Happy Chinese New Year 2011

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Here is wishing a very Happy Chinese New Year to all mothers and others too who read this blog.

A message to the mothers......

Even if you are involved in a lot of stress related activities like having to cook and entertain a large group or you have to visit your husband's relatives instead of yours etc, remember to steal a little bit of "me time" in between to enjoy the festivities but remember not to eat too many cookies and Chinese New Year goodies. You wouldn't want the Cheongsum to come apart at the seams now do you? ;)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

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Now that the kids are older.....

I had always thought that my busiest time as a mum would be when the kids are babies. I am sure that everyone knows how little sleep a new mother gets. There is so much to do too. Feeding round the clock, bathing baby, getting baby to sleep.... at the right times...., changing diapers, sterilizing bottles etc Later on, there is toilet training, getting baby on solids, making the solid foods yourself.

Now that the kids are older, surely one must be freer. They can eat on their own, bathe on their own, walk and run. Yes, surely there is much more free time available? Perhaps one can even return to full time employment so there is double income. One can do a lot with the extra income...

However, I find that it is not true that now the kids are older, I have more time. It is unchanged, just different in nature. I have as little sleep as before and as little time as before. I have to make sure they get enough sleep, exercise, eat nutritious food (thank goodness I have some help with that), complete their school work, listen to their school problems (which is unbelievably a lot every day), make sure they are not overstressed yet be disciplined enough to do their school work and yet still have time for fun not to mention the importance of sleep and exercise. I think I've said that already but I can't emphasize the importance of that enough.

I have to be available mentally and physically to support them emotionally because they are going through a lot of changes and new experiences as well as to help them learn to organise and manage their own time, work and studies. I am also here to make sure they get a balanced life. All of this is a FULL TIME job. It takes up just as much time and energy as changing diapers and feeding and burping and singing baby to sleep.

Hmm... maybe when they are teens or in secondary school, I will have more time???? I think what's likely to happen is, I will still have little time and be just as busy but then in a very different way again. A mother is always busy.

This morning, before going off to school the little one said to me "Mummy can  you give me a big hug?" followed by "I love you sooo very much." while giving me a big squeeze. I must say that all the time spent on the kids, every second of it is all worthwhile.

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Timetable

Usually during the school holidays, I will draw up a timetable for own our so called "school holiday programme." The kids enjoy this and like to help me plan the timetable.

This year, I have to go a step further and draw up a timetable for daily use. I feel sorry that the kids have to live such a rigid scheduled life. They go to school for half a day on a timetable and then they come home to another timetable?

....but then, it really helps to have one. It helps us get things done. Kids do like routine to a certain extent so it helps them and it helps me remember to stop them (from doing homework) for meals, rest and exercise.

It is easy to include "exercise" into the timetable but implementation is very different. Do you know how much time it is to make sure the kids have a bath, hairwash and dry their hair afterwards? That can be a very time consumming process and time is something we have very little of.

At the end of the day, it is mummy who has to rush around to make sure they have their meals, do their work, get their exercise, have their baths. Even getting the kids to go to bed on time so that they get enough rest is a rush for mummy. No kidding.

Whatever it is, I will try to do my best to make sure it happens because the kids love exercise days. "Is today exercise day?" they would go.

The children do not have time for TV but in the past we used to have Movie Nights. On Fridays daddy usually comes home late so after dinner, we would settle on the sofa with our pillows (the kids insist on bringing pillows from the room) to watch a dvd. Kakak will join us. It is also a chance for her to relax and enjoy a movie.

Movie Nights are out now because the kids have to go to bed early but I told them they can have their dinner in front of the TV on Friday nights instead and they went "Hurray!"

On Sunday mornings, they sometimes get to eat their breakfast in their pyjamas in front of the TV as well. Daddy would push two armchairs and two leg rests and place them in front of the TV "home theatre style" then they put up their little feet and munch and watch at the same time.

We are probably teaching our kids bad habits but I think its ok to relax the rules once in a while. Kids need to have fun. Having a timetable allows me to plan not only for work time but for fun time as well. It helps to put things into perspective and make sure we don't overrun our time.

This scenario can happen too easily "Oh goodness me. Is it this late? We haven't done this and that and this....?" I hope not to have too many of that with a timetable.

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Mummy's Diary

This year I have 3 diaries. 1 for me, 1 for the girl and 1 for the boy. I started 1 diary for the girl to jot down the things outstanding that she or we need to do for her. For example, if we have to take her for a haircut or fix her bag or buy a school stationary, it all goes in there. As for her part, it is to record the homework, projects and assignment due dates etc. Same for the boy.

The girl being in Std 3 has more entries since she has more projects than the boy. For example in the boy's diary yesterday was........

Need to buy medium sized square exercise book.
Need to give him RM3 to pay teacher next week
Need to fix bag lever
Need to buy book wrappers size 255mm

For the girl's I had entered....

Need to buy dictionary
Need to do drawing project - deadline after Chinese New Year
Need to buy 2 Science exercise book
Roster Duty Day = Wednesday. Need to go in 10 minutes earlier

Soon, I will teach them to do the entries themselves and check the entries themselves for the deadline and strike off those that are done. I consider this as one of life's lessons.... teaching them to become organised and to be responsible for their own work etc.

If I didn't have these diaries, I would go mad! One simply cannot keep all these things in the head and remember them.

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Fat Frog

This year I have started a schedule for my kids which includes a time for exercise twice a week. That is really not enough but it will have to do since their schedule is really tight. Mind you, they don't take a lot of extra-curricular activities, only piano. I don't know how other kids who have ballet, swimming, taekwando, not to mention numerous tutition for every subject etc do it. We can hardly manage.

These days it rains quite a bit so we have to do our exercises indoors. The other day, I had to build an obstacle course which included crawling through their pop-up tunnel, running around furniture, balancing with a bean bag and jumping into a hoop to collect their bouncy ball prize and then running back the other way with the ball. That worked up quite a sweat.

Yesterday it rained again, so we could not play badminton in our porch and annoy the neighbours with our flying shuttlecocks.We had to stay indoors but I had to get them to sweat. So I put on my aerobics music and became an aerobics instructor. (My latest job as a mum)

First, we did warm ups and we took turns to become gym instructor. Then we did jumping jacks, then we held hands and ran around in circles, first one way then the other. Then we jogged around the house, marched and did train (held onto each other like a train while we jogged). Then we did kungfu kicks and silly dances and then we did frog jumps. While we were jumping around like a frog, suddenly my girl pointed at me, laughed at said "Fat Frog" . Haha.

Well, hopefully, with this extra "fitness regime" with the kids, Fat Frog will turn into Thin Frog or a beautiful princess. Hahaha. In my dreams.......

Whatever it is, exercise is good for the kids and they love it. They look forward to "exercise" days in our schedule. "Mummy we MUST exercise huh mummy, we MUST huh. You must not forget ok?" They are so afraid that I will skip their exercise.

If anyone else could share more ideas on what physical exercises we could do indoors, I would be most grateful.

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