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Welcome to Fight Club

November 4, 2013

There is almost nothing constant in the world of parenting the Kao kids. The dynamics change. The demands change. The seasons change.

And now, I’m spending every single day breaking fights, stopping squabbles and wiping away blood and tears.

A few months ago, everything was still fine and dandy. I remember writing a post about how my babies are finally playing together.

Then just like that, everything’s changed. There’s suddenly a lot of angst in the house. The kids are smacking one another, snatching things and yelling. A LOT. Somewhere some time in the day, somebody’s being bullied, crying foul or yanking hair. I don’t interfere in their sibling quarrels usually, but now that there are more incidents of blood, I am yelling more frequently, sending kids for time out and inviting Mr Cane to handle some of these fights.

One of the reasons for this new situation arising is because someone is stepping into the zone called the Terrible Twos at 21 months. Oh man, this boy knows how to fend for himself, alright! He’s not one to be bullied, and he asserts his independence in as many ways as he knows how. He’s also started smacking (faces), throwing (things at people) and biting (body parts of anyone) whenever he perceives that he is at a disadvantage.

The other reason is because Ben is beginning to understand the notion of fairness, justice and revenge. I’m beginning to suspect that Ben may be more gifted than I think he is. He is verbally expressive, and argues with me like a lawyer would with another in court. The case he is arguing is usually his own, and he is very skilled in negotiating about rules, punishment, discipline, bedtime, dinner – basically nearly anything he doesn’t like or wishes to avoid (but that’s for another post another time, and another issue altogether). And because he thinks that whatever Mom and Dad expect of him should be the same with his siblings, he gets considerably upset and angsty when things are not equal. Things are not always equal because he is four and he should know better and has been taught more things.

Anyway, it is this grappling with the notion of fairness and justice that has caused him to be quite pent up. As a result, he sometimes act like a bully when things don’t go his way.

And of course, we have to add Becks to the equation, the little girl who still has tantrums and meltdowns, and who’s learning the art of negotiation from her brother by watching him every day. She joins this by contributing spiteful words with her unbridled tongue, always yelling, “I don’t love you anymore!” and getting way too emotional.

So there you have it. These two months have been tough with the kids with their evolving needs and temperaments. One minute they could be playing together and the next, they would be tugging shirts and pushing one another. They swing from adoring one another one moment and declaring “I don’t love you” the next. There’s a lot of tempers to tame, a lot of conflicts to negotiate and communication skills to be taught. This is one of the biggest challenges of having three children aged 18 months apart between each other thus far.

Some people say siblings that fight the most are the tightest and closest when they grow up. I sure hope that they will grow up tightly knit looking at the number of fights I have to break up every day.

Picture from Jantoo Cartoons

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Going Out! Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! The Kao Kids

IKEA Make a Friend Contest (and how a robot may change my mind about something)

October 28, 2013

I’m one of those moms that dislike having to work with glue, newspapers and recyclable thingys. In fact, I’d go as far to say I declutter so often you’d never be able to find a single thing to craft with where I live.

And yes, I am also a typical (Asian) Tiger Mom, who would much prefer my kids to be reading, tracing, learning their math or playing the piano, so I don’t usually do craft with my kids or allow my children time for crafting. Painting, yes; drawing yes; but making stuff from nothing, nope soree’.

The kids know that (the Tiger Mom part), and they don’t have a thing for crafting either (perhaps largely due to the fact they don’t get to do it enough to like it). So when IKEA invited us for their ‘IKEA Make a Friend Contest’ Preview Party last Saturday, I didn’t know if we should go. We would need to make a robot together – me, Ben and Becks – and I am really not sure if we could pull this off. Truth be told, we’ve also never worked on making something together.

But the kids love, love, love IKEA. There’s something about being there (at IKEA Tampines, where we hang out a lot), smelling the wood and looking at furniture that makes them very happy kids. So when I asked them, they didn’t even think for a minute how difficult it would be for all of us to be making a robot together. They heard ‘IKEA’, they jumped for joy.

It was then I knew I’d probably be the one making the robot instead of them.

Oh well.

So did we eventually “make a robot friend” on a nice Saturday morning? Well, for starters, Ben and Becks started fiddling with the materials we were given in our box with no idea what to do. Then Ben started drawing his signature smileys on the cardboard rolls and Becks just did whatever she wanted to do whenever – pretend paint, played with super glue, cut paper into strips – and was most diva when I requested that she help by adding some colour to boring brown cardboard boxes.

“Colouring with crayons is VERY tiring you know, Mama,” my little girl said.

The brother also echoed:

“Ya … I don’t know how to make robots lah. So difficult.”

I’m sure you could tell we were off to a great start.

So I ended up conceptualising, and doing most of the assembling, requesting for help only when help was forth coming – like when the kids were finally in the mood to help me tape / glue / cut / colour – all the while going flustered mom on them asking them to stop squabbling / putting glue in their mouth / rubbing newspapers on their faces / destroying the robot.

A rare shot of Ben and Becks getting some “work” done

And finally, we, made our friend. 95% Mama and 5% Ben and Becks. I’m sure it still counts as teamwork!

Tadaa! We made a robot friend!

Ben named him “Alien Robot” because he was green and had spoons on his head.

He really liked it, and got all the stuffed toys that IKEA gave us to befriend him too.

Ben and our new friend, “Alien Robot”

All of us at IKEA and our new friend, plus more new stuffed toy friends

It was a lovely Saturday morning (despite having to craft!) at IKEA and watching the other bloggers and their kids getting their creative juices flowing was all very inspiring! I felt so alone there, like I was the only mom in the room who didn’t like to craft at all and probably the only one nagging non stop at my kids (stop playing with tape! – don’t mess around with UHU! – quit shredding the construction paper! – gawd’, no, those rolls aren’t binoculars!). I don’t know how these moms do it – not scold their kids or nag them – and I very much wished that the kids and I could make something together without the nagging (from me) and squabbling (between themselves). I know it’s a little too much to expect, with Ben only 4 and Becks 3, but is it really too much to ask that they sit still and focus on a task?

Perhaps they need to be given more opportunities to work with craft materials, yes?

Perhaps I need to take a chill pill too?

The room of bloggers and their kids! Check out some of their blogs: The Gingerbread Mum, The Dino Family, Sengkang Babies, Singapore Mom Blogs and Sakura Haruka

The room of bloggers and their kids! Check out some of their blogs: The Gingerbread Mum, The Dino Family, Sengkang Babies, PeiPei.HaoHao.,Singapore Mom Blogs and Sakura Haruka

The kids, some adults and our robot creations

Nonetheless, it was a nice morning out and the kids were more than happy to be at IKEA, and to be presented with food and stuffed toys. “Alien Robot” now sits proudly in our living room as our new friend, and he’s making me change my mind a little about gathering recyclables and working with the kids on doing some craft together (perhaps with one kid each time, just one or two a year). I’d have to overcome my extreme disgust for glue first, that’s for sure. That, plus find a good pair of gloves to wear when handling newspapers. But till then, I’m glad the robot taught me something about how maybe, just maybe, I could start training the kids to focus on one ‘craft task’ at a time, and that maybe crafting together with them wouldn’t be so bad after all if we started doing it more often.

Hmmm. I need to think about this one. I am sure I can start being more ‘crafty’ because there are definitely more benefits than I can see. And we all can learn to reuse and recycle too, while at that.

But if you and your kids love to craft and love IKEA, here’s more on IKEA Make a Friend Contest:

If you’re not like me, and absolutely love to make things together with your kid(s), you can make a robot at IKEA’s Make a Friend Contest! The contest is open to all parents with kids aged 12 and under, and all kids who are 12 and under – but you have to be either FAMILY members of IKEA or småles members of IKEA. (You can find out how you can be a FAMILY member here or register your child as a småles member here.)

In the competition, each parent-child team will be given cardboard materials to create their very own robot within an hour, and every robot will be photographed and shortlisted by a panel of judges before a final round of voting. The best looking robot wins $500 worth of IKEA Children’s Furniture and gift card, and will be turned into a life-sized robot to be showcased at IKEA stores!

The great day of family fun where creative play takes place is on 23 November 2013 from 10am onwards at IKEA Tampines. There would be 5 sessions in total (more details here) and registration is free!

To register for a spot in the contest, simply sign up online here from 28 October 2013.

Disclosure: We were invited to the Bloggers’ Preview Party at IKEA. I did not receive any monetary compensation for writing this. The kids did, however, receive stuffed animals of their choice, and will go on an all-time high when you mention IKEA, and would love the idea of going IKEA even more now. All opinions here are my own.

P/S: I am not a crafting Mama. Please don’t throw stones my way, tell me how un-creative our robot looks or write to me about how I shouldn’t be denying my children the chance to get creative with doing craft. I’m changing my mind about that, but till then, it’s hard for the tiger to rid her stripes and her OCD.

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Family life as we know it Parenting 101 The Kao Kids

Grilles, at last!

October 25, 2013

We’ve finally succumbed. To the superior force otherwise also known as Nat-who-throw-things-out-of-the-window.

Yes, we’ve finally installed window grilles in the house.

We’ve never had grilles for the 9 years we’ve been living in this place. Our home without window grilles appear brighter and more spacious. When there’s a perceived abundance of spaciousness, the inhabitants are happier.

Or so we thought.

The older kids never had the problem. If they attempted to climb onto the ledge to see what’s outside the window, Mr Cane always fixed this problem. Then they quickly got the idea that foot on ledge equals pain and they quickly stopped. Whenever they wanted to look out, they looked out through the bottom glass window panes.

Then Nat came along and changed everything. No matter how we warned, spanked and caned, he doesn’t get it. He would bounce his balls so high they flew out of the window. He would volley his balloons and they would drift out one by one. He’s even thrown paper down, and I had to scamper downstairs with Ben and Becks to pick them all up. Worst of all, no matter how hard he was smacked, he would still put his foot on the ledge. I would have to write a post about him entering his Terrible Twos soon, because every day with him now is about him testing every boundary there is.

We figured we need to install grilles before I get arrested for killer litter.

So when we chanced upon Le Gate at the Baby Fair at the Expo, we quickly made arrangements for them to come. They specialise in “invisible grilles” which, in my opinion, are pretty affordable. We thought their grilles looked much better than those conventional gaudy ones, and so we hurried them to come and fix the grilles for us. We paid less than $500 to install and mount these invisible grilles of 3″ gaps (made of stainless steel wire rods) for the living room, dining room and kids’ room.

So here is how the house looks like, before and after grilles:

Before

After

And now, the adults in this house can finally can take a vision break whenever the children are in the living room. To heck with the perceived spaciousness, I say. This certainly makes the inhabitants (namely me, Fatherkao and the helper) much happier.

No need to scamper downstairs to pick things up. Or to yell at the little one for foot on the ledge anymore.

Yay!

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A FaBOOlous Halloween at Liang Court

October 23, 2013

We’re not into trick-or-treating, attending costume parties or carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns in observance of Halloween. In fact, the kids are pretty freaked out whenever this time of the year approaches, especially when heading to the supermarket requires them to duck in the trolley or look away.

So this is what happens at the supermarket these days…

So when we received an invitation for a Halloween Party at Liang Court, the kids went umm, no thanks, Mama! Thankfully, I was told that Liang Court’s ‘FaBOOlous Halloween’ would not freak the living daylights out of us, and it would be one celebration that would be suitable for children.

So last Saturday, the kids and I attended our first ever Halloween party, where we made costumes, were treated to yummy snacks from Shakey’s Pizza and caught an awesome, entertaining Japanese Street Gag by a really talented Japanese street performer who stood on one leg on a rope and juggled *gulp* knives.

A FaBOOlous Halloween at Liang Court from 1 – 31 October

It was a fun Saturday afternoon out. We made costumes sponsored by WondersWork that weren’t freaky at all – Becks was a choc chip cookie, and Ben was a Red Indian Chief, complete with face paint and tomahawk.

Sweet Choc Chip Becks

Red Indian Chief Ben

Well, there wasn’t anything to boo anyone about, but both of them loved their costumes so much they wanted to wear it everyday for the next three days. They also kept asking me what a vampire was, because some other kids chose to make vampire costumes, complete with blood (red face paint) and fangs. Then they started quizzing me on why there had to be scary stuff in the supermarket every Halloween, and what this day was all about.

Don’t throw stones at me now, I told my kids that Halloween’s one day where people with nothing better to do pull pranks on their friends! Hurhurhur. Too much to explain about it being the Eve of All Hallows dedicated to remembering the saints and martyrs and the faithful departed believers. Will make a mental note to refer them to Wikipedia when they can read.

So we didn’t do any trick-or-treating, didn’t carve any pumpkins but we sure learned some things about Halloween and put on some real un-scary, kids’ friendly costumes! Happy Halloween!

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Close encounters with the maid kind Family life as we know it The Kao Kids What to Expect... As a Mother

MITKH v.1

October 16, 2013

While most of my friends were busy candy crushing and completing their heist missions in GTA V, I was busy accomplishing the missions in MITKH* v.1 the last 5 days.

* MITKH : Maidless in the Kao Household

There were many levels to complete in MITKH v.1 and all of them came with challenges which had to be completed mostly in single player mode. Like any RPG, the player has to take responsibility for acting out roles within a narrative through a process of structured decision-making and character development.

Here are some of the challenges I completed in MITKH v.1 in ascending order according to the level of difficulty:

Challenge Take Care of Daily Needs of Three Children ON YOUR OWN

Level of difficulty 1.5/5

In this challenge, you double up as mom and maid. With one pair of eyes, hands and legs, you feed, bathe, dress and tuck in three kids aged 4, 3 and 20 months simultaneously. With practise, the children learn to wait their turn and you get better and faster such that you don’t get too flustered by the tasks any more. Sometimes, unexpected things happen, such as one of the kids falls and hurts himself, spills food on the floor, poops at meal times and throws a tantrum.

Cheat trick: Take deep breaths, ignore if you can so you can focus on mission, ensure that the older ones follow instructions to the letter. Enlist the help of Mr Cane if you have to to ensure order and discipline so mission gets accomplished with minimal yelling and nagging.

* Bonus points if you accomplish tasks with minimal yelling and nagging.

Challenge Mind the House that has NO Window Grilles with Three Kids

Level of difficulty 2/5

In this challenge, you face bored kids with mischief up their sleeves and no grilles in your confines. The kids unexpectedly throw ball, shoot Nerf guns, jump up and down sofa, tables, waist-level shelves and beds.

Cheat trick: Locate books and scatter them everywhere in the hope that kids will see them and start reading. Shut windows if needed. Enlist the help of Mr Cane if you have to to ensure order and discipline so mission gets accomplished with minimal yelling and nagging.

* Bonus points if you’re able to get grilles installed in time.

Challenge Bathe, Poop and Pee with Nobody Watching Three Kids

Level of difficulty 2.5/5

In this challenge, you need to do the above real quick. Unfortunately, all kids are awake and needing your attention. You do not have the option of skipping this challenge as you smell like a stink bomb.

Cheat trick: Usher kids into the master bedroom. Shut windows and doors. Turn on the air conditioning. Get them to sit in a circle. Tell the kids that you are going to play a game and you will emerge in a few minutes looking all gorgeous and get them to imagine what a sight it will be. Ask them to close their eyes and guess what colour of clothes you’ll be putting on / what t-shirt you would wear / whether you would appear wearing a skirt or a pair of shorts. Throw as many questions to them as possible and run into toilet to accomplish mission.

* Bonus points if kids don’t start banging on your door after one minute.

Challenge Do Laundry: Fold, Wash, Hang with Baby Holding on to Your Legs

Level of difficulty: 3/5

In this challenge, the laundry bags are filling up faster that you can say ‘laundry bags’. There are clothes on the bamboo poles which require keeping, dirty laundry not washed and baskets of laundry unfolded. Plus there’s a baby perpetually grabbing your legs everywhere you go.

Cheat trick: Ask older kids to help you and be specific – pair up the socks, fold your own underwear, bring these to the washing machine, give me 5 pegs for this pole – and remember to ask nicely. Make it sound like it’s the most important job they could do in the whole world.

Little trooper following instructions to hold clean and folded laundry this way and to keep them in the cupboard

* Bonus points if kids don’t walk out of their job halfway and decide to do something else and if you do not abort tasks in this challenge with baby grabbing legs.

Challenge Prepare Fried Rice for Lunch with Baby Holding on to Your Legs

Level of Difficulty 3.5/5

In this challenge, you’re alone and kids are starving. It’s too far, too hot, too troublesome (plus too embarrassing since you smell like a stink bomb and haven’t brushed your teeth) to walk out to buy lunch. You need to cook something quick with what you have in the fridge.

Cheat trick: Mince garlic with food processor. Mince frozen prawns with food processor. Ensure there’s eggs and leftover rice in the fridge. Give baby empty containers with caps that he can screw and unscrew to keep him occupied while you prep and cook.

* Bonus points if kids don’t faint from hunger and you’re able to wash all plates, bowls and wok, and clean kitchen up before dinner.

Challenge Clean House Thoroughly

Level of difficulty 4/5

In this challenge, there’s hair everywhere (yours). Plus dust, dirt, grime, food bits and booger. Every step you take makes your feet feel icky and the baby is starting to pick food bits up to ingest. Some cleaning is in order.

Cheat trick: Use lots of Magic Kleen cleaner and wiper sheets. Better still, enlist the help of older children if they are willing. Close both eyes if you need and imagine the mess and dirt is not there. Ask children and husband to do the same.

Little trooper helping to mop the house

* Bonus points if you can vacuum and mop (not just use Magic Kleen!) with all kids sitting still on the sofa and not come down from it at all.

Challenge Prep Lesson Materials for Two Older Kids AND (actually) Teach Them Something While Baby is Awake

Level of Difficulty 5/5

In this challenge, you have to continue your home teaching endeavours and follow through with lesson planning and delivery. Kids need to trace their letters, read their readers (both English and Chinese), practise their addition and sequencing, draw, do craft, go on field trips and listen to stories.

Cheat trick: Not known.

* Bonus points if you can do all the above and not lose your cool at any point in time.

I didn’t manage to start on the last challenge. It was all too difficult and exhausting by the time I reached that. I’m hoping I never need to clear that level nor play another version. EVER. AGAIN.

Just for the record, I don’t like this game. At all. Cos’ IT WAS FOR REAL! (Sorry, need to vent.) It gave a whole new meaning to the words “bone tired” of which I am experiencing right now.

P/S: The reason for MITKH v.1 was because the helper requested for home leave to visit her gravely ill mother. Initially she asked for two weeks. I said no. She asked for one week, and I said no again. 5 days is my limit. We had a deal, and I am glad she honoured her word and returned.

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Becks Kao Ben Kao Family life as we know it Parenting 101

The strangeness (and kindness) of strangers

October 9, 2013

My kids are well trained in Stranger Education. They are wary by nature, so it’s not difficult at all to teach them the basics. Never talk to strangers. Say hi only when Mom and Dad tell you to. Familiar faces around our estate are ok – you can wave or smile or say hi, but never tell them where you live or open the door to let them in. Never accept chocolates and candies from people you don’t know. Never follow anyone who tells you that he knows your mother or father. If anyone tries to take you by force, scream as loud as you can.

The kids still get waved at and Nat gets stroked and touched by random strangers a lot, especially when we are on board the bus on our way to and from school. I usually tell them to be polite and smile because it would make their day, especially the old folks that try to befriend them. But they usually go, Huh why… they are strangers what.

Today, on the way to school, an old man who was sitting opposite us on a single decker bus couldn’t stop waving at Becks. He was unkempt and had the most eerie toothless grin. Becks was, of course, beyond horrified and refused to look at him. I didn’t insist she smile or wave. I made her and Ben put on their sunglasses and look out of the window.

Very unfriendly mother here, I know.

When we were preparing to alight, the man was still waving. He kept smiling and his toothless grin was now beyond eerie. It was annoying. We got down the bus, and boy, was I glad for sunglasses.

When we reached kindy, Ben exclaimed that he had lost his toy cow. He’s been taking one animal from his stash of animal toys to school every day to show his Chinese teacher because he’s learning about animals this term. I know it is a bad idea – to allow a four-year-old to be always bringing something to school – but I couldn’t deny him of that enthusiasm he suddenly found in learning Chinese. So I let him bring one out, provided he held on to it and not lose it.

We searched for the cow in his bag and couldn’t find it. He must have left it on the bus! I proceeded with a lecture on taking care of things and expressed my anger at his irresponsibility. So off to school he went, and in a huff I left, only to meet the same toothless, eerily-grinning old uncle as I crossed the road. He smiled at me and this time, he waved and spoke. He said he found the toy which we left behind and passed it to someone in the church. He asked me to hurry back to get it. I thanked him and asked if he had specially alighted and walked all the way back just to return Ben’s toy. He smiled and said in Mandarin, “It’s ok, I can wait for another bus.”

I ran back with the baby. There was no one in sight back at the kindy. I searched for the cleaners who usually sat at the pews facing the road – nope, no one around. Then from a distance, I saw Ben’s toy cow standing on a table, in the middle of nowhere. There it was, thanks to the kindness of a stranger.

When I left the kindy the second time, I walked past the uncle again who was still waiting for a bus. He had alighted, walked a bus stop back just to return a masak masak that belonged to a child he didn’t know (who has a mother that judged his appearance and sister who didn’t wave back). I apologised for his inconvenience and thanked him again. He said he found the toy after we alighted and thought my child would definitely want it back. And so he did what he did.

And I did what I had to do. I made Nat call him ‘Uncle’ and had the baby hi-five him to make his day. I hope it made his, because the kindness in his strangeness certainly made mine.

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Going Out! Motherkao loves... The Kao Kids

Pseudo Holiday at Fassler Gourmet

October 9, 2013

Ever since we discovered this gem of a place at Woodlands where we can get frozen salmon, cod, prawns, lobsters, crabmeat, scallops at factory outlet prices, we’ve been going back to restock our freezer every half a year. We even bought another freezer just so we could stock up! At Fassler Gourmet Singapore, their Atlantic Salmon and Salmon Trout fillets are cut fresh every day. Their black cod fillet is $55 for a 500 gram pack of three, and the reason why my kids have extremely expensive taste buds. Ever since birth, they’ve eaten the best (and most expensive) fish – the cod and threadfin – that our land could sell they absolutely refuse to eat anything that tastes unlike what they are used to eating.

I figured a trip down to Fassler would definitely save me the need to explain to the kids why I don’t buy their favourite salmon, cod and scallops from the supermarket and wet market. Yesterday, we decided to take the kids to Fassler to let them experience the cold in their walk-in freezer, and to see for themselves where Mom and Dad get their favourite seafood.

It was their first time there, and they were thrilled! Becks loved it, surprisingly; she loved the cold and was the only one who was functioning and not wanting to get out.

We stocked up – ooh, fresh salmon, cod fillets, scallops, tiger prawns! And bought enough clam chowder (which the whole family absolutely loves!) to last us till the end of the year!

I say, this is a good place to practise getting used to the cold should we ever wish to go backpacking to Iceland when the kids are older!

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Becks Kao Ben Kao Getting all sentimental now Going Out! Happy days Nat Kao The Kao Kids

Happiest Children’s Day

October 6, 2013

I’ve been a mother for about four and a half years now, but this is the first year I celebrated Children’s Day with my kids.

Children’s Day is a special day; it’s recognized on various days all around the world to honour children globally. As a child, the day was nothing fantastic really; all I could remember was Sharity Elephant and how important it was to give all my pocket money to the less fortunate. It’s not that I didn’t want to give. It was just not a special day at all. But now that I am a mom, it’s especially meaningful for me because I now have the opportunity to celebrate my children. It’s even more meaningful as a stay home mom; in previous years, I had to work on this day and the kids attended childcare and celebrated the day with their teachers. But this year, with no work and no childcare, I could spend this day giving thanks for Ben, Becks and Nat – the loveliest children that God has sent into my world – and remind myself that these children are unique individuals created by God for a purpose. And that despite the blood, sweat, tears and living on the brink of insanity every day, mothering them has been my greatest honour and privilege.

This year, we had a celebration together. With cupcakes. Ben and Becks were like, Huh, how come there’s cake? Whose birthday is it, Mama? Why are you making cake?

I didn’t explain much as to why there was a cupcake made specially for each of them except to sit them down and sing “Happy Children’s Day to you, Happy Children’s Day to you, Happy Children’s Day to my children, Happy Children’s Day to you!” and had them blow the candle, which they did with much delight. The cake ritual was more for me than for them – because I wanted me to have that realization sink deep that one day they wouldn’t be so children anymore to want to blow a candle for no reason and eat a cupcake Mama made.

Some day they will grow up.

In the evening, we met with some friends and their lovely children for a picnic against the gorgeous city skyline of Marina Bay at the Marina Barrage to continue our celebrations. The kids ran and played and laughed as the adults picnicked away (and overate). I am sure that deep in our hearts we were all grateful for our beautiful, healthy children who were running after kites, playing ball and squealing at bubbles as we sat there watching them.

There’s just so much to celebrate, and while I know we don’t have to wait for Children’ Day every year to count our blessings, this time every year should be an extra special day for every kid to have a blast and for the mother to sit back, enjoy her kid(s) and repeat this ten times to self:

The insanity is worth it.

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Invites & Tryouts Motherkao loves... Nat Kao Product Reviews

Gumigem Teething Necklace Review [+Giveaway]

September 23, 2013

Nat’s not exactly a gnawer, and he’s breezed through his teething now at 19 months, unlike his older sister who’s given me a bit of hell when her teeth broke through. Still, I hate to sling something over my neck only to have the littlest one, who’s so used to being worn in the Beco, tug and yank and put my costume jewellery in his mouth.

For that reason, I have not accessorized for the longest time.

Then I heard about Gumigem, a wide ranging line of award-winning, baby-proof, mommy jewellery that promised to make me look like a fashionista mom. Forget fashionista, I say – show me the baby-proof! I was really curious to see how an accessory that’s to be worn over my neck would be baby-friendly and yet stylish. I was offered my choice of their award-winning teething necklaces for review and so I browsed away at MamaLavie and finally decided on this:

Gumidrop Pearlberry SGD $34.90

Each item of Gumigem jewellery is made from silicone, which is the same material dummy teats are made of. The baby-proof part comes in the form of the silicone being free from BPA, PVC, Lead, Latex and Phthalate, meeting all required standards, which means it is all non-toxic and washable. When my Gumidrop Pearlberry arrived, I gave it a good wash with baby soap and slung it over my neck:

Looking like a fashionista mom already with Gumigem’s Gumidrop Pearlberry

My first thought: Why didn’t I get to know of this when Becks was teething and giving me a terrible time? I would have had teethers readily available for her in the form of these “pearls” and “gemstones” and wouldn’t even need to worry about them dropping, since I would be wearing them. Heck, I might even buy ten of those Bubba bangles and wear them on my wrist to save her (and myself) from those teething pains.

And my second thought: The necklace is indeed very, very commonsensically designed.

Each Gumigem necklace is fastened with a breakaway clasp, so if the little one decides to tug it, there is no discomfort for the wearer at all because it will come undone and not create discomfort for the neck. Every bead and pebble is also kept in place by knots in the cord, which means that nothing slides up and down and traps tiny fingers.

Clearly, Gumigem has designed their accessories to allow an otherwise frazzled looking, disheveled, baby-wearing mom to dress up any outfit with ease. The colours are vibrant and a lovely shimmer; there are no hidden parts and they are easy to put on. No hooks, no clasps, no icky bits that “eat” into your skin.

For Nat, since he’s past his teething woes, this piece of jewellery serves as an excellent distraction and keeps him fairly still. I’m very glad that whenever I am wearing this and nursing him outside, I don’t have to deal with all the lifting up my blouse, scratching my navel and yanking my clothes.

Stylish accessory and safe distraction: Nursing in the car is no longer a nightmare

All hail the genius who thought of this brilliant idea: stylish jewellery solves teething woes and itchy hands.

*Giveaway: A Gumigem Neclace and 3 x SGD$10 coupon code! *

I’m hosting a giveaway for a Gumigem Gumidrop in Jellybean and 3 x SGD$10 coupon code for four lucky readers!

A gorgeous teething necklace up for grabs: Gumidrop Jellybean (SGD$34.90)

Simply fill in the Rafflecopter widget for your chance to win – it should direct you to leave me a comment telling me why you need this piece of accessory / how this piece of accessory will help with your teething baby! Giveaway ends 30 September 2013.

Click on the Rafflecopter widget here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And if you’d like to purchase the brilliantly-designed, baby-proof teething jewellery, there’s a 10% discount code for all Motherkao readers. Key in the code MOTHERKAO before checking out. Check out the designs here.

And the WINNERS are…

Necklace: Adeline Tan
3 x S$10 voucher: Arsheitha Ganesan, Edlyn Giam, Huimin Faith Su

Congratulations, and thank you all for participating!

Disclosure: I received the Gumidrop Pearlberry for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

8 Comments

Becks Kao Happy days Motherkao loves...

I was never a fan of pink

September 20, 2013

Before I had a daughter, my wardrobe consisted of autumn colours and I would usually be seen wearing black, white and grey.

Then my daughter came along and changed that. I started liking colours because she loved colours. First she was crazy about all things pink. Then she was into the colours of the rainbow, and now her favourite colour is green.

And just like that, very unconsciously, I started liking the colours she liked. The kids hate it whenever I wear black or white. I don’t hear their usual “Mama you’re so pretty!” whenever I am dressed in those colours. That is why I now wear colourful tops, have green nails and a metallic pink handphone cover.

I’m writing this just to say that if I didn’t have this baby girl in my life, the colour I’d most probably want my KitchenAid to be would be black or silver or white.

But no, I have a little girl who’s my only daughter, and she’s coloured my world much. That was the reason why I was found at Best Denki yesterday swooning over this pretty baby in Limited Edition Raspberry Ice: