You're Not the Boss of Me

As they get older, JED are more independent in some ways. They are able to come home on the bus or train by themselves and they are able to navigate the neighbourhood quite effectively on their own. But at the same time, they're also a bit needy and a pain in the neck. Because they are older, sometimes, when Packrat and I have a bit of time at night, we tell them to get themselves to bed so that "mommy and papa can go out". Last night was one such...

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Tiger Teacher Mom? No such thing

I am surrounded by Tiger Moms. Sometimes, against my better judgement, I try to be one too. But I have discovered that at heart, I can't be one. I can't keep it up. I've been told I don't have enough resolve to be a Tiger Mom. I'm okay with that because I know the real reason I can't be a pure, true blue Tiger Mom.  Because I was a teacher before I became a mother and that shapes how I parent. And the teacher is a whole lot more reasonable...

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Comfort

As JED grow older, they tend to be more disagreeable with one another. It is inevitable. All 3 have strong personalities and are not pushovers. Each want their way and is angered when their way is not the preferred way of the other two. But on occasion, we see that there really is a connection between them and they really do have a soft spot for each other, under the often prickly exterior. Rather 'durian' relationship they have. These are moments...

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Conquering fears

The nature of a cruise holiday is to do stuff. You have to be distracted or you realise that you're on a big floating device, very far away from land with only miles of ocean in sight. So there are choc-a-block activities for those interested. Finally, JED are old enough to be interested in doing things. They hung a lot in the pool but at least, this time round, they were willing to try out the 'extreme' (in Evan's words) activities on the ship....

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Up Close and Personal with animals

Once again, we are back from a long vacation. Unlike the previous one which was all about theme parks and everything artificial, spending 3 weeks in Australia and New Zealand meant the direct opposite. It was all about nature, animals and fresh air. All excellent things for the city slicker kids we have. Since the twins are old enough, they are guesting on the blog and writing about the animals from their perspective. --- Our first encounter...

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