Practically everyone in Singapore has been to Ikea before, and my kids love going there. In fact, when I go to Ikea at dinner time, I even have to line up and wait for seats…and this is not even a weekend! Talk about a major family attraction…

I think the success of Ikea is truly phenomenal, and nearly everyone I know, has got some form of  furniture from this Swedish Megastore.

As you probably know by now, I have been redecorating my new place, and dealing with things like wall collages.

Upon checking my finances, I decided to save a few bucks, and I got some of my furniture from Ikea.

With such innovative budget Swedish designs,and easy to assembly furniture, I thought that I could NOT go wrong with Ikea…but Boy…was I disappointed…

I paid for their infamous “Billy” bookshelves, and after just 2 weeks, the shelves started “sagging” in the middle.

Imagine walking into the study just 2 weeks after assembling these bookshelves, and realizing that the shelves were “sagging”. I think you can see it most obviously on the top left hand shelf, where there is a painting on the shelve… At $169 per bookshelf, I think that are a real disappointment  

Feeling that they had great looking study tables for rooms which are spatially challenged. I bought  a “Micke” study desk from them as well.

Although it is less obvious from this photo, but believe me when I tell you that, the table top is “sagging” in the middle. Although I did not put anything in the middle of the table, and I left my computer monitor at the ends of the table, the table just sagged!

Personally I think that it is a design flaw, as the table is only supported by the legs on both ends.

At $99, it may be cheap…but it only lasted 3 weeks…

Have I thought about returning these items?

I think I  may be able to return them, although I have not technically tried. However, after assembly, these items are just too big to put into an MPV, and I probably need to dismantle them. My wife reckons that it is not worth the hassle, and I might as well, use them, until they are truly “kaput”!

Sigh…so much for Ikea…Do you guys have a similar experience with their furniture?

As I was driving home today, I was listening to “Parenting Made Easy” on Fm93.8.

On this program, they invited a specialist, who taught about the Power of Words. The specialist remarked about how we need to bridle our tongue,  especially when  we speak to our children.

Basically, she was discouraging Parents from  calling their children “Stupid” or negatively “labelling” the children, as we have a tendency to believe in the “labels” given to us.

Believe me…I am all FOR THAT, and I basically try to be as positive as possible when I am with the kids.

However, I think the challenging part comes in practically applying these principles in everyday situations…

For example…When  the family is walking through the kitchen section at Robinsons, and Nathan starts fooling around and running around the glassware.

My Natural Instinct is:

Nathan…Stop Running or you will break something! 

The Doctor’s Advice is:

Nathan…Walk..Let’s Walk to the next department!

The Doctor’s premise is that, when we say WALK, we are suggesting the right behaviour for the kids. So, if we want them to WALK, we should avoid the negative: which is STOP RUNNING, and instead suggest the prescribed behaviour of WALKING.

I think that Stopping to Think in such situations is really difficult. As a parent, you just want them out of the “Danger Area” and No more “Silly Behaviour” in dangerous areas…

No questions asked and Straight to the point!!!

If they are not meant to be running around the glassware ….then it is just  STOP RUNNING…PERIOD!

If they are drawing on the walls, it is like “STOP DRAWING! “

My main idea would be to Save my wall, rather than how to put the words across in the most politically correct way…

Hmm…wonder if you guys face the same difficulties…

Recently, I heard a few horror stories about pre-schoolers with cavities and root canal infections. And mind you, these are kids with responsible parents who believe in the importance of maintaining oral hygiene!

We got worried cos none of our kids have visited THE dentist. And we know their first visit should have been at 1 year old. So we asked around for good recommendations—a gentle, kind, gentle, patient, gentle and very gentle dentist who loves kids.

We made the appointment and started the Steps to Overcome the Dentist (SOD) version Ed-unloaded.

Step 1 – Talk about the Dental Visit like a visit to a new place

e.g. East Coast Park, Airport, New Playground, Field trips etc.

See it this way: You won’t tell your child to be BRAVE when going to the Yakult Factory right? You also won’t say things like “Don’t be scared of the sand when you step on the beach!” or “If you don’t behave, Mummy will bring you to the Playground!”

We realised a Dentist is as foreign to them as an Aeroplane or Electrician. The words we use and the way we describe the Dentist creates a perception before the child enters the clinic!

Step 2 – Elevate the Dentist’s role to a Saviour who finds worms in your mouth

haha… we figured we must give an incentive to the kids why the Dentist is poking instruments and equipments in their mouths! A sample script:

• The Dentist is a very clever doctor who can find out if you have worms hiding in your mouth!
• When you see him, you have to open your mouth WIDE and let him peep inside.
• He uses a little metal stick and knocks on your teeth (knock knock) to check if there’s a worm hiding. [here, we ask kids to open their mouth, we use our clean fingers and knock on their teeth!]
• Then he uses his special toothbrush to help you clean your teeth so that no worms wants to stay there.
• Who wants worms in their mouth??? YEEEEEEEEEEEE

Step 3 – Role play Dentist+Patient with kids

(Photos taken with BlackBerry –  my apologies if they are not as sharp)

Take turns to be Dentist. Ensure the patient always lies down, always opens mouth WIDE and allows a teaspoon to poke around.

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So Did it work?

It certainly did! All three kids were excited and ready to go to the Dentist. All of them didn’t finch when the Dentist chair was lowered. And my proudest moment? When the Dentist said, “I’m going to check your teeth”, ALL of them open their mouths WIDE for a whole lot of poking and checking!

Of course through it all, we heaped loads of praise like “So clever!”, “What a Good girl”, “Look at that big mouth!”. We had to be very conscious not to say “So BRAVE!” cos we didn’t want them to ever think that they even need to be brave for a dental visit.

But we have to give special credit to the Dentist Dr. Isaac too! He was so so patient, and so so gentle, and he explained everything clearly to each child before embarking on the next step!

The great thing about a child-friendly dentist is that they have lots of equipment to help them with children. Besides the stickers….he had another essential piece of apparatus.

The TV set that was fixed above the patient!

Did the kids pass their Dental Check?

I’m not sure if he says this to all his patient, but he said Nicole was on her way to be his best patient ever, Nathan is the most amazing boy ever cos he had his entire set of teeth scaled and cleaned in his first visit, and Nadine is the best 2yr old who would allow a dentist to check all her teeth without crying! So with much confidence, my advice for Pre-Dental visit prep work: Try the SOD! It works!

Oh! And the kids got an All-Clear for their teeth! Clean and Healthy, no worms!

If you are looking for a  good dentist for your children, you can visit them as well:

Canaan Dental Surgery Pte Ltd
29 UPPER EAST COAST ROAD
CRESCENDO BUILDING
SINGAPORE 455291
(See Location Map)

Tel: 6442 0293
Fax: 6241 5173
Email: customerservice@canaan.com.sg

The Jewel Cable Car to Sentosa is a common sight when one makes his way to the Island Resort. However, its doors have been closed for the last few months due to an upgrade. Just recently, the Cable Car has opened its doors again to the public!

Closing its doors in September 2009, the Jewel Cable Car reopened last month, after going through an upgrade costing  S$36 million.

The buzz has been going on around town, and we were glad to be invited by our friend  to try out the new Cable Cars.

The kids were really looking forward to it! Check out Nathan’s Big Smile as he got onto the Cable Car!

With the upgrade, all 67 cabins are now bigger and can contain 8 passengers instead of 6. This change is rather significant, as I remember that the previous cabins were a bit cramped.

The views in the cabin have also been brought up 1 level! We took the cable car from Mount Faber to Sentosa and back again. It was a really pleasant experience especially for the kids!

The maximum height of the Cable car have been shifted up an additional 30m to facilitate the bigger cabins. The highest point now stands at 120 m above sea level.

If you are thinking about bringing your kids to Sentosa via the cable car, be prepared for the revised prices.

Tickets are at:

Adult:
S$24 – one way trip
S$26 – two way trip

Child:
S$14 – one way trip
S$15 – two way trip

(Prices include Sentosa island admission) 

Opening Hours: 8.30am – 10pm daily

Parenting Tip

1. Do not expect the new cabins to be air-conditioned! The technology for air-conditioned cabins is not in yet and therefore dress the kids in light clothing. My youngest was really sweating, when we went in the afternoon.
2. Trip across to Sentosa takes about 5-10min. Do something on the island when you get there, as it will really keep the kids excited! No child would want to stay enclosed in a cabin for too long:). On Sentosa, we went for the Luge and the kids loved it!

Kids seem to have a real knack for technology, and they run to it like bees to honey.

Mummy and Daddy both carry a Blackberry 9700, and Nicole tells us that it is the most boring phone!

She says,  “The games are so difficult and everything is so small!” 

Looks like it is not only the techies that like a BIG screen!

The iPad is going to be launched this week, and I can imagine Nicole going wild over it!  Nathan was already crying the other day when he had to be separated from a friend’s iPhone, and I can envision a similar response from him.

I think the iPad will serve as a great teaching tool for kids, as the flash cards and interactive games on it will serve to be a great teaching tool. My sister-in-law is one who uses technology wisely, as she makes use of her home projector to flash images like fireman, construction workers and even volcanos (depending on her lesson plan). Check out how she does it here!

So far, we have not bought a Wii nor an Xbox nor a PSP for the kids yet. We aim to delay their introduction to these toys as long as we can…as we are afraid of bringing up kids glued to their video games. I think the TV is bad enough already, so having ONE less appliance to deal with, can be considered a blessing

But if you considering to get an iPhone, I have listed the details of the prices below:

The WiFi-only iPad models will retail in Singapore for $728, $878 and $1,028 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. iPads with WiFi and 3G connectivity will retail for $928, $1,078 and $1,228 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively.

3G iPad models will require special microSIM cards.

iPad Data Plan from M1 Singapore

Both prepaid and postpaid plans are available at M1 website.

StarHub already provides microSIMs with its MaxMobile Ultimate 7.2Mbps plan, which retails for $72.76 a month.

Enjoy!