The Whine Test

Some days I get glimpses of what life might be like when Josh is a teenager.

The other night he wanted to have some ice cream after dinner. I said no. I told him that he could have some the following day if he’d finish his meals promptly. (This was after he took four hours –yes, four hours!! –to just finish his lunch that day. Ah, the drama.)

Josh whined and nagged. I told him to save his breath because it wouldn’t make me change my mind. He whined and nagged some more. I repeated that he could have some the following day, but that he wasn’t going to get any that night. To which, I got --

What? Do you want me to whine all night?

It was all I could do not to react to that. I was so struck by his sass, yet totally amused that he’d thought that his non-stop whining would eventually wear me down. Yeah, Josh. I’d thought that, too, but I’d underestimated your PoPo. And you, my dear child, are underestimating me.

What do you do to stop the whining and the nagging? For how long do you let it go on before it gets to you?

(Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it!)

My Turn at Pretend Play

Chris and I were visiting my aunt in Qingdao (青島) back in 2004. Yes, where the Tsingtao Brewery (Tsingtao Beer) is based.

My aunt is a marine biologist and this is her office. The picture below is of me looking into a microscope at some foraminifera. I won’t pretend to know what they are or even attempt to simplify and explain what I think they are. What you see next to me are some models my aunt had made based on the actual dimensions of the microscopic foraminifera. They look like tiny shells of various shapes and patterns.

I had always wanted to have a photo of me doing something that every day Joe does not get to do. Pity I forgot to take off my jacket and don a white lab gown before I had this picture taken!

For more WW fun, check out 7 Clown Circus and 5 Minutes for Mom.

Sugary Gooey Temptation

Here is a pic of the gingerbread house that Josh did with his cousins three Christmases ago.

This is probably what we’re hoping to replicate with the gingerbread house kit that I bought at the bazaar on Sunday. That is, if the candies don’t mostly end up being in their mouths instead of on the house. We did this kit when Josh was 23 months, Big K was 2.5 years old, and A was 3 years old.

Each little one had a little container where we put the candies and surprisingly, tempting as it was, not a single candy was eaten by any of the kids. I am not so confident that this will be the case when we do the kit this time.

I still can’t get over how round Josh’s cheeks were…. hmmmm!

We all had so much fun watching the kids decorate the gingerbread house. The children were all so proud of their collaborative efforts. We had the gingerbread house on display for about 3-4 days before we threw it out. A bit wasteful, I’ll admit, but none of us could stomach eating all that gooey sweetness.

What do you do with the gingerbread house once it’s done?

Bazaar Fun

There is nothing I love more than the atmosphere of a Christmas bazaar –especially one that is held outdoors, on a perfect-weather day. Even more so if said bazaar has lots of activities for the little people.

We decided to check out the Repulse Bay Christmas Bazaar this year and I am so glad we did.

Despite having to wait a bit just to get into the car park (because it was full and we had to wait for cars to go out before we could go in), we all had a good time at the bazaar. There were the usual stalls selling Christmas knick-knacks, clothing, jewelry, and toys.

For the children, there was a bouncy castle, arts and crafts tables, --

Zoë and Josh making pasta necklaces…

coloring,

and face-painting.

Josh wanted to be a superhero…

Can you guess which superhero…?

Best of all, I was able to get a gingerbread house kit that I’d somehow missed getting the past two years because it was always all sold out by the time I’d remembered to go buy it!

Now, I have to find somewhere to keep it, where little people cannot easily access.

Sailing Sunday

It’s a perfect Sunday morning –sun shining, temperature around 18oC (60oF). A perfect day to be out –hiking, going to the park, going on a picnic, and even sailing, it seems!

Zoë was looking out the window when she cried out, “Look, Mommy! A baby sailboat and a mommy sailboat!”

I looked and what appeared to be a regatta was in full swing.

Once in a while, we’d get sailboats passing through, but once or twice a year we’d see whole fleets of them sail past and go around the bend heading on to the south side of the island.

It’s nice to see colorful sails go past, apart from the view of tugboats, cruise ships, fishing boats, and other commercial vessels that we normally see.

It was quite a nice start to the day to see these colorful sails dot the blue water as they go by.

Budding Reader

Both Chris and I are avid readers and we are hoping that both Josh and Zoë will grow up to love books as well. We’ve been reading with them ever since they were babies.

Josh can ask to buy toys and no matter how much he whines or nags, I can resist the urge to give in (well, most of the time). If he asks to buy a book, he does not need to ask twice.

Growing up, I was surrounded by books. On her way from work, sometimes my mom would drop by the bookstore and she’d come home with bags (and on a couple of occasions, boxes!) of books. I remember how happy and how excited I’d get each time I’d see her come home with another stack of books. I would just lose myself in the stories, in the pictures, in the interesting facts.

Josh is now starting to read simple books on his own. During ‘quiet time’ (in lieu of naptime), he either reads or he draws on his sketchbook.

Yesterday, this was how he spent his quiet time.

I love his look of concentration as he tries to make out a word.

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Have a great weekend, everyone!

A Little Christmas Every Night

This is what we do every night once the Christmas tree is up.

After dinner, we turn off all the lights in the room and turn on the Christmas lights and play Christmas music.

We all then have a little “party” –singing along to the carols, dancing around.

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Zoë is totally excited about Christmas. This morning when she woke up, she didn’t come to our bed as she would do every morning; instead, we found her sitting on the floor, gazing up at the Christmas tree. Also, now whenever we want her cooperation on anything, we just have to invoke Santa’s name and it’s like magic.

We probably won’t start putting presents under the tree until closer to December at least. I don’t know how much of Josh’s and Zoë’s restraint we’ll be testing by putting out the presents early.

When do you start putting presents under your tree?

Simple Joy

We put up our Christmas tree today. I’d promised Josh and Zoë and they both were so excited. As soon as lunch was finished, we put up the ornaments. Zoë was so bubbly… singing and squealing with excitement. When everything was up, Josh decided that he would draw some Christmas ornaments (see here) to cut out and hang on the tree. So he busied himself drawing.

Zoë, by that time, I could tell, was tired and ready for her nap. She came to me, looking all sad.

Zoë: Mommy, I need something.

Me: What do you need, Zoë?

Zoë: Something to make me happy. (Said with this really forlorn look that makes you just want to pick her up and cuddle her.)

Me: What would make you happy?

Zoe: Something pretty.

She wanted some sweet loving attention. She’d get all cuddly (or cranky) whenever she’s tired, but she’s never tried this approach before where she “needs something to make [her] happy.”

Me: Is a flower pretty?

Zoë: Yes.

Me: Would you want a flower?

Zoë: Yes.

Me: What color would you want your flower to be?

Zoë: A purple one. (Surprise, surprise.)

Me: Why don’t you go nap and when you wake up, you might just get a purple flower. Okay?

Zoë: Okay.

While she was napping, I made a little happy flower fan for Zoë .

This is the back –pink.

Josh helped me pick a purple popsicle stick, because “Zoë loves purple.”

When she woke from her nap, we gave her the fan and she was so happy. Her big sweet smile as she held on to her flower fan was priceless. “I like it, Mommy. I like it really much.”

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Yet another reminder to myself that it takes very little to make my children happy. That I just need to spend time and play with them and listen to them. Sounds easy enough, yet I find myself “forgetting” with my self-absorption sometimes. Books/blogs to read, posts to write, games to play (guilty!), business to take care of, phone calls to make/return, errands to run. How important are the rewards or consequences of those actions compared to my children’s happiness and well-being? I have to remember that now, they still want me to play with them. There will come a time when they would rather play with their friends. I wouldn’t want Josh or Zoë to look back on this time and say, “Oh, Mommy was too busy…”

How can I NOT forget?