What would you have done?

You are out with 2 kids below 4 and 5 years old.

They are fully potty trained.

The 3 of you went into an eatting place where there are not toliet facilities.

The nearest toliet is about 20 metres away.

For precaution sake, you brought them to the toliet first before going for the food.

After eating for less than 5 minutes, one of the kid tells you that he needs to pee again.....What would you have done?

My biggest embarassment as a parent

Today I felt like putting my pride down and share a big blunder I made 4 years ago as a parent.

Right after my confinement month, I left my mother-in-law's house and brought Keatkeat back home.

As first time parents, we were at cloud nine but this excitement was soon replaced by anxiety and fear because Keatkeat started to cry uncontrollably almost every night. We noticed that he will start to cry at around 6pm till wee hours in the morning with occasional mini-nap in between..... Read more here

I hate to see my baby cry!

Tonight, I need to setup my stall at the bazaar. So I had to beg ask my mother-in-law to take care of them for a few hours while I do my setup in peace.

In the past, I sell my handmade accessories as a job. Now I am selling them as a duty. I need to clear them fast because I do not like to go through the moment where my kids show me the mummy-can-you-don't-go-work kind of look whenever I drop them off at my mother-in-law house. I hate to see that look. I can feel how my kids feel, its the same kind of feeling as when my auntie told me that I had to stay with my parents for good (read my story).

In the past, it was a daily routine that they had to be deposited at my in-law's house. They still gave me that kind of look then, but because they were so used to it, they hardly cry....Read more here

In memory of Honghong

I was watching a circus performance on TV and I can’t help but think of Honghong. She passed away at the age of 6 at home.

Her parents brought their 4 children to watch a real-life circus performance, 2 days after the fun-filled day, the accident happened. Read more....

Welcome to my Blog on ChildrenUnderstanding your Child Eliminates Frustrations in ParentingHome

Finally Binbin, 2, knows how to rinse his mouth. He used to drink the water instead of spitting it out. I’m observing for another week or two. If he is really good at rinsing his mouth, then I can introduce brushing with toothpaste.

I feel a great sense of achievement, not for myself, but for the kids, whenever they progress on to taking care of themselves. One day, I know I will not hear: read more.....

An undecisive 2-year-old

My friend was complaining to me that her 2-year-old son was driving her nuts! She said,” there was this time, I asked him if he wanted the fishball, he said ‘no’. So she took it away and gave him a hotdog, then he shouted ‘fishball’. When she passed him the fishball, he called for hotdog. So frustrating. Then when I pass him the hotdog again, he wanted the fishball!”

It seems that the child can’t make up his mind. But that’s not true, find out why here....

Perfection in Children

I noticed that there is a great change in parents' attitude towards their child when their child starts schooling.

I have seen so many parents from a playmate to the child changed into a disciplinary master. Rather, even before they put on their school uniform for the first time, the child has probably noticed a big change in their parents' behaviour.

Its no longer,"yes, child, what do you want? what would you like? would you like to do this or that?"

It has become,"child, sit here.... do this.... do that..... hold the pencil the right way..... why are you eating with your left hand....sit up right....why is your line crooked...draw a straight line....don't colour outside the picture....and the complain list goes on...." And these complaints were voiced out either at the top of the parents' voice or in a scolding manner. Do you really need to raise your voice?

Every-time I see such a scene, one big question (to the parents) always comes to my mind :'Were you that perfect when you were at that age?'

Children learn as they grow, their skills improve as time passes, practice makes perfect, right? So what's the hurry? Why do these parents expect their child to do the perfect stroke the very first time they write their first number or first alphabet? Or expect the child to get a score of 95/100 for every examination paper. To me, its ridiculous.

Read complete article here....

7 Ways of Potty Training

Having problem with Potty Training? I have a list here that may come in useful. The first 2 ways on the list was my method of potty training my boys. The rest were from my friends. Some are really innovative!

Read the 7 ways of Potty Training here...

When to teach a Child body parts?

That was what my friend asked me today. She came over for a visit and saw that my kids powdered their elbow too after a bath, she was puzzled. She has never seen kids powdered their elbows before...

I told her its because as I powdered them I would naturally name the body parts . Now they are so used to the routine, powder neck 1st, then armpit, shoulder, chest, tummy, private, knee, ankle, backside and back.My boys were able to identify their body parts around 1 year old.

I actually started this when....read more

Happy Birthday Hadi!

Today, we celebrated Hadi, my nephew's 1st birthday. It was a big party with 35 guests, including us. Isn't he cute?! See more photos

Anti-Dad

"I don't want you."

"I don't like you."

"I want mummy to make milkmilk for me."

"I want mummy to bathe me."

"I want to go with mummy."......and the list goes on.

Its hurtful to whoever that receives these messages. If mummy is a home-maker, then the receiver is probably the daddy.

'does the child mean it when he says all these?' Find out here

Bath Time

Did you ever notice that whenever you shower your kids, they yawn?

I love to see that expression. They fell so relaxed and simply enjoyed the water running down their hair…

My boys loves to create BIG BUBBLES from their belly during bath time. This is how they do it.

My Child's imaginary friend

It all began when Keatkeat started to sing songs that I have never heard before. It puzzled me. I asked:"Did you learn that song in school?" "No." a quick reply and continued singing.

I watched almost every cartoon with him and I don't remember hearing those songs, but in case my forgetful mind has been playing tricks on me, I asked again:"Did you learn that from the cartoons on TV?" "Nope" shaking his head.

"Then who taught you these songs?" I was getting a bit impatient.

"Sky teach me"

"Huh? Who is Sky?" Find out who is 'Sky' here

Shy about Breastfeeding in Public?

I have never tried breastfeeding in public. I was just too concern over how passerby would look at me. My attitude was wrong. That does not mean that I stayed at home for the entire 6 months when I was totally breastfeeding Binbin.

I will go to places where there are nursing rooms. In fact, nowadays I realise that such nursing rooms are more easily accessible now than in the past and I believe the trend will continue to increase as more mummies choose to breastfeed now.

Watch this video, it changed my way of looking at breastfeeding in public. If I have my third child, I will give it a try. Yup, practise at home first, before trying it in public. When you have gained your confidence in breastfeeding, your movement becomes natural.

Have you tried breastfeeding in public before?

Breastmilk Jaundice

Have you heard of breastmilk jaundice? Sounds unfamiliar, I was 'lucky' to have such an experience.

As you know I fully breastfed my second boy fully for 6 months. On the first week, his jaundice level was quite high, the polyclinic doctor was ready to send him for Phototherapy but was held back because the level drop down to below 'dangerous' level.

Binbin's jaundice level just went up and down like a yo-yo, that is when the doctor conclude that it was Breastmilk Jaundice.

No one knows what the cause of breastmilk jaundice is.....Read more here

Breastfeeding with confidence tip 6-Position

Always choose a Position that YOU ARE MOST COMFORTABLE with.

The Cradle Hold

This classic breastfeeding position requires you to cradle your baby's head with the crook of your arm. Sit in a chair that has supportive armrests or on a bed with lots of pillows.

Rest your feet on a stool, coffee table, or other raised surface to avoid leaning down toward your baby. Hold her in your lap (or on a pillow on your lap) so that she's lying on her side with her face, stomach, and knees directly facing you. Tuck her lower arm under your own......More positions here

Breastfeeding with Confidence tip 5-Rest

Mummy must have enough rest. I understand that there are bound to be alot of visitors for happy occasions like these, especially if this is your first baby. However, it would be better to limit visitors to allow more nursing opportunities.

Mothers and babies should learn how to sleep in the same rhythm. Thus, when the baby starts waking for a feed, the mother will also start to wake up naturally. The baby would normally shows signs before he starts crying that he is ready to feed......Read more here

What a Cut!

For the experienced mummies, you know how short the lifespan of toys are, especially when their fate is in the hands of a 2-year-old.Their Christmas presents, as expected, were mainly remote control cars. Allan and I were already expecting the outcome of the fate of these cars, errrmm...not so much of the cars but the controls' antenna.

Binbin loves to pull them out to the maximum and then push them back. I guess he enjoys playing with it more that getting the cars to work by pushing the buttons on the control.

Extending the antenna is easy. The difficult part is when Binbin tries to push it back down. You know, my 2-year-old is a 'muscle-kid', he is even stronger than his 4-year-old brother.

Whenever he tries too hard to push the antenna back, it BREAKS INTO 2! He will run to us with the panic look,"Mummy, spoil already. How?" Then we would just unscrew the antenna out and he will have to control the car from a near distance.

This time, it was the same, the only difference was we found blood on one of the broken end of the antenna. We searched for the source of the blood stain all over Binbin's body, by the way my little one was still giggling, thinking that we were tickling him.

Then we saw the blood stain on his shirt, tilted his head up and saw the 4cm cut at the bottom of his left cheek. ..... See photo here

Back to School

Keatkeat ended his nursery class. In this new year, my big boy is in Kindergarten 1. According to the teacher, there will be some big changes. They are required to learn to read 4 selected books all by themselves by the end of May!

How times have changed?! I remember I was almost 7 years old before I could do that! Kids are learning so much more, even for Keatkeat’s age of 4, as compared to our times.

The teacher continues to scare the kids by saying this....

Happy New Year

2007 has not been really good, be it from the fengshui point of view or personal experiences...

May 2008 be a year full of wealth, health, happiness and successes big or small, I WANT THEM ALL! do I sound too desperate? Yes I am desperate! Its the new year so I shouldn't rake up the past and all the soapy stuff.

My kids' wishes for the New Year:-