Celebrating Chinese New Year 2015

Every year, when Chinese New Year draws near and you can hear traditional new year songs everywhere on the street, I always have mixed feelings. On one hand, I’m looking forward to the yearly gatherings with relatives and meeting those who hardly have time to catch up throughout the year while on the other hand, I’m missing my late mum.

This year is third year celebrating CNY with my two little darlings. They are now 33 months old and still in their terrible 2 stage. I’m beginning to have a better feel of their character as each day goes by. They started to choose their own clothes which is always the same few pieces of their favourite tees (well, boys don’t have much variety in clothing and that could also means its easier on our pockets, especially for twins! Phew!).

As usual, I’m preparing the reunion dinner singlehandedly while my hubby takes care of my boys. Seeing my boys and hubby gobbling down the food warms my heart and find it all worthwhile the time and effort.

“House hopping” is the norm on the first few days of CNY and my boys simply love it! They get to play with their cousins whom only meet less than 5 times a year and they also get to taste different new year goodies. Of course, I’ll still control their intake and make sure they drink gallons of water.

It’s always amazing to see how much the kids grown in a year. Some had grown so much taller and it just makes me recall back those days they were such little cutie. 🙂

I hope the new generation will continue this practice of celebrating CNY in years to come!

 

 

Free PAP Smear Test till Sept only

Yes, now you can have your PAP Smear test done FREE! Recently my very kind friend informed me about it and my first thought was “FREE???”. She shared with me some details and also the list of GPS participating in this programme with me and I thought I must share this with mummies here so that more people can benefit from it.

How to Handle Behavioural Problems in Toddlers

 

There is a common belief that boys are generally the more active and naughty ones compared to girls but I realised after talking to many mummies with girls that this is not true! Their sweet little princesses can turn monstrous too! Basically, I’ve started to learn that ALL kids misbehave and as to how bad the situation, it all depends on how well the parents can take it or handle it.

The list of misbehaviours can be quite a long list but I’m sharing some of the common ones that I’ve come across and read up. Hope this can help some mummies handle their little ones.

1. CRYING UNREASONABLY

• Do not give in to your toddler’s demand just because they cry. You are encouraging future reoccurrence when he gets what he wants through crying.
• Daddy and mummy should have consensus not to give in. One common mistake made by parents is that when one party says no, the other gave in and say yes to the crying toddler just to be spared from embarrassment and  stares from strangers in the mall. Kids will pick up the signal and know who will grant their wish in future. (Grandparents must be “educated” to agree in this aspect as you will need their full cooperation!)
• Parents can take a deep breath and refrain from blowing your top. If deep breathing doesn’t help, take a 5 mins break if someone can take over from you.
• If your child is persistent and not giving in, you can try the “isolate” or what some call “time-out” session. Let your child stay in a corner and cool himself down while you continue with your other children or activities. Let him know that crying is not going to work.
• “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them”. Appropriate punishment is required at times.

2. SELECTIVE HEARING

•  Many parents will experience this before. You are talking or gave some instructions to your little one and he’s simply switched off and looking away or worse engage in other activities or change topic and talk about something else. You can try to repeat yourself firmly and look into his eyes when you speak to catch his attention. I tried that many times and when it failed, I’ll hold his face in my palms and lead him to look face-to-face with me and I’ll repeat again. Be persistent to get his acknowledgement that he’s listening and got the message.
• You can also try to catch his attention by saying something that will interest him first and when he’s giving you the eye-contact, tell him your intended message.
• By removing whatever that’s distracting him from listening to you will help. Example, off the TV if that’s his focus at that time, confiscate his iPad and get him to listen to you first and so on. I see handling selective hearing in kids as a top in the list for all parents because if left unattended, this may escalate to turning your child to be more stubborn and more resistance to behave in future.

 

3. SPITTING OUT FOOD AND WATER

• Before jumping into the conclusion that this is a behavioural problem, you may want to check inside his mouth. He may be experiencing some pain in his gums or teeth, sore and infected throat or ulcers and please also check if there’s anything in the food that he spits out. Kids are smart enough to spit out if there’s any bone or unknown object in their food. Also check if the food is too hot. If these had been ruled out, then discipline comes in. Ask him why is he doing that. If he’s unable to answer yet, stop feeding and let him take a minute break. He may be too full or simply just tired of chewing.
• I’ll usually try to clean up the mess on the table or floor and show him that he has dirtied the place and it is not a right thing to do. I’ll “nag” and tell him in future, if he doesn’t want the food in his mouth, let me know so that I can get a tissue and let him spit. Personally, I don’t really punish my boys too much when they spit because I don’t want them to swallow any unknown object just because they are worried about any harsh punishment.

4. PLAYING ROUGH

• Some kids may learn playing rough through friends or cousins. Try to explain to him that nobody likes to play with someone who hit, push, pinch, kick or bite people.
• Tell him the consequences of rough play, like someone will get hurt or injured.
• Recall an incident whereby he’s been hurt and share with him that it will cause someone to be in pain or even bleed.
• Lastly, do a self-reflection on ourselves. Did we ever behave aggressively in front of them and they are simply picking up our behaviour?

 

 5. INTERRUPTING YOUR CONVERSATIONS

• When your little one interrupts your conversation, please stop your conversation and stop rattling on hoping he’ll give up.
• After stopping your conversation, listen to what he’s trying to tell you first before screaming at him as he may be telling you something more important than your chit-chat session with your neighbour.
• If he’s telling you something that does not require your immediate attention, you may tell him that you are talking to someone and ask him to wait for you to finish first.
• Later on, when you are alone with him, explain to him that interrupting is rude. Don’t scold or scream at him in front of others unless really necessary because you’ll be surprised they’ve got their little pride too and they’ll feel embarrassed to be scolded in the presence of others.
• You may want to reward him with a little snack if he behaves and stop interrupting after he’s been told.

6. TELLING LIES

• Before passing down the judgement that it is a lie, try to find out more first.
• Try to pick up some body language that may help you differentiate a truth from a lie.
• If you know your little one is telling a lie, give him a chance to explain his behaviour. Don’t be mistaken that it is a chance for him to justify his wrong doing. You may be able to find the real underlying reason for his action.
• “The wolf who cried wolf” is a good story to share with your little one and instil good values to them.
• Appropriate punishment again is required depending on the seriousness. You may take away his entitlement like his favourite snack, his favourite tv programme or even his weekend trip to the zoo. (But please don’t create and remove a last-minute zoo trip just to serve as a punishment. Your kid may just turn back and say you are the one telling!)

 Happy Parenting! 😉 

 

Dark Soy Sauce Chicken Wings

 

 Soy Sauce Chicken Wings                                                   (serves 2-3 pax)

Ingredients:
Chicken Mid-Wings                        10 pcs
Soaked Mushrooms                        5 pcs
Minced Garlic                                    1 tsp

Who’s Calling “Mummy” The Most In Your House?

One would have thought that with a pair of little ones who had learnt to talk will be the ones calling out to mummy the most. How wrong! In our family, the one that calls out “mummy” the most is my hubby! Yes, each time my boys tell him something, next thing I hear is “Tell

10 Ways to Get More Sleep at Night!

Lack of sleep in the 1st year is expected and unavoidable for all parents. And every single minute counts as a mummy, especially for a twins mum. Below are some ways that you can try out to gain that extra minute of sleep at night.

1. Buy Extra Milk Bottles. Get enough bottles to last through the night without any washing. Leave the washing to the morning. Yes, you may end up with lots of bottles but to get that extra minutes of sleep, it is definitely worth it. (For me, this is a good because after washing the bottles in the night, I had a hard time falling back to sleep.)
2. Pre-scope your milk powder. Scope your milk powder before sleep into milk powder containers. This is important because, not only it saves you time, it also reduces the chances of having extra scope or missing scope of milk powder in your half awake state. If your twins are drinking different amount of milk, label the containers.
3. Set up a mini pantry in your room. If space allows, gather the milk powder, hot and cool water, milk bottles and a towel for spills, put them in a small corner for milk preparation in your room. (You may consider sacrificing your dressing table or side table for this.) It will reduce time spent on walking out to the kitchen or living room to get milk and your little ones are spared that extra minute of crying too.
4. Stand by babies’ extra clothing, wet wipes and diapers. Ensure that extra clothing and diapers are easily available so that you don’t need to search for them in the dark when needed.
5. Leave a dim light on throughout the night. It is not advisable to sleep in total darkness if your babies are sleeping in the same room as you need to look out for them whenever you are awake. Also, to avoid accidents when you woke up to their cries. Changing diapers or feeding in dim light will allow the little ones to fall back to sleep easily compared to if you on the room light to feed or change them. If they fall back into their sleep faster, mummies can sleep faster too! (If possible, use dim light for your toilet too.)
6. Prepare extra pacifier. If your little one is addicted to pacifiers, it will be good to standby an extra one so that if dropped on the floor in the night, you do not need to bring it to wash.
7. Let your babies wear in layers. Wearing layers of thin clothes is better than wearing them in one thick pyjamas. It allows you to take off a layer and adjust accordingly without causing too much commotion to wake your little one up.
8. Use better quality diapers. Its worth every cent to use good quality diapers for the night as it absorbs better and requires less changing and may even last throughout the night!
9. Feed formula milk before sleeping. Those mummies who breastfeed their babies, you may want to try feeding them formula milk for the last feed before sleep as formula milk can make them feel fuller and sleep longer.
10. Set the right room temperature. Especially in air-conditioned room, it is best to set it at 25 degrees and clothe your  babies accordingly. This can reduce little ones waking up due to too cold or too warm.

Hope the above can help you to gain that extra minute of sleep. You just have to try out and see what works for you. Cheers! 😉

My 2nd year of Motherhood

 

TIME
As a mummy, I find my days had become longer and the years shorter, well, I mean the year passed real fast. When I look at each and everyday (especially the first year of motherhood), the time seems and it is never enough. Maybe due to the amount of chores need to be done and maybe because I’m handling twins, time is never enough! At times, I just wished that I can

Get Paid By Govt For Taking Leave To Care For Your Child!

                               

Many parents are not aware that if you have children below 7 years old and you meet the criteria, you are actually eligible to claim for childcare leave from the government. My hubby and I just got our cheque thanks to a gentle reminder from our cousin. We almost missed claiming for last year’s leave. We do hear of maternity leave paid by the government but childcare leave is a very hot topic even though many will benefit from it.

Below are some conditions to be met:

1st Year – Who took care of my twins?

After giving birth, we hired a confinement nanny for two months because we do not have the luxury of having parents who can help us with the two little ones. Thank God, our confinement nanny is a capable lady who is my age but very experienced with babies. And, she’s a good cook too. Her Hakka dishes is very delicious and she’s kind enough to cook even for my extended family who came almost every week to visit (maybe due to her cooking or…….?). Kekeke…;)

Tip 1 – How To Choose Fresh Ingredients

Choosing fresh ingredients can be quite easy if you’ve been following behind your mother when she goes marketing. Here, I’m sharing few tips on choosing some of the common food that we use to cook for our little ones.

Potatoes
1. Choose those which are firm with no soft or dark spots.
2. Do not choose those green-tinged potatoes as they contain toxic, a sign that the potato
has been exposed to light.
3. Do not choose those that have started to sprout (means they are old).

A Letter To My Dearest John & Joseph On Mother’s Day

Proud mummy of JJ.

My Dearest John & Joseph,

For the first 21 years of your mummy’s life, Mother’s Day simply means celebrating the day with your late grandma and also it is a day of appreciation to her. After she’s gone back to the Lord, Mother’s Day has lost its significance and it only bring about sadness and I missed your grandma more on this day.

5 Important Steps To A Healthy Meal

Many of us will cook food that has high nutritional value to their little ones. But do you know that we may be doing more harm than good to our little ones if any of the steps like choosing, storing, thawing, preparing and cooking is not well taken care of?

                                    

 

CHOOSE
Choosing the right ingredients is the first step to cooking a healthy meal for our little ones. Between two identical items, we would always assume that the one that cost more is the better one which is not necessary true. Just like recently someone raised up the question of is organic food really better? Well, this is a topic that I’ll be doing some research on when I’m free.

7 Food/Drinks To Avoid Eating With Eggs.

7 Food/Drinks To Avoid After Eating Eggs.

As a mummy, I love giving eggs to my boys for their protein. And when I came across this article, I thought it’ll be good to share with mummies who may be introducing eggs into their little ones’ diet.

The original article is in chinese and I’m trying my best to translate it so as to benefit mummies who can’t read chinese. Mummies who are good in mandarin, please feel free to email me to correct my translation. 😉

Despite the nutritional benefits of eggs, chinese physicians believe that all food when eaten together, can either enhance the value of the food or cause harm to our body. In some serious cases, it may even cause death.

Here, I’m going to share on the 7 food and drinks NOT to be taken together with eggs :

1. Sugar – Sugar can cause the protein to be hard to dissolve and absorbed by our body. To fully benefit from the nutritions from eggs, please avoid sugar.
2. Persimmon – It may cause food poisoning, acute gastroenteritis or calculus of lung. In general, eating these 2 food together may cause vomiting, diarrhea stomach pain which are symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. If consumed within 1-2 hours, you may try induce vomiting. Dissolve 20g of salt into 200ml of water and finish it at one go. If this fails to induce vomiting, try a few times to vomit out. Or, you may add some fresh ginger juice to warm water and drink it. If you had consumed the 2 food for a longer time, you may need to take some laxatives to help pass out the toxic. (My advise is, see a doctor if unwell.)
3. Soya Milk – Soya milk alone is nutritious. But when consumed together with or after eggs, it destroys the nutritional benefits and defeats the purpose of both the egg and soya milk.
4. Goose meat & Rabbit meat – May cause diarrhea. (May not be so applicable in Singapore).
5. Turtle meat – May cause food poisoning.
6. Antibiotic – If any inflammation, do not take antibiotics after eating eggs. Especially for those with digestive issue and diarrhea, please do not take eggs. Since eggs are rich in protein, it may have adverse effect on the medication.
7. Tea – Taking tea after eggs, it will slow down the bowel movement in the intestines resulting in not only constipation, it will increase the toxic and carcinogenic substances (substances that produce cancer).

Other Tips to share on Eggs :

*   Eggs that are cooked overnight will breed bacteria, especially if the egg is not fully cooked.

*   Tea Eggs (茶叶蛋) should be avoided too due to point no. 7 mentioned above which may cause cancer.

*   Raw Eggs contain lots of bacteria which can be destroyed under high heat (cooking throughly). It also contains a substance that is harmful to our digestive system.
(Note: When breaking eggs, avoid contact with the exterior of the egg shell as it has bacteria too! I always washed the whole egg first before breaking it.)

*   Take Eggs in moderation. Though eggs are high in nutritional value, too much eggs will cause obesity and may be harmful to the liver and kidney.

Well, after sharing the above, my stand is eat everything in moderation and be careful with what we eat. I rather be branded as more choosy than eat the wrong food or worse, feed the wrong food to our little ones.

As parents, it is our responsibility to choose the right food for our little ones. And it is also our first priority to take good care of our own body before we can take care of our little ones and watch them grow in our love.

Hope all mummy and daddy will stay strong and healthy to take good care of their little ones and shower them with unconditional love. Cheers!  🙂

 Click here for the original article.

Mashed Potatoes with Pumpkin

Healthy and Yummy for your little ones. No seasoning added except cheese.

Mashed Potatoes with Pumpkin                     (serves 2 pax)

Ingredients:
Potatoes                       2 medium size
Pumpkin                       1 wedge (width around 4cm for palm size pumpkin)
Cheddar Cheese        1 slice

 

1)  Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks (smaller chunks reduces steaming time). Remove the pumpkin skin till the light greenish part (which is quite hard) is gone and remove the seeds. Cut into chunks.

2)   Wash potatoes and pumpkin and put all into the Avent Steamer Blender and steam for 15 minutes.

3)   After steaming, simply flip and turn the container upside down and blend for till you get the right texture. Normally 2-3 mins is all you need.

4)  Scope out the mashed potatoes and while it’s still hot, add in the cheese slice (tear into smaller pieces so that it melts faster). Mix well and it’s ready to eat!

 

**Tips:

1)      The amount of cheese can be adjusted to suit your taste. For my boys, 1 slice is more than enough for them because cheese contains sodium so add in moderation for flavor.

 

 

Organize All Your Stuffs

Organizing your things is one way that you can save lots of precious time and effort. Trust me, after giving birth, memory starts to go downhill (many moms will agree to this) and a well-organized storage will make a mummy’s life easier.

First time mummies will be happy shopping for baby stuffs during pregnancy but after giving birth, they may not even remember what they’ve bought. I’ll share how I categorized all the stuffs.