It's the school holidays now and I've survived the first five days. Surprisingly, out of these five days, Caitlin actually napped for three afternoons. Today is definitely Nonap day. Right now as I'm writing, Caitlin is enjoying her first official play date with her friend, Xin Hui, from school. They became best friends last year when they were classmates at school and Yamaha music lessons. This year, Xin Hui has been placed in another class but they still see each other in school and at Yamaha.
They are busily talking, discussing, comparing while playing 'cooking'. Xin Hui's mum Suzanne dropped her off as she is working in her own business. Suzanne told me on Wednesday when we confirmed the play date that they would surely fight, spending so many hours together. Xin Hui's been here for over half an hour already and so far, everything's cool...
The play date is a modern-day invention. With kids scheduled so tightly with extra-curricular activities, they tend to lack free playtime with their peers. So, parents resort to making a conscious effort in arranging for kids to 'officially' play!
Play dates can take place at home or at commercial children's activity centres. Like for all organised events and activities, there would be some things that need to be looked into, including play date etiquette. Boy, before this, I never thought that even dates among children involve etiquette!
Basically, they are just some tips for parents to ensure play dates are approached and conducted appropriately to provide a comfortable setting for both parents and children to ensure its success. I found some tips here and here.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Brahms' lullaby
There are many lullabies but the most common and famous one is the one by German composer Johannes Brahms, originally titled Wiegenlied. "Wiegen" means to rock a child and "lied" means song in German.
A quick check has me surprised that many famous singers have performed this lullaby. They include Nat King Cole, Charlotte Church, Celine Dion, Minnie Mouse (although she is a cartoon mouse!) and Kenny G.
I sometimes hum the lullaby to Caitlin when she needs a little 'baby-ing' to help her sleep but have actually never ever known the full lyrics.
Wikipedia provides lyrics for the most common English version:
Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight
With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lullaby and good night, thy mother's delight
Bright angels beside my darling abide
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
Here is the one by Maestro Minnie. It's pretty cute.
A quick check has me surprised that many famous singers have performed this lullaby. They include Nat King Cole, Charlotte Church, Celine Dion, Minnie Mouse (although she is a cartoon mouse!) and Kenny G.
I sometimes hum the lullaby to Caitlin when she needs a little 'baby-ing' to help her sleep but have actually never ever known the full lyrics.
Wikipedia provides lyrics for the most common English version:
Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight
With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lullaby and good night, thy mother's delight
Bright angels beside my darling abide
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
Here is the one by Maestro Minnie. It's pretty cute.
Friday, May 23, 2008
How much sleep is enough?
Babyzone's recent article is another reminder with tips on how to get toddlers to sleep. Most of the tips are what we mothers already know I believe. But what caught my attention was a chart provided which is a guide for us to know how much sleep is enough for our kids. Check it out here.
The chart also states the ideal bedtime for kids ranging between 12-48 months. Somehow, I've never been successful in getting Caitlin to bed any earlier than 10pm even when she was two years old...
The chart also states the ideal bedtime for kids ranging between 12-48 months. Somehow, I've never been successful in getting Caitlin to bed any earlier than 10pm even when she was two years old...
Monday, May 12, 2008
My First Q&A Book
We usually pop into the bookstore if the mall we visit has one. Caitlin enjoys sitting at the children's corner with a stack of books to read by herself. And most times, we end up buying her at least one book although I keep telling myself to stop getting her new books until she has read all the new ones we've already got. I normally have a few hidden in a cupboard which I keep as 'weapons' to be used to entice her when she gets difficult or as rewards when she deserves it. Currently I have around 15 new books from a recent bulk purchase from Scholastic....
Two weeks ago, we succumbed again to another new purchase but this time I'm quite pleased with the book. It's titled "My First Question and Answer Book". All this while, most kid's books of this genre if I may call it, tend to be too wordy, a tad intense in terms of the content, crowded with small print with boring pictures and layout. So I was quite surprised and pleased with this find as this book is very colourful with lots of white space, bright, useful, descriptive pictures. Most of all, it is easy to read with simple yet adequate facts for kids of Caitlin's age to understand.
Although it's quite thick (512 pages), the book is well sectioned with 18 categories and each category has its own table of contents, plus a general index at the back. Every question is answered in two pages with short paragraphs, and sidebar facts and trivia.
It also contains activity boxes that encourage the child to think and probe further.
In case you're wondering what categories are covered, they are space, planet Earth, oceans, weather, science, inventions, your body, dinosaurs, bugs, reptiles and amphibians, birds, mammals, ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, Vikings, knights and castles, pirates and finally explorers.
So far, Caitlin has read a lot of this book on her own during Nonap times and even bedtime. And the icing on the cake (like I said, I'm pretty happy with this buy) is that one afternoon when we were in the sunny outdoors, she said to us, "The question-and-answer book says that you must not look directly at the sun or your eyes will be damaged." Great! If only the Q&A book can also make her take afternoon naps at times (like right now!) so that I too can nap instead of blog!
This book is published by Miles Kelly Publishing ISBN 978-1-84236-914-2. Currently, it retails at RM39.90 (great value for money I think compared to other similar ones that cost at least twice more). I got it from our local MPH store but I'm sure it's available at other leading stores too.
Two weeks ago, we succumbed again to another new purchase but this time I'm quite pleased with the book. It's titled "My First Question and Answer Book". All this while, most kid's books of this genre if I may call it, tend to be too wordy, a tad intense in terms of the content, crowded with small print with boring pictures and layout. So I was quite surprised and pleased with this find as this book is very colourful with lots of white space, bright, useful, descriptive pictures. Most of all, it is easy to read with simple yet adequate facts for kids of Caitlin's age to understand.
Although it's quite thick (512 pages), the book is well sectioned with 18 categories and each category has its own table of contents, plus a general index at the back. Every question is answered in two pages with short paragraphs, and sidebar facts and trivia.
It also contains activity boxes that encourage the child to think and probe further.
In case you're wondering what categories are covered, they are space, planet Earth, oceans, weather, science, inventions, your body, dinosaurs, bugs, reptiles and amphibians, birds, mammals, ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, Vikings, knights and castles, pirates and finally explorers.
So far, Caitlin has read a lot of this book on her own during Nonap times and even bedtime. And the icing on the cake (like I said, I'm pretty happy with this buy) is that one afternoon when we were in the sunny outdoors, she said to us, "The question-and-answer book says that you must not look directly at the sun or your eyes will be damaged." Great! If only the Q&A book can also make her take afternoon naps at times (like right now!) so that I too can nap instead of blog!
This book is published by Miles Kelly Publishing ISBN 978-1-84236-914-2. Currently, it retails at RM39.90 (great value for money I think compared to other similar ones that cost at least twice more). I got it from our local MPH store but I'm sure it's available at other leading stores too.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Shouting my kid to sleep!
These past few weeks, I've had lots of tug-of-wars with Caitlin over afternoon naps. So many times, it was so clear that she was tired and needed a nap to re-charge but she adamantly refused, opting to fight her heavy eyelids and tiredness for the extra time to play with her toys, read or watch television. And her determination provided victory over me and her tired body, getting her past dinnertime until her normal bedtime most days.
Knowing her, if she does not get enough rest for a stretch of days, her immune system will let its guard down and very quickly, she'll have a runny nose which proceeds to trigger her phlegmy asthmatic cough. True to my fear, it happened last week and now her cough is back with a vengeance, like her, stubbornly refusing to let up for at least a couple of weeks. She's now back to using her inhalers to prevent any wheezing and control the cough.
At times like this, I even fail to get her to do something I would like her to do even if she refuses to sleep. No amount of persuasion, threat or enticement of reward can sway that rock-hard mind of hers.
Today, she looked bushed again after returning from her music lesson. Although I managed to get her onto the bed, she wanted to read and refused to put the book down. I left her for some time to prepare dinner, hoping that she might doze off with the book. Instead, I returned to find her sitting upright and still reading! She could not answer me when I spoke to her because she had coughed up some phlegm which she had yet to spit out. She had delayed spitting although the box of tissues was just at the bedside, simply because the book was too good to put down. That was the last straw for me.
Although parenting books and experts tell us not to shout at our kids, that was one advice I could not follow at that point in time. And it worked. She obediently layed down on her pillow and closed her eyes when I told her to. Five minutes later, she was in Slumberland...
Knowing her, if she does not get enough rest for a stretch of days, her immune system will let its guard down and very quickly, she'll have a runny nose which proceeds to trigger her phlegmy asthmatic cough. True to my fear, it happened last week and now her cough is back with a vengeance, like her, stubbornly refusing to let up for at least a couple of weeks. She's now back to using her inhalers to prevent any wheezing and control the cough.
At times like this, I even fail to get her to do something I would like her to do even if she refuses to sleep. No amount of persuasion, threat or enticement of reward can sway that rock-hard mind of hers.
Today, she looked bushed again after returning from her music lesson. Although I managed to get her onto the bed, she wanted to read and refused to put the book down. I left her for some time to prepare dinner, hoping that she might doze off with the book. Instead, I returned to find her sitting upright and still reading! She could not answer me when I spoke to her because she had coughed up some phlegm which she had yet to spit out. She had delayed spitting although the box of tissues was just at the bedside, simply because the book was too good to put down. That was the last straw for me.
Although parenting books and experts tell us not to shout at our kids, that was one advice I could not follow at that point in time. And it worked. She obediently layed down on her pillow and closed her eyes when I told her to. Five minutes later, she was in Slumberland...
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