Heard of a kid who feels giddy & has headaches?

In the last two months, Nicole has been complaining of Giddy Spells and Headaches. I found it strange cos I don’t remember having a headache when I was 7 year old, and I certainly didn’t know what it meant to be giddy!

I did the mummy thing, and consulted my favourite mummy nurse and checked with a doctor friend. Both told me they needed more information e.g. which part of the head for the headache? when does she feel giddy? how often? etc.

So I told Nicole, I need more information before seeing a doctor. And I need your help. The following are my exact instructions:

1. Write in your school diary the letter G for Giddy, H for Headache when it happens.
2. Write down the time.
3. Write down what you were doing before you felt giddy or before you had the headache.

Check out her note taking! I’m impressed! Are you?

My daughter is really quite meticulous! She told me she decided to take out her extra note book cos the space in the school diary was too small!

 Final report:

• Day 1: 29 Oct—Headache: 8 times, Giddy: 8 times
• Day 2: 30 Oct—Headache: 1 time, Giddy: 2 times

Today is Day 3 of this ‘medical reporting’. We put her to sleep half an hour earlier after Day 1 to monitor the improvement. Praise God it did! Praying that at the end of the week, there’ll be no more giddiness or headache!

     

Technorati Tags: child giddy,child headache,child medical report,kid giddy,kid headache,kid medical report,child note taking

GIVEAWAY: Ashputtel-The Story of Cinderella

We went to the theatre on Saturday to watch <Ashputtel-the story of Cinderella> by I Theatre.  Honestly, I was a little nervous bringing them alone. Actually, I was nervous bringing Nathan! When I told him we’re watching Ashputtel, his first reaction? “HUH? What is that?”

There’s something about boys. They look like they don’t care, but they do very much actually, more so than girls some times!

I said, “it’s about Cinderella… Not the one that we always hear about, it’s a new story about Cinderella.” Sigh. you can imagine his response! “Ewww… Cinderella? I don’t like Cinderella!” But the girls overheard and it was “Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!”

Can you spot the boy? He really didn’t want to be in the photo

So it was, pre-show pictures clearly clearly displayed his excitement for the show. (You can see the girls and THEIR excitement!)

How was the show then?

It was one of the best adaptation of Cinderella I saw! It was simplified to something easy for the kids to digest (imagine Ashputtel had to carry shopping bags for her stepsisters!), the music was easy to hum along, the humour was great (Nicole cackled through some parts!) and although there were not much opportunity for audience interaction, the little that the cast did went extremely well with the kids!

Here are the reviewers’ comments: (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

I will ask Marissa, Sarah, Janelle, Ally, Pei Ling, Denise, Shania, Jewel, Danielle to watch. It is very very very funny. Ashputtel is very pretty, I like her very much. The show is a little bit sad, and it is very very funny. I also like all the songs. And the stepmother is so rude, why is she so  rude?  Nicole Tay, 7 years old

I like it when one sister chopped off her toe and the other chopped off her heel. What is a heel, Mummy? I like the part when the prince asked all of us to help. I don’t have anything else to say. Nathan Tay, 5 years old

I like the birds, I like the dancing, I like Ashputtel. Nadine Tay, 4 years old

Would I recommend this show? Yes! Especially if you have daughters. Every girl should watch this. I didn’t find it childish or kiddy, and the kids didn’t find it adult-like or boring. I guess the classic love story with a Prince (and a good looking one here!) always works! For the boys, Yes, too! You see, officially, Nathan had little comments. Unofficially, he laughed and participated during the show. His morbid comments showed the ‘boyness’ in him to discredit all things girl-related.

Stepsister 1, Stepsister 2, Stepmother, Ashputtel’s Mother/bird, Ashputtel, Handsome Prince, Butler

Ashputtel-The Story of Cinderella is showing at Alliance Francaise Theatre from now till 17 Nov 2012. Tickets are available from SISTIC. You can find more details here.

And for my readers, I have two pairs of tickets to giveaway for the 11 Nov (Sun) 11.30 am show. Woohooo! Wanna win the tickets? Look no further!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLAIMER: This giveaway is in NO way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. Information collected is NOT collected by Facebook. By signing up for this promotion, participants release and indemnify Facebook from all liabilities.

UPDATE

List Randomizer

There were 11 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Dominique Goh
2. Angeline Sim

Congratulations to Dominique Goh & Angeline Sim for winning the two pairs of tickets! i Theatre will be contacting you about your tickets. Enjoy the show!

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Ashputtel,i theatre,cinderella i theatre,cinderella alliance francaise,cinderella 2012,ashputtel 2012,ashputtel sistic

Therapy 101–So What Is Wrong?

One of the questions that come my way about Nadine is “What is wrong with her?” Sometimes it is phrased in more politically correct way, “What happened?”. Nonetheless, many want to know why is she different.

Is she autistic? Is it Dyslexia? ADHD? Asperger? What is it?

Well, this is what her therapist put in her report:

Nadine is found to have delayed speech and language development. Her language skills were found to be moderately delayed. It was also noted that Nadine has motor coordination difficulties. She was subsequently referred to our Physiotherapist for an evaluation…was assessed to have delayed motor skills development.

The therapist explained that motor skills development is closely linked to a child’s speech and language. I thought it would be good to list out some challenges that Nadine faced with her physical motor skills:

• She hardly crawled, or rather, her crawling period was really short. She went straight to cruising.
• When she was 3.5 year old, she still has to hold the railing while walking down the stairs. And even then, both legs had to land on each step has she walked down.
• She only learnt to jump when she turned 4.
• When she walked, it always looked unstable. It was as if she may fall or trip soon.

There are probably other signs but we didn’t take note or didn’t realise we had to be concerned. One big factor was she had low muscle tone. She has floppy limbs and loose muscles. That’s characterised by problems with mobility and posture and poor reflexes. She has poor trunk support, which means she has trouble holding her body upright. This affects her speech and cognitive skills.

Gosh! When we found out, my first thought was, is it genetic? Was it because of something I ate when pregnant? Was it something we didn’t do when she was a baby? It was a barrage of thoughts that came. (For the record, it’s none of the above. It’s just something she’s born with)

One of the important therapy she has to go for now is Physiotherapy, which would work those muscles, strengthen the limbs and give her a greater sense of balance. Along with Physio, she attends GYM classes twice a week.  The work out is necessary to improve motor control and body strength. Check out the gym!

Isn’t it massive? Nadine has a blast in this old school gym! It’s not expensive (about S$20 for 1.5hours) and she gets to do forward roll, cartwheels and work on all these wonderful gym equipment!

In the end, we sent Nathan for gym too! We figured that bit of exercise won’t hurt, since our family is on the high inertia side! Nicole is in a different league as (in her own words), “I’m in the school Gymnastics team already!”

Does the Physiotherapy and Gymnastics help? Definitely. Over the last month, the gym was closed for renovation. And during the regular therapy sessions, Nadine has issues concentrating and focusing. We all can’t wait for Gym to start again. Cos when she was in it, she had a chance to tone her muscles and work on her balance. This invariably helps her to co-ordinate, and builds her cognitive skills (more on that in my future post).

We are going more daily exercises now: Hop on one leg 10x per leg, balance on one leg for as long as you can, sit-ups, play catching in the pool—get her to catch us via ‘running’. We pale in comparison to those gym instructors.. haha! But really anything is better than no exercise at all!

So what’s wrong with my baby? Simply put, she has low muscle tone. It can be a lifelong condition, but with physical exercises, the muscle tone can strengthen and improve over time. That’s what the books and therapists say. What do I say? I say she will get better, she is getting better and I have faith to believe her muscles are toning up each day. I have nothing to lose but everything to gain when I believe for this miracle. My God reigns, in every situation.

 

 

Technorati Tags: therapy kids,low muscle tone,physiotherapy kids,hypotania,preschool gym,delay development,motor skills delay

A Day in the Life–My Mummy’s Day

This is a guest post by Nicole Tay, 7 year old. Research for the post was from personal experience and from one day that she spent in the office with me. Some parts of the post has been edited for privacy issues and grammar mistakes. The essence and integrity of the post have not been compromised. Comments in lilac are mine.

My Mummy’s Day

My mummy wakes up at 6 a.m. in the morning. She brings me to school, then she goes back home to bring my brother and sister to school. This is the most fun part of the day. I get to spend time with Nicole, we chat about what school will be like, run thru spelling words if it’s Spelling Day, and she prays for the day ahead.

After she brings them to school, she goes to work.

My mummy eats lunch late in the afternoon. I think she is very hardworking. ok, I admit. She came to work on that one day that we were all super super busy. She tried her hand at helping the receptionist with sticking labels. After 3 pages of labels, she claimed “so tiring!” This is my lunchtime reading:

She goes home at 6.54 p.m.. She takes a train and bus home. After that, she will play with us, she reads with us and does homework with me.

I think she sleeps at 11.16 p.m. When I am sleeping, I think my mummy does her work, watches TV and reads a book. Don’t ask me how she came up with 11.16 p.m.! I usually go to bed at about midnight on a school night. And yes, I work a little bit, watch a little TV and read quite a bit. My current reading diet:

I think my mummy does really hard work. She works very hard for the family. I my mummy.

So that’s my typical day. When it’s school holidays, it’s different. I get to stay up a little later, and sleep in an hour longer. Essentially that’s how a week day is for me. How is your day like?

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: day in a life,working mother,working mummy,FTWM

Meanie Mummy

I’m a Meanie Mummy.

Yes, I stick by my guns and there are no favourites in the family. The consequences of misbehaving, whining, and being rude are spelt out clearly in our family. We don’t spare the rod, we don’t mince our words, and we have three different naughty corners in the house for each child.

This is what happens when a child misbehaves:

• The child is immediately pulled aside and given first warning. The warning consists of  a “don’t do that” plus a “if you continue, this will happen”
• If the child continue misbehaving, second warning comes out, usually louder and sterner.
• If it continues, there’s no third warning. Dependant on the nature of the misbehaviour, or what was said in first warning, punishment is rolled out, the child pays the consequence.
• Punishment also includes standing in a corner alone for one cycle to reflect. One cycle is the number of minutes to their age. So Nicole gets 7 min, Nathan 5 min, Nadine 4 min.

Of course all the above are done in the comfort of home, within the sound-proof walls of the house. If the misbehaviour happens when we are out, the warnings are usually quiet, stern, and as I mentioned before here, with my BIG BIG eyes.

I have three kids. So the One-For-All and All-for-One rule is big in our family. That’s really the best way, since much of their misbehaviour are shared by three! Is it inconvenient? Yeah, you bet. If I’m Meanie Mummy, daddy is Dictator Daddy. There’s no good guy and bad guy in parenting. We’re in it together, so the kids know, once they are caught, there’s no way out.

After all that, each child has to say sorry, and tell us why he/she is sorry. If they can’t tell why, it’s the naughty/quiet/reflective corner again for the next cycle.

Then comes the hugs and the kisses. The assurance of love and why we do what we did.

The challenge the Meanie Mummy faces is to think of a punishment that fits the misbehaviour when we are outside. As they grow older, it usually is a consequence—taking away a privilege, or something similar. I’m a big believer of keeping my word to my kids, so they know not to trivalise words.

For example, if a promise was made to buy them ice-cream, but they misbehaved. We will still go for ice-cream, but they don’t get to choose the flavours, or they wont get to order what they want. I get to keep my word, they get to still learn the consequence of misbehaving. But if the misbehaviour is real out of hand, we’ll postpone the ice-cream. They will still get their ice-cream, just not that day.

I can imagine many parents who shudder at what we do, and many who may agree. At the end, it’s always for the best of our kids, in the best possible way we know how. Tiger Mum or not, it’s for them kids, not for us, ya?

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: punishing children,punishment children,children misbehave,misbehave consequence,naughty corner,meanie mummy

First Aid for Kids

I’m a qualified First Aider! Woohoo!!!

After an intense 3 full day course, I am supposed to be can now respond confidently whenever there is a medical emergency. Of course calling 995 is TOP priority, but I know what to do if someone goes into a fit or someone has a big bloody gash on his finger.

The course covered lots of common sense stuff like don’t apply toothpaste to burns, and don’t put anything into the mouth of someone having fits. What I really appreciated was I know what to do if if if if an accident happens at home. Off hand, I can already think of these possible scenarios:

1. One of the kids accidently cut himself with a scissors
2. One of them in their moment of showing off their gymnastics expertise, hits the eye on the sharp corner of the table
3. When they come out of the bathroom, feet wet, slips, knocks the head and passes out
4. In their body wrestling games, one arm gets twisted
5. When the door closes, one finger gets caught somewhere

Gosh I can go on and on. Of course we can quickly drive to the nearby hospital/clinic, or grab a cab. But in meantime, this qualified first aider can slow down the bleeding, ensure the wound doesn’t get infected and remain c.a.l.m!

So imagine my surprise when I came home with my *free* bandages and Nicole went, “Is that a triangular bandage? Let me show you how to use it!”

LOOK!

I was so impressed! She learnt it in PAL – Programme for Active Learning in school! She was very confident and even told me, “you cannot cover the fingers so that it won’t turn blue.”

I’m so glad I learnt first aid! Not only for the practical reasons, but simply for pride too! How can a 7 year old know something so important and I don’t?

On a serious note, do you know First Aid? I think it’s vital for parents to know first aid. If our little actions of applying pressure to slow down bleeding, or doing the right manoeuvre to rid that stuck fishball, that 3 day course is just a small price to pay! What do you think?

 

 

 

 

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These are a few of my favourite things

October 2011 was a most interesting month for us. We just moved into our new home, and October marks the peak of our shopping expedition for household items, tableware, housing accessories etc. We went to visit those lovely lovely shops we see in the magazines that showcase nice candles & table displays to steal ideas get inspiration.

The sourcing part was really fun! To hunt high and low for that one item that would fit in your home was very satisfactory. But it was hard work. The kids were bored. Time was tight. Budget was tighter. We learnt that grappling with these conditions were the biggest challenge we had then!

Fast forward to today. I look around the house, and I remember every thing I see tells a story. Either we travelled out far far to some industrial place to purchase the item, or we chanced upon a quirky store that sold gems. There were also really nice places who were holding fantastic 70% sales, or the good old Ikea which as usual gave great ideas.

Today, I celebrate my favourite items in the house! haha.. yes! I actually took pictures of stuff in the house! Spoiler ahead…this is no home & decor or Martha Stewart feature!

My uber favourite—Family Collage in the living room. It was a big project! You can read about it here!

The only clock in the house! And the kids are learning Roman numerals cos of it!

The retro disco mirror!

Three of my favourite things in the house! You can see I love black & white!

What’s your favourite item at home?

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: black white decor,wall collage,favorite clock,disco mirror,photo collage,black white collage

Kids judges–For food, what else?

When we go to the food court or market, our kids will have a few standard favourites – Fishball noodles, Spaghetti, Japanese Bento Set (that’s Nicole, don’t ask me how she acquired this expensive taste bud!) and of course Chicken Rice!

We love chicken rice. I mean, our entire family, even our helper, we love it!

Recently, we participated in a Makan King competition to choose the Best Chicken Rice in town! Oooh competition was very keen, there were lots of experts everywhere. Below are the most serious experts at work—mind you, they give their comments freely and don’t mince their words! You hear “My favourite is Stall 6” “My favourite is better than yours!” (photo credit: Moses Chng)

So the race was between Stall #6 and Stall #7. The people’s choice (and Nathan’s) was Tian Tian Chicken Rice from Joo Chiat (Maxwell market was closed for renovation). Sigh… not my choice though..

What would be your favourite Chicken Rice Stall?

Linking up with

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My body changed after pregnancy

Oh! But that’s stating the obvious of course. Let me list the change from head to toe, and if you’re a mummy, tell me if it’s the same for you!

Memory loss – This is just gets worse with each pregnancy. Some say it’s old age, some say it’s just me (of course these were the non-mothers speaking!) But it is a very real problem! I can’t remember numbers now. I’m not referring to phone numbers only. It’s for addresses, bus numbers, page numbers, dates etc. It.is.bad.

Big Eyes – I can make my eyes go REAL BIG when I want to. These are for times when I really want to scream at the kids, but I can’t (because there are many people around/ it’s a quiet place/ I’m busy talking to someone else) I can do a good stare at my kids and get them to shut up behave.

Sensitive nose – I can smell the 3Ps a mile away—Pee, Poo, Puke. Sadly, even when it’s not my kids’ I can smell it too. And more unfortunately, even when it’s some drunkard adult too.

Nagging Mouth – I can nag! Gosh! I never thought I’ll be like that! But this trait develops and hones itself especially when your child enters Primary School. I can only imagine when ALL my kids enter primary school, I’ll be Champion Nag!

Toned Neck Muscles – I’m not even sure if there are muscles there! If there aren’t there are there now! I can somewhat turn my head in any direction I want to look at, look for, look out for the kids!

Flattened chest – after breastfeeding, they just never got back. And with every cry and whimper, I comfort the kids bring them close to that even more flattened chest.

Power Arms – One sleeping child is carried by daddy. Two sleeping children? Mummy has to carry one. Three? erm.. wake the one who is least tired!

Tummy – Too depressing to discuss.

Thighs – Just as depressing.

Viscose Veins – I’ve seen mummies with this. I thank God I don’t have that, but I’ve seen enough to know it is a common mark of motherhood too.

These are the marks of a 7.5yr old mummy. Perhaps when I’m a 15yr old mummy, I’ll have more bodily changes to share! =)

Do you have these too? Or does your mum have them?

 

 

Technorati Tags: Post pregnancy body,mother body,changes to mum's body,mother's body

Therapy 101-Thankful for Therapy

Every Thursday, Nadine goes for her therapy session. It has come to a point where I look forward to Thursdays. It’s a Nadine day in that sense. She gets really stretched mentally while going through her sessions. Some days, she goes through simple his/her/it differentiation. Some days, it’s memory work of shapes and sizes. And some days it’s just 1 full hour of chatting. The range is wide, the work is hard.

That’s how it is for her. Hard work every Thursday.

For me? It used to be a day of kicking myself. When I see what the therapist does, and the activities they go through, I go “Why didn’t I pick that up about Nadine?” “Didn’t you notice she couldn’t do this?” “And look at that! Such an easy task, and you could have taught her!”

But I passed that. *phew* It was no point berating myself. It didn’t help me, and it didn’t help her. Guilt is not a part of therapy. It does hit you. I mean, which parent wouldn’t feel the entire responsibility of the child on his shoulder? I won’t even want to dwell on that, cos it depresses you, and it’s just going through cycles of “What ifs” and “I should haves”. This looking back mentality has gone on long enough.

Now Thursdays are a celebration days. We celebrate the new stuff Nadine can do, the achievements she has made and the milestones conquered. (Thursdays are also homework days. The therapist gives us—parents—work to do at home for the coming week) But it’s great joy.

I don’t focus on her being slower than her peers. I don’t sigh at how she has only mastered stage 2 when her friends can do stage 5 backwards. ohhhh but that doesn’t mean I’m not aware of the above. I am aware, and I have to be aware. Those are the yardsticks of society, those are necessary to measure her progress. But focus on them and push her to reach them? Nah…

I thank God daily for what Nadine has accomplished. And on Thursdays, I thank God a little more! I get to see in my untrained eyes (erm.. after 3 months, it’s a little more trained now), the little steps of progress. I stand amazed every Thursday at how God made us—that every tiniest little word/act plays a part in a person’s development. He’s really in control. There’s no doubt about it.

This is part of 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.

And linking up with

 

 

Technorati Tags: children development,delay development,late bloomer,children therapy,kids therapy,kids speech delay,when to go therapist,early childhood development

Girlfriends, Marriage & Kids

Nathan is in this phase recently swearing off girlfriends and marriage.

It is strange as he has had a *girlfriend* from school for the longest time. Meet DEBBIE… who is our colleague’s daughter, and his classmate in school They grew up together literally, since we started putting our babies in the office nursery. And… Debbie looks just like Nadine! Check it out!

You can imagine our surprise when he started sprouting out “I don’t ever want to get married”, and he even quoted names of people he knew who aren’t married, in an attempt to support his cause.

Today, he shouted out an extra line: “AND I DON’T WANT TO HAVE ANY CHILDREN!”

We didn’t have to probe much. The reason was, “If I have children, they will fight with me for my iPad, and I DON’T LIKE THAT!”

So Mr. Government, if you want to have an effective campaign for more babies, do something about the iPads! I think the people have spoken!

 

 

Technorati Tags: children girlfriend,kid marriage,baby policy,baby bonus,baby incentive