The Complicated Story of 4 Kids and 4 Adults @ Vivo City Playground

Here are the 4 children in the story: (from bottom left clockwise) RR, Cherrlyn, Jaimie and Ezra.

The adults.

RR and Jaimie are happy to see each other.
(Alright, buddy. Let's see who has a bigger chest!)

They are so friendly to one each other. Look, they are even holding hands!
(Aiyah, about the same size lah.)

The kids are discussing about what to play.
(I know of a shop that sells wonder stuff.... )

They are sure enjoying themselves and having fun!
(Hooray!! There is hope!!!)


There are 3 new bowling pins like structures for the children to play. The kids like them very much and since there are 4 children, they take turns to play and they have amazing ways to sit on them while they are being spinned around.
(I don't want to give up my seat. I don't want to share. Ahhh~!! I shall pretend to be asleep!)

RR is playing with the water fountain so I only managed to capture the other 3 children in this picture.
(Ezra: I can't wait to show off my 6 packs.
Cherr: I can't wait to see the 6 packs!
Jaimie: Look at me, LOOK at Me, LLLOOOOK AAATTTT MEEEE!!!)

Jaimie is looking at Ezra and RR having fun with with the fountain. She is not allowed to play in the water because she sneezed a little this morning. Better not take the risk.
(Ezra: *parading*
Jae: Hmmm... got 6 packs meh?
RR: My mommy said I am the only one in the group who "doesn't have a rib cage". What does she mean?)



Jaimie and Cherrlyn running up the very steep slope. Mommy Joyce cheered them on.
(Jaimie: Overtake! Overtake! Overtake!)

After about 1.5hours of play, the kids are tired and hungry. We're about to move to Earle Swensen as recommended by Meekfreek for lunch.
(Jaimie: Why are we waiting? Why are we waiting?....
Cherr: Eh, you are very irritating leh. Keep quiet, will you?!
Jaimie: Why? Huh? You lost in the running competition you are not happy isit? We can always challange again.
Cherr: Don't be childish.)

These 3 children run onto the seat while RR runs away.
(Ezra: Jaimie... on the count of 3...)

Cherrlyn is the most well-behaved girl in the group.
(Cherr: I am sleepy....I don't care. I don't want to walk.)

Ezra finally warms up to Jaimie. They ran off together to look at the sea.
(Jaimie: Ezra, listen up, don't turn back. The adults are looking at us. The plan is... when we are having lunch later, I scream, you scream. I jump, you jump. I eat, you eat. I make a fuss, you make a fuss. Ok?
Ezra: Copy.)

Settling down to lunch at Earle Swensen.
(Crime scene.)

We have a good lunch and a good time chatting. It is really a very happy gathering for the adults and the kids!
(We have a good time competing for the messiest child and a good time distrubing our parents when they are eating and chatting. It is really a very happy gathering for us!)


(p/s: I overate.... burp!!!!)

Jurong Park

I'm not sure if the park is called "Jurong Park" but since it is just opposite Jurong Point, no harm calling it "Jurong Park" for the convenience of my post. :)

We didn't know where to bring Jae in the evening after woke up from her afternoon nap. Then Clement said he remembered reading somewhere that there was a park right opposite Jurong Point that has a giant snake and ladder there. Both of us had no idea where the park was nor had seen it but we still hopped on the MRT to Boon Lay Station in search of the park.

When the train approached Boon Lay Station, we realised that we could see the park from the MRT! We must have been so preoccuied with squeezing our way out of the train that we didn't take time to notice THE OTHER SIDE of the train. So we alighted, crossed an overhead bridge and there we were at the "Jurong Park".



It was a lovely breezy evening. A perfect evening for outdoor activity. We should have brought Jaimie's little bicycle as the park was very, very spacious. The playground, to our disappointment, was meant for much bigger kids. Jaimie was usually very adventurous when it comes to slides but she was did not dare to go down the quite steep and long slides.


There was plenty of sand pits. A number of children were building sand castles.

There wasn't much she could play so she just ran wild on the grass with Clement, playing "catching". Jaimie had lots of fun running and had fun just from running.

The park is a popular weekend gathering place for the foreign workers. Jurong Point is, needless to say, jam packed with people. Perhaps the next time we'll visit the park in the morning to avoid the crowd.

>Oh.. about the "snake and ladder", we saw neither snake nor ladder but you can still play "Snake and ladder" with all the giant numbers that were painted around the park.

Phoney Phone

Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I don't need my privacy when making phone calls, you know. Even if my calls are made with a phoney Nokia like the one here.

These paparazi. They're everywhere! I know just how to deal with such situations, though. I do have a few tricks up my sleeve too. hehe.

(1) Speak in the secret coded language that only babies can decipher. No more worrying about eavesdropping!

(2) Find and run to that obscure spot in the house where even that persistent photographer won't be able to follow.

Happy Shoes!

I bought this pair of shoes from Bugis Junction. It was love at first sight. The moment I saw this pair, I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Each pair of shoes has a name and this pair is called "Fairy Tale". I cannot explain why but I felt a sense of happiness gushes up from my feet and up to my body when I wore them. The shoes just made me feel so happy!

They were handmade and there's only one design for each size. Price: $89.90.

I thought that's very expensive for a pair of ballerina shoes but heck! shouldn't we just pamper ourselves once in a while?

妈妈的心得 之五

最近很积极地在读我前一阵子买的书--How to Talk so Kids will listen & Listen so Kids will Talk. 也看出了一点小小的心得。

这本书真的很棒。作者深入浅出地介绍了一些和孩子沟通的技巧，还有生活例子可以参考。

其实，要记得作者介绍的方法和技巧并不难。我们只要记得两个大原则：

（一）尊重孩子的感受（二）将心比心

我的好友阿慧曾经跟我说过，我们要尊重孩子，因为孩子是一个个体。他并不属于爸爸或妈妈。他是他自己。所以，无论他年纪多小，我们都要尊重他。

这几句随意聊聊得妈妈经，让我醍醐灌顶！

因此，我凡事都会征求媛媛的意见，尽管她的意见未必会被采纳。但是，经过询问，商量，孩子感受到的是被尊重而不是觉得父母强行把自己的意愿加诸在他身上。我个人认为在这一点上我是看到成效的，因为媛媛现在是一个可以讲道理，可以商量妥协，可以做自己答应了的事。

另外，“己所不欲，勿施于人”也是另外一条金科玉律。我们对朋友对邻居对同事对不认识的人尚且如此，为什么却时常忘了对孩子也应该要“将心比心”？惟有记得放弃我们的高姿态，我们才能够降到孩子的视线，看到他们的内心。再回头想想当年自己是不是也“深受其害”，就能够改善自己对孩子的态度了。

其实，我们都不是不爱孩子。其实，我们都不是不懂得要尊重孩子。问题是，当我们被生活的压力压得喘不过气或者忙得团团转的时候，我们已经没有精力去好好沟通。孩子成了我们最方便发泄情绪的工具。用吼的变成最快速见到成果的方法。至少有时候我是这样。

这样的我，还有很多很多学习的空间。

我们都是在当了爸爸妈妈之后，才学习当爸爸妈妈的，不是吗？

谢谢好姐妹HappyPig把一本那么棒的书介绍给我！

媛媛唱宋词

几天前，媛媛又再吓我们一跳！她竟然唱起了《但愿人长久》！而且还唱对了80%的歌词！哇！！

媛媛很小的时候，因为我懂得的儿歌实在有限，所以晚上她要求我唱催眠曲的时候，我就常常唱《但愿人长久》给她听。 加上我常常用“月亮”来鼓励她，她就非常非常喜欢这首“月亮歌”。唱到嘴巴都酸了，就用“懒人方法”，给她看youtube的“月亮歌”。

突然，她就开口唱了整首歌了！



如果你听不懂她在唱什么，你可以欣赏一下王菲的版本。这是媛媛最喜欢的youtube影片。



真是吓一跳！真的，不要低估孩子哦！

Busy Busy

This is one of those rare weekends which we did not blog about our weekend activities. Why? Because there was none.

We only went for a swim in the afternoon yesterday and took a train to Jurong Point for dinner. Clement had to go to work today and I needed the day to mark the exam papers which just came in on Thursday. Jaimie was at por-por's place while both daddy and mommy were at work.

For the next 10 weeks I'll be extremely busy in school partly because term 3 is usually the busiest time of the academic year and partly because one of our colleagues just tendered her resgination and I had to take over part of her profile. *sob*

It's not going to be easy but I'll manage!! That's because I have this CCCCUUUUTTEEEE girl who never fails to cheer me up every day and a loving husband who is always very supportive.

Counting my blessings~~~

Aerobics!!

After dinner at my mom's place, we walked over to Bt Panjang Plaza as requested by the little princess. It was almost 8pm and there was quite a big crowd at the garden stage. I took a closer look and realised that it was "community aerobics"! Free aerobics on every Thursday from 8-9pm!

I stayed a while to watch the aerobics. My feet got real itchy! i had done aerobics for a couple of years before I switched to yoga. I had always enjoyed aerobics because it's like doing mass dance. I always left the studio in a happy mood and felt good that I perspired so much after an hour's exercise. Steps aerobics was my favourite. The instructor whom I followed last time always made the movements so fun got everybody in the mood to move their bodies. After she left the fitness centre, I did not renew my aerobics package and had not done aerobics there after.

Next week I shall participate in the workout! Clement has agreed to take care of Jaimie while mama shakes off some fat (hopefully!).

妈妈的心得 之四

很久以前写过妈妈的心得之一，之二和之三。

今天颇有感触，要写我的第四个心得。

前一阵子有点苦恼，朋友的孩子大多数都开始断断续续告别纸尿片了。有些小朋友十八个月大就能够不用尿片了，媛媛2岁了还在不醒悟地随意大小便。我们都很不明白，这么一个会说话的孩子，为什么就是不肯（还是不会？）说自己要大小便呢？虽然有点纳闷，但是也不是非常着急。

最近，媛媛终于学会上厕所了，慢慢地脱离了纸尿布。我们都非常高兴。唯一的苦恼，是在逛街的时候她常常出其不意地说：“妈妈，小便便！快点快点！”我老人家就得风驰电掣地把她带到洗手间，用迅雷不及掩耳的速度把她的裤子和纸尿裤扯下来，然后在半秒的时间之内把她放到马桶上，看见她安然无恙地小便，我才敢喘一口气。

令我们惊讶的是，她现在连晚上在睡梦中都能够告诉我们她要上厕所！现在她睡在我们中间当第三者。当她模模糊糊闭着眼睛说：“小便便！”时，我苦命的老人家又得风驰电掣地翻身起床，用迅雷不及掩耳的速度把她的睡裤和纸尿裤扯下来，然后在一秒的时间之内冲到厕所把她放到马桶上，看见她安然无恙地小便，我才敢喘一口气。已经连续好多个晚上，媛媛都没有尿在纸尿片上了。我看我可以做一个表，记录"Days without incident"。哈哈！

从这个训练孩子上厕所的事件，我又联想到：孩子有他自己的时间来掌握技某些技能。虽然我们要帮忙和鼓励他，但是也无需操之过急。跑接力赛都有一段路是传棒子的。只要孩子是在正常的范围之内，我们就让他找到自己的步伐吧。

孩子，妈妈依旧为你学习到的每一个技能喝彩。妈妈在尊重你的步伐时，仍然会给你加油和掌声。宝贝，in your own timing, please. I love you.

My Shopping Spree At Kinokuniya

Reading has always been my number one passion before we have broadband at home. *ahem* Due to space constraint and bad time management in the cyberspace, I have not been buying books recently. Term 3 starts today and I felt that I needed retail therapy to upgrade myself so I decided to go down to Kinokuniya in the afternoon.

Here are my harvest.

1) Parenting books
This series of books are highly recommended by my best friend. Actually, the book I was trying to get in Jurong Regional Library is "How To Talk So Kids Will Listen...". Apparently, it was a very popular title and they are on loan in most libraries. Well, might as well get a personal copy!

I know some of you are thought you smell a fish when you read my previous post about being a parent of 2 for 1 day. And you think you confirmed that there is a fish when you see the book I bought about Sibling Rivalry. No no no. That is just purely for my reading pleasure.

What do adopted children want their parents to know? I would very much like to know too.

2) Chinese books
As a fan of the Taiwanese rock group五月天, of course I will support the pregnancy journal 《我的摇滚妈咪》written by 石头和狗狗. And it comes with a necklace that says "Rock Baby". Perfect for Ms Jae. Hoho.I was attracted by the cover of the red book which explores the Japanese culture -- Why are the Japanese Obsessed With compressing things? Hmmm.. interesting! They compressed the radio to a walkman and compressed a bento into rice balls. Their compressed versions are usually better than the original! When I opened up the box, I was not too surprised to see a mini book.
The last book is reading for professional upgrading. I want to more about Confucious Ethics and hopefully I will be able to infuse the great teachings in my lessons.

So many books to read! So little time!

Jee Jee

We brought Jae to the Jurong Regional Library over the weekend, 'cos mommy wanted to look for a book she couldn't find at the Bt Panjang Community Library, which we normally visit.

Upon reaching the children section of the library, Jae very quickly settled down on one of those brightly-coloured, kid-sized tables. She then proceed to plough through the stack of books on the table, as well as on the nearby shelves and chose (yes, she actually picked up each book and decided if she wanted it or not - I think she's literally judging the books by their covers here) some to ask me to read to her.

One of the books that we read together was titled "The Cat Goes Fiddle-I-Fee!". I recall procrastinating whether to pronounce those words as "fiddle-ee-fee" or "fiddle-eye-fee". I opted for the former 'cos I think that sounded better. This book was one of those written in the vein of "Twelve Days of Christmas" - you know, those cumulative rhytmes where each time something new gets introduced you add it onto a list of items that gets longer as the story progresses. The "story" here is very simply about the sounds that each animal makes e.g.

The pig goes griffy gruffy
The horse goes neigh neigh
The duck goes quack quack
The hen goes chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck...

...and of course, the cat goes fiddle-i-fee

Quite a cute book, with cute pictures of the various animals. Jae enjoyed it (well, she did sit through the entire book) as I did reading it to her.

As we were leaving the library (mommy didn't find the book she was looking for, btw - it had been borrowed by another chap earlier that same day), Jae, who was walking beside me and holding my hand, turned to me and said "Papa. Jee Jee."

Mentally, I went through the list of animals we'd just been reading about but try as I might, I couldn't recall any one that went Jee Jee leh. So, I asked her,

"What is Jee Jee?"

There was a hint of exasperation in her reply -

"Jee Jee! 小便便！"

Parent of 2 for 1 Day

Last week, Jaimie made a date with her best friend, Seraphine jie-jie. So Clement and I took care of the 2 children for one day. We went to Fidgets in the morning. After their afternoon nap, they went for a swim in the pool and we headed to IMM for somemore playground and dinner.

I brought a camera and cleared all the pictures in the memory stick thinking that I would be taking tons of pics of the little girls having fun. However, the 2 pictures I posted here are the only 2 photos I took for the whole day.

Why?

BUSY BUSY BUSY!

This is the first time we took care of 2 young children. We almost went crazy entertaining their 1001 requests, answering countless "Why?", managing their little fights over the toys and who-gets-to-press-the-button-for-the-elevator, taking care of their safety in the pool, cleaning up 2 girls at the same time, making sure they both ate and drank enough, bringing them to toilets etc etc etc.

Actually, both Jaimie and Seraphine are not difficult children. They were willing to share their things, willing to take turns to play with toys, willing to listen to us. I am especially happy to see that Jaimie is generous enough to share her toys, books, pillows, blankets, seat and share her parents with Seraphine.

It is a tiring day but it is not a difficult day. We are more than happy to see the children enjoying each other's company and having fun together. It just takes a little use to.

Jaimie's First Art Work

A few days ago Jaimie came home with these 2 pieces of art work and presented to the daddy with 2 hands and said “父亲节快乐！”.

We really do not know which part of the art work was done by Jaimie. The painting? The colouring? The sticking of the "Happy Fathers' Day" wordings? The folding? Err... the writing? .... I think the teacher did all the work for her. :)

Anyway, the daddy who received this card was so proud and touched. The mommy is waiting for her turn next year.

Guess who?

Clue number 1: Close up back view
Clue number 2: Back View

Clue number 3: Front Top View
Clue number 4: Side View

ANSWER: ... and she thinks it's absolutely beautiful.....

.... huh? Not nice meh?...

Impartiality

Our girl has always been pretty impartial when it comes to situations where she was presented with choices involving her daddy and mommy.

In the early months, we had been wondering if she'd start uttering "Papa" or "Mama" first. Turned out that when Jae was 8 months old, she decided to call out both at the very same session. I still vividly recall the thrill and excitment that day as I shouted for Angie to come into the bedroom to witness the little one rolling around on our bed and blabbering "babamama", while I hurriedly picked up the camera and immortalised this precious moment in quicktime format.

Even now, at 26 months old, Jae's impartiality in this regard appears to still be very much intact. When she's muching on some foodstuff, even if it's her favourite snack like sausages or fries, if we are to ask that she share it, Jae'd without fail demonstrate her sense of equality and fairness.

Us: Is it nice?
Jae: Yes~~~! (Jae has this very nice way of articulating this word. Very excited and high-pitched. We love hearing her say "Yes!")
Us: Do you want to share it with Papa or Mama?
Jae: 给拔拔。给嘛嘛。一起吃！
Us: *happily each take a nibble at her offerings* 谢谢， 媛媛。
Jae: 不客气。

Sure, there'd be those times when she'd display overt favouritism for one of us over the other, for example during bedtimes she tend to ask for mommy more frequently. We have observed also that she'd have cycles where she'd take turns swtiching from being a "daddy's girl" to a "mommy's girl". This is good for us 'cos it gives both me and Angie opportunities to "take a breather" during those periods when she's super sticky to the other one. Jae's currently in the "mommy girl" phase, so I'm waiting for my part of the cycle to arrive~!

18 Months Ago

Received an email in my inbox today that was channeled over from YouTube. There was this person who sent me a message regarding this video clip of Jaimie speaking her first words, which I'd posted some 18 months ago. S/he wanted to inform me that that particular clip was no longer available online and requested that I upload it again.

Did a quick check and yup, the vid's gone. Turned out that while it was still ok, this clip had attracted quite a bit of attention leh, having clocked more than 9,600 views online, as well as a string of comments. The person asking for the repost was one of those who left a comment about a month ago. It's quite flattering (though a tad strange at the same time) that a total stranger would view a clip of our baby, leave complimentary comments and then to have revisted the clip and requested for it to be reloaded when it went missing.

Well, I've uploaded the clip back online. Viewed it a couple of times myself too and took a trip down memory lane. Jae was such a chubby little fella back then, at 8 months old. Very botak too. hehehe.



The original clip was supposed to be here. Don't know what happened to it. Some glitch in YouTube?

So, What Happened in School Today?

It wasn't really that long ago that I was still wondering when our little girl would attend school and this question would become part and parcel of our daily routine. Without realising it, we're here already. Wow....

The question just popped out of my mouth as I was chatting with Jae while preparing her for bedtime just now.

Me: So, what happened in school today? You wanna tell Papa?

Jae: 唱歌！跳舞！

Me: Wow, that's great! Did you guys go to the playground?

Jae: Yes! With friends! 很多朋友！

Me: 哇...很多朋友啊？那你最喜欢哪个朋友？

Jae: Marcus gor-gor.

Me: 噢, Marcus gor-gor huh.

Jae: 是。哭哭。

Me: 呃？Marcus gor-gor 哭哭还是媛媛哭哭？

Jae: Marcus gor-gor 哭哭。

Me: 哦。Marcus gor-gor 为什么哭哭呢？

Jae: 老师打。

Me: 哎哟。为什么 Marcus gor-gor 会被老师打呢？

Jae: Marcus gor-gor 没有听老师的话。老师打屁股。

(At this point I had to work at stiffling a laugh)

Me: 那你有没有叫 Marcus gor-gor 不要哭啊？

Jae: 有！Gor-gor 不要哭！

Oh, I really do enjoy chatting with my little girl...:)

I Have A Date

This is "Aaaaera-fin" jie-jie. She is 4 years old. She is my best friend. We have a playdate next Saturday.

Mommy and Daddy are going to bring us to Fidgets in the morning. After lunch, "Aaaaera-fin" jie-jie will take her nap with me in my house. We will go swimming after we wake up. After dinner, we will spend some time in the playground before "Aaaaera-fin" jie-jie goes home. This is mommy's plan to exhaust our energy. We are going to have a very exciting and tiring Saturday next week.

"Aaaaera-fin" was very excited about the playdate too! Mommy asked her to remember the list of things to bring. Pillow, blanket, clothes, swimming costume, comb... She was quite stressed because she could not remember them all. Haha.. she didn't know mommy was just teasing her.

Huh? Not "Aaaaera-fin"? Seraphine? Ok, ok. Let me say it properly: "Aaaaera-fin" jie-jie.

A Self Reminder

Understanding your child...

This may be an insurance commercial but it makes me reflect a lot... and I just cried and cried after watching it...

Mommies' Lunch Out

Wolfgirl76 called for a gathering to meet for lunch in the CBD area. And 9 forum mommies responded! Unfortunately, stardust_sq's office is too far for her to travel down to Tanjong Pagar to join us for lunch and the organiser, Wolfgirl76's DD was down with a fever. So the 8+1 of us met!

After some discussion in the forum, we decided to lunch at Hachi Tei which is located at 145 Telok Ayer Street. Ok, where is Telok Ayer Street? I have no idea. I have only been to Telok Ayer Street less than 5 times in my life so far. Ok... the restuarant is just opposite Thiam Hock Kheng. Huh?! Sorry, have only been to Thiam Hock Kheng ONCE in a hertiage tour when many many many years ago.

Thankfully Meekfreek was kind enough to meet me outside Captial Tower Building (or was it Capital Building Tower?). She asked me to turn left and walked down to meet her. I turned right instead.

I think I have made myself very clear that I have ZERO sense of direction and I cannot tell left from right. Heehee!!!

Anyway, we had a GREAAATTTT time chatting. The food is not bad and the price is really quite cheap! Most of the ladies had a longer than usual lunch time today (I hope their bosses do not chance upon this blog!).

From left front: Baby Cherrlyn, Mama Joyce Long, Meekfreek, Gafield, Idy_Tan, gchng, ruthhan, angelcow and ezrababy.

Since Meekfreek's lunch hour is more flexible than the rest, she stayed a while longer to chat with Ezrababy and me.

This is the first time I'm meeting forum mommies w/o our little ones!! I feel so good!

My Lunch Date with Mommy @MOS Burger

Por-por needed some time off too so she went on a cruise to nowhere with her friends today. Hence, Papa sent me to school this morning and mommy picked me up from school at noon.

Mommy was early and I was half way through my lunch at the childcare centre. Anyway, mommy has not had her lunch so off we went to MOS burger at Bt Panjang Plaza. Mommy ordered an Unagi rice burger, an Ebi rice burger, fries, lemon tea and corn soup to share with me. This was the first time I tried MOS burger and I think it's yummy! I finished 3/4 of the Unagi Rice Burger before I was given some fries. The fries looked great!

Hmmm.... I didn't think the fries tasted as good as the one from the Golden Arch. It's less salty and less crispy.

I give it a 6.5/10.

Ahhh... the ketchup was finger-licking good, though!

Can't get enough of it....

Oh dear! My tongue was stuck to the saucer! Mommy! Help! Use your brute strength to help me remove it!

The circled parts on my face-- ketchup.

With this face, and with half a cup of iced lemon tea, and half a packet of fries left, I told mommy that I needed to poop. I have learnt my lessons from the previous spanking and standing at the naughty corner... "妈咪！大便便！"

Mommy quickly stuffed 2 more fries into her mouth and gulped down the remaining iced lemon tea, grabbed the bags, pulled me out of the high chair and rushed me to the toilet.

"Plop! Plop! Plop!" Oh... that was the rice, that was the fruits. Oh! This one! This was the cod fish I had for dinner last night! Ahhhhhh~~~ Shiok-a-doo-doo.

I enjoyed my lunch date with my dear mommy.

p/s: I am mommy's girl at this moment.

p/ss: I am still trying my best to irritate help mommy to a more patient person.

Naughty Corner

Finally we have implemented the "Naughty Corner".

Jae is undergoing toilet training. She can tell us when she needs to pee or poo. However, we discovered that when she was doing her favourite activity such as watching TV or playing, she would rather do it on her diapers than to disrupt her activity. Having realised that, we have decided that she needs to be disciplined if it is not the case of an accident.

If it happens outside, I will spank her on her thighs while changing her diapers.

If it happens at home, she gets a spank on her thighs and stands at the naughty corner for about 2 minutes.

In both cases, Clement will play the mediator's role. He tells Jaimie why she gets disciplined and makes her apologise to me. After that, she has to verbalise that she will tell me when she needs to go to the toilet. And, I will tell her again why she needs to do so.

A lot of talking needs to be done!

We have been discussing for some time where the naughty corner should be. We didn't want it to be a place where happy and peaceful activity takes place such as the bedroom. We didn't want it to be away in one corner which we cannot see what she is doing at the corner. We didn't want somewhere dark and lonely (such as the yard) to frighten her. Finally we found a "perfect" place. It was between the entrance to the bedroom walkway from living room, where the common bathroom was. There was a right-angle wall which we asked her to place her hands so that she will not move about. We didn't deliberately look for the "right place". It happened that she urinated on me one afternoon and after cleaning her up, I furiously put her there and declared that it was her naughty corner. After that, I realised that it was a good place. We make ourselves disappear into the bedroom and let her be alone for 2mins. After that, we came out one by one to talk to her and to reconcile with her.

I asked her whether "Naughty Corner" is a good or bad thing. She replied me "bad". Great. At least we know she feels uncomfortable there. This will be part of the "discipline package" from now on.

These are posed pictures and Jaimie is showing signs of discomfort when she is asked to stand at the naughty corner and holding the wall.... oops!

父与女的对话

父：媛媛，你喜欢做baby还是喜欢长大？

女：长大！

父：你长大了之后，爸爸不可以像现在这样抱你了，你知道吗？

女：baby小小，抱抱。拍拍拍。长大了，不可以抱抱。

父：爸爸现在牵你的手走路，以后爸爸老了，爸爸走路慢慢了，你要不要牵爸爸的手？

女：不要！

父：为什么不要？

女：要！

父：以后爸爸老了，会死掉。

女：爸爸老了，死掉了。媛媛难过。Lion King爸爸死了，Lion King Baby难过。哭哭。

济济一床

媛媛从小就跟我们一起睡。

当她大概7个月大时，我们就买了一张小垫褥给她，让她睡在我们的床边。每次一翻身就可以看到孩子熟睡的脸庞，心里满满的都是幸福。

搬家时，尽管媛媛还不到2岁，我们还是训练她自己一个人睡在她自己的房间。她也非常乐意，也非常得意。我们在松了一口气的同时，也有新的问题。因为她睡在隔壁房间，晚上如果啼哭的话，我要是熟睡了就要很久才能听到。于是，那几个月，我整个晚上根本就是竖起耳朵浅睡。一听到她的哭声或叫声，我就立刻跳下床跑到隔壁去。有时，我故意问她到爸爸妈妈的房间睡好不好？到爸爸妈妈的床睡好不好？她都毅然决然地拒绝。前2个月老公出差时，我还“偷偷”等她睡熟了之后把她抱到我的房间，但是她一发现自己不在自己的房间和自己的床上，就会很生气，半梦半醒之间也提出抗议，要我立刻把她送回她的地盘。

媛媛上个月开始上托儿所。从那天开始到现在，她还是没有安全感，到了晚上还会恶梦连连。我连续几个晚上都在跑进跑出，根本没有睡觉。于是就把她抱到我们的床，让她躺在我和老公之间。这样，她一来睡得比较安稳，二来惊吓起来时，我也可以立刻安抚她。

“请神容易送神难”。现在，她已经鹊巢鸠占，把我们的床“三分天下”。她当然是曹操，占领的地盘最大。我是名副其实的“东吴”，占地最小，可是最方便跳下床泡奶递水。

或许有人觉得我们应该训练小孩再独立一点，或许有人觉得这不是长久之计。但是，我们一直认为，孩子能在你身边躺多久呢？跟孩子这样互动的时候，能多长久？每次一翻身就看见孩子天使般熟睡的模样，我们就觉得心里的幸福已经满满地溢到整张床上。