Thankful for Lunch!

With the series of thankful days in the month of December and we managed to catch the documentary show on "Free Lunch" last evening on TV.

The free lunch program started in China for school children in poor villages. Many of the children had to walk long distances, walk through muddy road, cross streams and climb hills just to get to school. Many of them are unable to bring food, less say a proper lunch to school. After school, they had to walk back the long distance to get home and often stopped along the way as they were tired and of course too hungry to walk further. The free lunch program gave these children a proper nutritious lunch which enable them to study better since hunger would be off their minds.

Whilst watching, we tried to give J an educational point of view. When he saw the kids drinking from a running tap, he told me "if you drink dirty water, you will get sick" I explained to him that because the children were too poor to have food and clean water, they had to drink from the tap to ease their hunger.

The children in this generation probably would never understand what hunger meant. I'm looking forward to the day where I can bring J along to overseas volunteer projects to see for himself how others are struggling in their lives while he's complaining.

Give thanks for every meal, every piece of food and every sip of water!

Thoughts on procreation

Reading beanienus post got me thinking…

I’ve always wanted a #2. I grew up with a sister who is 5 years my senior and often felt I was the ‘only’ child. While she was reaching puberty (12 years old), I was only 7, barely stepping into primary school. So, I’ve always wanted 2 kids with a closer age gap. J is turning 4 in March 2013 and I’m in no way preggie yet, which means the age gap may end up 5 or more or none at all.

I’ve discussed with the HB on this and often it lays back to the problem of finances and a whole lot of worries from my end.

Financial

We are the sandwich couple whom need to provide for 2 old folks with my FIL going through dialysis. His medical bills are close to $2k per month and it’s greatly shared by my SIL & HB.

J’s monthly childcare fees are $600 after subsidy. With #2, it means we need another $600 or definitely more for infantcare, babysitter or helper.

Logistics

I was the main caregiver for J for the first 3 years. I had to clean poo, feed & shower him and put him to sleep every day without fail while no one in the family could help. J only wants me to bring him to childcare every morning. On days when I had to work early, I had to sneak out of the house to prevent him from tagging along.

With #2, it means I have to bring J to childcare and #2 to infantcare which will most likely be 2 different locations.

Phobia

I had my fair share of Post-Natal Depression and am really afraid of going through it again. And this time, it may be double the blow since there’s #1 to manage too.

As beanienus mentioned, will we want J to grow up alone and handles everything on his own?

Simple Joy

J loves bubbles blowing. He had a hard time trying to master the technique of blowing previously. But he has since became addicted to it. We played it during bath time & on weekends.
Simple toy, simple joy.

Small spaces (linking to mum in the making)

We do not have an individual room or study room for J currently and hence use a small area beside the living room for his toys & books.

As you have probably realised, there's a mix of containers. I was practically trial & error to find the best container that fits. But since they were bought, I decided to use them.

Less frequently touched toys are left in 'locked' toyogo box. However, they can still be easily open by J when he has the mood to search for his old toys. Books are kept in open box for easy access. Frequently played toys are placed in the toys basket.

Puzzle pieces are kept in mail boxes that I've kept. Mooncake boxes are handy too, for keeping loose stuff such as play dough. Pencils, coloring pencils & crayons are kept in transparent box & educational toys with lots of loose pieces are zip-locked.

While I'm still hunting for a proper shelf to keep all these, they will do for the time being to keep the place tidy & neat and make myself sane trying to clear up every weekend.

X'mas bells are ringing...

These were last year's x'mas notes/tags that came with the gifts. I love keeping them to remind me of the sweet messages & gifts that I've received.

Another year has passed and Christmas is nearing again. December is always full of joy, love & happiness. It reminds me of my marriage, my wedding and the christmas songs in the air.

Christmas is a season of giving. I'd always look around for x'mas gifts and this year, I've decided to add a tinge of love from me. Stay tuned!

J's first concert

With inspiration kicking in, I shall repay my instalments in blogging.

J had his first concert on 3 Nov at his childcare graduation ceremony. When the school asked for permission to let him perform, I had no second thoughts on allowing it. As he's the first & only child, he's rather shy and can be quite sticky. So, I wanted to give him the exposure in public performing to boost his confidence a little.

When the school asked for $45 for 2 sets of costumes and each parent had to pay $22 for a ticket, I was a little stingy about it and thought: why so expensive. When his teacher tried to persuade me to get a ticket to see him perform, I was a little skeptical. J has always been shy even with us around that he may not want to perform. But his teacher reassured me that she will "psycho" him to perform well.

Throughout the months, we tried asking J to perform for us at home and all he does was only one action. So, I thought he won't be doing well for the actual day.

On the concert day, I chose a seat further away from the stage, afraid that J will see me & refused to perform. We were caught with surprise when he appeared on stage. He showed no fear of everyone staring at him. He was dancing to the music with all the dance moves and in sync with the music. He was even able to remember every step for every formation. He did a great job! Tears were welling in my eyes. My boy has grown up. He's truly my little man now.

We are so proud of you!

Re-birth of blog

15 November 2012 marks the start of my re-blogging. May have writer's block for the time being...

I'm a FTWM to a 3 years & 8 months boy and I'm a scrapbooker. With x'mas drawing near, I've started on making x'mas tags for the teachers of my boy's childcare.

I've actually also stopped crafting after the birth of my boy cause I was the main caregiver at home & it really drained my energy away after a day's of work and weekends are mainly spent on household chores and running errands. Am glad that I've found like-minded crafters at my workplace whom gave me motivation to scrap again and I've been on the "road" of buying and no returns. My boy is also more sensible now that he can leave me alone to scrap while he sits beside me to do his own stuff.

That's all for now. Inspiration is kicking in. That's a good sign.