All About Your Child

Ok, most of us know about the DOs of CNY, like:-

• say auspicious greetings / words when one passes the Mandarin Oranges on every visit
• wear red or bright coloured clothes
• give Hong Bao (if you are married) to people who are younger than you and who are not married, as a blessing
• spring cleaning before Day 1 of CNY, an act of getting rid of the bad luck in the previous year
• buy new clothes, shoes, bedsheets, pajamas….., a ‘Fresh’ start in the new year
• decorate the house with as many red decorations as possible

Its the DON’Ts that hmmm…. I’m not too sure about. I remember there were much more than the handful I’ve listed below: –

• cannot mention the word ‘death’, ‘die’, ‘dead’, ‘funeral’, ‘sick’, ‘unluckiness’….
• cannot wear black clothings during visiting, because black is considered inauspicious
• cannot eat porridge on the first day of CNY, because porridge is a meal for the poor, so it symbolizes that you’ll have poor luck for the new year
• breaking a glass or anything that’s made of glass on the first 3 days of CNY is considered a signal of bad luck for the new year. To counter this, the person who broke the glass (accidentally) must say, “Luo Di Kai Hua” immediately. (direct translation: drop on the floor, flower blossoms)
• cannot sweep the floor on the 1st day of CNY, ‘cos you’ll be sweeping away the good luck. I ever argued over this point with my grandma before. “Maybe its sweeping away the bad luck!” She told me, the new year always brings good luck, that’s why its important to have your house squeaky clean before the new year comes (spring cleaning). I used to think the invention of vacuum cleaners were inspired by a Chinese… *laugh*
• this last one that I know is probably the Best for all the kids. Parents or Adults are suppose to control their anger and refrain from scolding or quarreling with anyone… So its a ‘no-holds-bars’ for children on the first day of CNY. This is the hardest of all, which I usually couldn’t follow through the first 24hours of the new year….*grin*

Do you know any other DON’Ts that are NOT listed here?

Many of you know about my big struggle with Keatkeat over his sinusitis, which ‘helped‘ me wrote my longest post ever (3-days long): It took 7 months

I’ve got a feeling his ‘eating condition’ might spike off another huge challenge for me this year.

Ok, this is a CONTINUATION from these three posts:

1. ‘Eat Faster Please’ and
2. ‘Parenting Does Hurt Marriage’ and
3. ‘Clash of the Titans’.

I can’t believe that I’m typing this down. A simple daily thing that everyone does with ease has become a PROBLEM for my boy ~~~ EAT.

If you had read the 3 posts, you’ll know how stressful it is for Keatkeat and myself to eat with Allan. I thought things were better after my ‘proposed plans’:

• avoid dining outdoors
• avoid giving big chunks of meat
• avoid giving more than what he can finish
• serve him food only when he is hungry
• serve him food of his choice

In order to speed up his eating whenever we are dining with Allan, so please RULE OUT the possibility that he is not hungry or the food is not to his liking.

Well, they worked on some days and on terrible days they didn’t.

Recently, it had become worse. Its NOT happening on EVERY meal, but it happens every now and then, so much so that I’m getting really worried.

“Could it be a result of Allan’s punishment on him months back?” OR “Could it be just a development by itself without any reason?”

I DON’T KNOW! That’s what’s worrying…. if you know the cause, at least you can find the solution, if you don’t, there is no way you could ‘TREAT’ the root of the problem!

These are the ‘New‘ eating habits of Keatkeat, even if Allan is NOT AROUND:-

1. Eat a strain of noodle at a time.
2. Can only take in 1/2 spoonful of rice, anything more, he’ll gag.
3. Always in a daze.
4. Twirl the fork/spoon in mouth.
5. Look everywhere except his food.
6. Sings
7. Talks
8. Stir the food in the bowl.
9. Dig his nose till it gets too agitated, he sneezes.
10. Have the need to pass motion in the ‘middle‘ of the meal.
11. Sighs and takes lots of deep breath.
12. He hardly finishes his share of food.
13. Stretches his body.
14. Supports his head on his palm, while elbow rested on the table top.
15. When we are out of sight, he pours the food away. Happened twice.
16. RUB HIS EYES : This is the HUGE SIGN that he wants to STOP EATING.

The following happens (INCLUDING THOSE HABITS ABOVE) when Allan is around:-

1. When he hears, “Eat Faster Or Else….”, he will scoop a big spoonful and STUFF it into his mouth, until he vomits. After he vomits, he is NOT going to touch his food, no matter what you say or do….
2. Woke up from his daze when Allan slaps his palm on the table or shouts.
3. Whenever everyone has finished their share, except him, he will give the I’m-not-gonna-eat-no-matter-what-happens Expression.

Allan being impatient, gives up and gives in. 2 things happen: –

1. Allan picks up the bowl and starts feeding him. OR
   
2. Allan throws away what’s left in his bowl/plate.

As a result, my 5 year old is not interested to feed himself and couldn’t finish what he used to be able to finish, months back.

These few days were worse. Whenever I ask if he is hungry, its “No” all the time, even though its 3 hours passed his normal meal time.

Keatkeat is only 5 cm taller than his 18months younger brother; but because of Binbin’s ‘standing hair’, the difference look more like 2cm only.

If these carry on, very soon, it will be the other way round……*Sigh*

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not interested in their height difference, its just a passing remark. I’m worried about the UGLY habits, especially the gags and vomits…..