My Art Portfolio II

My teacher gave mommy my Art Portfolio to take home for filing on Friday. This time I took back the art pieces and worksheets I did from Oct- Dec.

My art work:

I learnt about different occupations.

I am done with A-Z.

I learnt to count in school. Actually, I already knew how to. :)

This is my favourite DIY "duckie fan". My teacher taught me to sing a nursery rhyme in Mandarin. I kept singing it until my daddy and mommy knew how to sing too.

A Self Reflection

I do notice that I am getting more impatient with Jaimie lately, who is a-little-crankier-than-usual.

Nowadays she is into whining and pretending to cry as a way to protest. The whining part gets me in my nerves and the most convenient way for me to react is to shout at her and asked her to shut up. If she doesn't stop her nonsense in 5 seconds' time, I will be so tempted to whack her with my hand. And sometimes I did. Clement will be very patient trying to talk sense to Jaimie and I will snap at him and ask him why is he spoiling his daughter.

For the past few nights, Jaimie hasn't been sleeping too well. She would cry in the middle of the night. I asked her a few standart questions like, do you want to go to the toilet? Do you want milk? If the answers are negative, I will bark at her and ask her to go back to sleep. While Clement will be the one who is very patiently rocking Jaimie and consoling her, I will turn my body to backface them and cover my ears with my pillows.

I feel bad, actually.

And I am truly appreciative Jaimie's very patient daddy. Clement has always been the very patient one when it comes to handling Jaimie.

I asked Clement how does he manage to keep his cool with all the whining and crying. He said there was no reason to be angry with a child who didn't do anything wrong deliberately. That sounds very logical to me. And I am also thankful that Clement is also very patient with an impatient wife. He never snaps at me or reprimanded me for being "nasty". Instead, he just took over the situation so that I have some space to cool down. It was yesterday when I saw him lying on the bed, dozing off before Jaimie did in the afternoon that I realised how tired he was handling the 2 crazy girls at home.

My new year resolution: BE A MORE PATIENT MOMMY.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Recently, I taught Jaimie the word “帅”, which means handsome. To teach her the difference between "beautiful"（美） and "handsome"（帅）, I asked Jaimie who is good looking and who is not.

The verdict...
I am pretty. Clement is not. Uncle Jackie is handsome, Ezra is not. Cherrlyn mei-mei, Rain mei-mei and Izzy mei-mei are pretty, nai-nai (grandma) is not. Jaimie is, but of course, very pretty. =_=

When asked who is more handsome...
Uncle Jackie is MORE HANDSOME than daddy.
Unlce Jackie is MORE HANDSOME than Ezra.
Kow-fu (my brother) is MORE HANDSOME than daddy.
Uncle Jackie is AS HANDSOME AS Uncle Jeff.

The conclusion...
Daddy is not 帅.

PERIOD.

Art and Craft @Vivocity

It was raining heavily this morning but it didn't stop us from going to Vivocity for an Art Competition, organised by these people.

Round One: Parent and Child Playdoh making competition

Each child was given some playdoh. The original intention was for the child to knead and play but it ended up the parents enjoying it more. Hence it became a competition among the adults instead. The children were there as decoys.
competitor number 1: CS and Cherrlyn.
Competitor number 2: Clement and Jaimie

Competitor number 3: Wolfgirl and RTR

Competitor number 4: Vivian and Ezra

Entry from competitor number 1:

Entry from competitor number 2:

Entry from competitor number 3:

There was no entry from Viv and Ezra because Viv was making food from play dough. From french fries to waffles to doughnut. All the "food" was eaten up by hungry Jaimie.

Disqualified: Izzy came a little late and she was not aware of the competition going on. Her mommy was busy taking photos while her daddy went to buy tar sa pia to share with all of us. However, Izzy's work was given a special mention prize because she used her shoes to print out the patterns on the playdoh instead of using the normal tools. Very creative!

Round Two: Painting Competition

CS and Cherrlyn did hand printing.

Jaimie and Ezra chose to do Chinese Calligraphy.

Wait a minute!

Jaimie did hand printing too!

Izzy started with a paint brush but decided that it was faster and more fun using her hands.

RTR and Wolfgirl left after washing up because RTR is going to Shanghai to look for business opportunities tomorrow. The other chaps were trying to find opportunities as fashion models for Pumkin Patch Kids.

Presenting to you-- the 4 next Singapore Top Models.

It was lunch time. Ezra and Jaimie decided to waltz to the the Asian Kitchen.

We had a fun time eating and chatting.

It was another great morning being with great friends!

Happy Birthday To Jae/Me

I am officially 35 years old today. To start off the day, we went to Junction 8 in the morning (so that we can get a parking lot) and had a light brunch. Jaimie was very happy because she got a red balloon and she shared our big breakfast.

This was the first time Jaimie sat on her own and we sat across her. The advantage of such seating arrangement was that we could ask Jaimie to see if both papa and mama were in the camera screen when we take self-portraits. Jaimie was very happy to be tasked to do the job.
After breakfast, we went up to the mini playground on the roof top garden. Jaimie was very happy to see the playground. She attempted to find the matching pictures in this puzzle when she had enough of the slides. With some help from daddy, Jaimie managed to complete the puzzle.
As it was getting warm, we went indoors. To our very pleasant surprise, we met YS and family at Kiddy Palace! We were all very happy to see one another. Jaimie was especially happy to see Seraphine. The girls took the dinosaur ride together, holding hands.
Because I had some Thai Express vouchers, we proceeded to the restaurant for our lunch. I have always loved the food from Thai Express. The girls shared a bowl of noodle soup. I was happy! I need not eat LOL! Hooray! And Jaimie was very happy to copy what Seraphine was eating.

After lunch, YS and family went off to somewhere else while we headed straight to the stage. Unlike other places and other shows, there was no need to queue. It's first come first sit. Minimum spending was $30 to get a photo pass but since we ate the Thai Express, there was no need for me to buy anything extra.
Daddy was getting ready at the back to video the whole show.
Jaimie was happy to see Princess Kitty and her lover boy Daniel.
Jaimie was happy to see Princess Kitty and her Fairy Godmother, My Melody.
I thought the show was average. However, the "snow" that fell on the audience was quite a pleasant surprise. Jaimie was happy to see the "snow". After the show, we asked her "Do you like the snow?" Her reply was "It's bubbles." See, we can't bluff the kids.
Jaimie was happy to be hugged by Kitty.
We went home so that Jaimie could take her nap. I was SO TIRED that I slept together and woke up with her (ie, 2 hours of nap!). Actually, I couldn't figure out why was I so tired every time we brought Jaimie to watch Xmas shows.

In the evening, we took a MRT to IMM. Jaimie was more than happy to take the public transport. She had an enjoyable time at the playground while I was there enduring the noise, the children, the running, the CROWD... I felt like vomiting and my head was spinning a little. Conclusion: I CANNOT teach in primary school. I had the exact same feeling when I was seated in a primary school canteen during their recess time.

Dinner was a simple one because we planned to go to Swensens to have ice cream after that. If you go to Swensens on your actual birthday and showed them your NRIC, you get a free Birthday ice cream. We ordered a waffle ice cream because Jaimie loved it. The staff crowded around our table to sing the happy birthday song, which I thought was very nice of them. Jaimie was very happy and she insisted it was her birthday. She blew the candle on my behalf. She is currently daddy's girl so she took ALL the cherries on my ice cream and shared with her beloved daddy. Jaimie was happily feeding her daddy MY cherries.
Clement bought me the ice cream cake. We took a bus home and that made Jaimie very happy. Jaimie and Clement sang the birthday song and we cut the cake.
Jaimie was definitely enjoying her cake while I was considering whether or not to pop in some panadols for my headache.

Yes, this is the day I turned 35 officially. I think Jaimie was happier than me today.

Clement and I have came to a conclusion that Jaimie was now at the peak of her terrible two stage and managing her drains off most of our energy.

Nonetheless, I am very happy to spend the day with my loved ones.

Happy Birthday, Dear

A ll there is for me to say

N ear the closure of this day

G aining age needn't cause dismay

I t's wisdom that with you would stay

E ver yours, 老公 and Jae

Barney Xmas Show @ Lot One

We felt like ge-tai singers. Instead of performing, we were catching Xmas Shows.

Clement was supposed to blog about the Winx Club which we caught last Sunday. However, PROCRASTINATION was his middle name so I will blog about the Barney show we brought Jaimie to watch this evening at Lot One first.

After a quick dinner, we quickly adjourned to the Level One Atrium to join in the queue. While Clement and Jaimie were lining up, I went to check how to get the photo pass. This time, I needed $30 in a single receipt to get the photo pass. I had already spent $40 at United Sq so that Jaimie could take pictures with the Winx Fairies. Body Shop has got storewide 20% discount so I grabbed some toiletries and went to the information counter to exchange for the photo pass. Guess what? I got the VERY LAST of the 30 available passes!

The management was very thoughtful to arrange for the children to sit in front of the stage while those who needed their parents to be with them will sit at the back rows. However, the execution part was difficult because there were unhappy parents quarrelling with the security and wailing children being carried out from the crowd and handed back to their parents. In fact, it was very chaotic. We were very proud of Jaimie because she was brave enough to leave us and join the children at the front of the stage. The familar songs that were playing helped to keep her excited and distracted. In fact, she was so excited that she was standing up throughout the entire show, dancing away with the songs!

The children were all very excited about the show. They were ALL singing along with Barney and were extremely responsive. This purple dinosaur seems very charming to the little children. When his dino friends appeared, all the children were screaming in excitment!
The $30 kodak moment. =_=
After the show, we went to Ya Kun to have part 2 of our dinner. Yes, I cut my hair yesterday. :)

We will be going to Junction 8 to catch the Hello Kitty show tomorrow. More ge-tais to attend this festive season... more $$ to spend to get a photo pass! (Not that I am complaining about the shopping part...)

Climbing 妈妈的心得 之六

Jaimie hasn't been very good at climbing up bars and we I do not usually encourage Jaimie to climb on structures unless either Clement and myself are physically close to her.

I brought Jaimie to play at the playground at Bt Panjang Plaza while waiting for daddy to join us for dinner. While Jaimie was enjoying herself at the plaground, I sat at the benches nearby to rest. When Jaimie looked at me for approval before she climbed up the bars, I instinctively rose to my feet and wanted to walk over to assist her. However, I decided to do something different today. I continued to sit down and took out my camera instead.

I observed the little one as she cautiously attempted to climb up and down the different bar structures. She was definitely more careful and confident when she was on her own than with me standing behind her. And she was better than I thought!

Ahhh~~ so it was my presence that has hindered her independence in climbing up the bars and denied her confidence in doing so!

It is a mother's instinct to protect our children but we need to remind ourselves to let go. That is the more difficult part.

p/s: If you are interested in reading my thoughts as a mom, here are some of my older posts written in Chinese.

“老师睡得像一只死猪”

昨天到Cold Storage买东西，在收银处付钱的时候，收银员A咬牙切齿（我没有夸张，她真的是咬牙切齿）地用福建话对收银员B说：“我的孩子跟学校出国，结果他的旅店房间进贼，钱被偷了！都不知道那些老师在做什么！房间进贼都不知道！睡得像死猪一样！老师哪里可以睡得像死猪？学生一定是睡得像死猪的嘛，但是老师哪里可以这样？幸好没有伤人，如果人受伤看老师怎么办？老师哪里可以睡得像死猪？旅店咧！旅店竟然进贼！…………”

我浑身不自在地看着满脸怒容的收银员。死猪。

我了解妈妈担心孩子的安危。但是担心归担心，做人还是要公平点。

首先，旅店不是监牢，也不是总统府。只有监牢和总统府是不会进贼的。自己的财物当然要保管好！到一些第三国家去，就算是五星级（当地水平）的酒店，小偷是来去自如的。要到这些地方去，就要有心理准备，学习随机应变，学习保护自己的生命和财产。如果觉得孩子没有把握处理危机，就不要签名让他去，继续让他留在妈妈的怀抱里。

第二，家长要了解旅店是2-3人一个房间的。老师和学生的人数比例，大概是1个老师对15-20人。当然年纪越小，师生比例也比较小。老师不可能把自己劈成4块，把自己吊在学生的房门口给他们当贴身保镖，或者与学生同房。如果家长硬要闹，那教育部可以考虑安排老师们都睡在lift lobby，晚间的时候轮流起来巡逻，每30分钟敲学生的门一次，确保他们没有掉一根头发，没有被偷一毛钱。不然就与内政部合作安排飞虎队来保护每一间学校的每一个浸儒团/义工团。

再次，学生的房间进贼，要归咎于老师“睡得像一只死猪”，还是要归咎于学生自己疏于门户安全，并且“睡得像一只死猪”呢？这个问题，我得去研究一个十年八年，因为答案不可能那么明显的。

最后，各位家长，你们要了解，老师带学生出国，身上的压力和责任是非常大的。老师带的是别人的孩子，如果孩子出了什么事，他们拿命去赔都赔不起。在老师的能力范围之内，我很肯定大家一定会把安全工作做好。但是防不胜防的突发事件太多了。根本不是老师晚上是不是变成一只死猪的问题。

当年我带中学生到北京去，去7天我的血压高居不下了7天。因为有学生第二天就发高烧进了医院，有学生跟导游走到一半自己走开去买冰淇淋吃，有学生坐在自己房间门口掏出自己身上的人民币来数（不要问我为什么）。几乎让我爆血管的，是学生在老舍茶馆听传统曲艺听得不耐烦，骗我说上厕所，结果就一去不回头。我一个人来大街上往来地找人，像一个疯婆一样冲上冲下大街上每一栋商店的厕所找人。结果呢？我在肯德基找到他们在吮手指。

我没有睡得像死猪。但是那天我差点变成死人。

唉！教育工作者肩上的责任，怎么变得那么重啊？

Lunch With Teacher Mommies

It has almost become a tradition that the 4 closer teacher-mommies from the BayB Supplies Forum meet every school holiday. However, this is the first time we meet without our kids! Wooo~hoooo~~~ finally I can enjoy my food and chit chat with my forum mommies friends!

Viv suggested trying out Shokudo, the Marche-style Japanese food at the basement of Raffles City. We were spoilt for choice and in the end, look at the amt of food we ordered...
It was extremely fun and relaxing chit chatting with Viv, Joyce and Angela. We had a such a good time together!