On my way home from work today, in that span of 1 hour, I saw :
In a crowded train, a father carrying a pink barbie doll bag on his back, with his girl sitting somewhere in the cabin.
At the traffic junction, a father on a bicycle, with his son at the back in the child seat. It was raining heavily, and the son was sitting quietly in his seat, and seemed not bothered by the rain drops hitting on his face.
On the pavement, a father carrying his girl in his arms with 1 hand and the other hand holding an umbrella over their heads.
Very common sights, issn’t? But it meant alot to me.
To the father who carried that pink bag, you are awesome. You carried that pinky stuff on your back boldly because it looks heavy on your daughter’s shoulder.
To the father on the bicycle, you are the man. You taught your son how to be a man and is a total opposite from worrying mothers who over-protect the kids and deprive them from the simple joy of playing in the rain.
To the father with the umbrella, you are wonderful. Balancing an active child, a small schoolbag and an umbrella sounds like the job of a clown but you did it pretty well, and you didn’t look like a clown at all.
Apart from these, I saw another sight. A woman, whom could be the mother or the grandmother (or nanny?!!), exclaimed this to her son / grandson :
“每次带你出来吃饭都下大雨！很麻烦！你不要吃啦!”
[it means : It always rain when I bring you out for dinner. It's so troublesome! You don't eat dinner (next time it rains)!]
I was in shock. Rain also the poor kid’s fault meh?!!
Dawn had been learning to feed herself since April. Here’s one of the post which I had made about this : Yummy Yummy.
Looking at her own progress, we think that it’s time for her to feed herself for her main meals. Her first attempt was in Dear’s place while we had teochew porridge for lunch. She did an excellent job and even though there’s some mess on the chair and the floor, it’s considered a good attempt for a kid of her age. And of ‘cos the understanding and encouragement from Dear’s parents did a wonderful part in this partnership.
My mum gave me this unbelievable look when I told her that Dawn should start feeding herself for her main meals. I guess is the thought of having to clean after Dawn…but if we continue to be so protective over the kid, how can she learn? How can she explore?
Anyway, because today is Sunday and I was at home during Dawn’s dinner (which during weekdays I would be still at work), mom had no choice but to let Dawn feed herself because I insisted. :p
And Dawn finished her dinner by herself, with minimal mess, and even stopped my mum from feeding her when at one point my mum was concern that the porridge was getting cold. I have a girl who has character! (and sometimes too much of that…haiz).
It’s always my personal belief that kids need not be overly showered with those “branded” toys. Why are we teaching our own kids about BRANDED stuff from age 0? However, I cannot deny that most branded toys had more considerations on the safety aspect, but this is not my point today. We should buy moderate quantity of toys, and not all must be branded lah…
I myself did not buy alot of toys for Dawn, and even if I buy toys, I realised those “Ma Sa Ma Sa” from those neighbourhood shops are equally good. Yes, some toys had branded themselves to provide high education value…but, kids can learn words and their ABC from other settings too right? Anyway, branded toys are too expensive for me to buy them…I will go broke if everything she’s playing now are branded. The only good buy which I am satisfied with, is the Sesame Street Driving Simulator toy which I bought from Malacca at 70% off! It’s only about S$9 :p
I think most kids can turn the things which they see day to day as their fun toys. They are more curious in exploring such things rather than those toys which they get bored after awhile. At least this is very true for Dawn. So besides her toys in her big toy box, she likes the clothes pegs, the newspaper, the telephone, the remote controls, my water bottle, empty boxes, my mum’s house slippers and the list goes on…basically anything that can interest her in the house.
So, her lastest toy. Let me present, the Kung Fu Dawn Dawn.
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↑↑ Look at me! This is the famous move which I learnt from the Master. Master Wu Gui is he?
I think teething process is a painful thing to go through, for both the kid and the mother. I mean, can you imagine a big hard tooth trying to break the once perfect smooth pinky gum? OUCH! And a kid of 2 years have to tolerate the pain of 20 such teeth breaking out the gums. OUCH again. As for the pain of the mother, she might have to endure the sleepless nights, a kid who suddenly became very fussy over the food or dealing with a restless kid.
I myself went through sleepless nights, for a period as long as 1.5 months! Then, I was still very puzzled with Dawn’s changed sleeping patterns. When the sleepless nights ended, i then realised that Dawn was teething! And she was teething 8 teeth at the same time! Oh My, now I know why she was so difficult during that 1.5 months!
As you can see, this is the teething chart. Right now, Dawn has all the teeth, 1-4, upper and lower. The 2 upper first molars are not fully grown yet, but had already made their appearance.
When Dawn was about 5 months old and shown signs of teething, my parents and I bought a few teethers for her. I wasn’t very particular with the types of teethers in the market and just bought anything which was of the right price and shape. She had 8 very pretty pearly whites (4 upper and 4 lower) for sometime before she started teething for the next 8 teeth (which was the 1.5 months of sleepless nights which I had mentioned). At that time, we gave her the same teethers which she was using initially. That was then I realised that choosing a teether is a very important decision.
Because she already had 8 front teeth, it was a grave mistake to pass her a teether which contain rubber parts. This is the result of our mistake.
Look at the hole (below the watermark) that was bitten off by Dawn (the purple parts at the both ends are made of rubber kind of material)! Can you imagine our shock? I thought that teether is supposed to be safe to bite on. I thought teether has no age limit. And I was so so wrong!
I had threw away the packaging and thus I could not find out whether the product had actually specified that this teether is for particular age or labeled with some caution. I mean, if there was none, it could be the negligence of the manufacturer. However, I also do not deny that fact that we as parents should also be careful with what we pass to our children.
Ok, I am getting real here. I love to receive free samples and freebies (who doesn’t?). Especially after I have my girl. I mean, it could be just a sample diaper or a one-time feed of milk powder, but to me, it’s a potential opportunity to save some hard-earned money. Also, the samples allow me to test the product first before making a real purchase.
I have a few friends who had asked me where to get those samples and freebies. I am going to share them here so that the other parents can “benefit” too. :D
Abbott - You can get free samples of Similac, Gain, Grow, Pediasure, Isomil milk powder. If you are expecting, they will also send you this booklet on “Naming your baby”. Sign up as their member too! They will send you a 400g tin of milk powder when your baby is 6 months old and 1 year old. And I must say they are very prompt in this too
Dumex - You can get samples on their Mamil Gold series or the Nutrakids Cereal if your kid is ready for semi solids. For pregnant ladies, you can get the Mamil Mama!
Enfa - Here’s the Enfapro, Enfagrow & Enfakid or Enfamama milk powder. If you sign up as the club member, they will send you a 400g tin of milk powder when your baby is 6 months old. After which, they will send 2 packets of the 1 year old milk powder. But if I remember correctly, their membership has an expiry date.
Nestle - You can’t ask for free samples over the Internet for nestle. But there’s a customer service number which you can call to ask for NAN sample and Brown Rice/White Rice cereal samples.
Goo.N Diapers - Register and get a free sample of the Goo.N Diaper.
Huggies - Register and request for samples. You can request up to two samples per product per household.
Sometimes Drypers also gives samples but information can be found in their advertisements in magazines for mothers. They will usually require you to sms to ask for samples. Huggies does that too. So look out for those advertisements!
Collect a free babyplus bag when you join the FairPrice BabyPlus Club. There are goodies in the bag!
Depending on which hospital you gave birth to your child, you will get a Bag of Love or the Baby Plus guidebook. Check out here.
If you are staying in the southwest district, you can get a babybliss cash-card valued at $38! This amount is good for paying off some ERP or car park charges right?! For those who do not drive, you can buy your baby items and pay off using the cash-card. Check out details here.
Do note that these freebies are for those who are staying in Singapore. For information about samples and freebies in other parts of the world (for example, US), check out bestfreestuffonline.
With a new baby or a kid at home, what’s the 5 must-have for a mother in case your kid is sick? I swear by these :
Ear Thermometer
Invest in a good one. Or at least a decent one. You will never know when you need it and when you need it, YOU REALLY NEED IT. Personally will recommend a ear thermometer instead of those which you need to stick into the kid’s mouth or armpit. Most kids will be too active for you to do that! There are a few brands to chose from, check out Safety 1st Hospital’s Choice Accu Light Ear Thermometer .
Medicine issued by doctors
I’m a kia-su mum! I have extra cough syrup, fever syrup, running nose syrup in my fridge for emergency cases. I am not encouraging mothers to feed your kids medicine unnecessarily. But these medicine act as a back-up plan. For example, if kid is running a fever of 38 degrees in the middle of the night with no other symptoms, instead of rushing to the 24-hour clinic or hospital, you can try the medicine and sponging method. Or that sometimes kids are prone to having running nose due to weather changes, and it’s very mild but still adding discomfort to the child, you can feed the running nose medicine. Take note that all these medicine are issued by doctors, and not self medication which you buy off the shelves from pharmacies. And that if the problem still persist or sickness became more serious, please bring the kid to the doctor.
Fever Cool Plaster
These come in handy when kid has a fever, though I don’t think that it is as effective as sponging. But these can relieve you for awhile instead of those constant sponging and get you some rest. Usually I will use this when the kid is sleeping and I too need some rest. And this plaster will stick on the forehead and will seldom drop off, unlike the sponging method. Something off the topic, if you chose to sponge your child, please use tap water. It’s cool enough to start of the sponging. You do not need to use ice water, and it might cause headache to the child due to the sudden coldness.
Decongestant Capsules
These are oil that come in capsules form and it helps to clear blocked noses and congestion. I will squeeze the oil into a handkerchief and tied it at the cot during the night. It helps the kid to have a better sleep during the time she has a blocked nose. There are a few brands in the market and it is easily available in pharmacies such as Guardian. I am using this brand called “Karvol”. I simply love this!
Biscuits
You must be wondering what does biscuits have to do when a kid is sick? Well, these help me alot when it’s time to feed the kid medicine! Find out what you kid loves. It could be that favourite puff or that favourite animal biscuits. I will usually show Dawn her favourite puffs (which is Gerber Finger Foods Puffs, 3 Strawberry and Apple Puffs and 3 Banana Puffs(6 per Pack)) and tell her that she has to take the medicine first before having her little biscuit. It simply helps.
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Hope this bit of information is useful for those new mothers or mothers-to-be
or 
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) and tell her that she has to take the medicine first before having her little biscuit. It simply helps.