Ya tou has learnt our teachings well on mannerism. In fact, she practises it rigorously to some hilarious extent. See dialogue:
Zhirui has finished her milk and Mummy was going to retrieve the bottle from her.
Mummy: Come, give Mummy the bottle.
Zhirui: Say 'please'.
Mummy: Huh??.. Ok ok, please, can you pass me the bottle?
Zhirui: Say 'please' louder!
Mummy: What?? Why must I say 'please'?
Zhirui: Say 'please' louder!
Mummy: Ok ok.. PLEASsssE..
Zhirui: Ok! (passing the bottle over)
Mummy: hahaha... :D
You can't believe that she is doing this to us everytime we need to get something from her. Even Teacher Jerlyn has a taste of it. hee..
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
No Qualms about Chinese Medicine
Zhirui is an interesting little tot who doesn’t give the frown when asked to take medicine, even Chinese medicine. In fact, she sips them down like sipping her favorite soup.
We did this with the help of some little friends- piggy, baby and doraemon. In the past when Zhirui was not so receptive to medicine, we would try many ways-- like dishing out rewards. In some occasions it worked, in some, it doesn’t, when she saw through our plot.
Then one day, we told her during medication time, “Ooh.. look at piggy and baby, they take their medicine and drink lots of water. In this way, they will get well quickly. How about zhirui?” Being a keen ‘peer’ learner, she quickly replied, “I want too.”
So from then on, her little friends would join her during every medicine feeding sessions. “Let’s take turns to take medicine. Ok, who shall Mummy feed first?” “Piggy! Then baby! Then doraemon” And she will always be the last. After gulping down some water herself, she'll make sure her little friends do so too. haha..
A few months down the road, she no longer runs away during medication time. She could also understand that the doctor prescribes medicine to help her get well from an illness. Now, she has no qualms about taking medicine.
Speaking about medicine, we were very much grateful to know Physician Lee from 乐仁堂 whose medicine works effectively on Zhirui's common ailments. Everytime during new teeth emergence or just before a growth spurt, she would run a temperature. Neurofen and Dhamol help to keep dangerously high temperature at bay, but soon after the peak is over, we'll switch to Chinese medicine to dissipate the heatiness and within 2 days, Zhirui is well again. Chinese medicines are herbal in nature and hence does not harm her young and developing organs. On the other hand, Western medicines are usually synthetic and could leave residues that are not easy to get rid from the body.
We did this with the help of some little friends- piggy, baby and doraemon. In the past when Zhirui was not so receptive to medicine, we would try many ways-- like dishing out rewards. In some occasions it worked, in some, it doesn’t, when she saw through our plot.
Then one day, we told her during medication time, “Ooh.. look at piggy and baby, they take their medicine and drink lots of water. In this way, they will get well quickly. How about zhirui?” Being a keen ‘peer’ learner, she quickly replied, “I want too.”
So from then on, her little friends would join her during every medicine feeding sessions. “Let’s take turns to take medicine. Ok, who shall Mummy feed first?” “Piggy! Then baby! Then doraemon” And she will always be the last. After gulping down some water herself, she'll make sure her little friends do so too. haha..
A few months down the road, she no longer runs away during medication time. She could also understand that the doctor prescribes medicine to help her get well from an illness. Now, she has no qualms about taking medicine.
Speaking about medicine, we were very much grateful to know Physician Lee from 乐仁堂 whose medicine works effectively on Zhirui's common ailments. Everytime during new teeth emergence or just before a growth spurt, she would run a temperature. Neurofen and Dhamol help to keep dangerously high temperature at bay, but soon after the peak is over, we'll switch to Chinese medicine to dissipate the heatiness and within 2 days, Zhirui is well again. Chinese medicines are herbal in nature and hence does not harm her young and developing organs. On the other hand, Western medicines are usually synthetic and could leave residues that are not easy to get rid from the body.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
A leftie and rightie
Competent in both left and right hands. Is that possible?
I’d think so. I know two such people. One is my father-in-law, the other is the fictitious character Zhou Botong, who is well-known for drawing a square and a circle using both hands simultaneously. :)
But could Zhirui be the next one?? In strict terms, ya tou is a left-hander. She is inclined towards using her left hand. But we are also training her right-hand.
We do not stop or discourage her from using her left-hand, which many parents of my parent’s generation did. Once heard an elder said that if you suppress a child’s natural inclination, he will become less intelligent because you stop him from developing the stronger hemisphere.
What we did was to ALSO encourage her to use her right hand, while keeping her natural disposition. Well that, her dominating right hemisphere will develop, together with the left. I’m not sure if this logic works. But for now, she could hold and control the pen with both her left and right hands very well.
And ya, recently ya tou has grown tall enough to ride her tricycle. Perhaps it’s time soon for Aunty Diana to take over her riding lessons. :P
I’d think so. I know two such people. One is my father-in-law, the other is the fictitious character Zhou Botong, who is well-known for drawing a square and a circle using both hands simultaneously. :)
But could Zhirui be the next one?? In strict terms, ya tou is a left-hander. She is inclined towards using her left hand. But we are also training her right-hand.
We do not stop or discourage her from using her left-hand, which many parents of my parent’s generation did. Once heard an elder said that if you suppress a child’s natural inclination, he will become less intelligent because you stop him from developing the stronger hemisphere.
What we did was to ALSO encourage her to use her right hand, while keeping her natural disposition. Well that, her dominating right hemisphere will develop, together with the left. I’m not sure if this logic works. But for now, she could hold and control the pen with both her left and right hands very well.
And ya, recently ya tou has grown tall enough to ride her tricycle. Perhaps it’s time soon for Aunty Diana to take over her riding lessons. :P
Friday, November 5, 2010
My Gong gong's farm
I was told by Mummy that Gong gong has a farm. She was going to bring me there one day. Wow, I wonder how the farm looks like and what I would see!
One Saturday after Shichida class, Daddy and Mummy said we were heading to Malaysia to visit Gong gong at his farm. I jumped with joy when I heard that. But where is this place called ‘Malaysia’? Is it very far away?
Mummy explained, “Malaysia is another country not too far from us. We can drive there. But we would need a passport to travel to Malaysia because it is another country. Remember when we went China, we had to use our passports too.”
I sort of got the idea, but still yet to understand well what a ‘country’ is.. I do remember singing this song that has the word ‘country’—“This is my country, this is my flag, this is my future, this is my life, this is my family, these are my friends. We are Singapore, Singaporeans.”
Anyway, I’ve no time to figure this out for now. My mind is wandering off, thinking about the farm.
As we reached Singapore’s customs, Mummy explained that this is where ‘policemen’ checked passports, passengers and cars. So good behaviour was expected.
Our car soon cleared the customs and came to the causeway. Here, Mummy showed me how Singapore and Malaysia are separated by the Straits. “Zhirui you see, in front of us is Malaysia and behind us is Singapore. Say bye-bye to Singapore and hello to Malaysia.”
We met Gong gong shortly along the way so that he could lead the way. I was exteremely excited when Gong gong hopped onto our car. Gong gong too was beaming when he saw me. I fell asleep during the car ride and continued to sleep when we arrived at the farm.
Refreshed from my nap, I started exploring the farm. Gong gong and Daddy were busy burning away the plant debris. They had to employ the excavator to lift the wood into a pile. Mummy showed me the Banana and Winter melon plants that were planted not long ago. There were few hundreds of them. Mummy said we could have bananas in another 6 months. We also saw chickens and chicks at the neighbour’s house. Gong gong invited me to go up the excavator but I was too afraid of the monster machine.
On the way home, Mummy told me that we should help Gong gong more often at the farm as Gong gong is old. She asked me to think about the ways that I can help. Hmm..
Last Saturday, we went to the farm again. That was one month’s time away from the first visit. This time, Aunty Meifeng came along with us. The Banana plants have grown taller, and the Winter melon has bloomed. Wow! Gong gong told me we could have winter melons soon!
As Mummy was shopping for trees at the nursery (to plant at the front yard), she also bought some sunflower seeds. That was so wonderful! Because recently Mummy read me a story about the sunflower. Now we are going to plant them ourselves! With the help of Daddy and Aunty Meifeng, I planted the seeds, fifteen of them along the driveway and watered them. I can’t wait to see them sprout!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mummy tots:
Zhirui, I hope that this experience (and many more to come) at Gong gong’s farm has enriched your life. Hope it has impressed on you different perspectives that most urban children may not see.
Realize and appreciate how we can create things from zero, or even with our bare hands. This is the entrepreneur spirit. The ‘I can’ spirit. Gong gong is a living example. At a retiring age of 62, he is still diligently making things happen.
Run on the dirt, touch the soil and feel Nature’s big wide heart. Sow seeds and see them through harvest. You will learn to treasure your food as they do not come by easily.
愿你出污泥而不染。
One Saturday after Shichida class, Daddy and Mummy said we were heading to Malaysia to visit Gong gong at his farm. I jumped with joy when I heard that. But where is this place called ‘Malaysia’? Is it very far away?
Mummy explained, “Malaysia is another country not too far from us. We can drive there. But we would need a passport to travel to Malaysia because it is another country. Remember when we went China, we had to use our passports too.”
I sort of got the idea, but still yet to understand well what a ‘country’ is.. I do remember singing this song that has the word ‘country’—“This is my country, this is my flag, this is my future, this is my life, this is my family, these are my friends. We are Singapore, Singaporeans.”
Anyway, I’ve no time to figure this out for now. My mind is wandering off, thinking about the farm.
As we reached Singapore’s customs, Mummy explained that this is where ‘policemen’ checked passports, passengers and cars. So good behaviour was expected.
Our car soon cleared the customs and came to the causeway. Here, Mummy showed me how Singapore and Malaysia are separated by the Straits. “Zhirui you see, in front of us is Malaysia and behind us is Singapore. Say bye-bye to Singapore and hello to Malaysia.”
We met Gong gong shortly along the way so that he could lead the way. I was exteremely excited when Gong gong hopped onto our car. Gong gong too was beaming when he saw me. I fell asleep during the car ride and continued to sleep when we arrived at the farm.
Refreshed from my nap, I started exploring the farm. Gong gong and Daddy were busy burning away the plant debris. They had to employ the excavator to lift the wood into a pile. Mummy showed me the Banana and Winter melon plants that were planted not long ago. There were few hundreds of them. Mummy said we could have bananas in another 6 months. We also saw chickens and chicks at the neighbour’s house. Gong gong invited me to go up the excavator but I was too afraid of the monster machine.
On the way home, Mummy told me that we should help Gong gong more often at the farm as Gong gong is old. She asked me to think about the ways that I can help. Hmm..
Last Saturday, we went to the farm again. That was one month’s time away from the first visit. This time, Aunty Meifeng came along with us. The Banana plants have grown taller, and the Winter melon has bloomed. Wow! Gong gong told me we could have winter melons soon!
As Mummy was shopping for trees at the nursery (to plant at the front yard), she also bought some sunflower seeds. That was so wonderful! Because recently Mummy read me a story about the sunflower. Now we are going to plant them ourselves! With the help of Daddy and Aunty Meifeng, I planted the seeds, fifteen of them along the driveway and watered them. I can’t wait to see them sprout!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mummy tots:
Zhirui, I hope that this experience (and many more to come) at Gong gong’s farm has enriched your life. Hope it has impressed on you different perspectives that most urban children may not see.
Realize and appreciate how we can create things from zero, or even with our bare hands. This is the entrepreneur spirit. The ‘I can’ spirit. Gong gong is a living example. At a retiring age of 62, he is still diligently making things happen.
Run on the dirt, touch the soil and feel Nature’s big wide heart. Sow seeds and see them through harvest. You will learn to treasure your food as they do not come by easily.
愿你出污泥而不染。
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Telepathy with Mummy
Not sure if it is the results of prenatal education (胎教) or breastfeeding, Zhirui and i share a very strong psychic connection, commonly called telepathy.
Everytime she's fast asleep, i'll tell myself not to think too much about her, or things relating to her. Because sometimes when i do, she will 'sense' it and wake up. Well, that's not so rosy for a Mum who needs some rest time.
Recently during the ESP practice in Shichida, Zhirui could telepathy with me very well. Parents were asked to 'send' images of a picture to their children, and the children had to pick up the picture they 'received'. Ya tou got all my 'mental messages' correctly! How stunning! *o*
Everytime she's fast asleep, i'll tell myself not to think too much about her, or things relating to her. Because sometimes when i do, she will 'sense' it and wake up. Well, that's not so rosy for a Mum who needs some rest time.
Recently during the ESP practice in Shichida, Zhirui could telepathy with me very well. Parents were asked to 'send' images of a picture to their children, and the children had to pick up the picture they 'received'. Ya tou got all my 'mental messages' correctly! How stunning! *o*
More about building Ya tou's character
They say it's impossible to change a leopard's spots. I beg to differ.. when it comes to a leopard cub. Relating back to humans, I feel that it is possible (with very high success rate) to mould a child's character. It has to start young.
A person's personality comes about from an interaction of 'nature' and 'nuture' elements. Nature itself has two components- 1) true self/conscience and 2) attributes inherited from past lives. The 'nurture' part is determined by the person's environment, the people he meets and the information he receives. This is the reason why Mencius' mother shifted her residence 3 times and the absence of television in MM Lee's house (a hearsay).
Sb and I have been very cautious in selecting Zhirui's nanny when she was younger. We were very fortunate to find Jiahui tz and Zheng tz to look after Zhirui then. Jiahui tz herself is a successful mother of two intelligent and courteous boys. She is an expert in preparing healthy meals according to Zhirui's body condition. She is careful in protecting Ya tou's young mind by not being negative in speech. Her house is also filled with books and occasional live orchestra 'performances' by Chen tz and Jianyun.
Sb believes that a child's company (caregiver, teachers, family, friends) is the key defining factor to his/her character and development. So don't worry if you can't afford a piano at home, let her visit your musician friend often, because only life can inspire life.
I remember these sayings: "Be the change you wish to see", "Change yourself before changing others." Many a times we hope to change our children, not realizing that we have to change ourselves first. If you want your child to be courteous, be a courteous person yourself, not just when you're in front of your child, but at all times with your spouse, parents, etc. Life truely mirrors.
I have been thinking what values and character i wish to see in ya tou.. Let's see..
- kind, compassionate
- helpful
- confident
- strong and courageous, independent
- self-unlimiting
- perservering
- good EQ
- forgiving
- positive
- far-sighted and wise
Am i too greedy?? haha.. it sounds almost like a perfect human.
Some stories about nurturing kindness and forgiveness..
Kindness: We have ants scavenging in our bathroom. When Zhirui bathes, the water will wash some of these ants away. I'd show ya tou how to save the ants when this happens.
Forgiving: At times when ya tou misbehaves and upsets me, she would come by and say "sorry Mummy". I will tell her, "Mummy forgives you." When the opposite happens where i make Zhirui upset, i'll ask Zhirui, "Can you forgive Mummy?". She will let out a small grin and say 'Yes". Similarly when Marcus upsets her in school, I will encourage Zhirui to forgive Marcus.
I can't mention more about building character over skills. Probably because we live in Singapore where every assessments and decisions must derive from quantifiable data, parents tend to measure their children by the amount/degree of skills they have (becos skills are measurable). So you see enrichment classes/schools flourishing in every neighbourhood, parents pumping their children with various skills. I hope we could also focus more on character-building because when sound character is inplaced, everything else will fall into place nicely. Rear a child with admirable inner qualities and not just a fanciful shell. Our child will thank us for that.
A person's personality comes about from an interaction of 'nature' and 'nuture' elements. Nature itself has two components- 1) true self/conscience and 2) attributes inherited from past lives. The 'nurture' part is determined by the person's environment, the people he meets and the information he receives. This is the reason why Mencius' mother shifted her residence 3 times and the absence of television in MM Lee's house (a hearsay).
Sb and I have been very cautious in selecting Zhirui's nanny when she was younger. We were very fortunate to find Jiahui tz and Zheng tz to look after Zhirui then. Jiahui tz herself is a successful mother of two intelligent and courteous boys. She is an expert in preparing healthy meals according to Zhirui's body condition. She is careful in protecting Ya tou's young mind by not being negative in speech. Her house is also filled with books and occasional live orchestra 'performances' by Chen tz and Jianyun.
Sb believes that a child's company (caregiver, teachers, family, friends) is the key defining factor to his/her character and development. So don't worry if you can't afford a piano at home, let her visit your musician friend often, because only life can inspire life.
I remember these sayings: "Be the change you wish to see", "Change yourself before changing others." Many a times we hope to change our children, not realizing that we have to change ourselves first. If you want your child to be courteous, be a courteous person yourself, not just when you're in front of your child, but at all times with your spouse, parents, etc. Life truely mirrors.
I have been thinking what values and character i wish to see in ya tou.. Let's see..
- kind, compassionate
- helpful
- confident
- strong and courageous, independent
- self-unlimiting
- perservering
- good EQ
- forgiving
- positive
- far-sighted and wise
Am i too greedy?? haha.. it sounds almost like a perfect human.
Some stories about nurturing kindness and forgiveness..
Kindness: We have ants scavenging in our bathroom. When Zhirui bathes, the water will wash some of these ants away. I'd show ya tou how to save the ants when this happens.
Forgiving: At times when ya tou misbehaves and upsets me, she would come by and say "sorry Mummy". I will tell her, "Mummy forgives you." When the opposite happens where i make Zhirui upset, i'll ask Zhirui, "Can you forgive Mummy?". She will let out a small grin and say 'Yes". Similarly when Marcus upsets her in school, I will encourage Zhirui to forgive Marcus.
I can't mention more about building character over skills. Probably because we live in Singapore where every assessments and decisions must derive from quantifiable data, parents tend to measure their children by the amount/degree of skills they have (becos skills are measurable). So you see enrichment classes/schools flourishing in every neighbourhood, parents pumping their children with various skills. I hope we could also focus more on character-building because when sound character is inplaced, everything else will fall into place nicely. Rear a child with admirable inner qualities and not just a fanciful shell. Our child will thank us for that.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
School is fun again!
The toddlers class in Spring Brainy was back in shape with Joy taking over as the form teacher. She is a very patient teacher who shares many beliefs with me in child upbringing and education. One small detail which we share, and surprises me is the preference for not showering children before naptime. We both felt that having children to sleep with uncompletely dry hair is bad for the child.. I never thought any parent is this mysophobic society will think this way!
I can see stark changes in Zhirui's attitude and behaviour since the new appointment. She is no longer upset and clingy when I drop her off, and she is more enthusiastic in telling me her day in school with Teacher Joy, Jesper and Marcus. School is fun again!!
Aside from being a little expensive, well, we all know "一分钱，一分货", the school has dedicated director, principal and teachers, small teacher-pupils ratio, decent curriculum and health-boosting menu.
Coming up is the school's year-end concert. The toddlers will be putting up a peformance which is really tickling my curiosity. Titled "小羊乖乖", believed it is about little lambs. Ya tou has been singing (and dancing) in amusingly cute manner the lyrics-- "小羊乖乖，把门开开，让我进来。不开，不开，不能开，妈妈没回来，谁来也不开。关上!"
Just yesterday upon picking up her, Zhirui rattled excitedly about the costume which she tried on in school. She is indeed in cloud nine regarding this whole performance.. hopefully we will get to see lambs and not mice during the concert. haha.. 丫头，加油！
I can see stark changes in Zhirui's attitude and behaviour since the new appointment. She is no longer upset and clingy when I drop her off, and she is more enthusiastic in telling me her day in school with Teacher Joy, Jesper and Marcus. School is fun again!!
Aside from being a little expensive, well, we all know "一分钱，一分货", the school has dedicated director, principal and teachers, small teacher-pupils ratio, decent curriculum and health-boosting menu.
Coming up is the school's year-end concert. The toddlers will be putting up a peformance which is really tickling my curiosity. Titled "小羊乖乖", believed it is about little lambs. Ya tou has been singing (and dancing) in amusingly cute manner the lyrics-- "小羊乖乖，把门开开，让我进来。不开，不开，不能开，妈妈没回来，谁来也不开。关上!"
Just yesterday upon picking up her, Zhirui rattled excitedly about the costume which she tried on in school. She is indeed in cloud nine regarding this whole performance.. hopefully we will get to see lambs and not mice during the concert. haha.. 丫头，加油！
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