Mothering Corner

I’ve been staying with MIL for about 8 years, if I’m not mistaken. We don’t have much problem staying under the same roof, but of course, we had some disagreement before, but it’s nothing serious at all. Since the day we came back to Ipoh, MIL has been sharing lots of tips about cooking and preparing food with me. She knows that I cook most of the days for my children, so she’s eager to teach me how to speed things up. She’s a bit worried that my kids can only have dinner as late as 9pm once in a blue moon as we leave work rather late. I can tell that she’s concerned and worried about our children.

Nonetheless, she praised them for being more independent after staying in Bangkok for 2 months. We can’t help it as my kids have to learn how to take care of themselves when mommy and daddy are busy. They have changed a lot, and I noticed that too. MIL seems to be very proud of my kids now, considering that they are only 3 plus and 2 years old each.

Anyway, it’s nice to share her experience. She complains that raw food is getting more expensive, but she still bought some dried food for me to bring back home. I guess I won’t need any budget software to know that I can save up a lot on food for the first few weeks. LOL!

My friend’s family is going to Disney next year, but we won’t be going along with them. At first, we planned for a trip together last year, but things didn’t work out. We can’t go along with them next year either because our business has just started and we can’t afford to take so many days off.

Anyway, I know that their children will surely enjoy the trip. Their parents have planned so long for this, and they even got the discount Disney World tickets ahead of the trip. Most importantly, they will be spending quality family time together, and that counts the most!

Previously, some people I know doubted about our decision of sending our kids to a Thai preschool, so I wrote a lengthy post about it. I understand that some parents are concerned about how much their children will learn academic wise, and that’s why more and more kindergartens are giving a lot of homework in preparing the children for primary schools.

If I’m still staying in Malaysia and have plan to send my kids to Chinese primary schools, maybe I will be stressing as much about their education too. It’s not easy to “survive” in a Chinese school without tuition, extra classes, lots of homework and etc, unless your kid is brilliant. But I’m glad that my children have another chance to learn in another environment now, so they don’t have to go through those stressful moments until much older. Most schools in Thailand still practice learn through play, and the homework is not as much as those given locally.

I check my kid’s homework everyday, and he doesn’t have to repeat the same letter or number for more than 5 times, but there are extra sheets of revising the letter or number he learns on that day. It’s much easier for him to finish his work and he enjoys school more. As for my little toddler, she doesn’t have homework. She tells me that she plays all day long.

I won’t know if our decision is right until our kids are older. But I’m sure about this, they are happy and eager to go to school. Maybe that will trigger their hunger for knowledge too huh?

My new car was hit by a truck just now. It was a hit and run but no one was hurt. We have to repair the car, but since we will not be around, we need to get SIL’s help to send the car for repairing. It’s so dangerous driving in Bangkok, that’s why we bought boaster seat for my gal yesterday. Now, my kids will be buckled up all the time when we are on the road.

It’s pretty stressful driving on the road. To avoid my skin from an outbreak and going for acne scar treatment later, I insist on buckling up my children, even if they might cry or fuss about it sometimes. I would rather have them crying but keeping them safe on the road.

I’m back to Malaysia now, so my kids are having a good time at home. I don’t have to take care of them as much as I do in Bangkok during the weekend, so it’s a bliss to me. I wonder if I can just leave them here for a few days so that hubby and I can have a nice holiday to one of those Las Vegas Hotels one day? We planed to have a short trip away every year, but after having kids, it’s getting harder to have a romantic trip as a couple. Unless we have someone to look after our kids for us! If not, we can forget about a trip like this…

Anyway, it’s nice to be home. Even if I’m not having a romantic trip now, I am enjoying our family moments together. Too bad this trip is rather too short for all of us.

SIL’s baby is 7 months now and she still breastfeeds her at night. She has lost a lot of weight, but like most new mothers, she’s eager to get back in shape like before, but it’s still a few kilos to go. I used to be very worried about my postnatal weight too, but some time later, I managed to lose weight without myself realizing it. I didn’t use any diet pills that work, nor going on diet. Being a mother is very busy, if you know what I mean!

Furthermore, if you are a working mother who takes care of your children on your own after work, you are basically “working” all the time, except when you are sleeping. That will also mean if you can have a good night sleep ok? My kids don’t sleep through until more than one and a half years old. So, it’s impossible not to lose weight like this!

SIL did shed of a lot of weight 6 months after labor, and she’s been shopping a lot now. I did the same too. LOL! Give yourself at least 6 months before you can go back in shape.

I don’t have much problem brushing my boy’s teeth when he was younger, but for my gal, it’s a struggle. She likes to do things by herself, and I am really proud of her. But when it comes to brushing teeth, I hope that I can give her some help. She has a tooth with minor decay now, and the dentist advised us to brush for her to prevent it from getting worse. But it’s not easy to do so as she refuses and wants to rain away from us. I don’t want to risk her from falling on the bathroom floor or hit herself on the bathroom faucets, so I surrender most of the time.

Frankly, I blame myself partly for letting her have her way with brushing teeth, that’s why she has tooth decay now as she can’t brush them well yet. So, what can I do now? The dentist said it’s not a good idea to remove that tooth because it’s not serious. We just have to prevent it from getting worse and delay tooth removal as long as possible. My gal is only 2 years old and she will not cooperate at the clinic. There’s no point scaring her at seeing a dentist now.

Gee…I should just stop buying those sweets and jelly beans, but she loves it!

I was checking my niece’s medication just now and I am not familiar with the names. They are different from what my kids had when they had cold when they were babies. Only a doctor knows the best about what to subscribe, so we just have to follow the prescriptions.

But if they are looking for free drug reference for iphone, they can always get one from Epocrates soon. It might be useful for them if they need to know more about a particular drug. Epocrates is working together with Apple to launch a drug guide for iPhone and maybe the product will be launched pretty soon.

For me, I will just have to remember those drugs which are common for children, so I don’t need a drug reference at all!

This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.

It’s been some time since my kids take medication, and they don’t fuss that much now when they take the med. Yesterday, I helped SIL to feed her 6 months old baby some medicine, and her baby choked and vomited. She had a good feed before that, so I guess she vomited due to too much crying. I could see SIL’s fear in her eyes, but for a more experienced mother, I had to comfort the baby, and make sure that everything was coming out from her mouth instead of going backwards. My kids vomited a lot too when they were babies, especially when they took their medicine. It’s not an easy task to “force” the liquid into their mouth, so it not easy for most new mothers.

Check out this article on how to feed a baby his medication. Maybe it will make things easier for you and your baby.

I try hard not to spank my kids, but I did hit their hands when they were really naughty before, but I told myself not to do so just because I am angry with their behavior but only do so to teach them a lesson about danger or circumstances. Most of the time, my kids are doing fine, so we don’t have to piak them much. Besides that, I don’t really agree with hitting kids because they are very vulnerable.

I’ve recently known a little girl who has finger marks and bruises on her arms and legs. SIL told me that her mother hits her often, and she hits her hard. I can’t imagine what have the girl done to be beaten up, but I know that her family is having a serious financial crisis now and her parents are constantly fighting at home. This little girl seems to be very afraid of being herself. She played with my kids once, but since then, she was not allowed to play with them even if she wants to. I can’t speak Thai, so I can’t talk much to her mother.

It’s their family affair and I can’t interfere. But if the mother is doing so because of her own anger, I don’t think it’s the right way of parenting.