My Angel Adam

Update for Year 2011

2011-11-11T09:52:00.007+08:00

OK, I have been neglecting this blog for a while. I think it's time to do a bit of update.

Generally, Adam has been doing well. He managed to clinch on 3rd place this year as well as last year. I am fortunate that he is mature and sensible. Ever since Alyssa was born, I did not have time to go through all his works. Instead, I would clarify his doubt whenever he raised up to me.

Adam reads widely, he loves reading novels, science, fiction and non fiction books. It has help him to gain a wide knowledge base. Whenever there are questions about general knowledge, he will be the one and only that is able to answer the questions. His teacher also commented that he knows a lot of things compared to his peers. But his interest changes from time to time. Sometime he is interested in astronomy, but he will switch to elements a few days later.

I have a fair share of unhappiness with the teacher this year. For the first half of year, teacher L was his form teacher. She was a new teacher and I guess this was her first assignment. I noticed the first sign of trouble when Adam came home without knowing how to do the entire page of homework. Usually, he will only need minimum guidance from me before he proceeds to complete his work. But that day, he could not do the entire page. I looked through the paper and asked him if he understood what the teacher had taught him. He replied no. I went through with him again and he got it. It was not rocket science, but the meaning of noun, verb, adjective etc. I suspected that L did not know how to teach. Adam told me that his classmates were in the same position. No one understood her teaching. It confirmed my suspicion. But then again, given that L was new. I did not pursue with this matter.

The next day, Adam came home telling me that all those things I taught him yesterday were wrong. I asked him whether teacher explained why would it wrong. He replied yes but he could not understand, he only understand what I have told him. He mentioned that most of his classmates got it wrong too. Hmm, it sounded like teacher did not even understand it. Ironically, ever since that day, I never saw that piece of work again in Adam's file. It was never returned back.

Teacher L has the tendency of lagging in returning children's work, even before the exam. I made it a point to highlight it during meet the parent session with her. But again, when the next exam time, I did not see Adam's work until the exam was over.

The form teacher is also in charged of Maths, and for L, I spotted another mistake from her. I was kind enough to call her to explain the mistake to her. At first, she defended her stand, telling me that I was wrong. Then I explained it a few times, I think the last time she finally understood. She corrected her mistake the next day. But I never saw that paper again. Hmm...an act to cover up her mistakes? I don't know.

Oh, another thing. Teacher L liked to read out compositions from her class. Not from the top student, but from the bottom. First of all, she did not teach them how to write. She would merely hand out the paper and ask them to write. But for those who could not write, they would write very simple sentences for their compos. L would read out loud to the class. I really feel sick of her act of trying to humiliate the students who could not do well.

With all these things happening, I decided to give the principal a call. He was not able to reply me but I got a call from the vice principal. Or maybe the principal did not even know of such case. But again, I was foolish. School will do what it can to protect the teachers, regardless of how ridiculous they can be. I was given some ridiculous answers from the vice principal and I decided not to pursue this matter. Not that I agree with her, but I have given up. I do not want to sound like a protective mother. I also suspected that Adam was penalised by his form teacher as I raised the matter to the vice principal. She took away marks from him which is under her jurisdiction. It was the easiest to score full marks and yet Adam only got 8/10.

Luckily, for the 2nd half of the year, school changed his form teacher. I asked Adam what happened to teacher L, he said she would return to university. Well, it was a relief for us. The new teacher is so much better compared to teacher L. She is dedicated, caring and understanding. She even called up when Adam was sick and did not show up for school.

As for his Chinese teacher, I felt very grateful for her. She is a very understanding teacher and knows how to handle different kids. She told me that she caught Adam sleeping during her class. Sometimes, Adam would read his science books instead. But she won't mind, as she thinks Adam is bored in her class. As long as he did not disturb the class and continue to do well in the exam, she will let him be. It is rare and unusual in Singapore to have such a teacher. Every teacher I know is authoritative, none of them is so accommodate.

Adam is doing everything at higher level. For English, which is his weakest subject, he has started P4 work. For Maths, he can handle some of the P5 questions and Maths Olympiad. As for Chinese, I will just read with him. Everyday, we will spend about 30 mins reading Chinese novel. He reads about 1000 words everyday. His vocab is equivalent to P4 level.

As for his piano, he has promoted to Grade 4 this year and will be taking Grade 4 exam next year. Last week, he told me that he wants to learn Ukulele. I said fine, go to Youtube and learn how to play by yourself. I will see if this work out. I have requested him to self study his theory. I got him a book, and hope he can learn by himself. I intend to let him take Grade 2 exam next year. I have yet to get him to agree to my plan, as I need him to self study. Never mind if he fail, it will be a small set back for him. Maybe it is good for him, as he will learn how to stand up from where he fall.

Do I think that he is gifted? I don't know, and I don't think so. He is just an ordinary child. What I am trying to do is to help him find his passion and stretch his potential. I don't rush, when he is ready, I will push him to the next level. Whether he succeeds or not, he will still be my little boy.

Adam's Progress

2010-01-19T16:27:00.004+08:00

It has been a while since I last blogged.

I was quite tied up with Adam, since Dec was school holiday and I couldn't even switch on my PC as he would sit on my lap to watch me surfing the net. It was OK to do so but I felt tiring as he kept asking the website that I surfed, which was inappropriate sometimes. With him going to Primary 1 this year, I have much more time in the afternoon now.

Just a quick update on Adam. Overall, he is doing quite well. He has proceeded to Grade 2 this year. He will be taking Grade 2 piano exam this coming July, though he supposed to take Grade 1 exam. He had learned most of the Grade 1 exam pieces and scales and felt bored practising them everyday. So his teacher decided to let him take Grade 2 exam instead of Grade 1.

He skipped 6 months of the K2 works for MPM Maths, starting Primary 1 Maths in the middle of last year. He had since completed half a year of the P1 Maths. He also took the half yearly exam and scoring the highest mark ever since the center started. He has a Maths Olympiad P1&P2 book which we stumbled across in Popular bookshop. Though I found it quite challenging for his age, he is able to handle most of the questions.

Adam likes to read on his own now. He no longer asked me to read with him or to accompany him while he was reading. He would spend hours reading without doing any other things. Now, the first thing that he will do after finishing his breakfast and dinner is reading. I would have to interrupt him to get him to complete his homework. He is crazy about Arthur series, fairy tales and Aesop Fables. He would read the books repeatedly and laughed over the funny stories.

He is still in the honeymoon stage whereby there is not much homework. Oh, am I speaking too soon?

English Composition by Adam

2009-10-26T12:03:00.003+08:00

This is one of the compositions by Adam, with little help from me on grammar and spelling. He was quite reluctant when I asked him to write down what happened last Saturday. Nevertheless, he was quite enthusiastic after he started writing it.

This was what he wrote.

In the morning, we woke up and I ate ramen. Then mum and dad changed their clothes. Then my family went to Chong Pang market to buy fish and roasted meat. Later at the food court, dad asked me, "do you want to drink soya milk with ice?" I said yes then dad bought soya milk with ice for me and I put the soya milk on the table. It spilt on my leg and my pants. Then we went to the car park and dad helped me to wash my leg. And we went home. There were a lot of cars queueing at Shell petrol station. After that dad didn't want to wait and we went home.

It is definitely a good start.

Puppy Love 2

2009-09-24T11:19:00.003+08:00

Adam is quite popular among the girls, he often get cards or notes from his female classmates indicating that they love him. I am not panicky as I think that they are still young, but not his teacher.

One day, when I was fetching Adam from his school, his teacher said, "Mrs. Tan, I am not sure you know this but Adam has a lot of admirers. One of the girls came to me and said Adam is very handsome." I replied, "Yes, I know. Sometimes, he received cards and notes from the girls." The teacher was shocked, she was so much more paranoid than I am. She assured me that it would not happen again.

To me, I treat this as part of growing up. I guess I will be getting paranoid when it happens again few years later.

Reading and Marriage

2009-09-24T11:02:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, while walking back from school, Adam mentioned that his friends could not read well. He said he will bring story book to school and teach them how to read. I was puzzled how did he know that his friends could not read well. He said, "Hilmi couldn't read simple word like name, I told him that if he can't read, no girls would married him."

Ah, now I know why he loves reading....

Don't Call Me Kiddo, Call Me Mr.Tan

2009-08-25T15:22:00.000+08:00

Adam was delighted when he received his first library card, with his name printed on it and addressed him as Mr. He eventually wants me to call him Mr.Tan, instead of kiddo or even his name. He deliberately not responding to me when I called his name, until I addressed him as Mr.Tan.

It was quite fun calling him Mr.Tan, although I feel a bit sad that my little boy has grown up.

First Map From Adam

2009-06-08T21:34:00.006+08:00

This is the first map drawn by Adam. This map shows the surrounding of our apartment. It is a good practice for him to visualize the area where he is familiar with.

I really like the bus stop. He put a B sign on a round shape to show that it is a bus stop. He is quite elated after completing the map. He pasted 3 stickers on his work as he always did after he completed his work. I promise to bring him out to fine tune the map this weekend.

Bee San and Zhi Ying In Town

2009-05-25T16:32:00.004+08:00

Bee San, my best friend came to visit me with her toddler Zhi Ying. They flew in from KL last Thursday. I have not seen them for about 1 year. Adam knew that Aunty Bee San and Zhi Ying mei mei is coming and he was very excited to see them.

We spent the whole Thursday in my apartment. Little Zhi Ying is 19 month-old but she is excellent in her vocab. She can speak very well at her age. Zhi Ying called me Ah Yee, she would shouted loudly if she didn't see me. It was very fun and entertaining to see her making cute and funny faces. I couldn't stop laughing and I really enjoyed the moment with Bee San and Zhi Ying.

On Friday, I brought Adam to Swissotel where they were putting up. We went to the pool and have a great day. It was very funny to see baby Zhi Ying got jealous when Bee San hold Adam's hand. She would turn back and forth to ensure that her mummy didn't hold Adam's hand. Adam was quite disappointed when we had to leave the hotel.

Bee San and I felt that it was a holiday for us, with our kids along with us. We hope to meet again in Sep as we had planned for a trip to Genting.

Adam Playing Piano

2009-05-17T18:02:00.003+08:00

This is one of the pieces that Adam will be performing in his upcoming concert in June. He has been practising it everyday. I am thrilled with his passion for piano. Hope he can sustain through and achieve his fullest potential.

Handling Question on Mortality

2009-05-15T17:55:00.002+08:00

I was having a good time with Adam after his piano practice. We were talking and enjoying each other's company ever since I stopped working. I spend more time with him now and hope to catch up before going back to school in June.

We were talking about how he sneaked into our room last night and squeezed himself in between Andrew and me. So I asked him a casual question on whether he will still do that when he is 18 years old. He said yes and he would do that even after he got married. I teased him that by that time, his children will do the same thing to him. Suddenly he burst into tears and looked at me helplessly. He told me that he would not want me to get old and die. He commented that he won’t be able to see me again if I die.

This is not the first time he wept whenever he thought of me getting older and dies. He is mature enough to understand mortality and he also started asking about god. I told him that we will meet in heaven one day. It takes a while to pacify his sobbing. It was heartbreaking as I tried to answer him. I can’t tell him that heaven is a beautiful place as I do not want to send the wrong signal of committing suicide.

Moving forward, I will have to face even more challenging questions. And I am still preparing for it. Now I understand how little we knew until a child start asking question.

Adamism

2009-02-20T14:24:00.001+08:00

Last week, while I was preparing dinner, Adam went to the kitchen and saw a plate with 2 fried eggs.

He asked: “Are they for you and me?”
“No, they are for you and daddy.” I answered.
“Why are you not eating egg now?” he asked curiously.
“Well, egg is high in cholesterol, since mummy has high cholesterol, I should not take eggs.” I was busy chopping the vegetables as I answered him.
“Then why are you eating crabs and prawn? They are also high in cholesterols.” He rose up his voice, trying to argue with me.

I stopped my work, trying very hard to recall back if I ever told him about high cholesterols in crabs and prawns. Those are my favorites and I will eat them once in a while. I just couldn’t resist it.

“How did you know crabs and prawns are high in cholesterols?” I really couldn’t figure out and I asked him frankly.
“You told me all these in Koufu, you know you should not avoid eggs, just like you don’t avoid crabs and prawns,” he tried to reason his argument.
“OK, I will eat a bit of your eggs, can?” Well, I have no choice.
“Sure, I will give you some of my egg.” He finally stopped arguing and walked out of the kitchen.

This is what I called “Adamism”.

Tooth Fairy Found Adam or Adam Found Tooth Fairy?

2009-02-13T11:18:00.006+08:00

Well, the tittle said it all.

Adam was having a loose tooth before CNY but we didn't have time to bring him to the dental. The lower front tooth became very shaky when we were back in Segamat for CNY celebration. We couldn't find a dental which was opening during the CNY. So we thought that we could still wait to extract it when we were back in Singapore.

On the second day when we were back in Singapore, Adam accidentally hit his tooth on his knee. So, that's how he lost his first milk tooth. We decided to keep it as souvenir. We thought that it was done and we do not need to bring him to the dental.

A few days later, Andrew saw a white growing tooth on the gum where he lost his teeth. We are not sure whether it is a new tooth or the remaining root of the milk tooth. We were a bit anxious and we decided to check the milk tooth. Oh no, the milk tooth looked a bit weird as it does not have a root. We were even more convinced that it is the root of the milk tooth. I was quite worried that he might need to go through a surgery to remove the remaining root.

I decided to bring him for a dental checkup. When I explained to the dentist and she assured me that it is the new tooth as the milk tooth does not have root. I was dumbfounded for a while as I could not believe that, well, milk tooth does not have root. I should have google it before going for the dental checkup. Anyway, thanks god that he doesn't need to go through an operation.

On our way home from the dental clinics, Adam posted me a question on how did the dentist knows that milk tooth does not have root. So, as usual, I did my routine to internalize him on the importance of studying whenever I have a chance. I told him that she studied hard and she went to dentistry. She obtained a lot of knowledge and that's why she knows all these information. Adam kept silence for a while and I continue to ask him if he wants to be knowledgeable person. He nodded his head and hopefully one day, he will be a wise man too.

Very soon, tooth fairy will visit Adam again. And I intend to keep all his milk teeth. :)

Adam Turns 6

2009-01-14T10:29:00.000+08:00

To my angel Adam,

Today is your birthday, and time flies, you are 6 years old today.

I can still vividly remember the day you were born, you were such a chubby boy and everyone in the operating theater was overwhelmed by your cuteness. I could not wait to see you for the first time as I have been waiting for this day. The day I become a mother to a little boy and I shall spend the rest of my life to protect you.

Now I couldn’t imagine life without you. You are the star that shines my life. You bring so much joy and happiness to our lives. In you, I re-discovered myself that how much I love parenting. Mothering you makes me wiser and stronger. You mean a lot to us. No words can describe how much you mean to me.

I must admit that I am paranoid and worried about everything. I wanted to make sure you were OK and I started counting your fingers and toes on the second day of your birth. Sometimes, I shouted at you when you were driving me up to the wall. I lost tempered when you can’t get my instruction properly. After all, I regretted it when I saw your tears coming down your cheek and your trembling voice. I promised that I will try to keep calm.

You started a few enrichment classes last year and we feel blessed that you are coping well. You have shown significant progress in recognizing the Chinese characters. This is the language we want you to master to understand the root. You can confidently read both English and Chinese books. You have blossomed into a smart, sociable and confident young boy.

You are curious about everything. Your question about where did the first man come from makes me wondered what is in your little mind. You always gained a lot of compliments from the teachers. I am so proud of you.

You have a big dream. You want to be a police and I know you mean you want to save the world. You have your own personality, spirit and determination. You are such a wondering and charming little person with big heart. You always care about the animals and young ones.

Happy 6th birthday Adam. Mummy loves you forever.

I Slapped My Own Face

2009-01-06T11:23:00.001+08:00

It was a very funny conversation between Adam and me yesterday night. I was trying to get Adam to eat grapes as he had constipation. He didn’t like fruits except apple. I can’t stop laughing whenever I think of it. Below is the conversation.

Me: “Adam, do you want to have some grapes?”
Adam: “What if I said yes?”
Me: “Then come over and eat the grapes.”
Adam: “What if I said no?”
Me: “You still need to come and eat the grapes.”
Adam: “Then why did you ask me?”

Haha, I was slapping my own face.

About Adam's Progress

2008-12-16T16:38:00.003+08:00

Adam did quite well in his year end exam. He scored 100% for his Maths and Chinese and 98% for his English. The 2 marks were deducted because of his mistake in his exam and this is always his weakness. He could not catch his mistake even I asked him to re-check his work again. Anyway, I am quite happy with his results. The teacher commented that he is beyond his age. What worries me is she mentioned that he found it very simple and hence he feels boring in the class. As they are some children who are from the Chinese speaking family, it is hard for them to catch up and the teacher needs to spend more time to close the gap.

It also puzzles me that Adam was never like challenges. He will not try out new things unless I encourage him. So, the feeling about simple and boring never exist at home. Maybe he behaves differently at home as compared to the school.

He has been promoted to grade 1 for his piano. He practices everyday and this explains why he is doing better than some kids who joined earlier than him. I am happy that he likes playing piano. I am also preparing some flash cards with notes to ensure he is able to recognize the notes. I am a firm believer of flash card.

As for his abacus, he is doing mental calculation and he can calculate up to 3 digits + 3 digits. He can cite the multiplication table as well. Overall, he is progressing well.

Swimming is his weakest point. He is still in the same level. Hmm, we will need to bring him to the swimming pool more often to reduce his hydrophobia.

Puppy Love

2008-12-10T16:37:00.010+08:00

Recently, Adam told me that he has a girl friend. Her name is Berlin (I hope the spelling is correct) and she is from his child care centre. She is a very cute and pretty girl. No wonder Adam likes her so much.

I asked Adam how they started and here is the conversation between him and Berlin.

Adam: "I like you."

Berlin: "So you mean you want to be my boy friend?"

Adam: "Yes, I like you because you are very pretty."

OMG. I didn't know that it is so simple. No dating, no sweet talk, this is basically just a conversation and that's it.

Adam has been toying with the idea of marrying Berlin. Berlin has even drew 2 pictures of them getting married.

You can see that both of them are holding flowers and there are a lot of flowers in their wedding.

This picture showed that they both holding hands during their wedding.

Isn't it sweet?

Adam has telepathy?

2008-10-23T07:25:00.002+08:00

Sounds scary, but sometime he surprised me by telling me what is in my mind. I am not sure if this is just a series of coincident.

Incident 1
We usually start our piano practice with the new song, then follow by the old song. One day, I decided to play an old song called "Mickey Waltz" first. I didn't tell Adam and after I opened the lid and Adam told me that he wanted to play "Mickey Waltz" first. I was shocked but I didn't think about it until the 2nd incident.

Incident 2
I have taught Adam on Chinese Tang Poems (唐诗) few months ago. He remembered quite a few of them such as 春晓, 静夜思, 江雪, 相思, 登鹳雀楼, 寻隐者不遇. 2 weeks ago, we were on our way to Abacus class and I wanted to test Adam to see if he still remember them. Suddenly, Adam just poked out and said: "千山鸟飞绝, 万径人踪灭, 孤舟蓑笠翁, 独钓寒江雪". Oh my goodness gracious, this is exactly the poem I wanted to test him.

Isn't it scary?

Family Day at Bottle Tree Park

2008-08-28T13:43:00.006+08:00

Last Saturday, we went to Bottle Tree Park to attend the Family Day held by Andrew's company. It was a raining day and we thought that we might end up staying in the shelter and could not proceed with the activities. Surprisingly, the rain stopped in time when we arrived the destination.

Adam has been waiting for this day and very eager to go to Bottle Tree Park. He was thrilled when he knew that the children were able to net the fish in the small pool. He wanted to have lots of fishes and bring home to rear them.

Andrew was taking part in the telematch so Adam and I were heading to the pool. It was not a real "pool" as it was just a small pool made of plastic and it was blown to a size of a single bed. Then the so called longkang fishes were swimming in the pool and the children were waiting for the net and the tank to be distributed. They were so many children around and when the official started distributing the tank, they were rushing and the stack of tanks tumbled. The children were picking up the tanks on the floor and then headed back to the official to ask for the net. I guess you can imagine the situation. It was an absolute mayhem. I was holding Adam to make sure that no one pushed him and quickly grabbed a tank and a net before heading to the pool.

At the pool, the children were pushing each other to try to net the fish. I even saw some adults netting the fish. I was not sure if the fishes are meant for them or their kids. To me, this activity is meant for children and let the children do it. I asked Adam to grab a few fishes before we headed back to the shelter.

Andrew's team won the game though he got some bruises and scratches. We had our lunch there and Adam had his Happy Meal. The whole experience was fun. But before we went home, the fishes were already dead. Adam was very upset and keep asking us why the fishes died. I felt sad too as I thought we might be able to keep the fishes alive for a few days.

At night, when we went to bed, Adam was crying and he said he missed his fishes. Andrew promised him that we will buy more fishes next time. The fishes will become parents with a lot of small fishes.

And now, Adam puts his small comb in the tank as if it will grow as big as mine, though he knows that it is impossible. He rolls his eyes and gives me the cheeky smile everytime I look at the tank.

Abacus

2008-08-18T14:26:00.004+08:00

Adam has been in abacus class for 6 months. Now, he is learning the multiplication with abacus and he has yet to do any mental arithmetic. I sent him for abacus as I didn't know how to teach him Mathematics especially for the subtraction. I had a hard time helping him to figure out subtraction with numbers more than 10 when he can't use his finger to count anymore.

Last Saturday, I asked him a few questions to see how well he was doing after 6 months of abacus class. It was never my intention to test him and I didn't test him all these while. To my surprise, he managed to answer all the questions correctly. So, I asked him how did he know the answer. He told me that there is a virtual abacus in his mind. I was amazed, really amazed by his ability.

I am so proud of him.

All Geared Up for Swimming

2008-08-18T14:05:00.003+08:00

I have sent Adam for swimming lesson for almost 2 months and it was a nightmare. He cried almost every lesson. He is hydrophobia and I really don't know what to do when he refused to go for swimming lesson. He asked questions like why should he go swimming and can he skip swimming class. The funniest thing is he even told the coach that he feared the water and argued with him that he should not go into the pool. :(

I truly understand how he feels as I am also a hydrophobia. I learned swimming and I gave up. If only he is a girl, I won't force him. I will let him give up just like I did. But knowing the fact that he will join the national service one day and there is a requirement to know swimming. I couldn't think more but to encourage him to continue swimming.

Well, until yesterday, there is a turning point. He managed to breath in the pool for the first time. This is a WOW for us. I hope that he can continue with this pace and until he can swim independantly. That is my goal when I send him for swimming lesson.

加油! Adam.

Preparing for Primary 1

2008-05-13T14:46:00.003+08:00

It has been a while since I last updated this blog. A lot of things happened and I am taking the approach to shorten my entries.

I have sent Adam for abacus and piano class since beginning of this year. He is adapting to it and doing well. In fact, the piano teacher said he is very good in recognizing the notes. I was quite thrilled when I heard that. Though it was the results of him practising everyday. What motivates him is the star stickers he got when he played well during the piano lessons. As for abacus, he is also doing well and I didn't regret signing up for him.

I have started giving Adam flash cards with Chinese character. I have been giving him flash card with English words ever since he was 2 years old as I thought it is not his first language. But I changed my mind after hearing the horrify stories from my colleagues on how stressful they were when their kids started Primary 1. So, hopefully, he can pick up more Chinese words before Primary 1. Hmm, he still has 1.5 years to catch up with his Chinese.

So, I (aka kiasu parents) have been busy preparing him for Primary 1 lessons every night. Gone were the days where I can sit in front of the TV for hours.

I am sure I won't be stopping here :)

What Adam Think of JI Terrorist

2008-03-18T10:50:00.003+08:00

Well, it has been a while I didn't update this blog. Busy? Not really...lazy, yes.

So, as Singapore is fenced up to nap the JI terrorist Mas Selamat, his photograph is everywhere. You can even spot it in the toilet. I wonder what Adam think of Mas Selamat as I have never reveal any information about this JI terrorist.

I decided to ask Adam.

"Adam, do you know who is Mas Selamat?"

"Yes, he is a bad guy." To my surprise, he did know who is Mas Selamat. OK, for my curioucity, I wonder if he knew more than this. So I continued to ask more questions.

"Do you know where is he now?"

"No, but the police is looking for him." OMG, he knew it.

"How did you come across all this information?" I asked again.

"From the TV." Now I know. See how influencial TV is. Even kids are aware of the JI terrorist.

"Do you know who is Lee Kuan Yew?" Har, just want to know if Mas Selamat is more popular than LKY.

"I don't know."

Well, this is kinda expected.

Kai Xiang's Garfield VCD

2007-07-27T00:12:00.000+08:00

During bedtime, Adam was not asleep yet... Then...

Adam: Daddy, the cat hoh, and the dog hoh, and got people walk walk hoh, then the dog ... eh eh (he acts like biting something).. very funny leh.

Daddy: The dog bite huh? Is it Tom and Jerry ?(I thought so, coz' in the morning I saw the children were seating in front of the TV set)

Adam: No.. not that.. it is CD player... Kai Xiang CD

Daddy: Is it cartoon?

Adam: Hmm...

Daddy: ok,...

Then silence from Adam, and I thought he was asleep. After a while, he suddenly talk to me again

Adam: Daddy, I watch Kai Xiang Garfield... zzz

This boy, really think hard to remember his happy moment in the school and make that effort to share with his Daddy. Thank you Adam!

Who Do You Love The Most?

2007-06-08T16:45:00.000+08:00

Just like any other mums, I would ask Adam if he loves me. His reply is always yes. So yesterday, we were chit-chatting in the bed before we went to sleep, I asked him whether he loves me more than his father. Not for anything, I just want to see how he reacts to this question. So, he replied and said yes. Then I asked him why. Guess what, he said because I asked him. If it was daddy who ask him this question, he will change the answer. He doesn't want to upset anyone.

OMG, what a politically correct kid.

When Andrew is out of town...

2007-05-29T16:26:00.000+08:00

I have been pretty busy for the past few days as Andrew is out of town. I feel quite distress when I learnt that he will be travelling for a week. Well, it means that I have to take care of Adam myself.

I have taking for granted to have Andrew to send Adam to school every morning. As I have to catch the company transport early in the morning, I leave it to Andrew to manage our little one. While I am not willing to drive to work, I have to wake up earlier to prepare Adam to go to school this week.

I thought it will be hard for him to wake up in the morning, so I tried to brain-wash him before we go to bed. Not the scary story, but mostly let him feel the impact if he couldn't wake up and if I missed the transport. He feels bad if I get into the office late and worst case, I would be scolded by my boss.

Surprisingly, he woke up instantly when I called him at 6:45AM. That is pretty amazing for a 4 year old boy. I couldn't have ask for more. He is such a obedient boy. Though I still feel tired as I have to do the household chores, I feel lucky that he did not give me any problem.

Thank god for giving me such a wonderful child.

No More Diapers

2007-05-24T16:35:00.000+08:00

What? Adam is still using diaper since he is already 4 years old?? Well, yes and no, he only uses it at night.

So this is another milestone for him. No more diaper even at night. It only started 2 days ago and I hope he will continue with that. So far so good... (Crossing my finger).

I tried not to give him water 2 hours before he goes to sleep, unless he asked for it. And of course I will let him empty up his bladder before he goes to bed. This has become a routine for him, and us too.

Ok, if he continues to behave the same way for next 2 weeks, I will need to think of how to dispose the unused diapers. Not many, but they are still significant to take up space in my room.

I couldn’t be happier to do it.

The Price of Non Citizen

2007-05-21T15:09:00.000+08:00

Recently, Singapore government has announced that the centre-based child care subsidy will be withdrawn from children who are Singapore Permanent Residents in two steps within the next two years. This translates to me that I have to pay $75 more every month starting from next year and $150 more in 2009 as Adam is a PR.

The move is to differentiate better between the citizen and the non citizen. And also to dangle the carrots in front of the non citizen to encourage more people to take up the citizenship. Singapore is facing the low birth rate and government is trying their best to encourage people to have more babies. Without much success, they are turning into attracting foreigner to take up citizenship.

It pinches my pocket and brings back the thought of converting to Singapore citizen, though this is not the first time such a thought was back to the negotiation table. I started talking to my hubby Andrew to see what he thinks about it.

Again, he gave me the kind of look which he doubts $75 or $150 will make us richer, and I doubt so as well. Still, it is a lot of money and I would rather to spend on Adam's enrichment classes.

The reason behind is mainly driven by the sense of belonging. Day by day, I feel like I belong to this small little red dot and I want to call it home. Singapore gives me a lot of opportunities in which I have enjoyed for the past 7 years. So, it is time for me to re-think of whether I will continue to stay here and even retire in this piece of land.

As I see nothing wrong of doing so and I will enjoy more benefits, I started surfing the internet to get more information to convert to Singapore citizen. I logged on to the ICA website and to my surprise, there is a self assessment check for the citizen eligibility.

I decided to take up the assessment, partly to understand if I were the foreign talent that the government is looking for. As I browsed through the questionnaires, it is all about the age, qualification, marital status, number of children and of course, the basic pay. My result is green and it shows that I have higher chance to be successful to convert to citizen.

I started playing with this tool with different basic pay. The moment I put myself as a housewife, my result showed red. Hmm, housewife is not what the government wants as we have tonnes of housewife in Singapore.

This is the dollars and cents of the citizenship.

A Trip to Jurong Bird Park

2007-05-18T15:04:00.000+08:00

Adam is excited to go to Jurong Bird Park, a trip organized by his child care centre.

This is his second trip to Jurong Bird Park but I am still wondering if he could provide me a little bit more information after the trip. I am hoping that he will describe the scenery, the birds, the pupils and of course the journey with excitement. We brought him there 2 years back and it was an unpleasant trip. He vomited during the trip to Jurong Bird Park, but yet he managed to stay up to 2 hours before we left.

My hubby woke up early in the morning to prepare French toast, one of his favourite food. He has to be in the school before 8am. The bus will leave at 8:30am and it takes about 20 minutes to reach the park from his school. They will stay in the park until 2pm and reach the school at 2:30pm.

As usual, I pick him up after work which is around 6:30pm. While walking back home, I throw a bunch of questions and try to see how he responses to them. Well, he is slightly better this time and this is the conversation.

me: "What did you see in the bird park?"

Adam: "Parrot and peacock."

me: "What else?"

Adam: "Er, bird, in the cage."

me: "Ok, who is your partner?"

Adam: "Janice and Chuang Xu."

me: "Huh? You have 2 partners?"

Adam: "No, one is on the way to bird park and the other one is on the way back to school."

me: "Ok, I see."

It seems like he remembered the details of the trip better.

This is how it starts

2007-05-18T11:32:00.000+08:00

I am kind of petite in size and I don't look like my age, a lot of those who first know me didn't know that I have a son. Yes, I have a son, he is 4 years old now. "Wow, you didn't look like you are a mother". This is usually the response that I got. Fine, I threat this as a compliment, hohoho.

I started to recap what I have done through the last 4 years and I realized that I have short memory. I couldn't remember exactly what happened at certain time. Hmm, if you ask me when did he start calling me mom, I will be scratching my hair trying to recall this incident. This is how bad I am.

I told my husband that I should start to blog about my son Adam, he said go ahead. Hmm, creating a blog is simple but I don't want to get the fame to draw attention. Well, I am still deciding if I want to put the picture of him. But without picture, it is kinda bored with just words.

Another good reason (well, I always like to justify my intention) is to share this blog with family and friends to keep them updated on the progress of my little angel. Hohoho, I hope Adam will feel proud when he grows up as he has a mom who blogged for him...

Okay, this is how it gets started.