Did Mummy Stave The Kids?

Take a look at these pix.. 

  

Nick at 2 years old

  

Nick when the maid left

  

Nick Now

Grace when the maid left

  

Grace Now

The Decision is Final : Grace is Out of Childcare!

Yes.. You read it right! 

After battling for months with the pros and cons of not sending Grace to school, her having friends and mixing around, the aftermath of her skipping school for 3 days a week, mummy has decided to withdraw little Grace from school and mummy is taking up the super duper big and heavy task on home-schooling her!

This also means, mummy will be super busy entertaining this little girl the whole day and if you are thinking of dating the mummy out, please google the weather forecast before doing so since mummy seldom brave the rain with the little kids!  If weather's too hot, mummy also is very lazy to go out.. Oh, and afternoons, also can't go out anymore since little Grace needs her afternoon nap.. 

And, yes.. Mummy is STUCK at home.. :P

I Eat Back My Words on "I DON'T HAVE A SUPPORTIVE HUSBAND"

Recently, a girlfriend of mine has asked me to do BPs together with her hoping we both can have some extra income. My husband told me to not WASTE my time on such things and spend more time on housework circling the fact that the part-time helper was $100 a week, and if i am going to spend so much time on the internet and out of the home, i might as well return to work since my purpose of being at home is no longer to spend time with the kids. 

  

I was very mad at him because a few other mummy friends have commented that their husbands were very supportive on them earning side income, and somehow, mine seems to be constantly  "suan-ing" me about it.

  

3 weeks back, we went all the way down to Toh Guan (i live in the Eastern part of Singapore) to collect the bed-sheets that we ordered.. The horrible supplier made us climb the shelves ourself, dig for what we wanted and pack everything back nicely for him! And worse, we had to do it during office hour (my husband had to apply for leave just to accompany me down as he was worried if i end up being kidnapped, raped or disturbed by the male workers as that place was an industrial area.) and we had 2 little helpers in tow that provided no help but made more mess after we packed the place up!  That wasn't it! We had to lug all the bed-sheets from the warehouse to the car as there was no trolley provided for us, and, after bringing them back, my poor husband had to make 4 trips up and down the 5 storey stairs, to and fro the car just to lug all the stuffs home for me to sort them out (as our block is still undergoing upgrading works for the lift).

  

And that wasn't all... :(  After packing them, my poor "bangala" worker had to lug the bags of bed-sheets back into the car and drive me down to the pick up points as he didn't want his "weak" wife to lug all the bags and the 2 rascals alone.. 

To my Hubby.. I LOVE YOU.. Although your irritating mouth always scold me and tell me you don't support me in the silly things i do, your action speaks louder than words!.. THANK YOU for all the big and small things you done for me and i really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.. :)

Symptoms of a KS Mum

I have all the while thought i am a very relax mum when it comes to Nick. Afterall, i never did any flash cards with him, enrichment programs, alphabets or anything of such when he was much younger. So much so that when he was 3.5yo, i became very worried.... Is he slow, is he having learning difficulties, is he having some kind of problems etc was what i used to ask myself and some of my girlfriends.

  

From then on, he had to learn to write ABC, i had to think of ways to get him motivated to study etc.. From bribery to praising him etc.. You name them.. I probably tried them all..

  

Come this year, just 2 months shy from his 4th birthday, i became worse! Not that i realized it earlier.. But i started reading about Analytical Skills, Advanced Reasoning Skills, Language and Communication Skills etc that i decided to sign him up for the program. Then came the math programs that incorporate both Analytical Skills and Advanced Reasoning Skills as well.. 

  

Today, just 10 minutes back.. I was reading an article on the MPM program that Nick is attending and realized that they actually recommend and take in students 5yo and above! 

  

Hey! Isn't Nick learning it a bit too early then? So he is not slow afterall?  Gosh!  I am just another typical KS Mum robbing my son off his precious childhood!!

Grace and Her Lapbooking Journey

Recently, seems like every home-school kid is in a way or another embarking on lapbook-ing journeys.  Grace is no exception since mummy has decided that she is so done with all the flash cards flashing and decided to chuck them aside for now. 

  

Little girl is currently into her 5th lapbook and some friends have been asking us how we go about doing them as some of the samples from other blogs seems pretty much for more older kids.. 

  

OK.. this is what i have to share.. Please do let me know if you have any other ideas on how to improve on them.. 

- Grace's lapbooks are meant to be more of little picture books rather than a book with plenty of details since she has just turned 2yo and barely can recognize words.

- What mummy does is she look for pictures related to the topic / theme we have for the week, drop them into a zip lock bag, and Grace will paste them in either a mini scrapbook or vanguard sheet. 

- Once that is done, mummy will stick a sheet of plastic over the page to ensure that the pictures don't fall out or the paper doesn't tear easily. 

    

For little Grace, it seems like this method of learning works better than the flash cards since she is able to tell me the names of the flowers and leaves for this little project (i am able to see almost immediately results rather than flashing and not knowing if anything really goes into her brain or not).  

  

The best part i like about these little lapbooks that Grace does is she learn to take great pride in her little work and will fight her brothers off just to protect her "books" and she constantly take them out to admire her own work.. :P 

The In-Laws Are In Town

Yups, my ILs are in town.. They are here for the next 2 days to spend time with the kids.

Friends who know me, knows i don't have any special likings for my in-laws, simple because of the way they treat my poor hubby. As most were aware, my hubby was hospitalized in May for being suspected having H1N1. The day he was discharged, Missy Pig decided to check into "KK Hotel" for a stay too since she was having symptoms of the H1N1 virus! So, my hb who was just discharged was to take care of the 2 boys who were at home, his also down with tummy flu wife who was also in KKH with missy pig and had to shuttle to hospital to see his little pig too!  We then asked his mum for help to come out and look after hubby as he was very very weak (and i really mean WEAK!)  She totally REFUSED citing reasons like H1N1 in Singapore, jams at customs, no train tickets since it was school holiday period etc! Boy, i was damn pissed with her. 

Then, August is Nick's b'day and he specially requested his grandma to celebrate his b'day with him this year.. Again, they turn him down giving all sorts of reasons to avoid coming out! *Angry*

If you are wondering why she is here today? She had a tiff with SIL and decided to ask my hubby to fetch her over to stay 2 days before she returns to kampong, saying she also miss the kids *crap*.. Be well, i want my kids to spend time with their grandparents too, so, i will just be nice for the next couple of days. :)

Oh, BTW, hubby say we can leave the kids with ILs for a couple of hours and catch a movie or so, well, i doubt so.. Missy piggy cannot not stick to mummy when she is home, even to the extend she has to keep popping into the kitchen every 5 mins when mummy is doing laundry to make sure mummy hasn't disappear.. :(

Oh.. The Signs Are Telling Me It's Still Not Time To Change My Mattress..

My dear mattress is currently 9, going on to 10 (years old)!  It has survived the vommits, urine and poos of my 3 kids and, the springs aren't as good as it is supposed to be anymore. 

2 years back when we shifted, we wanted to have a brand new bed, but as i was pregnant, the oldies instructed us to keep the current till i pop, and as KS / superstitious parents, we didn't want to take chances and allow anything happen to the little one in the tummy, we obeyed.

After i popped, hb and me went around shopping for a new one!! Then came the pee, poos and pukes, so we decided! We will change a new one only when our little sweetheart is 2 years old cos by then, she will be big enough to tell us when she wants to pee, poo and puke! 

Our little sweetheart turned 2yo in June, so we have been looking around, asking around and just a few days back, we have decided that we have found the one!! The Right One! Was supposed to go back and make deposits for it this weekend, but well, signs are telling us we shouldn't change the mattress YET!  Argh.. 

Friday afternoon, Grace pee-ed on our bed when she napped in the afternoon. Usually, she doesn't does that. She will wake up and walk to the bathroom, pee and go back to bed! Argh..

Saturday night, Nick had fever, and he came to bunk into our bed.. Guess what? He also pee-ed on the bed! Argh argh!!

Just an hour back, Grace decided she's caught a cough from somewhere, and PUKED on my BED!!! ARGH!!!!!

OK! The idea on a new mattress off for the next 1 year!  I don't think i can take it if i were to pay 5k for my new mattress and my darlings decide to pee and puke on it!  My poor heart will be crying!! :(

The Kids Daily Routine

After 4 months of being a SAHM, i manage to more or less settled the kid's schedule.. 

8am : Wake up

The 2 younger ones have now learned to change into their school uniforms, brush teeth, take their breakfast on their own.

  

8.45am : Put on the shoes and prepare to go to school or classes. 

On Tuesdays, Nick will "pon-tang" school for his favourite Math classes. Afterwhich, he will come home and spend time with mummy. 

On Wednesdays and Fridays, Grace will "pon-tang" school to spend time with mummy :P 

  

9am : Time-out in the market / MacDonalds, lim kopi and eat breakfast. 

  

9.30am : Home and doing some housework here and there.. 

  

12noon : Walk to school to pick Grace if she is in school. She comes home, shower and takes a 2 hour nap. Usually up by 3pm.  Mummy will usually prepare dinner while she's napping.

  

2pm : Sam's home.. Baths, have his lunch, and he will catch his nap till 4ish.. 

 

3pm : Mummy and Grace will study a little, play toys together etc 

  

5pm : Nick's home!! 

  

5.30pm : Dinner 

  

6.30pm : Nick will take out his books and insist he wants to study!  Except on Thursdays and Fridays, he will goes for his Math classes at 7pm.

  

8.30pm : Kids change and packed to bed.. :)

  

I think this routine is good for my kids for now... :p

Grace Stacking Up the Containers

Recently we bought a little too much little blocks, puzzles, tangrams for Grace and Nick..  And these items usually only come in bags. Mummy had previously used zip lock bags to separate the different kinds of puzzles, however, they constantly get scratched and the bags will break. 

  

Today while at ikea, we saw some containers meant for storing food. Bright mummy decided to buy them so that she can store the puzzles and label them nicely!

  

When we reached home, Grace helped to open up the packaging while mummy got busy taking out the puzzles. Soon after opening the package, Grace started matching the different containers to the covers. Then she begin to stack the up..  And she started giggling as it got higher and higher, then over her head, it would wobble wobble, then topple over.. :)

  

I love such bonding time with my little girl...

Trying to stack up for the 1st time.. 

  

Stacking them up for the 2nd time after it toppled over..  When it toppled over again, she couldn't stop laughing..

Trying to stack them up for the 3rd time.. See her "serious" look when she was doing it?  And, it still toppled over.. She stood there and laughed for 10 mins before running away telling me "Enough".. :P

Nick and His Sense of Humor

It seems like lately there are very bad traffic jams everywhere we go..  And, nick always has a string of questions for us like why is there a jam, how come jam etc..  Our reasons always are usually, there is an accident, there is a car that broken down and such.. 

  

Couple of days back, he suddenly declared he knows why there is a jam on the highway! 

Nick : Mummy, i know why the highway jam already..

Me : Why the highway jam leh?

Nick : Cos the person who make the road put too much butter. That's why will have jam everytime.  

Me : *open mouth big big*

  

Last Sunday on our way back from JB on the Causeway, there was no jam. And Nick suddenly declared..

Nick : I know why there is no jam today liao..

Me : Y leh?

Nick : Cos they clean up the butter already!!

Me : *open mouth big big*

  

I am looking forward to the next funny thing he will be telling us.. :)

One of The Things a Silly Mom and Dad Will Do..

As a parent, we sometimes will go crazy over the things that our kids love!! Even if it means we might risk they will start coughing after the little treat..

  

Just the 2 of them to 1 big cup of ice-cream... 5 scoops!!

  

And, oh well, they did develop a cough after that.. :p

 

Nick and his Weird Behavior

Nick's been going for classes at MPM and Enopi centres lately.

When we first brought him for the assessment test at both MPM and Enopi, he was unwilling to attend classes.. He's always crying before we reach the centre. Lately, the behavior changed! He's been requesting to go for classes every day, every hour and to the extend of sleeping on the floor, crying, cos he wants to go for classes!

How will you read this behavior? Should i sign him for classes more often? He's currently attending classes 4 times a week. Should we do it on daily basis? But it will burn a big hole in my pockets :(

SNG and Their Art Work on National Day

Mummy happen to walk past a shop that sells pre-cutout form crafts with self adhesive tapes behind, so she bought 3 sets for the 3 rascals.... Not too bad an idea! Kept them quiet for 2 hours although they created a mess on the floor with the little papers flying everywhere! Will pop by to buy a few more sets soon..  

    

P.s.: The shop is at the other end of Singapore, so hope that by the time we return, there are still some left!

Nick and his little "Creative" Thoughts

Nick came to me 1st thing this morning when i was still sleeping.. 

Nick : Mummy, today is my birthday, you know?

Me : Ya.. Happy Birthday sweetie.. 

Nick : I not meimei lah.. not sweetie.. i stinky lah(i used to tease him stinky cos he's usually sour after school)!  Mummy you still dreaming lah.. Now the sun shinning at your backside already.. Must wake up already!!

Me: Ok...

Nick : Mummy, i need to make coca cola now! Tonight got mama and kong kong come and celebrate my birthday for me. 

Me : HUH??

Nick : Ya.. I think already know how to make coca cola .. We put dark sauce in and put sugar then put the soda water inside and is coca cola already!

Me : *blur*

Overheard : Nick and Grace's Conversation

Nick and Grace were playing in the balcony with their new crocs.. 

Grace lie down on the floor. 

Nick : Meimei, wake up.. You cannot sleep on the floor. The floor is very dirty!

Grace : No!

Nick : I say you wake up now!! You want to be like aunty (our old domestic helper)? 

Grace : NO!

Me : Huh? What u mean to be like aunty?

Nick : Floor dirty mah.. Aunty black black mah, she small that time sleep too much on the floor so now cannot clean away the black black already.

Me : *blur*