Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

 
Today is the day when, for the first time, Anya and Brie both performed in a piano recital.

Brie started her piano lessons in February, so it’s only been around 3 months since she learned how to play the piano, properly.

(Before she had piano lessons, Brie would play on the piano keys to find the tunes to familiar songs. I never force her to play. She somehow has that longing from the inside, which I’m truly grateful for! Because, we never force any of our kids to do any ‘lessons’ outside of school hours)
 

 
The piano recital was held at ‘Conclave’ at Kebayoran Baru.

One artsy building, and we took LOADS of photos by the window, on the blue sofa above, haha.

Anyway.

Anya and Brie spoke well in front of the crowd, introducing the pieces that they’d be playing.

Btw, Brie played three short pieces: Alley Cat Choir, Gallop Pony and Amazing Grace.
 

 
We hope they continually grow to love music.

And we hope it’s the beginning of more things to come for the two of them.

 
#stopTerrorism
#kamibersamaPOLRI
#WeAreNOTafraid
#kamiTidakTakut

 
Those who follow instructions will learn faster.

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Listening and following instructions … these are habits we hope our kids have since young. The younger they are, the more playful they are naturally. Not an excuse to not start the habit though.

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Photo: Levi wears on his hands ‘hand paddles’ – the ‘resistance’ allows him to build strength on his arms and shoulders.

 
Anya and her school friends spent a few good hours today at a nation-wide competition, organised by the Ministry of Education and Culture #kemendikbud

It’s called ‘Festival Lomba Seni Siswa Nasional’

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One of the categories was ‘Poster Design’ and her school selected 3 students to go for ‘Grade 7-9’ individual category.

The given theme was: ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ – Indonesia’s ‘unity in diversity’ motto.

And so Anya went with her friends to the appointed venue, and she created THIS, on a piece of paper given by the committee.

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🔴 The message was:

🇲🇨The lady is the personification of Indonesia’s diverse culture. Balinese headpiece, and the patchwork skirt is a combination of different Batik artworks from the 5 main islands in Indonesia. She is the ‘ONE’ in IndONEsia

🇲🇨The background represents Indonesia’s famous landmarks and beautifully rich nature

🇲🇨The lady points upwards towards ‘God’ as Indonesia’s ‘first principle’ in Pancasila is ‘Belief in one and only God’. So it is only by God’s grace, if Indonesia can stay as ONE amidst its diversity

🇲🇨The lady also points forward, as we must continually move forward towards a better future

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The thing about the competition is, it apparently needs to be done ‘digitally’, using Photoshop, Illustrator or CorelDraw.

It was ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ in our digital era.

Participant was supposed to bring own laptop, too.

And errr, Anya and her friends did not know how to use the software just yet, nor did they bring any laptops.

In the end they were asked to join in and draw their poster manually on a piece of paper.

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Anyway.

To me, whether Anya or her friends won the competition, … it is not as important as giving their very best within the short time given to them.

She’s a winner in our hearts for giving her all ❤️
(and for ‘nearly dying’ from drawing the batik patterns and completing everything within a short time, she said, haha)

 
Brie decided to make this ‘table’ yesterday, while Mommy and Daddy were away.

At the end of each day, she explained, the table needs to be filled: whether she does her homework, whether she behaves well, or whether she’s scolded 😳 The table is for the whole month of May.

Our family never uses such a method at home, btw.

Which makes me wonder, how on earth did she come up with the idea?

(PS: ‘Saturday’ is excluded, because it doesn’t fit on the paper, she said =)

 
In 2 weeks time, Brie – the littlest in our family – turns 7 years old!

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Some 6 months ago, if I asked her to write a random story about anything, just some 2-3 sentences, she’d say, ‘I have no idea what to write’.

Last night, I spotted a surprise.

You see, Wilson and I were away for the whole day yesterday visiting our friends and their infant baby who’s fallen ill, and apparently while we’re away, she wrote quite a bit.

This is one of the ‘stuff’ she made on her own and I’d like to remember this as one of her milestones =)

Hope she keeps reading, writing, drawing, scribbling, observing, creating, learning.

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PS: One of the 3 kids’ favourite is to sleep on our bed, yes all five of us squeezed together, hah. Something they look forward to every weekend – our ‘family night’. While we still can, I’d say ❤️☺️

 
All three kids have no school these 2 days.

Frankly, we are sooo tempted to leave the city and explore the great outdoors for some fresh air!

But then, the kids have big piles of homework, projects and preparations for final exams.

Plus, mommy and daddy’s work deadlines are piling.

So here we are.

Spending time doing school and work stuff, watching DVDs, AND most importantly, time with each other =)

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Soooo looking forward to the school holiday in June and July!!

Beaches, mountains, fresh air … we are coming soooon!!

 
You could lose your teeth, but NEVER should you lose your smile.

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Many adults tease (make a joke or mocking remarks) young children when they lose their baby teeth.

Some tell these kiddos how their lost teeth make them look ugly, how they shouldn’t smile when photos are taken, how they should cover their mouth instead, etc.

(Sounds familiar?)

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Not all kids are ‘affected’ by such ‘jokes’, of course.

But, over the years, I have seen young kids (esp. Teenagers) who become very self-conscious about their physical appearance AS THE RESULT of remarks made by others that focus on their ‘outer look’.

Your arms look so big!

Why are you smiling so big for the camera? You don’t even have any teeth to show!

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Our words can also break and discourage others, even young onesOur words can encourage.

But our words can also break and discourage others, even young ones.

Yes, even when spoken in a joking manner.

Let’s be more aware of our words – spoken or written?

Food for thought.