Girls Are Supposed To Be More Caring, Aren't They?

They say girls are more caring and nurturing but it doesn't seem to be that way with my two kids. It is always the younger boy who thinks of his sister. The sister is more selfish and does not like to share her toys or food with him.

The boy on the other hand is always thinking of his sister. Recently, we had a RM10 voucher to use. We told the kids they could each use up to RM5 to buy whatever they wanted. Both of them said they wanted stationery.

Suddenly the boy ran up to me all excited. He held up two pink erasers shaped like a tiny house. "Mummy" he whispered. "I'm going to get this for jie jie (sister) to surprise her because she lost hers."


For thinking of others before himself, he was rewarded with a mechanical pencil worth more than RM5. The sister pouted when she saw that his items were more than RM5.


"How come HE gets to spend more?" she said.

Well, girls aren't always the more caring, nurturing or thoughtful one, are they?

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What To Expect When You're Expecting Giveaway

I mentioned in my earlier post that I will be doing a giveaway soon. For those of you who are waiting, here it is. :) First, I will tell you a little about what I'm giving away.


1. What To Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel


This is really the mother of pregnancy books. Although the title states What To Expect When You're Expecting, the book actually begins with a chapter on Preconception Preparation For Moms and ends with What To Expect After The Baby is Born.

This should give you an idea about just how comprehensive this pregnancy book is as it covers topics from BEFORE till AFTER pregnancy.

The pregnancy months are covered in detail too with What To Expect for each month of pregnancy including FAQs at each stage which I love! There is also a section for dads, for those Expecting Multiples and a part on pregnancy complications.

2. What To Expect The First Year by Heidi Murkoff, Sharon Mazel, Arlene Eisenberg & Sandee Hathaway, B.S.N.


The first series in the What To Expect Books includes What To Expect Postpartum up to The First Six Weeks including breastfeeding.

The What To Expect The First Year carries on in the same style but offering much more detail reading material on breastfeeding, your newborn baby and what you may be concerned about.

From there it goes on to tell you What To Expect for each month of your baby's growth and covers all aspects and any questions you may have about your baby and you including doctor visits and What To Expect, birthweight, feeding, bonding, caring for baby, stimulating baby, sleeping, teething, and much more. I can't possibly describe it all. It is very detailed and comprehensive, an excellent guide for families. I'm not surprised it is America's Bestselling Childcare Series and has sold over 9 million copies.

3. What To Expect The Second Year by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel


This What To Expect The Second Year book covers all aspects of parenting your child from 12 to 24 months from the first birthday to the second.

You will find that as your child grows, new challenges emerge and you will be learning all the time as a parent. This third book in the What To Expect series helps you to understand your toddler better... from head to toe.

You will learn about picky issues, temper tantrums, discipline, health and safety and whether your child's development is on track. There is also a whole chapter on treating toddler injuries which I find very useful as well.

Note: Expectant mums or new moms can check out the What To Expect website to read more and interact with other moms.

What To Expect From This Giveaway

1. 1. This Giveaway is open worldwide.
2. 2. Two winners will receive 1 set each of all the 3 books in the What To Expect Series
3. 3. Complete the Rafflecopter form below and follow the instructions on the form to submit your entries. You may submit as many entries as you like to increase your chances of winning.
4. 4. Please provide a valid email address so you can be contacted if you win
5. 5. You will need to reply to the winning email within 48 hours or another winner will be selected
6. 6. This giveaway ends on Thursday, 5th July, 2012.

If you are not familiar with how to enter a rafflecopter giveaway, here is a rafflecopter video demo to show you how. If you prefer, you can ask me a question directly on my Facebook. Good Luck!

UPDATED: THIS GIVEAWAY IS OVER. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2 LUCKY WINNERS 1. LISAN LEOW AND 2. JENG NEPOMUCENO-SILO

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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What To Expect Series of Pregnancy Books

Hello Everyone. As some of my regular readers and followers on facebook know, my birthday was on 15th June. I was really thrilled to receive the What To Expect Series of Pregnancy Books on my birthday. What a delight. This was what I received:

1. What To Expect When You're Expecting

2. What To Expect The First Year

3. What To Expect The Second Year

This was what I received on my birthday! A very lovely present indeed. It is the revised new editions for the What To Expect Series of Pregnancy Books

I'm going to tell you What To Expect from these series of pregnancy books in a later blog post PLUS I'll be running a giveaway soon. Do watch out for it! 

I won't have any trouble telling you what I like about these books because I have the older copies myself. I referred to them frequently during my pregnancies.

These are my older copies of the What To Expect Series Of Pregnancy Books. I loved them and referred to them regularly during both my pregnancies.

In case some of you are wondering why I'm so delighted with pregnancy books, no, I'm not pregnant. However, I am delighted with the books because I think Books don't grow old, people do. The ideas and valuable information in books are evergreen and everlasting. So, crazy though it may sound, since my kids are really still very young now, I plan to keep these pregnancy books for my children and tell them how mom once referred to the books while having them. Do you keep books too?

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My Daughter Wants Me To Do Everything For Her

My daughter wants me to do everything for her. Mind you, she is not a toddler just turned 2 or 3. Neither is she a preschooler who may be clingy and suffering from separation anxiety or anything like that. She is 10! Yes, the ripe old age of 10.

I read in The Five Love Languages Of Children co-written by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell that it merely means that her love language is "Acts of Service" and "Quality Time" but it is extremely exhausting.

One classic example is her daily request for me to help her pack her school bag. She will not do it on her own. Everyday, it's "Mom, will you help me pack my back? Mom? Please, mom? Please? Please? Mom?"

Her younger brother whose love language is overwhelmingly "Physical Touch" has no problems with doing things on his own. Even with her begging me, he'll be off packing his bag and done in a jiffy.

Sometimes the girl goes to the extend of writing out pieces of paper telling me where to put what books in which part of her bag. "This one is for, morning, Mom", "This is for Afternoon", "This one goes to the pass-up place". I tell her that by the time she has finished writing out those pieces of paper she would have finished putting those books into her school bag on her own but it is no use. The next day, we're back to "Mom, can you help me pack by bag, mom, please mom, please?"


It even extends to "Can you help me bathe, mom please?" or "Can you feed me, please?" or "Can you lie beside me?" or "Can you sit and watch me do my work?"


I wonder why she seeks so much attention from me? How should I resolve this? Ignore her? Give her the attention she seeks? Teach her to be more independant? Talk to her? Explain to her? Act out how ridiculous she sounds? Try to spend more time with her? Or is it less time so she will be less reliant? Or am I doing it wrong? Since her love language is supposed to be Acts of Service and Quality Time, should I be "speaking" those love languages by doing things for and with her? Should I scold her? Shout at her? Shout at me? Pull my hair out? Scream? I've done all and I'm really quite lost on how to deal with this.

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Online Mothers

I am an Online Mother. What does it mean to be an online mother? Being an online mother means ...

1. 1. I have to prioritize my time between online and family
2. 2. I sometimes feel guilty if I spend too much time online
3. 3. I have loads of other online mother friends whom I can turn to when I need a shoulder to cry on or someone to listen to when I vent
4. 4. I look forward to each day full of exciting online activities and online interaction
5. 5. I get a lot of support from other online mothers. I feel comforted to know I am not alone.
6. 6. I give support to other online mothers.
7. 7. I learn a lot from sharing with other online mothers.
8. 8. I get many new ideas about parenting, kids activities, crafts, recipes, education and books and apps for kids etc from other online mothers.
9. 9. I laugh, cry and bond with other online mothers whom I have never met and whom I may never meet.
10. 10. I have a head full of online thoughts as I go through my day.

I am an Online Mother. Are you an Online Mom too? Say YES! if you are. 

The biggest challenge an online mother faces is ...

How Not To Let The Computer Take Over Your Family Life. 

More and more mothers are going online. Is online time taking over your family time? This is how I manage my online time with my personal or family time. How do you manage yours. Care to share?

• - Morning for myself and my online activities, afternoon for my kids to help them with homework etc, evening and night is for the man 
• - No online activities on weekends and public holidays and whenever the man is on leave from work
• - Use the old fashion paper and pen to write down ideas and articles and transfer them online when I finally do get to a PC. I don't have to be in f ront of a PC all the time.
• - Never stress over not being able to get online for days or weeks or months. The online world will still be the same when you return.
• - Take days off from online activities every now and then.

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