kids inc

Monsters are under my bed

June 23, 2009
Boo

Boo

Watching a kid grow up, you don’t really notice the small changes that take place, like how they start to understand you when you say certain words, or the glint in his eye that has developed into full-blown mischief. I have to fight the tendency to baby him and give him the space to explore and grow, which is a lot harder than it sounds.

Soon, he’ll be a big boy and that will be the end of my snuggles and smothering kisses. Sometimes, I wish he’d be a baby forever. Or I could just keep having more to replace the ones that are all grown up.

Recently, I’ve noticed that Tru’s been having all sorts of irrational fears. I think he’s beginning to understand that some stuff are pretty scary and not so fun. It all started with this yellow duck puppet that he used to love. Then one day, he decided it didn’t look so friendly and he was terrified of it. And of course there’s the B-A-W Penguin. Which I saw him trying to stab with a spoon.

Just last week he was having fun at the nursery playgroup when he stopped dead in his tracks and crawled back to my arms faster than you can say “scary purple lamb attack”. Apparently he saw a life-sized lamb plushie/riding thing that was all green and purple and it really scared him. Granted, the lamb looked pretty bizarre, but I’m sure just a month back, he would have smacked it on the head and moved on.

Then the most surprising one happened during bath time at my mom’s house. I kinda lost his bath tub (it’s a long story) so I decided to improvise and made him sit in his Bumbo chair while I showered him with the shower spray. He used to love being sprayed with water during his bath, but he suddenly decided that he didn’t like it anymore. Now every time he sees the Bumbo in the washroom, he screams bloody murder like it’s some ancient torture chamber.

So it’s quite a dilemma. I have this urge to make him confront his fears to show him that it’s really irrational. Ducks and penguins and lambs aren’t scary. Ok, the shower incident, I’ll give it to him (remind me to get a new tub ASAP). But the rest of the stuff ain’t gonna hurt him and I want him to grow up without any of these irrational fears.

Although I know if I push him too hard now, it might just backfire and he’ll end up with a whole new set of issues. So I’m trying to talk some sense into him, and somehow help him to overcome his fears. This is probably just the start though, and the list is only going to get longer. Soon there’ll be monsters under the bed or ghosts in the closet or a whole host of scary-looking animals.

Maybe I’ll buy him a lightsaber. Who knows, it might help.

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motherhood

Man dates, chick dates and mom dates

June 22, 2009
chick dates

chick dates

I finally managed to catch a thoroughly enjoyable show after a series of flops. At first, I didn’t have much expectation for “I Love You, Man”, the not-so-romantic comedy by Paul Rudd and Jason Segel (better known as Marshall Eriksen on HIMYM). Ok, I actually thought it was a gay show, but since IMDB rated it 7.8, we decided to give it a shot. Which turned out to be pretty awesome. I haven’t laughed out loud like that at a movie in a long time. IMDB rocks.

So I’ve gotta talk about the concept of a man date. It sounds so wrong on so many levels unless you’re into that kinda thing, then it’s probably great. My take is this. Men don’t have BFFs and they don’t go on alone dates, not for drinks or movies or hunting. It’s too awkward. Anything more than 2 is fine, and it becomes a man group-date. They can do their masculine thing and play poker and grunt at each other.

But 2 dudes hanging out all the time, man, that’s just so gay. What do they do? Like braid each other’s (armpit) hair?

Which is why I’m thankful the husband doesn’t do man dates. From time to time he needs his guy time and goes out to hang with the guys (notice the plural form) to play soccer or computer games. I’m cool with that. But I’d be seriously uncomfortable if he was out with like his BFF all the time doing god-knows-what till all hours of the night.

Now chick dates are different though. Girls can hang out 1-on-1 or in a group and its perfectly fine. We get to go shopping, massages, manicures or just sit down and talk about all the above stuff. Well actually, we talk about guys and contraceptives and sexploits, but that’s what BFFs do. And I love my chick dates cos it’s nice to do girly stuff and giggle from time to time.

Although all that has been out the window since I became a stay-home mom. Nobody wants to go on a chick date with a pregnant woman lugging around a stroller and a restless toddler. It’s an ordeal getting a space at a nice cafe and 5 minutes into the conversation, the kid is screaming and I’m picking food out from my friend’s hair. Don’t ask.

So now it’s all down to mom dates. Only other moms with equally crazy kids can put up with the madness and mayhem. I’ve long since kissed my lattés goodbye and the only places available are McDonalds or each other’s homes so the kids can cause all the destruction they want without the disapproving stares and tsk-tsks from single chicks.

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Comic Relief, kids inc

More adventures of the hunky pool boy

June 19, 2009

With Superdad on leave for the entire week, we decided to bring Tru out to Sentosa for some fun in the sun before I pop and have to be confined at home.

Needless to say, my little hunky pool boy was absolutely thrilled to be at the beach.

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