Tourists in our own land

It's the June vacation and everyone keeps asking me whether I'm going to do anything with the children. I am a little puzzled by that question because to them, every day is a holiday. So why should the June break be any different? Perhaps it's just us, having more time to do things with them but apart from that, it's not much different.

And even that, Packrat and I believe in generally spending pockets of time, regularly, hanging out with them things and taking them places. We hate doing things with them at the same time that everyone else is because Singapore is so small, we end up congregating in the same places and that adds to the crowd, the heat and the general exposure to germs.

One good thing about being teachers is, often enough we are free in the early evenings. Most of the time, that is when we choose to take the twins out. It's that or early Saturday morning before the rest of Singapore has a chance to get up.

Places that we often choose to go to? Parks, open spaces. And because Evan has a thing for fountains, places where there are fountains.

Muffin doesn't often get to go because he's too young and we see it as important to spend time with just the twins so that they don't feel marginalised by the little one. On my very exhausted days with the twins, I lament that it is Muffin who is the one who is marginalised.


















Whenever we tell Evan we are going some place, his standard questions include

a) Got swimming pool?
b) Got toilet?
c) Got dryer?
d) Got fountain?
e) Got waterfall?
g) Got lift?

So Jordan is helpfully pointing out the fountains at Vivocity to her brother and looking much like a China tourist girl.


















My greatest complaint about Singapore for kids is the fact that the beaches are gross. I grew up at the beach because my mother before me grew up at the beach. I sold out my childhood when I married someone who wasn't keen on living in the East and add to that, generally didn't like the beach. But in a sense, I don't blame him. His complaints about the beach were that they were dirty, the water made him feel sticky and often left oil marks all over. He was also mortally afraid of stepping on glass shards or rusted metal.

I guess these were things I never thought about as a child and a teenager. But as a parent, I am fully fearful of the twins treading on something and cutting their feet. So we don't go often. When we go, it is a great treat for them and I am happy that Evan has gotten over his fear of 1. the sand and 2. the waves. He still has issue with how the waves sound but solved that problem himself by covering his ears while standing on the surf.






























So most of the time, we end up at the park, feeding the fish, picking up flowers, crunching leaves and occasionally discovering new friends at the park. Evan desperately wanted to bring home the puppy, as did Jordan and both Packrat and myself.




















But since I'm already at wits' end trying to handle 3 children, I don't think it'd be fair to the puppy if I added it to the fray.

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