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Mom, interrupted, Part 1

March 6, 2013

Ever since the stay-home gig started on 1 March, it’s been nothing short of crazy here.

In fact, I’ll be frank and go as far to say it’s been *crap*.

I’ve been barking, hollering and watching my blood pressure go up while feeling my blood boil as I attempt to undo some years of bad habits and poor child training.

I would go, “Stop what you’re doing and let’s have breakfast now.”

And the kids would go:

“But I’m busy. I want to do what I’m doing.”

“No, I don’t want to eat breakfast. Eww, what’s that? Yucks!“

This happens for lunch time, bath time, nap time and whatever-Mama-says time. Every time.

Then there would be the meltdowns and temper tantrums ranging from not wanting to wear a particular piece of clothing I’ve chosen to not being the first in line for vitamins. Like the “why-you-give-whoever-the-vitamin-first-and-not-me” kind of silly tantrums.

Plus, arguments and fights on an hourly basis and having to put children in their time-out corners for I-dunno-how-many-bloody-times a day, a needy baby who wants to be carried ALL THE TIME, a four-year-old asking you incessantly “What can we do now?” and a middle child who’s practically screaming her own head off when things don’t go her way, I’m pretty much going beserk after 6 days.

I’m also doubling up as maid of the house because it is just impossible for the helper to manage the chores. So guess what, I’m also mopping the crayon stains, folding laundry and changing bedsheets. Every day, someone would wet the bed, spill milk, scatter Cheerios, litter the house with shreds of paper cut-outs and eraser shavings, and smear the walls with Crayola.

Yesterday’s dirty laundry

Two baskets of unfolded laundry

And then some more

But I’m no fool of a Mama that will accept things as they are, and have these kids continue to be poorly behaved.

Child training – this is how it begins.

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Family life as we know it Going Out! Happy days The Kao Kids

Rise & Shine, it’s picnic time!

March 5, 2013

We had a lovely breakfast on a lovely Sunday morning against the Marina Bay skyline at The Lawn.

The sky was clear. The weather was cool and breezy. The kids weren’t too cranky despite having been ill for the last two days.

I made some ham and cheese sandwich and the wonderful grandparents and aunt got up early to join us, not before going to the market to get some vegetarian beehoon, and we had ourselves a hearty, healthy meal while being part of the largest breakfast picnic turnout in the Singapore Book of Records.

The kids had a ball chasing flying balloons, shaking hands with stilt walkers and mascots and jumping on bouncy castles.

When it wasn’t too crowded and we needn’t queue, Ben did his sports try-out and had some fun batting a ball for cricket. Becks and Nat were just too happy munching on the free samples of rice krispies and cornflakes from Kellogg’s, and drinking Ribena.

I think it’s a splendid idea to rise and shine early once in a while and spend such lovely time with family.

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Ben Kao

Roar! The dinosaur’s four!

March 2, 2013

One month before his birthday, I asked Ben if he would like to decide what he wanted for his birthday cake. This would be his last celebration in school, since he would be staying home with me starting March.

Ben: I want a dinosaur cake.

Me: Ok, let me google “dinosaur cake”.

I then showed him images of cakes that were dinosaur related. The 3D cakes that showed up in the results of the search were pretty amazing. We saw a pretty stegosaurus covered in fresh cream, the head of a t-rex in vibrant red and black hues, and cute Barney-looking ones with friendly smiles.

Ben: No, I don’t want all these. I want a cake which you can put toys. Like last time my birthday cake right, I could bring the toy cars home.

Me: Right. You want a cake with dinosaur toppers.

So I sent a message to the Queen Bee herself and told her about my son’s request. I asked if she could make a cake that was exciting, perhaps with a 3D volcano spewing molten lava. She was excited to receive this request and agreed to try to make a standing volcano for a cake that would serve 40. Since she hasn’t been asked by anyone to make this before, we agreed that we would only add it in if the volcanic creation was successful.

On his birthday, this was the final product:

This amazing mom of a baker who has four kids and a full-time job managed to make a solid volcano complete with an orange hued crater with just fondant and rice crispies! Ben was so thrilled by his cake he couldn’t stop grinning the whole time. His friends were equally excited too. They kept poking and probing the volcano, and wow-ing nonstop at the cake. By the time the candles were on the cake, I think it was pretty much covered with 30 sets of fingerprints and lots of saliva.

The cake was a delicious vanilla with strawberry jam filling and the kids ate rather happily, with some asking for another helping. The birthday boy himself had some, but was more preoccupied with running in and out of the toilet washing his dinosaur toppers and keeping them close to him. He didn’t want anyone of his friends to take them from the table.

I also packed 40 party favours that were filled with a capsule of dinosaur erasers, one huge dino egg, a set of dinosaur stickers and a dinosaur spinning top. I got them at wholesale price from Happy Island and that saved me a lot of money. The kids queued up to get their goodie bag from Ben and some shook his hand to wish him a happy birthday. I think he’s going to miss some of his friends when he leaves the school.

After the cake-cutting, the kids went outdoors for some bubble fun and outdoor play, which gave Fatherkao a wonderful opportunity to snap some pictures of our four-year-old with his friends for the last time.

The parting shot? A picture with his best friend ever. They were together at the same infantcare since three months old, and moved on to becoming best of pals throughout toddlerhood in the same playgroup, Nursery 1 and now Nursery 2. I know he’s going to really miss being soldiers with him.

Two years old (2011)

Three years old (2012)

Four! (2013)

My boy’s all grown up now.

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Ben Kao Homelearning fun Learning fun! Milestones and growing up

Roar! It’s dino galore!

March 1, 2013

Ben’s been obsessed with dinosaurs for many months now.

Although he still has some problems pronouncing the long names like the hypsilophodon, tenontosaurus and euoplocephalus, (who wouldn’t?) thanks to the Flip-o-saurus I bought him, he’s learnt to invent names for dinosaurs using his imagination. This wacky book contains fantastic pictures and breaks dinos’ names up which allows the kid to mix and match their body parts to create their own make-belief dinosaurs.

The hardest part of this dino craze is having to explain the history of these prehistoric creatures to him, why they’ve become extinct, how these creatures are classified (saurischia, the lizard-hipped; ornithischia, the bird-hipped plant eaters; the long-necked ones, bipedal ones, bird-footed ones, armoured ones, and those with horns and shield around the skull).

It’s almost excruciating.

Because I want to encourage his curiosity, I also end up squinting and reading him The World of Dinosaurs, an encyclopedic guide to these prehistoric creatures A LOT, especially before bedtime, and having my tongue tied every minute of it.

In December, we had lots of counting and sorting fun with the dinosaur counters I bought from The Mind Store. I used the 108 mini dinos – the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Dimetrodon and Woolly Mammoth in various colours – to teach classification, colour sorting, counting, sequencing, and simple addition and subtraction. It was a great deal of fun learning with these counters.

The boy also amassed a huge number of different dino figurines for his own pretend play since Christmas, both from the toy store and from those hatch-a-dino eggs. Dinosaurs (rubbery, slippery ones!) practically hatch and grow when you throw those eggs into water. It was thrilling for him to watch what would be hatched and even more amusing for us to hear him scream the name of the dino over a pail of water – Stegosaurus! T-rex! Pterodactyl! – like some pro.

I think I’ve learned so much about dinosaurs the last few months I should be given a Ph.D for it. And the boy? He’s still very much obsessed with these prehistoric giants so we threw him a dino-theme birthday party.

[To be continued…]

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Becks Kao Ben Kao The darndest kid quotes and antics The Kao Kids

WTBW: Money can’t buy me love

February 27, 2013

At four, Ben is learning the concept of money and its function in our daily lives. His father gives him coins to save up and makes him count them periodically. Fatherkao also “sells” him Tomica diecast cars and trucks in exchange for his coins.

Tis’ very interesting indeed, watching a child understand the concept of money and learn how goods and services are exchanged.

Overheard recently at a shopping mall…

Me: Oooh, sale at Fox Baby. Look, can get more Hello Kitty t-shirts! So cheap, $9? I bought them for $19.90 before CNY!

Becks: Yay, I want more Hello Kitty, Mama.

Me: (to everyone) Let’s go and take a look.

Becks: (excitedly) I want, I want!

At this point in time, Ben looked stern and not too thrilled at all. He looked at his sister and…

Ben: Buy, buy, buy… Every time buy. Then Mama has no more money. Do you know if she has no more money, she cannot teach us anymore, she’s got to go back and work?

Yes, I am a stay-home-mum now and I’ve told my son that I’m no longer working so I can read to him, play with him and have lessons with him at home.

My son, the prudent one. You can see how much he knows about money. Enough to want Mama to stay home with him.

Also linking up with:

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Ben Kao Milestones and growing up The darndest kid quotes and antics

WTBW: Ah Boys to Men

February 27, 2013

Ben’s been quite captivated by the movie trailer of Ah Boys to Men playing at the DVD stores. He’s been fascinated with soldiers and guns since he was two, and has a group of friends at daycare who loves shooting with “rifles” and “pistols”.

Part 1

Ben: Every man must go to the army?

Me: Yea. Someday, when you’re 19, you will go. And Nat too. Your father and grandfathers have all been trained in the army.

Ben: Gong gong is a soldier?

Me: Yes. He used to be.

Ben: And Dada?

Me: Yes. He still is one.

Ben: Huh? Why he teach and then he shoots?

Part 2

Ben: What do the soldiers eat in the army camp? Is there a kitchen?

Me: Yes, there’s a cook house. The soldiers eat simple food. Maybe not very tasty food too.

Ben: Huh… Why?

Me: It’s not like they get Pastamania all the time. They’ve gotta eat quickly and do things quickly, no time to do fine dining.

Ben: Why must they do things quickly?

Fatherkao: That’s what soldiers do. They do things quick.

Ben: They need to do things quickly so they can shoot the bad guys?

Fatherkao: Yea, something like that.

Ben: How come there are bad guys in the army camp?

Part 3

Ben: In the army, you must train very hard?

Me: Yes, like what you saw in the movie trailer. They do drills, practise shooting, sleep very little and run around a lot.

Ben: Is it very tiring?

Me: Of course.

Ben: And I will be away from you? You will cry when I go?

Me: Yes, I will cry when you and Nat go to the army.

Ben: Huh, then I don’t be a soldier anymore, ok. I’ll be an astronaut.

~~~

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Ben Kao Getting all sentimental now Happy days Milestones and growing up

Happy 4th birthday, my boy

February 26, 2013

My dearest Ben,

Wasn’t it yesterday you were four days old? How did you turn four years old so quickly?

You were the gentlest and sweetest creature my world has ever witnessed. I remember holding you in my arms in the wee hours of 26 February 2009, looking at a dream come true. We waited almost a year for you. We were trying so hard then, and finally when we stopped trying, you came.

You came and rocked my world, son. You showed me tenderness and what little boys were made of. You’ve got heaps of unending cheekiness, curiosity, and that tremendous keenness to learn and grow. You, my boy, have taught me much as a mother.

Through your questions, I’ve learned to be patient.

Through your mischief, I’ve learned to let go and have fun.

Through your sensitivity, I’ve learned what it means to love and feel.

How did you grow up so quickly? The years have flown by fast and I’m unwilling to let you grow up. I wished you’d remain my little baby boy forever.

Happy birthday, Benji boy. I love you always and forever. I loved you before I knew you and now I’m loving you with everything I’ve got.

Affectionately yours,

Mama

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Happy days Milestones and growing up Nat Kao

Baby Nat’s ONE-derful party

February 25, 2013

Nat is the only one among the three kids we have that knows he’s turned one. Every time we sing the birthday song, he claps his hands and blows an imaginary candle when we’re finished.

I know he must have thoroughly enjoyed the party we threw him last Saturday.

We held a celebration at The Grassroots’ Club Children’s Playroom for Nat’s first birthday bash. This event marked our fifth party held there. We celebrated Ben’s first birthday there. Becks’ full-month and first birthday celebration were held there, and so was Nat’s full-month. The place has become quite synonymous with any of the Kao kid’s party among family and friends.

Since this would probably be the last BIG party I’d ever organise (I don’t plan on having a fourth kid, so there’ll be no more full-month celebrations or first birthdays!), I thought I’d really make sure that my baby would have the best party of his life. Well, maybe not the elaborate Disneyland kind of party, but good enough for Nat to remember in photos and make him grin all night.

The venue was great because it has a ball pool which Nat absolutely loved and an indoor playground and kiddy rides which gave the adults much breathing space and chit-chatting opportunities while the kids were fully entertained, playing catching with one another and climbing up and down the playground structures. Ben and Becks were old enough to run along and play on their own, and that gave me time to catch up with friends and relatives, and parade the birthday boy around.

The food we had was catered by Casserole. It was decent, and the favourite amongst the guests had to be their nonya chicken curry and bobo chacha (a warm nonya dessert of coconut milk, sweet potatoes, taro and tapioca). The portions were generous, and that made some of my relatives very happy because they could pack food home for their lunch the next day. I also got an agar agar cake (which was so very tasty, by the way) from Cake Story. The folks there accepted my last minute order and was exceptionally prompt in responding and delivering the cake despite having one day’s notice.

Nat’s star-theme two-tier birthday cake was baked by the Queen Bee herself, Christina, who painstaking adorned the cake with colourful stars, both big and small. Stars because the boy loves the Ikea star night-light in his room, and would point to it every night when it’s switched on to say “aaar…” much to our amusement, and I’d thought it’d be nice if he had lots of stars for his cake, and say “aaar...” the whole night long.

He loves balloons too, so we got him a customised bouquet of colourful ones from Twinkle Balloons. He loved the balloons so very much he didn’t say “[st]aaar” as I hope he would but “bb-bor” the whole time at the party. He made the guests laughed quite a bit with his obsession for all things big and round.

We had a fabulous time with friends and family celebrating this big milestone. I’m reminded of the times when my other two babies were once one, and how fast time has flown by. Now, I don’t have a baby anymore. I officially have three toddlers.

A heartfelt thank you to all who came and blessed Nathanael with your presence and presents. (I would have loved to upload pictures of you on this blog but I respect the fact that some of you are very private people. Will have them emailed to you!)

It’s been a really one-derful evening!

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Getting all sentimental now Happy days Milestones and growing up Nat Kao

My baby is one!

February 22, 2013

My youngest turned one just a few days ago and I am getting really sentimental. I miss holding the baby that was him at one month old.

He no longer has that sweet baby breath to smell.

He no longer whimpers and looks helpless.

He’s learned to walk (run, almost!) and yell and act like he is the king of drama.

He’s beginning to assert his independence by pointing where he wishes to go, pushing you away when he wants to get down to walk, and throwing a fit on the floor when he needs you to carry him.

He’s a funny one to watch, too. He goes around kaypoh-ing and disturbing his older siblings when they are reading / writing / drawing / playing, and gets really excited when they start bullying him. He absolutely loves it when they stick tape on him, stamp ink all over his arms and colour his legs.

On his birthday, he smiled at everyone who gathered around him at school and clapped along to his birthday song, before blowing out his own candle – huffing and puffing with all his might. (Ok, he couldn’t in the end so I helped him out.)

Thanks for being the happy, funny you, Nat. Happy birthday!

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