Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Inner Voice

In my younger days, I had my share of unhappy days for many different reasons. But I met many inspirational people along the way and made it a point to learn something from each one of them.   

I tried to understand. I reflected. I learnt.

And for a few years, I was a big fan of those self-help and motivational books. I read as many as I could. Throughout the period, a little voice in me whispered, 'You already know the answer! Listen to yourself!'

Being inexperienced about life and living, I doubted my inner voice a lot more than I should. And every time I did, the consequences reminded me that my inner voice was right! 

Now, more than a decade later, I have learnt to pay more attention to my inner voice on matters of all aspects of life. With every problem I face, I can 'see' the solutions very clearly and quickly.

My inner voice is repeating the same message for a while now. Am I listening?








Monday, October 29, 2012

To Conquer


Nearly the end of the school year. It is the time of the year when I take stock and reflect. 

I am rather pleased with the full year, though like always, there are things that I wish we could have done more, and better. But given the circumstances, I like to think that we have done well enough. You win some; you lose some. Such is life, as the wise hubby always says. 

But that nagging feeling remains.

Though I expect my days to be more hectic from next year on with both boys in primary school, I can't help but feel bored. 

On one hand, I am so looking forward to see how M will enjoy and thrive in his Primary 3 curriculum (finally, he will have Science lessons! Yeah!).  And of course, I am excited about little Chip going to big school, taking up CCA and picking up new skills etc. I am also looking forward to helping them overcome their academic challenges and to just learn with them. Yet, I can't ignore my restlessness. The same old familiar feeling. The adrenalin is building but I can't decide where to channel this energy. 

Perhaps I need a different kind of challenge from the daily busyness.

Time for a new project. Something stimulating. A 'mountain' to conquer! 





Thursday, October 25, 2012

Tutti Frutti

For years, I would lament to friends of my inability to interest my boys to eat beyond the same two or three fruits.

Finally, I can stop saying that.

After 7 years of faithfully eating just apples, pears, grapes, avocadoes and bananas, M is finally adventurous enough to snack on new fruits and even drink orange juice at breakfast. Hah!

One fine day, M just decided, out of the blue, that he would accept my offer to try a piece of pineapple. Now he loves it enough to ask for it frequently. His latest favourite is watermelon, so of course I have to celebrate by buying a giant piece from Cold Storage every alternate day. 

Unfortunately, Chip is not getting that much better, including only grapes and kiwi to his pathetically short list after all these years. Umm... my 6-year-old eats only 4 types of fruits (if I exclude tomato and pumpkin). No amount of coercion or education (all the health talk and reasoning) or sweet talk could move the boy enough to take a nibble. I stop short of bribing him with chocolate, even though I know it will work, for it just doesn't seem a reasonable tactic.

For now, I shall just persevere with my offerings and remain optimistic that he will, on one fine day, be 'enlightened' just as M did.

The true 'tutti frutti' as I like to call her, is the baby, who just can't have enough of fruits. She eats plenty of watermelon, grapes, cherry, strawberry, pear, banana, avocado, apple and even the tart raspberries every week. It is just so easy to feed her 5 types of fruits a day. My dream baby indeed. :>




Monday, October 22, 2012

Those Grandmother Stories

As a child, I loved to sit by my mum's bed and listen to all her stories about her childhood. I would ask questions and imagine what her life was like decades ago.

Through her sharing, I had an intimate glimpse into her past and it brought us closer. With each additional bit of knowledge into the past, I have always yearned for more.

Over the years, I realized that what I am after is a deeper connection to the previous generations. It is not enough to know that these people were related to me by blood and that they were my ancestors. I wanted to know more about them. But there were no photos. No written stories or records within easy access. Only a few stories told by my mum, from her memory and perspectives.

Now, I love to tell my boys the same 'grandmother stories' and relate my own experiences from my younger days as well.

At this age, they are still eager and curious enough to listen to me spill the beans on my girlish secrets and perspectives from a younger me. Like how they laughed and asked questions a few days ago when I talked about my crazy puppy loves and embarrassing incidents as a teenager.

I don't know how much they will remember by the time they are grown and I am gone. But I am hoping, by knowing something intimate about my past and that of their ancestors, it will provide them with some deeper connection to the people who were part of their history.

It is for this same reason that I continue blogging, despite the immense temptation to stop. Reading (some of) my blog entries in the years to come should fill the gaps for my kids should they wish to know more about me, my thoughts and perspectives, especially in the time when they were little. If they were ever as curious as I was, that is.











Saturday, October 20, 2012

Oink Oink No More

My heart is a little heavy with emotions today.

It has been such a busy week that I didn't spare a moment to think about his graduation ceremony till I arrived at the school hall today.

Watching my little peanut (he used to call himself this) all grown up on stage (and yet still one of the shortest in his cohort) makes me all emotional.

I still remember the day he started at this kindy, on 12 Aug 2009. A few days after we returned from London. I wouldn't have enrolled him this early if not for the idea of letting the boys accompany each other at this new school (I switched M from another kindy for this). Poor little Chip cried his heart out for weeks, especially in the first two weeks.

He graduates today. My little oink oink. We haven't heard him say this for a long, long time now. When did he stop? Must be around the time when Olivia was born.

3 years in this kindy. His first school. Chip will forever have warm memories of this place. To think that both boys eventually graduated from this same school, one which I initially deemed to be not-good-enough, is truly ironic. Still, I am not sure if I will want to enrol Olivia here in the near future. I shan't worry yet.

For now, I must focus on cherishing my little chip.








Friday, October 19, 2012

Exam Fever

For the whole of Primary 1 and 2, M had only a few mastery tests for Maths and Chinese and none for English.

No dates were given in advance, so one could not really stress the kids to prepare for them. Consistent revision is key to doing well, though we have been told by school that the mastery test results will not be taken into account at all, since there is also no streaming of any sort until the end of Primary 2.

There are also no Continual Assessments (CA) or Semestral Assessments (SA) until NOW. 

Next week, M will sit for his first SA paper for all 3 subjects. All other primary 2 kids I know sat for a SA1 in May, but not in M's school. His first exam, hence he can't grasp the importance of grades (and why every mark counts), despite my various attempts to impress upon him that the results will be used to 'stream' the kids into different classes. Ahem.

M just had his English and Chinese oral exam a few days ago. Naturally, my focus was ALL on the Chinese exam.

In the past few months, especially the last few weeks, we (the boy and me) have worked hard for his Chinese oral and I must say that I am super pleased with his current standard. With virtually no 'teaching' nor 'help' on mastery of oral exam from school and no tuition/classes, I have been his main and only driver who 'pushed' him forward. It hasn't been a pleasant or smooth journey so far; in fact there were tons of tears and sweat and countless incidents which could potentially have raised my blood pressure, but I know for certain that he feels a huge sense of satisfaction and pride with his own ability now, which also greatly boosts his confidence and interest in the subject.

In many ways, I am thankful that M has a solid foundation in English and Maths. He aces every worksheet and class test for English and is able to grasp his Pri 2 Maths concepts easily without help. So I can channel my limited time to coaching him on Chinese.

Now, we are just counting down to his Chinese SA2 paper, which should be a breeze for him. There is only one weakness to work on and there is still time to review and learn the skills required.  Ten days to go!! Can't wait.




Monday, October 15, 2012

Chomp Chomp


Bunny's sixth pearly white was first visible when she was 12.5 month. Now, it is nearly as big as the other three teeth on her lower gum.

She has been eating fairly chunky food for a while now. Most of her chunky food are introduced in the form of finger food during her breakfast and snack time. Though she still loves her vegetable-flavoured rice cakes, I introduced her to oat cakes and tiny pieces of hard wholegrain crackers recently to increase her repertoire. She can handle very thinly sliced or small cubes of apples and really enjoys tiny cubes of cheddar cheese too.

She loves her soft fruits and can eat bananas, watermelon and grapes all day long if I let her. Recently, we discovered she loves raspberries too, but she seems to develop a little rash on her stomach the day she eats some, though it does go away a few hours later.

It makes me so happy to see her chomp on her fruits everyday and I make sure she eats three types a day. What a refreshing change! I often wonder about the differences in her eating habits and preferences compared to the boys and if this has anything to do with the fact that I am still breastfeeding her.

She loves putting her teeth to good use. So when she isn't eating food, she chews on board books. She is the only child in the family who enjoys tearing a piece of paper off and chewing it into bits. Usually by the time we caught her in the act, she had already chewed it into a soggy pulp. I am sure this is one of the consequences of being a 3rd child + having a busy mom who can't watch her all the time.

Very soon, she will have all her teeth. I must take more photos of her now, for I know in future, I will miss the stage when she was still 'relatively toothless'. 





Sunday, October 14, 2012

All in TWO Hours

12 ingredients: 
wholewheat pasta
red cargo rice
pak choy
oyster mushroom
young corns
carrot
broccoli
cauliflower
sweet potato
pork fillet
salmon
olive oil

Yield: 
(1) One tray of 14 cubes of sweet potato with broccoli and cauliflower
(2) One tray of 14 cubes of pasta with broccoli
(3) Six meals (100 ml each) of salmon pasta with broccoli and cauliflower (including one served immediately for dinner)
(4) Eight meals (between 100 ml and 160 ml each) of stir-fried pork with vegetables and forbidden rice (including one to be served for tomorrow's lunch)

Fresh grated cheese can be added to (1), (2) and (3) for variety. (1) and (2) can be added to other meals for a boost of carbs. Eggs and other vegetables and grains can be added to (4) for variety or add homemade stock to turn it into pork porridge.

From taking ingredients out of fridge for preparation to cooking and washing up = TWO hours in kitchen.

Yummy food. Happy baby. Very pleased mummy!





Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Little Feet, Giant Steps


This video was taken when she was 12.5 months - her longest walk then. But she still preferred to crawl after some steps.

Now, at 13 months, she can't stop walking!   *.*   My baby is a little walker now!!! AWw....


CIMG2033


The moment she wakes, she taps her head and utters multiple 'hat' 'hat' 'hat'!!

If her hat is in sight, she would point at the hat, then taps her head as she said her 'hat' as many times as it takes till we place the hat on her.

She loves her hat!  She knows the moment she has it on, she will be free to walk, to roam and explore! :)

In fact, she loves it so much that she wants it on throughout the day. Even at midnight and 3am! She woke up yesterday in the middle of the night and the first thing she wanted when she saw me was her hat! Haha...








Monday, October 8, 2012

Strength .....

.....  is a state of mind.


'Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.'
- Lao Tzu


'Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.'
- Corrie Ten Boom


'Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.'
- Sigmund Freud



Friday, October 5, 2012

Quinoa Salad

CIMG2232


Absolutely refreshing and a new love for me.

The boys have fallen in love with their quinoa fish porridge and simply can't have enough.

Bunny was introduced to quinoa a few weeks ago, served with chicken and variety of vegetables, which she really enjoyed.

Of course, I can't be more pleased that the kids love this super grain (though technically it is more of a seed than a grain) which not only contains all the 9 essential amino acids, hence is a complete protein by itself, it is also a great source of calcium and iron.

Yesterday, I cooked Bunny a batch of really yummy quinoa with pan-fried scallops meals. It was so good that I had to resist from eating. :)

Just the thought of my little dolly enjoying and absorbing all the goodness from this superfood (as she does with all other lovingly prepared meals) gives me an immeasurable sense of happiness.











Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Baby Words

My little chatterbox has been 'blabbering' non-stop. Way too fun to listen to her. :)

Lots of new words in the last two weeks too. Quick list...

'dis' (this)  ~ when she points at something in front of her

'dare' (there) ~ when she points at something further away

'buh' (banana, balloon) ~ when she spots one

'boo' (book) ~ and she always makes the 'book' sign concurrently

'ba' ~ when she sees a picture of sheep

'bird' ~ strangely, she stops saying this word this week but would just point at the bird.

'yesh' ~ yes

'ka' (car) ~ when she spots one

'hac' (hat) ~ she will tap her head and point at her hat if in sight, meaning she wants to wear her hat

'tar' (star) ~ when she sees the shape in books or toys

And she is always going 'mum-mum mum-mum' all day long. Says that when she sees food in the kitchen or on the table or pictures of food in books. And definitely when she sees anyone of us putting something in our mouths.

She will drop everything and crawls over if she is not in playpen. If she is 'confined' in her playpen, her 'mum-mum' goes quickly from a whisper into a desperate shout if we do not react within seconds. :>

Frankly, I love greedy guts, especially since my boys were such reluctant eaters when they were little. But I have a feeling she isn't greedy either. Just curious right now about food, textures and taste.

More later...







Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Eating Better

I have only become more knowledgeable and conscious of the food I put into my body when I started introducing solid food to my first-born, more than 7 years ago.

Though I started reading food labels when I was in my 20's, I was only looking out for very selected information on the nutritional labels such as calorie and % of fat. But in the last 7.5 years, I started reading labels and ingredient lists in a different way. 

In addition to nutritional labels, I also look out for the inclusion of the good stuff (e.g. % of whole grains per serving) and exclusion of the bad ones (e.g. additives, flavourings and preservatives) in every package that I pick up in a supermarket and food store of any kind. 

The more I learn about this topic, the more motivation I have to eliminate processed food from our diet and to eat only whole or 'real' food (I like the definition here).

Looking back at the food choices I made a decade ago, it is alarming and fascinating at the same time, to realize how much I have learnt (or rather how little I knew back then).

I crave to learn more and to put what I know into daily practice.

Hopefully, my kids will be influenced and inspired enough to want to eat well. And more importantly, they will be educated enough to know what that really means and how to go about making wise food choices.





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