Countdown to March Hols! A Kids Fiesta giveaway

We've passed Week 5 and that means we're half way through the term to the holidays. Every time JED complain about school and waking up early, I tell them I hate it as much and I wish as much that it were the holidays. They're amused at the concept that Mom hates school as much as they do. For me, I just want to sleep in. Last year, I made friends with moms from the twins' class and all of us would sit around, sleepy-eyed commiserating about how much they needed a sleep holiday. We would express great envy at those who were sneaking off for 'sleep vacations'.

So we can't wait till March though, thank goodness we have CNY next week as sort of a mid term break. And JED are already talking about what they would like to do during the March break. Being in relatively affluent schools, they are inundated by information about people who travel during all sorts of break and occasionally come home asking if we were too. Our usual response as with the response when Evan requested for another cruise vacation "You think we print money?!" or its derivative "Do you think money grows on trees?"

And we launch into this diatribe about how there is lots to do in Singapore during the holidays and there is no real need to travel.

Evan's more realistic requests have been to go to a water park, to go sailing and also the Night Safari. Muffin has no concept of the holidays and just wants to stay home with his toys. Jordan has asked to go rock climbing, sailing with Evan and play with their friends.

We'll probably accede to the play with their friends thing and the Night Safari. Probably let Evan go sailing because if there are any requests we actually pay attention to, they are the ones that the resemble a dog with a bone. We aren't sure if we'll send Jordan with him because she probably wants to do it because he's doing it and to us, that isn't a good enough reason.

Perhaps, the rock-climbing for her. Especially since the organisers of Kids Fiesta sent me information about their event during the March break. Jordan saw me look through the email and the 'bad' thing being able to read is that they read over your shoulder and are massively susceptible to marketing.

And these were what she saw. The words, "FREE CANDY FLOSS" and "PIRATE SHIP" and "LASER MAZE" caught her attention before I could close the posters and she was sold. Part of the English programme that they do in school now teaches them to effectively pull out information presented in brochures and flyers. So, the date "13 to 15 March" registered with her as well.

Note to self: I should not open files and layer them one above the other because when I close them, there are files underneath and she saw the picture of the Climb Asia promotion where there were two girls happily scaling the rock wall.

Now we have a 7 1/2 year old who seems to have caught the climbing bug from the aforementioned cruise holiday bugging us to go to the event because she gets to rock climb there.

I told her I'll think about it but it's a pretty tempting event to go for because she can rock climb for $10 at the Fiesta. On top of that, she's announced to her brothers that there's the Laser Maze (Evan has a big thing for mazes) and many bouncy items. So now, it isn't just her that bugging me though she remains the more insistent one.

It might be worth a day's trip. At this point, FUNTASY Passports (that's what you need to get in) are $20 instead of $25 here (Till the 27th of February) and that sets the kids loose onto the Laser Maze, the Orbitor (which looks like a bumper car sort of thing) as well as balloon sculpting, face painting and glitter tattoos.

There are other things too that she said she was interested in:
1. A dance performance by Dancepointe
2. A music performance by Cristofori
3. A booth by Genius R Us where you can pay for kids can bake and decorate and shape their baked goods.

Plus I forgot, the free candy floss and ice cream.

We'll see about it but right now, it's down on our list of things to do during the March break.

I know this is Jordan's 'dog with bone' event and she's going to bug me to death about it so I'm trying to figure out what deal to strike with her to 'earn' this.

Though, actually in truth, I would actually just like a sleeping holiday!

And for those who are thinking of going away and even for those who are not but need ideas to entertain the kids at restaurants, long train or bus rides or generally at home on a sick/ rainy day, we're giving away 3 sets of the following gifts, thanks to the kind organisers of Kids Fiesta.

1. Airport IQ Game (for ages 8+) worth $40 

and 

2. Either Suncoat Girl Natural Nail Salon Kit worth $26.90 OR 1 x Kids Fiesta FUNTASY Passport worth $25

So all you have to do is
1. Leave a comment in the blog answering this question "What would you or your kids' favourite item be at Kids Fiesta 2015: FUNTASY Adventure?" Please leave your email address so that we can inform you when you win! You have till 18 February to do this!

2. Visit the Kids Fiesta FB page and like it if you haven't.

3. It's not a must but if you want to be nice to us, share this post on your FB wall and let us know you've done so by leaving the link of your post in our FB post's comment section.

Terms and conditions:
- This contest is open to Singaporeans and permanent residents only.
- Prizes are not refundable or exchangeable for cash or prizes of any kind.
- Kids Fiesta reserves the right to replace the prizes with other items of the same value.
- Winners will be notified by email and all prizes will be collected from the Kids Fiesta organisers.
- The judges' decision on the winners are final and no correspondence will be entered into.

So, either way, we're set for some sort of break or reprieve. Now, to make it through to the end of term.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Diaperbag for Kids Fiesta. The giveaway is sponsored by Kids Fiesta. The images are provided by Kids Fiesta. This giveaway is neither  sponsored, endorsed or administrated by, nor associated with Facebook.

Read More

Holiday things to do- heART for art (A Giveaway)

The holidays have arrived and I have been asked, with deep seated panic, by other parents 'WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THE KIDS DURING THE HOLIDAYS?'  and then followed by the question, what sort of holiday classes the twins will attend. For most part, I try not to send them for classes, for a variety of reasons.
a. They are generally expensive when I have to multiply them by two or three.
b. Holidays are meant to be just that, holidays- away from structured classes and time.
c. This article together with others about free play vs summer camps echo quite loudly in my head.

I have, occasionally, signed up for classes for JED. It happens when the children are genuinely interested, ask to attend them and we can find space in our budget for them. The other situation is usually when we have to travel and JED are parked with the grand-maters. In that situation, the grand-maters and carers often need some time away from what can be very demanding children so we build in time-outs and breathers for them (the carers not JED) by sending them off for a few hours every day.

When I have to pick holiday programmes for them, my general rule of thumb is that they have to be non-academic, fun and either invokes creativity or are creative and they have to have to pass muster by said child.

Jordan's request for holiday programmes usually run along the lines of arty or dancey classes and over the years, we've figured out how to pick the good ones for her. We've also figured out a way of weeding out the duds.

Arty classes cannot
a. Be large- Art work, especially on canvas requires some supervision. If a class is too big, the pieces come back looking like they fell off a production line or in a total mess. 

b. Have right and wrong- I once had an art teacher who complained about how the twins had done things wrong. All they had done was to add their own personal flourishes into the art piece. That got them labelled as 'disobedient'.

c. Be uniformed- Usually there is a theme for art classes but when a child decides to use his fingers to do dots rather than a paintbrush, it should not result in a scolding. Art at this point is about allowing a child to explore the various mediums of the form.

d. Expect you to pay for the ridiculous- We're done with dance camps where we have to end up paying for tickets and costumes for End of Camp show pieces. 


The classes that worked were always the ones that
a. Had teachers or facilitators that made the children feel comfortable and spoke to the children at their level. They were also the ones that how to relate to children.

b.Had structure. It wasn't that creative and fun meant free for all. Little ones thrive on structure because they have an idea of what to expect and where they were headed to next.

c. Had activities pitched at the child's levels. That showed that they weren't just out to fleece the parents but had some sort of understanding as to what a 3 or 4 or 5 year old was capable of and how long the attention span was for that demographic.


So, Jordan and my choice of an art studio is heART studio. It's small but the ambience is cheery and the teachers engage. In my book, any place that can convince 'does not like new experiences' Evan to do try something different (we sent both of them at the same time) is a win in my book. No tears, excitement at being able to muck about with chalk and get dirty meant Mommy was quickly forgotten.

Jordan loved playing the the chalk on canvas and loved how she was shown to get her pinks just right.

All this and the interesting one- day camps they had made it on top of my list for art holiday programmes.

Even 3 year old Muffin who at that point hadn't gone for anything of this sort allowed Packrat to leave him for 3 hours where he splattered and painted on a canvas and surprised us with a space ship, Mars (in his words) and Earth. My favourite part of his painting was actually the stars.

Jordan and Evan haven't been back to heART in a while though they had a lot of fun there and remember it fondly.  Muffin has since gone back again for another of their vacation programmes where he got to paint Obi-wan Kenobi. He would have gone back for every repeat session if I had let him because he wanted to do a collection of Star Wars paintings.  

So, because it's the holidays coming up and to celebrate the beginning of it, Diaperbag is giving away two holiday camp classes from the many available;

•  A Canvas Painting session of Mr or Miss Fox from Mr Fox's Adventures-  for 3 to 4 year olds 
• A Canvas and Clay session of  Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer one for 7 year olds and above. 

Both classes are on 12 December at 1.30 pm to 4 pm.

Here's how to win one.  
1. What's the one favourite thing that you or your kid likes to draw? (I love drawing snails. I don't know why. All my notes from JC and uni days are filled with snails) Do this by 24 November 2014. 
2. Leave us your name and email address so that we can contact you. 
3. Check out heART Studio's FB page and like it so that you get updates on their courses. 

Some thing to note:

• The child has to be within the age range for the specific workshop. 
• No repeat winners are allowed. 
• Winners will be notified by email, through the email address provided. (So don't forget to leave one!) 
• Winners must confirm by reply email or phone call, within three days. Otherwise, we'll take it as you aren't interested and give it to someone else
• The workshops have been specifically picked by heART Studio so they can't be swoped for another  day or another workshop. 
• No existing students allowed, we want to let the uninitiated have an opportunity. 
• This giveaway is open to Singapore residents only.

Schedule for Dec 8 to 12

Schedule for Dec 15 to 19 

heART Studio very kindly gave JED an art session for each of them in exchange for this post. But the two cents worth of opinions here are ours. 

Read More

-Updated- Jordan's first book review- Imaginary Friends (A Giveaway too!)

When we were thinking about having kids or rather coming up with reasons why we would possibly not want kids, one of the reasons being tossed about was "What if they hate reading?"

It was as stupid a reason as it sounded but under all that ridiculousness was an ounce of truth and fear. 

Fast forward to 2014. I am happy to say that JED all have a love affair with books and stories to the point that we don't have enough book shelves for them. (I've tried to borrow books from the library but the problem is that the kids, especially Muffin get so attached to them that there is much bawling that accompanies any attempt to return the book!)

The one with the most ardent love affair with books is Jordan. 

If you asked her to introduce herself, her spiel would go something like that. "Hi, I am Jordan. I am six years old. I like drawing and reading. When I grow up, I would like to be an author. " 

The girl laps it all up. Her reading repertoire is a constantly growing and an interesting one. We've seen her spend hours engrossed in Packrat's 544 page Firefly Anniversary coffee table book. But then she could also spend the same amount of time with her Disney Princess stories. Recently, she even added Calvin and Hobbes into her reading diet. This is over and above whatever ballerina books, Geronimo Stilton books and Enid Blytons that we have lying around. We've lost her in our house before because she was so engrossed in her reading, she did not hear us tear the house apart looking for her.

We've had friends who have frowned upon the fact that she has Disney Princess books and fancies herself a princess. While we don't actively encourage it, we don't discourage it either because we think it's part of her world and we 've seen the stories that she weaves, on paper and in play. More often than not, they are more than just about the princess marrying the prince.  The scraps that she scribble and illustrate her stories on leave us little insights into the worlds that she creates in her head.

So it was of little surprise to us when Aunty Mel sent Jordan a copy of her book Imaginary Friends and she totally lost herself in it. Her eyes lit up when she received a package in the mail addressed to her and they positively glowed when she saw that it was a book. Aunty Mel's book was basically a collection of 26 short stories about 26 Imaginary Friends, ranging from A to Z. And for the next week, any free time she had and some time she didn't, she was with Aunty Mel and her 26 Imaginary Friends. She read it at meal times, she read it when she was supposed to be doing her homework, she even brought it to school.

When she had enough time with the book and I managed to wrestle the book from her (I had the electronic version but I'm old school and wanted her version!), I read it and asked her about what she liked about it. 

Mommy: So, what did you like about Aunty Mel's book?

Jordan: I liked the pictures. Aunty Mel said I could colour them if I wanted to. 

Mommy: Was there anything else you liked about it? 

Jordan: The stories had conflict and they had interesting characters. Aunty C (her kindy teacher) said all good books must have that.

Mommy: What were your favourite titles?

Jordan: Y is for Yogi the Yodelling Yak. I also liked L is for Lucy the Lucky Leek. So many of the same letters! (Giggles)

Mommy: Did you read all the stories? 

Jordan: I read some of them. Some I liked. Some I didn't understand. 

Mommy: Of the stories you read, which one did you like the most?

Jordan: I liked "B is for Bertie the Bored Butterfly."

Mommy: Can you tell me why?

Jordan: Because Bertie didn't like crowds and the boy was kind. He saved the butterfly from the Butterfly Park. And Bertie now lives in a small garden. 

Mommy: Is there anything else you liked about the book?

Jordan: Aunty Mel had a pink water bottle named Janet when she was 8 years old. She is like me. I have Elly but not the eraser (E is for Elly the Egotistical Eraser). 

Jordan: Mommy, you ask too many questions. Can I ask you one?

Mommy: What is it? 

Jordan: What did YOU like about the stories?

Mommy: I liked the fact that Aunty Mel made animals and things alive and interesting. I liked that Aunty Mel used them to tell us stories about what sometimes happens in our lives. 

Jordan: Huh?

Mommy: Never mind. When you grow older, you will understand it a lot more.

So there we had it. Jordan did her first book review and most of it was spot on.

Because the stories were mainly written for an adult audience, she obviously didn't get quite a bit of it. But it was sometimes wickedly funny and snarky with morals like "If office politics get too ridiculous, just get outta there." that totally resounded with me. Our joint favourite was "O for Olivia the Overachieving Octopus". 

She loved it because her new school bag has an octopus on it that looks like Olivia. The story had to do with the Sea King, King Neptune, a character she is familiar with and she knew enough to not like the restless daughter and feel sorry for Olivia. I loved it because it was a good reminder. That not one thing should define who I am. I learnt it in uni but as a mother and a somewhat ambitious person, I sometimes forget that as well.

Of course, there were phrases that were slightly mature for her age like "Never be too smug about success or good fortune; you'll never know when shit hits the fan". That required a lot of explaining but it was like reading Aesop's fables with her but much less macabre and far more enjoyable. 

I actually suspect that those bits, the moral of the story lines, were actually her favourite parts because it appealed to the big and naggy sister in her. She would try them out on Evan, only to get a rude brush off and an evil glare. 

But when all was said and done, reading Aunty Mel's book made me slightly wistful. I had dreams at various points in my life to write various books but life always got in the way. Mel did it admirably and did it most imaginatively, succintly and enjoyably. All this while looking after a toddler, which is no mean feat. 

It also made me want to take out my whole Calvin and Hobbes collection to re-read and also  reminded me of the times when I had imaginary friends and tea parties with them. 

So, if you, like me, would like a chance to read some stories of seemingly childish kid things and their shenanigans and think about your own childhood, the lessons you learnt while you played with your friends real or otherwise, here's an opportunity to do so. And you will be amongst the first in Singapore to get your hands on the books! (They are only released this coming weekend in Singapore.)

Mel is very generously giving away 5 signed copies of her book to Diaperbag readers with friends like hers. 

All you have to do is to 

1. Let us know who your imaginary friend was/ is and how it/he/she was your best friend in the comments below. Please leave us your name and an email address so that we can contact you if we pick your entry. 

2. Pop over to Imaginary Friends' Facebook page and 'like' the page so that you can get to know the Friends a little bit better. 

3. And if you really like this book or knows someone who might, please share this post with them!

Share with us your imaginary friend tale by 14 April 2014.

This giveaway is only open to readers from Singapore. 

If you really want a copy of the book and we didn't pick you, do not fret. The books will be available at $10.70 at all major bookstores from next week on!

- Melanie, the author of Imaginary Friends, has decided that each and every entry deserves a copy of the book, so congratulations to everyone who took part! Melanie will be contacting you soon!-

 

Disclaimer: We received a copy of Imaginary Friends but all opinions expressed are entirely Jordan's and mine. They are in no way influenced by any external sources.

Read More

-Updated- Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar? A Review, a Giveaway and the Winners!

Every morning, the twins and I sit down and get some work done. This is just to get them used to a homework routine where they sit down, do table work and be serious about what they are doing. When we are hard at work, Muffin feels extremely left out. We try to time his bath at that time so that he is busy and distracted. Unfortunately, his bath doesn't last for an entire hour; he would end up being very shriveled and prune like if it did.

Anyway, I've tried to split my time between him and the twins. We play little games that are 2-3 minute long so that I can pop back easily to see what the twins are up to. It's not so much watching the tennis match, as it is being the tennis ball going back and forth.

His ways of occupying himself include climbing all over me, lying on the ground playing with his lion and tiger or attempting to draw cocoons, caterpillars, sting rays and sharks on his Etch-a-Sketch. What he really likes is when I  cut up pictures and do craft with him; glue being his favourite toy. The problem with giving a three year old glue, however, is that it gets used with impunity and ends up every where.

But generally, the rule of thumb is that he likes 'doing' things. Last week, I tried something new with him and he had a lot of fun with it. We've repeated it a couple of times and he's had to fight his brother and sister for it.

I'm going off tangent here but I love shopping. But since JED, the shopping has been severely limited to things for them rather things that I like and want for myself. And one of the things I love for them are well-made toys. With 3 of them, I'm big on toys are that durable; that can endure the abuse that they unleash on it. I'm also big on toys that don't limit the way they can play with them; character toys, toys requiring batteries, I'm not so big on. Toys that they have to manipulate, that they can play with on their own and with each other are a big check, in my book. One of the brands I've fallen in love with are the toys from Learning Resources. The twins recently got a solar powered cash register for their birthday from there; a toy that didn't require batteries and they spent hours playing supermarket checkout; it warranted an exploration of what else they had. 

And then, enter The Mind Store, a  Singapore seller that sells toys (Learning Resources and Educational Insights among others) that fit my criteria. I spent hours looking at the website, wishing for all the money, space and time in the world to buy and use all the toys with JED. Recently, they were nice enough to send me a cookie jar full of alphabet cookies.

Evan's first question was whether he could eat the cookies. Jordan broke out her cooking set and insisted on baking some of the cookies most narcissistically in her name. Here she is, glazing her cookies with a brush.

And Muffin, Muffin just claimed it for himself. After all, his siblings were supposed to be busy with their homework. Of course, there was the constant imploring of "Mommy, play with me". So I did, I got him to find the cookies to spell his name.

On top of that, the set came with instructions, suggested games and game cards. One of games had pictures of his favourite animals with their names albeit with a letter missing. This is probably to help teach the little ones phonics; simple d (consonant)- o (vowel)- g (consonant) words. But Muffin, being an expert schooled by Youtube did not want or need my help or guidance in trying to sound out the "d" in "dog" . In fact, he swatted me away when I tried to help him.  While able to do that, he obviously, he had no idea of what reading meant because instead of going d-o-g,  "dog", he would go d-o-g, " 狗" or c-a-t , " 猫"; letter recognition and individual phonetic recognition present but no real understanding of how the letters are put together to make a word.

But then again, he's only 3 and probably uses more of his brain to figure out which tree is safe to climb. 

Anyway, the verdict.

In my book, this set is a win.

1. Is it durable? It's made out of hard plastic and no matter how much he throws it and tosses it, they just bounce back at him. That in itself entertained him for quite a while.

2. Could they be played with, more than one way? Yes. Muffin lined them up and made them into alphabet trains. He placed them on plates and served them to everyone as cookies. Jordan did the same thing though her presentation was more sophisticated and hers went in the 'oven' first.


3. Could the game be played without me? Yes it could. There were more than enough pieces to go round. Both Evan and Jordan wanted to play with Muffin after they were done with their work. The games in the set were self-explanatory. They categorised all the letters according to colour. Evan laid out all the alphabet cards and Jordan told him to go look for the letters to match the cards. He obediently did. This left me time actually have breakfast and read a little bit while JED played around me.

4. The set could be played by all three of them and the twins requested to do their school spelling with the letters. (That's where the one problem with the set came up. Insufficient letters to properly spell more complicated sight words that had double consonants or vowels in them)

And the million dollar question: Would I have bought this set if they didn't send me one? Probably. It's $35.90. I may have waited another 2 months or so, to use whatever spare change I might have to pay for it (it's non-essential in a sense!) but I would have eventually got it. 

So, for those who have an ongoing love-hate (love the items but hate the price) relationship with well-made, educational toys, The Mind Store has  decided to offer Diaperbag readers three $10 vouchers* to shop at their store. Here's how you can win one.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. "Like" The Mind Store on Facebook  then head over to The Mind Store's Online Store and have a look around.

2. Leave a comment here about what got your drooling at the store (Don't forget to do so by 17 October 2013). Be sure you leave your name and email address so that we can actually get in touch with you.

3. Share this post on your public wall so that your friends know that these great learning aids and toys exist out there!

Q. E. D.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
And the winners are...
1. Mel
2. Jeanette
3. Andrew

Hurray for you all! The Mind Store will be contacting you soon!

* Vouchers will only be valid for Learning Resources and Educational Insights items

Disclaimer: We got a complimentary jar of ABC cookies for this review. No other monetary compensation had been received. The views and pictures are all Diaperbag's. 

Read More

Updated!! Fill in the blank (A Book Review and a Giveaway around the world!)

When it comes to JED, I sometimes like books with no or few words. I like the book Tuesday with 12 words in it and I really liked this book that Fish Book Co Ltd sent out to JED. It's essentially a picture book of emotions as narrated by a fish, who is talking about emotions that little children encounter.

JED obviously descended onto it like a pack of wolves and in between snapping photos, I got them to point out which fish they like best and I asked them why. Jordan loved the proud fish, Evan the sad fish and Muffin the furious one.

The reasons?
Jordan: The proud fish is beautiful and looks like how my ballet teacher says I must look.
Evan: Because the fish is sad, like me. (He was being sulky because he didn't get to open the package the book came in)
Muffin: The fish look like that, because he ate a cockroach. He don't like cockroach.

That is precisely why I like books with few or no words. It gives them the opportunity to weave their own stories and gives me an opportunity to see what goes on in the mysterious little heads. And they really attached themselves to the pictures. Even after leaving the book and exploring others, they gravitated back to the same pictures again, though for different reasons.

Jordan also asked immediately if they could draw their own fish. Being the resident artist in the house, we got her to pencil in the sad and furious fish for her less artistically inclined-but happy to muck about- brothers.         

We don't really know what happened to Evan and Muffin's fish though, we suspect they got bored with it and disposed of it when we weren't looking, or just poured paint on it and mucked about. Jordan came up with her own version of a proud fish and  obviously, she was very proud of it. She has a knack for taking inspiration from something and drawing it in her own style.

So, yay to the book that kept JED occupied the whole afternoon. Muffin claimed the book was his because he has a thing for marine creatures and what better than a book of fish. I am thankful they love books. And I am grateful when people pass us books their kids have outgrown or when people like Fish Book Co send me books like this.

My most recent way of getting JED to stop fighting is to declare 5 minute time outs where they are to take a book, go to different corners of the house and read. And they are quite happy to do that and they actually do it for more than 5 minutes. That is when I am actually able to sit down and finish breakfast/ lunch/ dinner/ an email/ a blog post...

As I am writing this post, Jordan is using the book to teach Muffin how to read and explaining to him the different emotions. "ANGRY" She roars, "WHEN YOU SPOIL MY TOYS!" to which Muffin replies "Sorry Jie Jie. I am sad, Jie Jie angry!" Evan has waltzed in and added his two cents worth. "This one is anxious. You know anxious? When you watch TV and the zombie pumpkin (his biggest TV fear) is going to pop out and you don't know when? Your heart beat very fast!"

I love that they are at an age where they don't need me to initiate discussions and conversations about books and that they can read and explain things to Muffin. Funnily, they are more willingly engaged in it when I don't step in. And I'm not complaining and loving the eavesdropping.

Incidentally, Muffin has taken to bringing the book to school and they've used the book in school for various things. For devotion (it is a Christian kindy after all) to talk about why jealousy wasn't a bad thing, for their art theme on how fireworks were amazing and even emotionally where the teachers reminded them how they were all anxious on the first few days in school and cried for their mommies.

Fish Book Co has also set up a FB page with a whole lot of interesting activities related to the book. Evan gravitated toward it because there was a post with two sharks in it talking to each other. They will also be at the Rise and Shine Expo between the 27th to 29th of September where there will be an art competition. The winners of the art competition will have their fish featured in a subsequent book that is to be published! But whatever the reason, JED seem to be totally enthralled with the idea of the fish who is so expressive and the many conversations that I am still hearing about it are tickling me no end.

Anyway, Fish Book Co have offered me 5 additional copies of the book which I would like to share. If anyone would like a copy, simply do what JED did. Leave a comment, "Today, I am feeling _____________ (insert emotion) because __________________( insert reason)".

The 5 most interesting/ out of this world ones will get a copy. But to do so, please
1. Pop over to Fish Book Co's FB Page and 'Like' it.
2. Leave a comment here with your name and your email address (otherwise it gets really tricky trying to get in touch with you) and unlike most other giveaways, this is open to readers from all over the world.
3. Sit back and keep your fingers crossed that we'll pick you on 5 September 2013.


UPDATE:
Jordan had the honours of reading through all the comments and picking the ones she liked best! Here were the ones she picked!
1. Sheri- Hope the little one is feeling better!
2. Mel- Hopefully you'll be able to show the book to the little school going one!
3. Mag- Maybe your little one can read it while she's on the potty!
4. Nursing Cow- Wow! I'm amazed and impressed with your porridge cooking efforts!
5. Yvonne- Dental visits are worth a prize!

Congratulations! Check your emails! Fish Book Co will get in touch with you soon!

Disclaimer: We got a complimentary “Today I Am” book as part of a book review. No other monetary compensation had been received.The views and pictures are all Diaperbag's. 

Read More

Giveaway Closed: Painting Castles in the Rain

There have been  quite a few mums talking blogging about being Full Time Working Moms and how they juggle their jobs, their kids and their lives. I'm not sure I qualify as a Full Time Working Mom because I don't clock regular 9-5 hours but my days are packed full and I have to actively carve out portions of time for the children.

Those portions of time are known as 'protected time' by my bosses and they know that should they hazard to call during those times, they are likely to get an Ondine who is frazzled, stand off-ish and makes no qualms about sounding like she needs to get off the phone. The nature of my job can end up with me working round the clock even if I don't head into the office; that is why the 'protected time' is necessary.

Unfortunately, there are times that this isn't enough. Accountants have tax seasons, businesses have the ends of the financial year and teachers have exam seasons. During the exam seasons, I teach two or three times more than I usually do. That means much less time with JED.  When they were much younger and my sense of obligation was much greater than my sense of affection for them, I felt more guilt than anything when the peak season hit. These days, it's different. In the last 5 1/2 years I have developed a serious love affair with JED and I am resentful when anything takes me away from them for an extended period of time.

At an outing to the beach with my aunt once, I lamented that these were the things I would miss when I went back to work. Her response was that I did these things because I did go to work and had I not been going to work, it would be unlikely that I would put in so much effort into taking them out.True that.

So, when it is crunch time like this, I feel more of a need to do something special with them; perhaps to compensate for the little time I have to spend with them. Last week, I took two hours out and went hunting for organic sausages to make our "Sausage Monsters". This week, I decided I was going to organise a play date. It wasn't going to be a play date where the kids just came together to play, although that would be fun too, but a painting play date. JED love mucking about with paint. We have a big stairway area that serves as their 'mucking about' place. I had also found online a craft store called CraftPlay; they sold castles made out of recycled box materials and I thought it would be fun for JED and their friends to paint them all. There would be enough to go around. On top of that, when I wrote to Craft Play telling them that I needed the castles for a play date, they sent me two additional towers. Evan took possession of those towers and declared them the guard posts (he doesn't know the word sentry yet).

Jordan, Chloe (our neighbour), Faith (Jordan's friend), Evan and Muffin were vibrating on the spot rearing to go as I got things ready. Excited little children make great helpers as we lay brown paper on the ground and got them to tape the pieces together. That way, they could sit on relatively clean floor, we protect the floor and they had additional surfaces to paint on.

There was little bickering as each busied themselves painting the various towers. Occasional bits of conversation involved discussing which part of the castle it was that they were busy with; the Queen's bedroom (Jordan), the dining room (Faith), the dungeon (Evan).

 

At the end of it, I asked each little one what they had most fun with.
Jordan: Painting with my friends and making every wall of my tower a different colour.
Evan: Painting under the umbrellas and mixing the water till it got yucky! (The rain was coming in and rather than move the entire exercise somewhere else, I put out big golf umbrellas so that they could hide under it.
Faith: The big bowls of paint and the cheese bunnies (Cheese bunnies were the snack of choice)
Chloe: Painting under the umbrella and painting big towers. Easy to paint.
Muffin: Paint on my feet!

By the end of it, there was paint on all the surfaces, faces, legs, arms, hands and feet. But the final product was bright and in happy colours. Each was proud of what they had done and told anyone who would listen what they had done.

The other mommies were all happy because the kids had been occupied for the previous two hours and they were hungry and cooperative when they went home. As for the JED kids, they were clamouring for another play date like that, with friends and with big pieces of stuff that they could pain.

For me, I had to go; had to take a shower, had no time for dinner and had to catch the train to work. But as I left the house, JED happily waved at me across their dinner bowls and I felt at peace, that I had had my fun with them and I could go to work in happy albeit exhausted peace.

So, what do I think of the Full Time Work Mom schtick? I don't love it but it is my lot in life now. I am thankful that my current job, while requiring me to work ridiculous hours, also gives me little time outs to plan and do things with JED. It is a lot about assuaging my own guilt and resentment. Packrat assures me that they don't mind that I am not around (in fact, they enjoy the fact that the Nazi task master disguised as their mom is occasionally absent and they get to run amok!). But when I know that they are happy and they know that Mommy loves them, I am okay to leave them and go to work.

Linking up with

Updated:
When we sent pictures of our craft date to Craft Play, they were most thrilled. As a thank you, they're sending us another set of castles.

Since we've had our fun with our castle painting, we're passing this on to a reader who promises to make some kid's / kids day by letting them muck about and throw some paint onto a castle.

We're going to pick a winner for this somewhat randomly, as long as;

1. You leave a comment below, answering the following question, that will most likely feed into our latent fantasies.

- If you could live in a castle and design a room or a suite or rooms, how would you do so?-

When I asked Jordan this, she said she wanted it rainbow coloured.

2. "Like" the CraftPlay page on Facebook here

3. Share the FB link you saw this post on!

We're going to let you channel the Duchess of Cambridge and Martha Stewart for a week and choose a reader to give the castle away to next Monday, the 25th of March 2013.

---
And we have a winner!
We've decided it to give it to the reader who thought about indulging herself instead of her kids. It's always good to dream for ourselves once in a while!

Anyway, Adora Tan, consider your dream heard. Now, if only we knew Santa!

So CraftPlay will have to do. They will be in touch with you soon!


Technorati Tags: JED, FTWM, play date, Craft Play

Read More

Giveaway- Trying to be a fit mama

I sit here writing this at the end of an extremely long weekend filled with melt-in-your-mouth pineapple tarts and chock-a-block full of egg yolk and butter kueh lapis among all the other evils. I managed to run once before the gorging began and once yesterday, on the 2nd day of the lunar new year, in an attempt to make myself feel better about the tarts, the cakes and the fried shrimp rolls.

But the running was just to hold it at bay; till Friday.

Friday is my day of pain.

That's because, on Fridays, after JED go up the bus, I break the sound barrier in a bid to get down to my Xtend Barre class at Sky Pilates at Liat Towers. Xtend Barre is a ballet-inspired Pilates class. So for about an hour, I pretend to be all ballerina again, just for that little while. It doesn't take much to fake the ballet in an Xtend Barre class because only the basics are required. Pointing the toes, bending the knees outwards, holding up the arm in position and that's where the similarity ends.

On my first class, Karrie (inflictor of torture, instructor and all around friend) warned that there is very little in Xtend Barre which is going to be balletic. It is afterall, to get the heart rate pumping. Plus it is a very big challenge to look balletic and graceful when the muscles are burning and screaming from the puny 1kg weights that Karrie gives us. Woe is us for we initially sniff at the weights because we think 1kg weights are child's play.

I am no longer as fit as I was pre-kids. So this class is a bit of a challenge. The poker face I learnt to put on from the hours of pointe training and long interval training on the track occasionally cracks and I grimace and roll my eyes at inflicting myself with this. My inner core muscles that used to be rock hard, in times of exhaustion now tremble and forget how to pull up my knees to my chest. But with my new year's resolution to attend the Xtend Barre more regularly, it's slowly regaining its memory and not letting me down so much. These core muscles are called core muscles for a reason. They are the reason we can stand straight and are connected to all those important things we take for granted like posture and a painless back.

By the end of class, my legs are jellified and I know that if I sneeze wrong, I will remain in that contorted position till the following Monday. But at the same time, my headache (which I get from sleeping in the contorted positions that the little interloper Muffin dictates) has gone away away. My legs feel a little bit toner, my jeans fit a little bit better and I walk a little bit taller.

It also does wonders for my post-natal belly (which still exists 3 years on) and Karrie knows exactly what exercises to give me and reminds me that the post natal me cannot do crunches while the pre-natal me used to self-inflict 1000 crunches a day on those muscles (there is this nasty thing I have called rectus diastasis; it's got little to do with the bum and a lot to do with the abdominal walls splitting thanks to pregnancy).  So while the rest of the class huffs and puffs their way through crunches, she sets me something that is a derivative of it; that still works my abs, works at healing the diastasis rather than exacerbating it and slowly flattens out the Mommy belly; all the while checking with me to make sure that I feel okay doing it. But no, she doesn't make me do it 1000 times.

That's the one thing that I've liked best about classes at Sky where I started going in 2007 when I was first pregnant with the twins; the instructors are not just instructors, they take it upon themselves to know and remember what I can and cannot do and eventually became my friends.  When I posted about any of JED being unwell, Karrie asked after them. I also fondly remember being in a cat pose in pre-natal class and Teresa (who owns the studio and runs some of the classes) came round to adjust me and pat my belly singing "Hello babies!". It made me feel warm, taken care of and loved. While they slave drive us during that hour in the studio, we chat, exchange gossip and do Starbucks after, like girlfriends do.

So, I look forward to Fridays because I get a bit of a workout, I chat a bit with people there and wave hi to others and when I step out, there is a spring in my step (that could be a good or a bad thing) and the world out there is brighter!

-- Giveaway time! --

Because Sky Pilates knows how important it is for moms, moms-to-be and non-moms to keep their core muscles strong, they are offering 2 readers a chance to try out their classes (one winner will get a free private session and the other a free group session; both of which are great!). To take part, simply

1. Like the Sky Pilates FB page.

2. Open up the  Sky Pilates menu on another tab and have a look at the classes they offer. Leave a comment here stating which class you think might benefit you the most! Don't forget to leave your email address so that we can get in touch with you.

3. Share this blog post on your FB page and tag Sky Pilates.

* Contest is open to those who are not already members of Sky Pilates. 

Closing date 22 February 2013.

 Technorati Tags: Sky Pilates, Singapore, motherhood, Fitness

Read More