Mothering Corner

I try my best not to push my kids and I didn’t teach them how to read. My kids have interests in books because they enjoy listening to the words we read and looking at the pictures on the books. I don’t think my kids can read, even if my boy can recognize that alphabet. I started some simple phonics because they love the song, and I didn’t go further.

I have been wondering if I should start teaching them how to read now some blogger mommies are doing so. I searched on the net and found that Starfall.com has lots of useful tips that most mothers will be looking for. I think I will show my kids tomorrow and let’s see if they like it.

BTW, there’s an online store selling reading materials on how to teach children about phonic at Starfall. However, they don’t ship to Malaysia. I’m downloading the material now but too bad it’s not the colorful version. Nonetheless, I will try them out once my kids are ready for more.

Actually, I wanted to write about Kelsey Briggs here days ago but I couldn’t do so as my blogs were being migrated. I wrote a post about Kelsey Briggs on my personal blog but I want to express my opinion here again.

As a parent, I admit that I lose my temper sometimes, but I know that we can never hurt a child. I know that some parents spank but you need to know how to do it right without hurting the child. However, if the adult is doing this purposely to hurt a child, it’s a crime. I don’t understand how can someone hit a human being who’s so much smaller and weaker than himself? It’s totally insane. Furthermore, I don’t understand why Kelsey’s mother let this happen to her own daughter. Don’t tell me she didn’t know about it, she knew!

Another thing is, if you suspect that a child is being abused, raise your voice. Don’t act dumb or you will hear more sad stories like what happened to Kelsey.

I love bring my kids around even if it means packing for four and unable to have a relaxing trip. Hubby and I hope that we can expose my kids to different cultures and environments instead of learning them from TV or books alone. We have only brought them to the nearby countries but some day, I hope that we will travel as far to US.

This trip will be quite costly so I think I will only stay at those affordable New York Hotels or cheaper hotels in other parts of US, if we are going there. I know that the kids would love to go to Disneyland, but I want to shop in New York. LOL! Let’s see if we have the money for a trip to US in the future.

My kids are more clingy to hubby and I lately and since my maid is still on holiday, I have been busier than ever. I know that they are just little kids that craving for more attention, but sometimes I feel like I’m too tired to attend to their demands. Maybe my gal’s been showing too much of her terrible two tantrums because mommy left her in Penang for too long and she’s still not happy about it, so it’s very taxing for both of us.

I joked to hubby that we got to send my gal to school so that I can take a few hours of rest before I knocked myself out with some anxiety pills and ended up with some drug treatment later on. LOL! Anyway, my kids are sweet too some times. It’s just their ways of expressing how frustrated they are because we were not around for too long. They have always been close to us, so it’s normal that they are reacting like this.

So, now I have some private time for myself while they are taking their naps. I better take my shower, enjoy my lunch, do some blogging, read the news and catch my breathe in less than 2 hours!

One of the readers asked if my kids slept in baby cribs when they were babies, and actually, they hardly slept in baby cribs. I didn’t buy any baby crib for them even if I longed to have a pretty baby crib too.

That’s something I had in mind! But we have at least 3 baby cribs at home which are belonged to SIL. They were given to me when I was pregnant. Nonetheless, my babies only slept in the cribs when I was away for a shower or doing something else. Most of the time, they slept by myself as we practiced co-sleeping for breastfeeding. It’s more convenient for me to breastfeed my babies lying down instead of getting up and carrying them for nursing and putting them back to sleep again. I was so tired, I could just asleep while nursing my babies. Of course, there’s a risk of suffocating your babies if you accidentally overlie on your baby. If hubby is drunk or too exhausted, he’s not allowed to sleep with our babies as well.

If you are interested to know more about the pros and cons of co-sleeping with your baby, check this out.

My boy skipped school when hubby and I were away to Bangkok. No one can take care of my kids here, and we sent them to my parents who offered great help in taking care of them while we worked on some issues in Bangkok. After 2 weeks in Penang and another week of school holiday, you can imagine how much homework had left for my boy who’s only 3 years and 4 months old.

I try myself not to force him into finishing his work these 2 days, but I can see the frustration in him when he’s repeating the same numbers or strokes more than 30 times each. Completing the homework is not always a child’s duty, but a parent’s responsibility too. However, I won’t finish his work for him, but if he’s really not catching up, I might ask the teacher for more time frame. She’s nice, she said that she will lead him at school and he can just finish what’s given today and leave the rest to the teacher.

I found that most parents in Malaysia will have to deal with kids with tonnes of homework. My 6 years old godson has more than 5 exercise books per day, and close to 10 on Friday. Not to mention, he has spelling tests in all languages which rotates once a week and some simple tests too. If my boy is to complete the local kindergarten and transfer to international school by Year 1, he will be so advanced and find that elementary school might be boring and easy to him. Frankly, which is the best? I would prefer kids to learn what’s appropriate for their age instead of beyond, but what to do? Majority of Malaysian Chinese still prefer schools with lots of homework.

So, my boy will have to stick around with his homework until we relocate a few months later. After that, I think he will be blessed with only some simple assignment instead of writing and tracing.

This blog of mine might not have page rank for months, but it still brings in some organic traffic due to its keywords. I am not fishing for Adsense seriously, but I got the thrill of seeing the organic traffic leading to this blog. Nonetheless, I haven’t done any search engine optimization on the blog because I’m clueless about it. The traffic I get is more like just a mere of luck. It comes and goes without my control.

But if you have a parenting website that you wish to promote, you can find out more about SEO in Houston Apogee search. Read up the latest information about SEO from its blog too if you are interested to know more.

But then again, I really want to know how to get out from the sandbox!

I used to go for yoga class regularly until I stopped for the past 2 months again due to my frequent traveling. My yoga instructor conducts yoga and pilates classes for kids too, but I didn’t enroll my boy. Most kids after 3 years old can join in the yoga class, but since we are moving away, it’s not a good idea for him to join the class now. Once we settle down in Bangkok, I would try my best to look for a yoga class both for myself and my kids.

If you are interested to know more about the benefits of kids yoga, check this out:

• Promotes flexibility and endurance.
• Promotes better thinking
• Improves concentration and memory skills
• Helps in relaxation
• Improves digestion
• Reduce Stress and increases the ability to handle stress
• Increases self-esteem and boost confidence
• Strengthens the muscles, spine and promotes good posture
• It improves sleeping patterns
• Helps in weight loss for obese children
• Helps children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to concentrate better

You can find out more about the schedule from Inspire Mum and Baby. If your kids don’t like it, take it easy. Anyway, it’s never too late to learn yoga no matter how old you are.

My SIL has just given birth 2 months ago, but she slimmed down very fast by keeping herself busy with a baby and juggling her work at the office. She is nursing her baby exclusively but if she’s away from the office, her baby will be fed with formula milk by the office staffs. She brings her baby to work because there’s no one to take care of her, and she can’t leave her own business.

Like I said previously, it’s much easier to lose weight if you are breastfeeding. Some of the breastfeeding mothers I know lost their baby fat six months after the labor and they can still eat normally. But if you are not a breastfeeding mother, you can try lots of methods in losing weight like exercising, taking diet pills like Acomplia, doing on diet and etc. No matter which method you choose, please make sure that it’s safe and consult your doctor before you take any pills. It’s best to lost weight the safer way, but I know how frustrating it can be if you can’t see the pounds losing before your eyes with all the diet plans you tried!

Seriously, I am controlling my diet now. I can’t be eating the same since I weaned off my gal. I missed my breastfeeding days when I could eat anything I want.

Most of the new mothers have heavy lochia first week after labor but it will get lesser over time and change into yellow-white discharge 10 days later. During the first few days, it’s best to put on the maternity pads that provide better absorption and comfortable for your would if you have a tear or an episiotomy.

If you are worried about leaking, you can just get some Reusable Bed Pads and put them on the bed before lying down. Most hospitals provide disposal bed pads but for home use, reusable bed pads will be more economical. Besides that, you can also use the nappy pad for babies which is used for changing the diaper!

Anyway, I hope that you menstrual will come much later because my lochia was heavy and I wanted to be “clean” for long.