Yearly Archives

2012

kids in motion, not feeling so supermom

Plastered

May 29, 2012

It’s an unspoken rule – there are certain things we’re not supposed to do as moms.

We don’t let our kids play with knives or stick their fingers in sockets or eat too much junk food. And we most definitely don’t fall asleep on the job because that’s when they will attempt to do all of the above.

That rule changes when you’re pregnant though, because I’m certain there’s a link between pregnancy and narcolepsy. I’m exhausted all the time and not in the I-don’t-mind-a-nap kind of tired. It’s the kind where I fall asleep involuntarily at various points throughout the day.

As a precaution, we’ve toddler-proofed the house and told them explicitly that they’re not allowed to engage in any activity that will get themselves mortally wounded or maimed. So they know to stay away from the carving knives and electricity.

This afternoon, I was watching them fix a puzzle when I must have dozed off for a couple of minutes. If you’ve never watched a 3-year-old fix a puzzle, it’s the ultimate test of your self control. On the one hand, you’re watching them struggle with a piece that obviously doesn’t fit, which makes you want to be all “here, let me help you” and finish the whole thing in 20 seconds. Then on the other hand, you want to let them learn through the struggle so you try to disengage your brain from mentally fixing the entire puzzle in your head.

So the only way to do it is to stone out while they spend 15 minutes figuring out which piece goes where.

Next thing I knew, I woke up to the sound of my own snoring. You know how when you’re in the zone between semi-consciousness and a deep sleep and the sound of your own snoring travels back to your ears to wake you up? Yeah, that totally does happen.

But that’s not the fun part. The fun part was when I woke up to discover that I had been plastered by the kids. As in literally covered in plasters. They got bored with the puzzle so they decided to break into my medical box and peeled open a whole bunch of plasters to paste on my arms, face, thighs and feet.

I thought of telling them off for the plaster incident but I sighed and gave them a hi-5 instead because 1) It was pretty creative and 2) I’m just thankful they didn’t break into my permanent marker drawer. That could have been a lot worse.

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events

My Avengers Moment

May 28, 2012

MINDEF had its annual Army Open House over the weekend and we were invited for a preview earlier in the week. I usually don’t go for these sorts of events but they told me that I could ride on military vehicles and fire a real rifle, which I just couldn’t resist.

I blame it on the Avengers hangover I was having.

Turned out that I wasn’t allowed on the moving demo rides because I was pregnant but there were these stationary vehicles on display and nothing was going to stop me from pretending to ride those.

I got some badass photos, which I wanted to make into a series of Army Recruitment posters but I figured it’d be sending the wrong message. You know, in case we ended up recruiting a bunch of heavily pregnant women.

So here are some movie posters from my personal stash instead.

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events

Pigeons and Cookies and Trash

May 25, 2012

Those aren’t really my favorite things but they happen to be the favorite things of Bert, Cookie Monster and Oscar. And I know this because those guys just sang a really cute song about it during the press conference at Universal Studios Singapore yesterday.

Here, I even managed to catch it on video for you guys.

You know what this means right?

Uh huh. Sesame Street has landed in USS.

Starting next Monday, the characters from Sesame Street will be performing live shows like these along the streets of New York in USS. On top of that, there will also be character breakfasts as well as meet and greets so you can get up close with your favorite character.

During the preview breakfast yesterday, we got to meet Oscar, Cookie, Bert and Ernie.

This looks like a picture of calm but it took several tries to get it because the first time we attempted to take a group photo, Kirsten went ballistic when Oscar reached out to hug her. In between shrieks, she was all “I DON’T LIKE THE GREEN ONE, HE’S VERY DIRTY…” And we were like “Um yeah, that’s kind of the appeal. He is living in a trash can, sweetheart.”

On that note, I have to say that the costumes are done really well. I mean, Oscar (who’s my favorite, btw) even has a real trash can attached to his legs so he can park and hide in it whenever he’s tired. That’s just brilliant.

And a couple more shots of the breakfast. Yes, cake does count as breakfast.

In other news, there will also be a Sesame Street ride that will be unveiled towards the end of the year, so stay tuned for that.

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motherhood, stuff best described as not safe for parents

Bedtime, not again

May 24, 2012

With toddlers, bedtime can be the best of times or the worst of times.

Sometimes, like last night, it can be a little bit of both.

Time check: 10.20. It was 45 minutes since I attempted to put Kirsten to bed and she was still a bundle of energy, climbing everywhere in the complete darkness of her room. Stories had been read, songs had been sung, kisses exchanged and I was starting to get a little edgy thinking of all the work I had to do after she falls asleep.

“Lie down and close your eyes, princess.”

“Momma…” she whispered.

It was turning out to be one of those nights. I could just feel it.

“No more talking. One more sound from you and I’m going out, daddy will come take over.”

“Momma…” she whispered again, this time even softer.

“WHAT, baby? You’ve already peed, pooped, drank milk, drank water and peed again. What else could you possibly want that’s so urgent?”

She was quiet for a moment, unsure of whether to go on.

“I love you, momma. G’night.” With that, she planted a light peck on my cheek and climbed back into bed.

Motherhood. Makes you feel like a complete arse sometimes.

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giveaways reviews ads

Let There Be Light

May 22, 2012

Advertorial

When I was a kid, I didn’t really pay much attention to protecting my eyes. I always figured that they’d be fine and the worst thing that could happen was myopia, which sort of wasn’t a big deal because we have things called spectacles and contact lenses these days.

Looking back, I broke practically every eye-protecting rule in the book. I would hide under the covers with a torch to read late into the night, have the book far too close to my eyes and watch TV excessively. My mom used to tell me to read under a proper reading light but I hated it because the glare would be too distracting, so I’d end up reading in a variety of positions and under all kinds of bad lighting.

Which pretty much explains why I’m now practically blind without my glasses. This one time I broke my specs when Kirsten was a month old and I had to jab contact lenses into my eyes several times throughout the night to get through the night feeds.

After discovering first hand how annoying it is to have bad eyesight, I’m doing what I can to not abuse my eyes further.

And with my own kids, I find myself becoming very particular about protecting their eyes, just so that they don’t become as myopic as I am. I’m now like an Eye Nazi, barking orders like “no watching the iPad while lying down” and “turn on the reading light guys, you’re going to go blind”.

So I was actually quite pleased to find out that 3M now has a range of 3MTM Polarizing Lights and even more pleased that they sent over a set to try.

What’s a Polarizing Light, you say?

It’s basically a reading light with a Polarizing Filter that illuminates better, reduces the glare and absorbs UV rays, thereby protecting the eyes. It got a very cool On/Off touch pad instead of a regular switch and it swivels easily so I can change reading positions and swivel the light accordingly. I know that’s a lot of geek talk but my inner geek is feeling a lot of love for it.

The kids are also taking very well to it, so much so that they’ve staked claim to it for their reading corner.

3M is now giving away 5 pieces of 3M Polarizing Light (BL 5100 Lamp) worth $189 each. To join the contest, all you need to do is tell us in 100 words or less, why you need a 3M Polarizing Light (BL 5100 Lamp). Send your answer, name, I/C number, mobile and email address with the title “3M Polarizing Light Contest – Mother, Inc” to officebiz@mmm.com by 17 June 2012 and winners will be announced on 29 Jun 2012.

*Open to Singapore citizens and PRs only.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of 3M. All opinions and text are my own.

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coolest kids ever, events

Run, Baby, Run

May 21, 2012

Brought the kids for their first run yesterday. Wait, they’ve obviously ran before and they do it all the time at home but I’m referring to the kind of run with lots of people and cool T-shirts and a proper number tag and medals and all that.

The husband has done several of these sorts of runs but I’ve never been inclined to join him because I generally start to feel faint after running about a hundred metres.

So when we heard about the Cold Storage Kids Run, I didn’t particularly fancy the idea of running with hundreds of other parents in the sweltering heat but he somehow managed to talk me into joining the parent-child 800m Fun Run. It was “for the kids” apparently.

It was so cute that the kids were really excited, especially Truett, who’s in this competitive phase right now. The moment the race started, he took off and sprinted down the track without even looking back.

Good thing the husband was his tag-team partner because Kirsten and I took our own sweet time and did the leisurely walk that pregnant women and small babies are entitled to. Halfway through the race, baby girl started looking all exhausted and miserable but I was so proud that she powered on and shuffled her way to the finish line.

Here’s my little champ looking mighty pleased with his first medal ever. Never mind that it was only for participation and shaped like a fruit. He loved it so much that he couldn’t stop admiring it for the rest of the day, beaming every time he looked at it and showing it off to everyone who who would listen.

I guess I’m still not a fan of running but looking at how much they enjoyed it, we’ll probably be doing this a lot more. The next round, we might even try swapping run partners.

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kids inc, not feeling so supermom

Food Wars

May 18, 2012

Among all the battles I’ve had with the kids, none has been as epic as the one we’ve had with food. And I’m not referring to food fights, although there have been some.

For people that are so small, they seem to have big ideas on nutrition. Most of the time, all they need to do is look at the food before deciding what is allowed into their mouths and what’s not. At first, it all seemed random and arbitrary but after observing their eating patterns for a while, I’ve narrowed down their criteria in determining whether food is edible.

1. Texture

As a rule of thumb, anything that’s crispy is sure to be a hit. Whenever Truett is introduced new food he hasn’t tasted before, he’ll peer at it for a moment and then ask the question: “Is it crispy or not?” If it is, it goes straight into his mouth.

If it isn’t, it will be subjected to the following tests.

2. Color

You’d think that being kids, the brighter the color, the more likely they are to eat it. Unfortunately, the contrary seems to be true. Earthy colors have a higher chance of being eaten, like beige, chocolate and golden brown.

Generally, the brighter the color, the more suspicious they get, with green leading the pack on the list of banned food. Purple, red and orange are approved on a case by case basis, mostly depending on whether they are M&Ms.

3. Temperature

This is pretty much a no brainer, i.e. the colder the better.

In summary, this.

 

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