Food Nazi.

The twins have got to a stage where it is difficult to actually control what they eat out of the house. They are at their grandparents and their grandparents think it is the grandparents' prerogative to feed them junk. They are in school, they have parties in school and on school field trips, the only place that can accomodate such a large number of children is often MacDonalds. That means, I sometimes don't have a say about what they eat.

I wish I did. I am particular about what they eat. On a regular day, their dinner consists of a mixture of brown and white rice, 3 types of vegetable and a meat or fish. They get fruit, eggs and often milk for breakfast. Lunch, they have in school so it's a black hole to me. So whatever is within my control, I make sure that they eat within my rules.

Why am I so nuts about food?

Perhaps it is because at 13 years old, I learnt about macrobiotic and natural science diets. I learnt about uric acid and how it collects in muscles, rendering athletes unable to perform their best. Then I learnt from Jamie Oliver and Supersize Me the evils and conspiracies of the food conglomerates out there. So, I watch what my kids eat like a hawk. Much of what other children of their age, the twins haven't eaten much of. Fishballs (MSG!) (Although occasionally, I give it to them as a treat and then, it is just one!), french fries (deep fried and salted!) (We bake our own and they like it just as much), nuggets (processed chicken beaks, feet, throats with a whole bunch of emulsiers thrown in!) (We make our own). It's my crazy Mom thing. I admit.

Having said that, I won't impose it on other people, so if the kids get invited to parties and such food exist, I let them eat it although often I try to feed them at home first so a) they won't eat so much b) they actually have some good food in them already. At the same time, I couldn't be a full nazi about it because I don't want my kids to grow up weird. I want them to grow up knowing what healthy, good food is and that junk food, on occasion can be acceptable.

So, in recent months, I have become a bit more relaxed with them. They go to MacDonalds. They've had fries. They've had nuggets. They eat the hotcakes and they eat the butter (which in my opinion is about the grossest thing in the world). But they have tired of the hotcakes and they now hanker for the Iced Milo. While I accede to it, I cannot in good conscience give them an entire cup. So, I buy one cup, take away, bring it home, split it into 3 and top up the other 2/3 with fresh milk.
























So I adulterate the junk food that they get.

When they discover junk food at home; Packrat loves crisps and I love cookies, we occasionally give them some. Or we tell them the truth. That it's bad for them and it will make them constipate and they can eat it when they are all grown up.

Packrat thinks that when they discover real and unadulterated junk food, they will realise that they've been stiffed all their childhood life! It's like my nephew growing up thinking that red wine tasted like Ribena because when he asked for red wine one Christmas, we gave him Ribena.

I know it is a losing battle and that when they hit primary school, they will eat more junk than ever. But hopefully by then, their early eating habits would come natural to them and it will temper the evils of junk and fast food that will inadvertently be available to them.

Technorati Tags: pre-schoolers, healthy eating, junk food

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Playschool search

Once again, I am hunting for a playschool. Initially, we thought we would send Muffin back to the same child care that the twins went to. But apparently, they are bursting at the rafters with kids so they can't take in anymore, even if it is only 10kg and under a metre tall, in the shape of Muffin. So, there has been a search for one.

My conditions stay the same although after the twins, I am better able to articulate it.
1. No worksheets.
2. Open airy classrooms.
3. Good teachers that love the kids.
4. Clean.

Packrat's conditions are that
1. There should be open areas for Muffin to play.
2. It should preferably be in an old rambling house.
3. There should be tricycles or other play vehicles.

I have narrowed it down to two schools. The others were dismissed rapidly for various reasons.
One had great open airy rooms in a rambling house but I couldn't get my head round the fact that 18 month olds were sitting round a table doing worksheets. On top of that, they didn't let parents sit in with the kids as a transition period. I was supposed to chuck Muffin into the deep end on the first day.

Another had no outdoor play area and while it boasted a very nice pool, I found out the pool was freezing cold. On top of that, the kids were crying a lot and the fees were exorbitant.

So the two that I am looking at.

School A.

What is good about School A.
1. Cheaper than School B.
2. Has a very articulate principal who managed to get Muffin to stop crying and play peekaboo with her.
3. Has a very organised and structured curriculum.
4. While structured, does not believe in worksheets.
5. Clean and bright.
6. Has a playground and trykes that can be ridden.
7. Conscientious about health checks.
8. Small class size for the toddler bunch.

What is not so good about School A.
1. Slightly further away than School B.
2. Is in an office building.
3. School has no classrooms but is partitioned.

School B.

What is good about School B.
1. In an old rambling house. Actually, 2 rambling houses.
2. Has a great playground.
3. Has a trampoline that all 3 kids loved and were fearless on!

















4. Is nearby.
5. No airconditioning.
6. A mixture of kids from all over the world. We saw some Caucasian and Eurasian kids. We like that because it exposes the child to other races and possibly other festive and cultural celebrations.

What is not so good about School B.
1. Unclear curriculum.
2. Dark and grimy.
3. Cluttered.
4. Ventilation is bad and it is stuffy inside.
5. Does not seem as vigilant with health checks.
6. It is more expensive and I think I am paying the premium for the trampoline and the nice playgrounds.
7. Muffin will be stuck into a big class where he will be one of the youngest.

So I am torn. I am inclined to pick A because it is cheaper and I don't think the quality will differ as much as the fees would. But that being said, Muffin was much more at home in School B than A. In fact, I had to haul him, kicking and screaming out of the school. So, do I go with my instincts or my son's?

I read through my blog posts from the first month the twins were in school and I can't believe I will have to go through all the tears, germs and guilt all over again!

Technorati Tags: playschool, Singapore

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While we were away

Packrat spirited me off for a short 3 day break in Bangkok the minute school was out this last week. This was despite my declarations that I would miss Muffin and the twins would be whining for me and giving his mom a hard time. He would not hear of it. He wanted some time to hang out with his wife without her being distracted by her Mommy duties. And he claimed that the twins would be fine because they had been hankering to stay over at their grandparents so that they could watch copious amounts of television anyway.

So we went, me with a painful heart at leaving the littlest who moaned and cried as we left the house with our bags.

And from all accounts, he was right. The twins had a blast and Muffin was none the worse for wear.

The twins did indeed watch copious amounts of television. They also went to an art camp and were giggling and clamouring to show off their art pieces. Evan discovered foosball and went round the house searching for dollar coins that he could use for the machine.

Muffin went swimming, scared his grandparents with his fearless, dunking antics. He also over ate on two occasions, proceeding to imitate the Merlion and upchuck, much to the chagrin of the helper and the grandma.

He also managed to convince his grandfather into allowing him to watch television at 6.30 in the morning. Something I was extremely horrified with but the soft hearted grandfather melted as my youngest clasped his hands to his chest in an earnest gesture to say please; add to that, his big, soulful eyes and soft pleading voice. When his grandfather showed signs of hedging, he tried a different tactic and proppelled him by pushing his knees toward the television set and brought him the DVDs and remote controls. All this was reported to me by an extremely sheepish grandfather who knew that I would disapprove but felt he was under the spell of his charming grandson.

When they saw us, there was great excitement as they tried to unload upon us all that they had done for the past 3 days and Muffin wanted to sleep with me last night. Apart from that, it seemed like there was no permanent damage.

On my part, I missed the kids muchly but I did manage to get some sleep which was much needed and according to Packrat, my colour improved from a shade of pale green to a slight tinge of flushed radiance. I attribute that to the divine spa we had, in a suite larger than our hotel room and a masseuse who took seriously my request for wanting a massage that I could sleep through.

When I woke, I felt like I had slept for 10 hours. And that was what was much needed.















Now, I am back, single-parenting today. The down side to going away for a divine break is that the return to reality is a rude and depressing downer that's going to need some readjusting time.

Technorati Tags: parenthood, coupletime

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Childhood ambitions

The twins are at the age now where they talk about what they would like to be/ do when they grow up. After listening to their ambitions, Packrat and I came to the conclusion that if both kids or for that matter all kids, grew up and did what they wanted to do as children, we would not need to hire foreigners.

When my brother was little, he wanted to be a firefighter and use the fire trucks to water all of my mom's roses. I wanted to wash the drains for a living and Packrat wanted to be a farmer.

Now, Evan spends his time obsessing about trucks, construction vehicles and garbage trucks. If he had his way, he would be a garbage truck driver because then he gets to control the lever in the truck that raises the bins and tips the rubbish into the truck. In his more serious moods, he would like to be a teacher so that he can mark papers like Mommy and Papa. It was at that point where both Packrat and I hollered that it wasn't a good idea (the marking bit, the teaching bit is okay). He has also occasionally displayed very good busboy skills, clearing plates from the table and doing the dishes.
























Jordan changes her mind every day. So yesterday, she had this conversation with me about wanting to be a ballet teacher. When I asked her the same question today, she said she was going to be a princess and she would be a ballet teacher tomorrow. Some time ago, she also wanted to be the air traffic controller she saw in Toy Story 2.
























For Muffin, right now, we think he would just like to be a bus driver or a crazy race car driver. But anyone who sits in a bus he drives would feel extremely ill and convinced that their driver was out to kill them.


















Whatever it is, they have stipulated (well, two out of three of them anyway) that they must be able to wear their rainboots to work. For Evan, any construction job with rain boots would not seem too out of place. For Jordan, she will be a tomboy-ish princess, rain boots with her evening gowns or ballet outfits for that matter. Alternatively, she could be a rocket engineer but she would only design rockets that were girly and grew flowers in them. Never mind that the flowers would all wither and burn to ash from inter-galactic heat! But at least she gets to wear space boots.

























At this point, I am supposed to say that I would be happy with whatever they want to do as long as it makes them happy. I don't really know about that. Yes, I would like them to be happy in whatever they do, but I would also like them to not have to worry about money so let's see what kind of balance they can strike.

Technorati Tags: twins, childhood ambitions

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Counting shells

The last time I was on long leave from work, the twins were about 20 months and I discovered how to make coloured pasta shells and decided they were the best toy/ learning tools/ entertainment system etc. Two years on, I am once again on leave and I still love pasta shells. My repertoire for what I can do with them has grown.

Added to my arsenal are the big egg cartons. Together with a couple of flash cards and we've got a game for the kids. It's colourful, it's entertaining and it's educational. I have tricked a reluctant Jordan to read in this manner and I have tricked a dexteriously clumsy Evan into manipulating his fingers to drop relevant numbers of pasta shells into the relevant rows.

And it's a great game for them. We play it early in the morning or in the half an hour between getting them ready for school and going down to catch the bus.

I like doing these sorts of things for them because real sets that do the same thing cost a whole lot of money. This way, I get to save the money, recycle items, make colourful pasta shells and custom make it to the needs of my kids. I had decided that not only did my kids need to be able to count (1 to 5 is easy for them), I wanted them to be able to read the cards, follow instructions and carry out the combined tasks.

So what is needed is
1. A 6 x 5 egg carton
2. A bag full of pasta elbows (preferably the cheap ones).
3. Hand and body lotion for sensitive skin.
4. A pack of white debate cards and a pack of coloured cards.

We got a few note cards. Coloured ones for the corresponding colours. 6 cards with the numbers spelt on it (6 because the egg carton was a 5 x 6 carton). The twins needed to

a) Draw one card from each pile
b) Combine the cards to read something like "four yellow"
c) Proceed to find four yellow pasta shells and place them one by one in the egg carton
d) Place the cards at the end of the row
e) Go on to the next one until the entire egg carton is filled with different coloured, different numbered rows of shells.

I am certain one can use the egg carton and pasta shells for other Math related activity. I suspect that introducing division on this would be a lot easier and fun with this. But that's a while more. For now, I am trying to enjoy the bright hues of food colouring colour on the pasta shells.

It's time to make another batch of it soon. Baby Muffin-zilla has crushed and stomped on more than I care to remember.

Technorati Tags: twins, home made games, counting skills, reading skills

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