Multiparenting Cayen & Cayson

Today marked a series of hilarious conversations between cayen and us. Adult: tomorrow is Friday , what do you want to do? Cayen : Gai1 gai1 (play)  Adult: where ? (Expecting Macdonalds or something) Cayen: 乌节路  Adult: (shocked) who taught you that ? Cayen: Nana (she's her teacher) What on earth are they teaching in school ?? ------- Per the storyline in some story that I was spinning ..  Mama: this becomes small and small becomes big .. And this becomes .. Cayen: becomes a monster  Mama: who becomes a monster ? Cayen : Godma! (I think it's cox she always threatens to be a monster when playing with him) Mama: what colour is that monster? Cayen : purple !  ------ I was using the photo album to do show-and-tell to Cayen after reading the book. So I kept asking him what is this, how many are there etc etc. He would reply to me the right answer most of the time. Then we reached a photo showing a Christmas tree behind. He used to love Christmas trees so I decided to ...

Mind champs keep us closely posted on the kid's weekly activities and usually the email will come out every Friday to report what was taught to kids that week.  Last Friday , the email mentions that school will be closed tomorrow due to children's day, or so I thought.  Next on Monday , I realised to my horror that children were supposed to dress up in their favorite cartoon or action hero. So poor Cayen was the only one in the whole class who wore the usual uniform.  I'm not sure how he felt about being the odd one out. But one parent did comment to him/us when he's going our that "poor thing, how come you are not dressed up" . While the comment meant no harm , i guess that probably highlighted that he was the odd one out.  Then I quickly went back to trace the root cause of the lapse. Then I realised that the Friday email did mention this dress up day , just that for some reason , both me and da missed it. And strangely the teacher didn't mention to gran...

As he increases in his vocabulary, I am sensing an increased in his ability to carry a conversation and that includes making excuses . Here's some examples of what transpired in the last week.  Usually he wants to have his way and walk on his own without us holding hands. Today, he wanted to be carried but we were all quite tired. So we asked him if he could walk. He said "no, cars!" I looked up and indeed there were some cars in sight on the north bridge road but we were walking along the walkways of boat quay and those cars were so far away! Then it struck me that we always say there's cars, ah pa carry cayen. Hence, he probably feels that it's quite legitimate to quote cars as the reason to be carried!  Next, recently we try to teach him spelling. So it's N O , NO. And Y E S YES for a start. So nowadays, when he don't want something, he will retort forcefully with a N O NO. And if we still insist, he will say "I don't want". And when he wa...

YouTube Video - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I am a hoarder ... Not just because I am sentimental but also because I don't like to throw away things in good condition. It's quite a waste in my opinion. That's why in the past I have even resorted to renting flea market booths to try sell away second hand stuff.  Why don't I simply donate to Salvation Army? Well, I have the perception that it might just be lost in that whole load of stuff and be forgotten forever. So I prefer to do something proactive to maximise the chances that it's going to another person who can make better use of it than me. However , from my experience, that's time consuming and one might not sell much even after standing for 8 hours straight. So now I have discovered this new app Carousell that can help me sell things. Best part is that it is free for buyers and sellers, you can state your preferred dealing location and I have had good experience with buyers this far. Within a week, I have sold three items! I highly recom...

Cayen's repertoire has increased a lot over the last few months .. Here's his newly acquired Hokkien  Bo2 Lang2: nobody  This is used when you asked if grandpa has any friends, he will reply Bo2 Lang2. Bo2 Liao4: no more This is used when something is finished.  Buay4 You2: apply oil  This is used when he is having wind or Pain in stomach and requests for us to apply ruyi oil.  Wu3: have (有） If we tell him no more orange juice or biscuits, he will say Wu3. Giap4: pincer grasp (夾） He will use his leg to Giap4 his bolster or his Ah Pa. Ai3: want (要）  That's if you ask him if he wants something or not .. (Ai3 Mai3?)  Suo1 Suo1: hot hot (烧）  This is said when his food is hot.  Ba4 ba4: meat  He wants this every meal. And I think he has influenced his friends in school. At the last mid autumn celebration involving parents, some kid was saying he wants ba4 ba4 to his parents who looked completely puzzled by the request. They don't know what Is...

Mid autumn used to be a fun event when we were kids. I used to remember putting candles on trees , throwing sparklers into trees and prancing around with lanterns. As we grow up, it becomes more associated with moon cakes eating and nothing more. I don't remember going to playgrounds or chinese gardens to view lights anymore as a teenager or young working adult .. Once you have a kid, suddenly you will find some energy to suggest a walk through the Gardens by the Bay even if mid autumn falls on a Monday and you still have to work the next day. All to let the little one have a taste of the wonderful childhood that you have had .. YouTube Video - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone