A Lovely Christmas Tale

It's so nice to read a children's Christmas story that focuses on the joy of giving to the needy,  as opposed to Santas, elves and toy factories.

We just finished this cosy bedtime story and it sparked off a discussion about who Santa Claus really was.

A St. Nicholas Story or The Fiercest Little Animal In The Forest
by Terri Reinhart, illustrated by Patrick Reinhart
The pine marten was the fiercest little animal in the forest.
When other animals came near him, he growled and snarled and snapped at them. Then the animals ran away.
Read the full story

Don't forget to check out the other lovely tales on the St Nicholas Center website!

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Little Guilin 小桂林

We discovered Little Guilin by accident. We got lost while driving back from lunch at Sunny Choice Organic Cafe. When we drove past Bukit Batok East Ave 5, the astounding view made us abandon any plans to bring our children home for their nap. We parked at an HDB carpark and had a lovely walk. The locals are probably immune to it, but the scenary was so beautiful and there was such a great sense of space, that we felt like we were overseas!

It's an easy walk, and there are dome-shaped caves for people who want to rest, picnic, or meditate!

We went slightly off the beaten path and explored the secluded bushes and wooded areas. We found cigarette butts and condoms, but that was hardly surprising. The walkways were fine, though.

Some background information from Wikipedia:

Also known as Xiao Guilin among the locals, the Little Guilin looks similar to that of Guilin in China – a granite rock sitting within a lake. It was originally a disused granite quarry. In fact, the name "Bukit Batok" has been suggested to be derived from the noise made by the blasting in the granite quarry that now form the natural surroundings of Little Guilin.

In Malay, "Bukit" means hill, "Batok" means cough. So the Coughing Hills might be referring to the explosions from the granite quarry.


National Parks official website:
http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=10&Itemid=73

Getting there:

By car: We parked at the HDB open air carpark next to 524 Bukit Batok Street 52, Singapore 650524.
Little Guilin was just across the road.

By bus: 945 from Bt Batok Interchange / Bt Gombak MRT.

There are bus stops at various points along Bukit Batok East Ave 5.

By train: Apparently, it's a 2 minute walk from Bukit Gombak MRT station Exit B.

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The love of a little girl

Today, the little girl woke up early. She cut an apple into slices, put them in a lunch box, filled up a water bottle, and packed them in her Daddy's laptop bag. She explained, "I wanted to eat the apple, but I love you so I packed it for you to bring to work so you won't be hungry at work."

I think I have never seen Daddy go so soft and marshmallow-fuzzy. Such is the joy of having a little girl's love.

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Why do men sneeze so loudly?

At a playground with the family. Three 9-year-old boys are playing nearby.

The Husband: (explosively) Ah CHOOOOO!

A Boy: Listen! There's a dog! (Catches sight of Pan and freezes) Oops.

The boys start to giggle, and so do we!

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On a separate note, it is said that your sneeze reflects your personality. Basically - You Are What You Sneeze.

A loud, explosive sneeze is likely to come from an outgoing, demonstrative person while someone who’s shy will try and hold back, resulting in a stifled, Minnie-Mouse style expulsion, says neurologist Dr Alan Hirsch.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2313816/Are-snorter-squeaker-How-way-sneeze-reveal-real-personality.html#ixzz2mthvLPA6

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The Influence of Barney on Businesses

I must confess that of late, a few of our evenings have been spent at United Square, awaiting the appearance of a purple celebrity.

It was 6pm on a Saturday night,  and the restaurant was packed, each table with at least two eager children. The air was filled with anticipation and even the adults seemed more cheerful than usual. All the children seemed unusually well behaved. By 6.50pm, my own husband could bear it no longer. Armed with two portable chairs, he strode out of the restaurant to reserve place with a good view. At 7pm, the restaurant was practically empty.

When I commented to the friendly waitress that business was good, she explained that the Barney show split the customers into two frenzied sessions, before 7pm, and after 7.30pm, and that they even had to extend their working hours because many people started dinner late after the show ended!

Thanks to my eager husband, we managed to get front view box seats! We sat through Angelina Ballerina, Bob the Builder, and Fireman Sam, but when Barney came out, you could practically hear a collective intake of breath, followed by cheering!

It was then that I realised that a large number of Singaporean parents know Barney songs by heart. Very impressive. Some were even singing along as they walked around the mall.

At 7.40pm, the mall was back to normal, but with everyone smiling just a bit more than usual. Just because of a purple dinosaur.

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Live musicals daily at United Square till 16 Dec 2013. It's an annual event.

Visit the website for more details.

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The Laid-back Parent

Happiness is oversleeping till 10am and waking up to see this:

The little girl had set the breakfast table and even prepared our favourite drinks! It seems that the less parents do, the more space children have to blossom and find themselves.

We love our children and it is so easy to fall into the trap of over-parenting and depriving our children of truly owning their experiences and being independent.

Here's the book that made me lazy:

The Idle Parent

The Idle Parent: Why Laid-Back Parents Raise Happier and Healthier Kids, by Tom Hodgkinson

Many parents today spend a whole lot of time worrying and wondering- frantically "helicoptering" over their children with the hope that they might somehow keep (or make?) them flawless. But where is this approach to childcare getting us? According to Hodgkinson, in our quest to give our kids everything, we fail to give them the two things they need most: the space and time to grow up self-reliant, confident, happy, and free. In this smart and hilarious book, Hodgkinson urges parents to stop worrying and instead start nurturing the natural instincts toward creativity and independence that are found in every child. And the great irony: in doing so, we will find ourselves becoming happier and better parents.

Available from the Book Depository.com
Books are cheaper than most other online stores and shipping is free!

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It's been a few years since I spotted that book on the library shelf, but it did shape some of our family practices.

Here are some helpful tips we learnt over the years:

1. As far as possible, try to be unhelpful.

2. When the children struggle, guide their hands and go through the motions with them. It may be faster to do it yourself, but if you take the time to train them, it will pay off in the long run.

3. If putting on shoes and socks takes forever, allocate 10 minutes for them to do it by themselves.

4. Place cups, bowls, fruits, water, and daily necessities within easy reach of small people.

5. Little people can soap and shower themselves.

6. Little hands can scoop out their own dinners and serve others.

7. Children can participate in household chores like clearing dinner dishes, laundry and cleaning the house, and not play while the adults slave away!

Parenthood will become much easier and more enjoyable. And maybe the prospect of having 12 children (like in the old days) will fill us with delight!

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Has it really been four years?

Since my last blog post, yes, it's been four long years.I guess it got lost in the midst of diapers, tantrums, runny noses, sandcastles, crayons, cuddles and the general excitement of having two Energizer Bunnies invade our home. A highly-welcome and blessed invasion, I might add!

If it wasn't for Shumin's private investigation efforts, I wouldn't have remembered the dive-in-i-am blog! It's somewhat outdated now, so I've moved on to a new blog to chronicle our homeschooling journey and our new life as we throw caution to the wind and pursue our dreams.

Anyway, I now know, thanks to Shumin, that my blog is discoverable to competent Google searchers!

So much has changed.

We've welcomed Roy.

Said goodbye to Mr Darcy, my companion of 12 years,  who will always have a special place in my heart.

Nurtured a garden on our balcony, growing pandan, lime, curry, Indian marjoram,  Kang Kong, and more...

Stepped up recycling efforts with Garbage Enzyme, Bokashi composting,  making our own fertiliser and household cleaners, and bringing containers and canvas bags out for shopping.

Discovered the joy of nature walks and walking barefoot on grass.

Experienced our marriage going through the washing machine - it's been through the mud, scrubbed, rinsed, spun, tumble dried and ironed out...

Took a leap of faith to start homeschooling with Enki - a journey of self discovery and self mastery not only for the children, but especially for the adults. A journey to connect with our inner wisdom,  enjoy Mother Earth, have fun everyday, and accidentally learn things along the way!

Survived an overhaul of our world views and belief systems - they have been torn down and rebuilt, and torn down again. Goodbye ego, judgement and blame; welcome compassion, gratitude and respect for all life! Each day is a magic carpet ride, discovering more about the beautiful world we live in, and "seeing a world in a grain of sand."

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour."

 - William Blake

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