Wearing Child Safety Harness, Child Abuse?

A couple of weeks ago, we chucked Oli (as usual) at my mom’s and went shopping (!) and we brought Frappy (!!!) along! I don’t know how other parents do it, or rather how other kids stay calm and zen in the stroller all. the. time, because honestly, going out with Frappy is really very… energy sapping!

In the car, she decided to take the diva title from her mama,

and asked that I put MY sunnies on HER.

In the mall, she ran around and around and around and refused to get into the stroller. And so we had to chase her around and around and around until we got all out of breath. Very unglam, that much I can tell you.

Picture unrelated to the event. Just to drive a point. Haha.

Then after some good old power struggle, finally we got her into the stroller but we couldn’t “stroll”, oh no, sire! We had to push the stroller and go fast, like really fast, to keep her quiet (yes, we should just go to the jogging track instead right? Tsk. Such adrenaline junkie, this Frap.) 

AND THEN! Magic happened!

Shhh!

Someone fell asleep. In the stroller. Can you tell how excited we were???

We dashed to toys r us or mom’s care or mama care… or something to that effect, and bought a harness and leash set! 

An hour or two later, Frappy woke up and in her state of sleepiness, she allowed us to wear the harness teddy bear with a couple of clip ons on her and by the time she’s fully awake, she’s enjoying her new found freedom of walking hands-free!

  

And you’d think that’s the happy ending? Nuuu! With her walking hands-free now, she kept dashing towards the moving escalator! T___T But it was all good, at least we didn’t need to struggle with each other – one to break free, one to grab tighter. 

Interestingly, we drew some frowns and snickers from the older folks; I was initially pretty conscious about wearing a harness on my child because of what others would think. I’ve been reading up a bit about wearing child harness on parenting forums and stuff, it appears that the majority cannot accept parents “leashing” their child. Some cries child abuse -__-. 

But hey I figured if they can’t be there to ensure her safety or that she won’t get separated from her parents from all the blind running around, then just to *wherever* with their frowns and gawks la. The point is, my baby is safe within my reach when we are out. 

I don’t know, as conscious as I am about the whole thing (but that’s mostly driven by what others would think of us as parents!), I am quite OK with the idea. You? 

Easy Recipes For Kids: Pasta with Marmite

This is one of Nigella’s recipes which my bro intro-ed me to. While the combo of marmite and pasta just doesn’t sound too right, I assure you, it is really very erm, edible. No, seriously! Not to mention it’s quick to cook with almost no preparation needed; I’d say it’s a perfect go-to dish if you are too busy to prepare lunch for your kiddo (or even yourself!). 

This is the second time I’m making the dish; the first time I followed the recipe fully using spaghetti, I also added the 1 tbsp of reserved pasta water as instructed and it turned out too wet. That aside, I thought the result was a little bland, appearance-wise, so I sprinkled it generously with mozzarella and baked it for a cheesy, chewy meal. This time around, I used colourful spirally pasta and I simply omitted the pasta water and added mixed veges. It turned out much better!

Nigella posted the basic recipe on her site and here, I’m sharing my version, using hers as a base. Do try it and let me know if the recipe’s a keeper or a bummer :)

Edit: Simplified the steps! 

Pasta With Marmite

Ingredients:

Any kind of pasta
½ to 1 cup of frozen mixed veges
50g butter
1 teaspoon of marmite or more according to liking
Your choice of grated cheese (optional)

1. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, according to instructions. 1 or 2 minutes before the pasta is done, add in the mixed veges. Once done, drain the water, set pasta aside for later. Add a small chunk of butter and a teaspoon of marmite into the pasta+vege combo, mix well and serve with grated cheese.

2. In a saucepan, melt the butter, and add in the marmite, mixing well until dissolve. Remove the sauce from heat, and stir in the pasta + mixed vege combo. Serve with grated cheese, if you like. 

Do you have an easy recipe to share? I’d love to hear from you!

Sisterhood

Dear God,

There is not one day that goes by where I don't feel immensely grateful to you. Such beautiful blessings you have given us, these two girls. Sure, when things get rough, I'd need my fix of greasy fries and cola drink, but when I look at them, I see Your love in their faces; I know I will move on, I CAN move on, because You believe in me, and above all, Your grace will make a way.

You know, God, these two simply adore each other! There are always free hugs, kisses, and giggles going around between them. It's amazing to watch them!

I pray O Lord, that this simple love will keep them together for all the days of their lives, this simple love will see them through every challenge, and this simple love will be the sugar glue that keep them together as, not just sisters, but best friends and above all, sisters in Christ that will uphold each other through the ups and downs of life. Jesus, bless my little ones, may they grow to be beautiful women of God and the pride of their Father in Heaven.

Thank you, dear God. For all that You've done and will do in our lives. Thank You...

Siu Yoke (Roasted Pork) Pizza

I just had to post this up! Too. Good! Imma gonna make this every week! OK chill, I'm just saying -.-

Growing Sprouted Onion

Awhile back I found an onion sprouting beautifully in my pantry, and so instead of tossing it out, I planted it! Look how beautiful the green was! 

The sprouting continued and it grew leaves and stuff as the days went on, I got very excited, and impatient. I read somewhere that when the “leaves” start to wilt, it’s time to pull it out, and so I waited and waited forever.

Alas, imagine my disappointment when it came out and greeted me with a bunch of scrawny roots! Maybe I pulled it out too early? Perhaps the pot is not deep enough for it to grow? Not enough nutrients and minerals? Bah! What a letdown!

Easy Recipes for Kids: Tuna Risotto

The Frap has been eating a lot of porridge since she’s started on solids. Even I got boring cooking it. So in a bid to feed something more… interesting (and definitely easy to cook!), I’ve been playing with some recipes and ingredients, hoping to get her to eat healthier, without losing the flavour.


To journal my experiments, I’ll be starting a new category here in my blog – Easy Recipes For Kids – for my own reference; I also hope it’ll be helpful for mothers or young mothers who have been experiencing severe headache from thinking of what to serve come meal time. I improvise a lot as I strive to keep the steps as minimun as possible haha, so feel free to modify to suit to your own convenience and your toddler’s liking! Happy cooking (and uh, feeding!)

Tuna Risotto

Ingredients:

Oil
Chopped onion
About a cup multigrain rice, washed
Chopped,cubed veges of different colours
A clove of crushed garlic
Tomato paste/sauce
A can of tuna fish
Salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a small pan and fry the onion for a few minutes, until softened.

2. Add the rice, veges, garlic, tomato paste, and 1 cup of water. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered, about 10 minutes. Then drain the tuna and add to the rice mixture, stirring. Continue cooking, making sure to stir occasionally, until the rice is tender and creamy.

4. Lunch is ready, baby!

When To Send Toddler To Preschool?

Frappy is turning 2 soon, and that means it’s time for us to work out the whole education thing and start making decisions. And let me tell you, it’s painful! Painful because we have no clue whatsoever on where to start researching (ignorance! Tsk.); and then there seems to be endless choices out there – preschools, playgroups, nurseries, kindergartens, all kinds of development programs! And then there’s the question of when is the right time to send her to school/centers? Argh! My hair is turning white just thinking about this!

Here’s a little background.

Laikka boss cos I'm bored.

See, right after Frappy turned 1 month old, we started bringing her out with friends, attending church services and activities, and traveling regularly. She is excellent in the socializing department and is not shy with strangers. She loves hanging out with people – girls especially – older than her; and even though she loves playing and talking to children her age or younger, she is not good in being polite as she tends to get rough and would shove the other kid, she means no ill feelings of course, it’s just really embarrassing for us parents when her “please come with me” or “let’s be friends and go play together” is translated into action as grabbing or pushing.

She loves dancing and enjoys action songs. She can imitate the actions pretty well and I find her, erm, sense of tempo (?) is quite good as she can clap her hands according to the beat of any given songs. She is quite the drama princess too with all kinds of impromptu expressions.

She understands and is good with following instructions (only if she wants to. Pfft). She also enjoys “reading” by flipping the pages of books and magazines, and can get very engrossed, if not distracted. When asked to point out a certain object from a pile of flash cards or on a book, she can do so very well too, sometimes she would even pick the wrong object on purpose and then grin cheekily. Oh, and she lurves talking. For example, in the absence of a phone, she would just cup her ear with her hand and goes “huh? HUH? Bah day bah duh gabi orhk? Noh, NOH! Bah dah gah bi ka bir ka bir! Hahahaha!” And no, I kid you not. -.-

Making herself useful. And her mama proud

So anyway, that’s a general picture of who Frappy is at the moment – one pint size dramatic, super friendly, affectionate, talkative, crazily fun and LOUD kid. After some uh, deep soul searching, we are more keen on development programs (and then there’s the decision of what kind of programs to be made. Zzz) so that she will learn some specific skills and also how to interact with kids her age, instead of just chuck her in a preschool for the sake of joining the crowd, you know?

I don’t know! Are we even on the right direction? On one hand I do believe no place can give her the best attention compare with when she’s at home, obviously. All these schools and edu centers are after all, a business. Plus I won’t have her being a toddler for long before having to send her to kindie for good, so why rush it, right? But on the other hand there seems to be nothing exciting at home to occupy her anymore and I feel bad for her. On another hand still, we don’t want her to miss out on joining certain school stuff and do cool kiddie stuff due to parental ignorance. =.=. So. Yeah. Are you still with me? Cos I think I've lost myself somewhere! T___T

Parents out there! What are you guys doing with your toddlers? Clue this clueless momma please!