I Don't Want To Nap!

Legend of the Guardians - The Owls of Ga'Hoole

2010-09-28T11:17:00.000+08:00

This is the latest 3D movie that just opened. I caught the trailer a few weeks back at the cinema when I took my child to watch Cats & Dogs. My daughter was intrigued by the trailer and the talking owls. I was too, and the storyline sounds interesting and captivating. It is based on a book, a series of them in fact.

Check out the trailer here. As usual the movie website also has some simple but fun games for the kids.

How To Get Your Child To Nap

2010-09-04T12:48:00.001+08:00

I came across this article written by Jo-Ellen Truelove in babyzone dotcom recently. The writer says that "children don't need to be taught how to nap (they do it so beautifully!), but they do need to learn how to nap well. With just a few steps, you can establish napping habits for your child that will help bring him health and contentment for years to come."

Read more here.

And according to Beth Lovinelli, there are five ways to make napping easier for newborns, infants, and toddlers. Find out here.

Toy Story 3

2010-07-06T08:50:00.000+08:00

Although Toy Story 3 opened on June 18, certain movie theatres are still screening them here in Malaysia. I caught it with my daughter last weekend and we totally enjoyed it. My daughter, as a pre-schooler, was a big fan of the two earlier Toy Story movies, replaying the DVDs over and over and selecting her favourite scenes repeatedly. I'm sure many children are also hooked to the Toy Story movies.

It is a wholesome animated movie for the entire family for some family time together. And if you go to the Disney's official Toy Story website here, you can find lots of activities and online games for your child (and you) to do and play.

You can find recipes to make Mr Potato Head cake pops, Green Alien cupcakes, instructions to make a Toy Story pinata, party invitation cards, many printable colouring pages, etc.

As for online games, you can find quite a number of them like Daycare Dash, Woody's Wild Adventure, Rex's Game, Hamm's Game, Jessie's Game and Toy Story Mania where you can even build your own games. These should be enough 'ammunition' to stock up on to keep your child occupied for a number of instalments of online games over few weeks!

Internet as a TV substitute

2010-04-28T12:13:00.000+08:00

We are lucky to be living in this day and age where media is not limited only to newspapers, books, tv or radio. Since the Internet brought the world closer to us, there's just so much information, ideas, tips and activities we can avail ourselves to.

Whenever I run out of ideas on how to occupy my child without using the tv, I turn to the internet. I use Google to search using keywords such as "online games for children" or if I know of my child's favourite cartoon, movie or character, I simply type in their names. Many cartoons, movies or characters on tv do have websites which may have a few games featuring them. Some tv channels such as Nickolodeon or Playhouse Disney also have interactive websites with fun and educational games for children.

If you surf parenting or educational websites, they do have sections for children's games and activities too. Some even have online stories for your child to practice reading. Some come with audio to teach your child the phonics sounds to help them read.

Or for longer term projects for your child, you could start her on writing stories or a journal. You could get her a notebook or diary, and supply her with fun stationery such as coloured pens, crayons and stickers or labels to allow her to decorate her book. You could help her set up a blog so that she could do her writing online. Be sure however to secure the blog and make it private to prevent strangers from contacting or finding out about your child and her activities. As you know, despite the wonders and convenience of the internet, there are also dangers lurking in cyberworld.

When your child is online, you need to supervise her activities to ensure she does not intentionally or unintentionally visit sites which are unsuitable for children. Never leave a child to use the Internet alone. Install blockers or similar monitoring software on your computer to prevent them from entering sites not meant for children.

Took a break

2010-04-15T09:17:00.001+08:00

I just realised that it's been 1.5 years since my last post here. I've simply been kept busy with daily stuff at home and blogging on my main blog, plus updating my other blog fortnightly. I shall be back here soon with more ideas for fun and productive activities for our kids.

Granny Look

2008-10-08T12:27:00.003+08:00

While surfing, I chanced upon this website called Granny Look. There are many sites dedicated to children's activities and reviews about products etc with the parents in mind. It's refreshing to come across a site that actually addresses grandparents and I think it's a great idea, looking at how more grandparents these days have now become involved in caring for their grandchildren.

Granny Look's home page starts off with this intro: "Granny Look is the most comprehensive website for grandparents who are looking for attractive sources of fun and entertainment for their grandchildren. We have everything listed here for keeping kids happy with plenty of ideas for INDOOR ACTIVITIES and OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. Check out our suggestions for TOYS, GIFTS & GAMES and hints of how to prepare for all FESTIVE OCCASIONS such as Birthdays, Christmas and Christenings."

So whether you are a grandparent or parent, check out this site if you need more ideas to have fun with, or without, the kids.

Busy little hands

2008-09-28T21:17:00.005+08:00

Sometimes I'm at a loss of what to do with Caitlin during weekends when we don't go out. We tend to catch up on household cleaning chores during the weekend and while one of us attends to the chores, the other will keep Caitlin occupied instead of leaving her glued to the TV.

Today, I decided to keep Caitlin busy by making and kneading dough while my husband changes the sheets and vacuums the floor. Getting children to get their hands 'dirty' is one of the easiest things to do right?! Get them to tidy up their books and toys and you are greeted with a long face. Get them to finger paint, make mud pies, play with sand and knead dough and you are greeted with cheery excitement.

Simple reading and measuring lesson
So Caitlin learnt how use measuring spoons today to measure the ingredients to make Chinese steamed buns with red bean paste filling, or what is called red bean 'pau'. She read the inscriptions on the handle of the spoons to determine which was the teaspoon, tablespoon, dessertspoon. She scooped the ingredients and poured them into the mixing bowl. Then came the fun part of kneading the dough. Knead, knead, knead and some time has passed without her asking for the TV or bugging daddy while he does the housework. Then, she set the timer to 45 minutes to let the dough rise.

When the timer rang, she went to check on the dough and was excited to see how it had risen. She helped divide the dough into balls before I continued the rest of the job of filling the dough with the red bean paste and placing the 'pau' into the steamer.

Here's the recipe I used which I found in this blog.

500 gm flour (super white flour or Pau flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp (6g) instant dry yeast
2 tbsp shorterning or vegetable oil
250 ml (a glass) luke warm water

Method :

- mix all the dry ingredients together (flour,baking powder,salt,sugar,yeast and shortening) in a bowl and then add in the water and mix well until it forms a dough.

- keep kneading the dough until it doesn't stick to your hands.

- divide the dough into two and knead again until the dough texture is smooth.

- leave the dough to rise double the size, covered with a wet cloth. (around 30 mins to 1 hour)

- when the dough has risen, punch the dough to let the air out. Knead the dough into small balls (half size of a baseball) and fill with your choice of fillings (e.g. red bean paste, beef or chicken curry, tuna).

- place a small piece of paper as an underlayer for each bun. (This is to prevent the buns from sticking to the steaming pot)

- leave all the buns to rise again for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile you can prepare the steaming pot.

- Steam the buns for about 10 minutes.

Red Bean paste filling

Ingredients :

250g red beans (soaked overnight)
1 cup of sugar
a pinch of salt
Water (the more the better)
2 tbsp butter

Method :

- put all the ingredients in a pot(except butter). Boil the beans till tender.

- blend the cooked beans in a blender or a food processer to form a red bean paste.

- put the paste back into the pot and cook over low heat with the butter. Stir the paste until it's creamy and thick.

- leave the filling to cool before using it. This red bean filling can be refrigerated for up to a month in a covered container.

note : steamed buns can be stored in a freezer and resteamed whenever needed.

Learning to read

2008-09-17T11:26:00.004+08:00

Teaching your child to read can be quite a chore at times, especially when your child is the type who can't sit still and gets bored quickly. I always feel privileged and thankful that we are living in a time where technology is so advanced and the Internet renders so much resources. And best of all, so many of them are free!

Instead of using flash cards or books, we can turn to the Internet to sites which provide free phonics and reading activities. As you know, kids love the vibrant colours and animation they see on the computer screen. To them, it's just like watching TV but better still, it's interactive. Well, you could let them watch videos or TV shows that teach reading too but direct interaction is less compared to the computer. With the computer they get to experience cause and effect. They press keys on the keyboard, click the mouse and watch the screen change to yet another interesting page. They click on the picture of the printer and voila, they get a printout!

Check out these few sites to get your child's butt glued to the seat.

Starfall

Free educational resources of Adrian Bruce

Clifford Interactive Storybooks

Papajan

Once he's familiar with navigating around the sites (kids nowadays pick up computer skills early and quickly, don't they?!), you're free to have that cup of coffee or read that magazine that's been collecting some dust....but it's still best to be near him in case he needs help or if you wish to use that activity for parent-child bonding.

Family of Seven

2008-09-17T10:59:00.002+08:00

I recently 'met' Jennifer through SocialSpark and take my hat off to her for being so efficient and capable in managing her family of seven. She has five kids ranging from toddler to teenager and still has time to blog! Here I am with just one child and already complaining about having to juggle as a parent.

Her blog shares stories about her experience as a parent of five beautiful children and also contains tips and resources on how to manage and have fun in a large family. She writes well and in a casual down-to-earth manner, and I find that quite pleasant, as if she's talking to you. What she shares in her blog are stories, thoughts and issues that I can identify with.

Wanna find out how she manages? See here.

More kids' activities

2008-08-20T15:20:00.004+08:00

As I was going through the Parents.com website after missing its monthly magazine for a couple of years now, I came across a page where they have great ideas and tips for kids' activities. Check it out here.

It's amazing how much info and ideas you can actually get from the Internet these days. There are so many parenting website nowadays that I simply don't know which to check out first. Just one like Parents.com is enough to keep me glued to my computer the entire day, if only I actually have an entire day to be 'glued'....!

This is one that I quite like, called TV-free activities. It's been hard this school holiday to pry Caitlin away from the TV so the ideas in there are pretty handy.

School holiday activities

2008-08-19T21:01:00.005+08:00

Schools in Malaysia are having their one-week mid-term break this week. Being just one week, some families do not go away on vacation and choose to spend the break with activities at home or near home, while some children still have extra curricular or tuition classes.

How do we spend quality time and keep our kids occupied with meaningful activities during the time that is usually spent at school? Here are some tips.

. Draw up a timetable of fun and educational activities for each day so that you can prepare ahead, especially for activities such as art and craft that require special materials

. Stock up on new jigsaw puzzles, activity books, story books before the holidays so that they come in handy when the kids are bored.

. Check your local newspaper for activities around town that cater to school children. Some malls or attraction spots like museums, galleries, science centre or parks do plan special activities (that could be free of charge!) in conjunction with the school holidays.

. Have a breakfast or tea picnic in your backyard or garden on a cool morning or evening. Get the kids to help prepare simple yet healthy homemade food such as sandwiches, pizza, burgers, drinks, salad, fresh fruits and pack them all in a cooler or picnic basket. Don't forget the blanket or mat and insect repellant if your garden tends to have insects or mosquitoes.

. Invite your kids' friends over for a playdate.

. Bring your kids along for grocery shopping so that they can get involved in making healthy choices for food and learn more about the different types of food, managing money and organising stuff when unpacking the grocery bags to store the food in your pantry or refrigerator.

. Have fun at an amusement park or playground.

. Start them on a new hobby, sport or craft such as scrapbooking, learning to ride a bike, play chess, cross stitch, swimming or volleyball.

. Make a day trip to a nearby attraction such as the beach, forest reserve, bird park, animal conservation centre.

. Provide them with a blank notebook and ask them to write a story or stories. They can improve their handwriting, creative thinking and writing skills, drawing, painting, colouring (to illustrate their stories). Alternatively, I found this site which helps kids write their own stories online.

. Create awareness of the underprivileged in your community by visiting homes for children, old folk or the disabled, helping out in the homes' fundraisers, improvement projects and/or presenting them with love gifts of food, cash and kind.

StoryPlace

2008-07-07T18:03:00.006+08:00

If your child is interested in online activities, check out this site called StoryPlace. They call themselves "The Children's Digital Library" and have two main sections, pre-school and elementary.

This site is very colourful and easy to navigate. It contains many short stories that the child can read online on his own (read: minimal help from mum!) as they are very simple with short sentences, colourful graphics and arrow prompts for the child to click on to go to the next page.

Besides stories, it also has online activities and print-out ones, plus a reading list of recommended books and activities for parents to have with their kids. There are lots of themes for the child to choose from to read or play, such as animals, music, shapes, colours, bath time, etc.

So if you run out of ideas to keep your child quiet yet doing something productive when he is not napping, check out this kid-safe and kid-friendly website. I'm glad I found it and would certainly get my daughter on this site the next time she asks for a 'computer game'.

'Camping' for some rest

2008-06-24T18:50:00.006+08:00

As kids grow older, they need less sleep in a day. Hence, they tend to not need their afternoon naps. Although they do not require afternoon naps, it's good to have them wind down a little during mid-day, to rest and have some quiet time.

Set aside a rest period if you can for them so that you too can stop awhile for a breather. Most times, I allow some TV time for Caitlin during this rest period, afterwhich I try to get her to do some simple activities like colouring, fun math or writing in workbooks. These activities are easy enough for her to manage on her own without full-time supervision as she can read the simple instructions herself.

Most times, however, she prefers to play with her toys. Yesterday, she got a bit more creative and asked to play camping, so I helped her built a tent using our dining chairs and a blanket. We pretended to be out in the forest and had 'dinner' (afternoon snack) in the 'tent'. Then after 'dinner', we went to 'sleep' with a 'fire' to keep out the nocturnal animals. She had earlier laid some throw pillows inside the tent and even brought her favourite security bolster along. We both laid down and said 'night-time' prayers and rested for a short while. Although the rest was just a few minutes long, I felt it helped slow down the adrenaline for her (and me!).

She continued playing camping on her own when it was 'morning' while I started preparing dinner. In between, I was called to join her at the river to fish for breakfast. I told her we had to be quiet while fishing so as not to scare the fish away. So we sat quietly until we 'hooked' some fish!

Sweet mamas

2008-06-23T10:07:00.003+08:00

I joined a blogging networking site this year called Social Spark and have since made quite a number of friends, especially those who are also blogging mums like me. Blogging mums always tend to talk about life as mums, life at home with kids, what their kids do or don't want to do.

Over the weekend, two blogging mums shared their blogs with me and I'd like to highlight them here. Coincidentally they both have the word 'sweet' in their blogs! It just goes to tell you that all mums are actually really sweet (ahem!). Despite the times when we bare our 'fangs' when things get out of hand and the kids start climbing over our heads, we still move on, laugh about it and live to write about it in our blogs!

The first mum is Summer from the United States with a creative streak and is into wedding planning. Her blog, Sweetlittlemama shares about her life as a mum to 11 1/2-year-old Jaszmien and one-year-old Nicholas.

The second mum is from the Philippines, has two sons and shares about her life in her blog called The Sweet Life. In one of her posts, she compared photographs of her two cute sons when they were six months old and amazingly, they look very much alike.

Check out Sweetlittlemama and The Sweet Life for a glimpse of the life of a mummy in other parts of the world.

Watching TV

2008-06-13T17:37:00.004+08:00

Image from hyatt.com

Like other parents, I have been guilty of using the tele as a babysitter sometimes, especially when I'm sick and tired of trying to get Caitlin to do what I want her to be doing, like taking a nap for instance. I'd just walk away in a huff and leave her to do as she pleases and if the TV happens to be on, she'll automatically be glued to it, only taking her eyes off it at intervals to play with some toy or read a book momentarily.

Letting kids watch TV is not all bad but when it is not controlled or supervised, that's when its effects could be harmful. While working on an article on this subject for my fortnightly contribution to a local daily, I learnt a few things about this issue.

In moderation, TV can be a good thing. According to KidsHealth, a leading website providing doctor-approved health information about children, preschoolers can get help learning the alphabet, while “grade schoolers can learn about wildlife on nature shows, and parents can keep up with current events on the evening news.” No doubt about it - TV can be an excellent educator and entertainer, it says.

According to guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children under age two should have no "screen time" (TV, DVDs or videotapes, computers, or video games) at all. A child’s first two years is a critical time for brain development and TV can hinder learning, exploration, interaction and playing with parents and others. These are important for their cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. This actually sounds restricting to me (I have to admit my daughter learnt her alphabet before age two through VCDs) but the no-screen-time is indeed good advice.

Some ideas I have read about include keeping the TV out of your child's bedroom and making a house rule that the TV must be turned off during meals (this is my constant battle with Caitlin during mealtimes). Don't allow your child to watch TV while doing homework and set a good example by limiting your own television viewing.

These may be easier said than done but we should work on them. Watch TV with your child and talk to him about what he sees, share your own opinions and values about it. Encourage your child to think and discuss what you have watched together. Make watching TV a fun, educational and meaningful family activity.

So this means watching TV is an 'okay' activitiy if our kids refuse to nap but it's best that we watch it with them. We can learn new things too. I did when I watched Animal Planet with Caitlin!

Play dates

2008-05-30T16:07:00.006+08:00

It's the school holidays now and I've survived the first five days. Surprisingly, out of these five days, Caitlin actually napped for three afternoons. Today is definitely Nonap day. Right now as I'm writing, Caitlin is enjoying her first official play date with her friend, Xin Hui, from school. They became best friends last year when they were classmates at school and Yamaha music lessons. This year, Xin Hui has been placed in another class but they still see each other in school and at Yamaha.

They are busily talking, discussing, comparing while playing 'cooking'. Xin Hui's mum Suzanne dropped her off as she is working in her own business. Suzanne told me on Wednesday when we confirmed the play date that they would surely fight, spending so many hours together. Xin Hui's been here for over half an hour already and so far, everything's cool...

The play date is a modern-day invention. With kids scheduled so tightly with extra-curricular activities, they tend to lack free playtime with their peers. So, parents resort to making a conscious effort in arranging for kids to 'officially' play!

Play dates can take place at home or at commercial children's activity centres. Like for all organised events and activities, there would be some things that need to be looked into, including play date etiquette. Boy, before this, I never thought that even dates among children involve etiquette!

Basically, they are just some tips for parents to ensure play dates are approached and conducted appropriately to provide a comfortable setting for both parents and children to ensure its success. I found some tips here and here.

Brahms' lullaby

2008-05-26T23:54:00.006+08:00

There are many lullabies but the most common and famous one is the one by German composer Johannes Brahms, originally titled Wiegenlied. "Wiegen" means to rock a child and "lied" means song in German.

A quick check has me surprised that many famous singers have performed this lullaby. They include Nat King Cole, Charlotte Church, Celine Dion, Minnie Mouse (although she is a cartoon mouse!) and Kenny G.

I sometimes hum the lullaby to Caitlin when she needs a little 'baby-ing' to help her sleep but have actually never ever known the full lyrics.

Wikipedia provides lyrics for the most common English version:

Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight
With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lullaby and good night, thy mother's delight
Bright angels beside my darling abide
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast

Here is the one by Maestro Minnie. It's pretty cute.

How much sleep is enough?

2008-05-23T13:51:00.004+08:00

Babyzone's recent article is another reminder with tips on how to get toddlers to sleep. Most of the tips are what we mothers already know I believe. But what caught my attention was a chart provided which is a guide for us to know how much sleep is enough for our kids. Check it out here.

The chart also states the ideal bedtime for kids ranging between 12-48 months. Somehow, I've never been successful in getting Caitlin to bed any earlier than 10pm even when she was two years old...

My First Q&A Book

2008-05-12T17:31:00.013+08:00

We usually pop into the bookstore if the mall we visit has one. Caitlin enjoys sitting at the children's corner with a stack of books to read by herself. And most times, we end up buying her at least one book although I keep telling myself to stop getting her new books until she has read all the new ones we've already got. I normally have a few hidden in a cupboard which I keep as 'weapons' to be used to entice her when she gets difficult or as rewards when she deserves it. Currently I have around 15 new books from a recent bulk purchase from Scholastic....

Two weeks ago, we succumbed again to another new purchase but this time I'm quite pleased with the book. It's titled "My First Question and Answer Book". All this while, most kid's books of this genre if I may call it, tend to be too wordy, a tad intense in terms of the content, crowded with small print with boring pictures and layout. So I was quite surprised and pleased with this find as this book is very colourful with lots of white space, bright, useful, descriptive pictures. Most of all, it is easy to read with simple yet adequate facts for kids of Caitlin's age to understand.

Although it's quite thick (512 pages), the book is well sectioned with 18 categories and each category has its own table of contents, plus a general index at the back. Every question is answered in two pages with short paragraphs, and sidebar facts and trivia.

It also contains activity boxes that encourage the child to think and probe further.

In case you're wondering what categories are covered, they are space, planet Earth, oceans, weather, science, inventions, your body, dinosaurs, bugs, reptiles and amphibians, birds, mammals, ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, Vikings, knights and castles, pirates and finally explorers.

So far, Caitlin has read a lot of this book on her own during Nonap times and even bedtime. And the icing on the cake (like I said, I'm pretty happy with this buy) is that one afternoon when we were in the sunny outdoors, she said to us, "The question-and-answer book says that you must not look directly at the sun or your eyes will be damaged." Great! If only the Q&A book can also make her take afternoon naps at times (like right now!) so that I too can nap instead of blog!

This book is published by Miles Kelly Publishing ISBN 978-1-84236-914-2. Currently, it retails at RM39.90 (great value for money I think compared to other similar ones that cost at least twice more). I got it from our local MPH store but I'm sure it's available at other leading stores too.

Shouting my kid to sleep!

2008-05-05T22:40:00.005+08:00

These past few weeks, I've had lots of tug-of-wars with Caitlin over afternoon naps. So many times, it was so clear that she was tired and needed a nap to re-charge but she adamantly refused, opting to fight her heavy eyelids and tiredness for the extra time to play with her toys, read or watch television. And her determination provided victory over me and her tired body, getting her past dinnertime until her normal bedtime most days.

Knowing her, if she does not get enough rest for a stretch of days, her immune system will let its guard down and very quickly, she'll have a runny nose which proceeds to trigger her phlegmy asthmatic cough. True to my fear, it happened last week and now her cough is back with a vengeance, like her, stubbornly refusing to let up for at least a couple of weeks. She's now back to using her inhalers to prevent any wheezing and control the cough.

At times like this, I even fail to get her to do something I would like her to do even if she refuses to sleep. No amount of persuasion, threat or enticement of reward can sway that rock-hard mind of hers.

Today, she looked bushed again after returning from her music lesson. Although I managed to get her onto the bed, she wanted to read and refused to put the book down. I left her for some time to prepare dinner, hoping that she might doze off with the book. Instead, I returned to find her sitting upright and still reading! She could not answer me when I spoke to her because she had coughed up some phlegm which she had yet to spit out. She had delayed spitting although the box of tissues was just at the bedside, simply because the book was too good to put down. That was the last straw for me.

Although parenting books and experts tell us not to shout at our kids, that was one advice I could not follow at that point in time. And it worked. She obediently layed down on her pillow and closed her eyes when I told her to. Five minutes later, she was in Slumberland...

Free time

2008-04-24T17:21:00.004+08:00

I'm having one of those days where Caitlin refuses to take a nap despite looking a little tired after her Mandarin class. On the way home in the car, she had said she didn't want to nap. She only wanted to lie down on the sofa and watch TV.

I tried persuading her but gave up after a few feeble attempts. So she is now watching a video of her choice, one that she hasn't seen for a long time.

I think sometimes, rather than have a tug-of-war with our kids about napping, we should just leave them be. We think we know better, that when they look tired, they should nap, but maybe, just maybe, all they need sometimes is just some down-time -- some time to unwind after a long day at school and extra classes or activities.

That's how I decided to let her do as she pleases for now. Who knows, maybe she might just doze off on the sofa....(haha, I'm kidding myself!)

Tomorrow will be Friday and she has requested to leave school early because I'm not letting her attend swimming class that takes place at the last hour of school. She had a runny nose a few days ago and appears on the brink of catching a cold (it's been raining a lot lately). She is prone to getting ill quite easily due to her slightly asthmatic condition. She said she wanted to come home and have 'free time'.

I agreed since I felt that maybe her daily activities of school, Mandarin classes (three times weekly), music foundation (once a week) and drum lesson (once a week)plus homework leaves her little time for free play.

I am already apprehensive about next year when she starts primary/elementary school where the hours are longer and the homework more. How will she get her rest and free time? Hopefully, she will be physically fitter and healthier as she grows older.

Dressing up

2008-04-19T15:05:00.008+08:00

I have a book "Creative Play for 2-5s" by Dr Dorothy Einon. In a chapter titled "Development 4 1/2 - 5 years of age", it says that "your child now moves more like a little adult than a baby, and being a little adult also charaterizes many of her other skills and attributes....She now has a great deal more in common with herself at 16 years than herself at 16 months."

Very well said. I say this because Caitlin behaves like she is going on 16 instead of six! She is very strong-minded and seldom does she budge once she has made up her mind about something. And like a teenager who is becoming conscious of her looks, she loves dressing up and looking pretty. Read here for an example.

An idea I have is that we can leverage on the behavior or 'habit' that is their 'flavour of the month' and create activities around it. For example, Caitlin is into dressing up and instead of getting annoyed with her preoccupation with her looks, I could play dress-up with her.

Between the ages of four and five, children start to be able to play pretend. Here's what we can do:

Start a collection of dress-up clothes like old scarves, shawls, hats, cloaks, jewellery, bags, sunglasses, hair clips etc. Also include props like an unused mobile phone, briefcase, apron, utensils...anything that helps them create a character they can dress up as. Make these easily accesible by keeping them in a special box or drawer.

When they decide to go to Nonap Land, it's time to dress up and have fun! This encourages their creativity and imagination, and the act of putting on and taking off clothes, buckling up, fastening or unfastening buttons, etc gives them fine motor skill practice.

Then, once they are dressed up, it is drama time. They can act out their character in an imaginary scenario and play to their hearts' content.

The book by Dr Einon mentioned that "when she dresses up and plays at doing the things adults do, she is able to think about the roles other people play in her life."
It also lists what the child learns:

. to see and understand you as a separate person
. to see herself and her role in the family.
. to amuse herself.
. to become clearer about her gender identity and to understand differences between men and women.
. to spend time by herself (thus giving mummy 'me' time to have her coffee break!!)

A sweet song

2008-04-15T12:25:00.005+08:00

Caitlin loves to listen to music and songs and would sometimes replay a particular song she likes quite endlessly until I get sick of it. Currently it's a song from the Barbie Movies soundtrack, from The Prince and the Pauper.

Yesterday, finally, after allowing the CD to play on, we came to a track nearing the end which was a very sweet song. And now, this is her favourite song which she is replaying over and over again...

I find it a beautiful song which can double up as a lullaby, in the event you run out or are bored with the traditional rock-a-bye-baby types. The lyrics are simple too.

And if your child has ventured to Nonap Land, maybe you could play this song and learn to sing it together with her! It is from the Barbie as Rapunzel movie.

Constant as the stars above

Constant as the stars above
Always know that you are loved
And my love shining in you
Will help you make your dreams come true
Will help your dreams come true

The lamb lies down and rests it head
On its mother's downy bed
Dolphin plays in the moonlight's glow
And butterfly dreams of a violet rose
Dreams of a violet rose

I'll cradle you in my arms tonight
As sun embraces the moonlight
The clouds will carry us off tonight
Our dreams will run deep like the sea
Our dreams will run deep like the sea

Constant as the stars above
Always know that you are loved
And my love shining in you
Will help you make your dreams come true
Will help your dreams come true

No-bake brownie

2008-03-30T15:08:00.008+08:00

This is a recipe for a 'brownie' that does not require the use of an oven. Perfect for an afternoon activity involving kids! It is hassle-free and can be completed in just 20 minutes. This 'brownie' does not use any flour, eggs, sugar or baking powder, and that makes it so much simpler and idiot-proof.

Here's what you need:

350g Marie biscuits, moderately crushed
250g butter
1/2 can condensed milk
1 cup cocoa powder
Sprinkles or any other decorative ingredients (optional)
(Kids love this part of the activity the most!)

Method:

1. Melt butter in a pan.

2. Pour in condensed milk and cocoa powder.

3. Stir until mixture is dissolved and evenly blended.
4. Mix crushed biscuits into butter mixture.

5. Stir and pour into a tray.
6. Press down and decorate.

7. Leave to cool and refrigerate to set.
8. When ready, cut into desired portions and....

Enjoy!

Babies, sleep and love

2008-03-30T09:58:00.010+08:00

All baby care and parenting books advise a bedtime routine that calms and soothes the baby to help him ease into sleep better. It normally includes a bath, some massage, darkened room, soft music or bedtime story. When my daughter was two, we had a frustrating time coping with her sleep problem. The routine in getting her to bed was pretty much in place and she went to sleep without much fuss. The problem was that she could not stay asleep throughout the night and would wake at around 2.00am every night. She would refuse to go back to sleep and could stay up for as long as three hours, demanding attention.

According to this recent article from the NZ Herald, New Zealand babies are among the best behaved in the world. It said "an international survey has found Kiwi infants sleep better and go to bed earlier than any in the English-speaking world, and wake less during the night....The survey said New Zealand babies woke less than average during the night, were less likely to sleep in their parents' bedroom and more likely to have the same bedtime routine."

The article also quoted an expert saying that "parents who were worried about their children's sleep patterns needed to focus on routine. Establishing a routine is the essence to getting babies to sleep better. For infants up to six or nine months old, parents should try to establish a routine of half an hour quiet time before baby is bathed, massaged and put to bed."

Now, I thought I did that, so why didn't it work for me? We suffered lack of sleep and its accompanying after-effects for many months, dragging ourselves out of bed every morning and struggling to stay awake at work throughout the day.

I noted that the article also mentioned that "despite the findings, nearly a third of New Zealand parents believed their babies had sleep problems." While establishing a sleep-time routine is a 'best-practice', I guess a small percentage of babies still defy the laws of Slumberland. Mine was one of them. We were at our wits' end figuring out how to break that habit. It tried our patience.

It was only after I took a week-long break that my daughter kicked the habit. Somehow, within that week, she slept through the night and continued to do so after I returned to work. Till today, I still wonder if her waking and staying awake in the middle of the night was because she wanted to spend more time with us. For a two-year-old who had limited communication skills, maybe that's what she was trying to tell us.

We spend long hours at work, and especially on weekdays, there's hardly time to lavish enough attention and playtime on our little ones when we get home. We go through the routine of our chores and tending to their basic needs like being fed, cleaned and put to bed. Maybe that's not enough in terms of our child's need to bond with us.

I am not an expert in childcare, parenting or child psychology but one thing I know for sure is that babies need lots of bonding and protection from their parents. If you observe nature, even baby animals need that. Little chimps cling on to their mother's chest or back, a tiny lamb follows its mum (or Mary in that song?!) everywhere she goes, little ducklings swim alongside mama in the pond, and chicks seek shelter under mother hen's wings....