Yesterday I took Timothy to do a little shopping after his school during my lunch time. My colleague wanted to tag along. I picked my son up and he was seated at the back. He was tremendously shy. First he took the newspaper to cover his face. My friend told me he then opened his bag and put his head inside. After that, he moved towards the door and look at the window.

Later when we got to the shopping mall, he started to be very chatty and got acquainted with my friend. It took him a little while to get warmed up. Once he started, he couldn’t stop yakking away. Let’s hope he will take away his shyness and be more sociable.

As I passed through toys stores, this generation children have good life or pampered should I say? They are so many different types of toys out there for them to choose from. Often I am asked, hey you got two children, do you buy 2 of the same toys? I used to do that but it is better for me to teach my children to share.

Yeah it is a challenge because I have tough children. Each child has this illusion thinking that all toys that mummy buys belongs to him or her. Try and break the illusion, you will be faced with a scream or a loud cried.

I used the 5 minutes rule. Each gets to play 5 minutes of the toy and pass to the other person. He plays 5 minutes and she plays 5 minutes. Each takes his or her 5 minutes turn. If they fight for the same toy, often I will take the toy away.

I am glad I have 2, if I have 5 or more, I cannot be buying 5 of the same toy. Best way is to teach your children to share.

Yeap, bonus is around the corner, in fact it is a few days away. However this is not the good news I want to share. Hey money is not everything you know. What I want to share is that I got back my blood test result and I did very well.

What make me very happy was that the doctor said I have a very good gen and my cholesterol level was very good. On average women my age will get cholesterol level nearing or over the warning mark. Most cholesterol problem is mainly cause by genetics. Besides this, all other test was within range.

Sometimes many of us do not appreciate the good health we are getting. We take it for granted. When it goes away, we will start doing everything to improve it. For all parents, do take a yearly health check and start paying attention to it. Cheers to good health.

By the way, I will be making another US business trip next year. I cannot wait to taste the Pho again. Yummy!!

Actually this is a backdated post on Timothy but I would want to remember it. The tadika principal commented that Timothy is very observant and he has the ability to notice who is around. I must say this is a special gift that Timothy has. How often do you find boys or men being observant?

One example the principal say is when she goes into a class and if she looks at Timothy from far, Timothy will notice. Like six sense. Other children will not be aware of her presence but Timothy does. She told me that often, she will not look at Timothy because he will spot her easily.

From my point of view, Timothy is very caution about his surrounding. I am not sure whether it is good or bad. Yesterday I took a nap after work. At about 8pm, I woke up and went downstairs. Timothy asked me why am I in my red shirt. Usually at home, I will wear a baggy t-shirt but he spotted that I was in my going out shirt.

By the way, I have good news to share….no I am not pregnant, try again. I told no one but if you can guess it, I will send you something special.

This tip mainly for new parents.

I often hear of children crying in shopping mall because they want to get the toys they want but the parents would not buy it for them. How many times you refuse to buy the toy your child wants and he/she cries or screams in public?

It is very important that when you go shopping with your child as early as few months old to a year plus, your first few shopping trips, you have to refrain from buying any toys for them while shopping with them. If you want to buy a toy, you can do it while they are not with you. It will become easier for you as your child learn that it is not the norm for you to buy toys for them during shopping.

If you have started to buy from the beginning, it will be harder to say “NO” later. It is always easier to start with No, No, No and then a Yes. For my children, they can play with any toys in the shop but they understand that they cannot bring it pass the check out counter. Another word they have picked up from me is “Expensive”. Only a few occasions where mummy rewarded them or during their birthday, they can go and choose a toy of their likings. New parents watch out for this.

Someone tag me on this but I cannot remember who. Anyway here is my notebook wallpaper. Yes, you guess it. It has pictures of my children when they were younger. With this wallpaper, every time I host a meeting and share my desktop, the US folks will ask me about my children. It is a cool way to share my personal stuff and a great ice-breaker.

Today, it is Emily’s turn to take up the laundry again. She was going upstairs while I was downstairs.

Emily: Mummy where is the basket?
Mummy: It is in the ironing room.
Emily: I cannot find it.
Mummy: Try the other rooms.
Emily: It is in papa bedroom. Why did you say in the ironing room?
Mummy: Sorry, mummy forgot.

She came down and hunted me down.

Emily: The basket is not in the ironing room mah.
Mummy: Sorry, sorry.
Emily: It is in papa room.
Mummy: Sorry, sorry
Emily: Why you say in the ironing room.
Mummy: Sorry ah, next time I say in papa’s room. 😛

Sigh, mummy got shot at for not remembering where the laundry basket is. I can never win when they are right. Don’t even try it. :giggles:

My children are old enough to make simple choices. To make them feel great and happy, I will involve them in the small decision making. The common question I often ask them, what do you want to eat, rice or noodles? Funny thing is that if Tim says rice, Emily will say noodles. This will lead them to eat what they have selected. You can start letting them make simple choices by giving them 2 options.

It is not just helping my children but also helping me as a parent to allow my children to make wise decision. It will train me in the long run to involve them in decision making because making choices will be part of their lives as they grow up. As they grow up, the decisions they make will be tougher. Example a 17 year old decision is harder than a 3 year old decision.

Making choices is simple but facing the consequence of the choice may not be. Children will learn the consequences if they make the wrong choices. It will help them learn from their mistake. If parents always make decision for the child, the child will never mature to make his/her own decision. As the saying goes “It is better to teach someone how to fish than to give them a fish”

Sasha, Shannon, Chinnee and Siew Ting were the guests of TV3 Wanita Hari Ini. They have taken blogging to a whole new level, sharing their blogging experience on TV. Bravo to them and it is just so cool! At least now other mothers who are new will be introduced to the blogging world, building a stronger mother network. :clap:

Chinnee email me last night, telling me that she and some blogger mothers will be on TV3 Wanita Hari Ini 12-1pm. That’s the time I go back home for lunch. I thought of watching and recording it with my camera. Quality is not as good, if Chinnee told me earlier, I could ask my BIL to record it on his computer.

Here are the video clips that are hot from the oven:

Credit: TV3 Malaysia Wanita Hari Ini

More videos here.

My hubby is very good at controlling my children, either that or my children are very compliant. My children love drinking milk with added milo. However it is not very good for them to drink it everyday because it is heaty and can cause constipation.

He set a rule saying “Only Wednesday can have milo milk”. At first, they find it difficult to follow but later they got use to it. The best thing with this rule, when it comes to Wednesday, they are happy.

Yes, you can allow your children to have things like sweets, choc, ice-cream..etc that may not benefit them but always add control to it.