Even as mothers ourselves, we are on a divine mission to raise up our children in the ways of the Lord.

May God gives us grace and wisdom to be the mothers we are meant to be.

 Happy Mother’s Day!

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle
is the Hand that rules the World

Blessings on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace.
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

      Infancy’s the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mothers first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow—
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

      Woman, how divine your mission,
Here upon our natal sod;
Keep—oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

      Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky—
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

by William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)

We kept her finished artwork for a couple of days and then an idea came, “Why not create a caterpillar out of this!”

Then one Sunday afternoon, we went to Art Friend at Bras Basah to buy some art materials.

We pasted the eyes on one end of the egg carton, cut one of the coloured strips and insert them onto the egg carton. And here, we have our own home-made caterpillar!

Happily, Dot took her little rabbits and squirrel and placed them on the caterpillar and exclaimed, “Caterpillar train!”

See how a simple egg carton is transformed into a child’s toy. It excites me that a lot of creative crafts can be made from egg cartons!

When it comes to disciplining my child, I’m clueless and confused. I’m not sure whether what I administer or do is the best for her and myself. To spank or not to spank also raises a big question mark in my head. Out of goodwill, parents and friends give me their advice which sometimes left me even more confused.

I was searching the internet about discipline and I was led to this book recommended by a Christian homeschooling mom, “Don’t make me count to three” by Ginger Plowman, an easy book to read yet so much wisdom. Thank God, it is also available in our public library.

It pricks my heart when I read this quote, “A parent who spanks a child in anger is sinning against God and sinning against their child.” As much as I desire my child to grow up with godly character, I am the one in need to grow in my own character too.

Now I see discipline with a different perspective – it is more than controlling the outward behaviour of a child but importantly to get to the child’s heart. When our children think right, they will act right instead of fear of punishment.

Our goal at this stage of her development is to train her to obey as she is still learning about the world she is living in, immature and not ready to make independent decision, and to teach her the right behaviour and heart attitude to have. Training a child in righteousness is a process and we need a lot of perseverance, patience, love and God’s wisdom to teach her right.

Do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.- Ephesians 6:4

My recent conversation with my 2-year-old girl,

Mom : Dot, you cannot beat Papa. It is not correct. What should you say?

Dot : Papa, sorry beat papa.

[Dot gave me her little hand and I gave her a little swat.]

Mom : Dot, why did mommy punish you?

Dot : Because Dot so naughty.

Mom: Mommy punish Dot because I love you and I want you to be obedient.

This conversation does not mean the end of her poor behaviour. She still misbehaves. We will just keep training her the right behaviour and attitude to have until she gets it. Though Dot is only two years old, I still ask her to forgive me when I discipline her out of anger.

For newbie mom like me, I am very grateful that at least some of the clouds over my head are cleared after reading her book on how to train our children with love. At the very least, it saves me from being her worst mom!

Disposable diapers remain a popular choice for many new parents – the convenience and ease of use make it almost impossible to leave without. But how to choose a diaper brand that best suit our babies?

I recalled before I delivered Dot, I wanted to cloth-diaper Dot to save cost. However, as new mother then, I found it difficult to cloth diaper and eventually the convenience and ease of using disposable diapers bought me over. In the end, the cloth diapers we bought were used as swaddle when she was a new-born.

We tried different diaper brands on Dot and some of common problems we encounter include leaking at the legs, leaking up the back, and leaking from everywhere at once. Some brands even irritate Dot’s delicate skin caused by diaper rash.

Leakage means more laundry to wash, more money spent with more frequent diaper change and skin irritation means more crying and discomfort for the baby.

As the baby’s delicate skin is always exposed to heat and moisture in the diaper, we are very concerned about Dot’s bottom turning red from the irritation caused by diaper rash. The diaper tends to trap heat and moisture, and the baby’s pee may stick to his skin. This causes the baby’s skin surface to become wrinkled and get bruised easily. When this happens, the irritants in the baby’s pee or poo may cause skin inflammation, resulting in the dreaded “red bottom” syndrome.

As such, these are what we look for when purchasing baby diapers.

The disposable diapers must:

• be breathable and not trap heat and moisture inside.
• not cause skin irritation and redness.
• have good absorbency and not leak during overnight wear.
• fit comfortablely around the baby’s limbs.
• most importantly value for money

Tape diapers also come in newborn/S size

Merries is NOW available in Singapore

Everybody knows that Kao is well-known for its beauty care products such as Biore from Kao, but Merries! We are not even aware that Kao also produces a line of baby diapers – Merries, which is currently the No.1 tape diaper brand in Japan*.

Special features of Tape Diaper and Walker Pants:

• Super absorbent core to increase efficiency of absorption for longer usage
• Skin-friendly airy soft gathers that fit snugly around the waist, increasing comfort

Walker pants come in M/L/XL size

• Ultra soft and is always gentle to skin
• Flexi-fit “w” shape that does not restrict the limb movements thus increasing comfort
• Wetness Indicators on diaper available for reference

Kelly and I (Dee) had the opportunity to try using Merries disposable tape diapers and walker pants on our daughters, Hannah (9-month old girl) and Dot (26-month old girl).

First Impression

Kelly: The very day I took a piece of Merries tape diaper and walker pants each for Hannah to try on, I found that the pastel polka dots on both the diapers and walker pants are very pleasant to the eyes. Both the tape diaper and walker pants are much softer than the current diapers we are using for our kids. And I could not believe how incredibly lightweight they are. Its super absorbent core is thinner than our current diapers too. However, I wonder if they could really contain the urine and would not leak.

Tape diaper

Dee: I like the light-weight and soft diapers that do not restrict my active girl’s movement. As the diapers are shipped directly from Japan, the packaging is all in Japanese. It took me a while to figure out the front/back of the walker pants. My husband is hesitant to use Merries diaper on Dot at night as he is not sure whether the diaper can hold Dot’s urine.

Walker pants

Later we learn that the blue tape behind that walker pants is used to easily pack and throw the soiled pants.

To remove the pants, just tear both sides of the pants, roll, tape and throw away the soil pants.

Our Reviews after using Merries Diapers

Kelly: Hannah had been using both Merries tape diapers in the day time and Merries walker pants in the night for about a week now and we found that Merries are gentle to the skin and are super absorbent, leaving the skin dry at all times. They have a wetness indicator to alert us to change Hannah’s diapers and they definitely do not leak. For some days, Hannah wore her walker pants for 12 hours but they were still dry even when full. She did not experience any nappy rash when using Merries. What I liked the most about them were that the diapers did not become bulky and drape when full like the current diapers we were using. The gathers on the walker pants fitted Hannah comfortably, making her a happy baby all the time.

Dee: I am impressed with the high quality of Merries diapers. The diapers are super absorbent and there is no leakage at all – our initial doubt on Merries’ absorbency is cleared. It is unbelievable that the diaper can still be soft after more than 12 hours of overnight wear. Dot’s buttock is dry and free of any jelly-like residue unlike the current diaper brand that she is using. Dot can use less of Merries diapers per day as each piece can hold wetness longer, which means it is more cost saving to use Merries.

Our rating scale is from * Very poor to ***** Excellent.

Give Merries a try

Merries welcomes parents to try their diapers, go to http://www.merries.com.sg and request for free samples.

Now there is also a chance to win six months’ worth of Merries baby diapers at “Merries Makes Your Baby & You smile” Lucky Draw.

Merries is now available at Carrefour, Cold Storage, Isetan Supermarket, Meidiya Singapore Supermarket, Mustafa, NTUC FairPrice, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra, Sheng Siong Supermarket (selected outlets) and selected retailers.

Merries may be the diaper brand you have been looking for.

Happy Baby, Smiling Mummy!

http://www.merries.com.sg

http://www.facebook.com/Merries.SG

These two books help us to kick-start our “Seed” adventure!

A quick search on YouTube led us to this very interesting video about Seed Dispersal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbQ1jWl3AOM

After reading the books, Dot can relate some of seeds she read to this video. She loves this part in the video where the fruits explode and expel the seeds from the parent plants. We pretend to be like these seeds that are being expelled by bouncing up and down on the bed. It’s so fun that she laughs so hard until her face turns red!

As we watch this video together, I am amazed at how wonderful the whole ecosystem is designed and created by our God. How can one deny the existence of God when they look at nature?

Every weekday, we pass by these Golden shower trees (Cassia Fistula) which are planted along the street near my parents’ place. The long brown pods drop when ready from the trees onto the ground. I broke one pod and showed Dot the seeds within. Each seed resides in one cell and I read that a pod can contain up to 100 seeds. One of the days, we found two seeds in the ground which are beginning to sprout. Initially, I was thinking of bringing these seeds to my parents’ to grow but did not in the end. Could you imagine a tree along the HDB corridor?

Every time we pass by this place, she wants to find a pod which she can use to sweep the leaves on the ground. A play and learning experience for her.

Near my parents-in-law’s place, we can find a lot of lalang plants. J went to pick one and show Dot this flurry plant whose seeds are dispersed by wind and he gave it a blow.

When we were at Genting Highlands recently, this little plant caught my attention. I discover that after the yellow petals dropped, their seeds with wing-like structures are arranged in lovely star-like design which are ready to be carried by the wind to their new home where they can root themselves and grow.

At home, we grow green beans. Initially we grow them on cotton, later J transferred them onto soil. He said,”Hopefully the green beans can grow to reproduce themselves.” Let’s hope that we can see these sprouting beans grow up strong and healthy to produce their own pods of green beans!

Each seed is unique and different. No two seeds are the same. A child is like a seed – unique and different – within resides seed of greatness that can influence the world.

We, parents, are like gardeners whose tasks are to look out for the intruders that will inhibit and retard the growth of our seeds and nurture our seeds to grow healthy by providing the right conditions for each seed. When our seeds finally break through the soil and show their little green leaves, the delight and joy in our eyes cannot be contained. It may take many years of labour – pruning and nurturing – before we see fruits. A challenging task that will bring out the best and the worst in us and yet enriching us to grow to be a better person.

“There they, Go, Go, Go, Go on an adventure!

The Thingamajigger is up and away!

Go, Go, Go, Go on an adventure!…..”

~ Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat (Song)

If you have done similar or related theme with your children, link up or share so that we can learn from you how and what you did with your little ones. Cheers!

New member in our family means more storage space to keep her stuff which accumulates as she grows. Though at only one year old then, she has already quite a handful of toys (mainly gifts and hand-me-down) and children books from friends and I.

I was reading about creating space for children and I was prompted to think of how to create and organize space for my toddler at home – a dedicated play and activity area where she can call her own.

Dot’s books can be found all over the house as we did not have a permanent place to keep the books. Early 2011, daddy bought a child-size 3-tier cupboard at the Turf City at only $25. He painstakingly with blisters on his fingers installed this cupboard together. Dot was then at the side watching how little pieces of wooden planks and nails are installed together to become a beautiful and colourful child-size cupboard. She was so happy and excited that she can keep and find her books there. That’s a father’s love for his little girl!

At that time, we kept Dot’s toys in paper boxes. She would take all her toys out and sit in the box. Each time she played with her toys or the boxes, the boxes would get torn or out of shape until it was time to change the boxes again.

We went to IKEA and found a suitable storage space that is about the right size for our living room and just right for Dot’s size to access to her things.

Daddy assembled the parts together and we transferred her toys, colouring materials, little musical instruments into the assigned trays.

With this storage space, Dot learns to keep her toys and books in their rightful place – training her to keep her things neat and tidy on her own. She knows where she can find her stuff when she wants to play or use them.

The square coffee table that we bought during our renovation, is too small for our living room becomes her activity table and where her little fish tank sits. There she scribbles, draws and feeds her little fish.

The dedicated child-size space helps her to learn and focus better.

Would love to hear and learn how you organize space for your child and share tips on what we can look out for.

I brought the three tubes to our study room and taped all the three tubes on top of one another. I also taped a paper around the edge of the tube. In less than 5 minutes, I have a little musical instrument for Dot!

My little girl took it and sang her heart out with her home-made loud hailer. A fun time!

I am thankful that our pizzas turned out well despite not baking for quite a well – all thanks to Charmaine who gave me ideas for pizza toppings via Twitter and Jamie Oliver for the pizza dough recipe!!

Dot was excited that we were going to make pizza together. It will be her first time making and eating pizza.

She had the chance to knead take a little of the dough to play but she did not like the dough sticking onto her fingers.

I explained to her step-by-step what I was doing while making the pizza. She has the chance to watch the whole process of pizza making from the kneading, the growing dough, the rolling and flattening of the dough, the spreading of the toppings to the baking of the pizza, though she did not participate in every step.

Wow! It took us at least 2.5 hours to make the pizzas. I was so hungry while making pizzas!

The best part everyone had been waiting for – to feast on our homemade pizzas with basil pesto sauce, yellow capsicum, onion, prawns and mozzarella cheese!

Lesson learnt:

Heat the oven at max temperature (300 degree C) for at least 15 minutes before putting in the pizzas. I put in the pizzas when the oven was only heated for about 5-10 minutes, the crust was not as crispy as I had expected. The second round of baking was just right.

Yes, I have fulfilled what I wrote in my previous post on wanting to bake with Dot this year but this will not be the only time!

Would love to cook with Dot more, any creative cooking ideas to share?

This is a sponsored post by Dettol Singapore.

Hand washing is easy and fun – children learn better when they are enjoying themselves and having fun.

Dot, my little explorer loves to go outdoor to collect and pick the leaves and branches on the ground, observe the little creatures and animals – insects, dogs, cats and more – around her. She loves to climb around and her hands are always touching here and there. Unknowingly, the fun things she collect and touch also bring million of germs with them.

Hand washing is our first line of defence against the spread of infections and sickness thus it is important to teach Dot the habits of washing our hands before and after we eat, after using the toilet, coughing or sneezing onto the hands, after visiting the sick, after touching pets, after doing craft work and after being outdoor.

Recently, we started using Dettol No-Touch Hand Wash. I like it that it automatically senses our hands when we place them under the nozzle and dispenses the right amount. Most importantly, 99.9% of the germs and bacteria are killed by Dettol handwash.

Don’t underestimate the power of hand washing. Spend at least 20 seconds washing at the sink could save you trips to the clinic.

1. Place hand under nozzle | 2. Rub hands together | 3. Rinse with water | 4. Off the tap

Dot learns about hand washing by watching how we wash our hands. We will tell her step-by-step how to wash our hands. She will then mimic and follow the way we wash our hands – not as thorough but getting there bit by bit. We always share with her the importance of cleanliness and why we need to wash our hands so that we do not fall sick.

She loves to wash her hands because she can play with water and bubbles. To add to the fun of washing hands, we will also sing this song to the tune of “The wheel of the bus” – “This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands,wash our hands. This is the way we wash our hands all day long.”

The special edition of Dettol No-Touch Hand Wash System comes with stickers of Flippy the Penguin or Hoofy the Zebra. Dot loves hands-on experience of playing with the stickers!

“Mommy, hands dirty. I want to wash my hands with Zebra.”

Now Dot always asks to clean her hands using Dettol No-Touch Hand Wash System whenever her hands are dirty. She learns to place her hands just below the nozzle and the liquid soap just dispenses right onto her palm. The blinking LED and the sound of the hand wash dispensing liquid add to her thrill and excitement.

Dot loves the new special edition Dettol No-Touch Hand Wash System featuring two cute cartoon character – Flippy the Penguin & Hoofy the Zebra.  - adding a new fun to her hand washing!

You can get the special edition Dettol No Touch Hand Wash System  that comes in two fragrances – Original and Green Tea & Ginger – at SGD9.90 each, available for a limited time only at the nearest premium supermarkets, hypermarkets, Guardians and Watsons.

Looking for more information about Dettol, go to http://www.facebook.com/DettolSingapore.

Dettol also has a simple and fun game on their Facebook – quite addictive too! “LIKE” Dettol’s Facebook Page and PLAY the Flippy and Hoofy’s Clean Quest from now till 12 April 2012 and stand to WIN attractive prizes!

Flippy the Penguin or Hoofy the Zebra will cross an enemy-filled landscape – earning points by surviving in the game as long as possible and avoiding contact with bacteria by jumping over them to keep the Filth Meter level down.

While I am playing the game, Dot keeps saying, “JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!…. Haha! Zebra flying!”

Each week, the Participant who scores the highest points of the week will be the Weekly Winner. The Participant who scores the highest points throughout the Contest Period will be the Grand Prize Winner.

Each registered Participant is only entitled to win ONE Contest Prize

How to Participate:

1. “Like” Dettol Singapore Facebook Page
2. Allow access to the Dettol – Flippy and Hoofy’s Clean Quest Facebook Application and fill in required personal information.
3. Agree to the Terms and Conditions of the contest.
4. Start playing the game.

Enjoy your game! Remember to wash your hands after playing!

One late morning, I just got off the bus with Dot and was on our way to my mom’s place. As I walked, this little plant by the sidewalk just seems to speak to me, asking me to take a look at her. I did and I even took out my iPhone to snap a few pictures. Seemingly insignificant and discreet, this little plant does look lovely in my eyes. I love the shape and colour of its leaves.

The little plant seems to tell me that sometimes in life we are so caught up with the big, conspicuous, urgent, popular things and we overlook the seemingly little and insignificant but yet important things in life.

Wow! This little plant can really make me reflect and think! It’s not insignificant after all.

One evening, my sis’ car was moving slowing along the expressway during peak hour. Dot was dozing off. I looked out of the window and saw the beautiful orange hue covering the sky. For a moment, I was mesmerized. I tried to snap some pictures in a moving car and only got one that was sharp enough. I’ve never realized how beautiful sunset can be – the orange sky gradually turns pinkish-purple and then dark – a colourful display of light that changes every day. So awesome is God’s creation!

Nature speaks. A not very observant person is learning to listen and pay attention to her surrounding. Maybe that’s why God says, “Be still and know that I am God.”

What has nature spoken to you lately?