July's fruits - faith and speech

I feel that I got closer to God this month. I started to talk more to Him with shooting prayers which resulted in a lot of revelations.

1) Faith comes from hearing -So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).
The more good news we hear, the more faith we have. Conversely, the more negatives we hear, it is inevitable that we become demoralized. I was affected after being the listener to my colleague’s complains and grief over our new work culture for about a month. Thank God for daddy M and good friends who point me back to Jesus…I started to mediate on the sufficiency of His grace. I also reduced the coffee breaks/ lunches with people with negative vibes… It definitely helped.

2) The power of confession - The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21). Believe and speak forth. A few of us started a group chat where we encourage and confess positively over each other’s circumstance on a daily basis. The power of standing in faith together beats worrying alone, hands down.

Carpenters and Cook

I love beautiful things. In another words, I’m a sucker for packaging and marketing. Thank God I have found a comrade, SL who shares my passion and ‘appreciation’ for beautiful stationery, cards, gift wrappers, decor, flowers and all things beautiful though not practical, at times.

Two weeks ago, SL insisted that we should take a 20-minute ride from Raffles Place to Lorong Kilat to celebrate my belated birthday. She said I would love the place! Although the place only serves things-that-I-don’t-normally-eat, ie sandwiches and quiches, I went by faith. After all, she’s my ONLY comrade, it gotta be good!

I fell in love with Carpenters and Cook the moment I stepped in.

A  cafe with BEAUTIFUL THINGS and vintage stuff. Everything in the shop is for sale. Plates, cups, weighing scale, re-upholstered chapel chairs, tables, typewriter, clocks, and of course the food.  Quant and rustic perfectly describe this retro joint. It’s only been operating for about one month but already has huge followings (usually crowded, according to SL)!

The Passion Fruit meringue is a Must-Try. Slightly different from the Pattisier’s, this has crispier shell and more sour in taste.
The shop is a venture among three girls in their 30’s, sharing their love for vintage furniture and artisan bakery.
I admire them with slight envy.

Contemporary art

The latest addition to our weekend activities- 45-minute art class on Saturday mornings.
It all started because a friend is trying to set up art classes for kids (in his office). S is the no. 2 kid he recruited after his 5-year old niece.
Enrichment fever is a phenomena that has gripped a lot of parents. Parents who can afford and kiasu (aka competitive and ‘plan ahead’) start sending their children to all manner of enrichment classes from as young as six months old. Flash cards, Shichida, Mindchamps, growing up gifted, power Chinese, you name it they have it. These classes are intended to help the children to ‘excel’ in their education years later. I had always been reluctant to send S for any program mainly because our weekends are too precious to be spent on car rides, queues and waits in the name of enrichment.
However, if I must and willing, I would start her with swimming (for survival??), piano (free of charge because my cousin used to give piano lessons), or violin (I think she looks cute with it!). Art is the last thing on my mind because I can’t draw to save my life! On second thought, this might be the right choice of enrichment - to pick up a skill that is not inherited genetically nor can be taught by the parents.

The first session was enjoyable and we managed to rope C along for the second session. So now we have three kids in this not-so-proper-set-up-but-intimate art class. It shall be fun!

Eggs home remedy part 2

My mom’s remedy to bring fever down - let the child hold two eggs.

Two years ago, we tried a home remedy concerning eggs, and ended up at the doctor!

This time round, it's definitely 'safer' with breaking the eggs being the only risk. 

I’m not sure how this old wives’ tale work but it did. Well, I can't prove it totally because a dose of Volteren suppository was administered concurrently.
She was happy to 'play' this egg game and told my mom that chickens may come out from the eggs??

 

Meet S at 31 months.  She drives me up the wall sometimes. Everyone tells me that she behaves perfectly in my absence but turns into a whiny, demanding kid the moment I get home from work.

With the move and unpacking, we have been focusing on the house more than her, which I believe is the trigger for some defiance in her, to get our attention. I have been questioning myself if I am doing the right thing or being a 'good' mom, with the recent increase in time-out sessions (stand-in-a-corner-and-'think'-what-you-have-done-wrong).

God knows my heart.

A few days ago, S had a boil on her hand and came to me with her eyes cringed: "Can you pray for me?". Immediately after I prayed, she continued with her activity, as if the boil is gone. During our night prayer, she said: "Thank you Jesus for my new room, my new house, my kitchen, my tent, my milk, my bottles, my toys…". I was moved. It was like an affirmation from God that yes, I’m on the right track, I'm not a horrible mom because she has caught what we want to impart in her - Jesus being the centre and give thanks in all things.

Operation S.L.E.E.P

The sleep/milk battle has ended. Praise the Lord. The wee hours milk requests have reduced significantly. Even if she did ask for it, we have been ignoring her.

Moral of the story: When the parents are ready (to let go or refuse to give in), children will be ready to move along…

Next up: moving to her OWN ROOM.

I have read tons of literature on sleep training methods and consider myself theoretically very competent. It’s all about execution now. Stay tuned!

Logistics, logistics, logistics

My in laws (S main care giver and driver) are in the US and this comes with plenty of logistics arrangement. It involves lots of help from friends and “international aid”, which we are thankful.

Firstly, we switched her to morning session. In order to let her settle in slowly, daddy M will send her to school at about 8am while I make myself to work earlier (our norm was to leave for work together at 7’ish). My dear friend, Shih will pick her up mid-day for the next 2.5 months until my father-in-law returns to resume the role of the designated driver.

On days that Shih cannot make it, daddy M or myself will squeeze our lunch hour to pick her up (and grab a quick bite at home). We are also looking at training our helper to take a cab to pick her up. Last but not least, starting this weekend, my mom will be here for a month, followed by my dad...

On certain days, our dear friend, Selvam is also activated to help (last resort).

I know there is a short cut to these cumbersome arrangement- send her to full-day school immediately where we can pick her up after work. But I am not ready. Period.

Perhaps I need to go through this to let go... Meanwhile, we are tapping on whatever help that we can get...

PS: there is no school bus available.

June's fruit- the great migration

The month of June is all about the house. We have moved the 121 items from storage and finished unpacking approximately 70 boxes (of things that we have done without perfectly in the past year). But we have not officially moved in, pending minor renovation touch up and internet installation. So for now, we are shuttling between the old and the new, passing by this alley numerous times a day. Step by step, we are getting closer and closer to our new home. Praise Jesus!