Rug
Bought this road rug for Girl when she was a wee baby, but only really brought it out for Boy. Boy loves this rug!
Girl uses it like some sort of dollhouse setting- she lays out MY capsule toys and pretends they’re in a classroom setting (see, she laid it on the “School” building at the rug).
I haven’t been able to find these range of capsule toys and am now into toy-catcher machines/ arcade sweets machines. Except I’m utterly crap in it. A gf commented it’s better to waste money on capsule machines cos those at least guarantee a “return” (toy) for my money.
I know they’re utterly stupid but I sometimes hang out at the arcade watching others blow $50 to get a crappy “jackpot” toy. Yet I still find it sooo captivating.
Here’s a Vehicle Party. Boy lined up his vehicles, Girl put Animals and her “IQ blocks” onto the vehicles. (I doubt using them IQ blocks this way increases any IQ, haha).
K’s cousin’s kiddo Manyue
FIL boycotted the event cos he’s not happy with that “side” of relatives. We went with MIL… Boy dozed enroute and carried on napping in the host’s bedroom. When Boy awoke, he was disoriented and screamed inconsolably (plus there was a crowd of relatives). MIL was rattling non-stop, “Do u want to eat? Did your daddy wake u up? Do u want to go home instead?”. K got fed-up and took the wailing Boy to the void-deck for a breather. And then complained to ME that his mum accused him of waking the boy up. Hah!
Girl hung around the cake table- she requested to be in the photo taking, and was one of the first to get a slice of cake. Aiyoh.
Today
Rather good day today, except for my mum getting ill, and Boy’s horrible tantrums. I really wish he wouldn’t get into such fits over nothing!
- I woke up, and K helped ready Boy for school. K normally leaves way before the kids, but he’s trying to work less hours/ spend more time with the kids. It’s such a rare treat having someone else help me in the mornings (*super strong hint*).
- But Boy threw a tantrum over K helping to pull his socks up. Screamed from home, all the way to the Bus. *SIGH*
- Walked with K to the MRT and had tea with him.
- Came home and got a visit from a friend I hadn’t seen in… 5 or 6yrs? So rare to have an adult to talk to in the morning. She brought her super handsome boy. It’s so nice to carry a boy whom I need not clean shit for.
She also brought “breakfast” of FOUR 6″ Subway sandwiches. - My mum popped by at 10:45am and was noticeably ALARMED to see me carry a “baby”. I joked he’s mine and she went, “Dun be funny!”. Not very encouraging.
- Friend carried a load of my clutter (toys/ clothes) to her car while I carried her boy. Then I realised I was supposed to pick up my kids. Didn’t want to pass the boy to my mum, and didn’t think I should disappear with the boy (lest the mum panicks when she returns
). So mum picked my kids up. - Kids were cool about their toys being given away. Boy even gave his verbal approval.
- Friend left. Mum had sudden acute tummy pains so left by 1pm!
- Kids were fairly angelic. Ate their lunches, drank their milk, showered (Boy didn’t throw a hissy fit over shower!). Boy even saved me from massive poo clean-up, by telling me just in time (1st time he’s done so!).
- I did music practice with Boy. He is sooo enthusiastic and compliant- but I suspect it’s just initial interest!
- Girl did her music practice while I did some music sticker workbook with Boy, and some doodling.
- Both kids prattled to each other for nearly an hour before I told them to nap. I was quite pleased they were CHATTING to each other.
- I NAPPED, together with the kids!
- Boy woke in SUNNY mood. Girl woke in crying-for-no-reason mood which irritated me… it sometimes feels like kids take turns to wail.
- I pushed Boy in the stroller and walked with Girl to her Gym class. Asked Boy if he’d like to join Girl for Gym, and for the FIRST time, he said YES!
- Paid for Boy’s Gym and was interrogated by the Coach. (This particular coach is particular about Minimum Age, and whether the child is ready to be dropped off). Coach asked Boy his name and Boy answered audibly. Coach asked, “Are you ready for some fun?” and Boy answered “YES”. We peeped at Boy in class and he looked really happy. Though he often got his moves wrong, heh! Girl was super loud… I could hear her (helpfully) nagging Boy.
- Dined with K.
- Fetched the kids.
- Boy threw another unreasonable fit. I was praising him and carried him into the lift. K smilingly teased, “Why is mummy carrying you?”. Boy SUDDENLY felt he DIDN’T want to be carried into the lift but by then, the lift was already on the way down. He screamed, “I don’t want mummy carry me to the lift, I want to walk myself!”. Even though I already put him down. I told him he could walk OUT of the lift himself. He screamed that he wanted to go back up and REDO the whole entering lift sequence. We refused, and he screamed another 10mins til he was sobbing away. *SIGH*
- Dined with the kids.
- Walked home with all. Girl finished up her music practice.
- I did housework while K read to the kids and put them to bed. Super rare treat to have him help out (he’s normally working), hehe… *MAJOR HINT*.
Boy’s First Music Class
Brings back memories- Girl was his age when she started the SAME classes with same teacher (but before that, she was already attending music classes at a different school). Back then, we used to bring little Ahboy and he’d watch from the sofa as Girl did all the Music and Movement stuff. When he was older, he even participated with Girl… until Girl stopped her group music class.
This is Boy’s First “real” Enrichment class, ever since we stopped the JG Playclub (playgroup) classes that cost me a fortune. (Digress: I visualise the cost in terms of “pearls”- I get a heartpang when I think of the pearls I could have had ). Last week was actual first lesson but we missed it due to his flu- he was surprisingly upset and threw a tantrum, “I want to go Auntie S class!”. This week he clamoured to go for class too, and was EXCELLENT in class. Followed all directions attentively, participated in choosing and returning the various instruments… and get this, he even SANG along in class. Awww, my Boy sings along in class! Boy was thrilled to earn his own stamp chops, Play Money and get his own Music Book!
Asked Boy if he enjoyed class, he said yes. Asked if he’s looking forward to the next lesson, he said No. We’re reminding him he has to earn Play Money to buy toys/ snacks at the end of the term.
Girl’s Teacher Attachments
She declared to K that she wants to follow the previous Ballet teacher to the new school (that senior teacher who left and swept along a whole lot of students with her). She must have been eavesdropping enough- though we’ve never seen the new school, she declared, “Never mind if only 1 toilet!”. (We heard that from another mum, heh).
K asked her, then what about her new Ballet teacher- whom Girl declares she likes very much too? She didn’t answer that but still says she likes the new teacher too, duh.
Likewise for her ex-piano teacher/ Boy’s current piano teacher. She was thrilled to “accompany” Boy for his class (but she was too bossy- had to remind her, “this is didi’s class, let him do it himself!”). When Boy and I proceeded to the classroom for second half of the class, Girl cried. Apparently cried quite alot. She pleaded with K, claiming she needed to be in the classroom too, “to look after the kids”. Poor Girl… she was still teary when class ended. And close to fresh tears when we explained to her again.
I notice Girl tends to get jealous over Boy’s classes. Back when Boy went to JG, she would bug me, “What did Didi do in class? What songs did he sing? What did he eat?”. Today before we even got to the lift, she bugged to see Boy’s Music Books. I told her to wait til we got home- she scrutinised his books the minute we got through the door (even though we were rushing to get Boy to the toilet- urgent case!).
Rewards
Read a case study on the effect of rewards on behavior.
Group A: Kids who were promised Rewards if they did Drawing. They were happy to draw, and happy to receive the reward after that. But in the subsequent “free-time”, they chose to do anything but draw.
Group B: Kids who were NOT promised Rewards but given an Unexpected Reward at the end of task. They were happy to draw, and happy to receive the unexpected reward after that. In the subsequent “free-time”, they carried on drawing.
Group C: Kids who were NOT promised Rewards and received NOTHING. They were happy to draw. In the subsequent “free-time”, they carried on drawing.
I read that study some months back, and that was the final nail in the coffin for Girl’s Reward Chart (where her chores were listed out and she got smiley faces). Though that Reward Chart was pretty neglected towards the end anyway, once I took her doing her chores for granted, heh.
Got me thinking about Boy’s Music Play Money. Good kickstart motivation- he will certainly accomplish the goal of doing practice. But I wonder if he’d do the bare minimum to get the reward, or, STOP practising once the reward is stopped? It also depends on whether he views music practice as a Chore, or something as fun as Drawing- the type of task probably affects the “outcome” of any case study?
Transformers Movie
Finally caught it just now with K. Crappy movie- Terminator was better.
I had hoped to catch Hannah Montana with Girl one of these days… but I think it’s finished its run. Oops. Girl not keen on Ice Age cos she finds dinosaurs scary. Their threshold for so-called violence is STILL very low.
All not by me. They’re fantastic guides!
Flat stacked Cake Video.
(I’ve never done that big- hers are 4 tiers of 12″-10″-8″-6″. I’ve only used Bubble Tea straws cos that’s easily available, cheap and easy to cut to height. I’ve never driven a final dowel through all the tiers cos my cardboards between tiers are too strong to be hammered through.
My version:
- Stick bubble tea straws into the bottom tier and use edible marker to mark the height of the cake.
- Pull the straws out and snip at the marking. Insert into the exact holes and smear some royal icing as “glue”.
- Stack the middle cake tier on (note: all your cake tiers are sitting on its own cardboard bases).
- Repeat steps #1-#3 for the middle cake tier.
- The topmost tier does not need to have bubble tea straws in it (only under its cardboard base). Unless you additionally put a heavy ornament as cake topper.
My version:
All bubble-tea straws but same method.
Kids wanted to stay over their gran’s. I packed Girl’s school homework (the teacher passed me so that Girl wouldn’t have loads to catch up when she returns to school), spelling list and some toys so she can occupy herself there. Boy already has some cars there.
Decided to declutter again. Boy had refused to keep away his toys yesterday, and I woke in a sullen mood- perfect opportunity to get rid of toys. Less toys = less work for everyone. He screamed and cried, but was ok after I let him salvage ONE toy from the lot I’m junking/ giving away. He “saved” the cheapest toy, heh.
Last time had junked the grocery stall, serving trolley, Pooh rider and other bulky stuff. This time the Megabloks train, dumptruck and fire-engine gets the chop- these are merely huge containers for the blocks itself. Also getting rid of the bus ride-on, Mickey cooking stove-set, toy ironing board and some soft toys. Boy loves his toys but he’s been spending more time on the SMALL hand-sized vehicles recently and his multi-storey carparks. Girl has a cheaper (smaller!) cookset already and she doesn’t need 101 soft-toys.
I wanted to get rid of some of K’s books but he threw a fit.
Still Flu
Brought kids to GP for follow-up, GP says Girl still having low-grade fever (since last Sat, below 38deg) so warrants antibiotics. Girl puked the first dose of antibiotics- I had fed her that after stepping out of the clinic so it was a big mess.
The kids are coughing frequently, somewhat phelgmy but not VERY (in my opinion)… I really think time would have healed them. We didn’t take so much meds when WE were younger, just toughed it out and recovered all the same.
GP said to keep them from school for yet another week. Yikes, if I could survive with 2 kids stuck to me all day, I would have homeschooled them yah??? I’m planning some taichi-ing already…
I’ve been able to watch some TV and hence unable to wake early enough. Caught 1 episode of Blade (cool!), 1 episode of Desperate Housewives, 2 episodes of The Starter Wife (my current fave!). Very hard to chase serials at such late timings.
Retail Therapy
Bought for K a new sports watch ($29, discounted from an apparent $75?), a new wallet ($17)! My man been going around like this:
- a random wire sticking out of his specs. The screw fell out so he found a thin wire to hold the specs together.
- scotchtape on his cheapo plasticly-rubbery sports watch. The strap broke. He has a much nicer dress watch that his dad gifted him, which he never uses.
- holes in his wallet. His excuse when I ask why he doesn’t empty coins from his trouser pockets before throwing into laundry bin.
It’s cheaper to buy a new sports watch than to replace a strap! Recently we’ve also switched to buying cheap wallets for him cos none of his wallets can take the abuse of being overstuffed with coins, foreign currency (when he’s NOT in a foreign country) and clutter. Buy cheap, then change when broken! I can’t buy a pair of specs on his behalf and he refuses to take the time to get it changed at the optical shop.
(Then why I took so much trouble to buy nice shirts for him to wear to work??? The other day he wore a crappy shirt- I told him it was crappy but he refused to change. At the end of the day he told me he had a meeting with his Biggest Boss. Eeek! In that crappy shirt when he has many other nicer ones I picked! I nearly fainted.)
Incredible woman paints, wallpapers, packs and moves (and looks after 2 kids).
I’m still not happy with my kids’ toys set-up (I would prefer everything in ONE room so I can doze in same room while they play- just one aircon switched on! But everything can’t fit in ONE room!).
I haven’t set up the kids’ new bed(s). Missing screws .
I’ve always wanted wallpaper on the inset wall behind the piano. (Rich red something would be striking on that small wall).
I’d like to change the look of the kids’ wall (remove the vinyl stickers which I’m bored with now, and the leaf canopies). Remember Boy wanted train-on-the-wall?
I’m not happy with my cakes, heck, I’m not happy with the way I clean toilets/ having to clean toilets at all! Always complaining about laundry too.
Wedding Cake (done!)
Bride wanted tall 3-tier, in plain white with red ribbon trims, but it really looked like styrofoam fake cake to me. So I added more texture.
I’m rather pleased with how it photographs- very origami, modern looking! I think it looks pretty alright here…
but added the red ribbon trims anyway (as per request, just in case they find totally-white cakes unacceptable).
Abit of embossing on the strips (should have put more embossing, not evident in pic!).
I also prepared a “heart cake” (shown in chocolate ganache coating, not yet wrapped in red fondant), *thinking* as sort of a topper for the 3-tiers. I REALLY feel the 3-tiers is missing a TOPPER, the proportion doesn’t look right without a topper!
(I originally wanted to make fondant “bows” on the top but that would make the cake look like a PRESENT instead of a WEDDING cake).
Now, I think a REAL rose topper would be most suitable. Or else everyone would assume the couple is cutting yet another dummy fake hotel cake, instead of a real wedding cake?
TADA! Nearest florist couldn’t produce a Real Rose Cake Topper so I wired 3 fresh roses together.
*Fingers crossed the cake makes the venue SAFELY* (I haven’t quite figured logistics of transporting 2 kids and a heavy tall cake).
Still have the “un-used” heart shaped cake topper… if I have energy tomorrow, I’d finish the extra “heart-cake” for the couple anyway!
http://www.ourfeistyprincess.com/index.php
I don’t know them personally, got the link from Cheekiemonkies. Heart-rending situation, pls help if within means.
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