Loving This Magazine!!!!

The colorful cover of this magazine caught my eyes while walking out a sundry shop and I was "wow, they have this magazine now!" My two angels love watching Oh My! English and when I saw this magazine, I didn't think twice, just picked it up and paid for it.

A wonderful creative magazine with lots of information, interesting activities, comic strips that are fun to read. What's most important is that it is colourful with so many pictures unlike the boring school activity books. At only RM5, I say "why not?"

Little Praises That Go a Long Way

Little Praises That Go a Long Way

My son’s first Taekwondo sparring experience inspired me to write this entry. Last Thursday, we (myself, husband and daughter) accompanied our son to his taewkondo lesson as usual. You may be thinking, accompany the boy? Yes, we sit there watch him train for a good 1 hour and a half. This is a way of how we support him in his interest and  it encourages him to go for what he loves. 

Just after the warming up session, the instructor instructed several kids to put on all the required gear for sparring. Then suddenly, she pointed at my son asking him to get ready as well. I was shocked and worried, my son had just attended four lessons to date. But off course, I cannot show whatever I am feeling inside on my face, as it will only scare my son. So I stood there, acted cool and gave my thumbs up to show my son that I know he can do it. Thank god he was cool too and went up, did what he needed to do and made us proud. Right after the lesson, we took him out for a drink. We discussed about his sparring, giving specifics on how well he did at certain points. I told him “Given that you’ve only attended four lessons, you did very well just now, you even knocked your opponent down.”

He is happy with his achievement that night and it has certainly pushed his confidence further up.

The little praises we give to children matter a lot. Praises serve as an affirmation of children’s ability or strength in some given skills. It informs children that we adults know that they are good. Just as how we adults crave for acknowledgement at work or from our partners, the same goes for children. It is even more important for children to hear praises because they are in the crucial stage of development. Effective praise is associated to confidence, self-esteem and feeling secure. It is also a way of encouraging children to explore their surrounding and gain more skills. 

Spend some time and observe your children, find moments that you can effectively praise them for you do not want to praise too often that it falls on deaf ears. Stay tuned, I will update this blog with another entry on how parents can effectively praise their lil’ ones. 

Have fun with your lil’ ones and say those magical words! :)

The Wonders of Pretend Play

Just the other day, my 2 year old girl was playing with her doll when she said "Mama, my baby wants to walk." She took her doll and tucked it in the toy stroller, came to me, "Mama, open the door." and held my hand, signaling that I accompany her for a walk with her "baby". So, out we go for a walk. We walked a good twenty minutes around the neighborhood.

We often find ourselves being entertained by children who become spider man, doctor, cook, teacher or best of all become their own mom! Bear in mind how strong is the power of modeling!

Why  do they love being someone else? Pretend play is a natural way of how children learn many things around them as well as acquire lots of skills crucial in their development and finally to venture into the world. 

The benefits of pretend play includes:

1. Explore imaginations
2. Develop language skills
3. Develop social skills
4. Encourage development of good problem solving skills
5. Develop the ability to understand things from the view of others
6. Acquire essential life skills from adults 
7. Explore the world beyond 
8. Develop a sense of confidence.

With all these benefits, let’s not underestimate the power of play. Engage in play sessions with your child, build strong bonds with them and not to forget build lasting intelligence as well. Happy playing! :)

The Strong-Willed Child

My first child was an easy baby, one who listens when you reason with him, one who has patience, one who is calm and he is a BOY. So when my doctor told me that I was expecting a girl as my second child, I candidly thought "okay, she'll be easy too..." How wrong was I to make such an assumption! My daughter turns to be the total opposite of her brother. She is not the kid who will easily give up on her wants, not even with logic reasoning. She is persistent, brave, daring and will do anything that interests her with no fear.

I’ve raise my first child pretty well, though of course, there are bound to be some challengers. But with a strong-willed girl, at times I find myself at wits' end as to how best shall I raise her, be her greatest fan and greatest partner. I know it is definitely good that she's strong willed. This is the very characteristic of a go-getter, a self-driven, and a motivated person.  With strong-willed children you’ve got to be very tactful on how you deal with them for you do not want to kill the confidence they have. Here’s an article I’d like to share, giving you 10 Tips for Positive Parenting Your Strong-Willed, Spirited Child. Enjoy!

Dr. Laura Markham Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child

The Many Ways to Bond......

Arriving home at 7pm after work, it gives me limited amount of time to spend with my kids before they head for the bed by 9.30pm. But last night I think I managed to make the most it.As I stood at the island in my kitchen, preparing fish and chips for dinner, my son came running asking if he can help. Readily, I said "yeah....sure you can...come on...sprinkle some salt on the fish." Then came my two year old pretty princess who cleverly took her stool to the sink, stood on it and tried to wash her cup and several utensils in the sink, I just let her enjoy that moment of independence washing, playing with water while I and my son continued with our fish and chips. We didn't just cook, we chatted as well, with my son telling me about his day and the things he did and encountered. My typical evening of preparing dinner turned out to be such a fulfilling moment besides preparing a wholesome meal seasoned with love and joy for my family, it was a time for us to bond with them plus At the same time, I get free help without yelling or shouting; a good way to instill altruism in children.

Have you experience this before? Wasn't it such a pleasant and memorable moment? Working mothers often find it hard juggling the many roles and responsibilities. With the ever increasing demand from work, we often find it difficult to have quality time with our children, to be able to bond with them, to inculcate values and morals in them. Though this is the situation, with some twist and good time management, we can do it. Take every opportunity you have like the above to bring your child closer to you. From what I see here, you don't just kill two birds with a stone, in fact more! Isn't this good? I say WHY NOT?

Go! Be creative and enjoy your kids.

You want respect, you've gotta give it!

The idea of this article came to me recently during an outing with my son at a departmental store. Were walking when a lady knocked into my son and just walked away without saying a word, "You knock people and you cannot even say sorry?" said my son. This came from a young boy who is only 6 years of age, the lady I must be in her forties and sadly she left her manners elsewhere and a young boy had to remind her of it. I don't know if she heard what my boy said, what more will she think of that statement.

We adults are so eager teaching respect to children and demand it from them. We are busy teaching children to respect us that we forget, respect is earned and not given! We love to think that kids have to respect adults because we are adults, as if its programmed, automatic.

Respect is an element in life that is earned. You need to model it in order for children to emulate. Just as much as you want children to respect you, you too need to respect them. In our day to day hassle, some parent yell at their children to get things done or when children don't behave in the manner parents expect. You may see an instant result but not a lasting one. The children merely respond the way you want them to, out of fear, not respect, hence the change is not a long term one. Let's make a change. Learn ways to teach respect.

More tips on this here:

http://www.drrobynsilverman.com/parenting-tips/10-tips-on-teaching-respect-to-children-you-cant-get-it-if-you-dont-give-it/

No Labels, No Limits! - My Child Malaysia - The Best Online Resource Guide to Parenting

No Labels, No Limits! - My Child Malaysia - The Best Online Resource Guide to Parenting

The above article is an excellent one that should be an example to many parents. A child can achieve success in many ways even if they may not be academically inclined. I have worked with many parents to make them understand this. Yes, it is definitely not easy to accept that a child has special needs or may not be inclined to academics, but how far can our children go with the pressure that we keep putting on them to achieve something they have no ability in? Why not celebrate the gift in them and allow them to grow and succeed in the things they are capable in? This makes me wonder if it is our dreams we're trying to fulfill through our children ~ a thought to ponder on.