Reading is one of the most important habits we can pass down to our children. Early exposure to books is essential.

As for my preschooler, J, she was presented with different kinds of books from when she was a baby to what she is today. From flash cards to cardboard books, from puzzle books to short story books.

We make it a routine to read together before sleep. Recently, what surprised me was she could read (in fact, memorize) a story. We used to read to her this story but this time around, she read it to us instead. She could read the book (even though without knowing the words) because she has read the book for gazillion times.

“I don’t want to go to library.”

That was the reply I received when I asked my daughter about our plan to a local library.

I was shocked to hear the answer as J was totally enjoying herself in the last trip.

As a natural response, after getting such an unexpected reply from her, I was planning to give her a list of 101 reasons why libraries were good and she should change her mind.

Fortunately, I didn’t. Instead, I probed further.

Time is a rare commodity for today’s parents.

Most parents leave the house early in the morning and only come home with a tired body late at night – leaving no time for kids. Ironically, kids want nothing but time from parents. Time to play and time to connect.

Is it too much to ask for for a kid?

Are you one of the parents who find no time for kids? Then you should stop and ask yourself this question:

What am I busy for? Am I having the priorities right?

Okay, let's do something about it. Listen to what this mother has to say about making time for kids. If a mother of 9 children can have spare time for her kids, I think you can do the same too. Of course, much easily.

When my children paid a visit to their grandparents last weekend, we didn't do much as it was a short trip. The kids had only 2 days, 1 night to spend.

To best make use of the trip, I tried to get the kids to bond and hopefully form a closer relationship with my parents and siblings, whom they only meet once every few months.

Of course, playing with kids was one of the ways. But there’s one problem. It took a while for the kids to “warm-up” and accept my parents as playmates. Furthermore, my folks can't match the grandchildren’s enthusiasm.

Fortunately, I found a better idea: watching home made videos.

To add to my list of skills of a 19-month, here is an update on what my 20 months old son, K, can do:

• Sweet sound of “Mommy” – Just last Friday, he managed to call “Mommy” and “Daddy” correctly. All this while, he used to call us “Mama” and “Papa.” Only one-syllable words he could master then.

• “Read this book for me” – Before last night, K was not interested in sitting down quietly and “read” a book. Let alone flipping through page by page. For some reason (Maybe the interest spills over after he sees us reading together with his elder sister almost every night. He wants to be part of it), he asked me to “go through” a book with him last night. What he can do now is to recognize some pictures and say the words out. Such as “dog”, “car”, “shoes”, and so on.

• Simple communication – K can tell us something without saying the words. He will use sign language to communicate what he wants and doesn’t want. Such as “Mommy gave me this bread.” – while he’s pointing at the bread.

• Getting violent – If someone blocks his way or stops him from getting a toy he aims at getting, he’d hit or bite! Not sure where he learns from but definitely it’s not from me.

That’s it. A pretty short list, right? But it’s already quite a lot to achieve within a month...for a toddler.

Somehow this article caught my attention. Because it’s a question I need to find answer to...

“Shall I send my daughter to a public school or private school or home school?”

There’s a debate in great length going on at The Washington Post’s On Parenting column. Stacey Garfinkle posed the question to the floor.

It’s an interesting topic indeed. Some replies that I find worth mentioning are:

I just came back from visiting my parents and in-laws over the weekend. My wife and two young kids were with me.

On a normal day, the trip takes us 4 hours. But due to heavy traffic, it took us 6 hours to reach and 8 hours for the round trip respectively.

One would admit that a 6-hour (or 8-hour) trip with kids is no easy task.

In hindsight, I was amazed at myself how I survived the LONG road trip with my two young kids tagging along.

This was not the first time we traveled that far. But this was the longest.  

It dawned on me that maybe it’s useful to share with you what my wife and I did that helped us pull through the trip.

Please note that we are no experts in road trips. But with our own experiences traveling long distance with kids in a car, we learned some useful tips along the way.

I always try new weekend activities with my children. I want them to have weekends that are different from the rest. One more reason is to let them expose to different kinds of activities and see what they prefer.

One of the weekend getaways that my whole family loves is hiking.

We are lucky to get to know about a local Hash Harriers club through a friend. And this club organizes hikes/runs once a month for young participants.

For the first-time hiking that I joined, I felt so good after the walk. It was my first since many years back. It’s good to get connected to Mother Nature again after all these years.

My elder daughter was delighted, especially when she got a chance to play in a stream. Even though she was hesitant at first, but now she can’t wait to jump into the water when she sees one.

Likewise, my younger son dared not to even come down and walk for the first trip. He held tight to me throughout the journey. Now, when I carry him, he asks me to let him down on the trek and go into the stream.

Compared to the first trip, my kids have “improved” a lot.

It's about time my preschool daughter, J, is ready to play board games. So I had an excuse to buy a set of 14-in-1 board game package the other day.

J was so excited when I presented her the package. She couldn't wait to play.

Since she's still young and that was probably the first time she played a board game, Snakes and Ladders would be a better place to start.

My wife and I were playing with her. Initially, I thought J had beginner's luck because she almost won the game.

But, as in everything, the game had ups and downs. J suddenly dropped to the lowest among all. Thanks to the snakes.

I couldn’t stop my tears (of excitement) from flowing for a couple reasons.

I read about a story of a 14-year old girl, Tee Hui Yi, getting a heart transplant after waiting for the right donor for more than a year.

Definitely it’s good news for Hui Yi who has been using a luggage-like mechanical heart all this while. It’s also an exciting moment for her parents who have never stopped praying for her fast recovery.

As a parent, I share in the joy too. The transplant gives a huge relief to her parents.

But what really touched me was more than that.

I feel so proud for the father of the donor - a 15-year-old boy who has been confirmed brain-dead after a road accident.

It really touched my heart when he said this after he received a telephone call from a doctor telling him that his son’s heart had been successfully transplanted to Hui Yi:

“Although I have lost a son, I now feel like I have a foster daughter.”

On why he agreed for his son to be an organ donor, he said: “My son was God’s gift to me. Now, it is time to return the gift to God.”  

The moment I read this, my tears started to flow uncontrollaby.

I truly believe that Hui Yi would agree with me that this is a gift of life that is so full of love and selflessness.

I wish more people would pledge to donate their organs to save more lives and help others live a better life.