First Chinese New Year at Pekanbaru

We went to my mom's place as a family, me, my hubby, and the two girls and gathered for the first time during Chinese New Year on the 4th day. The trip was a short one, as I had to come back for work. The children were happy of course. It was Charmaine's first trip to Pekanbaru and met her grandma (ama). For Bebeth, it was the 3rd time.

In the airport.

Dec - at Navy Museum (Jurong)

Two Amoys

Chinese New Year - 26 Jan 2009

Snow at Ang Mo Kio Hub - Happy time with Chinese class friends

We gathered last year in Dec 2008, children and parents of Chinese Class. They enjoyed the bubble/foam snow from Ang Mo Kio Hub on Friday Dec 19. All children were running around chasing the bubbles/foam. There were Rue Jie, Ray, and also Charmaine.

Colouring - Activity

To capture her colouring work.

Following are the samples of her work in colouring.

On the left, it is from the chinese activity book.

2nd piece of Art

Have I said before that she was very nagging? Yes, if you promise something to her, you better do it, if not she will be forever reminding you about your promise. The same thing happened to the art activity. She saw this small counter in Hougang Mall, the stall was providing a place, materials for young toddlers who like to express their art in a piece of picture or sands. That was the day, and I promised her to bring her there to do her art after the music school. Unfortunately, the stall has disappeared. She was very upset, almost cried, so I quickly talked to her and console her. I said...mommy know where to find the art stall, mommy will bring you another day, tomorrow. As expected, the next day I had no choice but to bring her to Compasspoint - Sengkang. She kept asking how far the mall from here. Finally, on Sunday I brought Bebeth and Charm together. Of course i gotta bring my hubby along too....i can't simply handle the two alone.

Here is the art she did. She did with her daddy's guidance.

No cough finally!!!

She has been taking the pear dessert for consecutively 7 days. It's a miracle. On the very first night she took chuan bei and pear dessert, i noticed that was the first night she did not cough at the middle of the night. As the article says to take 7 days until the symptom disappeared, I religiously cooked that for her, in fact, Charm and I or my hubby took that together. Charm did not like it at first, (she is very picky!) but since she saw her elder sister had been taking that every night, she somehow did not mind to take as well. (that she is!!!) he..he...so her cough is completely gone now. I thank God for that. I thank God for her health. And you know what, Bebeth knew and remembered exactly what I said to her, since then she talked and prayed to God (her habit before she sleeps) about the pear dessert, she thanked God that her mommy cooked the pear dessert for her to eat so that she did not wake up and cough in the middle of the night and she had to take 7 days. She is an amazing child. She was so proud about this pear dessert, and she has been telling to her auntie (my sis in law Sharon) about this too. When Sharon asked her if she still had cough, she replied with saying "no, my mommy cooked pear dessert for me to eat, and no more cough". :) Luckily she likes the pear dessert! It's actually yummy.

Will I kill her interest in Reading???

Yesterday, my colleague said out something that strike my mind. I showed her : Key words with Ladybird 7A, i just bought this for my coming 4 year old girl. I have been following Tamarind's path/method by introducing her Lady bird from series 1 abc, to now 7a (supposed to be 6, but kinokuniya ran out of stock). The page contains lengthy sentences and a few paragraphs. No doubt, she is very much interested in books, she loves books and she CAN read (yes she can though it's not very fluently, but practice makes better). I started buying this book 1a - 3c last Jan and she is now reading 7 series. But my colleague,..."omg....will you kill her interest in reading by introducing such a lengthy page for her to read?" It never occurred in my mind that my good intention by introducing this series progressively can kill her interest. I pulled back and pondered.....but I dunno .....

This morning before she went to school (childcare), she was reading 7a.

She was the one who reminded me to buy this book since last week. I slipped my mind to buy in the lift, and she was upset.....and since then she kept reminding me to buy series 6 and 7. I kept my promise, last saturday I went to Orchard to buy. She was motivated to learn, as I tricked her....she loves to do her activity book C, she finished all her C books. I said, Bethanie, if you finish the 5c, then mommy will buy you book 6 and 7. She finished book 5 c within a day. It's just very easy to teach her. It's a joy teaching her, because she responds very well to my teaching, she asks lots of questions, she is enthusiastic working her activity books, reading books. The best thing is that she does not realize that she has put in hard work. She thought all these while she was playing games all along, books are her toys, didn't I mention before that books are the two sisters' toys, they fought over the book as if they were their favourite toys.

First night without waking up with cough

Last night was the 2nd night she took the pear desert. I will continue giving her till 7 days and stop for a while till she does not cough completely. Phew...i cast out my care to Him, and He took care for me.

Last night the two rascals saw my computer on (I was working at home till 10 pm), as usual the two would ask me to play the starfall (Alphabet game (to them hihih...)). Beth came with delight and her request: Mommy, just one letter...ok...just one only, I want letter M". My heart melted,....though I was rushing to finish off my work to meet the deadline. Ok...I clicked on M and they were happy. Later on they were settled with Daddy's notebook, Beth played the computer herself, I taught the other night, how to control the mouse and left click. She learnt fast.

9 something, I chased the two to sleep. Beth as usual tried to sleep in my room, and she was rolling up and down her body, she could not lie down still and close her eyes. I warned her to wake up at 7 am tomorrow morning, if not I will pour the water and drag her out from bed. She cheeckily talked back to me...mommy, you also need to sleep early, if not tomorrow you can not wake to go to office, if not i will beat your buttock". Look....she now can talk back to her mommy, i quickly reprimanded her, eitts...that's not the way you talk to your mommy....it's being impolite and disrespect manner.

After I switched off my computer at almost 10.30pm, I came on the bed and both of us were ready to sleep. She prayed her own prayer, this time was cute..hihih...Thank you God....my mommy works hard and earns money, so she can buy candy and jellybean for me.....thank you God, that my mommy cooked the pear desert so i don't have cough in the middle of the night and so i can eat orange and grapes my favourite fruit.....

Now sleep...

but...she was still tossing around her body. "Mommy, tell me a story...I want two little pigs". Hihi...I had to make up my own story to amuse her....a simple and stupid story but stupid enough to amuse her and make her happy.....It was about two sisters, one cheetah and one turtle, I asked her to guess who they were. So the turtle was Bethanie, because she woke up late, and did thing very slow, and Charmaine was the cheetah, she was the first to wake up, showered and dressed up and drank her yakult...." She laughed.... but she did not want to be the turtle....so I gotta change it to little cheeky rooster and small fat dog......she did not accept "fat" because my sister is not fat" she said. Ok...I said.....and stories went by.......finally she was in her dream....that was almost 11 pm.

Recipe For Removing Phlegm (Chinese)

I found this recipe which I am going to try tomorrow. It looks simple and no harm trying. After all, Beth has been down with cough and phlegm for so long, western medicine seems not working well for her.

I love this website, it's called KIASUPARENTS. he...he....perhaps I am one of them.
I really learn lots of thing, useful, educational and informative especially for parents with young children.

STEWED PEAR WITH ROCK SUGAR冰糖燉梨
INGREDIENTS:
Chuan Bei Powder 川貝母粉
3 to 6 grams for a 50 kgs adult (meaning if your child is 25 kg, you may use 1.5 to 3 grams. Amount of powder is your child’s weight / 50 x (3 to 6 grams)
Rock Sugar 冰糖
cannot use white sugar else may attract more phlegm. Optional (if your child doesn’t mind the bitterness, you may not add this item. Else, add a small rock like the size of your finger nail).
A Pear
one medium size pear for a 50 kgs adult (meaning if your child is 25 kg, you take half. Amount of pear is your child’s weight / 50 x 1. Best to use organic pear as the skin will be used (but I still can’t find organic pears in Singapore yet).
Boiling water

THINGS YOU NEED:

A container (炖杯/碗)with cover (I use a chawanmushi cup)
A rice cooker
A measuring spoon (from Eu Yan San)
INSTRUCTIONS
If the pear used is not organic, rub the skin with salt to rid any insecticide.
Rinse the pear well.
Peel its skin (keep for use)
Cut the pear into half and remove the core. Use only half of the pear with half of the pear skin and eat the other half yourself.
Cut the halved pear into small pieces.

Next, put about 2 grams of powder into the cup.
Fill the cup to about half with boiling water
Stir to dissolve the powder in the water (stir well as the powder may turn lumpy).
Add in the rock sugar and stir to dissolve it.
Add in the pear pieces and its skin.
Cover the cup with its cover.
Then, fill the rice cooker with boiling water (to be about ½ the height of the cup).
Put the cup into the cooker.
Stew / boil for about 60 minutes.
Remove and serve when cool (eat everything in it).

NOTES
The above will take you less than 10 minutes to prepare. It’s very simple and easy though my instructions above may sound / look complicated.
Your child will have to take it continuously for 7 days as a dessert (can be before or after food / morning or night). It loosen the phlegm and rid them quite completely if not completely. If after 7 days you still can hear some ‘phlegmy’ sound when your child laughs/coughs, rest for about 5 days and repeat another 7 days. It should work well.
Suitable for kids as young as 1 (but remember must adjust the amount of powder and pear used).

The best pears (tastiest) to used are those with brown skin that is really pear shape (not those rounded ones with yellow skin as not juicy and sweet enough). I got mine from Cold Storage which is $0.60 per piece. Choose the softer ones.
Chuan Bei looks like small white beads. Can get from any Chinese pharmacy store. I got mine from Eu Yan San, cost me about $30 for 30+ grams (一两). You may buy lesser and get them to grind the beads into powder for you. Also get a measuring spoon from them (they told me a flat spoon of powder is about 1 gram and I weigh from there).
Trust me, it’s yummy (with the rock sugar else my son will only eat it reluctantly).
Also can make for whole families as a dessert if a few of you have phlegm or can feel that the phlegm is coming up (use a bigger container and cut a few pears in and prepare accordingly. Some like to add in more water which is also fine).
If your child still cannot recover from his chesty cough with western medicine, this maybe the best thing to try.
There are a few variations available from the internet but I have settled for the above.
If more severe chesty cough, the strongest Chinese medicine that I know of is the 猴枣散 (monkey’s kidney). Price about $68 or $78 for 1 serving (think about 1 gm or 3 gm). While this is effective, overdose may stunt growth and so have to use this only sparingly (if Chuan Bei doesn’t work, then may proceed to use this one).
PS:
Don’t use your ‘western mind’ to laugh at stewing a pear will destroy all its vitamins. The purpose of stewing the pear is to remove it’s ‘coolness’ (which may cause more phlegm) while retaining its phlegm removing properties…
Have fun!

Lady Bird Series

I always feel I am not a good mom. I have plans to do with my girls, doing art, buy books for her, teach her phonics, reading, bahasa Indonesia, doing math, Chinese, doing activity books, plenty, but at the end of the day, I am stuck with my job. Week 1 and 2 of the month are always the most hestic weeks. I sacrifice my jogging (cut down to only 3-4 times a week), teaching and playing with them.

Despite all that, I am thankful that Beth is a healthy and smart girl. She has been coughing for the last 2 weeks after the Malaysia trip. Her cough is only triggerred at night and actually middle of the night, to be precise. I pity her....oh.....she is very prone to phlegm, cough since she went to childcare. Because my upset about her sickness, I ended up scolding her. I tried not to, you know. I have to ask my maid to administer the medicine to her, and only can remind her about it. If I can take care of her myself, i wonder she will be well taken care of.

Oh yeah, on English reading, I started her with Lady Bird series, Key Words with Lady Bird, thanks to Tamarind who introduced me to this series. It is indeed a very good source to teach young kids about Reading. I must thank her for that, because of her hard work that encouraged me to start with. I do not have my originality and to explore myself which books/methods to start with.

So, the series has a, b and c, from no 1 to 12 (if I am not wrong). I can't remember exactly I bought these books for her. But now I have 1 to 5 series, and plan to buy 6 and 7. Beth has been reminding me to buy that series, she was upset caused I forgot to buy last Sunday at Takashimaya. I had intended to do so, but my mind slipped. So this is my promise to Beth to buy her books on this coming Saturday. She likes to do the serial c books, she has finished all the C books and as I said before, if one day when she knows more thing, she probably will not realize that she has been tricked by her mom to excel in her English and all. hihihi...but she is really enjoying all these activities that I create for her. In fact, she is too enthusiastic to explore the new things. I told her, Beth, you have to finish the C book, then mommy will buy the next series. She was motivated to quickly to finish reading and working on c book, so that she can have the new books.

I guess I bought these back then in January. Within 3 months, she can read all from 1 to 5. From 1 or a few words like below in Serial 1, to a few paragrahps like in Book 5.

Learning Bahasa Indonesia : MEMBACA

She is half Indonesian, though there is nothing to be proud of, but she should not forget her root, it's my root that I would want to impart some good things to her. During my return to Pekanbaru last Chinese New Year in Jan09, I managed to rob from my sister in law this basic reading book. It belonged to my niece who just upgraded to Primary 2. And the book was the same as my book when I was in primary 1, oh man, how time flies but, the curriculum remains unchanged. No doubt, this is a good book to start with, but I was kind of hoping there should be more advanced and new books coming out in the market. Hey, we are talking about 20 over years back. Never mind, it's a free book, why I complained so much.





So with this book below, I started teaching Beth and Charm about Membaca. Beth is my main student, and she is my main concern. I thought I might confuse her / them if I introduced Indonesian language at very young age, they have not grabbed the whole idea of English phonics, reading etc, and now I was teaching a whole new set of Alphabet and pronounciation/phonics. But ...Beth is a good student and fast learner, honestly speaking I love to teach her cause she is so easy to be taught. Both of them love this language. She could even sing to me, "mommy, let me sing Indonesian ABC song, Aa.. be...ce..de...e...ef ge..." She knows which and which between Indonesian and English letter pronounciation. Glenn Doman somehow convinced me that our thought was wrong. Apparently, young toddlers below 6 years should learn as much as they can be exposed too, multi languages will only enrich their learning and knowledge, increases their vocabulary and brain volume. She will turn to 4 years old this coming May. This is the only thing that I can teach her, we don't speak Indonesian at all at home, and she does not have exposure to this language. The only time she is exposed to is only with her ama (grandma) if she comes to Singapore.


After a few lessons, Beth could pick up the essence of Reading Bahasa Indoenesia, she knows how to blend the simple consonants and vowels. She can read, "Ini mata Tuti, Itu alu lama". And it's not memorizing (her memory is brilliant).





Sometimes, I smiled to myself, my two rascals are enjoying doing the activity books, reading books, and those I introduce and expose to them, as if they are toys to them, and they do not realize that actually they are learning them.