Author: Christy @ Kidsrsimple

Preparing for the annual BIG house cleaning before CNY

The annual house spring cleaning before CNY (Chinese New Year) is a tradition for the Chinese.  My family makes use of this opportunity to clean up the house and throw away old stuff.  Even our kids are roped in to help. And they enjoyed cleaning even the corridors!  They love the sweeping, scrubbing and playing with water!

Since we have moved to our new house last September, this is the first CNY that we will be celebrating in our new house.  Hence it is important to keep this tradition going.  But having only left with 10 days to the big festive day, I need to start with a plan to complete this task in the shortest possible time.

1) Target an AREA first (Day 10 – 2 hrs)

This is the one area that I know I will be able to do it fast and tick off the list.  It is important to a good start to boost morale.  I shall start with the kids’ wardrobe to put away old and outgrown clothes.  Next, rotate some older sibling clothes for the younger one.  Then move on to the adult wardrobe to clear away old clothes that I will only probably wear in my dreams.  The problem with getting rid of my clothes is I always end up thinking one day I will get back into shape and still be able to wear them.  This year, the thought of buying more new clothes should see me stave them off into a big bag and donate them.

2) Target room by room (Day 9 to Day 7 – 2 hrs each)

We live in a 4 room apartment.  I shall next start with a room that has the most clutters.  I know once the cluttering gets wiped out, it will look much obvious with a “Wow!” effect and I will get a greater sense of accomplishment to keep me going!

3) Kitchen (Day 6 – 2hrs)

This is the time of the year to visit the kitchen cabinet.  The messy containers, bowls, drawers with lots of messy cutlery, kitchen utensils and tools need better organizing.  Old utensils to be thrown and least used to be donated.  I will do a re-organization of the way things are kept and add some simple decorations to have a refreshing kitchen for the new year.

4) Bathrooms (Day 5 – 1hr)

Our 2 bathrooms certainly deserve a sparkling clean outlook.  I shall start with tidying up my vanity cabinet.  This cabinet has been neglected in its tidyness since every morning I do a super quick make-up and throw my make-up kit back in a hurry.  Then will come the cleaning and scrubbing of the usual stuff, toilet bowls, basin, mirror and all.

5) Washing (Day 7 and Day 2 – 2hrs each)

A week before CNY, all curtains will be taken down and washed.  2 days before, most laundry will be washed, ironed and packed to the wardrobe so that no clothes will be lying around on the first day of CNY.

6) Living room, the hall (Day 1)

This is the place where guests will be entertained and it’s the most important place to be clean and tidy. However with kids around, its cleanliness and tidyness lifespan will only be a day. Hence it shall be dealt with last, 1 to 2 days before CNY.

7) CNY decorations (This takes more time and shall be scheduled to one of the weekends)

It’s a traditional to decorate the house with festive streamers, ang pao (red packets )made fishes, lanterns (which are simple for the kids to make), and get new pots of plants.  CNY goodies like pineapple tarts, cookies, chocolates, bak kwa (roasted flat pieces of honeyed pork), etc will be bought or made for guests who visit.

I look forward to the Chinese New Year since I was a child.  I enjoy the busy preparation right up to the day, enjoy eating reunion dinner on Chinese New Year’s eve together with our families, enjoy the visiting of relatives and friends and have them over to our house throughout these 15 days of celebration.  Many people would think of CNY to be just a public holiday and would even go overseas to avoid relatives visit and all.  But, for me, I would love my kids to enjoy everything about CNY just like me!  We shall keep this tradition interesting as long as we can in our family.

What is your CNY celebration like?

5 Things I Love About Sweden

At the mention of Sweden, what comes to mind?  IKEA!! That’s almost an icon for Sweden!  Instead of selling moose souvenirs (Moose is like their national animal), they should consider selling IKEA souvenirs to tourist.  Almost every house and shops that I stepped in, there will be at least a piece of IKEA furnishing.  There are 5 things that I love about Sweden after a wonderful family winter holiday last Christmas.  (If you are thinking how I survived the family trip with 2 young ones, you can read my earlier post “Our first winter holiday – my preparation“) Continue reading “5 Things I Love About Sweden”

To be a better me – My 2012 Resolutions

This is the first post in 2012.  I have been thinking of some changes that I would like to make in my daily life and it’s just the right timing to document down as 2012 resolutions.

1. Buy LESS

I love shopping!  But I have been trying hard to cope with so many things including toys that only yield 1-day to 3-days satisfaction.  I am learning not to buy toys that my kids whined so much to buy in the departmental store but only to find them throwing them in some corner after 1 day or so.  And I have learnt not to buy those things that I foresee hard to find a place to keep when I do not need them anymore or only need once a year.  BUY LESS = LESS JUNK=NEATER HOME=SAVE $$$=SAVE THE EARTH.

2. Slow down

Recently Kel described me as an ant.  An ant walks haphazardly, with no aim, no focus.  And I think he is right.  This applies very much to walking from Point A to Point B at home.  Just a short route in the house, I can be picking up toys, stopping by to adjust the piano cover, clean up some mess and finally when I reach my destination, I forgot why I was there.  Despite having some time-table for my kids, I find myself difficult to stick to the routine by the clock as I may be home late or dinner was later than usual.  Hence, the words “quickly”, “we have no time”, “hurry up” became the most frequent words in the air.  I have to change this “quickly”, or in “no time” my kids will be like me with a fast pace in life for the wrong things.  For this resolution I have to learn to be more organized, and my favourite teacher is Nicole from Planning With Kids.

3. Live in the moment

Living in the moment is so important to enjoy life and enjoy my family time.  I need to tweak my 2nd resolution first in order to achieve this third one.  This applies to daily life in so many ways!  It can mean stopping what I am doing and looking into the eyes of my little ones and listen patiently to what they are talking about.  And I mean really listening, not hearing them while doing something else, eyes elsewhere.  It also means watching my children’s year end concert LIVE!!  Why not LIVE?  Because I was using my Galaxy phone recording the entire performance and looking through the small screen on my phone the entire time!  What a stupid thing to do when I should have been watching the real thing!

4. Cut down on snapping photos

We have just returned from our Sweden winter holidays.  I found out that I was taking too many photographs that I have trouble filtering them.  Just can’t bear to hit the “delete” button on my kids’ faces.  This will probably extend much time to create a photobook with so many pictures to choose from.  This resolution is in resonance with “Live in the moment” resolution too.  I need to cut down taking photo and video time so that I can enjoy the moment, enjoy LIVE moment!

5. Speak good English

That’s a weird resolution.  Kel is always commenting on my spoken English sentence structure.  Due to bilingualism in Singapore education, I cannot speak a proper English sentence well without mixing up with some Chinese sentence structure.  I am afraid I will influence my kids in the way they speak in future.  Hence, I will have to relearn speaking confidently in proper correct English.  This will be a tough one since I am used to the way I speak for 3 decades.

6. Love myself and others will love me

I love my family very much.  I try to do many things for them.  What’s the end result?  I end up taken for granted and become too tired and too busy to enjoy daily life and enjoy my family.  Not only that, my kids are gradually taking me for granted for some of the things I do, and respect for me is compromised too.  So, for this last resolution, I will have to force myself to give up some of the housework or things that I do for my kids.  I have to love myself, take care of myself, give myself more time to rest, enjoy everything around me. My kids will have to learn to do more things on their own to be more independent so that they will be grateful for the other things I have done for them.  My husband will have to help out more in housework so that I will need his “massage service” less often than now due to exhaustion in doing housework.

What resolutions do you have for 2012?

I want my kids to experience house chores now

My sister-in-law told me that she ironed her clothes when she was only five years old.  She was brought up in a family of 5 children.
Hence, every time I iron clothes, I would think of her ironing when she was my daughter’s age.  Even though I do not need ironing help from my kids, I would still think if I should expose her to ironing at such a young age.  Will she be able to handle the heat, the ironing strokes, the weight of the iron, etc?
 
However, I know young kids love to help out around the house.  And I shall let them handle some simple chores so as to expose them to how things are being cleaned, wiped, mopped, swept, washed, and many others.  It will serve as a skill exposure as well as fun learning for them.
 
So far, I have let them help out in the below chores which I think they are able to handle well:

1) Sweep the floor

They have helped to sweep the floor around the house.  The first few times are more of sweeping the dust AROUND the house rather than into the dustpan.

Even if some things do go into the dustpan, they seldom end up correctly into the bin.  You just have to teach them patiently and sweep thoroughly once again when they are asleep.
 
Appropriate age: 4 years and above
 

2) Wash the dishes

You have to separate out the lighter bowls and cutlery for them to wash.  They may not be ready to handle the heavy pots and pans right now.

The idea is to let them try out how to dispense the detergent onto the dish sponge.  Next, spread the detergent on the surface of the sponge evenly.  Then apply onto the dishes on all surfaces including the exterior of the bowls (this step they will be very thorough and can easily soap for more than a minute for a small bowl).  After that, they will wash the bowl under the tap, with one hand still holding the soapy sponge.  That tickles me as I have not expected them to still hold onto the soapy sponge when rinsing the dishes. 
 
Appropriate age: 4 years and above
 

3) Wash the teddies

I let my kids help to wash their own teddies and their favourite bolsters.

They put in the soap, on the tap, learn how to wash the surface of the teddies as though they are bathing them.  They get to see how dirty the soapy water is.
After which they pour away the water and rinse and squeeze a few times till there are not much bubbles left.  To speed up the drying, we put them into a big towel and spin dry in the washer.  Finally, they helped out with the hanging of the bears and bolsters for airing under the sun.
 
Appropriate age: 3 years and above
 

4) Sewing

I believe my girl is able to handle the needle and thread at 6 years old.  My boy would not be ready now.

Over the weekends, I did some animal felt craft with my kids, and when it came to the blanket stitches, I took over.  As kids love to learn new things, I showed my girl how to sew the blanket stitch and let her try it out on her own.  At first, she was too quick in pulling the needle and the thread came out loose.  I love it that she learnt about the way to handle needle and she tried out a few stitches before she passed it back to me.  So, there she gains another experience!
 
Appropriate age: 6 years and above
 

5) Cooking

There are many steps in the process of cooking.  I am still not comfortable in letting my kids try out the cutting process where they have to handle knives.  But the washing of vegetables, peeling, beating eggs are definitely more manageable.  I have let them play around with making sushi, making jelly, putting the toppings on a pizza.  You will be surprised how much they are able to help out.

 
Appropriate age: 4 years and above
 
Kids love to help, and love to try new things.  There is no better time than now to let them learn while having fun. 
As for ironing, I shall look into that when my girl turns 7 next year.
 
Do you have other simple chores for your kids too?  Tell me about them!
 
 
 
 
 

Why It Is Important To Be Yourself in front of your Kids

Being a mum for 6 over years now, looking back, I have stopped or done less of many things that I used to do when days were just the 2 of us, me and Kel.

I have stopped watching news channel, read books, even going out for an old school gathering sounds guilty to me.

We all know that marriage is blissful and having kids with the one you love is the perfect scenario of how you define LOVE. But no one told me that life after kids is 24/7 physical (for stay home mum), 24/7 emotional, 24/7 thoughts revolving around your children! And, the best part is, I LOVE IT!!

Everyone knows that a mummy’s well-being is necessary and essential. If you take good care of your well-being, you will be happy and you will have positive emotions to pass on to your kids, and they will grow up happily! Hence, I plan to work on these 10 activities to find back my life and at the same time, teach my kids that parenting is fun so that they will not grow up with the naggy, tired, unhappy mum image and frighten them off parenthood!

(1) Read your favourite books in front of your kids!

When was the last time you dreamt of lounging back in your chair, with one good book in your hand and sipping a cup of hot coffee / tea (for me it’s hot milk)? Well, I imagined that many times in a week, especially when I am tired. Reading book is a good habit and what’s better model to show your kids yourself reading a book regularly?

(2) Catch up with the news!

Get back the TV remote control and switch from the cartoon network to news channel! Read the papers daily! Precisely, you are a mum, you should be well aware of what is happening and going on around you and in the world. Letting your kids see that you are interested in news channel and the newspapers, they will follow in your footsteps when they grow older. And you can help out in their homework which touch on social or political news. Not only that, you won’t be lost in news discussion during friends and family gatherings.

(3) Do some housework in front of your kids

To SAHM (stay at home mum) without domestic helpers, doing housework is a never-ending activity and bound to happen in front of the kids. But for those with domestic helpers, try to do some simple housework, like sewing a loose button, washing some dishes occasionally. This will send the message to your kids that since mummy is doing some housework, kids should do some simple chores too. Taking the domestic helper for granted is not the way in the house. For me, I have no domestic helper, and I am learning to delegate some simple tasks to my kids. Now is the best time to let them help out and learn simple household chores. Once they grow older, they will not help out as willingly and eager as small kids now!

(4) Eat a proper breakfast, lunch and dinner

You must be thinking how difficult is that?

It’s difficult to eat properly with kids around, that’s for me. I will busy to and fro the dining table, cleaning up some mess in the middle of the meal, be at the disposal of my kids who want a drink, next a tissue, another minute fetch a fallen chopstick and what’s next?

I haven’t started this one, but I will soon. I intend to set down rules at the dining table. No walking to the fridge mid-way. No getting off chair. No one leg on the chair. No hitting bowls with chopsticks. Have drinks ready on their placemats, have a piece of tissue beside them. Hopefully, this will allow me to have a peaceful and enjoyable meal at meal times. I can’t set a good example if I am always walking away from the table. No wonder my kids always walk about.

(5) Go out on a regular date with your hubby

This one is important and equally important to let your kids know.

You are married to your spouse and you do not have to give up lovey-dovey dates to spend every single minute and second with your kids. Trash out the guilt! Let your kids know that daddy and mummy have to spend time together without them. Only with a strong marriage, can you have a loving and strong family bond.

(6) Have your own “me-time”

Go out with your girl friends! Go out with your mum and sisters! Go out shopping! Let your kids know you are going out enjoying yourself with friends. They have to know that mummy’s life consists of her own mummy, sisters and friends. And 90% out of the shopping trip, you will buy something for your kids. I have been through that and still find shopping for my kids’ stuff is more enjoyable than buying mine. So, go ahead to indulge ourselves and show them the shopping bags.

(7) Exercise and keep fit

I go for regular gym workout and for times when I do not have the time, I do stretching in my kids’ room. They follow me and find the actions hilarious. Kids find everything hilarious. Exercise is a necessity, not a luxury. We must incorporate exercise regime even though we are busy raising kids. We need to keep fit, run after kids, and be fit enough when we are 60s or 70s, to enjoy overseas holidays with them.

(8) Don’t give up your hobby

Enjoy your hobby. Be it collecting buttons, reading, playing piano, writing blogs, let the kids be part of the enjoyment. Kids love to collect things. My XX and YH have been collecting coins. They are still learning about the value of money and now, they treat coins as collectibles more than saving up for the things they like. When we go to the Botanical Gardens, our kids collect fruits and leaves (those that have dropped) along the way. It is good to cultivate a hobby for adults and children alike.

(9) Go on holidays without your kids

This is provided if there are arrangements to put your kids with grandparents and baby-sitters. Kel and I try to plan for a holiday for the family and a holiday for just the 2 of us or with friends once a year. We need to re-kindle the passion in us to have a good couple well-being. We want to enjoy family holidays bringing kids and our parents around the world. So, it seems fair to have one holiday for each.

And once you are on the plane or cruise with just your spouse, forget about the kids totally. I know, I know, it’s extremely hard, you can think of them, but don’t let your guilt take over. And I never fail to get a gift for them from the holiday. (Sorry, I could not practice what I preach…I will still think of them.)

(10) Hug and kiss your hubby everyday!

Do this frequent and when the kids are around!

We are married and we are in courtship forever. There is no reason why showing spouse affection should stop or deem inappropriate in front of the kids. Remember to say “I love you” to your spouse, even though the frequency is out of proportion compared to saying to your kids. Your kids will be happy and feel blissful in a loving family where their daddy and mummy are radiating lots of love.

Having kids does not mean you have to give up your life essentials for them. That will most likely result in a more tired self and possible resentment towards the kids. We are kids’ best model. We should live our life around them and have them live their lives around us too.

How do you find ways of rejuvenating yourself?