Today is the day to remember.
Today is the day to remember what happen 7 years ago.
Today is the day where everyone gathered to celebrate our love together.
Today is the day, we exchanged our vows till death do us apart.
Today is the day, I said “I do”.
Today is the day, you said “I do”.
Happy 7th Anniversary, Honey!!!
It's been nearly a month, I did not update my blog. I been very busy adjusting to my new role and I guess it does really take a long time. LOL.
I wake up this morning, received a smile from my son. That is the most beautiful thing on earth. Well, I received his smile every morning. That smile remind me, I am priceless and it worth every single moments, efforts... etc.
Yup, I am a happy mommy.
The tea is taken as an anti inflammatory tea, antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, cholagogue, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, sedative, stomachic, tonic, stimulating metabolism and anything else you can imagine.
Chamomile in particular is an excellent tea for various digestive disorders, nervous tension and irritability and is also used externally for skin problems. And if this is not enough – you’d love to know that chamomile tea is a great source of vitamins and antioxidants.
German chamomile, (also referred to as blue chamomile, wild chamomile, Hungarian chamomile or scented mayweed) can be used to sooth sore stomachs, aid digestion, aid irritable bowel syndrome and as a gentle sleep aid and mild laxative, as a mouthwash.
ME : Natural thing does wonder. Given by GOD to us... better then medicine.... :)
This article taken from "All About Parenting"
How should disciplinary techniques for my strong-willed child differ from those I use with my compliant child?
Discipline for a strong-willed child requires a firmer hand, often with a greater show of love, than his compliant, eager-to-please sibling. Discipline must be tailored to the child. My grandmother used to say, "Show me a family with ten children, and I'll show you ten unique personalities." My own children were living proof that grandma was right. For example, my first-born was a daughter, very sweet and very compliant. When she misbehaved, often all it took to straighten her out was a "look" from mom or dad.
Then along came my second child, a son - and he came out fighting mad. He couldn't have been more different! His full accompaniment of allergies, asthma, and hyperactivity made him quite a challenge. If someone (like grandpa) would sneak him even a little sweet treat, the child literally climbed the walls (and everything else) for two days. Diet was a definite factor. Now granted, much of his behavior was influenced by his physical issues, but not all of it. He was willfully defiant as well. To put it simply, he was a strong-willed child.
So how did we, the parents, handle discipline differently with these two very different children? With our daughter, we could speak calmly, issue time out, give "that look," or if needed a scolding or a swat. She got it right away. With my son, there was a lot of trial and error. Finding something, anything, that would work was work itself. We knew we couldn't give in. In time, with consistency and a lot of prayer, he (and we) survived.
There were two critical factors in that survival:
So let's recap.
For compliant (and all) children:
For a strong-willed child (All the above PLUS):
Overall, know your children, and know what is age/behavior appropriate. Create a healthy, non-chaotic environment. It's hard work, but so rewarding.
This story been told by a friend of mine. I found it as a reminder for what we forgot.
The story goes like this:-
A happy dad brought a new car. He was very excited about it. The moment he reached home, his daughter saw the new car. She took a knife and started to scratch the new car. When his dad saw what she did, he was very very mad. He dragged her to the garage and tied her hand with a wire. His dad asked her to think it over what she had done. After a while, the dad forgot his daughter still in the garage. A few hours later, he remembered and gone to the garage to see his daughter.
The moment his open his garage door, he saw his daughter hands was black; to his frighten he untie the wire and rush her to the hospital.
The doctor said his daughter hand need to be amputated because lack of oxygen for a very long period of time. When she recovered and was sent home. She saw his dad new car have new color, and then she turned to his dad and said “when will I get my new hand?”. Her dad regretted what he had done and nothing he can do to reverse the whole situation. Her dad took a gun and commit suicide in front of his daughter.
The moral behind this story : We tends to forget what is important and what is not. Sometime, things are repairable and some are not. Think before re-act because it can save you from doing the things you regret.
ME : when IBS hit me. It reminded me of this story and reminded me what is more important in my health. I am glad she told me this story.
I never know got such a thing until a friend of mine told me about it. He help-outs in Children Ministry @ his church and his church categorised this children as special child. Hyperactive child & Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder also included in this category.
But today I am going to share you with about "Strong-Willed Child" and my son falls under this category.
I found out using force / enforce authority / implement parent are always RIGHT do not really work on my son. I found it very tiring for myself and sometime I wonder am I a good mother. One thing I have to understand that I cannot bring up a child like my mom used to be. Nowadays children are different and force is not a solution after all.
After a while, I knew force / command are not the solution between my son & I. Then I changed my approach to talking style (trying to reason with him). It worked. Then from time to time - the approach have to be refined such as stand firm with your NO & YES.
I still have to work on my son for his "NO NO NO" to me, that is why bring me to think maybe my son is falled under "Strong-Willed Child" and I did some web searched and I found this.
Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child By Dr. Laura Markham
Strong willed children can be a challenge, when they’re young, but if sensitively parented, they become terrific teens and young adults. Self-motivated and inner-directed, they go after what they want and are fairly impervious to peer pressure.
What exactly is a strong-willed child? Some parents call them “stubborn,” but we could also see them as people of integrity who aren’t easily swayed from their own viewpoints. Often, these kids are prone to power-struggles, but research shows that parents can provoke power struggles by being over-controlling, or avoid them with sensitive parenting, so that might indicate that strong-willed kids are just easily provoked by having authority imposed on them.
In any case, I think we can agree that strong-willed kids are spunky, confident, and engaged. How do we protect those fabulous qualities and encourage their cooperation?
1. Avoid power struggles by using routines and rules.
That way, you aren't bossing them around, it’s just that “The rule is we use the potty after every meal and snack,” or “The schedule is that lights-out is at 8pm. If you hurry, we’ll have time for two books,” or "In our house, we finish homework before computer, TV, or telephone time." The parent stops being the bad guy.
2. Your strong-willed child wants mastery more than anything.
Let her take charge of as many of her own activities as possible. Don’t nag at her to brush her teeth, ask “What else do you need to do before we leave?” If she looks blank, tick off the short list: “Every morning we eat, brush teeth, use the toilet, and pack the backpack. I saw you pack your backpack, great job! Now, what do you still need to do before we leave?” Kids who feel more independent and in charge of themselves will have less need to rebel and be oppositional. Not to mention they take responsibility for themselves early and become more competent.
3. Give your strong-willed child choices.
If you give orders, he will almost certainly bristle. If you offer a choice, he feels like the master of his own destiny. Of course, only offer choices you can live with and don’t let yourself get resentful by handing away your power. If going to the store is non-negotiable and he wants to keep playing, an appropriate choice is: “Do you want to leave now or in ten minutes?”
4. Give her authority over her own body.
“I hear that you don’t want to wear your jacket today. I think it is cold and I am definitely wearing a jacket. Of course, you are in charge of your own body, as long as you stay safe and healthy, so you get to decide whether to wear a jacket. But I’m afraid that you will be cold once we are outside, and I won’t want to come back to the house. How about I put your jacket in the backpack, and then we’ll have it if you change your mind?” She’s not going to get pneumonia, unless you push her into it by acting like you’ve won if she asks for the jacket. And once she won’t lose face by wearing her jacket, she’ll be begging for it once she gets cold. It’s just hard for her to imagine feeling cold when she’s so warm right now in the house, and a jacket seems like such a hassle.
5. Don't push him into opposing you.
If you take a hard and fast position, you can easily push your child into defying you, just to prove a point. You'll know when it's a power struggle and you're invested in winning. Just stop, take a breath, and remind yourself that winning a battle with your child always sets you up to lose what’s most important: the relationship. When in doubt say "Ok, you can decide this for yourself." If he can't, then say what part of it he can decide, or find another way for him to meet his need for autonomy without compromising his health or safety.
6. Side step power struggles by letting your child save face.
You don’t have to prove you’re right. You can, and should, set reasonable expectations and enforce them. But under no circumstances should you try to break your child’s will or force him to acquiesce to your views. Just recently I heard from a mother how she herself refused to take a nap at age four. It wasn't enough that she finally was forced to get into her bed, her father spanked her until she said she wanted to nap. This was a defining moment of this woman's life, and she spent the rest of her childhood alternating between rebelling against her parents and considering suicide.
7. Listen to her.
You, as the adult, might reasonably presume you know best. But your strong-willed child has a strong will partly as a result of her integrity. She has a viewpoint that is making her hold fast to her position, and she is trying to protect something that seems important to her. Only by listening calmly to her and reflecting her words will you come to understand what’s making her oppose you. A non-judgmental “I hear that you don’t want to take a bath. Can you tell me more about why?” might just elicit the information that she’s afraid she’ll go down the drain, like Alice in the song. It may not seem like a good reason to you, but she has a reason. And you won’t find it out if you get into a clash and order her into the tub.
8. See it from his point of view.
For instance, he may be angry because you promised to wash his superman cape and then forgot. To you, he is being stubborn. To him, he is justifiably upset, and you are being hypocritical, because he is not allowed to break his promises to you. How do you clear this up and move on? You apologize profusely for breaking your promise, you reassure him that you try very hard to keep your promises, and you go, together, to wash the cape. You might even teach him how to wash his own clothes! Just consider how would you want to be treated, and treat him accordingly.
9. Discipline through the relationship, never through punishment.
Kids don’t learn when they’re in the middle of a fight. Like all of us, that’s when adrenaline is pumping and learning shuts off. Kids behave because they want to please us. The more you fight with and punish your child, the more you undermine her desire to please you.
10. Offer him respect and empathy.
Most strong-willed children are fighting for respect. If you offer it to them, they don’t need to fight to protect their position. And, like the rest of us, it helps a lot if they feel understood. If you see his point of view and think he's wrong -- for instance, he wants to wear the superman cape to synagogue and you think that's inappropriate -- you can still offer him empathy and meet him part way while you set the limit. "You love this cape and wish you could wear it, don't you? But when we go to Temple we dress up, and we can't wear the cape. I know you'll miss wearing it. How about we take it with us so you can wear it on our way home?"
Things got crazy @ work place this few weeks and another 4 weeks to go. That is the reason why I do not update my blog for a long period.
Due to this craziness and associated with stress, I am now suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It is really not fun having IBS - you will keep running to the toilet, stomachache, headache and feeling very tired as well.
I was hoping by regular intake of B-complex can reduce the stress and therefore reduce the symptoms of IBS.
I really did not realise I am in stress till my body get rebellious on me. Sigh. Really have to take good care of myself because I know regardless how hard I worked for a company - they will not stay with you and they will not suffer the consequences with you where else YOUR FAMILY DOES.
I guess I have to re-think what is important to me and what is not.
"God created cat not because of mouse. He just want the cat to be like "Garfield". Cute & fat & relax all the time" ~ I said
My little project on garbage enzyme had started, this is due to my hubby drank so much of soft-drink lately and he is complaining about his waistline expand. LOL!
Too much sugar intake, well at least I know his pancrea is doing a great job to store the extra storage for future use - that is why his waistline is expanding.
So daddy, if you want to slim down. STOP YOUR SOFT-DRINK INTAKE!!!
Ready-to-use Garbage Enzyme. I got more than 10 bottles and I am making again. I am planning to give them away, whoever is interested, please leave a comment. Oh ya, small note, you have to collect it yourself.
My hubby drank so much of soft-drink and I got to make full use of this empty bottles.
My latest addition.
If you wish to know, I did not buy these milk bottles at one-time. I was so determined to gave my son breast milk till 1 year old, then I need to keep stock.
When everytime I run out of milk bottles, I will purchased them again & again till I got 2 boxes of them. I got total of 106 milk bottles (69 pieces of 8oz + 37 pieces of 5oz).
I am full-time working mother and I pumped twice at work in order to maintain my supplied and keep my son on breast milk till he was 1 year old. So I have cooler and it follow me to work faithfully without failed and I make my own ice pack using 0.5 liter mineral water. I have a few of them and now they are happily inside my freezer.
Those were my HAPPY BREASTFEEDING DAY!!!! Remember them, really put a smile on my face.
Wondering what are those? Homemade vegetable stock for my prince! No salt & no MSG added! Healthy recipe just for him!
I got this recipe from Baby Center. I found it very rich in flavour and even my prince said "NICE".
Annabel Karmel's homemade vegetable stock.
It’s easy to make a homemade vegetable stock that will keep in the fridge for up to a week. Use this to form the basis of your purées, rather than relying on salt-filled, shop-bought stock cubes.
• Preparation: 10 minutes
• Cooking: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Makes 850ml (29fl oz)
• Provides beta-carotene, folate and potassium
• Suitable for freezing
Ingredients
1 onion, peeled
1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
2 large carrots, peeled
1 large leek, washed
1 stick celery
1 tbsp olive oil
850ml (29fl oz) water
1 sprig of parsley
1 sprig of thyme (optional)
1 bay leaf
4 peppercorns
Method
Roughly chop all the vegetables. Heat the olive oil in a large, thick-bottomed pan and add the vegetables and garlic. Sweat the vegetables in the oil without colouring for 5 minutes – cover with a lid if you like.
Add the cold water and bring to the boil. Add the herbs, bay leaf and peppercorns. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
Leave to cool for a couple of hours, then strain through a sieve. Squeeze remaining juices out of the vegetables by pushing them down in the sieve with a potato masher.
Ingredients are strawberry + sugar. I always opt for organic sugar / brown sugar. Blend it still smooth before putting them into ice cube tray or ice cream mould.
Since I made these, my son keep on asking for ice-cream. Most important, it is healthy and top-up his fibre intake.
Moon cake festival is coming!!! It is 3rd October 2009 this year. I am looking forward to bring my son and his lantern for a walk. I am thinking buy a new lantern for him .... just planing OR he can re-cycle his old lantern since it is still new.La
Last year, they only have Tigger. I was hoping to get him POOH bear but was out of stock. Maybe this year better luck. Ooopsss, I guess not because moon cake festival is just around the corner and I have not make any purchase yet.
It does not matter, still can re-cycle his Tigger.
Beautiful lanterns & candles all around. I do not really like traditional moon cakes but I LOVE this following moon cakes from Haagen-Dazs, my favourite.
LOL. and the most expensive moon cakes of all.
My favourite among all those ice-cream is this one.....STRAWBERRY. I just love it. Very much in love with it. LOL.
New era of sanitary pad - "Cloth Pad". It can be wash and re-use again & again & again. Putting in some effort to save the mother earth.
When I first saw cloth pad over the internet in Malaysia - not so colorful and not very popular back then. Slowly the thoughts of trying it vanished.
Then I saw it again @ Hijack Queen Blog. Combination of color cloth make the cloth pad so beautiful.
Plus encouragement from hubby, it would not hurt to give it a try. Moreover, cloth pads are getting very popular. The best thing of all : No more bad odor during menses days which coming from the chemical.
The combination color I love the most.
Why shake your head like that? This cloth pad just came out from the dryer and it is NEW. Please have a open-mind.
I got distracted and forgot to tell where I got this lovely cloth pad. It is from Mama Patch.
His cars exhibition.
His cocoon.
His best pals. He makes sure they got cover with his favorite blanket.
My favorite Malaysia dessert – Onde-Onde. I made it when I got my craving towards it. First timer in doing this kind of dessert. It looks nice but it did not taste nice.
The classic about “Onde-Onde” is thin skin with lots of palm sugar. The sugar oozes out when you bite it.
But mine does not happen like that. Giving up.
Hands Free Pump Bra by La Leche.
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Both items sold at Tiny Tapir.
Too happy about it .... just want to let you all know... it is here in MALAYSIA.
Some strings on the table. Then my hubby turned them into the following. He claimed he had itchy hands.
Ameda Purely Yours Ultra Double Electric Breast Pump with CustomFit™ Flanges. 
Found it @ Easy Expression. I do not underestand how can I missed it back in Year 2007. Could have make my life so much easier. LOL. Not available in Malaysia at this moment. I guess an alternative way will be finding a good nursing bra with not too big hole, appropriate size for the breast pump cup will do.
Till then... Happy Breastfeeding!!!!!
I had a very memorable wedding.
Initial, I wanted to be at Lone Pine @ Penang. It would be a real beach side wedding but they do not cater for table dining for more than 15 tables. Below are the Lone Pine @ Penang pictures.
The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.
In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor,a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor.
Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel.
She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.
He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"
She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world did I do today?"
"Yes," was his incredulous reply
She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."
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This story is PRICELESS......
Manage a home is really NOT an easy task. Multi-tasking with numerous of housework. Dealing with children can be super exhausted, frustrated, tiring, testing on your IQ & EQ.... the end results is rewarding + wrinkle on your faces to prove it.
Dealing with career world & managing your subordinates (at least a bunch of people that know how to listen but whether they follow or not is a different case) are much easier dealing with toddlers. You can't give a toddler warning letter / termination letter / "you are fired!!!".
For me, if you can handle the noise pollution from a toddler without a single headache + without back-off + multi-task all the housework to make a house like home. I think you can handle any problem in the office. (Just my 2-cents)
LOL... Enjoy...
Sleep as much as you can....
Read books that you enjoy... 
Play with simple things....
Count your blessing....
Be serious when it needed... 
Forget about diets once in a while.......
Show some affection ..... 
Get a new looks once a while.... 
May your troubles be less,
your blessings more,
and may nothing but happiness
come through your door.
