Worst Ever Parenting Experience

Tonight must be the night I felt worst as a mother...:( I decided to throw away "Mr Spoon"...

Debbie has been refusing to sleep at night. Someone commented that she is like a eager beaver...ever so energetic. I knew that she was already very tired; so I refused to let her go out of the bedroom last night. As usual she fussed and cried... I spanked her twice on her thigh and eventually she got so exhausted from the crying she slept...

Tonight was another such night. I wanted both the girls to sleep early. As Debbie missed her 2nd nap, I presumed that she was very tired. Tried to put her to bed at 930pm. But she refused to... She kept wanting to eat biscuit and point at the fridge for food. Thinking that it was probably greed and trantrum, I spanked her with "Mr Spoon"... This time I think I lost control and spanked a little too hard. I did not realised that it left a red mark on her thigh...

Even after the "fighting" she was still not sleeping... I asked if she wanted food. She said yes, and I gave her plain rice, thinking that she was probably just going to play with the food. But to my horror, she ate the plain rice I gave her... Then suddenly I realised...maybe she WAS really hungry?!?

Even if she wanted just another biscuit before bedtime, does it hurt? Is it worth fighting with her just so that I can "force" her to bed? And if you know Debbie, she is very intelligent... She can be reasoned but cannot be forced... Why must I teach my child anger? It doesn't hurt if she sleeps later... Don't I usually believe that babies her age can survive with less sleep? They can always make up for the loss in the day... Am I being too harsh? Why do I have to correct everything? Does God do that to us? His discipline makes us a better person and does not destroy us...

I believe in discipline... I believe in Mr Spoon... but discipline out of control becomes a disaster...

I cannot stopped crying tonight... I felt bad towards Debbie... I kept apologizing to Debbie. As usual, kids are ever-so-forgiving. Debbie hugged and kissed me. Denise saw me crying and asked me what happened. I told her how I felt... and she kept assuring me that it's ok... Don't be sad and that she loves me. I told myself I will not use Mr Spoon on Debbie again. I told her we are throwing Mr Spoon away and 3 of us threw "him" into the dustbin...

Dear God, help me to be a better parent! Debbie is finally asleep at 1145pm. I pray that she will not remember these 2 nights. Let her mind be filled with pleasant memories of her childhood.

Conversations with Denise

JX's coach from KL stopped at Yong Peng when Denise called him...

Denise: Daddy, where are you? What time are you coming back?

Daddy: I am halfway back. The bus stopped for a while.

Denise: Why are you wasting time?

Daddy: The driver needs to use the toilet.

Denise: Can you tell the bus driver "he is wasting time"?

Conversations with Denise

Denise: Mummy, 外公 has become an angel right?

Mummy: Yes

Denise: Jewel's grandma also died. She has also become an angel.

Mummy: When people are old, they become angel.

Denise: God is also an angel.

Mummy: Yes, because God is very old...

Went to Waraku @ Marina Square for dinner after service last weekend. Very nice Japanese restaurant. Large tables, cubicle-liked design so you feel like you have your own private space. Most of all, delicious and nice spread of variety...

They even have gifts for the children...:) Will definitely go back again!

Pizza Session

Decided to make our own Hawaiian Pizza... As the chef (aka Denise) was extremely generous with the ingredient, it became one of the best Hawaiian Pizza I have ever eaten.

Hot out of the oven and filled with fresh ingredient...:) Yum! Yum!

Debbie & Nadine

Many people have commented that Debbie and Nadine looked alike. On a few occasions, some even mistook Nadine for Debbie...:p Finally managed to take a picture of both of them.

Debbie's Baby Dedication

Uncle Raj took this photo during Debbie's baby dedication on 13 Oct 2007. Look at her hair... She didn't have much to start with.

2 years later, taken during our recent Zoo outing on 6 Mar 2009...

Enrichment Classes

How many is enough?

I recently talked to a parent. She sent her 7 year old daughter for many classes:
-English
-Chinese
-Math
-Ballet
-Piano
-Swimming...

During the holidays, the girl is also attending Arts lesson...

Denise has English and Chinese Speech & Drama, simple cookery and arts lesson from school. The only additional class she has is swimming to build her water confidence level.

Talking about "kiasu"... Before I left United Square, I took a brochure from Mandeville Music & Drama and Global Art... just in case....hahahah....

*Off-Peak* Lexus

Hmm...interesting...an Off-Peak Lexus.

Why pay for a Lexus and keep it as an Off-Peak car?
Why don't use the money to buy a cheaper "normal" car?
Maybe the owner does not need his car often? But he was driving this on a Tuesday morning...

I want to eat Abalone; but vegetarian ones...:p

Nuffnang

Oh man... I must be one of the last few to join Nuffnang. I realised that most of my friends have their ads on their blogs. Well, I decided to try it out....

Perhaps I should update my blog more often...:) Do visit and start clicking on the ads...:p

Zoo (8 Mar 2009)

Went to the Zoo with the Choongs on Sunday. It has been raining cats and dogs; it sure felt good when the Sun came out for us on Sunday!

Reached there at 3pm and Denise saw her friend, Ashley...:)

Of course, our agenda was to bring the children to the Rainforest Kidzworld! It surely did not disappoint! All of them went WILD! Even the parents had a good time just lazing around (ops!), I mean, fellowship...

Everyone (except the kids) was tired after a long day! Nicole and Denise even wanted us to stay for Night Safari... Sorry kids, one day at the Zoo is already too much for your parents. However, we did promise them the Night Safari the next time...:)

Photofrenz

Found this local website http://www.photofrenz.com/ which does photo-print on edible chocolate...:) For parents who are looking for innovative ways to do birthday goody-bag gifts or invitations, you can consider this.

I tried ordering for my kids. The pictures have to be of a higher resoluton to turn out sharp. However, this is not like those photo-icing layers you have on cakes...so the picture quality is a little compromised. As long as your picture is not too small, the end product is still satisfactory...:)

Note of cautious... if you order directly from the supplier, it is MUCH MORE expensive... I recommend PHOTOFRENZ and they do, from time to time, have some good online promotions.

Happy Printing!

Denise & Old Friend

This photo, with Isaac, was probably taken when they were 2-3 years old...:) So adorable!

19 Going to 20!

Others ask me how old is Debbie... "18 months!"

Today, I just realised that my baby is 19 mths and 3 wks!!! Oh man...I even stopped counting...:(
Anyway, I have been a little busy to update the blog... Weekend was super-packed!
- Brought Denise for swimming lessons (my usual Saturday morning routine)
- Supported friend's baptism (a former beauty queen)
- Attended both services in Expo (had 4 new friends on Sunday!)
- Met up with friends (left kids with MIL and went Cafe 211 to chill out with friends)
- House-hunting with JX (finally saw something which we like. Pray! Pray! Pray!)

A quick update on the kids:
- Denise is doing super fine! Back in school...:)
- Debbie is down with flu and cough...:( Resting at home.