Multiparenting Cayen & Cayson

Movie started out promising in the first ten minutes .. With an interesting plot and funny characters.  However, as the story progresses, it seems like a rather sad story overall .. While this is reflective of the life of a kid who had just been yanked from her perfect life and hence, experiencing all these internal turmoil, and quite insightful storytelling, I find it a little too sad for a three year old. Hence, I was not surprised when Cayen wanted to leave towards the last 5-10minutes of the show. In fact, I was already surprised he could last so long.  Review: interesting for adults , nice ideas and plot - I like it personally but I feel it's a little too depressing for young kids.  Moral of story: read movie review before watching. Just because it's a cartoon doesn't mean it is always suitable.  

Cayen cannot sit still during mealtimes. So earlier on, I have posted some tips on using busy bags with lego & colouring books etc. However, there will be some days where we forgot about it or didn't want to bring so many things out. Hence, here are some other tips to keep them entertained for up to 1 hour at the table without iPhones. 1. At Jap restaurants, teach them how to "pop" the Edamame   When he accidentally dropped it, he "blew" it clean .. 2. If going to coffeeshops, bring a bag of their favourite fruits that requires peeling. In this case, we brought Buah Duku (locally pronounced as Baluku). Be prepared a little bit of mess if fruit is very juicy. 3. Playing a counting game For instance, count the number of fans, lanterns, fishes, No Smoking signs, Exit signs, bowls, tables etc. Just keep counting until some food comes. 4. Eating the peanuts In Chinese restaurants, there's usually a plate of peanuts , braised or the usua...

Cayen wanted to watch Youtube so he went over to turn off Ah Gong's channel. Ah Gong made a groan and told him that he wanted to watch Snooker. Cayen retorted," No more snooker for Ah Gong" Very unsympathetic.  ---- Cayen was having his cereal but instead of sitting down, he stood on a stool and ate at the island counter. We told him to come down and eat in case he falls. He retorted, (" I will be careful.")  Very grown up.  ---- Adults were discussing what to have for lunch. I suggested to bring out the instant noodles to try clear some of the ones that may be coming to expire soon. Suddenly, Cayen said while watching his Youtube, ("I will eat the expired ones").  Very altruistic. ----- Ah Po: legoland 好玩吗？ C: 好玩！ Ah Po：不好玩啦 C： 你不懂的... Very self assured.  ---- In the cab, a few of us were talking. Then Godma mentioned this particular name and told Cayen it's called Uncle S***** a. As we were in the middle of conversation, he suddenly said ,...

I have also liked music but given the lack of opportunity to tune in , sometimes it's hard to get a little bit into our life. Hence, from time to time, I would use the SG radio app on my iPhone to listen to some music. I find that it helps to improve my overall mood as it's got this therapeutic effect. However, I realised it's killing my battery and also data usage. Hence, I decided to get a little receiver / radio instead. Ta Da ! My little gift to myself - a receiver that also acts as a speaker! $8.15 only,  with postage cost included.  [S$6.99][Bluetooth Speaker] Mini Portable Mobile Speaker Built-in Battery/Music fm Box Radio MP3 USB Speakers Portable Speaker With FM Radio #Qoo10SG , http://www.qoo10.sg/su/1147799?jaehuid=2000153892 But one time I wasn't prepared for was that there was no volume button! So it was blaring until I plug in some earphones to the gadget (Strangely I can still hear the music audibly, just that it's not as loud). Wel...

It was sad and rather scary to hear of the bombing in Bangkok, especially since we took the whole family there a few weeks ago. While we have all enjoyed the trip tremendously , I think it would be a while before I would bring all there again.  Anyway, here's some highlights of what we did there .. - went to the amazing zoo and Safari just 40 minutes away from city. Inside here, the animals performed every hour and amazed us with their spectacular performance.  Sea lion show:  http://youtu.be/s7mSZdn0LnM In the mini safari , it has the highest concentration of white tigers, giraffes and zebras over the smallest land area .. It's really up close and personal .. Just make sure you don't wind down the windows.  - took the "leisurely" boat down the river and saw many reptiles (iguana / monitor lizard looking thingie) and even a small crocodile! It made the bumpy boat river even more nerve wrecking though I find it quite interesting. Not for the faint h...

Cayen had constipation a few weeks ago. However, as he has developed into a real picky eater, he no longer eats papaya which helps to ease constipation.  Being a non papaya eater myself, I decided to innovate a little and try a new way instead of giving up. I googled papaya ice cream and found some recipes to do that. All involved quite some work like blending etc which I didn't want as I didn't want a lot of hassle. So I simply improvised using the simplest way and minimum ingredients.  So I took a ripe papaya and mashed it with a metal fork. I placed them into a mould used for ice cubes. Then I dropped honey on top. Froze that for an hour or two and it was ready.  When I served it to him, he lapped it all up as it tasted mainly of honey and was cold and nice, just like ice cream.  After a while, his constipation was cured... 

Last month, he was still into speaking the gibberish Ah Ka Wa Ka with his fellow "naughty" classmates. By the way, he's ranked #3 in school - top 3 naughtiest!  This month, he is into the super dependent mode where he cannot sit up/ climb up/ stand up on his own.. He will keep whining 我怎么起来..until  one of us carries him up. Concurrently , he asserts his fierce independence by opening the fridge door wantonly, preeling off grape skins, and insisting on taking his own vitamins and a whole lot of things with an admanant 我会的!（I can do it) 

Last week, I had bought my food and was waiting for a seat to be made available at the fully packed Mos Burger. A group of school boys saw me waiting from a distance away and beckoned me over. They then ready themselves to leave and said "you can have the seat. Bye, have a nice day!" It was such a small gesture but quite heartwarming for some reason. Perhaps it's the way they said the greetings that's so different from the usual aloof or rather muted Singaporean. The day passed and come day end, my friend realised that he had lost his wallet. We tried to look around to no avail - it was not at Mos Burger either. We parted ways but it didn't look optimistic. However, the next day, I heard that he found the wallet with all money intact - the wallet was somewhere on the side of of the pavement, in some kind of a corner. Not sure if it was sheer good luck or Singaporeans practise 路不拾遗 （not pick up something that doesn't belong to you).  Coincidentally...

I took half a day to attend the National Day charity bazaar in Cayen's school on Tuesday. It was a small setup in all the different classrooms where you can use the tickets to buy some fruits kebabs, banana shakes, decorate a 2016 calendar, buy & decorate a muffin or take a Polaroid photo. It was useful to teach them to use the coupons to buy something. The school also invited a speaker to share with kids on how to interact with street dogs, how to take care of dogs and why neutering is important to avoid cancers down the road.  Was a short but fun affair for all. Glad I was able to make it ! 

I have spent around 46 hours last week in a very intense state .. of training. I signed up for the training because I wanted to have a structured plan of wealth creation and management .. I wanted to understand it myself and potentially do it myself instead of relying on others I.e by buying endowment plans or unit trusts. And to be able to have better winning outcomes, I decided to upgrade my skills through a structured course. What I didn't expect to also get is an important refresher course on NLP (neuro  linguistic programming) that also helps one find success for things in life in general . Unsurprising , the concept is not complex . In fact , you will see that it's all so familiar and seemingly no brainer. However, what differentiates the one who made it versus the one who don't is really who can execute the entire routine without giving up no matter what.  So what's the ultimate success formula in a nutshell that I have gathered ..  1) Mindset...