Mothering Corner

Hubby’s been away for a few days, but the kids are behaving quite well. They do make me lose my cool some times, but kids are just kids, I can’t expect them to be totally “good” 24/7.

I only drop by the office in the afternoon, so I will have more time to settle some chores at home. I feel like a better mother this way, at least I’m not getting too tired  trying to get things done by the end of the day. Since the kids are having their exams this week, they don’t have any homework. Besides that, I don’t do revision with them. Come on, they are only 5 and 3 years old, how much should I care about their exams now? *ok, I’m a lazy mom is some ways. *

As for work wise, things are slowing down again this week. Maybe it’s due to the “predicted political turbulence” on Friday, so most Thai people are getting nervous about this. I shall put away the new product specs and whole life insurance, which I’m supposed to read about today and follow the news closely. Sigh, there it goes again.

I found this website about exzema, check it out if you are interested but I found that it’s not as informative as others.

My gal used to have it when she was a baby. Her skin is very sensitive, so we were very careful in introducing food to her when she was younger. There was once when she had a bad skin condition, sort of like eczema, but it’s different. Even her skin doctor couldn’t tell for sure what caused it, despite carrying out some tests. So, he took a photo of my gal’s butt*ck and thighs, and used it as a case study with her pediatrician. *slap head* Luckily, she recovered well after a series of creams and medication.

I hate the mozzie seasons in Malaysia. We stayed in a house with a big compound and there are always a lot of mosquitoes. Check out this post to take a look at the old photo taken at my house. And how my gal looked like when she’s attacked by mosquitoes.

I’m so glad that she’s grown out of eczema and sensitive skin. *I’m crossing my fingers!*

Thanks to ~Rachel~ for giving this award to me. I’ve always loved her blog, which has a lot of nice bentos and cakes!

I’m slowing down in bento-ing lately and don’t even mention about baking. LOL! It’s end of the year, and I’m slightly occupied with short trips this month. In fact, we have only spent the weekend in Phuket and Similan Islands, so my heart is still on holiday today even if we are back to our normal routine. *roll eyes*

I shall try to pack something for the kids tomorrow. They are asking for cute bentos already!

During our first year in Bangkok, hubby and I were very busy with his new biz, and thus we sent our kids to school throughout the year, except a two weeks holiday during Christmas. They joined the normal school terms and holiday camps, so basically, they spent quite a lot of time at school.

But in second year, I let them have a month of summer holiday, and only enrolled them for summer camp on the second half of the holiday. They were so happy to stay at home and watched TV the whole day, which is something they hardly have the chance to do on school days. Same goes to this term break which is spent back home in Malaysia, and they are so glad to be “free and easy” without school work and activities.

But the problem is, my gal will surely give me a lot of fuss when she’s getting back to school in November. After a month of being with mommy, she’s reluctant to go back to school on her own. She’s been telling me that she wants me to be there at her class, instead of dropping her and leave.

Frankly, I can’t wait for school to start. When the kids are at school, I will be back to the office, and I will have my own free time if permits. I miss shopping and having my own personal time. LOL! I just can’t wait to got back to spa and facial again in Bangkok (not that I can’t get them here but I have packages there). I could have install a spa filter at home, but it is different to be pampered without my kids’ disturbance. LOL!

So, even if I will be very busy once we go back to Bangkok, but I am looking forward to it!

After months of trying, both my kids have finally accepted all forms of eggs! All this while, my gal only takes hard boiled egg, but not the rest. It’s slightly easier with my boy, but whether if he’s willing to eat his eggs is highly depending on his mood. I know that this is not a big piece of news, but to a mother who’s been trying to introduce more choices of food, I’m very happy with their eating progress.

My kids are quite picky with food some times, but I will try my best to introduce the different types of food to them occasionally. I don’t know what triggered my gal, but she likes eggs now. Yippie! So, it’s easier for me to pack bentos for her, considering that we can do so much with omelet and egg sheets.

Another thing is, I ordered some items from Bento Craft yesterday. It’s my first order from this store, so hopefully it’s a “pleasant” shopping experience. LOL! Let’s see how long will my parcel arrive. Hopefully, it’s in time before I fly back to Bangkok. I have to start packing up and my 3 luggage bags are as heavy as air filters now!

BTW, Happy Deepavali to my Indian friends.

My kids’ term holiday is not over yet, but they are getting restless and bored. Maybe they miss their daddy and most of their favorite books and toys, and watching TV alone is kind of boring after a few hours.

I think I made a big mistake of not planning their holiday well. Even if we can’t go for any holiday at Outer Banks rentals or any local destination, but I should have checked out some extra activities for them to fill up their time. If they are coming back for long holiday next year, I will probably sign them up for Chinese or Malay classes, which they don’t have much chances to learn in Bangkok. I still feel that it’s best to expose them to their own mother tongue and national language, instead of growing up like a “banana” or know how to converse in Thai only.

My kids can’t wait to go back to Bangkok soon. It’s only a month holiday now and they got restless so fast. So, will we be coming back during their 10 weeks summer holiday? Let’s see how!

 We arrived safely in Penang this morning, and rushed all the way to Kedah to see my grandpa. He’s been sick for awhile, and he’s eager to see my kids. So, the first thing we did was to pay him a visit.

I’m glad that my kids were behaving well even if we dragged them to the car at 5am. Both of them were semi awake but they didn’t fuss at all. Furthermore, the airport was quite crowded in the early morning. Mmm…are there a lot of cheap travel deals to Bangkok lately? I was so surprised to see a busy airport before sunrise.

In short, I’m quite happy with their “performance” even if hubby is not around to help things out. I guess I’m more confident to fly around with 2 young kids now, as long as they behave well.

Renee Lim left this comment the other day:

Hi,

I was following your blog for a few months and am impressed by your bentoing efforts and childcare tips.

And I am wondering if you have any tips to help my 14 month old boy to drink more water. I have been giving him Yakult diluted with water to tempt him, but am not so sure if it is healthy to do so on the long run.

Grateful if you or the mummies reading your blog can help.

So, let’s share our mothering tips, shall we?

Renee, I don’t think I have ever really asked my kids to drink water since they are young. Furthermore, my kids are breastfed, so they would nurse if they were thirsty. Anyway, water comes in fruits and veggies too. If your boy doesn’t like the taste of plain water, some juice will be fine. As long as he’s hydrated and pees and doesn’t have constipation, he should be fine. A bottle or 2 of Yakult per day is fine for kids, my kids are taking Yakult or yogurt drinks daily.

Now that my kids are older, they will bring along a tumbler to school but I notice that they hardly drink much or finish their water. Firstly, my kids have UHT milk at school which are kept at their locker in the classroom and they take 2 (or 3 for my boy if he has Taewondo) packets per day throughout their schooling hour. There is a drinking area at the cafeteria where the kids can take the cup to fill up the water and drink by themselves during break and lunch time. Thus, my kids don’t take much from their tumblers.

But being a typical Chinese mother, I “poi tong” (boil soup) almost everyday. We drink a bowl of soup after dinner (should be taken before dinner if you wish to lose belly fat ) and it can be considered as liquid to me. Our kids started this habit quite young, maybe like one year old or after they have started taking rice almost like adults. And due to the many years of influence by my mom and MIL, I like to boil “leong sui” during the weekends. Most Chinese believe that leong sui will cool down the body and we are less likely to fall sick because our bodies are less “heaty”. Ahem…I know not all mothers agree on this practice but so far, my kids hardly get sick. *touch wood*

In short, I think water comes in all forms so I won’t be too worried as long as my kids are hydrated.

So, will you please kindly share your tips on how to encourage your toddlers or kids to drink more water? Thanks!

If you are wondering if there is any bento today, the answer is NO. LOL!

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day in Thailand, and we have just come back from my kids’ mini concert at school. The mini concert was held in conjunction of Mother’s Day, as well as to celebrate the birthday of Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand. And now, my kids are here at the office with us. Oh ya, we still have to work! But we shall take a break tomorrow and hopefully we can make a short trip out of town.

But since it’s Mother’s Day, I shall take a break in bento-ing, even if it’s just for 2 days. Hey, mommy deserves a rest, doesn’t she? LOL! I would surely hope that I can have a romantic cancun vacation with hubby alone, and let myself be free from my mothering duties. I sure miss the kind of holidays where I can pack all my stuffs in the luggage, instead of putting my kids’ stuffs first instead of mine!

But then, I guess this dream will only come through when my kids are older. Frankly, I can’t remember what is romance anymore after I became a mother! LOL!

In short, Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, even if you are not in Thailand.

I admit that I like buying stuffs for my kids. I’m a shopaholic, so it’s pretty easy for me to grab a few stuffs just on a 10 minutes shopping trip. But I’m trying my best not to spoil them, and I won’t buy expensive toys for them, unless they “earn” it. We have a reward chart for the kids, which they will be rewarded with stars, if they finish their meals, sleep through the night by themselves (oh ya, my kids still get up in the middle of the night and drag us to sleep in with them), or behave well. Upon reaching a certain number of stars, they can pick a toy or a book as a reward.

As time goes, the toys are piling up in their playroom, but I am happy to see them “digging” out some old toys and playing with them from time to time. My kids get bored with their toys quite fast, if the toys are not interesting enough. But if they dig out the old toys and play with them once a while, I won’t feel that they are “wasting” the toys away.

So, today’s theme is one of those ugly old toys, such as a teddy bear with a lost eye which is very worn off and dirty.

The color and texture of sweet potato makes the teddy bear looks quite worn off huh? There are corns, a black plum, some dragon fruits, and strawberries too.

Here’s my boy’s bento. I slipped in the cheese as teddy’s arms and legs, and one of the legs is broken. It’s a very old teddy bear. I packed some mangosteens for him, instead of dragon fruit.

Hopefully, my kids will continue to appreciate what they have as not every child in this world has the “privillege”.  There are some kids who are going through hunger, or fighting with illnesses and staying at hospitals for long period of time.

But then, we should not forget the wonderful and dedicated mothers who are always there for their children. I’m one of the members of MyMomsBest, and I used to be an active one. But since I’ve stopped breastfeeding, I seldom log on the forum anymore, and I lost touch with some of the breastfeeding mothers there.

Nonetheless, I’m glad that Christene informed me about Mothering Mothers 2009, which is a project of giving out presents to those mothers of the terminally ill children at UM Hospital. So, if you are interested to make a pledge, please check out her blog, and also Chanel’s and Ros’ blogs for more information.

BTW, do you have kids who refuse to finish their meals? Hubby found this video and since he showed it to our kids, they are more keen to finish their dinner. Check it out ya?