosing to be a housewife, a fulltime mom.

Recently there’s been so much talk (and debate?) in the media between working and stay at home mothers.

And if you ask me, I think every family has unique needs and arrangements. And one practical solution / arrangement that works well in one family, may not work in another.

I believe there’s a reason behind every decision though, whether to work fulltime or to stay at home and be actively involved in raising the child / children.

For my case, I choose

… to be a fulltime mother to my two kids

… to have no domestic helper staying with us (instead, a part-time one comes for 3 hours every week)

… to handle a client or two, working part-time from home

… to lead an active life, going out and about with the kids even when at times my husband can’t join us due to work commitments

… to maintain a regularly updated site, in a hope to make a positive impact on other people’s life, whoever they are, wherever they are

And as to why I choose to be a fulltime mother, I guess my ‘Our time is now‘ post best describes the reasons behind my decision.

…

I realise that for every decision we make, there’ll always be ups and downs to it.

And while I personally never regret my decisions listed above, I must say though, living (and juggling) them all everyday is not an easy journey.

There are (many many) times when I feel impatient, mentally drained and verbally tired (from all the reminding, explaining, attending to questions, etc)

And while raising the two kids fulltime means I get to closely see their growth and developments, while enjoying the opportunity to actively teach them the kinds of positive values I wish for them to have, it also means I get to encounter (and deal with) their acts of ‘defiance’ much more frequently and intensively too (ie. being sinners themselves just like everyone else, they are – obviously – not always sweet, caring, respectful, appreciative or obedient).

And about working part-time from home, yes it means I get to contribute some income to the family, but the other side of the coin that many often fail to see is that work is mostly done when the kids are asleep and that automatically means very little sleep and rest for me on some nights.

…

My friends and I recently discussed Rev. Stephen Tong‘s sermon on how “Suffering PLUS Willingness EQUALS Enjoyment”.

And I completely agree with the statement.

When we’re not willing to do something, however simple the task is and however ‘light’ the level of discomfort is, it’s very tough to enjoy what we do.

On the other hand, when we do something willingly, even when we encounter ‘sufferings’ and ‘discomfort’ because of it, in the end we’d still get enjoyment out of doing it.

And I thank God (for giving enough strength and grace I need each day), the latter is what I personally experience.

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I’d love to hear your thoughts and views on this. Do share in the comments section ya! See you in there!

The other day Anya, her nursery school friends and teachers went to Garden Asia!

The main aim was to ‘impart an appreciation of our natural environment and rural heritage’ to our little ones. And I thought, that was cool!

It was all pretty hands-on too apparently! They could touch worms and frogs (Anya wasn’t too keen on this though!) AND they ‘re-potted’ their own plants!

It was a nice surprise when I saw every kid actually came back with a potted plant in their hands!

And so, here I introduce to you all, our new little ‘pet’ called Leafy!

Leafy now sits near our window and both kids give it a regular ‘drink’ twice a day.

Quite a good lesson on caring for something too, I reckon.

And to me, it sure is BETTER than having my 4.5yo and 2yo care for a hamster or a rabbit! 

Her hair is messy and all over her face in this photo.

And I don’t quite know why, I like this shot.

May be it’s because it speaks of how a captured moment does not always have to be perfect.

And how kids are kids, and being all messy but happy IS part of childhood.