Just in the week, I have had 2 friends with young child asking me how to teach their children. Their children are  age 2.5 and 3. The 'Terrible Two' stage and what I called it 'the negative three' stage. The things they want to teach their kids are manner, sharing, meal times, and obeying their parents. These are just normal things that every kid needs to learn. That also means they need to be taught in order to learn these skills.


Generally, it does not matter what you want to teach your children the principle is always the same.
Personally I strongly hold on to these:


1) Be a role model - do not expect your child to be an angel if you are not one. Children learn from their parents by watching them how/what they do everyday. A smoking parent will see his/her child mimicking the action. At home, I do not need to ask my children to read books, all I have to do is to get a book out myself and start reading it, the next thing you will see is my kids go and get their books and start reading them. You know they just want to be like you. It is not easy as we do have short falls and are not perfect. However that does not excuse us not to be our best behaviour to show our children what they should do.


2) Who's the  boss? - from birth we teach our children that us the parents are the boss. We are in charge not them. They listen and obey us not us obey them and fulfilling their wishes all the time. They can tell us what they want and we make the decision. Since birth, we taught them how to sleep at night by themselves, we let them know our lives do not evolve around them but they have to fit into our lives. We take them to church, to shop, to friends house and they have to learn to be there because us the parents want to be there. Having said that we do not deprive our children from having fun and going to places like parks and playgound but it is up to us the parents to decide that. Jonathan can ask me to take him to the park but I will make decision based on the time of the day and if I say we could go tomorrow I make sure I keep my promises.  Children remember everything you said to them and keeping our promises are so important to let our children know that they can trust their parents.


Children often use crying, tantrums, nagging to try to get you to do/give them what they want. As parents, I let them know it does not work! I say to my children they can choose to cry all day and it still would not change my mind. If I said NO, that means NO! Believe me it is very hard to put up with the screaming and crying but you only have to do it a few times and they will get the idea that it does not work. When I see Jono started to cry, I would say you know it wont work for mummy and very quickly he will stop because from past experience he knows it won't work.


3) Be consistent - I sometimes fail on this one but it is very important to be consistent in our dealing with our kids. Being consistent allow our children to know what our expectations are and that helps them more easily to be compliant. For example, we make sure we pray before we eat our food and we make sure we do it everytime. Our children now know to wait and only start eating after we have prayed. Of course there were time when we forgot to pray and guess what? Jono would said 'mum, we forgot to pray". Oops. :D


4) Be persistent - this is a diffiult one as well! For example, if I ask my children to pick up their toys, I will persist until they do pick up their toys. By doing this, you let them learn that they do not get away with things easily. It is a very important to do as parents. As I have seen it too often in my dealing at school with kids that they just have no respcet for teachers/others because they think they can get away from not following the rules, showing no basic manners and just being arrogant. As I say it's hard but it is worth it for the long run.


5) Be flexible - this might be a bit of a contradiction here, but basically what it is is to bear in mind things do change over time. You know sometimes giving your child a sticker is enough to motivate them but once they get sick of it you might to need to use something else. One recent example is at meal times our children are expected to finish all their food. However, for some reason Esther was sick/teething in the last week and had lost her appetite. It was very obvious that she just did not want food as she usually is a good eater and often finishes her food before any of us. Well after a several time refusing food and looking at her being sick , I decided to just give her yoghurt, banana and milkt just things that she would eat. Well after a week I could see her appetite coming back so I slowly giving her the regular food that we eat at meal times. She is much better now and is happily eating her food again. So as I say we can be flexible depending on the situation and us as parents make adjustment accordingly. Our children have to learn to obey and trust their parents that we do try to make the best decision for them. At the same time, if we have made mistakes, we make sure we do apologise to our children and let them know that we are also learning and we do have weaknesses. It is also a good way to tell them if we make mistakes it is ok to admit it and correct it. So be flexible according to the needs but do not deviate from the other principles.


6) Start them when they are young - just like anything it is just simply the easiest way to get a higher success rate. That's why most sport training/music training start when they kids are young. You want to get to them before other things ocuppying them and they do not want to learn anything you teach them. For exmaple things like sleeping by themselves, if you start from birth then they will have no difficulty to sleep by themselves at 3. I sympathesize with parents who still have children sleeping with them. You know it is just not the best for the couple. Mummy and daddy need to have their own space as well. Our children all sleep by themselves in their own bed in their own room. The only thing that we allow is in morning when they wake up they can come into our bed and have a snuggle up time just before we get up. :D


Another example is reading or the love of books. From birth we read to them, let them play with board/cloths books and take them to the library and buy books for them. They have been exposed to books from birth so reading books are just part of our lives. Statistic shows kids who are good at reading are those who have parents read to them regularly.


Last example I can give is how to keep the children away from touching things. Ever since our children can touch/grab things we have continually showing them what they can touch and what they cannot touch. For example, most parents would let their kids play with their mobile phones, but we do not. Mobile phones are not toys! My kids will give me my mobile phone when they see me left it on the table and even if they pick it up and wanted to press a few buttons but when I saw it and ask for it back they would always give it back to me. They know that they are not allow to have it. They also know not to open up cupboard doors and touch the things inside. They need permisson if they have to. Having said that I do dedicate a drawer in the kitchen where they can touch, we purposely put all the tupperware containers stuff in there to let them play. It is particularly handy when I am cooking in the kitchen and the kids wanted to be with me. They know they can play with that drawer.



Last but not least as Christian parents we cannot do this by ourselves. We depend fully on God and His word. We pray for our children, we pray for patience, strength and wisdom! We do not forget about LOVE as well. My beliefs is we love our children but we do not spoil them. One of my approaches to parenting is to keep it real! You know one of the hardest things as parents is to prepare our children for the real life?


Often when we see a baby we only think about changing nappies, feeding the baby milk and other baby related things. However, before you know it this baby has grown into a teenager going to become and adult in a few years. Now think about what have we done as parents to equip them for the real world, a world where we can't be with them all the time, a world where other can be cruel and selfish. The real test of our parenting will determine how our children survive in the real life. In real life you don't get whatever you want whenever you want it. In real life you have to follow the boss's instructions and crying or kicking tantrums would not get you anywhere. In real life you have to learn to be independent because mummy or daddy are not there to make you food and do your work for you. Are you feelling overwhelmed being a parent? Well I am, it is such a huge respnsibility and I am still learning. It is a continual learning process, so daddy and mummy let us all learn together because this world needs better parents!

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

P.S: I am not an expert of parenting as I could only speak from my own experience. I would really like it for anyone who reads this blog to give some feedbacks. Especially if you are parents and it would be nice to share your experience and what you believe is important for parents to know. Thanks!

Many kids these days are very picky with what they eat. My nearly 4 year old used to loved his vegetables and he would devour them happily at meals time. However, sometimes during his life, he decided he would only eat carrots, peas, corn, potatoes, pumpkin and nothing else. He used to be a big fan of broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, cabbage, and some chinese vegies. To have a closer look, those vegies that he likes now are mainly sweet and have strong textures. Perhaps that is why he prefers to eat them these days.

The dillema is preparing meal has become more complicated as to what to put in it. We love brocolli, capsicums, cabbages for our stir fry but then that means I had to only serve Jono with what he would eat. So, using my teacher brain, I decided to use a bit of vegies magic. :D It just means to make eating vegies fun and appealing.

We now make vegies art during meal time and do all sort of funny tricks with them like eating lettuce with one hand only, eyes closed, guessing games and whatever comes to my mind.  To my delight, Jono really enjoys it and it also makes meal time one of our favourite family times.

Jono and his vegies bunny. 

I asked him what could he make with the vegies and this is what he came up with. Very clever I thought!

Having have two kids I know how frustrating it is to have a crying baby. It is especially hard when you do not know the reason of the cry. Well for very small baby (1-6months old) the reason would be either hunger, dirty nappy, cold/hot, tired, or sickness. When the baby is older like 6-12 months old they could be crying for attention so usually a cuddle or a chat would fix the issue. For me, I tend to be proactive and I would make sure I have done everything and follow a routine. I would feed the baby and change nappy every 3 hours. I follow a Feed/Play/Sleep routine. In doing so, I know when my baby started crying what would I give her first. If she just had a feed, then she can't be hungry, so I might check her nappy. My daughter Esther cannot stand dirty nappy and 99% of the time when she started crying was due to that exact reason. If she was fed, have clean nappy, but still cry then I would make sure she is not sick. Checking her temperature, making sure she is not too hot/cold, is not in pain and other possible factors. When a baby is in pain, he/she cries differently than their normal cry. They usually are in distress and high pitch. Well it is true with mine anyway. :P

One of my favourite baby book was given to me by a friend called ' On Becoming Baby Wise' by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo. It discusses about routine, feeding, sleeping, discipline and other baby related topic. One thing I learnt is never feed my baby to sleep. I breastfed both of my kids until they're 12/13 months. Yet they both started sleeping through the night at 10/12 weeks old (they usually sleep from 7pm-6am/7am). All I do is to put them down in the cot when they're tired and left the room. Feeding baby milk is not the answer for having a sleeping baby. Not feeding my babies to sleep also allowed me to wean them easily because they are not dependent on that to fall asleep. Esther who is 14 months now does not require a feed before she goes down to sleep at night. I would feed her dinner and then bath her and put her to bed between 6:30pm - 7:00pm (yes, babies here go to bed really early). The idea is that they need to learn to fall asleep without any aid. If they wake up during the night I would let them cry for about 15 minutes before I would attend to them. Usually they would just go back to sleep by themselves without me doing anything. Of course there are some exceptions. They usually waking/crying at night when they are teething and sick. With teething and sickness we can just have to comfort them and make sure they are not in pain (I usually give them baby panadol/nurofen for the pain). I have to admit there were times when I just breastfed them so they would calm down and be comforted.

As I mentioned before I follow a Feed/Play/Sleep routine. It is one of the ways to help the baby differentiate day and night so they would sleep through at night. I would follow the feed/play/sleep at day time but skip the play part at night After the last meal at 7pm and follow by a nice warm bath I put the baby straight to the cot.  Both of my children started sleeping through at about 10-12 weeks. Babies that have good sleep are usually happy babies. Also they all sleep in their own room and they never sleep with us at night. They need to learn to be independent and for the parents, they need to have their own time. It's so important for the couple to have alone time and focus on each other rather than the baby for once. Co-sleeping is also not safe for baby due to the risk of suffocation. Babies who sleep with their parents also have difficulty on sleeping by themselves when they are older. So for long-term benefit it is best to let them sleep in their own cot from the beginning.

 Esther at bed time. She was so happy to be put down to sleep after a tiring day.

Well, I could really go on and on about how to teach baby to sleep and ways to eliminate factors that could cause a baby cries. The principle is we as parents are the adult here and we should be smart and study our babies so we can become expert in looking after our own babies. I used 'own babies' its because every baby is different and only their parents know them the best. I'm not a fan of child-centre parenting. I am more leaning towards parents-led parenting with a bit of flexibility. It is also the Bible's principle that children obey their parents. Honestly having going through the babies stages twice and now having  a nearly 4 year old and a 1 year old I could say babies are quite easy to deal with. They can't talk back, can't climb out of their cot, can't open the room door, and whinge about what clothes you put on them....the list goes on. :P All the best to every mother out there and enjoy your baby while they're still young because just like what everyone said 'they grow up too quickly'. :D

Esther woke up at about 5am this morning. However dear mother-in-law decided to get her out of her cot. I never let her out of her cot until 7 am cause that's my wake up time. Well, she had been waking up at around 7:00am anyway so there's no need to hurry. Normally, when she wakes up earlier than 7am, I would let her play in her cot or I'll feed her and she will go back to her cot and play. But since dear MIL thought she's too cute so she took her out of her cot. Anyway, getting up at 5am is not fun....

Even though I had been feeling very tired since getting up at 5am this morning, but I still decided to go to the library as it's our usual Thursday visit. When we came home I was exhausted and was  doing my best getting the kids lunch then put Esther down for her nap. Let's say it was so hectic and I was not coping due to the lack of sleep. Just as I thought I would get a break when Esther goes for her nap, Jono said he soiled his pants!!! I couldn't believe what I heard, cause Jono had been toilet trained for at least 1 year now and this only happened once when he was sicked from the tummy bug. I totally lost it. :( Could not stand the thought of cleaning him up and washing up the dirty pants and underwear. I screamed at him asking why he did that, I even smacked him when he refused to answer me...:( Then guilt came in,  I thought he could be sick cause that's the only explanation I could think of...)

So I thought, we need TIME OUT..... I left him upstairs watching Spot DVD while I took Esther to her room for a nap. 30 minutes later Esther was asleep and I had calmed down. Went upstairs and  Jono quickly said sorry and we hugged and I said sorry too. Let's pray for a better afternoon. :D

 

Here's a picture of my nappy/baby bag. It's a Colorado shoulder bag. Which is not meant for nappy/baby bag but I chosen it because I just want a normal bag that can serve the same purpose. How many things can I fit in there? Answer: next picture

 

A list of things in my bag:

1) A spare body suit for Esther

2) A drink bottle for Jono (the pink top bottle)

3) A drink bottle for myself (the blue top clear bottle)

4) A drink bottle for Esther (the purple and green one)

5) A rattle (Esther)

6) A teething fish (Esther)

8) A plastic pelican (for Esther)

9) A feeding spoon (Esther)

10) A set of link-a-doo toy (Esther)

11) 2 spare nappies (Esther)

12) A muslin wrap (Esther)

13) A nappy changing mat (Esther)

14) Baby wipes (Esther n Jono)

15) Some mini books (Esther n Jono)

16) Some ballons (Esther n Jono)

17) Little people toy (Esther n Jono)

18) A snack container (Esther n Jono)

18) Two mini toy cars (Jono)

19) A wallet (Me)

20) A pen (Me)

21) A packet of tissues (Me)

 

I still have many other little things in my bag such as a head scarf, a note pad, car/house keys, hair brush, mobile phones etc...

Well I think you get the picture. :D Those things are essentials to make our journey outside the house pleasant and worries free.

I can't believe I forgot to announce that Esther is walking now at just 11 months. She started taking steps at about 10 months old. She is so proud of herself and all she does now is walking around the house and explore everything that she can reach. She is also saying 'daddy', 'mum', 'duck' and she can wave her hand when we say 'hi', nearly clapping, and will give me whatever is in her hand when I say 'ta'. I'm so proud of her.

I think parenting is one of the toughest job in the world. It's a very stressful and demanding job, you are 24/7 on call, no paid, no holidays, no annual leave, no promotion, no sick leave, and you are fully responsible of your children. BUT it's also the most rewarding job you can have. You get to raise your own kids, see them grow, and you get to be the proud MUM and DAD.

After having my own kids, I started to have greater respect for other parents. It's a tough job to be mum or dad. Kids don't stay cute and innocent forever, they do cry, kick tantrums, scream, rebel, like to say NO, do not like their food, do not want to go to bed....the list goes on and on. Each development stage is a new challenge and you never really finish your job.

I reckon everyone should have kids just so we can learn to be humble, to be patience, to love, to be loved, to learn from others, to see how God's amazing creation can bring us joy and happiness even when they are 'naughty'. You see because kids need nurture and guidance, so we as parents need to know how to care for them. You will have this desire to know about everything, you want to know what's best for your child and handy tips of bringing up kids. Having kids force me to learn more about life and myself. May God bless every parents and give them strength, wisdom, and patience to love their children!

My parenting days are getting more and more intellectually challenging. My cheeky boy Jono continues to ask WHY about anything and everything.

For example:

Me: Jono, come and have dinner.

J: Why? Why we have dinner for?

M: Because we get hungry and we need food to give us energy?

J: Why we get hungry for? Why we need energy?

M: We need energy to play and do work. (started to get impatience)

J: Why we play and work? Why mummy? Why?

M: That's what we do.

J: Why????? Why mummy?

M: Ok, eat your dinner. (Stop to explain any more because he is never satisfied with the answers) :P

J: WHy????????

Above is only a tiny glimpse of my "WHY days". I suppose he is going through a stage of learning about others and learning about himself. He is curious and he wanted to know why. He is forcing to me find out more about our world and myself so I can explain them to him. I remember one of my high school English teacher Encik Rahman who often told us we need to be smart so we can answer our children's questions or they would think we are stupid. I guess no parents want their children to think that their parents are dumb. :( However, it is imposibble to know about everything or to have answer for them. The key is to willing to learn and find out as much as we can. Make it a learning process for both parents and the children. I'm proud to know the difference between a seal and a sea lion is that sea lion has ears and seal does not! Amazing right? hahaha

There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child. ~ Frank A. Clark ~

I found this quote today and I totally agreed with it. Never before I felt that whatever I do I have to be able to explain to my 3 year old just because he wanted to know about everything. My personal beliefs and convictions have never been so carefully thought about so that I can simply and precisely explain them to my son. I reckon this is a great way to find out how much you really know about yourself and things you do and believe in. Parents are like an open book studied by their children who watch them intensely and closely as they learn about life. They in return will be a reflection of us as they learn from us everyday. So be careful what you instill in your children, you reap what you sow!

Sometimes parents can be really mean. As a mummy I have done some mean things. Here are some of the them:

1) I asked Jono to collect leaves in the backyard to keep him busy for ages. My real reason was I'm lazy to clean up those leaves myself. :P

2) Take the batteries out of his toys and tell him that they're not working anymore. Just so that I can put them away because they annoyed me so much.

3) Secretly eating Jono's biscuits (Dane does the same) and tell him that he was the one who finished them. :P

4) I gave Jono some water instead of the real thing when he ask for 'medicine' because he's sick. LOL

5) I cut up the lollies into tiny pieces so when he asks for lolly I would give him one with no hesitation (one really tiny piece).

6) Telling him 'mummy's busy working' when I was just doing some surfing on the laptop. Very very naughty mummy!

There are many others things but I can't list them all. The idea is parents can be mean sometimes! Hahaha, watch out kids!

Mean Parents

1) "I'm a man, I can drink COKE!" He said this to his grandparents when they took him to McDonald's.

2) When I told him we're going to Wagga Wagga and Sydney to see daddy. He said "No, daddy is not in Wagga Wagga, daddy is in training." :D

3) Every time when I drop him off at his kindy, he would say "Mummy, I want to go home". And when I go pick him up, he would say "Mummy, I don't want to go home". Just as well I don't listen to him or ask him to make decision because he does not have a clue what he really wants. :P

4) He also got this really strong view that pink is only for girls. I never said that to him but I think he made his mind up after seeing most girls like pink stuffs. So he asked me, "Mummy, are pigs girl? Why are they pink?"

Some higher level thinking questions:

1) He asked me the other day "Who made God?" I replied, God is always there, no one made him.

2) While we were watching NEMO, he asked me in the beginning of the movie when Marlin and his wife were naming their babies, "Why Nemo's mummy died?" I was not prepared for it and was really shocked. Sadly I said to him people do die and we can't stop it. We were both very sad to think that Nemo could not be with his mummy. I think he started to understand death means separation.

Jono's favourite character in 'Finding Nemo' is Dory

Jono is growing up so fast. He enjoys learning about everything and loves reading information/fact books. He asks lots of why and how questions. He's indeed a keen learner and I enjoy teaching him and sharing what I know with him. As a parent and a teacher, I personally think parents are their children's best teacher. You can send your child to the best school in town but you never spend anytime with them nor teach them anything, then you are wasting your money. Many children in top schools might achieve really well academically, but failed as a person. We can see some of them do drugs and some of them steal and what not. I have seen many parents thought the school is responsible to teach their kids since they send them there. Not so, we as teacher can only do so much in the class.

Every now and then when people praised Jono and how good he was, I felt a sense of pride because I was the one who taught him to have good manners, to share and to be nice to others. I make sure I spend the most time with him not his kindy teacher. Imagine one day when there's a conflict between what you teach your children and what their teacher shows them, and who would they listen to? Do you want them to listen to you or their teacher?

So, parents, spend as much time with your kids and show them the way of lives. We as Christians should be faithful parents to our children. Nannies, childcare, schools, even grandparents can only do so much for them, the responsibility rests on you - Mum and Dad!

"A baby makes: love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for."

 

I saw this quote and just had to share it here. It's so true of what it says. Baby - a wonderful gift of GOD.

 

It all started from the night before. We went to the in-laws place for dinner. The dinner was nice and we had a great with the family. However that also means the kids did not get to bed at home until roughly 9pm. They usually in bed by 7-7:30pm and will sleep for 12 hours straight. Albeit, they both went to bed last night with no problem and we all woke up at about 7am this morning. Indeed we got woken up by a very very cranky and whinging 3 year old. Jono just would not stop whinging.

Everything/anything seems to frustrate him. He would cry every 2 seconds (very exaggerating I know). Even though we kinda of expected that because he did not get a full 12 hours sleep, BUT it is still very hard to deal with when you still have a 5 month old baby to look after. I really lost it today--- I screamed at Jono and ask him to stop whinging about everything. Yes, one thing I said I would not do --- screaming at my child, I did it. I think many parents would understand how I feel, it is so upsetting when you truly love your child but you can't stop being harsh to them. I know it was not all his fault it was the result of his lack of sleep. I felt so guilty and would love to erase it from my memory if I can. However, we all know what's done is done. Jono is having his afternoon nap now and I'm trying to calm myself down. I asked God to help me to mend this well with Jono.

On a similar note, sleep deprivation is detrimental. That's why we feel cranky when we do not have enough sleep. With not enough sleep, we can face things like loss of concentration, less tolerant towards people/thing, depression, lack of energy and many other harmful consequences. So having enough sleep is really important. Well, I think it's time for me to have a power nap now while both kids are having theirs. I pray for a better afternoon with two happy kids and a relax mum.

Wish I can sleep like Garfield!

Where was I for the last 2 weeks or so??? I did not go away or being lazy, I am just so exhausted at the end of each day and can hardly ever find time to do anything indulgence like writing my blog. Jonathan is able to open his room door now and during nap/sleep time he will keep coming out of his room and trying his hardest to avoid going to bed. I have to be calm and take him back to his room every time and put him back to bed. This can go on for about 1 hour before he finally dozes off. AND when he finally in bed, Esther will be wanting a feed or waking up from her nap. Sooo I just don't have time anymore.

When both kids are in bed at roughly 7:30pm, I started to catch up with housework and other more important things like spending time with hubby. I also try to do a bit more of reading these day to help keep my mind active (as I need to get away from my baby brain to keep my mind fresh). I started reading "the five love languages" for the second time to see how much I have learnt and put into practice after the first reading. I also take longer time to read the Bible and to digest/think upon it. At the moment I'm reading Matthew and is at chapter 25--- about the Lord's coming. It's sooo encouraging to know that our Lord and Saviour is coming soon. A hope that we Christians have in the Lord Jesus Christ. The beautiful meaning in Esther's Chinese name - 希 (hope) and my blog's name --- mumwithhope. Matthew 25:31-34 "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Esther is nearly 5 months old. I could not believe how time really flies. She has grown into an active and happy baby. She loves to watch Jono singing and talking to her. I think the two will be great company for each other. I can't wait to see them doing things together soon. It will be so great!

Dane and I are making a life changing decision as a result of Dane's possible career change. It's a bit immature to put them in details at the moment but we as a family will have to go through a huge change if he gets the job. Praying praying praying! Ok, it's time to go to bed now!

1) I love my sleep.
Thank God both my children sleep through at night early - Jono at 6 weeks old and Esther at 10 weeks old.

2) Getting ready to go out of the house can take a lot of effort.
Try getting yourself and two kids ready to go out is not easy. Many times Esther would spit up and need her clothes change or Jono would refuse to put on his shoes.

3) I enjoy breastfeeding, it's like milk on tap.
Or maybe I am just too lazy to clean a bottle and make up the formula milk. It also saves a lot of money and is best for babies. But for those who can't breastfeed, don't feel guilty as you do what is best for you and your children.

4) I love my oven, rice cooker and slow cooker.
I cook most of my food in the oven and steam my vegetables in the rice cooker while its cooking the rice because it allows me to attend to my children while dinner is cooking.

5) Having family close by is very important.
Or in another word having family for babysitting is very important. My in-laws are great and so are Dane's siblings who love to babysit the kids. My mum would love to babysit but she lives in Malaysia.

6) I love seeing doctor.
More specifically my obstetrician because I got to see my babies while they were still inside me and to hear that they were developing well. I got really excited to go to my antenatal visits every time even though we could wait up to 1 hour or more to be seen.

7) Children are really a reflection of their parents.
I can see so much of myself in Jonathan, and it's good and bad at the same time.

8) My husband Dane can do everything with the kids except breastfeeding.
He plays and sings with them and they just adore him. I can't imagine raising the children without him.

9) You can fit a truck load of stuff into a nappy bag.
For Example: nappies, changing clothes, nappy wipes, washers, toys, food, change mat, plus my wallet, mobile phone, brush, keys, pen, drink bottle and the list goes on.

10) Holidays is not always relaxing as it should be.
We once had to cut our holiday short because Jono was not settled at all. We often have to fit things around the feeding time and nap time.

Yes, inevitably there are good and bad about having children. However, I highly recommend them as they are just so precious and wonderful gift of God. No regrets here!!

It's Wednesday today, Jono, Esther and I went to the Playgroup at Village Avenue Community Church. It only took about 5 mins drive to get there. I was a bit nervous as it's our first visit there today. However, I was able to recognise a familiar face - Mrs Skinner. We met a few times at various places. Dane knew her family. Well, starting from there I gradually got to know most of the mothers there and we chatted away. On the other hand, Jono was a bit overwhelmed at first as there were at least 20 little kids around. If you know Jono you would be surprised to know that he was shy (he is normally a very outgoing child)! But it did not take long for him to warm up and after some encouragement he went and play with the toys with confidence.

Sarah who is in charge of the playgroup held a cancer foundation fundraising morning tea. As a result, We got to enjoy some nice cakes and muffins while the kids were playing. Esther was a very good girl as she slept most of the time. We were there from 9:30am to 11:20am. We had lunch at home and after that both kids went down for their naps. I managed to do some vaccuming and tidying up in the kitchen. I made chicken rissoles for dinner and now I'm writing my blog. This pretty much sums up my day. I really enjoying being with my kids and being able to look after them myself. It was hard at the beginning as I was bored at home and really not used being at home full time. However, after I followed through my weekly plan, I have started to enjoy my days more.

Dinner tonight--- chicken rissoles, mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables

Being there for my kids really brings me lots of joy. I am able to teach them and guide them every step of the way as they grow up. What better person to look after them and to teach them way of life other than their mum? I carried them for 9 months, gave birth to them and it only makes sense for me their mother to raise them with my own hands. There's no need for babysitter or grandparents to raise my kids. Having said that, I did send Jono to childcare for 2 days a week and 1 day a week with Dane's parents when he was 1.5 yrs old while I was working. However, I make sure Dane and I are still the people who teach him and guide him. We want to be his parents and that's our job! Thank you Lord that I'm able to stay at home for this entire year to be with my kids.

Looking forward to our trip to the library tomorrow! By the way, Jono is doing great with his toilet training. He went to toilet himself twice today without any reminders. Woohoo, we are getting there!

Yesterday was somewhat a colourful day. Or should I say it was a very yellowish day for me. Let me explain it more, my dear son Jonathan did a "Poo Art" in his room. He put his hands in his pull-up and smeared the poo onto the wardrobe mirror door, the wall, the brand new carpet, his bed and any other things that he could reach. Needless to say, I had to spend nearly an hour cleaning up the mess and we still need to get a professional cleaner to come in and clean the room. I must admit I was really really angry when I was cleaning it, but now I think I have accepted it and can joke about it.

When I woke up in the morning, I prayed to God that I would do what is right and would have a great day with my family. Little did I know God had something special for me. I guess I could call it "The Poo Test". Guess what I now passed with flying colour (maybe more yellowish brown). I need to be thankful of what a healthy son I have and the joy and happiness that he has brought since his birth. I also learnt to forgive Jono as God has forgiven me. Lets' hope there will be no more "poo art" in the future.

For the first time this year I made it to the Sunday School. I really enjoyed being there again and also in the bible class. Esther was very good and she slept through the bible class with no hassle. I was a bit unsure whether I should go this morning but I'm glad I did. The morning meeting was good even though Jonathan was a bit grumpy. Dane and I had to discipline him by smacking. All in all it was a wonderful Lord's Day!

Feeling ill today. I think I got "tummy bug". Not sure where I got it from but I'm worry that Esther will get it. She's too young to be sick. No parents like to see their children sick. I remembered when Jonathan was about 15 months old, he had a temperature of 38.5 degree celcius and was very lethargic so we took him to the emergency department. We were worried and didn't want to risk anything.

Once we got there, the triage nurse did some assessment on Jonathan and we're asked to wait to be seen by a doctor. While waiting, I saw many parents brought their children to ED to get treatment. There were kids with broken arms, sick babies, kids with asthma attack, and kids with other issues. It was so hard to be there and seeing the kids in pain and suffering while their parents were trying to comfort them. However, I know we can't stop our children from getting sick. I guess we'll just have to deal with it and be there for them.