Why I breastfed for 9 months…

How many mums-to-be have decided on giving up breastfeeding even before their babies were born? From my circle of mum friends, all of them would say they will try it out. I think most mums will want to provide the best for their babies and will try their best even if it is for 1, 2 days. I have never, for one split second, doubt I would not carry out the nature’s call for a mum to nurse her baby. My mum had done it, 3 times in her life and she had never mentioned that she had problems. It just seemed so natural to her. So, naturally I should do it too. On the day my first little darling was born, I know she’s a born “sucker”, oh no, I mean “suckler”, although she needed some guidance.  For me? I needed only one BIG thing, no, not the BIG BOOBS, but starting with the letter P, “PATIENCE”. Continue reading “Why I breastfed for 9 months…”

Yamaha Junior Music Course – good or not?

Little YT at Yamaha

I started learning piano at the age of 15. I don’t come from a well-to-do family and was really happy that my parents could pay for my love of music back then. I stop during ‘O’ levels but continued from University days which I paid off my piano fees using hard-earned money from giving private tuition to Primary and Secondary students. I had a China made piano which could only allow me to reach Grade 4. I skipped grades and my first ABRSM exam was Grade 4 practical which I got a distinction. To go on to Grade 5, my teacher told me Continue reading “Yamaha Junior Music Course – good or not?”

Teaching my kids courtesy and respect

Discourtesy quote Disrespect quote

One thing I cannot stand in raising my kids is any display of disrespect and discourtesy. Can you tolerate “What??!!”, “So??” in a defiant tone with eyeballs rolling? What do you make out of a kid who never greets you nor say goodbye when you leave his house? How do you feel when the parent herself doesn’t see you out of her house? And how do you like it if a nephew calls you by your name?

I certainly cannot tolerate any of these rudeness in kids and cannot imagine Continue reading “Teaching my kids courtesy and respect”

How to improve your child’s Chinese

Chinese books

After I published a post on my children’s school system, an SAP school which emphasizes greatly in Chinese traditions and values and everything Chinese, many parents wrote to me to ask how I manage to engage my kids’ interest in the Chinese language. To be honest, we started off easier than most parents whose kids are struggling with this language. We are a Chinese speaking family. In this post, I am going to share with you what we do in our family and 10 tips that sees our kids enjoy through this “monster” subject that many Singaporean children hate. Continue reading “How to improve your child’s Chinese”

How we celebrate our Chinese New Year

Oh, how I love Chinese New Year! It’s my favourite holiday other than Christmas. But the DAY which I love best is Chinese New Year’s eve! This is the busiest day mixed with hard work and happy reunion dinner.

Why hard work? In the days coming up to the Chinese New Year (CNY), we will be busy cleaning up the house. It’s a traditional practice to throw away old stuff and welcome the new things in the new year. A good excuse to give the house a brand new look with some new furnishings and re-decoration of the house. Some of the old stuff in good condition are donated which makes the big clean up a more worthwhile project to work on. Continue reading “How we celebrate our Chinese New Year”