We seldom eat out physically at a hawker centre. There were a few occasions and they happened to be slightly unpleasant for Caden because in those incidents, we ended up sitting at those seats nearer to the dump area.
So usually Caden is apprehensive when he hears us saying that we will be bringing him out to eat at non-air conditioned places. He'll start nagging that it'll be dirty and smelly and that's when ah Lou will start to cast his eyes on me for indirectly instilling a low tolerance level to eat at hawker centres.
It's not that I dislike the type of food serve. As a matter of fact I grew up loving hawker food and even still crave for some of these local specialities at times. Ever since I become a mother, I felt the level of hygiene is not present especially the kind of dirt you see on those tables. Chairs are not adjustable so I feel that Ethan is not positioned at an appropriate height to eat by himself. I don't have the same resistance if we were to dine in coffee shops, as tables were typically cleaner and chairs are stackable so Ethan can be adjusted to a higher level nearer to the table.
Today ah Lou decided to eat at kovan hawker centre for lunch- and said that we shouldn't pamper the kids so much and they need to be used to eat out at hawker centre. I managed to find them an airy area and diverted the boys attention by keeping them occupied with iPhones while PaPa went off to queue up for their food. It took me three wet wipes to fully clean up the table as the auntie responsible to clear plates was nowhere seen..
While they were obediently eating their lunch, an old couple dropped by our table and asked us to buy tissues. Ah Lou took out a dollar in exchange for 3 packets as usual. Caden asked PaPa for the reason of his gesture. PaPa explained to them that the old man was blind and yet he has to walk around whole day to earn money, so he was helping them by buying the tissues. Caden then asked how are they able to manage with that 1 dollar that they earned? I told them that everyone has to work very hard to earn money in order to buy food and have a shelter to sleep everyday. He seems to understand the difficulties that unfortuate people have to go through so today's lunch was not that unpleasant after all..
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Valentine's Day
Ah lou is not good with giving surprises. He bought my VDay present last week and was eager to tell me that he has done so.. The best part is, he even gave me a preview of the present on Friday morning and I got to know what I'll be getting this valentines day.
For 2 consecutive years, the gift is sourced from Crabtree and Evelyn. Ah Lou has gotten enough lessons in getting wrong presents for me so he has learnt to play the safe game these 2 years. I love toiletries so anything from marks and spencer, Crabtree or Origins will not go wrong. He particularly liked that fragrance from this year's Crabtree range which he bought so it will be something that benefitted both of us ( it comes with talc powder) so ah Lou can use too! :) anyway, it's also a sweet gesture to still receive a gift despite all these years
For 2 consecutive years, the gift is sourced from Crabtree and Evelyn. Ah Lou has gotten enough lessons in getting wrong presents for me so he has learnt to play the safe game these 2 years. I love toiletries so anything from marks and spencer, Crabtree or Origins will not go wrong. He particularly liked that fragrance from this year's Crabtree range which he bought so it will be something that benefitted both of us ( it comes with talc powder) so ah Lou can use too! :) anyway, it's also a sweet gesture to still receive a gift despite all these years
Good hair day
Ethan came up to me last night when I got back home from work. He asked,"mummy did you go cut hair?" I said no. Then he replied," but your hair very nice leh, I like." then he started to stroke my hair.. Such a sweet gesture and felt good to receive a compliment from my own boy ..
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Big Investments
I know where most of our hard-earned money has been channeled to most of the times:
1) School fees - Ethan's Living Sanctuary School fees are not cheap given that it's a 3 hour session, plus a $110 per month school bus fare and $100 per term computer lesson fee
2) I can read - we just started Ethan on I can read programme too after seeing how Caden benefited from it
3) Berries - Chinese lessons - pre-emptive measures of having the fear that they are not able to catch up with the Primary school pace
4) Piano lessons - Ethan also just started on Yamaha course. Being my childhood dream to learn piano, I hope my boys will excel and I believe this has many intangible benefits on a child
Today, we decided to drop by Kinderfun store in Centrepoint after getting to know about the ergonomic desks and chairs that they are carrying. We were impressed with the design at my brother-in-law's place where they have bought a set for Emma 1.5 years back. Our curent study table in the study room was customed made by our contractor when we first moved in and the height of the table was made to be used by an adult so both Caden and Ethan have not been able to sit there long enough to do their reading or homework. Caden has always been all over the house doing my pre-assigned homework in the last 2 years, we feel that he should have a more designated spot in the house, and be given a more conducive environment to do his homework and in 2 years time to come, to study for his exams. PaPa was more affirmative to buy the set than me (I was still half-hearted given the price tag that comes along)as this helps to correct the posture, which I agree that it is important to have a good start, and the table is adjustable for an adult to use (which means we can maximise this through his education years). The table has a feature where the main panel can be tilted to a certain angle for reading and be placed at 90 degrees for writing. Nonetheless, we went to see-see-look-look today to have a feel of the prices and the models available.
So happens that the store is giving a 20% storewide discount today and ending tomorrow (they call it a CNY promotion), we worked out that we will be saving $420 if we were to buy them today (yes, it's this pricey!) and ah lou was telling me that it's ok to buy now rather that coming to visit the store again and again while waiting for the best deal (which can be $350 discount plus $50 store voucher plus $50 bag voucher). And so, we decided to go with our biggest one-time investment on the kids so far:-
This cost near $600 before the discount
A Germany brand with a humongous price tag
Ah lou was hoping that this will not end up being a white elephant in the house, I reassured him that we can make it work by encouraging Caden to use the table each night when we spend time working through his school work with him.
So this would also imply that I can forget about replacing my living room's lounge chair and doing an upholstery of our current sofa since our finances are relatively tight this year.
And I should also forget about redeeming my nine west shoes on Tuesday (which is the end of CNY) although they have now been slashed by 50%.
1) School fees - Ethan's Living Sanctuary School fees are not cheap given that it's a 3 hour session, plus a $110 per month school bus fare and $100 per term computer lesson fee
2) I can read - we just started Ethan on I can read programme too after seeing how Caden benefited from it
3) Berries - Chinese lessons - pre-emptive measures of having the fear that they are not able to catch up with the Primary school pace
4) Piano lessons - Ethan also just started on Yamaha course. Being my childhood dream to learn piano, I hope my boys will excel and I believe this has many intangible benefits on a child
Today, we decided to drop by Kinderfun store in Centrepoint after getting to know about the ergonomic desks and chairs that they are carrying. We were impressed with the design at my brother-in-law's place where they have bought a set for Emma 1.5 years back. Our curent study table in the study room was customed made by our contractor when we first moved in and the height of the table was made to be used by an adult so both Caden and Ethan have not been able to sit there long enough to do their reading or homework. Caden has always been all over the house doing my pre-assigned homework in the last 2 years, we feel that he should have a more designated spot in the house, and be given a more conducive environment to do his homework and in 2 years time to come, to study for his exams. PaPa was more affirmative to buy the set than me (I was still half-hearted given the price tag that comes along)as this helps to correct the posture, which I agree that it is important to have a good start, and the table is adjustable for an adult to use (which means we can maximise this through his education years). The table has a feature where the main panel can be tilted to a certain angle for reading and be placed at 90 degrees for writing. Nonetheless, we went to see-see-look-look today to have a feel of the prices and the models available.
So happens that the store is giving a 20% storewide discount today and ending tomorrow (they call it a CNY promotion), we worked out that we will be saving $420 if we were to buy them today (yes, it's this pricey!) and ah lou was telling me that it's ok to buy now rather that coming to visit the store again and again while waiting for the best deal (which can be $350 discount plus $50 store voucher plus $50 bag voucher). And so, we decided to go with our biggest one-time investment on the kids so far:-
This cost near $600 before the discount
A Germany brand with a humongous price tag
Ah lou was hoping that this will not end up being a white elephant in the house, I reassured him that we can make it work by encouraging Caden to use the table each night when we spend time working through his school work with him.
So this would also imply that I can forget about replacing my living room's lounge chair and doing an upholstery of our current sofa since our finances are relatively tight this year.
And I should also forget about redeeming my nine west shoes on Tuesday (which is the end of CNY) although they have now been slashed by 50%.
Joy of fetching
We hardly get to reach home on time to fetch Caden direct from school during the evening time. On one of the Thursday evenings, I managed to rush back home from temple (after returning the favour for blessing my mum-in-law speedy recovery) and got to pick Caden up from school on my half day leave. It's quite heartwarming to see the joy of your child looking happy to see you waiting for him at the school gate when he least expected it..
-in my heart, I wish that father doing his parent volunteering all the best in his enrolment period when his time comes :)
-in my heart, I wish that father doing his parent volunteering all the best in his enrolment period when his time comes :)
A day out with 3 children
In one of the december holidays, we took Kimi and Caden, Ethan out for dinner and a walk to marina bay sands shopping mall. We first started with a slow stroll from marina square to MBS and the bridge was fairly crowded given that it was a weekday around 5pm.
Cousins (1 year apart, Kimi being the elder one)
Caden loved this view and asked to take a picture
Ended up in Ding Tai Fung for dinner in MBS, as usual, upon Caden's request
We ended up in Anderson for some desserts and ice-cream after the walk back to Marina square from MBS (cos it was really tiring chasing after the 3 active kids!).
We loved this 5 scoops classic!
and they serve nice cheesecakes too
Although Kimi by nature is very easy to handle compared to Caden and Ethan but after the trip, I was really sure that I wouldn't be able to cope with 3 children, so I admire parents who have more than 2 kids in the family, beside the financial burden in bringing up 3 children in this economic environment.
Cousins (1 year apart, Kimi being the elder one)
Caden loved this view and asked to take a picture
Ended up in Ding Tai Fung for dinner in MBS, as usual, upon Caden's request
We ended up in Anderson for some desserts and ice-cream after the walk back to Marina square from MBS (cos it was really tiring chasing after the 3 active kids!).
We loved this 5 scoops classic!
and they serve nice cheesecakes too
Although Kimi by nature is very easy to handle compared to Caden and Ethan but after the trip, I was really sure that I wouldn't be able to cope with 3 children, so I admire parents who have more than 2 kids in the family, beside the financial burden in bringing up 3 children in this economic environment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)