All About Your Child

I know I have posted lots on Nick Vujicic, but seriously, his life is a living testimony to what true possibilities are.

And his secret? A Heart of Thankfulness.

Teach Your Child when they are young, to have a Heart of Thankfulness.

When one’s heart is grateful for whatever he/she has, instead of looking at what he/she does not have, nothing else matters….

Are you watching what your kids are playing on Facebook?

Today I received a Facebook message:

“hv u ever play vombie farm.
my credit bill rcvd for two mths,
charged me one hundred over dollars
convert fm usd mthly for playing this game
by the boys.
any knowledge of this game, is it got any auto buying while playing.”

*** My friend’s boys are only 5 and 7 years old.

As the world is so filled with all sorts of entertainment, it is so easy to find a ‘temporary nanny’ just to look after our kids for that few minutes or even an hour.

It used to be

“Go play with your Toys Or “Go watch Cartoons…... Let me (parent/nanny/guardian) do some work first.”

Now it has become

“Go play with your Facebook games. Let me (parent/nanny/guardian) do some work first.”

The PC or the Internet has become our ‘temporary nanny’ which we could easily seek help from, so that we could get a few minutes or even a few hours of break from the noisy little ones.

This ‘temporary nanny’ has proven its worth time and time again. First, ’she’ has the ability to capture the kid’s attention 100%! Next, ’she’ brings joy to them; you hear laughter and never cries. Of course, you must be fair, it has to be one PC to one child. ‘She’ is so popular, your kids would fight over ‘her’.

But what could be the damage?

Poorer eyesight? Autism? Social and communication skill decreased? Bonding with the family reduced? And/or even the lost in monetary terms, just like the message I received this morning.

Do you really know what your child is doing on the Internet?

Do you give them 100% freedom to do whatever they want on social media sites like Facebook?

Do you put restrictions on what they can play or do?

Do you?

‘She’ is a great nanny, but ‘She’ is still a non-living thing afterall, should you have full trust in ‘Her’? What is the relationship between your Kids and Facebook?

I started to train my boys to bathe on their own when they were 3 years old. I taught them, I demonstrated to them because we bathed together and I corrected them.

After 1 month of training which happened 2 years ago, Binbin had no problem, as usual, when it comes to learning survival skills. There is no issue of too much soap taken or too short rinsing time. Back then, when he was only 3 years old, his only issue was not wiping himself dry ‘enough’ after the shower. *smile*

……..

*Deep Breath*

As for Keatkeat….I started training him 3 years ago…. but he did not take one month to master…. *sigh*

Or maybe I should not sigh, I should be celebrating because FINALLY!!!! After practising for 3 years! He can bathe on this own without me nagging:

“too little shampoo…”
“shampoo your whole head! Not just this two parts…”
“if you don’t go under the water how are you going to wash your hair?…”
“you’ve forgotten to put soap here, and here and here and….”
“there is still soap on your body, how can you say you are done?….”

And FINALLY after practising for 3 years, I NO longer see these scenes:

He used to wash his hair as if they were porcuppines’ spikes! Touching them seems to hurt him! *eyes rolled*

He caress his hair as if a slight force would cause him to be bald!!! *super eyes rolled*

He only shampoos his ‘horns’! Every other part of his head is un-shampooed! *pout*

Washing his own rear area made him feel like he had to drown himself into the sewage! *shake head*

Putting his head under the water raining down from the shower cap made him feel like he is going to give up his spirit any moment. *double shake head*

So….

FINALLY all these are over!

Since 3 years ago, I gradually moved from bathing with them together, to checking on them on alternate days, to weeks, to alternate weeks, to the current monthly checks. I am happy with my achievements.

I am proud to tell people that my younger one Binbin, had been bathing independently since he was 3. When I meanAs for Keatkeat, though he needed 3 years of practise, I am still happy that he finally did it!. *smile*

The days whereby no more spot-checks are needed is round the corner….

*clap clap clap*

I have blogged about this video in my other blog before, but have yet to blog it here. The reason for the same video here is different from another blog.

Please…. Tell your child This message, so that your child will not say the same words as one of the commenters (who had ‘liked’ this YouTube video) has said:

The commenter said: “I wish my dad told me that when I was a kid. But_ he died when I was small. Now I’m in my mid 20’s and I haven’t acheived much. I hate what I’ve become. “

I succeeded!!!
This craze began with this post “Dare Take Up The Challenge”

I succeeded…..But that is not the end. Its the beginning of a life-long commitment that I have for my kids. Nothing that they do is going to make me burst my lungs and deafen their ears.

A stare, yes.
An angry front, yes.
A deafening silence in disagreement, yes.
A walk-away form of retaliation, yes.
A lecture in a stern voice, yes.
But no more shall I scream at them at the top of my lungs.
No more!

The 3 Days Challenge marked the turning point of the end of the fiery dragon.

I have tasted enough of what anger of a parent can do to a child when I was a kid. I shall NOT pass this down to my next generation. It has to stop with me.

Letting Anger get in the way of effective parenting is so easy. I must not let anger grow bigger than me. Anger can become uncontrollable when its not handled well. Its a scary monster when that happens….

I am not trying to be super human, I am just acknowledging that one’s mind is BIGGER than anger and not the other way round. *wink*

Have a super parenting day, Mommies! *smile*

It was smooth as silk on Day 2 (yesterday).
It was easier to speak softer instead of yelling.
It was easier to breath deep instead of feeling out of breath.
No near explosion like Day 1.

so its almost 12noon now.
Another half day to go…..
I must make it!
And when I can…
I know Day 4, Day 5…..Day 100 would get better and better….

Way to go girl! *Grin*

Yesterday was day 1. Almost failed the Challenge during dinner time!!! OMG!

For those of you who may have missed this post “Dare Take Up The Challenge” might not know what I am talking about…. click the title link to read what is hidden in my sleeve this time, whereby I am wearing sleeveless. *laugh*

Alright, enough of nonsense. This was what happened during dinner last night.

Keatkeat was playing with his utensils. While he was trying to cut the hotdog into half with the spoon. Some rice were already being pushed out of the plate. And for your information, the plate is not flat. Its curve up on the sides. So to get rice out of the plate is not that easy. Thus, can you imagine how much strength he is using on the wrong thing?!

Me: “Keatkeat, use the fork to poke the hotdog. Eat from the fork.”

Keatkeat refused. He wanted to show that he can do it.

Me: “Alright then, Keatkeat, press the spoon down onto the hotdog, not push it to the side. Look at the rice. They are being pushed out of your plate.”

Keatkeat continued.

FINE! So I told myself, since he wants to do it. Fine! He shall wipe the table after dinner. He should clear his own mess then.

Just when I turned my head away from his plate and back to mine.

He flicked his spoon like a juggler would flick an egg!
What did I get in return?
A spoonful of rice on the floor and some on me!!!

I am all ready to burst!
I think my mouth was even half-opened when I had warm rice rained on my lap and my left arm.

I was ready to scream at him!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh…… but I remembered the challenge! And I remembered how much I want to stop this fiery dragon from growing further inside me.

I bit my lips and SHUT UP!

I bent down with my teeth biting onto my in-turned lips; picking up the rice one by one. Then I went to the kitchen, wet the cloth and wiped the floor off its stickiness….

The lump in throat was so hard to swallow. But I kept it there…. I told it to “stay down, stay down…you are NOT going to yell at Keatkeat… hush hush…you must stop being so hot-tempered….”

In the end, the one who yelled was Allan. *laugh* He was scolding the half-embarrassed Keatkeat while I was playing the rice-picking game. *giggle*

So, its 5:30pm now. Another 1 and 1quarter day to go…. I MUST win the challenge! If I cannot even control what is within me, how can I control what is bigger than me – my life…. *Jiayou*

***”Jiayou” is an encouraging word in Chinese .