Well, looks like history is in the making! She has ONE shaky tooth, finally! But what an amazing tooth it is! Let me show you a pictorial. Do focus your eyes on those centre pearlies.

Nicole – March 2010

Nicole – December 2011

Nicole – 17 March 2012 (Can you see the gap…?)

Nicole – 31 March 2012 (That one tooth is overlapping the other, while the gap widens)

And this is today—5 April 2012:

My baby’s teeth moved! Or her jaw grew larger! And in God’s miraculous ways, the teeth just moved with it!

We can’t wait to lay our hands on that one tooth and yank it off. But of course, that would mean holding down a very violent and aggressive 7yr old girl. We checked with the dentist too, and he says it’s her jaw growing, and since no adult teeth is out yet, the gap in between teeth naturally increases! *phew!*

So the tooth fairy continues her wait… … ……  Anyone else had teeth move or jaws growing so obviously?

UPDATE – 10 April

The tooth came off! “When I was blowing my nose” . . .

So she wrote her first note to the Tooth Fairy. My oh my… check out her note!

She wants $50 for her tooth, and then she changed her mind and she wanted more. She even wrote down her address so that the Tooth Fairy would not lose her way.

I quickly said, the tooth fairy only comes for your FIRST tooth and never again! As this magical fairy is a bit expensive to keep ALIVE!…Fairy Tales are a bit expensive to upkeep in pragmatic Singapore… hahaha….

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…

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

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!

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!

When the kids hit 4yo, there is another surge of pressure to send your kids for even more classes especially on the weekends. From language classes, music lessons, swimming, fencing, phonics, taekwondo, art, speech and drama…the list goes on.

Recently ED Unloaded had an opportunity to conduct an email interview with Fiona Walker (CEO of Julia Gabriel for Learning, Chiltern House Child Care Centres and Julia Gabriel School of Education) and she gives her input on Enrichment Classes for Pre-Schoolers.

1. Are enrichment courses necessary?

Enrichment courses should be just that – a course to enrich and enhance your child’s learning and experiences. The school system here offers a very comprehensive academic programme so if your child has talents or an interest in the arts or sports it is a good idea to allow your child to follow that interest and enrichment courses make that possible.

With young children you may not know where your child’s interests lie. Taking a music class, art class or tennis lessons, for example, for a term then swapping over will help you and your child discover what he or she may wish to pursue.

2. Some pre-schools offer this as part of the curriculum. Is it sufficient?

Generally Nursery age children can find a full preschool curriculum very stimulating so if additional enrichment programmes are built in I would imagine, yes this may be enough for now. You may have heard of a course which is particularly good and engaging but I would limit that to one or two weekly additional classes for young children.

As a parent you will have to judge whether or not your child is being tired out. Dragging a tired or unmotivated child to enrichment classes really can be a waste of your money. Once children are in Kindergarten they are more ready for classes which expand their experiences beyond traditional classroom learning.

3. Is there such a thing as too much enrichment for children?

Definitely! I have known many children with a schedule which would horrify a professional executive. Rushing from school to classes almost 7 days a week. There have been a number of reports on the increase of stress in young children here. I believe this stress is very much a direct result of children being robbed of their childhood and right to free play. By increasing our expectations and packing their schedule from around the age of three, we will actually be producing children who behave like hamsters on a wheel and not creative geniuses.

Children need time to think and use their imagination. Enrichment classes can feed their imagination and help them think creatively but it is no use if they never get the chance to explore and expand on that new knowledge and skill before being rushed off to the next class.

My thoughts?

Well, I would LOVE it if my child could play Bach on the cello, Sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” like Connie Talbot (From America’s Got Talent Fame), Read French with the right accent, and get a fashion spread at Young Parents. And if they could eat their veggies, it would be a nice bonus

But having three kids of such differing personalities, giftings and talents, I realised that exposing them to a wide spectrum of enrichment only makes it more difficult to make a decision! We’ll keep their official structured learning during school hours, anything after, will be based on their interest, likes and wants.

And my vote goes to more Family Time! where after school hours will be spent bonding as a family! We can’t do that together in Ballet or at Art Class, and this definitely can’t be achieved if I spend half the time finding a parking lot at the enrichment centre!

Furthermore, the extra enrichment classes are a real financial strain, and I think that quality time with the kids will be a better option…although I am a bit tempted with the Chinese Language classes, as we don’t speak enough Mandarin at home!

When one becomes a Parent, Birthday Parties become a whole new ballgame. These days, Children’s Parties are NOT a “Non-Event” as they can come at huge expenses…

Last year, from out of the blue, Nicole came up with the idea of “Traffic Light Party!” The theme was just basically built on her favorite Colors and it was most importantly cheap to organize. This was in stark contrast to her 3rd Birthday Party, which was held at “My Gym” which cost quite a bit!

This year, in order to keep to our budget, we started thinking of a creative theme… And it all started with a Simple Ice Milo at the Coffee Shop downstairs.

As we were sipping our Ice Milo together, we had a New Idea! How about a “MILO Party!”

“Yeah…That will be Great DADDY! I Love Milo…and they can all have Milo Dinosaur at my Party!”

Daddy immediately got to work and decided to write to Nestle to ask for sponsorship for the party.

To Daddy’s surprise and delight, they replied and they were willing to sponsor us with Milo memorabilia. Isn’t that Fantastic!

Mummy got really excited, and she even wanted me to ask for a Milo Factory Visit, and maybe get the Milo Van to come to the school…Unfortunately, Milo does not allow any visits to their factory, and I think 18 kids is not a good enough number to ask for the Milo Van…:)

But, we quickly got to work in terms of the Party Invitations, and we managed to use our FREE Canon Selphy Printer to produce this personalized invitation for Nicole’s friends in school.

We were GOOD TO GO!

Check out the Party Games and the Party Photos in the next entry…

But times have changed…and with a Pro-child policy in Singapore, it is a win-win situation to have children!

One of the Perks about living in Singapore is that the government is willing to help lighten the financial costs of bringing up a child.

Just the other day, I was asked by a friend, how much does the government give us in terms of “Baby Bonus” for having a child.

With 3 Kids,  I am supposed to be an expert…Unfortunately this Daddy has to look at the MCYS website to remember the figures…:)

Anyway these are the benefits in store for you:

Your child will enjoy these benefits under the Baby Bonus Scheme from birth till his sixth birthday. The total Baby Bonus benefits are shown in Table 1.

Therefore, in order to maximize your benefits, DO NOT stop at 1 child. Go for the 2nd child and more.

How does the money come?

Er…Don’t expect the stock to bring your Ang-Pow when the baby arrives at the hospital?

When I first became a parent, I thought that I would receive the money in a week’s time.

However, the cash gift is given in 4 is given out in 4 equal installments over 18 months from the birth of your child so that you can use the cash for new expenses arising from your newborn.

Above that, you would still get an ADDITIONAL maximum matching government contribution for your child’s Children Development Account (CDA)! Woopee!

To get the full story, go to this week’s article at Maybe Baby

And before I go…Don’t forget to Vote for me At the Singapore Blog Awards.

Each Person can vote once a day!

This May, Nicole had a Mother’s Day Recital in School! As it was only delivered by kids at her level, it was a smaller and a  more intimate experience. (Check out her other performances here)

The teacher’s really worked very hard at it as well and here is a picture of the banner that greeted us, as we entered the school. Cool right!

The school and classrooms were also decorated by the teachers, to deliver a Fun Party-like atmosphere!

When we entered the music room, there were lots of parents there already. Everyone was armed with a Video cam or a DSLR as we awaited the performance (If u are planning to be a parent, do get one of these optical equipment, as the memories are priceless)

I went to look for the kids before the recital started, and they were excited and ready to go…Check out their excited faces before the performance.

Nicole delivered a song and dance performance in Mandarin, and it was really touching, as our little princess sang with all her heart. She definitely gave her BEST and Daddy and Mummy were so proud of her. 

In fact, All the daddies and Mummies were so proud of their kids, that they were snapping like crazy. I thought that I was at a celebrity press launch!

Mummy who was the star of the show, was proud of her little princess!

After the performance, we also got to see Nicole play the piano, as she performed some of the items that she learnt in her music class.

The song items included movement and dance into the music recitals as well. (Nicole likes the dancing!)

The whole family was there as well. Grandma was especially proud of her little Maestro!

Nicole also played tour guide and showed us around her classroom.

And of course, no party will be complete without FOOD!

Looks like the kids were enjoying it more than the adults!