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Short-Tempered Dad Shares His Struggles to Better Parenting
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Featured Post
A case of premature teenager syndrome
Photo Credit: Alex Proimos
If you think you have to wait until 14 or 15 to experience teenager syndrome, think again.
I don’t know about you but for me I don’t need to wait that long to experience cranky behavior from my child. Maybe it’s a case of adolescence comes knocking early.
In recent weeks, my wife and I notice that J (who is now 11) is very short-tempered and sometimes she can get highly emotional. Especially when she hears something that she doesn’t like.
But the problem is the definition of “like” is very subjective and vague. What we think is fine is not fine to her. Whenever she hears something not to her liking (a comment, for example) or against her will, she will start shouting or even crying uncontrollably. [Read More...]
Consumerism penetrates school
Photo Credit: RageZ
You see it everywhere. And now schools are not spared.
(I remember we didn’t have such a thing when I was in primary school)
In the name of creating awareness in recycling, a popular home product company dropped by J’s school recently. And of course, they wouldn’t leave without taking some back from the students.
A day before the event, J received a brochure which promoted the company’s products and it’s aptly called Student Set. Again the company promoted the product in the name of creating a better environment.
Don’t get me wrong. I am all in as far as protecting the environment is concerned. But what boggles my mind is an awareness campaign (which is a noble act) is actually a disguised marketing event that helped the company rake in more sales than anything else at the end of the day. [Read More...]
That’s one small step for her, one giant leap for my health
Photo Credit: VOFAN
I have a confession to make. Up until recently, I was the one who woke J up every morning so that she could prepare herself for school.
In other words, I was her alarm clock. I had to wake up before her and when you get older, it’s no joke to wake up early and it can take a toll on your health. You can’t really get back what you lose from sleep deprivation.
On April 28th this year, I handed over the job back to J and it’s now entirely her own responsibility to wake up in the morning. At the same time, I resigned being a human alarm clock. I free myself from the duty and only act as a backup should J fail to wake up after an intolerable number of snoozes. [Read More...]
Educational Tour: Rimba Ilmu and Museum of Zoology of University of Malaya
We jumped at the invitation extended to us by my wife’s former colleague and a reader of ParentWonder.com. They were the organizers of a day trip that took place last Friday.
The day trip comprised Malaysia’s top university’s Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden and The Museum of Zoology. Both places are located on the campus of University of Malaya (UM). Based on my rough estimate, the trip was joined by about 30 participants – children and adults alike.
The morning session started off with Rimba Ilmu. After lunch, the trip continued with a visit to UM’s Museum of Zoology.
All in all, both tours are highly educational, even for me. And it’s definitely recommended for parents with kids as well as school teachers looking for a trip. [Read More...]
Family Road Trip: Sitiawan, Lumut and Pangkor Island
Since we were offered a free place to stay (from my cousin) in Swiss Court Holiday Apartment Damai Laut, we planned a visit to this wonderful places (Sitiawan and Lumut) again during the recent school holidays. It’s 3D2N trip. What is different this time is we included Pangkor Island as part of our itinerary. Our last visit was four years ago.
What we can learn from a simple lunch box
Photo Credit: Matthias Lambrecht
Two hours after J went to school today, only then did I realize she forgot her lunch box. It was packed nicely and the only thing she forgot to do was to put it in her school bag.
Later, K realized her sister’s snack when I was biting into it for breakfast.
He asked, “Hey, that’s sisters’s snack! Why are you eating it?”
“So what should I do instead?” I tested him.
“Send it over to sis.”
I replied, “No. I am not going to do that.” [Read More...]
Mother’s Day: “The Best Piece Of Advice Mom Ever Gave Me”
Photo Credit: Lotus Carroll
Though it’s been 5 days after Mother’s Day, there are things that are timeless and never go out-of-date.
In conjunction with this year’s Mother’s Day, Marlo Thomas shared the best piece of advice her mother gave on her blog:
“The most valuable [advice] being her encouragement to follow my own course and seize the career I wanted.”
Excellent! [Read More...]
Johnny-come-lately apology
Two weeks ago, I was rushing to school to fetch K.
Out of good intention, J helped me start the car engine. This wasn’t the first time she did so. But there’s something that she did this time that was unprecedented.
Immediately after she started the engine, she locked the car and slammed the door. That happened in front of my very own eyes. I was in shock and in that instance, I had no time to warn her not to do it.
The result was dismay: the car was locked with the key inside! [Read More...]
Reading Mouserathon
After stopping for quite some time, K picked up reading again in the last week or so.
Of course, before that, I tried to encourage him to read but it was just that: light reminder. And no action thereafter.
However, in the past few days, he was infected with some sort of virus that motivates him to read… non-stop. [Read More...]
Let kids be kids: Joining the tree-climbing tribe
Photo Credit: Arielle Kristina
You see in my neighborhood, there’s an alternative school that encourages children to climb trees.
Yep, it’s true. According to the “followers,” children are born with the right to climb that you should not violate.
If you don’t believe me, pay me a visit and I’ll show you a bunch of kids who are happily climbing up trees without a slight intervention from the parents. Chances are the kids who are up on a tree belong to that school.
To let you in on a secret, I do secretly hope that J and K would have the tree-climbing prowess those kids have. I slightly hinted to them they can do so. They have all my support. [Read More...]
