All About Your Child

My dear Binbin did not cry again! *Yippee* I didn’t call my MIL today…I just don’t want to make it so obvious that I WANT TO PROVE HER WRONG! *laugh* Thank you Clement for passing me the hammer! *laugh*

Allan and my sister think its hereditary. Nope, not from Allan; ‘cos my MIL said Allan cried for 1 YEAR! (That’s so hard to believe, isn’t it? Oh well, that’s what the lady said) Anyway, they think Binbin has my ‘genes’ ~ the ‘like-to-go-school’ genes… *laugh*

I remember how excited I was when I knew that I’m going to school for the first time. I wanted my boys to have that excitement too. I remember WHY I was so excited and wanted to prepare my boys based on what I’d experienced. But because of my commitment in my retail line, I didn’t prepare my elder one for it, and he cried for the first 3 days.

I must make myself clear: I think its perfectly fine for kids to cry on first few days of school. Its understandable. Yet its preventable when the parents put in some effort BEFORE the child starts school.

I realised it only too late. I couldn’t help my Keatkeat, so I put in my all for Binbin. Guessed it worked… here’s how I did it…

Its a year long preparation. Throughout 2008, I make sure that I brought Binbin along whenever he is woken by his whiny brother in the morning. Binbin saw what it is like to GO to school. What to expect, things like: parents were not allowed to go in with the child; the door will be closed; the windows would be locked. I gave him the MENTAL preparation.

Next, I created chances for him to mix with other children by bringing him to the playground. For those of you who are not aware, Binbin is a ‘people-magnet’! People, be it young or old, black or white, like to approach him, stroke him, chat with him and kids often come forward to ask him to join in their games. (*sad* unlike poor Keatkeat who hardly get such attention) Hence, the SOCIABILITY / ADAPTABILITY preparation.

Finally, whenever Keatkeat brought home an artwork from school or a party-goodies bag because of his classmate’s birthday, Binbin’s eyes were always filled with envy. Or when Keatkeat went for an excursion, Binbin would often say with jealousy, “Aaaawwww…. So Good! And I can’t go!” My response often act as a reminder, “Binbin, when you start school next year, you’ll have all these too and even more. So do you want to go school?” “YES!!!” was always the reply. When a kid is frequently reminded of the ‘goodness‘ of something, their emotion towards it will be positive. And that’s the EMOTIONAL preparation.

To prepare a 2-3 year old kid for something this big needs a much longer time. I would say, I paid extra attention over last year to prepare him for the big day (yesterday)… I’m glad my effort paid off. *hooray*

Today is the 12th day of Christmas eh? So we decided to ‘bring down’ the tree.

Binbin is just as thrilled to keep the tree as putting it up after coming back from his first day at school.

My little Rooster boy DID NOT CRY!!!! *Yippee*

In order for the nursery students to get used to school life, they will only be there for an hour this week.

Thereafter, it will be 3hours every day. Yeah!

I’m not sure if its a Cantonese tradition or its just my MIL. Every child or grandchild of hers will receive these as well wishes when they step into preschool life. Here are the meanings of each individual item:-

“Sung Choi” (Raw Vegetables) — “Sung Sung Mung Mung” (Active)

“Kan Choi” (I don’t know the English Name *slap forehead* Vege on the left) — “Kan Kan Lek Lek” (Hardworking)

“Cong” (Scallion) — “Cong Cong Meng Meng” (Intelligent)

The raw vegetables are placed in the red packet while ANOTHER red packet contains money as a gift to the kid.

So from now onwards, its gonna be these 2 lovables going to school together.

Binbin was super eager to go to school, even though he had to wake up at 7am, 2-3hours earlier than usual.

Keatkeat, as usual, played his ‘dilly-dally‘ games.

When we reached the school, Keatkeat had no problem joining the queue to get his mouth and hands checked. Ever since the Hand Foot Mouth Disease, the school had to take these measures even though there isn’t any HFMD students.

Out of 10+ kids in Binbin’s class, 3 were sobbing quietly and another 2 were yelling at the top of their voices.

I’m soooooooooooooo proud of my boy! He was rather shaken up by the louder 2, but he controlled himself really well.

I went in with him to get him distracted with a toy or two, before I could give him a kiss and say “See You Later”.

First thing we did after the one hour was giving my MIL a call. ‘Cos everyone in the Loh family is expecting him to make a big hoo-haa on the first day, just like every other kid in the family.

Hey Hey, finally there is one who broke the ‘curse‘!

*sigh* But my MIL reply was, “Hey, don’t be too sure! First day didn’t cry, doesn’t mean the next few days will not cry….”

*Urrrrgggghhhhh* Anyone has a hammer to spare?!!! *Eyes rolled*

Yesterday was a fruitful day. I was so occupied from as early as 8am to as late as 11pm. I can feel that 2009 will be an extremely exciting year for my family and I.

So yesterday, I woke up at 8am+ to bring my boys down for the school orientation. The boys were so excited to go to school, they jumped out of their mattress as if they were going to Toys R Us.

Keatkeat was all geared up to be the big tour guide of the day for his brother. While the principal was talking to us in one room, the boys were so at ease in another room playing with the wooden train sets and mingled a little with the other school mates.

When the briefing was over. Binbin refused to leave. He wanted to stay longer. To explore more. To play more. This is not the first time he stepped into the school, but definitely the first for everyone to step into the nicely renovated place.

I had to carry him out of the place! We had no choice but to leave early because Allan needed to help my BIL to deliver Chinese New Year greeting cards….

Later in the afternoon, my eldest SIL was so concerned if Binbin had cried on the first day of school (cos’ none of the Loh’s grandchildren has NOT), she sent me a sms…. and was disappointed when I told her there was no lessons…. I bet she’ll ask again on Monday *laugh*

This morning, Binbin first sentence was, “Mommy, wake up, I need to go school already!”

When I told him there’s no school on Saturday, he face dropped to a gloom. I hope his excitement will last long… *fingers crossed*

Ok, I’ve said enough of how much I love Marina Barrage. I just want to ’show’ you how madly in loved we are with the place. We went there again today. This is the 4th time in a span of less than a month. Yes, I can hear some of you murmuring away that I didn’t mention about the 3rd visit. Well, I just don’t want to bore you… *wink*

Today will be the last time for the kids to visit this place THIS YEAR! School will begin next week, so its back to the usual routine; but this time, its more exciting for me. Cos’ BOTH will be in school! Binbin - 3 hours and Keatkeat - 4hours! Allan and I have already some ‘evil plans’ up in our sleeves…. *laugh* Yeah! *clap clap clap*

Hence the ‘gallery’ in my living room will no longer be just Keatkeat’s masterpieces, but 2009 will welcome its new artist ~ Binbin.

Most of you may have noticed that I hardly blog about their academic progress. Given that I’m a teacher by experience and by nature, I should be (in most people’s mind) one who probably blog about studies 90% of the time.

No particular reason, I just don’t. I prefer to talk about other parenting issues that will impact children’s mentality and personality than just on grades.

But now that I’ve got 2 in preschool, maybe 2009 will have more blog posts about how I ‘tackle’ their English, Mandarin, Maths and what have you…..or maybe not, we’ll see…. *wink*

When you live in a multi-racial, multi-religious country like Singapore, its really hard to fully enjoy a season. It was just Christmas a while agao, and now, the shops are busy changing their stocks from blue-and-white to gold-and-red.

Yes, Chinese New Year is on 26 January 2009. Having a higher number of Chinese population over here, its unmistakably that more people celebrates CNY then Christmas. Well, the truth is: not all Chinese are Christians but MOST Christians are Chinese….

We went to Chinatown today, for a walk, just to see if those temporary CNY shops are up, just to see if the decorations are done, just to be there earlier before the crowd to get into the mood of the longest celebrated season every year.

Personally, I think that Keatkeat and Binbin have very strong legs as compared to kids of their age. I credit it to ‘never-pram and hardly-carry’ days ever since they made their first step.

We walked for 3 hours non-stop. What truly kept them going were their search for a replacement…. for these:-

(These were pictures taken during this year’s CNY in February)

Those were the mini lion heads we bought for them earlier this year, to greet my PIL when we visited them on the first day of CNY, which made everyone laughed so hard.

Binbin’s orange lion head’s beard and moustache are completely gone, the ‘body’ has been detached from the head long ago. As for Keatkeat’s white lion head, the ears were ripped off months after the above performance.

Allan and I are not very keen on getting them another set. The kids are aware. In a way, they are ’sensible’. They are willing to compromise for a smaller one. Those that are hand-held, more like a puppet, instead of getting the exact same size as their disfigured Lions lying in that Toy Box together with all their Hot Wheels.

Yes the kids found those puppets, almost half the price of what they own. But the adults played delayed-tactics. Afterall, its still another month away and the parents know their kids too well… they have good intentions in mind, they just want the lions to be still in ‘one-piece’ for the big day on 26 January…. so till the day gets nearer, the family is staying away from shops that look really Red-and-Gold from afar… *wink*

Keatkeat: “Mommy, how do you make me a boy?”

Me: (Acting as if I don’t understand) “What do you mean?”

KK: “When I come out of your tummy, how did I become a boy?”

Me: “Well, Papa & Mommy think and Think and THINK really hard for you to become a boy. And so you did become a boy….” (Winked at Allan)

KK: “Oh! So you and Papa did not think very hard for a girl because girls are troublesome, right?!”

Me: *Huge Laugh* “Yes, yes…yes…” *Laugh*

I’m sorry girls… I agreed! *laugh*

———————————————————————————–

Binbin: “Mommy, Look!”

*Hop*

*Hop*

*Hop* He hopped thrice on one leg before crumpling down on the floor.

Me : *Smile* *clap clap clap* Though he has done it so many times, I am still not sick of showing that little excitement as if he was doing it for the first time.

Binbin: “Mommy, I’m so clever, right?! I’m only 3 years old and I can hop on one leg. When I am 4 years old (with his head slightly tilted upwards), I can hop with NO LEGS ah !”

Me : “Huh? No Legs?!”

Binbin : “Yes, No-pi-li-nope! No legs! I can hop with my HANDS and my BACKSIDE!!!”

And he attempted to do it. But failed.

Binbin: “Aiya! I can’t do it now because I’m not 4 years old yet!”

*Huge Laugh*

Everyday, I’m in for a surprise treat from Keatkeat. He is REALLY good with the blocks. I’m bad, I should have shown you ALL his creations, from animals to vehicles to furnitures to towers and bridges and what-have-you…. but I didn’t *ashamed* I just kept them in my heart…. they are (were) beautiful!

There are no books, no samples and all he does is imagine it in his head and he put his fingers and extreme creativity to work, and within seconds, Taa-daa…. A masterpiece.

You have seen Keatkeat’s creation of the multi-story carpark and Papa & Mommy using these blocks. I have to clarify, these are NOT LEGO blocks. I’d never like Lego because of ‘their good quality’, their edges are too sharp…. so the ones that Keatkeat has been playing with are ‘cheapo’ building blocks.

(Please forgive me for the shadow of my big head! I was too eager to take photos and I forgot the lights were right on top of my head…*laugh*)

Keatkeat: “Mommy come and see….”

Me: “What is this?”

Keatkeat: “It is an ambulance.”

Me: “Huh?! Can you explain the different parts of it? I can’t tell why is this an ambulance…”

Keatkeat: “The 2 yellow ones are the siren on top of the ambulance. The purple ones are the windows, it is closed, the other side don’t have purple because the windows are opened.”

Me: “Oh! Then where should the patient lie?”

Keatkeat: “This is the bed.”

Me: “Hmmm……”

Keatkeat: “You can put it in like this. The bed in the ambulance can be taken out, just like the real one in the REAL ambulance”

Me: “Wow!”

Keatkeat: “This is the patient.”

Me: “Oh, what’s wrong with him?”

Keatkeat: “He fight with the bad people and got a cut down here (pointing to his groin) and he got fever.”

Me: *trying not to giggle* “Oh, ok….”

Keatkeat: “So he lies on the bed and they are ready to go to the hospital now…..Mee-Mor… Mee-Mor…. Mee-Mor…. (sound of the siren)”

*laugh* What a funny siren sound….

….sometimes….

and it did yesterday night. It was back to the same old issue. This is probably THE only issue that Allan and I just can’t come to an agreement on.

You see, Allan and I hardly argue over anything. Yes, we have our disagreement sometimes, but we are never at each other’s throat….hmmm… but it seems that this just might be the very first.

Punishment started to be introduced some weeks back. First, it was taking away privilleges. Then it was ‘quiet corner’ and yesterday he made Keatkeat stand outside the house! Yes, I know the link on top ‘the same old issue’ is more on Binbin and I did mention that “so far Keatkeat is more or less out of this category of ’slow eaters’, so no issues on my 4year old.” in that post. But these few weeks, Keatkeat was NOT HIMSELF. He eats slower than his already-very-slow-eater-bro.

Sometimes it can take over an hour! The food just stays in the mouth, no biting, no chewing and obviously no swallowing.

This was what happened during yesterday’s lunch. Allan put a stop-watch on their mini-dining table. 20mins. Binbin reacted very fast, in the good way. He sped up and was left with one spoonful of rice just before it beeps. Allan said he recognised the effort that Binbin put in and so he was not punished.

I was unhappy about this. To me, rules are rules. If you said, “when you can’t finish your rice before the beep, you’ll have to get out of the house.” Even if its one spoonful, Binbin still failed the mission, hence he should be punished too! (not that I love to see my kids being punished) But its unfair to Keatkeat!

In 20mins, Keatkeat merely stuffed 4 mouthful of rice. Obviously his plate still seem quite untouched. He cried. He kept saying, “But Binbin didn’t finish his rice too.” Anyhow, my Keatkeat is a very unusually-matured boy, he just opened the door himself and stood outside the house. Allan kept the door opened. The punishment lasted for 15-20mins.

My rule of the thumb is “never interfere at the point of punishment” no matter how unsupportive I am. ‘cos I don’t want my kids to see an angel and a devil. It took great efforts to establish their ‘happy’ father and son relationship - see my post on ‘Anti-Dad’ back in January this year.

But when dinner comes. Boy oh boy! I can’t stand it anymore! Though I know Allan will never let the boy sleep outside the house for the night, although he said that. But I don’t like my neighbours to be involved. You see, my neigbours are out for work in the afternoon (obviously), but they are back in the evening. They are a bunch of nice people, often very caring and sharing. It would be a surprise if they didn’t come over with questions…. I don’t like that.

It was 20mins again. Keatkeat was stuffing till he got choked and on the verge of vomitting…..

I can’t stand the sight, I just yelled, ” For goodness sake! Why introduce such punishment!!!!?”

“Ahhh… what the F***! Whatever I do is never right?! Isn’t it ridiculous? The speed that he is eating?! Ahhh…I’m not gonna care anymore! Do whatever you (referring to my 5year old and me) like! I’m not gonna care!” Allan shouted back and stormed to the PC desk.

Hey hey where did that come from???! When in the world did I say, “Whatever you do is never right?!” Anyway, I got my point across. That’s all I wanted and badly needed.

I didn’t care too, leaving Keatkeat really confused - “so am I going out of the house now?” or “do I still need to finish my rice?.” I’m sorry boy… I wanted to be occupied with something else, so I just got Binbin ready for bed…. and I fell asleep as I patted his bum.

This morning, Allan was out early, didn’t get to see him at all… but I know we’ll be fine, I just know it will be….

(some of you ask if Allan reads my blog. Actually he doesn’t, only when I asked him to read a particular post like the one on our 8th wedding anniversary. So he’ll probably not get to read this either. Whatever it is, that’s fine with me.)