Parenting Seminar at Explorer Kids
As a Daddy Blogger who is finding out more about Parenting everyday, I am always looking to learn from other Parents.
Family Night Out – A New Parenting Initiative by NTUC seems to be perfect solution to all our Parenting Solutions.
Last Friday, NTUC had its Inaugural Event at eXplorer Kids @ E!hub in Downtown East.
With the event held at the largest Indoor Playground, the location was a definite hit with my kids!
In fact, upon entering the Playground, they quickly forgot about my existence and they headed for the slides and obstacles.
Meanwhile, as the kids were playing outside, the Parents were learning from:
Mr. Lau Tat Chuan (Director of the Centre for Fathering)
The talk was designed to help us explore practical methods to balance career and family aspirations, and discover new approaches towards successful living and parenting.
Mr Lau is a father himself and with his oldest child in his early teens, it was really informative to hear from someone who has had a lot more experiences in Parenting.
Here are some quick issues he brought up:
1. Quality Time Vs. Quantity Time
Many working parents “harp” on the fact that it is not Quantity Time that is important but it is Quality Time that really counts.
Eg. No point getting your kids out for breakfast, if you are just reading your Newspapers and ignoring them at the breakfast table.
However, Mr Lau pointed out that when it comes to Quality Time, there is a certain intangible Quantity Time that must be invested. I thought this made sense, as we need to give them a certain amount of Quantity Time, before we can hit this threshold of Quality Time.
2. Different Roles of Men and Women
Women tend to be generally more physically protective of their children rather than Men. At the playground, Men are more relaxed, while Women tend to worry more when the kids are up on the slides and on the swing.
Women are also just more detailed and more emotionally connected which makes up for the shortcomings of most Men.
Overall, I think that Mr. Lau was a very sincere speaker, and his stories about How he Shouted at his eldest kid too much really displayed honesty and openness.
I think as Parents, we must understand that it is basically On-the-Job Training, and most importantly, we must be willing to change our Parenting Styles whenever it is not working.
If you are interested in Parenting Talks such as the one discussed here. There will be more talks coming up on 14 May 2010.
It will still be at eXplorer kids, so you don’t need to worry about baby-sitting the children. 
Date:
14 May 2010
Time:
8.00 pm to 9.00 pm (talk)
7.30pm to 10.00 pm (children’s playtime at eXplorerkid)
Venue:
E!Hub @ Downtown East, 1 Pasir Ris Close, 3rd Level, Singapore 519599
Get more details from the U Family website!
