We’re in KL for a short short getaway… will blog more about it when we’re back.
We just came back to the hotel and I’ve a perfect picture for today’s Photo *heart* Fridays!
Nicole our resident photographer did the professional thing to position her siblings. She got them to pose, tilt their head at a certain angle, and they definitely didn’t really listen to her!
She took the picture, and Daddy took one of her! Family shot I say! =)
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Love is in the air with all the Singapore Mum Bloggers!
So our story started in 1996… in the sleepy town of Perth, Western Australia.
I was the keyboardist in church, he was the newcomer… We called him the show-off! He came in his vroom vroom LOUD RED Honda CRX with LOUDER boom boom speakers. He was dressed in Polo Shirt and Guess Jeans (now, that’s ultimate show-off in Perth… everyone there is in Tee-shirt & Berms IN SUMMER!)
We were a small church, so it wasn’t hard to miss this new guy. ok. He was really quite cool. But that’s about it. A cool dude who’s new in church.
Then, he started to get serious with God, started joining us for more activities, eventually joined the music team, & played the guitar. He stopped being stuck up, and we became good friends.
Yes, yes.. it’s one of those, we started off as friends bit. But we really did! We hung out together, we became neighbours. There were 9 of us who were neighbours and we were all good buddies. We took turns to cook, ferried each other around to and fro school, to and fro church, to and fro supper. Imagine how fun it was! Late video nights, movie nights, shared groceries, holiday trips…
*Aside – I really miss Perth now! Those were really fun fun times*
Well, then I guess with all that time spent together, we realised that there was just something more between us. We sneaked out together—just the both of us. Went on extra grocery trips, suppers etc. One thing led to another, we soon realised we really enjoyed each other’s company, more than just regular friends. Our friends also starting wondering if there was something happening between us.
So we prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And armed with verses & confirmation, we asked for our pastor’s blessing and got together!
Thereafter, we went through one year of long distance relationship (when he graduated), three years of local pak-tor and in 2001, we tied the knot.
We were Disney fans, and this was one song he always serenaded. 11 years passed, and in the good times and the bad times, truly this is love…
So this is love
So this is what makes life divine
I'm all aglow, Mmmmmm
And now I know
The key to all heaven is mine
My heart has wings, Mmmmmm
And I can fly
I'll touch every star in the sky
So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of
Mmmmmm
Mmmmmm
So this is love
Linking up with the Love Stories of our lives -
Nicole is a photographer’s dream. She loves being in front of the camera, she loves smiling, she loves posing kawaii poses, she just loves being photographed.
AND… she also loves being the photographer! You can imagine some of the self-portraits she has done with my phone through the years! Below are some of my favourites… look at her eyes and smile! (ignore the lighting & composition!)
My baby’s chubby cheeks are quite gone now… but she’s still has that same smile! Beautiful ya?
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A dear friend sent us what she found recently!
(Btw, in those days, printing in B/W was far cheaper than coloured. Thus the leaflet we printed was really as you see it … B/W on beige paper!)
For those in my era, way way before LED projection, way before PowerPoint was the norm, and when everyone used OHP (remember that?) we used to have wedding booklets or leaflets for guests. Remember that?
I’m trying to recall why was it so popular. I know the ‘rules’ of this leaflet is to show:
I know of people who have kept such leaflets as momentos (Thanks Juner!!), but I know of more people who have not bothered taking their copy with them after the service. So why did we do it? It was additional work for that friend who did the graphics, additional work for me as I penned those words, additional decisions to make—which photo to use, what color paper, and definitely additional cost involved!
So why did we do it? Well, 11 years on, I know three reasons for sure!
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On Monday, on an impulse, we packed everyone into the car and zoomed off to Chinatown to soak in the Mid Autumn Festival celebrations. Impulse cos it wasn’t planned! We left the house at 7.30 p.m. after dinner, told ourselves have to be back by 9 p.m. for bedtime! wahahahaha!!
It was so unplanned we had to google in the car to find out where exactly to go! So first stop – nice quiet Speakers’ Corner. Lots of Large displays of Lanterns!
And the kids’ favourite – a maze with Chinese cultural questions… ahem.. do you know the answer? 
Then we drove to Chinatown proper, parked above the market, and walked the streets! The kids caught a China Acrobat Troupe performing at the Stage…
By now, you can see their tired eyes. Did the usual, grabbed their favourite snack and zoomed off home for bedtime!
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Nadine is Mei Mei in our family. We call her Mei Mei, so do the grandparents, aunties, uncles, church friends, neighbours etc. I know this was quite common, cos when we call her, “MEI MEI”, many little girls do look up! (guess it’d be the same, if we called out “BABY”)
Well, Mei Mei is 4 this year, and just two months ago that we found out she needed therapy to aid her cognitive development. This is a big word which simply means she needs help with “information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning, & other aspects of brain development”. Now, that’s just about everything that our brain does ya? So how is it that we only found out this year?
We realised something was amiss when she was three. She was friendly and cheery but very quiet, and only spoken when spoken to, and even then, only answered Yes, No or Don’t Know. We always attributed that to her quiet introverted character. We did our due diligence and checked with the PD and her childcare teachers, and everyone said, it’s normal. She’ll speak more soon, she’s a late bloomer. Friends with kids said the same thing, it’s normal, don’t worry. And the big word. W.A.I.T
We had relatives who told us we were worrying over nothing. We had friends who cited examples of Einstein and his golden mouth at 3 years old. We had concerned personnel who told us we were pushing our child and expecting too much, and stop comparing. All of them told us W.A.I.T
Most people say there are children who are late bloomers. There are those who suddenly blossom at the magical age of 4 or 5. These are those whose parents are enthusiastic to share their stories, that it’ll all get better. Please. Don’t worry. W.A.I.T
But it doesn’t help at all. It makes it worse. I learnt that the sooner we parents get the answers, the sooner our child gets the help she needs.
You know, waiting is easy. It doesn’t require any monetary investment, it doesn’t involve my emotions. Waiting is optimistic. Waiting is just that. Waiting. You don’t have to sit a test with your child, watch him being scrutinised by the specialist. You don’t have to cringe in your seat when your child tries again and again at a simple mundane task. You don’t have to blink back tears when the therapist explains what’s wrong. And, you can go on life with no change if you just W.A.I.T
Some are asking, but why did the PD/Childcare educators say W.A.I.T ?
My all time favourite book that I’m referring to now Debbie Feit’s The Parent’s Guide to Speech And Language Problems has the answers:
Don’t wait. Please don’t.
If you ask, WHEN is the right time to go seek help? Trust your gut feel. If you think something is wrong, go and see a therapist. Don’t give excuses like, “maybe after Christmas, he’ll be better”, “he’s just the not so active type”, “he’s like grandma, the quiet type” etc etc etc.
The author says this—to all parents who do not know if they should bring their kids for any assessment or therapy:
The difficulty lies in distinguishing between the kids who are delayed and the kids who have a disorder…The reality is, with nearly 3-6 million children under the age of eighteen with speech and language disorders in the United States…So if you suspect a delay or a disorder, it’s critical to have a qualified speech therapist make a diagnosis and suggest treatment if appropriate. Even if your child has only a simple delay, a good therapist will send you home with plenty of ideas on how to jump-start or improve your child’s communication.
I hope this helps. Please know that I am not advocating that all children need therapy. I’m just big on early intervention. It is something that I regret because I could have started earlier on Mei Mei but didn’t…and I can only do catch up now, and can’t turn back the clock.
This is a first on a series I’ve started – Therapy 101, to document Nadine’s developmental struggles and victories, and to journal my own learning experiences as she goes through hers.
Fever.
At that word, my heart groans. Images of a very sleepy me the next day flash across my mind. It used to be long long ago, when the word fever would kick start an imaginary engine in me:
Now, at the word ‘Fever’, we go, “HUH? AGAIN?” “Tell me, who was sick in school?” “You didn’t drink enough water?”
utter. frustration. which kid sabo? which forest in burning in Indonesia? urgh!!
Then comes Dr. Mummy with a modified sure-work, proven medicine:
You can see, the fuse has gone really short. Does that mean we love them any lesser? Or we stopped caring or worrying about the fever getting too high and burning their brain?
All mummies out there would know that’s a NO of course. We just really hate worrying, really really don’t like it when a child is sick, really really really want the child to get better. After a while, if there’s still no improvement, I do go back to all the steps listed in the beginning. By then, I’ll feel really bad, but really very tired, and possibly down with a cold myself.
But it’ll be worth it. The moment we see that thermometer with anything under 37.5 (ya, I set the bar a little lower!) I’ll rejoice!!
So who has the fever tonight?
Me. I’m not taking any cold shower, any medicine, any drink. The TV’s on, and I just whined a whole lot. I know I’ll get better. I’m Dr. Mummy, remember?
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The recent hullabaloo about parents, tuition & school teachers has reached our family! I was sending Nicole to school & we were listening to 938 & the DJ said, “Coming up next, should parents send their children to tuition classes?”
I took the opportunity to ask Ms. Nicole, 7. She answered close to immediately, “OF COURSE!!!!” 
Imagine my shock! I repeated the question, “should children go for tuition classes?” And the answer was still an emphatic YES!
I rephrased it, “should mummy tell all my friends to send their children to tuition classes? And yes, the answer was still the same. (by now, she was close to rolling her eyes!)
I was really curious. Something is wrong, ya? I’ve a child who says yes to tuition?
Is there something sadistic in her? Is it because I’m sending her, so she wants to ensure all children have to go through this same ‘pain’, such that no one can escape the clutches of tuition?
This is her explanation:
When you go for tuition, you learn what the school teacher is going to teach the next day. So when the school teacher teaches in class, you already know what she is teaching, and it becomes a re-vi-sion.
Woah!! I’m grateful for a sensible daughter. (Daddy says boys would never think that way!!) I’m thank God she’s making my primary school experience more of a breeze (ok, never mind those shouting matches we had while going through Ting Xie)
So that’s our take on tuition. We will still continue with sending her for such classes. Come one, after all, she enjoys the re-vi-sion! 
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As of tomorrow, I’ll be a one-month old blogger! Woohoohoo!
I looked at my posts and realised I covered quite a range of topics from Toilet Squats to Sex Talks to Living in the 80s. I’ve 12 posts in 30 days, does that make me a prolific blogger, an irregular blogger, or a moderate one?
Well, it ain’t important. Honestly, the real objective of starting a blog has barely been met. Now that I’ve my own platform to voice my thoughts, I’ve not gotten down to really talking about IT.
Let me give you a brief background first. I’ve a wonderful husband, Edmund, who is, in his own rights, an avid blogger at Edunloaded.com. Since he started blogging, I’ve guest blogged once in a while, when I have an opinion about something, or when our family goes through some situations. It was good to give a mummy’s voice.
But as I continue on this parenting journey, I found out I had a lot to say, too much to say, my own emotions involved which doesn’t make sense if they were all recorded in someone else’s diary/blog. I should have my own blog, my own perspective.
So I started toying with this idea of blogging. For months, I thought about it. I didn’t want to start a blog that ended up with one post a month, nor did I want to start something that is a duplicate of Edmund’s. So what got me to click on blogger, create a template and start blogging?
Nadine. My little 4 year old princess.
In July 2012, we found out she has low muscle tone, which affected her speech, her physical motor skills and her learning abilities. We thank God daily that we found out early enough for the various therapies that she has to go through, and that we can do many many more activities with her that would intervene and improve the development.
This is why I am blogging. I wanted to share the experience, the improvements, the tears and the joy of seeing Nadine grow up. Along the way, I’ll throw in all the other experiences I have with my children. I wanna be able to rant & whine when things don’t go right, but most of all, I want to give thanks when there are victories.
So why haven’t I started blogging about her? Cos it ain’t that easy!!! We are still finding out and reading up more. Daddy freaked out when the therapist said she may have to go Special School, SPECIAL SCHOOL, special school, special school.
The draft for that inaugural post has been brewing since Day 1. And I think with just a few bit more tweaks, I’ll post it. I can’t wait as I’m quite sure after that first post, the rest would just flow much easier! (with that one paragraph up above, it definitely should be much easier!)
Well, since I started blogging, I’ve met some really nice mummies who also blog. There’s a cool community of us Singapore Mom Bloggers who rally around each other—we’ve laughed at each other, offered virtual hugs, gave tips about parenting, shared little snippets about our little ones. That does boost my confidence to blog, knowing that it’s not a secret journal for my eyes only, but there are mummies out there who readily identify with what I go through, or are simply just around to cheer me on.
There you go… signing off as a half-newbie now on Why Moms Blog?
This is part of a blog train, hosted by Rachel from Catch Forty Winks, that would bring us to the lives of 15 Singapore Mom Bloggers.
Tomorrow, we visit Chrystal Lee who runs a blog at MotherofKids where she shares her experiences with her 3 children. She works from home and hopes to use her blog to help more moms do it too. She is going to tell us why she thinks dads like her husband will make bad bloggers!
You can’t miss my cubicle if you step into the office. Besides the regular calendar & important Post-its, I have a gallery of the children’s photos & artwork. There are many reasons why I put them up.
One of my favourite piece is Nathan’s Artwork. It was a Mother’s Day card he made in school last year, and till now, he still remembers every word in that card. 
First conscious steps taken to melt mummy’s heart!
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Looking for a quick getaway? And you wanna go somewhere really quite different from the usual cities in Southeast Asia? And you wanna experience non city living? Are you game enough to try out a place where most people would go, “WHAT? Huh?”
One of the best trips we had as a couple was to Darwin, Australia. Yes yes, Darwin. And yes, it is still the very pale cousin to Perth, and an even paler one to the Sydney/Melbourne. But it was so fun and good because we didn’t stay in Darwin city! hahaha… We went to explore just 2 hours outside the city and it was GREAT!
Darwin is the capital city of Northern Territory, Australia. It’s about 4.5hrs away from Singapore. The time difference is 1.5hrs ahead and it is a really really small city but serves us tourists well as a stopover to a really beautiful National Parks. We went in March, which was just when the rainy season was ending. (Alas, the best time to go was in May/Jun)
First stop: Jumping Crocodile Cruise
I’m not a big fan of crocodiles, actually not a fan at all. But it was a scheduled trip, so we had to go. We boarded the cruise boat, and I was seriously thinking, I can catch a quick nap, it’s probably just seeing some old croc swimming around the river, and moving slowing up the slope. Haha I was wrong! So wrong that I would strongly strongly recommend every tourist in Darwin to check out this cruise!
Well, that was till they swam up CLOSE to the boat. (they do need a lot of help with their teeth!)
And the hunger games began. The guys started using Buffalo meat as bait. The crocs swam closer and closer. And … now you know why this is called the Jumping Crocodiles Cruise!
We left the cruise with a newfound respect for crocs. Certainly no love lost, but respect for these reptiles’ ability to survive through the centuries with little change! Do you know they can grow up to a 7m length and can weigh up to 1,200 kg!
Second stop: Wildman Wilderness Lodge
This is a most amazing experience staying literally in the wilderness. (haha that’s why the name!). It’s a Hyatt in the wilderness… (It won the Australian Tourism Award in 2011!) See the wilderness:
The Cabins:
It’s a beautiful cabin with NO television. We are meant to lie there in bed, open the blinds, look out and check out the nature, the wallabies hopping around, the wetland birds and just pure nature. Either that, or you just relive your honeymoon nights!
(As an aside, if you bring your family, there are Family cabins that are like Safari Tents. You’d find a Large King size bed, and two additional single beds) 
You are forced to put away your phone & laptop, cos there’s no network. It was definitely a very enjoyable break we had! During the nights, you can hear the insects, and you know there are animals just outside the cabins. 
The accommodation at the lodge includes a hearty breakfast and a full 3-course dinner. We had the chance to sit in the open and watch a most spectacular sunset over the wilderness. It was so so beautiful, even my pathetic Blackberry phone could capture this: 
We were to meet at 6 a.m. in the morning to go for a bush hike and ride the rafts, but the floods hadn’t subsided, so we had to miss it. sigh… that was one big big downer. I surprised myself when I realised how disappointed I was, as I’m not a hiking person, definitely not one to wake up so early to sweat it out type. But the fact was, it was so tremendous to be so near to nature, and to think that we could have been closer, but we missed it sigh… So if you go, do it in May/June. Guaranteed you would LURRRRRVE it!
Here’s a peek at how close we were to nature:
Third stop: Litchfield National Park
When we checked out, we went to the popular Litchfield National Park nearby. It has so many many waterfalls in the park. Some are accessible by 2-wheel drives and others only by 4-wheel drives. The signages are very clear as you enter the park, and trust me, you can turn off at any waterfall, and the sight would take your breath away!
This is Wangi Falls… 
And this is Florence Falls. We took a swim there, and it was really refreshing! 
So for those adventure buffs (or even if you aren’t, like me) and for those looking for non-cookie cutter travel experience, go to Darwin. (They are very tourist friendly, roads are a breeze to drive, and everyone speaks English!) We LOVED IT! You won’t believe it, but we saw all the above in two days one night! (that explains my same top!)
There you go, a quick getaway from the city, right into the heart of nature. If you plan to go, let me know. I would love to share more stories with you!
Today is Day 6 of a Blog Train going round the world hosted by Madeline at MadPsychMum. Check out the rest of the world through the eyes of Singapore Mom Bloggers!
Tomorrow, we’re going New York with Delphine from Life in the Wee Hours!
Life in the Wee Hours is the story of the Wee family. It is about faith, family, friends, and very importantly, food.
Delphine is a working mum who does not believe in sitting still. She enjoys dragging her two kids, Anya (3.5 years old) and Adam (1 year old), all around Singapore.
