All About Your Child

Ok, people who know me for years, know that I’m often as blur as a sotong…I did it again!

Oh well, I do remember that Teacher’s Day is on the 1st of September every year but I DIDN’T know that its a one week school break starting tomorrow…

Keatkeat told me while we were having lunch, that everyone gave Mdm Normah and Miss Chen (the Mandarin Teacher) gifts and flowers except him.

Allan and I was still questioning Keatkeat, “why did they celebrate Teachers’ Day today? It should be next Monday.”

Keatkeat: “I’m on holiday ALREADY! No school on Monday!”

Only then did we call up the school to double confirm and at the same time hope to be able to talk to Mdm Normah, because when we realised the blunder we made, it was more than 45mins after we have left the school.

Luckily, we managed to get her. She usually leaves the school 15mins after school ended.

Me: “Hi Mdm Normah, this is Cheng Keat’s Mommy, I’m sooooo sorry. I didn’t know it was school holiday for the whole of next week and that everyone celebrated Teachers’ Day today. And because of my mistake, Keatkeat is feeling very bad that he didn’t give you anything.”

Normah: “*laugh* oh don’t worry about it. Cheng Keat told me, “Mdm Normah, can I give you a present tomorrow?” I hugged him and said, “don’t worry Cheng Keat, its ok.” Then Cheng Keat pointed to my brooch, “I gave you this last year right?!” *laugh* “Yes Cheng Keat, you gave me this brooch last year and I like it very much, see I’m still wearing it.”

Me: *still very apologetic* “When will you be leaving school today?”

Normah: “Another half an hour”

Me: *thinking it will be too rush to get her a present* “Will you be coming to school next week?”

Normah: “Yes, Wednesday”

Me: “What time?”

Normah: “9am”

Me: “Good! I’ll see you then.”

Normah: *laugh* “Don’t worry about it.”

Me: “No I can’t, Cheng Keat is feeling terrible and so am I….ok, so I’ll see you on Wednesday…”

Normah: *laugh* “ok, see you then…”

So I’m gonna go make up for the BIG MISTAKE I’ve made…luckily its still can be remedied.

*sigh*

Yup! You people are in for a PIZZA TREAT from my 4-year-old Keatkeat. *wink*

His class went to a pizza making session today. I’ve double-checked with the teacher that the 6″ Hawaiian pizza was REALLY done by Keatkeat himself (with a little help from the adults).

Me: “Did you have fun making the pizza?”

Keatkeat: “Yes! And I want to go again!”

Me: *smile* “Can you tell me how did you make this pizza?”

Keatkeat: “I did this and this… (with lots of hand movements), then I take the (chicken) ham and the pineapple and put on top of the pizza….then I put inside the hot box (I presume its the oven)…then its done!”

In order to give credit to his hardwork, the Rite Pizza Professional Institute presented him (and all the other classmates) a Certificate of Achievement!

It said:

“I have made my first pizza at the Rite Pizza Professional Institute! This is awarded to me for the completion!”

Was it yummy? You bet!

His little bro was more appreciative. As usual, my 3 year-old, Binbin ate all the pineapples ‘cos he knows that his elder brother isn’t anywhere near interested in that yellow fruit and gobbled down the pizza in big-mouth-full as he kept asking his big bro, “GorGor, why you don’t want to eat? You make this pizza…You don’t like your pizza?”

Keatkeat couldn’t even finish half the pizza. I guess he is very much like me; I don’t have much appetite after cooking. I guess after preparing the food, its too tiring to ‘enjoy’ the food.

Many of you were concerned that I may be too harsh on Keatkeat after seeing the kind of worksheets (yesterday’s post) I give him. I can’t help but laugh a little.

That’s the last thing I’ll do, dear friends. All the mommies around me have been saying that I’m too slack, especially my 2nd sis-in-law, who is always checking if my kids are ‘up to the standard’. 

I’m a very go-by-the-flow kind of Mommy, it’s very unlikely that I’ll introduce something which the kid is not interested in; unless its a must, like knowing the alphabet. Then I will build the interest through songs and games. Seriously, to get a kid to be interested in anything is as easy as breathing. *wink*

A very good example of how ’slack’ or how ‘go-by-the-flow’ kind of Mommy I am is this great news that I intend to announce to the world.

I DO NOT HAVE DIAPERS KIDDOS IN MY HOUSE ANYMORE!!! Yeah!!!

Where’s the champagne?

I know many of you started potty training your kid as early as 18 months, but I’m really not into the by-when-your-kid-should-be-able-to do this and that kind of Mommy.

Guidelines are great! I love to read them but to follow strictly is ridiculous, ‘cos every kid is different.

It was just 2 weeks ago, that my 3 year old, Binbin, went diaper free at night. We decided to do that after he presented dry diapers every morning for more than 10 days. We knew he was ready.

Like I know what most of you would encounter during the night potty training period:

-wake up in the middle of the night to get the kid to pee

-wake up hoping for a dry mattress but prepared for the worst

-several mornings of washing the wet mattress covers, bolster cases, pajamas, etc

-several mornings of sunning the mattress or dry it with the hair dryer

stories like these are very common.

These mommies see such ’sufferings’ as part of the potty training process. I see it as a training that could have been delayed. Why do it when the child is not ready?

Of cos, I pay a couple of hundred dollars more on diapers as compared to them, but it definitely save me a lot of ’sigh’ and unnecessary washings in the mornings.

Ok that’s about my kind of parenting - intro whatever only when the child is ready.

And talking about this, my Keatkeat has proven his mega memory power as early as 2+ years old. So spellings are ‘chicken-feet’ to him - not exaggerating! Guess what was the very first word he spelled? His favourite word in the entire universe - C-A-R!

He could identify 10 different car logos, recognise the direction to any place which he had just been there ONCE, remember what he did at that place and all the nitty-gritty details that one wouldn’t care much about.

His could almost tell the time on the clock as well as the digital time now. It’s wonderful and frustration-free to teach a kid when the kid is interested in the topic, and seriously, there isn’t a topic a kid at this age would not feel interested in, it all depends on how the subject is taught. *wink*

Today is the Last Day of the one month long School Holidays, Yippeee!!!! Finally, my life can be back to the more predictable routine, instead of squeezing my brain for new stuff to do with them day in, day out.

You see, during school holidays, they don’t nap because they wake up really late. Then the question of “Mommy, can you play with me”will come right after they had their morning milk and this will continue to wee hours like 1am! Their energy level is unbelievable!

This mid-year school break WAS really fruitful, especially for my preschool Keatkeat. Finally he is able to spell from 1-20, know the days of the week through the song I created, improve on his motor skills, which is still a little behind his 15 months younger bro in some ways, recognise almost 10 car brand logos, paint at home for the very first time, help to cook too, etc….

So on this last day, I tested him with this…. which my hubby thinks was too CONFUSING for a 4 year old. What do you think? Too confusing? Too tough on him?

But he scored really well, without any prompting or assistance, remember, its a Test. I wasn’t too harsh on him too, I gave him a chance to look through his answers twice before handing the worksheets back to me.

I’m glad I did gave him time to check over, ‘cos that’s when he noticed some mistakes he made, as you can see the signs of stuff being erased and rewritten over.

 Though he may not have scored full-marks for this last one, I’m happy with the results. He used to be much worse off.

My hubby still thinks that it was too tough for him…..hmmmm

It’s funny how the old feeling of giving tuition to other kids, in my younger years, comes right back as I put every red tick on each correct answer and (as usual) give lots of stars…..Keatkeat wanted 39 stars and I granted his wish. *smile*

This June has been great so far! Lots of excitement and lots of achievements for the kids.

Keatkeat finds it hard to remember which day comes after which. So I created a Song using “My Darling Clementine” tune.

In case you think I was smart, nah, its a habit. I just pick words from the air and throw in new lyrics to tunes that the kids are familiar with, most of the time, its for the fun of it, rather then for educational purposes.

But this time was meant to help my little 4-year-old remember the sequence of the days, which he became so good at it now, after it was made easy with this catchy new song. Now my 3-year-old can sing it too! LOL

Well, over the years of teaching in Child Care Centre, I realise that to make kids remember ‘Anything’, turn them into songs.

So the lyrics goes like this:
Monday
Tuesday
Wed-nes-day-
Thursday
Friday
Saturday.
After Saturday is Sunday
And then Monday comes again.

In case some of you may not know the tune, I’ve attached it below.

Keatkeat’s Excitement:

 This was the hat we bought specially for him for today’s trip to learn more about plants and flowers. It was one of the requirements for this excursion. The others include bringing, snacks, water bottle, raincoat and a handkerchief.

Its was really easy to wake the 4-year-old this morning at 7am. All I need to say was, “I don’t think the school bus to the Mandai Orchid Garden will wait for you, if you are late.” Immediately, he sits up like a robot, went straight to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. They should have more of such trips, then I won’t need to crack my head for new ideas to get the kid out of bed every monday to friday.

Before we left the house, Keatkeat insisted on taking photos for him when he is going up the bus, so I brought the camera down. I was the only parent who did that. So you can imagine that look from the other parents.

 I forgot to check the settings on the digital camera. It was on video mode. When I finally realised my mistake, it was too late. He was already on the bus. This photo was a screen capture from the video shot that lasted for 3 seconds, because I was pressing the button so many times. Its quite blur, sorry.

Here’s the tired boy after 2 hours, coming down from the bus with the help of his English Teacher Mdm Normah.

Keatkeat’s summary of the trip: 

“Mommy, there were alot of mosquitoes at the Orchid Garden. See?! I got 3 bites. Chen Lao Shi (Chinese Teacher, Miss Chen) applied lotion for me…… Didn’t do anything, just walk, walk, walk and walk…….. Kayong got lost there. He cannot find us. Mdm Normah go look for him. He didn’t cry. But Mdm Normah was very angry and scolded him…… I saw bees too. Flying in the flowers…… The floor there is very dirty, look at my shoes (the sides were covered with mud)………. Then I saw 3 blue cars at the carpark too (my car-crazy boy never forgets to notice cars wherever he goes). That’s all, nothing already.”

This was the souvenir he brought back. Seeing it in another way, this tiny pot cost S$13.00 (the cost to be on this trip)

Mommy: “What’s the name of this plant?”

Keatkeat: “Don’t know.”

Mommy: “So, what do you want to call it?”

Keatkeat: “Water plant”

Mommy: “Why?”

Keatkeat: “Because I need to water the plant.” (Hmmm….sounds logical ya?)

“Oh no, Mommy, the plant shh…shh… (pass urine)”

“Ok, that’s enough water for you today, you drank too much. That’s why you shh…shh…so much. I will give you water again tomorrow.”

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My Excitement:

Finally I get to see the SUN and NO RAIN after 9 days of dark clouds. Yeah! Yipee! Those 9 days were horrible. The clothes were still wet even after hanging up for almost 24 hours.

Look at everyone, taking this opportunity to sun their clothes.

Some even gave their birds a ‘Sun-tan’. (Picture below) 2nd column from the right, 3rd unit from the bottom. See the 2 bird cages in brown?

 Too many clothes to hang after so many rainy days, people tried to do stunts with their bamboo. (See photo below) Far right, 2nd unit from the bottom.

It was so sunny and windy (see photo below, you can see my boys clothes flying high), my washing machine washed 3 full loads of clothes. Yes, that many clothes were left unwashed after so many gloomy days. Hmmm….maybe that’s why my kitchen starts to smell weird. Ewww….

I am so glad that the Sun and Wind are here today, ‘cos every Saturdays and Sundays are reserved for my sister to wash her working clothes.

“sorry washing machine, you must be exhausted! I can’t imagine life without you…”

The smell of clothes that have been sun bathed……..(inhaling) its just so assuring (that you clothes are really dry and clean)…….I am in love with that smell…….Hmmmm…..

Not very happy today after fetching Keatkeat from school. In fact, its not just myself, it was every other parents in Keatkeat’s class too. Everyone received a letter saying that the school is introducing reading as part of the cirriculum. Every child had to buy 4 English books and 4 Chinese books. We do not get to choose the books. The school has already decided on the 8 books. Total cost? S$90.00!

All the parents took a close look at the sample of the books. They are no different from the usual story books which we could easily get at S$5 from neighbouring bookshops. Please don’t tell me that there is a special teacher employed just for this reading session. ‘Cos there isn’t! So why are we paying so much for just 8 simple books?

Many parents who are having financial difficulties, went to talk to the principal, but the answer was, “I am sorry, this is compulsory. Anyway, your child get to keep the books at the end of the sessions. There is no exceptions, every student must get them.”

All the unsatisfied parents were mumbling as they leave the principal room. Why do we have to pay that much!? I would rather they follow what my secondary school used to do- give the parents the names of the books. The parents go get it themselves. There are many of us who are members of different bookshops, hence with our discount cards, we definitely can get the books at a cheaper rate.

Are we too stingy over the S$90.00 or are we really being ripped off over these 8 books?

The influence of peers is so great for a teenager. I was lucky to have friends who are of good nature. Parenting a teenager is probably the most challenging task in all the years of being a parent. So before it gets tough, get involved when your child is still young.

I remember a few tips I learned, when I was working in the child care centre, on helping your child to choose the right group of friends. If you start to realise that your child’s mannerism is changing from good to bad or bad to worse. Of course if your child is getting from good to better, I guess there’s nothing for you to worry about. If not, you may want to consider these steps:-

1- Ask your child what does he/she like about her friends? What does his/her friend like to do most of the time? How does your child feel about his/her friend’s actions? From this you can tell the degree of liking your child has for the friend.

2- Ask your child’s friend over for dinner or picnic or game or whatever gathering you may think of. Do the research on the poor fellow friend yourself. Watch his/her actions. Watch your child’s behaviour too, is your child a different person now as compared to when your child is with you? Ask about the friend’s likes and dislikes, hobbies, parents, siblings. From this you have a feel of the friend’s character and background too.

3- Decide for yourself whether is this friend of your child’s a good company or bad? If you still think that your child should avoid this friend, then even if you may turn out to be very unpopular with your child, you will have to tell your child what is wrong with the friend and why it is important to stop being so close to this friend or even stop seeing this friend completely.

4- Direct your child to other activities or other friends which you approve. Just like when you have emptied a bottle of dirty water, you need to fill it up with clean water.

Its not easy for parents to do the above, if the parent hasn’t been truly involved with the life of the child since young. So for parents with young children, its time for you to be totally submerged in your child’s life by constant communicating with your child. Hey, the keyword is communication not you-say-your-child-listens kind of stuff. Let your child tell you his thoughts and feelings too.  Listen to him/her.

Today my boy reminded me that I was showing signs of neglecting him, he told me, “Mummy, I am sad.”

I was puzzled, what can make you sad suddenly when you are playing with all your beloved toy cars, so I asked, “Why, what happened?”

The 4-year-old boy with his head down, said, “You forgot to ask me ‘What did I do in school today?’ ” Awww….. I really did break my usual routine of showing concern…damn me!

Immediately, I replied, “I am so sorry, so what did you do in school today?”

The little boy looked up with a smile and rattled on, “I learned a new song - Some like it hot, some like it cold, some like it in the pot 9 days old. Then Randell (his classmate) was so funny today, he cannot colour properly and he kept making me laugh. But I was a bit angry with Lemin (another classmate) today because, whatever I say, she said, ‘No, no, no.’ Today we sing and dance in the music room too and we are so lucky, we only had 1 worksheet to do, colour the things that can be found under the ground. Yup! That’s all.”

That was a whole chunk of updates from him and definitely a big improvement from the one-word answer when he was in nursery last year. The only word that comes out from his mouth whenever I asked that routine question was “Nothing”.

I love the ‘talkative’ boy now!