Mothering Corner

I like to bring my kids to the playground but the one we have at our neighborhood is not as big and challenging as the ones we have back home in Malaysia. My kids felt bored with it pretty fast so they rather spend time playing at the sandpit than playing at the playset now.

I just hope that we can have one of those manfred mantis playsets in our neighborhood so that all the children in our area can have more fun playing together. Kids learn through play and a well built playset is not only a gigantic toy, but it is a tool to build up a kid’s physical level and confidence as well.

Too bad I don’t have a big compound in my house, if not it will be nice to place a playset there. But anyway, it’s not like I can afford to have one now. LOL! But don’t you want to have one at home if you have the space and money? It will be a fun game for both parents and kids.

When my kids are babies, it’s so easy to feed them. They would just eat anything I prepared and they hardly split out the food or run away from the table. Wait a minute, they were babies, they couldn’t run nor walk yet! LOL!

But now, meal times can be pretty challenging. Like most kids, they don’t like all types of vegetables, so it’s trial and error to me when I cook for them. Broccoli is their best choice, but I prefer to add more variety instead of feeding one type of veggie.

Thus, one of my ways of introducing the vegetables is by preparing vegetable soups. Like most Chinese, we believe that soups are great for health as most of the nutrients are dissolved in the water in boiling process. The veggie or meat might be tasteless when the soup is ready if you boil it for long hours, so if you want to keep the veggie crunchy and fresh, don’t boil it for too long. My kids love to take the soup too, so even if they don’t take the veggie occasionally, I’m not too worried about it. They take fruits everyday and fruits are a good source of fiber and other nutrients.

Some Celery and corn from my vegetable soup

If possible, steamed veggie is the best to ensure that most of the nutrients are not lost. For a busy mother like me, I would just place a bowl of broccoli, cube potatoes and carrots on the top shelve of the rice cooker when I’m cooking the rice. By the time the rice is ready, the veggies are well steamed too. Pretty simple huh?

My kids travel a lot with us, and my little girl started flying when she was 4 months old. It was easier traveling with a young baby since she slept most of the time and I didn’t have to pack a lot because she was breastfed exclusively. It was a bliss flying with her until she turned 1 and a half. During her first trip to Bangkok, she made a big fuss on the plane when we were flying back. I know that lots of passengers were pretty annoyed by the 2 hours flight with a crying and fussy toddler, but I couldn’t do much. She just didn’t want to settle down even if she was really sleepy.

But for our recent flight, she behaved well. We brought along some color pencils and books for her and she did some scribbling. Besides that, she brought along her doll and she played with her for a while.

She cried for milk but after that she took a nap. Thus, my 2 year old did well on the plane and I was so proud of her. I guess we just need to prepare well for our journey then. We will be flying more often for the next 6 months.

Hubby bought tickets for Kung Fu Panda last night, and we are going to bring our kids to movie for the very first time. I’m not sure if my little gal will cry in the dark cinema, or my boy will be asking lots of questions about the show and disturbing the audience, but it’s time to take the first step. Both hubby and I are movie freaks, but we hardly have time for movie now unless we have someone to look after the kids for us. We have always thought that they are not ready until last night.

So, I’m going to dress them well as it’s pretty cold in the cinema. Then, we need to grab popcorns and drinks for the kids to keep them occupied with food. LOL! It should be a great experience for them and if they like the movie, we will try going to the cinema with them more often if there are movies which are suitable for kids.

It will be a nice way of spending quality family time. Besides that, it’s so much cheaper than spending on Hilton Head rentals for a family trip huh?

If I meet with my friends who have kids about my kids age, most of the time, we will talk about our kids development. I seldom worry about my children’s development as I use the general development guidelines and they meet the milestones most of the time. If I have any worries, I will talk to their paediatrician. But some parents are worried if their children have developmental delay, and besides reading more about this, it’s best to consult a paediatrician for a proper diagnose.

Every child develops his cognitive and physical skills at his own pace, so it’s not easy to compare one child to another one. As long as the parents are open and willing to talk to the doctor about this, there are ways to help the child who might be slow in developing some skills.

My hubby and I are quite different in our ways of watching over the kids. I’m the more protective one and he’s the one who gives more freedom to the kids. That’s why my kids prefer to go shopping with their daddy now because he’s not as paranoid as me.

Nonetheless, I still have fear of losing my kids in shopping malls or crowded places since they don’t always hold our hands at all time. I wanted to get the kid safety harness previously, but I got lots of protest from people around me who thought that it’s weird to do so in public as we hardly see parents using the safety harness here.

Thus, I’m glad another option to keep my kids located within a short distance. It’s the “Mommy I’m Here” Child Locator, and maybe it helps?

Has anyone used it? I am thinking of getting the locators, if hubby agrees with me.

I know that I should be busy with packing up instead of shopping for toys, but I want to get something special for the kids when we are away for 2 weeks. I won’t get a lot, but it’s enough to keep them occupied and interested while staying with my parents. Besides that, I prefer to show them how to play with the toys first, and if they want to pack the toys along to Penang, I will be more than glad.

I found that these guidelines are great for new parents who are unsure of the safety measures when it comes to buying toys for their children. Just take a look at the list and see if the toys at home are safe for your kids or not. I know that I don’t conform to all of them since we have older kids at home, but I will try myself to ensure that the toys my kids are playing with are safe. As for chemical substance, it’s kind of hard to determine. We can’t just send the toys to clinical laboratory service and check them out right? So, if you have lots of China made toys at home, just make sure that your kids won’t put them in the mouth or chew on them. I’m not being biased, some most China made toys are more suitable for older children, that’s why I tell my parents I will prepare their toys as they can’t see what’s the different among all these toys in the market.

Anyway, I won’t be buying anymore after this major purchase. I don’t want to have more than 5 carton boxes of toys being sent to Bangkok!

I was talking to some mothers just now and our topics of discussion lingered about what should our children learned. I operated a learning center before, so I’ve seen a number of parents who are eager to expose their children for their own good or just being kiasu. Frankly, there’s nothing wrong with enrolling your children in all those mental arithmetic, drawing, dancing, drama or anything extra classes as long as you can afford it and your children enjoy the classes. My boy just told me recently that he wanted to learn violin, but he’s too young for it. I might let him try later when he’s older, provided that he’s still interested. Of course, I will tell him that he can’t just quit easily because nothing comes easy at first. He has to be serious about music class as mommy and daddy are paying for the fees and musical instrument, so he better knows what’s lying ahead for him.

However, not every parent will talk to their children about the extra classes. Some will just enroll their kids because they feel that it’s needed. I’ve seen children being forced to do something that they clearly don’t enjoy, and I really wonder why the parents are still forcing. If my boy wants to quit violin later, I will ask him if he still remembers how much he’s interested at first, but he has really lost the passion, I don’t mind him quiting the class. Of course, he can’t just try and quit on everything, so communication is very important before my kids can join any extra classes.

I know that most parents have expectations. I have mine too, but I can’t imply them on my children. I want the best for my kids too, but if they are not enjoying it, what’s the point of forcing them? Will they thank me later if I do? LOL!

I like buying toys for my children. Previously, I was not good at it and I bought books most of the time. But after going through a few online stores and kids shops, I have a better idea of what to get for my children, depending on their state of development. Some parents buy toys by looking at the suggested age, but I would prefer to buy choose according to my children’s needs, interests, and milestone.

A blogger mother, WS, suggested that I check out this webstore called MyToysandBooks.com. I did find a lot of nice toys here, and I’m getting a few sets for my children. I like my kids to learn through play, that’s why I don’t really emphasize on writing or memorizing. Nonetheless, my boy is very interested in learning at school and he likes writing a lot. Maybe it’s due to the fact that I didn’t expose him to these formal type of learning method, so he finds it interesting.

Anyway, just check out the toys. They are not only educational, they are fun too.

When I told one of my friends that my kids are learning phonics from Starfall.com, they didn’t agree on my way of exposing my children to computer. They are afraid of their boys will be addicted to computer games, and this is one of my fears as well. But nonetheless, I always believe that if you talk to your kids well and set the boundary, it’s always good for them to explore something new. Learning phonics can be really boring sometimes, if you have been doing it with games and quizzes. I think Starfall.com has lots of games that manage to capture the attention of the children and at the same time, they are learning how to read as well.

When my kids were babies, I sang phonic songs from “Ants on the Apple” book. You can get it from MPH, and it’s pretty easy to learn. Once I noticed that my boy can master the sound, I began to introduce learning phonics with computer games. Even my little gal likes it too, but she can’t work well with the mouse, of course.

But there’s another thing that parents might want to take note if you are introducing computer to your little children. Please make sure that your PC has parental control and you are the one who open the website for them. I don’t let them explore more than Starfall.com. Besides that, you have to watch the distance between the screen from your child so that she’s not sitting too close to the monitor. It’s to protect her eyes. The last but not least, make sure that your computer cables and CAT5e lines are all organized and hidden behind. Sometimes, kids might be curious to pull the cables and it’s important to prevent them from electrocuted.

So, do you like Starfall.com? But if you still think your children are not ready for this, just wait for the right time.