Multiparenting Cayen & Cayson

After I came home, I did a role play with him again ... So I asked him to act out all the scenarios that I would narrate.  Me: You were trying to cross but three boys are blocking you. What do you do? C: find another way ? Me: that's correct but is there some other way ? C: say "excuse me?" Me: what if they never hear you ? C: "excuse me!"(he said louder)  Me: what if they still don't let you cross ?  C: then I crawl over ?? (Then he tried to crawl between my legs!)  Me: ok, let's try again. What must you say ? C: excuse me.  Me: What do you want?  C: Can you give me some space? Me: why do you want some space? C: I want to cross.  Me: ok, let me make some space for you ...... Me: today you are looking at your friend's painting on the wall. Why did you tear it down? C: because it's not nice. Me: (I pointed to the magnet toy he just built) I don't like it , it's not nice. Can I tear it down? ...

Recently there are few updates. I tried not to bother teacher for updates since they should be quite busy dealing with so many parents.  Today, we saw a simple picture update of him playing music with his classmate. But when Ah Pa asked teacher if he has behaved in school .. We got an unexpected response.  "Just after music class when we went for toilet break. 3 K1 students with their teacher came yo our class because the 3 boys complained to their teacher that Cayen pushed them. When I asked Cayen if he really pushed them, he said yes. He said, "because they are blocking my way." I asked him to apologise and give each one a gentle hug. He followed. I also talked to him that he must use words rather than hands. I'm surprised he is not intimidated with the K1 boys. They are quite bigger than him. I told him, he is lucky that they didn't push you back. He seemed to be listening. But again, strike 2, he tore down his friend's craft displayed on the board. I saw ...

The Cayen has always loved eggs. Hence, Easter is a good season as there's eggs everywhere. First, we visited the Universal Studio on one day where there was an egg hunt that we partook in . Unlike previous year in Sentosa where the egg hunt comprised of giant 3D eggs, this one is about spotting locations/landmarks and peeling off the correct egg sticker on the card. That, however, didn't diminish Cayen's fun. In fact, he located a few and was very happy with the final prizes he received.  On another day, we went to SEA aquarium where they had an egg hunt too. This one was fun as there's real giant eggs to hunt for. However, I think Cayen focused a lot more on the eggs than on the fishes actually. He kept on hurrying us to find the next egg while we were slowly looking at the fishes.  Finally, we tried to egg hunt at the Harbourfront/Vivocity . However, as the place was huge, we gave up after finding two eggs as we were quite tired that day. Also, the gaming mechanics w...

After a respite .. We heard some news yesterday again.  "Hi Mummy, Cayen hit his friend with a toy this afternoon. There's no mark but she complained it's painful. I have talked to him about this. Lately, the boys are into pretend fighting like catching the bad guys. So they like to build guns with blocks and unifix cubes and pretend to be fighting, they can be rowdy too. I'm trying to break that kind of game in class. Cayen has a piece of triangular puzzle and he used to poke his classmate on the side. He was only playing by himself and he was just standing on the side when he did this." We don't expose him to guns at home and somehow he picked it up somewhere .. Boys! Always in to guns and fast cars ..  But on the brighter note, he has sustained his drinking of milk out of a cup  for the last three weeks. Recently, it's been quite fast and fuss free as I introduced a game where I pour in some pieces of cornflakes into the cup and he's supposed to dri...

Looks like he enjoyed himself at the trip though the picture didn't look like it ... Recently, there's been fewer updates as no news is good news from school. This morning, he proudly proclaimed that he pooped in the toilet in school yesterday to which I have verified with the teacher .. "Yes, he pooped in the toilet yesterday and cleaned himself without asking for help. He didn't tell the teacher in charge that he went to poo. A teacher happened to find out because he forgot to flush. So I double check on him, he cleaned himself quite well. I told him that's very good of him to poo in the toilet. It would be better next time to tell your teacher and ask for help to clean you up just to make your bum is totally clean. 😊 Yes, he also peed all over the floor and stomped on his pee. " Goodness, how he oscillates so quickly between good and bad ... 

Don't know where he picked up the term night safari but he sounded quite excited to go to see all the night animals and so we all went.  As usual, we bought the online tickets to enjoy 25% discounts.  As the 7.15pm entry time was fully packed by 5pm, I had to get the 8.15pm slot which was a bit late but not too late. So we entered at 8.15pm, took the tram by around 8.30pm and did the tram tour for half an hour or so. Weather was so much more cooling at night as opposed to a visit to the zoo so it was quite enjoyable especially if one doesn't want to really walk. Then we adjourned for the 9.30pm mini performance.  While the tram ride was a bit short, we could actually alight at certain stations to do a walk about for some of the attractions but we didn't.  And once again, hearing the commentary really reminds us of how close many of the animals are to extinction and many may not make it past the next century. As such, apart from reducing, recycling ,  reusing , r...

They had the following conversation using a sing song method .. Using the NBA tune.. Pa: I love the basketball... C: I love the soccer ball... Pa: I love the ping pong ball... C: I love the snooker ball.. Pa: I love the bowling ball... C: I love the pool ball... Cayen must be one of the rare kids who is exposed to snooker and pool from a tender age, as ah Gong loves to watch them on TV.  Recently due to gynamistic classes in school, he has been a lot more agile and flexible. He improvised and did this balancing trick himself. 

To wean him off, I introduced games with every feed. If he wins, then he gets a sip of milk. So here's 4 games I have introduced to date   1. Tracing alphabets and numbers game .. If he successfully traces one, he gets one sip. 2. Match the picture to the word ... If he gets it wrong, he gets one sip .  3. Cut papers. I gave him some useless mailers for him to cut out some shapes. One object one sip.  4. Today, I created a "volcano" with two egg trays. If he drinks a big sip, I build a tall volcano and he can get the chance to blow it down. If he drinks a small sip, I build a short volcano. This game is the most successful to date. He polished off 180ml in two sips. 

Since last Thursday's hat trick of good behaviour, good behaviour has continued to date. Both English and Chinese Teacher have given positive feedback that he has been better at controlling himself.  He also seems to enjoy school a lot better now as well as the company of his friends. She often sees him playing well with them now. Hope it continues.  More reasons to celebrate in the last 10 days are as follows: - we have succeeded in weaning him off his milk bottle (which he like to take for comfort in the morning and evening)  - he also stopped his habit of waking exceedingly early to watch cartoons on weekends and now willingly go out or ask to go swimming / playing with water. - while he's still trying his luck, I have refused to let him eat dinner in front of the TV too , and he has been sitting with us at the dining table feeding himself .  - he has been voicing out more frequently when he needs to pee. So now the only thing that remains is the pooping part....

Yet another happy update yesterday .. Looks like the ice has truly been broken. Today he woke up grouchy and a bit sleepy. Hope the good behaviour can continue.   "Dear parents, Cayen is okay today. He is more willing now to listen and heed gentle reminders. He is more participative in class as well. He used to prefer to sit on the chair at the back during lesson time but now I see him willing to sit among his friends. 😊"