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Journals, thoughts, opinions, experiences of parents from around the world.

7 Ways to Make Exercise Fun, Not a Chore
Health and Fitness
Written by Abel Cheng   
Wednesday, 15 August 2007
For once, I talk about something else: fitness. A happy family starts with a healthy family. If you drag yourself to do exercise or simply can't make exercise a long term habit, this maybe a useful read.

Check out my guest post on Scott Young's blog:

7 Ways to Make Exercise Fun

Enjoy!
 
How to display family digital photos without printing them
Fun Times
Written by Abel Cheng   
Saturday, 11 August 2007

digital photo frameDigital cameras are everywhere. Even cell phones can be used to snap photos.

The side effect of this amazing technology is we don’t have the chance to display the photos – each and every one of them.

Reasons?

1) Too lazy to send them for printing.

2) Don’t know which pictures to print. I have hundreds of them, if not thousands.

To be fair, even though we’d have printed them all, where do we hang them? Our little house has definitely insufficient space. Never mind about the costs.

Worry not, there’s a solution. We can solve this by using one of the many digital photo frames.

You upload a collection of digital photos to the memory of the digital photo frame. The pictures are displayed automatically and changed based on a time interval set by you.

Isn’t that cool? Now you can display all your photos with just one photo frame.

A quick check at Amazon.com reveals that the price range is from $70 to $200. Sounds expensive but this seems like a more practical solution.

Not only that, digital photo frame makes a perfect gift too.

 
Humor: Baby Maybelline
Fun Times
Written by Abel Cheng   
Friday, 10 August 2007

Many say parenting is tough job.

Don’t take it too seriously and give yourself a break by watching this hilarious video.

"Mommy caught naughty Baby Maybelline red-handed going through her make up drawer. The kid got powder, eye shadow, and lipstick all over her face. Sitting on the floor in her mess, singing her sad song, the brat wonders how mom’s going to punish her this time."

Poor Maybelline...wonder what will her mother get her after this.

Watch: Baby Maybelline

 
Save Money and Water in One Minute - A Video
Home Organization and Safety
Written by Abel Cheng   
Tuesday, 07 August 2007
This is a damn cool idea. Never crossed my mind. I think it works very well if you're not doing a BIG business in the toilet.

The result? A slimmer water bill and you do your bit to save the environment.

I found this clip through Tiffany. Watch it and do it today. And it's easier than you think. It adds up quite a bit if you have 5 bathrooms!

Watch: Save Water and Money
 
Overspending on Children and How to Fight It
Money Matters
Written by Abel Cheng   
Friday, 03 August 2007

Call me cheapskate, I don't really spend much on my children. Even when my wife and I buy toys or clothes for them, we think REAL hard.

Okay, to be fair, we do spend on items that we think are important like books. But not thousands of dollars on your child’s first and second birthdays.

Are you spending too much on your children and sacrifice your own needs like retirement?

If you are, you may want to do something about it. Trent of The Simple Dollar has written an excellent article on this.

But first, does spending less on your child mean you don’t love him?

Trent has this to say, “My job as a parent is to love my child, yes. But another big part of my job as a parent - and perhaps even more important - is to teach my child how to be a successful, functional person.”

In the article, you’ll find out Trent’s five basic principles about money, for parents:

  1. If I can’t explain the reasoning behind a purchase to my child, then I won’t make the purchase.
  2. I look strongly at how financial moves will affect my family now and later.
  3. I involve my children in all financial choices as early as possible.
  4. I don’t spend money on him without a clear purpose.
  5. I use the smile factor to judge if his childhood is in fact a happy one.
I love this article. You have to read it to find out why.

See also:

 
30 Ways to Go Green with Your Family
Misc
Written by Abel Cheng   
Thursday, 02 August 2007

Check out my guest post on Tiffany’s fantastic blog, Nature Moms:

30 Ways to Go Green with Your Family

You’ll find some simple ideas that you and your family can use to create a greener family.

Note: It’s only after reading Tiffany's blog that I now seriously consider putting natural living in my family as much as possible.

 
Nursing firstborn: A true breastfeeding story
Parenting
Written by Abel Cheng   
Thursday, 02 August 2007
I always find stories about mothers overcoming obstacles in breastfeeding fascinating and heartwarming. Because it takes courage, focus, and commitment to do it. And also a strong will to weather all sorts of comments from naysayers.

Li Za is one of the examples. Her story might not be perfect for breastfeeding advocates but hey life is not perfect.

As long as you do your very best to breastfeed your baby no matter what happens, this is already a success story in itself, at least to me.

It doesn’t really matter whether Li Za wrote this story during World Breastfeeding Week or not. What’s more important is how she overcame challenges of all kinds in breastfeeding her firstborn.

Among the problems she faced:
  • Total exhaustion after delivery
  • Producing not enough milk
  • Guilt of not giving breast milk but formula
  • How she turned from 60% formula to fully breast milk
  • No nursing room when she started work
If you are at the brink of giving up breastfeeding without valid medical reasons, go read the story and be inspired. I hope this story makes you feel better because you’re not alone in facing these problems.

See also:
Breastfeeding your baby: Tips on how to make it work
Breastfeeding or Bottle Feeding: A Debate Between "Mrs. Breast" and "Mrs. Bottle"
 
10 ways to entertain young children for $1 or less (without the TV)
Fun Times
Written by Abel Cheng   
Wednesday, 01 August 2007

What struck me first was the title.

First $1 or less.

Second without the TV.

Move over Tickle Me Elmo or Lego building blocks or computer games. It’s grateful to realize that you can still do something with young children without burning a hole in your pocket and TV.

Some of them are classic games that I used to play before, of course, when I was younger. They are still fun even at my age now.

Check out Brad Isaac’s list:

10 ways to entertain young children for $1 or less (without the TV)

See also:
70 Toddler Games and Activities You Can Play and Do With Your Child
 
Outsourcing your parenting tasks
Parenting
Written by Abel Cheng   
Friday, 27 July 2007
No time to prepare lunch for your kids? Not free to send and pick up your son from a soccer training?

No worries. You can outsource these tasks to someone else. Parenting is getting more complicated now with today's busy lifestyle.

I read with amazement this story of Parenting Subcontractors about a company called Health e-Lunch Kids. It charges parents $4.99 apiece for the homemade, nutritious meals it delivers each day.

Need ferrying services for kids? You may need to call Mother Hen's Helpers.

I am not sure if parenting subcontractors would help improve parent-child relationship. Some people may end up spend less time with children because of this service. They use the “saved” time on their work instead.

But personally, I still think parents have to involve and spend time with children. You just can’t let others do the job for you. Listening to and communicate with children are, among others, stuff that you can't outsource.
 
Some great parenting articles...
Parenting
Written by Abel Cheng   
Friday, 27 July 2007
I came across some great articles. Go check them out.

The Parents Zone: How To Set The Rules Of Parenting Discipline To Make Your Child Respect And Follow Them?

Be a Good Dad: Autism Discipline
 
6 Powerful Lessons We Can Learn from Children
Parenting
Written by Abel Cheng   
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
One of my articles appeared on Tanyetta's blog Days Like These! I wrote about six powerful lessons parents (and adults for that matter) can learn from children. Read it here...

What Children Can Teach Us about Life and Happiness: The Six Forgotten Lessons

While you are there, check out Tanyetta's blog. Mainly about her toddler. Be warned, some can be very hilarious!
 
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