Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Last week Anya started learning HOW to write. Officially. And I started her off with the letter ‘S’ and ‘U’. And she’s so enthusiastic about it!

Well so far she knows how to write the letters ‘Q’, ‘I’ and ‘O’.

And sometimes, ‘accidentally’ she can write the letters ‘U’, ‘V’, ‘M’, and ‘Z’. Hehe.

Anyway, it’s interesting to see her level of concentration. How she struggled to ’smoothly’ join the dots to form a nice little ‘U’. And how tough it was for her to learn, control and coordinate her hand, fingers and a little pencil.

But then again, the beginning of something (or anything) is usually never easy.

And it should never be the reason for us to give up.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.

She carefully watches everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness.

Her children stand and bless her.
Her husband praises her:

Proverbs 31: 10, 27, 28

Together with Anya, Vai now explores the playground.

Climbing up the slides and steps, going through the tunnels.

And I usually end up going up the equipment myself to bring the baby down to the bottom of the slide so he can start his adventure all over again.

PS: Anya’s sort of ‘back to normal’ now! Woopeee…

Anya’s ‘Terrible Three waves’ have sort of made its comeback.

And unfortunately for me, it’s tougher and rougher than before.

She’s really not like her usual self this past 10 days or so.

She frequently whines, cries and screams. And most of the time, she’d say and want the opposite of everything that I say or offer. Unreasonable demands. It’s shocking.

There’s a time when we reached our eating place and she insisted that we go and eat ’somewhere ‘else’. There’s also a time when she pointed to a bowl of fishballs and she said she wanted some; when told that I’ve already gotten some for her, she said she wanted the ones IN the bowl NOW!

She’d want me to carry her to the supermarket (WHILE I push the pram!). Or she’d want to drink some other milk, NOT the one in her glass.

At the end of each ‘unfulfilled demand’, she’d go crying and screaming. Yes. Even when we’re in public.

[No, we don’t give in to her unreasonable demands, and yes, I do get lots of stares from people]

Hmmph.

Really. It’s like she’s gone hormonal or something. Ah. I know she’s growing up and is craving for independence. Wanting to be the one who makes all the decisions. Emotionally insecure too. The whole ‘older sibling syndrome’ kicks in rather hard on her again too I guess.

And me. Well, I’m trying to keep myself as sane as possible.

And as much as I’m at the brink of banging my own head to the wall, I struggle to NOT ‘lose’ it. I’d leave her in the room, I’d raise my voice (to the max, at times) or I’d let her have some ‘time-out’ in the bathroom (we choose to not resort to physically spank / hit / beat her).

Sigh.

I pray that GOD continually gives me the much needed wisdom and extra patience. Extra strength to go through each shocking and mentally draining episode.

I’ve survived it so far. But really, I’m a tired Mom.

And I only hope that this whole period ends sooner than later.

Much sooner. Please.

Once we have children, our lifestyle kinda needs some … adjustments. Especially since it’s no longer just about ‘me and my hubby’’.

And when faced with such a change, we often go through periods of feeling kinda ‘unsettled’. Uncomfortable.

This month at our weekly Women Fellowship, our focus is on the book of Ruth. A young woman who stepped out of her circle of security and took on a new country, new religion, new family. New everything.

Just like most of us, she went through change, stress and took on a great risk. And for Ruth in the Old Testament, great risk brought with it great reward.

Being a stay-at-home Mom means that our family lives on a single income. Although yes I do work from home (more on a ‘part-time’ basis rather), it’s still different compared to having two people earning two full income.

And while raising my two little ones, I go through different challenges everyday. Times when I have to make the right choice when disciplining and teaching Anya. Occasions when I need to control my impatience or even anger.

And frankly, it’s not easy.

While some may think life is therefore ‘easier’ and more comfortable WITHOUT children, personally I think the experience of raising these little ones myself (instead of leaving the task to someone else) has been precious.

Other than knowing that I’ve been given the honour of building these little ones’ life foundations and characters, amidst my daily struggles I get to learn more about self-denial and self-control as well.

And beyond the feeling of ‘total’ security of earning double income, our family gets to see God’s wonderful work and how HE continues to supply and provide us with what we need. Everyday.

And I guess in the end, life with children – though it may seem to bring ‘unwanted’ change and adjustments on our part – gives us parents a new dimension of growth too.

And all these, to me, are only some of the many great rewards we get to enjoy as parents.

… of my favourite shots!

Taken a couple of days ago, when they just woke up from their afternoon nap.