In Singapore, we always praise our kids for being “So Smart” “So Clever”, or just simply saying “Good Job!” However, studies have shown that we should praise kids for making the effort rather than just their intelligence.

Children who don’t attempt things they won’t be successful at, may come from misguided praise. In fact, giving kids the label of “smart” does not prevent them from under-performing. It might actually be causing it!

Psychologist have found that “When we praise children for their intelligence,”  “we tell them that this is the name of the game: Look smart, don’t risk making mistakes.” And that’s what the fifth-graders had done: They’d chosen to look smart and avoid the risk of being embarrassed.

A few years ago Carol Dweck, a top psychologist, took 400 students and gave them a simple puzzle.

Afterwards, the students were given six words of praise.

Half were Praised for intelligence: "Wow, you must be really smart!"

The other half were Praised for effort: "Wow, you must be hard working!"

Dweck was testing whether these simple words could alter the students’ mindsets. The results were remarkable.

After the first test, the students were given a choice of whether to take a hard or an easy test.

Two thirds of the students praised for intelligence chose the easy task – they did not want to risk losing their "smart" label.

But 90 per cent of the effort-praised group chose the tough test – they wanted to prove how hard-working they were. Then, the experiment came full circle, giving students a chance to take a test of equal difficulty to the first.

The group praised for intelligence dropped 20 per cent compared with the first test, though it was no harder. But the effort-praised group improved by 30 per cent. Failure had actually spurred them on.

"These were some of the clearest findings I’ve seen," Dweck said.

"Praising children’s intelligence harms motivation and it harms performance."

The reason is simple: Praising intelligence nudges children towards the fixed mindset – it suggests that intelligence is of primary importance rather than the effort through which intelligence can be transformed.

This reveals a radical new approach – we should praise effort, not talent and we should teach kids to see challenges as learning opportunities rather than threats.

When parents and teachers adopt this approach, and stick to it, the results are remarkable. Kids will just keep trying and trying…till the task is complete. I would love that more than ‘so clever’ kids, don’t you?

Tip 1: Prioritize according to importance and urgency
Time is running out and you still have much to accomplish before the festivities begin. Prioritize
what needs to be done according to importance and urgency, and keep asking yourself the
following questions:
“Do I have to do this now before Chinese New Year?”
“Do I have to do it myself, or can I delegate it to a family member or get an outsourced supplier?”
“How can I make the best use of my time and achieve maximum results for a well-planned Chinese New Year?”

Tip 2: Organize your day
Use a checklist to organize your day and to ensure that you remember all that needs to be done. This simple and effective tool also helps you track your progress and provides a sense of accomplishment, which will fuel your motivation to complete the tasks at hand. Take advantage of the natural highs and lows in your energy and motivation levels as well by tackling high-intensity tasks in the morning, to allow you to scale back in the evening to re-charge your built-in batteries.

Tip 3: Use time-saving household appliances
Employ gadgets and appliances in your home to help you accomplish tasks and save precious time in the process. Washing up after dinners – especially a large one like the reunion dinner – can be time-consuming due to the amount of dishes you have to wash.

Consider using an automatic dishwasher rather than washing your dishes by hand. Not only does it save you up to 3 weeks of time compared to washing dishes by hand over the course of one year, it also uses water temperatures of up to 70 degrees Celsius, effectively killing 99.9% of harmful germs and bacteria.

This allows you to spend more time with your family, ensure that your kitchen is more hygienic and
provides much needed rest to prepare for the festivities.

Tip 4: Delegate
When time is limited, admit that you are not able to do everything yourself and get help. Turn to relatives or friends for help, or consider involving family members in the preparations. For example, split up the rooms in the house and assign each family member a room to spring clean.

Motivate everyone with a “family competition” and offer small awards for the “cleanest” and “most improved” rooms.

Tip 5: Prepare what you can ahead of time
If organizing and cooking for large family meals and gatherings tend to wear you out, consider what can be done ahead of time to help reduce stress levels. Prepare ingredients and store them in the refrigerator, rely on recipes that you’ve tried before so that you are more confident, and buy snacks in advance and store them in airtight containers.

Tip 6: Multi-tasking and Chunking
Make the best use of your time multi-tasking and chunking. Multi-tasking involves identifying low interaction tasks that can be done together, such as planning what you intend to cook for dinner while commuting or doing your daily exercise. This allows you to maximize the use of your spare time.
Chunking on the other hand, is also beneficial – set aside chunks of time to complete specific tasks, such as doing all the cleaning on one day then moving on to decorating or cooking on the next, rather than alternating between tasks and requiring more “start-up” time to pick up from where you left off.

Tip 7: Stress management during Chinese New Year
Stress can have a negative impact on your health and your mood during Chinese New Year. The effects of stress include irritability, anxiety, insomnia and headaches, which will impair your ability to fully enjoy the festivities

• At the end of each day, prepare a checklist for the following day so that you feel in control and ready to face the day.
• A main cause of stress is lack of rest, which can affect your ability to function efficiently. Build in time to unwind in the evenings, so that you’re calm and relaxed when it’s time for bed.
• Set aside time to exercise every day to keep yourself strong and help improve your overall wellness.
• When tasks during the day become overwhelming, try slow deep breathing exercises to clear your mind and re-charge.

Tip 8: Remembering what’s important
Try to stay focused on the true spirit of the Chinese New Year – spending time with family and friends, enjoying the reunion and each other’s company. This festive season only happens once a year, so take the time to enjoy it.

And most importantly! Stay off the Bak Kwa…As 2 Slices of Bak Kwa is equal to  the number of calories found in a place of Chicken Rice!

As shared by:

Finish: http://www.rb.com/Media-investors/Category-performance/Dishwashing

Bosch: http://www.bosch-home.com/sg/products/dishwashers.html

I have heard that some of the “Ang Pow” designs this year are nothing to SHOUT about, but if you are looking for some great Ang Pow designs which will sit well with the kids – You can check out the Ang Pows offered by Disney Junior.

Besides offering Party Memorabilia that you can print out at home, you can also print out these great Ang Pows and other CNY decorations in the comfort of your home.

From Wall Decors, Fortune Cookies, Firecrackers, Scrolls to a bag for your oranges, the choices are endless – and they all come with DIY instructions.

For the CNY, Disney has also offered to give 2 packets of theses specially printed Mickey Mouse Ang Pows to 5 lucky Winners.

All you need to do is:

1. Comment on this blog and Name 3 Lunar New Year decorations which you can create from Disney Junior’s "For Grown Ups" microsite.

2. Join the ED Unloaded Facebook Page (if you have not done so).

3. Share this blog page on your Facebook Wall (For those new to this process, you can do this by sharing the link from the ED Unloaded Facebook Page, and pasting it on your FB Wall. Do help me by TAGGING me as well, so that I know that you have done it.)

Contest ends on the 18 Jan 2012 2359hrs.

Disney will courier the Ang Pows out to you, so that you can use the Ang Pows this CNY

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Congratulations to these Winners of the ED Unloaded “Giveaway”.

1. Jess Koh

2. Keith Tan

3. Jaime Chan

4. Yvonne Oh

5. Jade Lim

I will contact you shortly for your details! Thanks once again for everyone’s participation!

Can you believe it…Every recess, she has been spending $1 dollar…and it is all spent on…………..

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Can you imagine it!

She has been eating Spaghetti from Monday to Friday! …

That’s right! Australia’s best selling swaddle has reached the sunny shores of Singapore.

What’s great about this new revolutionary swaddle is that it promotes better sleep for both you and the child.

Instead if swaddling with the baby’s arms down, the “Love to Swaddle UP” swaddles the baby’s arms close to its head, providing access to its hands while asleep.

I think all babies will love the “Swaddle UP”, as the womb-like fit of the Swaddle, gives a greater sense of security and an ease of arm movement.

Made if 360-degree stretch fabric and superior quality cotton elastane, the material is lightweight and breathable, keeping baby cool.

This design is one of the safest swaddles in  the world and follows the “SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)  and Kids” safe sleep guidelines.

This swaddle retails at $49.90 , but as an ED UNloaded reader, I am giving away 2 swaddles (size small: which is for 3 to 6kg).

All you need to  do is:

1. Comment on this blog and tell us why you like the “Swaddle UP”

2. Join the ED Unloaded Facebook Page (if you have not done so).

3. Share this blog page on your Facebook Wall (For those new to this process, you can do this by sharing the link from the ED Unloaded Facebook Page, and pasting it on your FB Wall. Do help me by TAGGING me as well, so that I know that you have done it.)

Contest ends on the 14 January 2012 2359hrs.

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Our Giveaway is now CLOSED and the Winners are:

1. Jerb

2. Kat

Congratulations to the 2 Winners. The owners of Swaddle Up will be contacting you shortly to arrange the collection of your prizes!

Thank you everyone for your participation!

To practise self-discipline in the house, we make the children open their presents only on Boxing day. As a result, there is usually a pile of presents under the Christmas Tree, when D-Day approaches.

Many thanks to our many friends and family members for the presents! It has been a real joy to see the “glow” on the children’s faces, as they open each present.

As Nicole was watching TV with me, she went:

“Daddy, Aunt Jing (Our Domestic Helper) is just like Cinderella.”

Both Aunty Jing and I were like very puzzled…it was like why was she saying this…like suddenly out of the blue…

I went like:

“Why do you say that, Nicole?”

Nicole went:

“Its because she is always doing chores around the house!”

And do you know what else Daddy? Nicole went…

“What Nicole?”

“You are just like the evil step-sister, you are always asking her to do things around the house!”

Haha…

December is the school holidays in Singapore, and everybody has been going for a holiday. Recently, he was asked:

Where have you been for a holiday?

Nathan replied, “I have been to Hong Kong, Bali, Malaysia…Malaysia…Malaysia…Malaysia…

(I think we have been to places like Melaka, Penang, KL and JB too often…and all these places only register as Malaysia to him)

What to do…with the prices of plane tickets theses days…We are on a tight budget!

You can imagine how happy Nathan was, when I brought him to a Pirate Party organized by Disney Junior.

Nathan was terribly excited as he entered the little treasure cove at Holland V. Disney spared no expense in decorating the place, and the place was decked with Pirate Treasure.

Nathan really enjoyed himself as he got to dress up as a Pirate. In fact, he voluntarily put on his Pirate hat and patch when he sat down

Well, the excitement for us parents does not stop there! If you like to create themed Parties for your children – Disney Junior seems to have some quick answers for YOU!

Disney Junior has a microsite that gives you the resources to create a similar theme party at home.

With a colour printer, one can print out all the eye patches, pirate hats,  treasure chest, gold coins they want. The print outs include simple print-and-fold instructions, which creates the extra details that every Pirate Party needs! There are even Pirate Invitation Cards that you can print out!  

The resources do not stop there, as there is even a Princess theme, where you can make your own Princess Aurora Crown and even food items, as there are even simple recipes to reflect the party theme – such as Palm Tree Sandwiches and Castle Cakes.

If you want to find out more about the Party themes available, do go to the Disney Junior website.

Besides the long queues, crowds are going crazy, with a women reported using a pepper spray to get ahead of the crowds for an XBox. If you think that we Singaporeans are a bit “kiasu”, I think that our western friends are not too far behind…

However, I dread to think what will happen in Singapore, if we had stuff like a slow cooker or mobiles going for prices as low as $2. We might have scenes even worse than those seen overseas.

Anyway, if you are based in Singapore like me, you can shop online as well. Cyber Monday is coming up today and it is created for people like us who love to shop online. 

The savings will definitely make it well worth your time!