Saw dr for the 4th time this month for my recurring cough. From dry cough, back to phelgmy one. Can't sleep well for a few days liao so bo bian went to see Dr Leslie Tay from Karri Clinic for a change. He deliberately pointed out that he did not give me any antibiotics since Dec so I admitted it was another dr who gave me the first two round of antibiotics. He gave me a quizzical look but I kept a straight face. What does he want me to say? A sob story which is true cos his charges at $40-50+ is more exp than the usual GPs. The other 2 GPs we see which charges $22-$28 max so I can't afford to see him for any minor sniffle esp when the whole family needs to see the GP. Eg. today, saw him and $57 flew away. Hubby's lousy civil servant medical claims caps it at only $10 per GP visit. I admit that he does give branded drugs and full bottles of pharmacy drugs instead of those dispensed from bigger bottles but still all the bills add up. How to fork out over $200 for a visit to the GP if all 4 of us are sick right?
Anyway, in my daze, nearly forgot today is 29 Feb. A leap year! It was a leap year when RA was born 4 years ago too. :) Wonder how many babies are born today. Pity the babies who only get to celebrate their birthdays once every 4 years. But I think most of them celebrate on 28th Feb or 1st Mar instead. Hee.
Decided against buying the 'Frequently used Chinese words' EPH assessment book recommended by a forum mummy cos it is meant for 5-7 years old and RA's stds are too low for now. Maybe next yr will be better. Decided to teach her some simple chinese characters since she seems stressed by chinese lessons in school. So, I taught RA 一,二,三,大,小 these 2 nights. Surprised that she can recognise the characters and read them after 1 night. And today, because the teacher taught 竖钩, I reminded her that I already taught her before since 小 has 竖钩. She seemed to understand and wrote the word 小 on the magnetic board.
Actually, if I keep it up, she can learn 5 characters every 2 days which is not bad. But I am still too lazy to keep teaching unless she is keen to learn. In order to spend 5-10 mins teaching chinese characters, I skipped their bedtime stories. They already KO at 11pm today. Some of my mummy friends' kids sleep at 7-8pm. So good, a lot of me time at night. If I still need to spend time teaching them on top of cooking dinner, washing dishes, showering them, brushing teeth etc, what time are they going to sleep everyday? I dread the day when their school work is so heavy going but I must do revision with them. For now, I will just let them play bah.
We brought the gals to the nearby playgrounds from 7-730pm since I picked them early at 5pm. Hubby always tells me to ignore RA when she asks me to bring her home early. Just stick to 6+pm when he comes home then it will be 2 adults handling 2 kids instead of me alone. So, definitely, it will be easier for me. But other than the added stress of cooking dinner while being the referree when the gals fight, it's a good thing to pick them up early cos they get to spend more time at home eg. 5-10+pm esp impt to RA who is a homebody. Cos CC already takes up 8 hrs everyday. I feel guilty when RA asked me 'Mummy, why when I come home, it is already at night'. At least this way, I feel less guilty...
The BRAND NEW Piggy Family
The cartoon is by Piggy Daddy who is a full time educator and freelance illustrator. Anyone who needs freelance illustrations, please contact us! :)
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Enrichment and more...
Thought I should pen a post about RaeAnne's enrichment journey. I am sure there is a lot of literature and discussion about this. Is enrichment really necessary? My parents for one, did not believe in them. To them, nothing is more important than studying. Anything that takes time and concentration away from studying is not good. Of course, they are a different generation and times were harder then, definitely no time or extra resources for enrichment.
Is it a waste of money? Another difficult question to answer unless you are going to start setting KPIs and measuring the results. What kind of enrichment programmes are good? Which centres to send them to? There are so many different types of programmes and so many different centres offering similiar yet different programmes. Go to kiasuparents.com and you may end up being more confused cos some parents said this programme is good, others said another is better. Some kids enjoy the class, some kids don't.
To me, enrichment programmes should first of all, enrich their child's experience. Ie. it should expose to something new which they may not have tried or seen. Secondly, it can be something that matches a need or an interest. Eg. send a shy child to speech and drama, send an impatient child to music lessons to learn to listen, a lively child for dance lessons etc, a kid who loves to sing for singing lessons. It is definitely important if they love it or at least enjoy it. No point dragging a toddler to enrichment all the time if they hate it right? But of course, I will give a reasonable period of time for the child to experience it fully and tell me if she wants to continue or not.
Of course, lastly, it has to be within our budget and manageable within the child's schedule. I really don't want to start packing the gals' weekday night and weekend schedules back to back with enrichment programmes esp since they already attend 8 hrs of 'school' daily at childcare. I guess in a way, it's good that we don't have a big budget in the first place so I can't burden them with enrichment even if I want to and we really must be selective in what enrichment we send the kids for.
Ok, back to enrichment. The first enrichment that we sent RaeAnne for is Yamaha Music Wonderland which started in Jan 2011. Simple reason is because both myself and hubby had no chance to learn music when we were young cos both our parents cannot afford a piano or organ and we want to give them a chance to learn. In secondary school, I stayed cleared of the band or chinese orchestra since I didn't learn music. When I was in choir in JC, I can't read any notes and had to memorise how high pitch I need to sing. A few times, I sang it either too high or too low cos I can't remember. A choir mate who was not the best singer but learned the piano was chosen as the section leader simply because she can read notes and could guide us in our practices. My other friend who sang so beautifully that she was given 2 solo pieces to sing in our JC musical was not the leader cos she also didn't learn the piano.
Although MW is only a weekly 45mins programme, I bore it with a bit of resentment cos it is on Sat, 12 to 1245pm. Really not an ideal timing cos we can't do anything in the morning except have brunch/lunch then shop at Tampines Mall before class. We can't do much after the class cos RA will be tired and needs her afternoon nap. Having said that, we are continuing with her music lessons and this year, she is Yamaha Junior Music Course which is same timing but 12-1pm.
ILs said before it's good to send her for music lessons to 调冶性情 because she is so impatient. Yes, RA has a short attention span and easily distracted. Which toddler isn't anyway? But anyway we hoped that music will help enforce the importance of listening and improve her concentration. So, sometimes when we were in music class and I was talking to her (either repeating the teacher's instructions or cueing her at the wrong part of the music), she will admonish me with 'Shh, Mummy, must listen.' keke. We already bought a junior piano in January so must be more diligent to make her practise. Let her choose between watching cartoons, playing with toys or practise piano, she would rather play or watch tv. -_-
This year, I was thinking of adding another enrichment for RA. Main reason is because I want to expose her to more while she is in preschool because once she starts primary school, her schedule will be packed with lessons, homework, CCA etc. So, started looking around. 3 choices came to mind: Swimming, Ballet or drawing/arts. I didn't want anything to do with studying so English, Chinese, abacus etc are out. Really don't know which one to choose and which one she will enjoy so we let her try all 3 but one at a time not simultaneously.
Ballet, I brought her to Crestar at Abacus Plaza. The first trial lesson didn't go very well cos she started crying when I had to leave the class after 5 mins as instructed by the ballet teacher. Not surprisingly, she said she doesn't want to learn ballet cos she doesn't want Mummy to leave the room. 1 month later, I bought a cute ballet dress (cheap one at $10) I enrolled her in the same class as her favourite CC classmate, Valerie but even though she didn't cry at all for the class. Teacher Joy said she can follow well. I just need to buy proper ballet shoes for her so that she can do tippy toes. But after the second trial class, when I asked her if she wants to learn ballet with Valerie so that I can register at the counter, she still said no. She said, I don't like to dance. Even wearing pretty ballet tutu cannot entice her so I gave up. No point forcing her if she doesn't like it.
Arts class, I must admit. I was hoping to find some hidden talent in RA for drawing/arts since hubby is so good at drawing and cartooning. It doesn't help that I saw a few kids younger than RA by a few months turning out such beautiful watercolour paintings of Minnie mouse, house, girl etc. The trial class at Globalarts at Tampines Central CC was just 15mins on a Fri evening maybe cos it is free. Although she did colour the orange in shades of yellow, light orange and dark orange as per instructed by the teacher, she had to nudged into action and initially refused to sit down to colour. I asked the young teacher whether we will be stifling the child's creativity by teaching them how to draw and what to colour at such a young age but she cannot give me a convincing answer. She only said that they do allow the kids to choose their own colours sometimes. Anyway, after the short trial, I asked her if she wants to learn drawing or colouring but she said no. I think it's ok to just let her develop her skills for art/drawing naturally. She is starting to draw better for faces and some animals. So, no art classes for now. If she wants to learn, I shall 'volunteer' hubby to teach her. ;P
Swimming, we started one to one lessons with Happy swim in early Jan at a very costly monthly fee of $300 for 2 toddlers. The gals enjoyed their lessons very much and RA looks forward to swimming lessons everytime so I really don't regret the $ spent. But unfortunately Raelynn is still a bit too young to focus. She only follows the coach's instructions half of the time when she feels like it so Coach Terry told us we can afford to wait till she is 4 yrs and save $ in the meantime. RA is ok as she can follow instructions to blow bubbles, kick water without bending her knees and even mimick 'frog leg' movement of breaststroke. But we are unable to continue with Terry after the 4 lessons ended because if we take RL out of the class, it will become one on one class for RA alone and that will costs $200 per month. Too costly to me, since most kids only pay $50-$60 per month for swimming lessons.
So we started with the new coach (Neil who was recommended by Terry) last Sun, the swimming lesson didn't go very well. It was the first lesson with new teacher and RA panicked when she realised she is now at the deeper learner's pool instead of the baby pool used by the previous teacher. She refused to even walk in the shallow end with me. Swim teacher saw her resistance and told me to just bring her to play for a few weeks before starting lessons since she is so afraid. May have to start looking for alternative cos find 855am timing too early, water is cold and RL cannot wake up in time so it is no longer a family swimming outing. :P
Actually thought swimming is a good enrichment programme for he since it's sports, keeps her healthy and strengthens the lungs. Also, she already has music lessons so I prefer her to learn a sports 一文一武. And Mei Mei gets to join in the fun too. Hehe. So, will try a few more weeks, if she still doesn't want to learn swimming at the big pool. I will take her out of swimming class, then we will just swim occasionally on late sunday mornings or we can bring the gals for a picnic or bird park or visit the library/museum. It will be a nice change to have our Sunday mornings back and spend it the way we want to at a whim of fancy. I constantly remind myself not to be too kiasu in enrichment because when the gals grow up, they will always remember the happy times they spent 'playing' with us at a playground or the zoo but they may not remember what they learnt in a classroom. :)
Is it a waste of money? Another difficult question to answer unless you are going to start setting KPIs and measuring the results. What kind of enrichment programmes are good? Which centres to send them to? There are so many different types of programmes and so many different centres offering similiar yet different programmes. Go to kiasuparents.com and you may end up being more confused cos some parents said this programme is good, others said another is better. Some kids enjoy the class, some kids don't.
To me, enrichment programmes should first of all, enrich their child's experience. Ie. it should expose to something new which they may not have tried or seen. Secondly, it can be something that matches a need or an interest. Eg. send a shy child to speech and drama, send an impatient child to music lessons to learn to listen, a lively child for dance lessons etc, a kid who loves to sing for singing lessons. It is definitely important if they love it or at least enjoy it. No point dragging a toddler to enrichment all the time if they hate it right? But of course, I will give a reasonable period of time for the child to experience it fully and tell me if she wants to continue or not.
Of course, lastly, it has to be within our budget and manageable within the child's schedule. I really don't want to start packing the gals' weekday night and weekend schedules back to back with enrichment programmes esp since they already attend 8 hrs of 'school' daily at childcare. I guess in a way, it's good that we don't have a big budget in the first place so I can't burden them with enrichment even if I want to and we really must be selective in what enrichment we send the kids for.
Ok, back to enrichment. The first enrichment that we sent RaeAnne for is Yamaha Music Wonderland which started in Jan 2011. Simple reason is because both myself and hubby had no chance to learn music when we were young cos both our parents cannot afford a piano or organ and we want to give them a chance to learn. In secondary school, I stayed cleared of the band or chinese orchestra since I didn't learn music. When I was in choir in JC, I can't read any notes and had to memorise how high pitch I need to sing. A few times, I sang it either too high or too low cos I can't remember. A choir mate who was not the best singer but learned the piano was chosen as the section leader simply because she can read notes and could guide us in our practices. My other friend who sang so beautifully that she was given 2 solo pieces to sing in our JC musical was not the leader cos she also didn't learn the piano.
Although MW is only a weekly 45mins programme, I bore it with a bit of resentment cos it is on Sat, 12 to 1245pm. Really not an ideal timing cos we can't do anything in the morning except have brunch/lunch then shop at Tampines Mall before class. We can't do much after the class cos RA will be tired and needs her afternoon nap. Having said that, we are continuing with her music lessons and this year, she is Yamaha Junior Music Course which is same timing but 12-1pm.
ILs said before it's good to send her for music lessons to 调冶性情 because she is so impatient. Yes, RA has a short attention span and easily distracted. Which toddler isn't anyway? But anyway we hoped that music will help enforce the importance of listening and improve her concentration. So, sometimes when we were in music class and I was talking to her (either repeating the teacher's instructions or cueing her at the wrong part of the music), she will admonish me with 'Shh, Mummy, must listen.' keke. We already bought a junior piano in January so must be more diligent to make her practise. Let her choose between watching cartoons, playing with toys or practise piano, she would rather play or watch tv. -_-
This year, I was thinking of adding another enrichment for RA. Main reason is because I want to expose her to more while she is in preschool because once she starts primary school, her schedule will be packed with lessons, homework, CCA etc. So, started looking around. 3 choices came to mind: Swimming, Ballet or drawing/arts. I didn't want anything to do with studying so English, Chinese, abacus etc are out. Really don't know which one to choose and which one she will enjoy so we let her try all 3 but one at a time not simultaneously.
Ballet, I brought her to Crestar at Abacus Plaza. The first trial lesson didn't go very well cos she started crying when I had to leave the class after 5 mins as instructed by the ballet teacher. Not surprisingly, she said she doesn't want to learn ballet cos she doesn't want Mummy to leave the room. 1 month later, I bought a cute ballet dress (cheap one at $10) I enrolled her in the same class as her favourite CC classmate, Valerie but even though she didn't cry at all for the class. Teacher Joy said she can follow well. I just need to buy proper ballet shoes for her so that she can do tippy toes. But after the second trial class, when I asked her if she wants to learn ballet with Valerie so that I can register at the counter, she still said no. She said, I don't like to dance. Even wearing pretty ballet tutu cannot entice her so I gave up. No point forcing her if she doesn't like it.
Arts class, I must admit. I was hoping to find some hidden talent in RA for drawing/arts since hubby is so good at drawing and cartooning. It doesn't help that I saw a few kids younger than RA by a few months turning out such beautiful watercolour paintings of Minnie mouse, house, girl etc. The trial class at Globalarts at Tampines Central CC was just 15mins on a Fri evening maybe cos it is free. Although she did colour the orange in shades of yellow, light orange and dark orange as per instructed by the teacher, she had to nudged into action and initially refused to sit down to colour. I asked the young teacher whether we will be stifling the child's creativity by teaching them how to draw and what to colour at such a young age but she cannot give me a convincing answer. She only said that they do allow the kids to choose their own colours sometimes. Anyway, after the short trial, I asked her if she wants to learn drawing or colouring but she said no. I think it's ok to just let her develop her skills for art/drawing naturally. She is starting to draw better for faces and some animals. So, no art classes for now. If she wants to learn, I shall 'volunteer' hubby to teach her. ;P
Swimming, we started one to one lessons with Happy swim in early Jan at a very costly monthly fee of $300 for 2 toddlers. The gals enjoyed their lessons very much and RA looks forward to swimming lessons everytime so I really don't regret the $ spent. But unfortunately Raelynn is still a bit too young to focus. She only follows the coach's instructions half of the time when she feels like it so Coach Terry told us we can afford to wait till she is 4 yrs and save $ in the meantime. RA is ok as she can follow instructions to blow bubbles, kick water without bending her knees and even mimick 'frog leg' movement of breaststroke. But we are unable to continue with Terry after the 4 lessons ended because if we take RL out of the class, it will become one on one class for RA alone and that will costs $200 per month. Too costly to me, since most kids only pay $50-$60 per month for swimming lessons.
So we started with the new coach (Neil who was recommended by Terry) last Sun, the swimming lesson didn't go very well. It was the first lesson with new teacher and RA panicked when she realised she is now at the deeper learner's pool instead of the baby pool used by the previous teacher. She refused to even walk in the shallow end with me. Swim teacher saw her resistance and told me to just bring her to play for a few weeks before starting lessons since she is so afraid. May have to start looking for alternative cos find 855am timing too early, water is cold and RL cannot wake up in time so it is no longer a family swimming outing. :P
Actually thought swimming is a good enrichment programme for he since it's sports, keeps her healthy and strengthens the lungs. Also, she already has music lessons so I prefer her to learn a sports 一文一武. And Mei Mei gets to join in the fun too. Hehe. So, will try a few more weeks, if she still doesn't want to learn swimming at the big pool. I will take her out of swimming class, then we will just swim occasionally on late sunday mornings or we can bring the gals for a picnic or bird park or visit the library/museum. It will be a nice change to have our Sunday mornings back and spend it the way we want to at a whim of fancy. I constantly remind myself not to be too kiasu in enrichment because when the gals grow up, they will always remember the happy times they spent 'playing' with us at a playground or the zoo but they may not remember what they learnt in a classroom. :)
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Piano
3 days before the LNY sale ends at Yamaha, we finally bite the bullet and bought a piano. Been hesitating for the longest time because it is so expensive. But checked with a few friends whose kids are taking music lessons, even though they bought a Stagea (junior electone $2k+) and a digitial piano ($1k+) respectively, their music teachers still ask them to let the kids practise on a piano because the keys are different. Also for grade 1 exam (usu when the kid reaches pri 1), they will still need a piano.
That is just 3 years away since RA is already 4 yrs old. Really don't want to end up buying 2 instruments in less than 3 yrs so hubby decided to buy the cheapest junior piano at $3390. This junior piano will last the 2 gals till they are grade 4 ie. abt 8 yrs incl RL and there is trade in value after that, so it is a less painful decision to make.
Sometimes, I do wonder if RA has the commitment and dedication to learn and practise the piano but since music is the only enrichment which I consider a must have, I feel that I should at least get her the right instrument to try my best to nurture that interest.
She doesn't need to go all the way to Grade 8 or be qualified to be a piano teacher but at least I hope she can recognise all the musical notes and play a few simple pieces for enjoyment. Up to primary school is good enough. If she has no interest, she can stop and I will save that $ and let Mei Mei learn more instead (if she is interested).
Maybe it's because both me and hubby were not privileged to learn the piano. Maybe it's because I just don't want them to feel handicapped to join the band or choir when she is in Secondary school or JC like me cos I can't read notes at all. Anyhow, worse come to worse, I will take up adult piano lessons to make good use of the piano and fulfil my childhood dream if both gals are not keen. :P
Problem now is where to put the 177kg piano? Our flat is small enough and worse, it needs an electric point for its dehumidifier. Duh.... :P
That is just 3 years away since RA is already 4 yrs old. Really don't want to end up buying 2 instruments in less than 3 yrs so hubby decided to buy the cheapest junior piano at $3390. This junior piano will last the 2 gals till they are grade 4 ie. abt 8 yrs incl RL and there is trade in value after that, so it is a less painful decision to make.
Sometimes, I do wonder if RA has the commitment and dedication to learn and practise the piano but since music is the only enrichment which I consider a must have, I feel that I should at least get her the right instrument to try my best to nurture that interest.
She doesn't need to go all the way to Grade 8 or be qualified to be a piano teacher but at least I hope she can recognise all the musical notes and play a few simple pieces for enjoyment. Up to primary school is good enough. If she has no interest, she can stop and I will save that $ and let Mei Mei learn more instead (if she is interested).
Maybe it's because both me and hubby were not privileged to learn the piano. Maybe it's because I just don't want them to feel handicapped to join the band or choir when she is in Secondary school or JC like me cos I can't read notes at all. Anyhow, worse come to worse, I will take up adult piano lessons to make good use of the piano and fulfil my childhood dream if both gals are not keen. :P
Problem now is where to put the 177kg piano? Our flat is small enough and worse, it needs an electric point for its dehumidifier. Duh.... :P
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Happy 4th birthday to RaeAnne n happy Chinese new year!
RaeAnne's birthday is close to Chinese new year but this yr, it was the closest ever cos she turned 4 on 年三十. Had to rush through her celebration in school on 20 Jan afternoon amidst spring cleaning efforts, her school's cny celebrations on 20th, celebrating our customary wedding anniversary on 21 Jan, actual birthday on 22 Jan when we had to do reunion lunch at ILs n reunion dinner at my parents, uncles n aunties. Last year, we did not get to celebrate cny due to our car accident so this yr it is payback time.
We brought a 2kg strawberry shortcake cake to school at the teacher's insistence but it was too much cos being cny celebration, 4 kids did not turn up for school, 1 left early half day plus the kids have their little tummies filled with cny goodies. So, I asked the teacher to give more second helpings n the teachers to eat more cos I really dun want to bring 2 kg cake box back. My fridge has no space anyway cos overstocked for cny. We bought her a birthday present that she chose herself which was a gal's make up kit. The box said 5 yrs n above but she loved putting on the eyeshadow n different lipsticks so much that I can't bear to stop her. Luckily, the colours were light so she didn't look that bad. :)
On 22 Jan morning, we brought her to snow city cos she has been requesting for 1 week to play with snowballs after she watched mr popper's penguins on mio demand tv. We only brought RA as Mei Mei has been nursing a runny nose for more than 1 week so had to drop Mei Mei at ILs house first. It was a long drive to jurong n she fell asleep on the way. When we reached, it was already 11am n we had to be back at ILs place at 12+pm for reunion lunch so it was really a mad rush. Luckily there was a small eatery at snow city itself so we had some cheese hot dog n warm Milo for bf first.
Had to pay for the warm winter clothings but even their smallest gloves are too big for RA n they kept slipping off. She had fun at the snow slides n the snow tyres. We took pictures with the snowmen n since no cameras were allowed, we had to pay the exorbitant fees of $55 for 5 6R photos but well, once a yr is still ok right?
We had late reunion lunch at ILs place, the gal's didn't eat much. They didn't eat much at my mum's place where we had steamboat dinner too so they took turns n woke up a few times on last night to wee hrs of morning to cry for me n to ask for milk. Didn't get much rest n today was a busy day of visiting to ILs place in the morning at 10+am, then rushed to my mum's at 11am cos I am supposed to cook pen cai for lunch. Luckily, it turned out ok. Not salty upon my parents' taste n no pork or pork stock, the way my mum wanted it.
A hectic week so far. Today, chu2, was thinking of visiting my 2nd aunt but nothing else planned so we see how it goes. Time to R&R...
We brought a 2kg strawberry shortcake cake to school at the teacher's insistence but it was too much cos being cny celebration, 4 kids did not turn up for school, 1 left early half day plus the kids have their little tummies filled with cny goodies. So, I asked the teacher to give more second helpings n the teachers to eat more cos I really dun want to bring 2 kg cake box back. My fridge has no space anyway cos overstocked for cny. We bought her a birthday present that she chose herself which was a gal's make up kit. The box said 5 yrs n above but she loved putting on the eyeshadow n different lipsticks so much that I can't bear to stop her. Luckily, the colours were light so she didn't look that bad. :)
On 22 Jan morning, we brought her to snow city cos she has been requesting for 1 week to play with snowballs after she watched mr popper's penguins on mio demand tv. We only brought RA as Mei Mei has been nursing a runny nose for more than 1 week so had to drop Mei Mei at ILs house first. It was a long drive to jurong n she fell asleep on the way. When we reached, it was already 11am n we had to be back at ILs place at 12+pm for reunion lunch so it was really a mad rush. Luckily there was a small eatery at snow city itself so we had some cheese hot dog n warm Milo for bf first.
Had to pay for the warm winter clothings but even their smallest gloves are too big for RA n they kept slipping off. She had fun at the snow slides n the snow tyres. We took pictures with the snowmen n since no cameras were allowed, we had to pay the exorbitant fees of $55 for 5 6R photos but well, once a yr is still ok right?
We had late reunion lunch at ILs place, the gal's didn't eat much. They didn't eat much at my mum's place where we had steamboat dinner too so they took turns n woke up a few times on last night to wee hrs of morning to cry for me n to ask for milk. Didn't get much rest n today was a busy day of visiting to ILs place in the morning at 10+am, then rushed to my mum's at 11am cos I am supposed to cook pen cai for lunch. Luckily, it turned out ok. Not salty upon my parents' taste n no pork or pork stock, the way my mum wanted it.
A hectic week so far. Today, chu2, was thinking of visiting my 2nd aunt but nothing else planned so we see how it goes. Time to R&R...
Monday, January 9, 2012
At last, some progress...
Today, I put my foot down and told the teacher I don't want to keep bringing her back after lunch. Firstly, because the CC is already collecting gym enrichment fees from me cos gym class is starting tomorrow. No point paying for it if she is going to be absent in the afternoons right? So, I told the teacher, today, since I am not going out, we try to drag her timing. I will come when they call if she is crying badly. Tomorrow (Tues), I want her to start full day. To me, there is no point prolonging the agony. Even if I let her go on half day for 2 weeks, come the 3rd week, she will still cry as if it was the first day of school once she is forced to nap in school. So, instead of crying for 1 month, why not let her cry for 2 weeks?
Although the teachers didn't call me, I went to check on her at 1245pm. She hadn't slept yet but the teacher said she was not crying very loudly so the teacher left her be. I went to have my lunch at the CC foodcourt downstairs so that I can be on standby. At 120pm, when I went back to the CC, the teacher said she has already fallen asleep. Maybe she was also drowsy from her cold med cos she has slight runny nose. So, I went back home. But at 250pm, the teacher called me and said she has woken up and started crying. Told teacher to let her have her tea break first. So, I rushed to prepare soup for dinner and put it in the slow cooker before leaving the house cos I know I won't have much time to cook once she is home.
When I picked her up at 4pm, she was not crying at all. Think I am lucky cos there were 2 birthday celebrations, one in the morning, one in the afternoon so that also helped cos she was happily eating cake n holding onto her goody bag which contained a storybook.
Tom, i got to go office for meeting n there's gym class in afternoon so will try putting her for full day. Keeping fingers crossed. :p
Although the teachers didn't call me, I went to check on her at 1245pm. She hadn't slept yet but the teacher said she was not crying very loudly so the teacher left her be. I went to have my lunch at the CC foodcourt downstairs so that I can be on standby. At 120pm, when I went back to the CC, the teacher said she has already fallen asleep. Maybe she was also drowsy from her cold med cos she has slight runny nose. So, I went back home. But at 250pm, the teacher called me and said she has woken up and started crying. Told teacher to let her have her tea break first. So, I rushed to prepare soup for dinner and put it in the slow cooker before leaving the house cos I know I won't have much time to cook once she is home.
When I picked her up at 4pm, she was not crying at all. Think I am lucky cos there were 2 birthday celebrations, one in the morning, one in the afternoon so that also helped cos she was happily eating cake n holding onto her goody bag which contained a storybook.
Tom, i got to go office for meeting n there's gym class in afternoon so will try putting her for full day. Keeping fingers crossed. :p
Car accident - 1 yr on
Just realised that today (since already past midnight) is the 1 yr anniversary of our major car accident. Although we didn't hit anyone but a tree, both of us ended up with bone fractures (compression fractures in the spine for me and left hand meta carpa for hubby) Hubby had an operation, the metal plate is still stuck in hubby's left hand and he experience slight numbness. By right, he can choose to remove the plate but that means reopening the wound. Ouch! As for me, I'm stuck with chronic backache whenever I carry RL for too long. Hiaz. Feeling like an old woman already. Yikes... :P
But of course, glad to survive the accident and got chance to bitch about it. To be surrounded by our two lovely but naughty gals. :)
But of course, glad to survive the accident and got chance to bitch about it. To be surrounded by our two lovely but naughty gals. :)
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Swimming lessons! :)
Just started private swimming lessons at Tampines swimming pool for the gals today. The instructor, Mr Terry Tan, was recommended by Happy Fish. The toddler class is for kids 2-4 yrs old, $250 for 1 kid, $300 for 2 kids. My cousin, Shirley, wanted to enrol her kids aged 4 n 6 too, but we couldn't find a common timing. Sun mornings she cannot cos her kids attend church. She wanted Sat mornings but most instructors are full conducting the group classes so cannot conduct private class, unless we go to the Sengkang swimming pool which I'm not very keen. :P
Anyway, for the first lesson, RA did quite ok. With us around, she is not shy around Terry at all and can follow instructions to paddle, blow bubbles etc. RL has a bit of phobia of water, she will scream if we just drizzle water over her head to make her 'blow out' with her mouth. Instructor said I can actually choose to start her when she is older eg. 4. Ie, just let her play water while Cheh cheh is having lessons. Oh well, will see how, swimming lessons supposed to strengthen their lungs but we didn't have a good start. RA is having a cough and RL having a runny nose. Got nagged by grandparents for bringing them swimming when they are already sick. Duh. :P
Dec School holidays ending for me today. Hubby already gearing up cos had meetings all week. Even on his birthday last Fri, he had whole day meeting. So, I brought some 爱心便当 of curry chicken and fish maw meat ball soup. Tomorrow, he will start his 11 hr work days again. Leave the house at 645am, come back at 6:15pm again. The start of chaotic mornings for me to handle 2 gals to prepare them for school. RL is still on half day until teacher gives the go ahead. RA started her usual drama of 'I don't want to go to school, I want to go Nai Nai house, I don't want Mummy to work. I want Mummy 照顾我.
Hiaz, she really wears down my resolve to continue to work freelance. First of all, Elfa has no half day childcare from Nursery class onwards so if she does not change school, she has to sleep in school which she hates. Even if I want to pull them out and put them at PCF kindergarten, there are no vacancies. Registration for pcf is super kiasu, reg has already ended in April 2011. Even if there are vacancies, their lessons are very short, just 3 hrs. So, I have to cook lunch, then bring the gals back from school, feed them lunch, shower them, eat my lunch and put them to bed. I am not confident I can do this alone without a maid but I don't earn enough to hire a maid. Hope the new year is better cos I thought about it for long time, but don't have any solutions to this problem. :(
Anyway, for the first lesson, RA did quite ok. With us around, she is not shy around Terry at all and can follow instructions to paddle, blow bubbles etc. RL has a bit of phobia of water, she will scream if we just drizzle water over her head to make her 'blow out' with her mouth. Instructor said I can actually choose to start her when she is older eg. 4. Ie, just let her play water while Cheh cheh is having lessons. Oh well, will see how, swimming lessons supposed to strengthen their lungs but we didn't have a good start. RA is having a cough and RL having a runny nose. Got nagged by grandparents for bringing them swimming when they are already sick. Duh. :P
Dec School holidays ending for me today. Hubby already gearing up cos had meetings all week. Even on his birthday last Fri, he had whole day meeting. So, I brought some 爱心便当 of curry chicken and fish maw meat ball soup. Tomorrow, he will start his 11 hr work days again. Leave the house at 645am, come back at 6:15pm again. The start of chaotic mornings for me to handle 2 gals to prepare them for school. RL is still on half day until teacher gives the go ahead. RA started her usual drama of 'I don't want to go to school, I want to go Nai Nai house, I don't want Mummy to work. I want Mummy 照顾我.
Hiaz, she really wears down my resolve to continue to work freelance. First of all, Elfa has no half day childcare from Nursery class onwards so if she does not change school, she has to sleep in school which she hates. Even if I want to pull them out and put them at PCF kindergarten, there are no vacancies. Registration for pcf is super kiasu, reg has already ended in April 2011. Even if there are vacancies, their lessons are very short, just 3 hrs. So, I have to cook lunch, then bring the gals back from school, feed them lunch, shower them, eat my lunch and put them to bed. I am not confident I can do this alone without a maid but I don't earn enough to hire a maid. Hope the new year is better cos I thought about it for long time, but don't have any solutions to this problem. :(
Friday, January 6, 2012
Raelynn's 1st 3 days at Elfa CC
Raelynn started going to Elfa CC on Tues since it was a long weekend. First day, brought her back after lunch as advised by Teacher Irene. RA saw me but didn't protest. I bluffed her Mei Mei has diarrhea, that's why teacher asked me to bring her back.
Second day, I wanted to leave her there longer. At least try to keep her there to try to nap, but teacher called again that she is crying badly so rushed to pick her. Today, I was out at work so Nai Nai went to pick her up after lunch. She said she did not cry when she went. Today, RA came back during evening and complained to me why Mei Mei went back earlier than her.
Didn't expect Mei Mei to take so long to adjust since she only took 3 days to get used to Learning Train playgroup. But I guess she never slept outside home or Nai Nai's house before so it will take longer. But hubby is going back to work next Monday. Think I will make a judgement call by end of next week. If I have to keep bringing her back after lunch, might as well convert her to half day instead of full day.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
RA's first Yamaha concert
Today, RA just had her yamaha class concert, she's a bit distracted cos so many pp in her classroom (even Nai Nai came to lend her support) but at least she did not have stage fright. Compared to the first time she performed a dance with her playgroup classmates at 2 yrs old, must say she really grew up. Too bad, she is still not ready for unaccompanied enrichment classes though. -_-
Brought her for ballet trial at Crestar, Abacus Plaza but she did not want me to leave the room. How to sign up like that? Anyway, we decided to start private swimming lessons on Sunday morning at Tampines swimming pool. I think $300 for 2 tots is quite steep but hubby said we just go for it. The gals have been having cough and cold nearly every month, we spend a lot of $ bringing them to see dr anyway. Since, swimming supposed to strengthen the lungs, we will try it out and see if it improves their health.
Next yr, she is starting on Yamaha's Junior Musician class so we need to get an instrument for her to practise but I'm not sure which instrument to buy. The full height piano costs $5-8k. If I buy a piano at $3k plus (supposed to last for 10 yrs), will she lose interest? If I buy a digital piano at $1k plus, will I end up having to top up more if she does have the interest. Dilemma.
Brought her for ballet trial at Crestar, Abacus Plaza but she did not want me to leave the room. How to sign up like that? Anyway, we decided to start private swimming lessons on Sunday morning at Tampines swimming pool. I think $300 for 2 tots is quite steep but hubby said we just go for it. The gals have been having cough and cold nearly every month, we spend a lot of $ bringing them to see dr anyway. Since, swimming supposed to strengthen the lungs, we will try it out and see if it improves their health.
Next yr, she is starting on Yamaha's Junior Musician class so we need to get an instrument for her to practise but I'm not sure which instrument to buy. The full height piano costs $5-8k. If I buy a piano at $3k plus (supposed to last for 10 yrs), will she lose interest? If I buy a digital piano at $1k plus, will I end up having to top up more if she does have the interest. Dilemma.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Happy anniversary!
So fast, we have said 'I do' 7 years ago. 七年之痒? I definitely think it is up to us to make our marriage work forever, hope never to lose that loving feeling even though we are so busy looking after the kids without a maid for the last 6 months and harassed by our 2 night birds gals who sleep between 11-12 midnight daily and shuttle in our busy daily routines. Especially hard on hubby who gets only average of 5 hrs of sleep everyday cos his working hours are super long as a teacher.
Happy anniversary Dada! 辛苦你了! :)
Happy anniversary Dada! 辛苦你了! :)
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