Milestones and growing up Archives - Page 4 of 19

(Self) Examination Milestones and growing up The Kao Kids

Settled and happy

October 15, 2015

It’s been past a month since we’ve moved, and everyone is settling in our new place quite well. It’s now really cosy (hurhurhur, smaller, that it), and because we’ve spent a bomb on carpentry to stow and tuck things away and created a wooden, earthy feel to the new home, it very much feels more like HOME than ever.

And it’s great – so, so, very great – to be living near amenities again! Oh, the happiness to find a taxi stand 2 minutes away; the MRT station – fully airconditioned – 5 minutes away; cafes, restaurants, coffee joints, ATMs and even an ice creamery in our vicinity just a stone’s throw; and to be living near cheap and good hawker fare where we find good ol’ local folks take pride in the food they make that it’s almost a guarantee to have to queue for my bak chor mee, lor mee, kway chap, lei cha fan and carrot cake at lunch time and breakfast on weekends (which I’m really not complaining to be eating at $2.50 a meal). I now can proudly say that a 24-hour Fairprice is behind me and a 24-hour Cold Storage is in front of me, and that I will never have to rummage the larder for a snack or a cup of ramyeon ever again.

We’ve been spending our weekends exploring the ‘hood and just scooting to places. The Kao kids are all too thrilled to be on their kickscooters and bicycles doing that. I am happiest with good food, having zi char one day, claypot rice the next, and then get thrilled by the thought of Nakhon Thai near me, as well as Gastronomia, Crystal Jade and Baker & Cook, and there’s also Phoon Huat (my favourite Red Man), and being next to a community centre (where in the past I am near nowhere and every where we went we had to drive) where my kids can finally enjoy the good ol’ PA courses at less-than-a-hundred-bucks-a-term and play at an indoor basketball court for free. It gives a whole new meaning to being in the heartlands.

Keep guessing where.

Ben tells me he misses the northeast where we used to live, and to be frank, I miss the prata and teh tahriks at Jalan Kayu and to be able to buy my eggs from the wholesaler at $5.50 for a tray of 30. Not forgetting the ribs at Jerry’s and the bak kut teh and chilling out at Cedele’s at Greenwich V. But then I discovered the gem of the wet market that’s only 50 steps away from me selling eggs cheap too and even baked wares like tarts and pies and steamed baos and I quickly stopped reminiscing the quaintness that’s in Jalan Kayu and started seeing my new neighbourhood with a renewed sense of hope.

House-moving was previously dreaded for the unknown, but I think I am one happy gal post-move.

More importantly, we’ve hit a milestone in this family – sourcing, renovating, packing, relocating – and adjusted to the move as one. No tears. No ‘I wished we were back there’. No regrets. And this new place feels more homely than ever, because the family has become tighter making this move, and that’s all that really matters.

P/S: One of the best things about this move was that we de-cluttered. Like MAD. It’s like a good detox on a whole new level. We’ve never felt lighter and better.

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Happy days Invites & Tryouts Milestones and growing up The Kao Kids

The Friso Play Experience, Kao Kids Style

September 21, 2015

I shared a while ago we’ve cut our living space and moved. Which also meant that prior to the move, we threw/ donated / recycled / left downstairs (for garang guni aunties and uncles of our previous neighbourhood to scour, hurhurhur) truckloads of stuff.

Boy, did we have A LOT of stuff. Toys and books and playsets and bath things that everyone has outgrown. Clothes that we would never wear. DVDs that we would never watch. STUFF that we would never use.

So the kids were feeling a little trodden by the month-long throwing out.

And it was nice to have the good folks from Friso come a-knockin’ our way last week, telling us they will be placing this right smack in the middle of our place. Which, of course, made the kids extremely thrilled. You mean, we can have new things to play with? was the first thing that crossed their mind.

More details on how you can redeem this, or experience this, at the end of the post

Yes, apparently so. Thanks to Friso Singapore, who’s all very keen to get children to experience PLAY, Nat, our littlest, together with the older two kids, had a chance to play – and play a lot indeed – with the Friso Experiences Play Set, consisting of a Friso tent, a Friso slide with basketball and hoop (in blue or pink), a Friso storage box with 2 cushions and a green carpet à la astro turf (a rather big piece, I must say).

So this was how Nat played:

When the play set first arrived, Nat was stoked to see something he was familiar with outdoors but not indoors. So off to the slide he went. We laid out the artificial grass, put the slide with basketball hoop on top of it, and the small spongy green ball given was quickly exchanged for a real junior basketball (because, really, you’re talking about Nat here) and here, you see the pro at play:

Ready, set, play!

There really isn’t any rules to slide and dunk, right?

The next day, I saw my older two join in the fun. Ben and Becks have been told that the slide is not suitable for older children and might not take their weight. But clearly, it became nevermind, Mom, we can get really creative, because it doesn’t mean we have to physically slide down a slide to have fun:

Making some obstacle course-ball-sliding down-but-won’t-make-too-much-of-a-din-and-mama-will-be-happy kind of thing ‘play’

How creative are my kids? Oh, so very. They are always ‘inventing’ things like that. The slide with the chairs and stools in the house, plus pillows and wooden sticks from the tent have seen more than 5 combinations already to make some “super machines” since the play set came. I’m just waiting for them to turn the slide upside down and discover a whole new world.

A few days later, I heard a great deal of swooshing and whooshing in the living room, and when I headed out, I was tickled by what Nat was doing, completely with commentary F1 broadcast teams would be proud:

It’s time for…. HOT WHEELS!

Cars down the slide, here we come!

The pictures I took were posed versions with cars, obviously. When I spied him with my little eye without my camera, this boy was racing four cars at once.

That weekend, we also brought the tent to Grandma’s place to try “camping” out. Ok, I have to say that the tent is a tad small for 3 children, so…

First, the kids tried to fit in the tent...

First, the kids tried to fit into the tent…

Next, they got comfortable

Ok, how about let’s do dinner here? Oops, no space!

So much for camping. They had fun, nonetheless, trying to make the tent work. I suspect if you throw them more rods and cloth, they might end up constructing a super tent big enough to fit the extended family, Grandma and Grandpa included.

So this was how the Kao kids did it with the Friso Play Set – play their own creative way!

***

Friso wishes to encourage parents to experience more together by engaging in creative play with their little ones. From 1 September 2015 to 31 October 2015, parents who spend $350 on any Friso participating products at participating retailers will receive the Friso Experiences Play Set (worth $300). It will consist of a tent, a slide with a basketball hoop, 2 cushions, a storage box and a green carpet so that parents can bring the outdoors into their homes and experience more together with their child.

The participating Friso products included in this promotion are Frisomum, Friso Gold Cereal and Friso Gold 2, 3, 4. It excludes all infant formula for 0-6 months.

There will also be a special Friso Experience Play Zones at FairPrice outlets and Sheng Siong outlets. Parents are invited to take pictures with their little ones at the play zones. Friso ambassadors will be on-site to snap photos, print it out and present it in a Friso Photo frame to the participants during the weekends.

The outlets for the Play Zones are:

FP Xtra Jem Mall — 1 to 30 Sept
FP Xtra AMK Hub — 1 to 30 Sept
FP Xtra Sport Hub — 1 to 30 Sept
FP Xtra Nex Mall — 7 to 30 Sept
FP Xtra Jurong — 1 to 30 Sept
FP East Point — 14 to 30 Sep
Guardian Plus Takshimaya — 17 to 30 Sep
Guardian Compass Point (B1) — 17 to 30 Sept
Guardian Causeway Point (B3-4) —28 Sep to 4 Oct
Sheng Siong Woodlands 6A — 1 to 31 Oct
Sheng Siong Bedok 209 — 1 to 31 Oct

Find more details here: apps.facebook.com/frisoexperience or follow Friso on their FB Page for more info.

***

“Play is a drive, a need, a brain-building must-do.” – Jeff A Johnson & Denita Dinger (Let them play: an early learning (un)curriculum)

Disclosure: We received the play set from Friso to play. The kids played. I watched. We bonded. All opinions here are our own.

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Ben Kao Happy days Invites & Tryouts Milestones and growing up The real supermom

Sundown with love, running at sundown with my loves

July 10, 2015

I wanted to give up long before race day. There were more than enough reasons to anyway.

I needed to focus on work and cancel out any distraction. There were processes to settle, curriculum to prepare and ideas to incubate. I didn’t have time to train (except for the five calories-burning sessions at Active Hive – another post on that soon). My husband, who was taking part in the Sundown Marathon with me, was not well for a long while with a phlegmy cough that didn’t go away. Ben had been having the sniffles too with his sensitive nose acting up a lot these days.

But a commitment is a commitment is a commitment. I said I’d do the 5km Fun Run for Sanctuary House, which I’ve been attempting to canvass donations for.

When Race Day arrived – and we were supposed to report at 7pm – I was already totally exhausted from being at work 6 hours earlier in the day. Fatherkao had a headache and popped two panadols that evening. The only one raring to go was Ben. And I had two other whining, unhappy, digruntled children who wouldn’t give me a break with their incessant grumblings about why they had to stay home with the helper. Not even TV helped.

But still we went, because a commitment is a commitment is a commitment, and boy, were we glad we did. That cool, lovely evening on 4 July totally made it to one of the high points of my year.

It was beautiful to be running at sundown.

The sunset view from Fatherkao’s phone camera

Add to that, the thoughtful organisers timed the Fun Run flag off to coincide with the fireworks from the NDP Rehearsal. We stopped after 1 km, stood by the Singapore River facing the Fullerton, and took in the breathtaking sights of the fireworks display before our eyes. Absolutely spectacular.

How close did we come ti soak in this spectacular sight?

How close did we come to soak in this spectacular sight?

This close. What a treat for the run!

And then being able make it to the half way mark with my firstborn – holding hands, encouraging him to press on, and sometimes looking at him from the back (yes, he got ahead of his very exhausted Mama) and thanking God that I have been blessed with lovely, healthy children.

Had this picture of the boys’ back edited as a sketch because it’s more poignant that way. I want to give thanks for the fact that in front of me ran two healthy boys!

And also extremely grateful that my husband, who hates running very much, was doing this with us with nary a grumble, encouraging Ben and me along the way, and teaching my firstborn some of life’s precious lessons. Overheard many times was the father telling the son to press on, not give up and reach for our goal. There were so many precious bonding moments no amount of money can buy.

When we held hands and made it through the finish line, it was touching to see the look of pride my son had on his face. That beaming, proud face after experiencing his first 5km-run. That look that says he’s grown up a little more after that evening.

Just the 3 of us

Ben’s well-deserved medal!

We had a lovely night after the run, being hosted by the organisers for dinner at the VIP tent, and talking a nice long walk to the MRT station talking about the events of the day and what the run was like for us. It was really, really nice to be walking hand in hand – just the three of us – like we were the best of friends and it was a beautiful and special moment for our firstborn too. I want to be doing this some time soon with Becks and then with Nat. I think that would be equally incredible.

Thank you, OSIM and Hivelocity, for the invitation to join the Sundown Marathon as a Sundown with Love Ambassador. We received more love that day than we could give.

Donations for Sanctuary House via the Sundown with Love platform closes 31 July 2015. If you could show a little love, click this link.

Disclosure: We were invited to be social influencers for the OSIM Sundown Marathon. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions here are our own.

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Family life as we know it Milestones and growing up Nat Kao The darndest kid quotes and antics

My littlest, 3 years, 4 months

June 30, 2015

Someone’s got a pretty good brain that’s been doing lots of quick thinking lately, not to mention the really glib tongue.

Someone who’s just barely turned three.

Someone who’s the apple of my eye.

***

Me: So Nat, shall we skip the diaper today?

Nat: Yes! Gimme my monster underwear!

Me: Remember to go pass urine in the toilet bowl, k. You have no diaper on.

Nat: Ok, I am a big boy now!

A while later, a yellow pool floods the sofa …

Ben: Ewwwww! Nat passed urine!!!!

Becks: (running away) Yucks! Nat passed urine!

Me: (running to the sofa) Oh no, Nat! Thought you said you would go to the toilet? Haiyah!

Nat: Haiyah! Why you didn’t wear diapers for me?

Me: -_-

***

Fatherkao: Who wrapped masking tape on the blind’s string? It’s all so sticky now!

Kao kids: (silence)

Fatherkao: Better own up now, whoever did it.

Nat: Dada, maybe the lizard did it?

***

Nat: Mama!

Me: Yes, my dear Nathanael?

A while later…

Me: Nat Nat!

Nat: Yes, my dear Elizabeth?

***

At the USS Gift Store

Me: Nat, check out your favourite fruit.

Nat: Come on, everyone, let’s do it!

Kao kids: Ba-ba-ba-ba-bu-na-na!

***

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Going Out! Milestones and growing up The Kao Kids

Of bouncy dreams and masak masak (ft. ZoomPark & National Museum of Singapore)

June 19, 2015

Holidays are stuff that dreams are made of. No fixed routines. No schedules. No rush.

At least for now.

I’ve made it the goal of this year’s March, June and September holidays that the kids play and play only. Apart from the older kids’ Chinese home tuition, I promised myself that they would not get any sit-down-with-mama-and-let’s-do-some-work sessions because this is pretty much the very last year Ben is gonna be a preschooler. Which makes it pretty much a very, very precious year for all my pre-schooling children to be having fun with one another with no other demands on their time and no other expectations on their lives. We all know how life starts to get hectic and time becomes a little more screwed up and messed up when a child makes his foray into the formal education scene, and whilst we are all bracing ourselves for the new journey to come – first for Ben next year – we are so not looking forward it.

These are golden years, my babies. Play and go wild as much as you want.

~~~

So during the March holidays (yes, I’m backtracking here a bit!), we had the time of our lives at this place:

Bouncing up and down, left and right

Slam-dunkin’

Shooting a basket

Aiming for the sky

Rock climbing

Racing to aim and throw

It was the wildest we ever got to do as a family. Not even Legoland was this wild.

Think non-stop bouncing, with Mom and Dad, and getting a seriously serious workout.

This is ZoomPark Asia (200 Pandan Gardens, #01-14, Singapore 609336 | Tel: 6334-4615). The healthy, bouncy folks there tell me that 10 minutes of being on a trampoline is equivalent to 30 minutes of jogging.

You bet I was jumping hard at this mega trampoline park. If we didn’t live so far, I would have made it a weekly affair to get a workout here.

Takes a lot of hand, feet and eye coordination, this one

Gives a whole new meaning to peng-san!

Resting on foam blocks after free falling from the rock climbing

We were bouncing alongside Sengkang Babies!

~~~

This June, we signed up as members of the zoo and River Safari again – because my children love the outdoors and animals! – and I had them direct their own homelearning about koalas after our visit to the koalas at the zoo.

Have you met Chan, Idalia, Paddle and Pellita yet? We don’t know who’s who though!

Someone’s awake!

We kept really quiet in there, because the koalas were sleeping!

Koala plush mania!

Kids decide what they want to do, and Mama prints them all from free printables online

Colouring begins!

Finding out what eucalyptus smells like

Making a koala enclosure and painting the leaves they picked

Wa la! Koala mask ready, koala mazes done and koala enclosure ready for visit!

Wa la! Koala mask put on, koala mazes done and koala enclosure ready for visit!

~~~

We also paid a visit earlier in June to the National Museum of Singapore where Children Season is back, and checked out the inspiring and interactive exhibits at Masak Masak 2015.

Masak Masak 2015 features familiar playgrounds and interactive installations by Singaporean and international artists at the National Museum of Singapore

Becks and Nat doing a cute couple pose. The kids were super excited.

Spectrum of Paper by Mademoiselle Maurice (France): Step into a rainbow wonderland at the Rotunda and immerse yourselves in a kaleidoscope of colourful, suspended origami boats and planes!

Spectrum of Paper by Mademoiselle Maurice (France): Step into a rainbow wonderland at the Rotunda and immerse yourself in a kaleidoscope of colourful, suspended origami boats and planes!

Navigating the maze that is Wanderlust, made completely from crepe paper

Navigating the maze that is Wanderlust by Crystal Wagner (USA), made completely from crepe paper

Stamping fun with the iconic masak masak stamps

Making patterns and lots of noise

Playing the eraser flag game, just that this one ain’t erasers but giant cushion flags!

Making our own shadow puppet

Ben’s little squirrel wants to join the fun

Becks’ little rabbit ready for shadow play with the backdrop of Jeremy Hiah’s (Singapore) Queen of the Forest

And off she goes behind the screen to tell her own story!

Simple Pleasures in Life by Jeanette Aw (yep, the local artiste – didn’t know she was so talented), which is apt indeed, because the simple pleasures in life are made of these: adding colours to our lives

The kids had their doodling dream and major graffiti fantasy come true at this installation

Opposite the colouring board is a huge black board which bids you come scratch it with all your might. A colourful background unveils. Ben is loving this – and also the fact the sound drives me nuts.

But none was as fun and wild as doing this:

Weeee!

Sliding fun at the bouncy version of the Dragon Playground

And then again on the Elephant version

Again and again!

And then climbing through the Watermelon one…

Before taking a rest on the wooden carousel swings with Momolato popsicles with real fruit inside

These brought back so many childhood memories for me, and I am glad the next generation is getting acquainted with them albeit in a different way.

If you love to museum-hop or love being in the museums, Children Season is really the best thing that happens every June.

~~~

Hope your holidays have been as swell as ours so far!

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Everyday fun! Milestones and growing up The Kao Kids

Boredom-inspired creativity

May 21, 2015

When you were a child, what did you do when you were bored?

And what have you become today?

My husband explored and got into trouble. I lay in bed and dreamed up imaginative worlds.

We are big believers of boredom – and we want our kids to get bored, feel bored and experience the frustration associated with it. Have you read this article that correlates boredom with creative thought? We want our children to be forced into solitude and edged into a mode of discovery.

When we first started, it was hard. It was hard for me too, by the way, to NOT structure and plan something for them to do.

So Ben comes and says, “I’m so bored, can I watch TV?”

Becks says, “It’s so boring I don’t know what to do.”

Nat says, “So boring. I want you come be with me.”

And I would say, “Go and find something.”

And after many rounds of being acquainted with boredom, my children have…

Found the guts to leave the confines of our house to peek at what the neighbours are doing. At one point, they even go around to greet them. Now, Ben is offering our neighbour, Aunty R, to throw her trash for 20 cents a day.

Nightly duty: 20 cents for throwing trash!

They also invented Running Man games…

Mission: Skate through obstacles in the house with these cloth baskets

Built…

So much fun with LEGO

And built…

How many minifigs can you see?

And built some more…

More LEGO fun

And drew…

Nat loves to draw

And made many somethings out of nothing – all because they were bored.

The kids did up a rainforest to welcome me home…

By placing animals everywhere and imagining the green table as a huge tree – an excuse for a clever, structured mess

What’s happening in the background: caught on camera is the littlest trying to make binoculars from two Yakult bottles!

And check out this sword – make entirely from toilet rolls!

They learned how to handle boredom and find something to do and exercise that little muscle I call the little creativity joint.

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Invites & Tryouts Milestones and growing up Product Reviews Reviews The Kao Kids

Yummy gummies in our tummies

May 1, 2015

I’ve always brainwashed my children about sweets and how they, though delectably tasty at first, would come back to haunt them in the form of tooth decay and indigestion. It works, by the way. But also because I satisfy their sugar cravings with gummy-fixes in the morning after breakfast.

And their gummies are vitamins and supplements in disguise, really. They load up on calcium, mutli-vits, Vitamin C and Omega-3 in the form of naturally-flavoured chewy sweets.

We’re not a stickler for brands, but I generally choose these gummy vitamins that are from reputable sources from the pharmacy. And most importantly, as the one in-charge of distributing these every morning, I read the labels carefully and ensure that:

Each child takes the recommended dose

My children only start ingesting these supplements after they turn 3. They get the recommended quantity every day and not any more throughout the course of the day. I make sure they chew them slowly and swallow them. They are to respect these candies-in-disguise as vitamins and NOT candies. Large amounts of vitamins A, C and D, as well as large amounts of iron, can be toxic, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, if children associate these gummies with sweet treats they can have on a free flow basis.

The vitamins are kept in a safe and cool place

Gummy vitamins may require constant temperatures and refrigeration to prevent spoilage. Heat can cause these gummies to melt and Vitamins B and C and other water-soluble vitamins to disintegrate.

They should never replace a balanced diet

Vitamins and other dietary supplements are not a good substitute for a healthy, balanced diet. The kids are to have their milk and breakfast every day before consuming their gummies. If they don’t eat well throughout the day, they might see some gummies taken out from their mini cups the next day, and would be forced to load up on their fruits and veggies. I usually have no problems with the kids on that. They love all kinds of food in moderate amounts.

We’ve had the privilege of trying out the new supplements for children by Guardian recently, and my three little reviewers have never been happier to be acquainted with new shapes and flavours.

170317 GUARDIAN GUMMIES FOR KIDS MULTIVITAMIN + MINERALS 60's

Guardian Multi-Vitamin + Minerals Gummies (SGD 23.90)

170316 GUMMIES FOR KIDS GUARDIAN OMEGA 3 60's

Guardian Omega-3 Gummies (SGD 23.90)

I like it that there is no gelatin and preservatives, and the fact that ingesting all those 4 gummies (two for each) a day meant that they are getting important nutrients for their immune health, energy levels and vision, as well as 50mg of DHA and Omega 3 fatty acids, which support healthy vision and brain functions.

I’m happier that Omega 3 fatty acids didn’t come with any fishy taste – the naturally-flavoured gummies masked that all – and that they get their nutritional boost and sugar fix!

Cheers!

This is the way we pop our “pills”

Yummy yummy, we got love in our tummy!

And Becks said, Only TWO of each!

More details:

Guardian’s competitively-priced supplements are manufactured in the United States, employing the safest and most stringent processes. Its carefully formulated, tasty supplements contain high quality ingredients that provide the head start every child needs for healthy development. The vitamin gummies are now available in all Guardian Healthy & Beauty outlets.

Disclosure: We received the mentioned products for review. No monetary compensation was received and all opinions here are our own.

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Everyday fun! Family life as we know it Going Out! Happy days Invites & Tryouts Milestones and growing up

Experiencing dinosaurs

April 30, 2015

One of the greatest joys of parenting is to be totally immersed and involved in your children’s obsessions.

Boys usually start with cars or balls. Then they move on to trains, dinosaurs, soldiers, LEGO and superheroes of all kinds.

Girls typically are obsessed with the colour pink, in addition to being a little mad about a cat with no mouth, princesses and dolls.

My boys have been into dinosaurs for the longest time. They can rattle those three to four-syllable names faster than I can call theirs, and it’s fascinating how they can immerse themselves so completely in the prehistoric world – from wanting to colour dinosaurs all day long and learning their names, to constructing massive dinosaur parks with thier LEGO bricks and dino figurines and pleading to go to Jurassic Park every single weekend.

Jurassic Park, by the way, exists in the minds of these boys.

In Universal Studios Singapore, that is (which is also called The Lost World).

Photo credit: rwsentosa.com

This is a place where you can go dino-soaring on pterodactyls, put your head into a T-Rex’s mouth, and pat Diane, the park’s latest infant triceratops – which incidentally is the current obsession of Nat, my youngest. This boy loves, loves, loves triceratops.

Nat goes a dino-soaring with a green triceratops

And then real dino-soaring with the pterodacyls

And then real dino-soaring with the pterodactyls

And we meet Diane, the infant triceratops. She moves and responds to you when you pat her – which freaks my little girl out and fascinates her brothers

This velociraptor dude looks so real and it moves!

T-Rex chomp!

Help!

The Lost World is a place we head to whenever my boys need their dino-fix.

We got the Universal Studios Singapore’s 6-month season pass in December last year and have been visiting the theme park on a regular basis. It’s a happy place, with happy music blaring everywhere; happy people always smiling, waving, laughing, greeting; happy mascots roaming around; and happy, happy rides.

Being there makes me happy. Being there makes my children happy.

We get fun times taking rides, goofing times posing for pictures, and laugh-out-loud times spotting characters. And best of all, we spend A LOT of time, as my boys would have it, at Jurassic Park, where their dinosaur dreams come alive. Their imagination takes off and soars to a new height with every repeated visit to this place.

There’s a triceratops on top!

How about some predator a’roaring?

Toy store fun: Becks grab a stuffed toy but the boys... are all for jaws and teeth

Toy store fun: Becks grabs a stuffed toy but the boys… are all for jaws and teeth

You don’t know how grateful I am for Universal Studios. It has allowed me to participate in the dino-madness with my children, something which I know I wouldn’t be able to do for long because they will all grow up soon enough.

Next stop: the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Mueseum. We’ll be found there real soon!

Jurassic Park Huddle

***

Do you have a treasured moment of indulging with your children in their obsession?

Cherish the special moments you have with your children. Share your very own fun-filled #FrisoMoment at apps.facebook.com/FrisoExperiences and stand to win a host of amazing prizes, courtesy of Friso Singapore.

Here are the mechanics:

How to participate

Submit a photo of you and your child sharing a special experience. You may submit 1 experience each week. Each photo submitted will earn you two instant rewards – A Friso Experience journal and a Friso voucher worth $5, $10 or $20. Friso Singapore will also select and print one photo in 4R size with a Friso frame and send it to you.

You will be eligible for weekly and grand prizes if you agree to display your image in the gallery to inspire other parents.

Prizes:

Instant prizes: Friso Experiences Journal + Friso Voucher will be awarded to every entry.
Weekly Prize: The best photos will be selected to win the weekly prize. If you didn’t win in the first week, you will still be eligible for the weekly prizes in the remaining weeks of the month.

~~Week 1 to 2 (7 Mar – 23 Mar) 8 x FujiFilm Instax Mini 8~~

~~Week 3: 5 x Rebel Kidz Retro Racer Balance Bike~~

~~Week 4: 5 x Annual Zoo membership [2 adults + 2 Child]~~

~~Week 5: 5 x GOPRO Hero Camera~~

~~Week 6: 3 x Port of Lost Wonders party package~~

Week 7: 5 x Fujifilm Instax Share Printer

Grand Prize: A year’s supply of Friso milk.

One winner in April will be selected from the top 25 most voted entries for the month. You may vote once per day for each entry. Remember to include the hashtag #FrisoMoment on your IG and FB posts!

***

Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Friso Singapore. Friso Singapore has invited Motherkao to share her #FrisoMoment to inspire parents to experience MORE with their children.

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Ben Kao Milestones and growing up

Can’t handle the toof

April 30, 2015

Tooth fairy, tooth fairy…

Someone’s been waiting.

Shaky tooth up. Shaky tooth down.

Discomfort is… all around.

But we’ve got a wonderful dentist friend who tells him, “Don’t worry. It’s because your adult tooth is coming out. Everything looks great and you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Epilogue in momspeak:

It feels like yesterday my baby had a budding tooth. Didn’t I just see a baby with a toothy grin a while back? It’s been 6 years, really? (This boy now calls me ‘Mom’ instead of ‘Mama’ and whines about his shaky teeth and butterflies in his stomach about going to the dentist.)

P/S: This is not a sponsored post. We see a really friendly dentist at ToofDoctors at Serangoon Central.

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(Self) Examination Ben Kao Milestones and growing up Mommy guilt

Great expectations

April 19, 2015

Being the firstborn almost always automatically means that there are more expectations of you than your siblings.

You are expected to share.

To be obedient.

To set an example.

To be sensible.

To understand.

At least that’s what I went through as a firstborn. And it’s something I have unconsciously put my firstborn through.

Six seems to be the age of meltdowns, emo-ing and lots of scowls. I get these almost on an hourly basis with my firstborn who turned six earlier this year.

He gets hurt easily by unkind words yet sometimes say the unkindest things without realising it; he polices everyone around with that tremendous sense of right and wrong; he balks at injustice and asks the most existential questions. He’s growing from baby thoughts and talk to being a boy, and is beginning to develop a personality and flair of his own, complete with warts and quirks.

And sometimes this mother is many steps behind in understanding what is happening to the child she first rocked in her arms.

Tonight I received a timely reminder to grow and change as my firstborn grows and changes.

***

It was time for bed. Our bedtime routine usually consists of a bedtime story before tuck in. Ben asked me while I was brushing my teeth if we could have one. I mentioned I was quite tired and joked, “Hey, why don’t YOU read us one?”

Excited at the thought, he went to choose a book – 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle (for the tenth time now, maybe) – and waved it at me. To his disappointment, his sister had fallen asleep and Nat has chosen another story and refused to listen to any more of 10 Little Rubber Ducks again.

I tried to get the brothers to compromise. Look, let me take you all to Paris with Everybody Bonjours and then in the morning, when Becks is awake, Korkor can read ALL OF US his Ten Little Rubber Ducks! Nat was pleased but my eldest was starting to sulk.

By the time I finished reading Everybody Bonjours and declared it was time for bed, I had a full meltdown from a certain somebody. There was a scowl on his face, a high pitched ‘I DON”T WANT TO SLEEP, I WANT TO REAAADDDD, PULEEAASSEE…’, complete with some foot stamping.

That was when I lost it.

This is what happens every day. Things don’t go your way and you throw a tantrum. You don’t get to go somewhere, you whine. You don’t get to buy something, you whine. What happened to my sensible boy, my eldest child, who’s older than everyone else and should be able to understand things more? Why can’t you just try to see what I’m getting you to see? Your sister is left out here and she hasn’t had her story. And it’s 9 and it’s bedtime. Just understand that, say, ‘Yes, Mama’ and go to sleep. Simple, right? We can do a story tomorrow, with all of us, that’s fair, isn’t it? Why can’t you just listen and understand? Why can’t you just behave like a six year old should?

And then there was the sound of silence and gentle sobbing under the blanket.

Was I being too harsh? Every child would want a gazillion stories at bedtime, but if we can’t, we just can’t, right?

Wrong. I was so wrong.

I asked Ben who was sobbing under his covers to get up and talk to me.

Me: Tell me, why was it so important that YOU had to read the story tonight and not tomorrow that you had to throw a tantrum?

Ben: Nothing.

Me: Don’t tell me nothing. You never say nothing if you feel something. Please think about it and tell me.

– Silence –

Me: Please, tell me. Don’t keep things inside you.

Ben: I wanted to show you love, Mama. I wanted to read to you to show you love.

Me: (I am choking by now) You wanted to show me love by reading me a book?

Ben: (in between sobs) I don’t know what else to do to show you I love you.

***

I held my firstborn close tonight. And after he fell asleep, I cried.

Because I was a fool of a mom to be always correcting behaviour but never tuning in to my child’s heartbeat, never once sensitising myself to his feelings as he grows.

Because I am doing what I’ve always known to do as I’ve been raised, never once stopping to listen to what my son is really telling me, always just expecting him to be the one that understands.

I’m the one that needs to understand tonight. That my firstborn’s heart is searching for ways to love his mother as he realises he is no longer that baby in her arms. That when I do peel away all the layers of tantrums and meltdowns, I see a child growing up because he is beginning to understand that love is no longer taking but giving of himself.

Post Script:

Me: I’m sorry that I’m the one not understanding things. I’m really sorry.

Ben: It’s ok, Mama. (kisses me on the cheek)

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