My first solo trip with Cayen in a long time

I spent the whole of Sat planning a surprise party for the Hubby, which he claimed he already guessed. And it's unfortunate he was not feeling well and still played along.

Anyway, by the time Sunday came , I decided to spend some quality time with Cayen so decided to take him out for some shopping. When I initiated it, I was faced with much objections. "He's so naughty now, you can't do it on your own , why don't you go and leave him at home.. Blah blah" I decided to just do it despite all the objections. After all so many people have done it and been doing it, why could I ?

So first, I took him to take the bus (his favorite vehicle) .. And it was quite nerve wrecking as we met a few darker skinned people and he called them "ah n**" very loudly . In fact, he called the chocolate cake last night "ah n**" too. Apart from that , he was quite good during the ten min bus ride.

Next up was the mrt . Again, he called out to the darker skin people so I had to tried hard to avert his attention .. Anyway, we saw many handicap signs on the bus and in the MRT station and he pointed all of them to me. Good memory! 

Then we finally reached Orchard and as we walked through the tunnel to Isetan, saw an old woman selling tissue and old man giving pamphlets so I stopped to buy the tissues and asked Cayen to take a pamphlet .. Both uncle n auntie thought he was a boy as usual .. And then we walked on. 

Tried to let him down to walk a few instances but it was a bit crowded and I didn't want to risk him getting trampled upon. Anyway, I couldn't find the type of diaper changing mat I wanted so I took the mRt to toa payoh to look for kiddy palace . Train is much more packed by now so a woman in her forties gave up her seat for us. I was very glad for the offer but was quite pissed at the thirty plus year old woman beside her who just sat there. Nonetheless , as we sat there the thirty plus started to play with Cayen and spoke to me. So in that sense, I think perhaps she's not all that bad. Maybe she's really tired ?

Anyway, final journey , took the bus back home. This time round, I sat beside this old woman that Cayen kept trying to pat. And we also made some small talk. 

All in, I think from my 1.5 hour outing , I learned a few things:

- while many people says that our society lacks warmth and 人情味 etc, but I encountered quite a few nice people in 1.5 hour. I think the difference is whether would you smile and make small talk , and also encourage your child to do the same (to pat and to give a flying kiss etc)?

- if I take time to stop and show him things slowly instead of rushing through it all, every little trip including a bus trip or a mrt ride is an opportunity for education. He will probably be able to absorb more. 

- I can bring him out on my own ! It's just about knowing when to let him walk and when to pick him up so as to ration strength. (He don't like the baby carrier so I need to use brute strength when carrying him.)