Humph! Not Fair!

A pet phrase of Ethyl these days.

This three words, especially the latter two makes me pull my hair and cringe my face. Why so? Just because I grew up with my two other sisters and we always shouted "not fair", and was denied by Mom and Papa.

Taking my not so good experience of "not"fair", I have reminded myself umpteen times, I have to thread on this thin line with extra care.

Many times, I reminded myself I need to explain to Ethyl and Brayden why I did something to one but not another. Even so, there are times when the hormones go haywire and I simply lose my patience especially when Ethyl kept asking and protesting why she has to give in.

Brayden is a little too young to shout these two words, more of Ethyl's feelings I need to take care of. She is a very sensitive child, thus such emotional issues are pretty tacky.

I used to make up for the "unfairness" by getting her something she likes or give in to a reasonable request from her whenever she has to give in. I didn't tell her, I just do it. Until lately she kept saying I was unfair to her, I told her a few scenarios whereby I "treated" her with something else that Brayden doesn't get.

This took a while for me to explain, but of cause, besides giving in to her request or a "treat" is something I have to manage. I explained to her, if her behaviour is undesirable, her "treat" shall be forfeited.

Such "treats" are important notes to me. Only when no tantrums were thrown and complains from her, such treats will take place. Meaning, her reaction to the "unfair" treatment is the deciding factor to decide if she deserves a treat from me.

Being a kid, she tried her best. Not smooth and no tussle all the time though. We tried and struggle sometimes. Tears were shed...and I do see improvements coming along the way as I repeatedly explained to her the reason behind it.

This is one of my KPI for this year. Who says SAHM (cum WAHM) is a simple job?!

The Quiet Book Giveaway by my playshcool.net

Myplayschool.net is celebrating their 400 likes on their Facebook page and is giving away "The Quiet Book" suitable for kids of age 18 - 36 months old, hand-made by Pauline.

I think is is GREAT for all parents!

By reading this, you will stand a chance to win too! Simply click on the above link and like their page on Facebook!

This book is ideal to carry along to keep the ever active toddler engaged in it's activities.

Find out more about this book here.

Off We Go To The Park!

Quite a shame to say, we have been staying here for more than a year and yet to really bring the kids to Pasir Ris Park. I shall point the finger to Hubby again as he is very reluctant to go outdoors!

This time, he finally agreed (well, it was the week before), and we went to buy kite, wanting to fly it in the park. Coincidentally, Dad came to our place just as we reached the park and Ethyl was thoroughly disappointed.

We promised the girl we shall return, and true enough, we return last Sunday.

The girl forsake her kite in the car after seeing the huge playground. See? She has been blaming Gong Gong and Po Po for coming at the wrong time, yet she didn't fly her kite in the end. Kids.

We had so much fun! This is a place we definitely will return to drain out the 2 power house.

Homeschool - Puzzling Fun

Challenge is always there when trying to coach my little man. He doesn't abide by the so called "rules and regulations" that I set for him. I take it easy, as he is still too curious with almost anything to I expose him too.

One activity that makes him play for hours(yes, he can put puzzles repeatedly for at least and hour and more), puzzles and building blocks.

I always have to play around these 2 items to make him learn. We do randomingly. I used to plan, ended up, I irritated him for insisting he do something and I get frustrated with his unwillingness to oblige.

Now, we are both happy! I use alphabet cards to help him with phonetic sounds, numbers learning and the magnetic board at times to do drawing and teaching him simple strokes.

He now writes "H" and "I" to make Hi-5!

Every little thing counts. He may not speak very fluent sentences, but with every additional word(s) he adds in to his short sentence, simply makes me lose sleep over.

I will miss him when he goes to school next year, though he is a menace when he is home!

Inaugural Trip to Resort World Sentosa (RWS)

To be frank, RWS is not appealing to me. I never even really wanted to bring the kids to the Universal Studio to catch some fun.

However, my sis got tickets to watch Voyage de la Vie, so we went ahead last saturday since it has been a while we stepped into Sentosa.

It is always nice to meet up with the Tans as both my little ones enjoys the company of Lleroy.

We parked our cars at Tiong Bahru Plaza and took the free shuttle bus into Sentosa.

Seems like it was last October that we last went to the island, and it now looks so different (where RSW was built).



The "A" was missed out while I was adjusting the focus.



Ethyl whent "wow...a castle"


the tiny peeps



The Tans



The Lims



the lil ones again!



I can't remember it was how many years ago I last watched a circus performance. at least a decade ago! This is defintely worth watching!

After the show, we went to Lau Pa Sat for dinner.





Out appetizer!

We always enjoy outings with my sister. The youngest alway has her own program, so, she is always not included in our outings!

Phonics Helps!

Brought Ethyl to LCentral at Bedok for an assessment yesterday and she can gain direct entry to their "Success PFS" program.

I sat through the assessment with Ethyl, am very impressed that the little girl could read so well. Just because she has been doing her role dutifully, I always leave it to her to read by herself these days.

I saw her read the various passages and witnessed how she blend the difficult words together using phonics, a skill she acquired from school and with little teaching from me.

The phonetic sounds was perfect. She never really underwent enrichment in this area and I am proud she does well.

If you ask me what is important for a pre-school child, I would suggest we focus on foundations like phonics for the kid. As they grow older, they can progress to different enrichment that suits their needs.

After a long oven hiatus...

I stepped away from my oven after the excitement of owning one faded. Upon Ethyl's nagging, of which I really admire her perseverance, I stepped into the kitchen and meddled with my baking utensils once again with Ethyl as my lil baking assistant.

Brayden called me "cooking mama" as I baked. That was how he relates baking with that game.

I tried the same recipe before and it was yummy! But this time, I had to do it twice as it was burnt the first time!

The momentum to bake seems to be creeping back and I am looking for my moulds (Brayden played with all my kitchen stuff and kept them in his secret hiding place) for egg tarts. I hope to bake Portuguese egg tart (I found one recipe that I think will taste good).

When will I start baking cookies??

Ingredients:


180gm Butter

180gm fine sugar

2 large eggs, beat lightly

250gm cake flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp biocarbonate of soda

220gm of mashed bananas

50gm whipped cream

1/2 tsp banana essence

2 bananas sliced (can change to some walnuts to be placed on top of the cake)


Method:


1. Cream butter and sugar till light and creamy

2. pour in eggs gradually and beat till creamy (i split the mixture into 3 portions)

3. Add in whip cream, mashed bananas and banana essence - mix well

4. Add in cake flour, baking powder and biocarbonate of soda and mix well (mix only for a while)

5. pour mixture into 8" round tray (i used a bundt pan instead) and arrange bananas or walnuts on top

6. Bake at 175C for about 55 to 60 mins (mine cooked in 30 mins at 180C) so please monitor. when i left in round tray for 45mins, it's burnt!