Nathan is half-way through his toilet training programme. He can go diaper-less through the day, and would let his caregivers know when he needs to shishi (pee) or poopoo (poo).

But whenever that happens, it is a race against time to get him to the toilet. Most parents would know that at this stage, the pre-schooler only informs you of his toilet needs when he cannot contain the pee/poo any longer.

Well, last Monday, I was driving Nicole and Nathan to school. Just me and the two kids.

Along the way, Nathan shouted out loud, “Mummy, I need to shishi!”

Oh no! Mummy is driving, we are going to reach school soon. Can you ask the shishi to wait? Let’s ask the shishi not to come out!

(Okok… I know this is silly, but that’s what I always tell them. Address the issue, then distract them. Some parents told me you should just change topic and talk about something else. But I’m so worried, what if they pee when we are talking about Thomas the Train or singing The Wheels of the Bus??!?!?)

Ok. Shishi don’t come out! Shishi, don’t come out!

I drove as fast as I could. It was morning traffic. There was nowhere to stop the car & look for a drain, let alone a toilet!

Mummy, I need to shishi!

I know, I know… we are going to reach school soon. Let’s ask the shishi not to come out first!

Shishi don’t come out! Don’t come out! Mummy, Mummy, my kuku is going to explode!

AHHH! ok, Mummy is driving as fast as I can.

Mummy, if my kuku explodes, I will have a patpat right?

?!?!?!

For readers who are a little lost, in our family, we use baby vocab kuku & patpat for the male and female anatomy respectively. Don’t ask me why, but it certainly seems easier to say then the actual word ya?

In any case, we got to school dry. Nathan rushed in to the toilet, pee-ed his heart out. I was so tickled by his comments, I shared it with some parents. And I learnt new tips about this phase in their lives!

Parenting Tips for Toilet Training your Toddlers

1. Always have a spare pull-up diaper in the car

This works for ALL emergencies! No fuss at all!

2. For boys, STAND AS FAR AS YOU CAN FROM HIM.                                                                                                  

When they reach the toilet, always stand as far as you can from the boys!  Once the pants comes down, he SHOOTS!

A mummy shared that her shoes always get wet when she pulls down her son’s pants!

3.RUN!                                                                                                          

As soon as your child tells you he needs to pee, RUN to the nearest toilet/bush/drain. For all kids, when they tell you they need to go, the pee is probably already close to bursting point!

As an aside, my method of telling the shishi not to come out seems to work! I’ve not had any accidents ever!

But recently, Nicole said she wanted to poo. So I did the usual, “Tell the poopoo not to come out first”. And she answered me…

Mummy, my poopoo has NO EARS!

I have never been a fan of the Tote Bags, as I have thought of them as similar to the bags given out by Travel Agencies when I was young…

However, this year…I was pleasantly surprised by the Fun Tote Bags for this year’s NDP.

There are a total of 7 different designs, and all contributed by local designers…

Putting on a fun mindset, the designers sought to create designs that will be used by Singaporeans after the parade. The Chairman of the Fun Tote Committee, Col (NS) William Chua said, “We want a bag that is designed by Singaporeans for Singaporeans and it will be a bag that we are proud of” .

I must say that the designs are really COOL…and I don’t mind carrying these bags at all!

Of the 7 designs, this is my personal favourite!

In fact I have already starting using it already…It makes a great diaper bag, as not only is it made of recyclable material but it is well-sized to do that job! In fact, it is also the right size to throw in your notebook and your school books! Very useful for all ages!

Here is also a sneak peak at the items that you will find inside…

In fact, all the “National Day Essentials” such as the packet drinks, biscuits and Koko Krunch are put into a “Bento Box” design, which makes carrying the materials convenient, and packed into a classy casing. Ingenious!

There is even a game to entertain the older kids, as they wait in the hot sun for the parade to start. This is definitely more child friendly as compared to the previous years.

Parenting Tip: 

And if you are attending the Parade this year, don’t forget to hold on to the Discount Booklet. Coupons include 50% off the Night Safari and the Singapore Bird Park, 15% discount at Popular Bookstore and other food vouchers

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!

Well, it seems that all of us parents have to go through that sooner or later and recently, I had the privilege 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) to get her input about about choosing a Pre-School?

Fiona has had more than a decade of experience with Pre-Schoolers and I thought that this interview will be very useful for us parents.

Here are some of the questions that I put to her:

1. What are some factors to consider when looking for a pre-school?

Choosing the right pre-school for your child can be challenging for parents. Here are few tips that can help you and your child feel confident you have made the right choice.

• Decide what location you prefer and what your budget is. It is important that the school you choose will comfortably fit into your family’s lifestyle.
• Once you have narrowed down the possibilities, make arrangements to visit the schools. Many schools will have a similar sounding philosophy so it is important you know what to look for so you can see if it will work for you and your child.
• On your visit ask yourself – Do the children seem happy, are they actively engaged in a variety of activities, is the environment bright, cheerful and filled with children’s art work, is the equipment plentiful, varied and in good condition? Do the teachers seem happy, are they engaged with the children, are they good language models and are they observant and aware of all the children in their care, are the children comfortable and affectionate with the teachers?
• If you are happy with your first impression then make an appointment to meet the principal. You may consider asking the following questions:

· What are the teachers’ experience and qualifications?

· How important is the child’s social and emotional development as opposed to the more academic development?

· How does the school ensure the children are prepared for Primary One?

· How does the school deal with children testing boundaries and conflict? This is a normal aspect of young children’s development but it is important that you agree with the schools approach to discipline.

· How does the school ensure safety during pick-up times, outdoor play and field trips?

· How well is the curriculum suited to meet individual learning styles and personalities?

· How involved are parents? What channels of communication between home and school are encouraged?

2. What is the most appropriate age to send a child for pre-school?

Generally the most appropriate age to send children to preschool is between 2 and 3.

This is when children will generally have developed the language needed to express needs and wants, the physical development to be able to go to the toilet independently and the cognitive understanding to become familiar with the routines within the school setting. All of these stages of development are good indicators of whether or not a child will be able to make the transition to independent schooling without too much separation anxiety and distress.

3. What is the difference between a childcare/pre-school that is MCYS endorsed and MOE endorsed?

A childcare operated by the MCYS offers childcare for working parents as well as an MOE approved curriculum. Childcare centres must operate from 7:00a.m. to 7:00p.m., throughout the year.

Fees are paid monthly and a subsidy of $300 per month for full day is given to Singaporean parents.

MOE kindergartens run during the school term times of 40 weeks a year. They generally run for 3 hours a day and are not eligible for subsidy. Many kindergartens offer additional enrichment programmes for additional cost.

4. What are some factors that we can compromise if parents cannot afford the top premium schools.

Get ready for a list of “Do Not’s” here:

• Do not compromise on providing your child what is necessary for a happy day at school.
• Do not compromise on a cheerful, bright environment which is well kept and clean.
• Do not compromise on kind, caring staff who genuinely love their job and enjoy spending time with your child.
• Do not compromise on senior staff members who understand the needs of young children and can balance that with the needs of the Singaporean school system.
• Do not compromise on a curriculum which means children learn through active, hands-on experiences NOT teacher directed rote learning.
• Do not compromise on open communication with the school.

The most premium schools generally have small class sizes, expensive, imported equipment and very well qualified staff. Of course that is all wonderful but children can often flourish in a larger group with interesting, age appropriate resources as long as the teachers understand them, the lessons are well planned and involve active learning.

-end of interview-

I think that these tips are very useful considerations that we can take into account when we are considering a pre-school for our children.

Most importantly, I think we must find a good pre-school within our family’s budget as well.

I know of parents who take extra jobs just to provide a premium school education for their kids… We Parents must realize that Mums and Dads are the best role models for our children, and that there is no substitute for Quality Time!

Check out more Parenting Tips at the Julia Gabriel Blogger’s Forum.

Before I go, do remember to vote for me TODAY at the Singapore Blog Awards.

You can Vote again, even if you have done so already, and you can find out more details here! Thanks

…the carpark was filled with cars, and there were only MEN going into the carpark lift…

…the hotel hotel was filled with MEN as well and when I entered the Ballroom, I saw the largest gathering of Dads in one place!

(I was relived to know that terrorist were not targeting Dads!)

This was the scene that greeted me, as I went for the inaugural Parenting Conference for Dads for Life. (Many Thanks to Maybe Baby * for sponsoring my ticket)

Check out the full article on the Maybe Baby site, as I discuss Josh Mcdowell’s Parenting Tips and other insights in this week’s blog entry at Maybe Baby.

* Maybe Baby is a Parenting Site supported by MCYS to provide a one-stop localised interactive on-line parenthood portal for couples seeking information on fertility, sexual intimacy, finances, lifestyle issues, pregnancy, work-life balance and other parenthood-related issues.

Well, Nuffnang is organizing a contest in conjunction with the National Family Celebrations and they are giving away 700 FREE tickets to various attractions (Eg. Singapore Flyer, Hippo Tours) in Singapore.

U might be wondering:

Why are we so excited?

As a family, we are always looking for new things to do in Singapore, and more importantly…

I just love spending time with the kids and doing stuff together with them.

So this is my pledge to them:

Daddy will make it a point to spend more time with mummy and the kids every week!

The kids are ready to pledge themselves to us as well!

Check out their enthusiasm:

NATIONAL FAMILY CELEBRATIONS 2010 (NFC 2010)

Organised by the National Family Council, National Family Celebrations is an annual event which celebrates and reinforces the importance of families and family life. This year, Singaporeans are encouraged to make a personal commitment to their families by being a part of the Singapore Family Pledge Movement.

To provide opportunities for Singaporeans to follow through on the pledges to their families, there are a myriad of activities under the NFC 2010 calendar – which will interest the young, the old, and everyone in between! NFC 2010 will be held from 25 May to 26 June 2010, and this year marks the 25^th Anniversary of the Celebrations. For more information on NFC 2010, visit www.nfc.sg

Maybe Baby is a new web portal managed by I love Children to encourage young couples to have Children. If you are planning to have a baby, or having questions about conception, pregnancies and financial planning – This is the site for you!

The site is also of great interest to ED Unloaded, as  we have been invited to be a resident blogger, and write a weekly column for the site!

With such an agenda, it is naturally supported by MCYS (Ministry of Community Development),  and other organisations such as NTUC (Ed Unloaded is a resident blogger there as well).

Today’s official launch was graced by the MP of Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC (Mrs Jospehine Teo) and by other celebrities such as Diana Ser as well.

To follow-up on the launch, there will also be a host of Parenting Seminars and activities coming up, so stay tuned, as I will blog about these activities soon!

I also met some friends at the Launch! Here’s Daphne from Mother’s Inc , who is a fellow columnist on the web portal.

Check out my first article on the site, as it answers questions like why I started Blogging? If you think that I have always been good with children…You will definitely find out the truth from the article.

I also brought Nicole to the launch and she was very well behaved! Daddy was so proud of her, as she sat through the proceedings, and she even took pictures of Daddy, as he was being photographed by the Press and the photographers.

My little girl’s photo! (Not bad for a 5yo!)

Anyway, do show me some love by visiting the Maybe Baby Site, and leaving me your comments on my 1st article there!

See you!