The Best Gift For Our Children

On Children's Day this year, BBTK posted this prayer on their notice board.

 

 

 

About a week ago, the school's principal (Mrs Grace Seah) came up to have a chat with me. She shared about how sad she felt when some of the kindergarten children shared that their parents were not on talking terms, or sounded like, their parents were not staying in the same house. And though the children did not say it expressly, it was obvious there was some sadness in their eyes, and hurt in their hearts.

 

She went on to share how important it is for parents to provide a loving environment for young children to blossom and grow up well, by loving each other first. And to do that, we need to start praying!

 

Looking at the increasing divorce rates in the last decades, we have to admit that this is a message that needs to be strongly advocated to all married couples and parents --- the best gift for our kids is to keep our marriages in tact.

 

Christian marriages are certainly not exempted.  In fact, Christian marriages must be even more on guard. The devil, Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, waiting to devour. Didn't he do the same in the Garden of Eden? He found the opportunity to trick Eve and eventually, hurt the first-ever marriage God instituted. He is still very much into the same business. Hence, the Holy Bible tells us,

 

"The end of all things is near.

Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

(1 Peter 4:7-8)

 

What does our children need most in this love-deprived world? Charity (Love) begins at home.

 

 When parents' relationship are not loving and strong, all other things we provide for our children (especially, material things) are extremely poor substitutes, or simply insufficient to fill their vulnerable and innocent hearts.

Deborah's K2 Graduation & BBTK Concert 2013

We have been attending BBTK's Annual Graduation & Concert for 3 years now. This year is especially meaningful because it is Deborah's final performance in BBTK as well as her graduation concert.

It was a pleasant surprise to receive the invitation card with Deborah's drawing on it. Deborah was especially proud because this is the first complete drawing she has ever done. And mommy is proud too, because it was the first time she sat down patiently with Deborah to guide her how to draw.

 

Mommy had the privilege of walking her down the aisle for the concert commencement because Deborah wanted Mommy to do the honours. Besides, Daddy will get his chance when Deborah gets married in the future. (Sorry, daddy, you will have to wait longer.)

 

This year, the theme for BBTK's concert is Good News!

 

 

The GOOD NEWS message was delivered by Elder Jeffrey Goh from Bethesda (Bedok-Tampines) Church.

 

What I gleaned from his message was that no matter who we are, God loves us. He loves us just as we are. His infinite love for us is not based on what we do, how we look or what we have achieved. His love is solely based on who HE is - His faithfulness, His character to love.

 

When God loves us, He gave us not just blessings. He gave us His heart, His only Son - Jesus Christ, and most of all, His HEART of love poured out all for us through the Blood of Jesus.

 

I am praying that this Good News message will continue to minister to the hearts of the parents and grandparents who were listening to the message that day, and may the Lord JESUS reveal His love fully in their lives, through the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

Deborah taking a picture before marching-in with Lindsey Ong, her classmate of 3 years since they were in Nursery together.

 

 

Deborah on the stage for the K2 graduation performance, with her classmates from JOY 1 & school mates from Class JOY 6

 

 

Deborah receiving her Graduation Certificate with her classmates.

(From left: Mrs Ong - guest, Mrs Grace Seah - Principal, Mdm Teo - Deborah's Chinese Teacher for 3 years, Mrs Yang - School Administrator, Ms Wong - Centre Manager)

  

 

 

Next, the performance by David and his classmates of Faith 2. David was very proud to be one of the 8 children selected as part of the choir group to start off his class performance.

 

The song they sang this year is "I love to tell the story" by Go Fish. It is a modern version of an old hymn.

 

Deborah's class (JOY 1) sang the song "Forever" for their class performance. Dressed in this sweet red and white dress, she really looked like a princess that day, short of a prince charming. Haha!

 

 

The finale songs the children sung this year were "He will carry you" and "Heavenly Home" (in mandarin).

 

Wanna thank the 2 grandmothers and also,  Da-Gu-Ma (Celine), Dua-Bei (Jimmy), Er-Gu-Ma (Joo Lian), Er-Gu-Zhang (Denard) & Da-Jiu (Desmond) for attending the children's concert and giving them your loving, wonderful support.

 

 

 



 

 

Finally, a picture was quickly taken at home after the concert, just before the children started getting cranky for missing their afternoon nap.

 

 

 

 

Reading from young

An article was published on 8 October in the "Today" newspaper concerning the current generation of young adults, teenagers and those younger who view that reading (physical) books are out-of-trend. No thanks to the I-phone and I-pad revolution.

First, we lost the trend of writing personalized hand-written cards to our loved ones and friends since emails and e-cards "invaded" our lives. Now, it seems the reading habit will soon become a thing of the past and becoming "uncool" in another 10 years or so.

I have no regrets starting the reading habit with Deborah every night since she was 8 months old. Since then, David has also caught on this beautiful habit of reading. I took every opportunity to read to them, especially when I spot a moment of restlessness when they are indoors.

Now, it is so natural for them to pick a book and keep themselves occupied throughout the day when they get tired of the toys in the house or when mommy is busy with household chores.

 

Since David turned two years, our regular visits to the libraries are one of those outings the kids and I really enjoy. Daddy would also join us occasionally when time permits.  Deborah and David love running around (quietly, of course) in the library looking for the books they want to read.

 

One of David's all-time favourite book is "Brown bear, Brown bear, what do you see?" and also its other series "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you hear?" written by Bill Martin Jr. 

 

These days, his favourite kind of books ranges from animals to firemen to aeroplanes & motorcycles.  Whilst Deborah's range of reading is very wide. She loves reading almost all kinds of children books.

 

 

 

The National Library Board also organises weekly / alternate weeks story-telling sessions for children in different languages, mainly English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. To introduce reading Chinese books to Deborah last year, I brought Deborah and David to some of those mandarin story-telling sessions to get them started on Chinese story books. Now, Deborah loves reading Chinese books too. She is also attempting to read Chinese books by herself these days. Well done, sweet love!

 

Even I have found reading Chinese children story books more  interesting these days. Interestingly, I realized Chinese story books are written such that there is a moral lesson we can learn. And somehow, Chinese story books are able to bring out the moral values much clearer compared to most English language books.

 

To find out more about the story-telling sessions, you can go to NLB's website: http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg/

 

Reading is certainly one good habit parents should set as a priority to instil in their young children. It is one of the best ways to prepare young children for primary school, since every thing they will learn in school is about reading, writing and comprehending.

 

Even for adults, reading can be a form of de-stress. I came across an article in the Reader's Digest which mentioned that reading helps our mind relax and makes us a happier person. Especially when we read of real-life stories, it encourages our souls and lifts up our emotions. Reading also help us widen our perspectives to realise that we are not the only people who face problems.

 

With all these benefits about reading, why should we allow such a good habit to become history?

 

It's my prayer that Deborah and David will continue to find reading books a great pleasure as they grow older, and even pass this on to their next generations.

 

 

Art is a learning skill

Like those who are not gifted in drawing, I was stubbornly sure my children cannot draw too, since it was not in my genes, and neither my husband's. So since, parents are not gifted, I decided long before that it was not necessary to enrol my kids for any arts lessons outside school time.

 

All this changed recently, after I read the blog of  my former Secondary school Art teacher, Ms Lee Mun Yee, concerning her teaching experience in US. I gained a whole new perspective about Art & drawing like I never had before.

 

For the first time, I realised Art & drawing is like Mathematics subject. When we first learn about "Algebra" in Primary school, it was a very new math concept. As we continued our Secondary school, we become familiar with it and it became part of our Mathematics understanding. Arts & drawing is much the same, you learn it and practiced it again and again to perfect it. 

 

After reading Ms Lee's blog, I had a personal experiment with Deborah. Last month when she was on medical leave, Deborah told me she had a homework - to draw a picture about "Good News".  I  decided to sit down patiently with her and teach her what to draw from scratch. I drew it step by step with her, taught her how to draw clouds, trees, grass, building, windows, etc. I even showed her how I would colour my own drawing as an example for her to follow. When we finally finished it together, I could see the sense of achievement on Deborah's face that she could draw!

 

Since then, she has been drawing the same picture again and again. Here's one she drew all by herself.

 

From this experience, I am convinced that everyone can draw. Just like how every one of us can count money, learn our math, etc. It's a matter of putting our heart into doing it.

 

Thank you, Ms Lee for the wonderful inspiration.

 

 

 

Our 1st Staycation @ RWS

We finally made it to RWS on 30 Sep!

 Yes, thank God Daddy got the hotel to postpone our staycation date without charge.

The other thing we are so, so thankful for was that we were initially supposed to put up at Hotel Michael if we had proceeded with the staycation on 12 September. This was because, it was school holiday week, hence a peak period and Festive Hotel was fully occupied then.  Due to the change of date, we could stay in Festive Hotel, which was where Mommy really wanted. Praise the Lord!  

 

 

We had a pleasant surprise when we saw a personalised welcome note from RWS on the smart TV in our room.

 

 

The room was excellent and tastefully decorated.

Even daddy was impressed and enjoyed the stay!

  

 

 

 

 

Our room faces the city and the Adventure Cove Waterpark where we spent the afternoon.

Sadly, we didn't manage to capture any photos because Mommy also joined in the waterplay fun. Haha...

 

When you have young kids, the toughest thing is to keep them quiet when Mom and Dad are busy with the unpacking and packing. And this was what kept the two of them busy in the room - the ladder that leads up to a single bed.

 

 

 

Even daddy couldn't resist trying it! 

 

 

 

 On our way back to the hotel from the Adventure Cove Waterpark, we chanced upon this tuk-tuk Taxi outside Coca steamboat restaurant.

 

After our bath, we were almost dying of hunger. Thankfully, there are plenty of eateries and restaurants without going too far. The moment mommy saw a Chinese restaurant, we decided upon it.

 

One dessert worth mentioning is this banana fritters. We were all quite puzzled when the  plate of banana fritters was served with a big bowl of ice water.

 

 

The waitress would dip the very hot fritters into the ice cold water before serving it on our individual plates. We were told that the banana fritters are actually covered by a layer of sweet candy, and it will harden in the ice water. This will also ensure that the banana inside remain soft, while the outside is hard and the dough remains crispy. It tastes yummy indeed!

 

The following day on 1 Oct, we spent our $50 dining credit at the buffet breakfast at Starz @ Hotel Hard Rock. It was really crowded cos we woke up rather late. By the time we reached, we only had 30 mins left before breakfast ends.

 

After breakfast, it was more water & sand play for the kids. This time, it's for free! (Who's happiest? - Daddy, of course. LOL!) 

 

It is a really fun place that can keep the kids occupied the whole day. Unfortunately, we had to check out the hotel by 2pm, so the children were really sad to have to leave so soon. And especially David, because he finally garnered his courage to go on the water slide by himself after 1.5 hours of reservation. When he was finally able to enjoy the slide, it was time to go, and so he gave his signature look of disappointment.

 

      

 

 

We were all so relunctant to leave the place. But we had to...and so our short staycation has ended.

 

David was thrilled to learn that our next holiday will be for ten days, and he is already looking forward to going on an aeroplane next month.