Learning the numbers

I bought a “Home Edition” of Montessori materials more than a year back, after reading about the Montessori Method and being convinced of its sound basis as a means of assisting children learn the abstract via the concrete.

It was not cheap, and cost me close to 2 hundred dollars including courier from China, but the materials sold in Singapore were outrageously expensive (about 10 times more).

When the box of materials arrived, I opened it excitedly like a child on Christmas Day. After looking at the bewildering assortment of apparatus, it became evident that this was something to be done in stages, as my son matured slowly.

Chef Christian

I must have mentioned this before – Christian’s ambition, ever since we starting him asking the question, is to be a CHEF.

This is why he loves his book Doodle Cook and I am happy to indulge him in it since it helps him practice his pen-grip and hand control in a way that amuses him.

Yesterday, after finishing one of the creations “Thousand-Layer Cake” (it looks nothing like the kueh lapis of this region!), we had the following exchange:

Ch: You are the customer

Me (smiling): Yes. How much will you charge for this cake?

Ch: (beams and thinks for a moment): Er…two dollars. *nods*

Me (cheekily): Not 2 Kisses??

Ch (eyes light up and pauses before saying): Erm..1 dollar. 1 dollar only.

Me (trying to push it): How about 1 kiss?

Ch (grinning): No. 1 dollar only. Very cheap. Ok??

Me (pretends to be hurt): You’d rather receive money than kisses??

He frowns a little, and I sense him worrying about offending me, but I flash him a smile and he relaxes before blinking, nodding and saying “Yes!” =7

Ch: “After I finish keeping my tools I will open the cake and let you eat.

I love you customer…come again next week ok? Next week, when you come, I will make you a nice dish. Ravioli! I will make you ravioli!”

p/s I think the ravioli he had at The Alkaff Mansion must be, for him, the epitome of a great dish. What an atas boy.

Christian’s school artwork

When Christian first went to school, he’d come back with a folio of art and craft at the end of every term, after the meet-the-parent session.

I would put them in a box, but the amount of space devoted to his artworks started becoming outrageous. I read from another mummy online that a good way of preserving the art works is to take a picture of them.

So. Here is Christian’s artwork from Term 2 and 3 this year - 

Frog Jigsaw and Hanging Bird House

Toilet Humour

I can’t remember when I stopped bringing Christian to the public toilets, but delegated the task to P. I think it must have been when he stopped wearing diapers out, and was toilet trained.

In any case, it has been P’s task to bring the little boy to the men’s since a long time ago, and I am always tickled pink by the harrowing experiences P goes through almost every time he does so.

Once, P told me after bringing Ch to the toilet that our son touched the dirty toilet seat, the dirty toilet wall, before touching P on the face. Another time, it was Ch’s dirty poop-smeared fingers which touched P’s nose. And sometimes, I would stand outside and hear P’s shouts…which were the result of Ch not being able to resist his impulse to touch the dirty sink AFter his hands have been washed.

I thought things were much better now that Ch is almost 4…and I’ve not heard funny stories nor seen P’s look of exhaustion post-toileting for sometime now.

However, we were at 112 Katong today after going to the beach when Ch said he needed the loo. I waited at least 15 minutes for them, and wondered why it was taking so long, secretly anticipating the low-brow scatological humour that was coming.

The look on P’s face said it all, but I was puzzled when he started off by saying “Ch, tell Mama how nice the toilet here is…it has buttons and sprays for the buttock right?”

Ch started prattling on, and P told me that they were in the midst of trying to wash Ch’s buttocks with one of those sprays when Ch HAD to shift, causing poor P’s (whom I guess was kneeling down trying to clean Ch) face to get sprayed on instead.

I burst out laughing, and Ch quickly defended himself, saying “But it was ticklish Mama!”

ONE

Dear Calista

You turned one yesterday! I visited Aunty K and her new baby boy at TMC yesterday morning, and was struck with amazement at how exactly a year ago, I was at the same hospital giving birth to you. Holding baby K in my arms reminded me of how small you were when you were first born. That day seems so long ago, and yet, I am filled with wonder at how much you have grown since that day.

Your birthday celebration was a quiet affair; what with your maternal grandparents and most of mama’s and daddy’s good friends overseas. Instead of having a big do with people who don’t really care about whether you turn one or not =7 I spent the day in normalcy, and just took every opportunity to stare into your face or plant kisses all over you.

Christian’s 1st dental visit

I had been meaning to bring Christian to have his teeth checked for the longest time, but did not have time to do so when I was still working. Now that I am home for a while, I’ve been trying to tick off the items on my to-do-list, and so finally made an appointment to bring him to the dentist on Friday.

How did I decide on which dentist to go? Well, I googled and saw from some forums how expensive some recommended kid dentists can be. The other end of the spectrum is the polyclinic dentists, which P said are really cheap.

I wanted a place that was kid-friendly and non-intimidating, so that Christian will have a positive 1st encounter, and not fear going to the dentist. (Though on hindsight I suppose that is largely determined by the state of his teeth. If his teeth is full of holes, no amount of dressing up will overcome the trauma of the drill and filling.)

Anyway, I decided on Q&M after seeing some photos of their kid-friendly outlets. Hah. To prepare Christian for his visit, I read him “Topsy and Tim go to the dentist” many times over. I liked that the book had the twins go through different experiences. Tim’s teeth were perfectly fine, whilst Topsy had to have a filling done. The author was obviously careful to cover both scenarios, so that children do not go away with the mistaken impression that all visits to the dentist involve drilling and pain (which was unfortunately my impression of the school dental clinic!)

Here’s a pic of him at the kids’ waiting area. We found a plush teeth-mould!

He was full of questions on the way to the dentist’s room, which amused the dental assistant. The brightly decorated dental treatment room was also very pleasant and inviting. Christian was amused and kept asking what each equipment was for, and the young dentist kindly indulged him by showing him the water spray, the suction tube and ‘air blower’. The screen above the reclining chair was tuned to Cartoon Network, and the various soft toy monkeys and other kiddy toys left lying around all helped to ease Christian into lying down and complying with the masked stranger’s requests.

My son was so talkative…when the dentist said as an ice breaker that they were going to count how many teeth he had, Christian promptly said “I have 20! And 2 more hidden at the back.. you cannot see it!” The dentist was amused but counted nonetheless and proclaimed “NO HOLES!”

I was happy to hear that, and yet a little sad to think that I spent $99 just to have the dentist tell me that my son’s teeth are perfectly fine. Haha. Alright, he did use some grainy toothpaste to help clean Christian’s teeth, but the visit was over in 15 minutes.

They certainly make good money..and I couldn’t help being the quintessential kiasu mum when I asked Christian whether he would like to be a dentist in future, “just so (he) can help others”.

 

Christian's favourite bookish activity for now

Christian lights up whenever I suggest "working together" on this book, and enthusiastically says he wants to 'aquadoodle cook' (he got this "Doodle Cook" book mixed up with the "Aquadoodle" mat he has).

It's most likely cos he's such a foodie, and currently really wants to be a chef.

We have fun reading the "recipe" instructions together, and drawing out creations such as Scribble Delight, Triangle Cake, Zigzag soup, Sun-ray Tart, Multicolored Spaghetti, etc etc.

He loves this book so much he told me yesterday that he wants to do this everyday, until we finish all the recipes. He had second thoughts a minute later though, saying "Mama, let's save some pages for MY children to do next time ok?" I laughed and told him we'll buy them another book. He wanted me to confirm "Buy the same book ok..?"

Thanks, Aunty Shuhua, for lugging this book all the way back from Canada! It's such a hit with Christian!

Work vs Family

Warning: Long post ahead.

I read the article “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All” published in The Atlantic last week, and so much of the article resonated with me. It is truly representative of the struggles that most working mums face in this era, especially those that are torn between wanting to stay home with their children, but still feel compelled to contribute to the household income by working.

Some choice excerpts, for the benefit of my children, to help them appreciate the internal dilemma and long conversations she had with her dad on whether she was more valuable to the family and the children by being at home or at work:

Flowers from the Boys (II)

It’s not Mother’s Day, but the boys individually presented an offering of flowers, in their own way.

We were shopping around while waiting for Christian during his music class on Saturday, when the Husband insisted that we go clothes shopping for me. I reluctantly went along, reluctantly tried on a dress I thought was too gaudy and too expensive, but had to concede fitted perfectly. And so we bought it. He envisioned me wearing for XJ’s wedding, with a flower in my hair, and singing for XJ.

Later, while Christian and I waited for P to drive out of the carpark to pick us up, I drew Christian’s attention to a purple flowering bush. It was overflowing with purple flowers, and there were some on the ground. He was slightly disturbed, asking why they’d fallen onto the ground..and while I was thinking of how to reply him, he asked “Can I pick some up for you, Mama?”

Oh of course!

Clever Calista

Pardon the proud mama post..but I’m just bursting to record down the things Calista has learnt to do over the past few days..

First, I taught her the word “head” a few days ago, by repeating the word, touching my head, and then helping to bring her hands to her head. She caught on almost immediately, patting her head whenever I said the word. I tried again a few hours later and she still remembered what it meant!

Second, she has started saying new words, like ‘yumyum’ and ‘korkor’. She attempts to say ‘dah’ for ‘duck’ right after we repeat the word a few times.

Third, she waved her hand to signal no more, after I said “no more”.. without me showing her the hand action. She’s also started to point to everything she wants…yogurt, P’s plate of fried rice at Din Tai Fung..points to toy and then mama, as if to signal “Mama get that for me”.

Fourth, she understands what “sit down” means, and will comply when we ask her to sit down before giving her food, even though she’s so eager to get to the food.

Lastly, I offered her a cup of water with a straw, and demonstrated in an exaggerated manner, a sucking action. She stared me a bit, bit the straw a bit, then got the idea and drank via a straw! I was so proud of her…and her ability to learn things almost instantly.

All in a Day

Christian was supposed to pass me a message from school today..I think this is their way of training the children for primary school, when they are to take responsibility for their own work and assignments, by relaying what they need to do from the teacher to the parent. (Teacher D whispered that she would nonetheless send me an email on the exact details of the art materials they need for next week’s project.)

And so I quizzed the boy on what he was supposed to tell me. He hemmed and hawed and couldn’t tell me anything beyond “we need 4 wheels”.

Me: Why didn’t you listen to Teacher D when she told you what you needed to bring next week?

Ch: I did, but now I don’t know what she said already.

Me: Then you should put on your listening ears and try to remember..

Ch: Why don’t you know, Mama?

Me: ME?? I don’t know what Teacher D said.. I was not there in school… you were in class, not me.

Ch *pounces, in a patient, i-told-you-so tone*: There, Mama.. I told you right…. I told you you should go to school with me. Then you can hear what Teacher D said!

Mama bursts out laughing at the impudence.

Me: What??  Nobody’s mama is in there.. it’s not my job to listen to her..you should pay attention and then pass the message on like the other children.

Ch: Then you should stand outside to wait.. then you can hear what she says!

“-_-

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He starts asking me his inane questions about rain.. why is it not raining here mama? Why not?

I tell him only God controls the weather, so i don’t have the answer for him. He moves on to ask about our deceased hamster.

“Why our hamster die so fast mama?”

Me: Because it was ill.

Ch: “Oh because of the hole in its face?”

Me: Yes.. it had a tumour..

Ch: Then where is the cage mama?

Me: We gave it away so another hamster can live in it.

Ch: Why not give it to heaven? Then where will hamster stay in heaven?

Me *smiling* oh don’t worry, i’m sure God has a home for it.

Ch: Oh, and our hamster is God’s hamster now right?

^_^

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At night, before I put him to bed, I read him a children’s book of bible stories, and the last story was that of Jesus’ birth. He had lots of questions about why baby Jesus was lying on the hay, what foods Jesus, Mary and Joseph ate, why they didn’t have they own home etc etc. Even after lights out, he was asking me “What did Jesus play with?”

I told him I don’t know because the bible didn’t mention the games or toys that Jesus played with. After much badgering from him, I told him he could go ask Jesus himself when he meets him next time.

Ch: “When I’m old? When I’m dead?”

Me: “Yes…he’ll be so happy to see you and you’ll feel so loved and happy too.”

Ch: “oh…I think he will say.. ‘No..i don’t have any games.’”

Me: “Oh maybe he’ll show you what he plays with and play with you..”

Ch: “When i’m old right? Then will you be old too?”

Me: “Yes.. i will be older than you..”

Ch: “Then you will be dead too?”

Me: “Yes..I will be dead before you..we won’t die at the same time, i think..”

Ch: “Why?? Why not at the same time?”

I tried to steer the topic away from this morbid subject..

Ch: “When I grow up, I will become a Daddy and you will be a Nainai right? Then I will have children…and I..and my children’s mama, we will go to your house..and then what will you be doing?”

^_^

Ch: “I don’t know the shape of my children’s face.”

Me: “Oh..nobody knows what their children look like before they are born.”

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Sometimes my extremely loquacious son gives me a headache. =7 But on hindsight, when I think about it in the quiet of the night, it’s all rather amusing.

 

To laugh or cry?

I was driving Christian home from Berries class this evening when he saw the sun set and asked if he was going to sleep after dinner. I said yes, and he said “oh, i thought we were going to nap..why not just a nap?”

Anyway, we launched into a discussion of mealtimes, and I asked him what the first meal of the day was. He paused, so I rephrased and asked “What do we have  in the mornings?”

His answer: “Oatmeal!”

I laughed, and said “No…I meant..we have dinner in the evening, and lunch in the afternoon.. what is the name of the meal we have in the morning?”

He repeats: “Oat..meal…?!”

Sticky boy

I wonder if I should be concerned that my almost 4-year old son wants to be home and around his parents all day.

Ok, having typed the above sentence out, it does seem a little silly.. but just wait till you hear the tussles that we have -

A) When we visited the Singapore Art Museum a few weeks ago, he was worried about going into one of the exhibit rooms by himself and kept saying “I want mama to go in too.”

It made me feel guilty, and i wondered if i had been dropping him off at too many different classes – Berries, Edvox music class, Chinese holiday program..

B) On 20th Jun, when Christian overheard me calling playgroups (for Calista, next year) and heard me telling the teacher that I’ll visit the school when it reopens, after the school holidays, he said “I don’t want to go, mama.”

C) I’ve been persuading him to go to the playground downstairs, just to get out of the house for some sun and fun. His standard response nowadays is “Why…I like to play at home..the sun is coming through the windows, see..”  -_-

D) The moody mornings have reappeared again, and he drags his feet when we bring him to school, saying instead that he wants to go to music school instead, he wants me to stay in the school with him.. “why not 1 hour, mama? why 3 hours?”

He panics when i start to leave him at school…thank goodness for Teacher D who knows just what to say and how to coax him into understanding.

E) Yesterday, after I brought him and Calista on a supermarket run, he asked me -

“Mama, why Daddy come back so late????”

Me: “Daddy has to work to earn money for us.”

Ch: “I am thinking of him now.”

Me: “Awww…Ok, I’ll call him for you.”

Ch: “Then I’ll tell Daddy ‘come back early come back early come back early’.” *repeats chant*