Friday, September 29, 2006
Dad, You're an IdiotYou know, I have been reading quite a lot of articles and blog entries about cultivating discipline in our children (mostly "traditional ways"). If you had met Little Skywalker, I am sure that you would agree with me that his parents are very lacking in that area. He is somewhat a spoiled brat as many of you might call it, but I think that's the way we want him to be.
We are watching 8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter recently, and I would like to share something from that show that really drove home for what we have in mind for parenting our little monkey boy...
Okay readers, today we're having a little pop quiz, it's multiple choice, so sharpen your number 2 pencils and put your thinking caps on. Ready?
Here's a quote: "Dad, you're an idiot." Now, contestants, this was said to me because of which of the following transgressions?
A: Coming to the breakfast table wearing pajamas and black socks?
B: Asking my oldest daughter if that guy I saw her talking to yesterday at school was her boyfriend?
C: Referring to rapper Fiddy Cent as "Fifty Cents"? or
D: Entering the room?
Okay, pencils down. Actually it was a trick question. The answer is all of the above.
Now do you know how many times I called my father an idiot? Zero. Why? Because I feared him. Back then, we didn't share our deep personal feelings, our deepest conversations usually revolved around the tigers bull pen. But my kids, I can't get them to shut up! There's not a feeling that my kids are afraid to express over and over and over. And my wife reassures me that this is a good thing over and over and over, and she's always right.
So do I wish that my kids feared me? Well my house would be quieter, and I'd spend a lot less time in the bathroom, but no. Because I know that whenever they insult me whether it's a "You're an idiot," "You're a geek," or an "I hate you," an "I love you" isn't far behind. And it's the knowledge that my wife and kids love me that makes it safe for me to wear pajamas and black socks to the breakfast table.
I am always of the opinion that as mature parents, we should be the one who should forgive and forget when our children make mistakes in their life. As long as they do not cross the line between naughty and bad, we should be the one who learn to put up with their behavior, and not expecting vice versa. Shouting at them or hitting them frequently to "show that we love them" doesn't mean a thing unless they are already parents themselves.I know children can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but I'm sure we do not want our children to grow up under our shadows. We want them to be what they want to be, not what we want them to turn out. Otherwise, we should just go clone ourselves instead of giving birth to children. We are no saints, and we do crack from time to time. However, it's always good to have the big picture in mind to restrain ourselves from over-parenting.
Just something to inspire parents out there...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/29/2006 08:16:00 AM :: and invited 16 Blah(s):
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Shannon,
Shannon,
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Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Auntie GreenAppleWhile J was showering, I had a little chat with Little Skywalker who was looking at his new book.
E: 这个 book 是谁给你的? (Who gave you this book?)L: Auntie GreenApple 给的... (Given by Auntie GreenApple one)
E: 怎样来的? (How does it arrived here?)
L: 坐 aeroplane 来的! (On an aeroplane!)
E: 酱你喜欢这个 book 吗? (So, do you like this book?)
L: 喜欢! (Like!)
E: 酱你见到 Auntie GreenApple 要跟她讲什么? (Then, what should you say to Auntie GreenApple when you see her?)
L: Oh my goodness!!
E: *哈哈大笑* 要讲 thank you 啦! (LOL! Say thank you lah!)
L: Thank you!
So, here is Little Skywalker's little way of saying a BIG THANK YOU to his Auntie GreenApple in Richmond...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/27/2006 08:10:00 AM :: and invited 18 Blah(s):
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Jess,
Grace,
ZMM,
Shannon,
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Greenapple,
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Allyfeel,
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MayY . C 五月媽媽,
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Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Luke Potter - The Sorcerer of The Paper BagEver since I missed the change to capture Little Skywalker's magic trick on camera, I have been waiting for him to perform another time. It took me quite a long wait before I finally got my wish last Friday night...
Step 1: Get to know your best friend - "the magic wand"
Step 3: Take items out of the "box" while pretending they appeared out of thin-air, then wait for a thunderous applause and standing ovation from your audience.
I also managed to capture a short video clip of his "show" but the lighting is not that well in our bedroom.
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/26/2006 08:32:00 AM :: and invited 10 Blah(s):
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Shannon,
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Monday, September 25, 2006
Surprise Gift!We arrived home last Thursday evening to find a surprise package at our door-steps because we were not expecting any. When I saw the return address, I suddenly remembered that someone had asked for our home address in order to send our son a gift for his birthday a few months back!
Since Little Skywalker did not spend the night with us (as he was sleeping due to his fever in my parents and we did not want to disturb him), we waited for him to open the package. He did so the very next evening. He did not pay much attention to the little card on the present. However, he did removed it slowly and carefully without tearing it apart.
As you can see, he is the type that tears the gift wrappers into bits...
Tadaaaa......!
That's his biggest and most colourful book to date!
A million thanks to Greenapple! (and kisses from Little Skywalker)
p/s: Sorry again for not replying all your kind comments for the past few weeks as I am really very busy with the some freelance projects that just came in. Please don't stop doing it as I read and appreciate all of them through email notifications everyday :)
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/25/2006 08:55:00 AM :: and invited 10 Blah(s):
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Thursday, September 21, 2006
Mild FeverHe was coughing a bit after J feed him some cakes for supper last night. Apart from that, he was still his usual active self, he even enjoyed his DVD for more than half an hour (I mean singing and dancing) before we turned in for the night.
By 3am, I overheard J talking to Little Skywalker. Obviously he was awake for his "midnight cravings". Then, J told me to keep an eye on him while she go get the syrup Panadol as Little Skywalker was heating up. I felt his forehead and his body to confirm. It seems that he is having a mild fever. Funny thing is, he is still very cheerful like he just woke up in the morning. We even had a good long chat while J prepared the medicine and brought the thermometer.
After taking his medicine (he refers it as vitamin and he loves it), he talked for a few minutes before the medication kicks in and he went back to sleep again. When we woke up this morning, he was already sweating a lot and J needed a cloth to wipe off all his sweat. He was still sleeping when we passed him over to my parents just now.
Hopefully he is fully recovered by this evening...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/21/2006 08:15:00 AM :: and invited 15 Blah(s):
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Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Alakazam!Last night...
J: "Eh! Will you still be long?"
E: "Err... why?"
J: "Your son wanna show you some magic!"
E: "A while more... will be up soon..."
That was J yelling from upstairs while I was "busy" playing with the new Lego Starwars game on my PS2. She took him up first to bath him as he was really getting into the middle of my game-play. Subsequently, I finished up the next level and turned in for the night.
When I entered the room, Little Skywalker was already sitting there with his books. I asked him if he has any magic to show me while J gave him a paper bag (which we use to bring back his pyjamas from my parents). And there was when the show began...
He asked for his pen at first, I didn't know its purpose by I gave it to him anyway. According to him, it was his "magic wand"! He sticked the pen into the side of his pants like the police do with their guns. Then, he took it out and started waving his "wand" over the paper bag a few times, and followed by a cute little "Alakazam!". Then, he proceeded to take out some of his clothes out of the paper bag piece by piece (like the magicians normally do). It looked as if he expected an all-round applause for his "magic", hence I clapped and applauded frantically!
After that, he went on with his second "illusion". I saw him trying as hard as he could (could see his facial expression) to stuff a piece of shirt into his tiny little fist. After that, he blew some air on to his fist and let go of the piece of clothing to the floor followed by "不见了! 没有了的!" (disappear already! no more liao!). Like before, I clapped and applauded frantically! To help him improve his act further, I even gave him a small piece of tissue paper to replace the piece of cloth that was obviously too big for his tiny fist.
According to J, Little Skywalker refused to wear his pyjamas and cried earlier before I went up. After his crying, he suddenly sat up quietly and played with his hands. J thought that someone taught him sign languages back at my parents (See how imaginative is my wife?). Then, he got up and said "Magic! Wei Wei Magic!" and "我没有 magic box 的?" (How come I don't have a magic box one?). J started to look for a box but couldn't find one. So, she gave her the paper bag instead. After that, he asked for some cloth (he even said pink ones to be specific!). J gave him a few pieces of his clothes instead. Finally, he said "没有 pen 的?" (No pen one?) and J handed him his "magic wand". It was then he started his first magic show for J.
Again, why didn't I have my camera with me when I needed it most! WHY?!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/19/2006 08:50:00 AM :: and invited 14 Blah(s):
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mom2ashley,
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Buaya69,
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Shannon,
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Monday, September 18, 2006
Rocking ChairWe got him this plastic rocking chair for 15 bucks from the newly opened Carrefour yesterday...
Unfortunately, Little Skywalker is still too chickened to "rock" on it. So far, he is still reluctant to sit on it unless we set the stoppers in such a way that the chair won't rock.
Or perhaps he knows that he is way too young for something that was obviously meant for his old man instead...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/18/2006 08:30:00 AM :: and invited 12 Blah(s):
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Friday, September 15, 2006
Wearing His Square HatA few weeks ago, we brought Little Skywalker to MMU Cyberjaya for my sister's graduation. It's been like 4-5 years since my last visit, which was J and my graduation. Since only two guests per candidate were allowed into the main graduation hall, only my parents went in. The rest of us just loiter around the university compound (with a bouquet of flowers in hand).
Little Skywalker was being his active self and running about everywhere.
For some reason, there was a clown there to entertain us.
Apart from walking outside, the university also equipped their five main lecture halls with live broadcast of the ceremony. That's where we spent most of our time resting under the cooling air-condition, which I must say was a great improvement from our time. You could see Little Skywalker busy talking to his graduating aunty.
When the ceremony was finally over (after overshooting more than an hour), we had to spent an hour looking for my sister as the phone network was totally down in that area due to overloading. Finally, we found her (and my parents) and took a while for some photographs.
As you can see, we have another new graduate in our family... and I don't mean my sister!
p/s: I discovered that Jesslyn was at Cyberjaya as well (but the day before) for her hubby's MBA graduation.
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/15/2006 08:28:00 AM :: and invited 8 Blah(s):
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Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Story-listenerLittle Skywalker is not a fan of reading. I guess it's because reading requires him to sit still and that is a total contrast to his hyperactive character (and also the fact that he is two!). Evidently, he only has less than five books to date. Fortunately, he still likes to listen to us reading him from story books. He would interject the storyline when he heard some interesting characters like monster, bad queen, naughty wolf etc. Like kids his age, he also loves to impersonate the characters in the book.
Here are some of his antics while J was reading to him about Snow White...
p/s: His favourite characters are the "tree monsters" in forest!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/13/2006 08:25:00 AM :: and invited 13 Blah(s):
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Monday, September 11, 2006
Foggy Pictures
After coming back from Genting, I started to take pictures again during our trip to Kidsport yesterday. I noticed that all the photos I took has a foggy-look, like the ones I took at Genting (where the environment is actually foggy!). I thought someone has messed with my exposure settings, but I could not find anything wrong. I concluded that the LCD on the camera was at fault.However, when I open the photos on my computer today, they still looked foggy and blur on the computer screen! Upon closer inspection on my camera, I saw a huge finger print on the lens itself! Well, that solves the mystery of the foggy pictures for the past two days...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/11/2006 09:00:00 AM :: and invited 13 Blah(s):
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Friday, September 08, 2006
Uphill Photos - Patriotic SonsOn the second day of our trip (which was Merdeka eve), I think we must have got around 7-8 flags shoved to us by Genting staff all over the place! The theme parks were open up till mid-night in conjunction with the celebrations. There was also a parade consisting of police, a band, some performers as well as a bunch of clowns (and I mean real clowns!). The 15 minutes fireworks that started midnight was so bright and beautiful that our neighbours back home told us that they could see it!
Back home, I realized that our neighbourhood is filled with patriotic sons!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/08/2006 08:30:00 AM :: and invited 6 Blah(s):
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Thursday, September 07, 2006
Uphill Photos - Mother and Son MomentsSome photos of the two people whom I treasure most in the world...
For some strange reason, I've always felt a great sense of inner peace and filled with gratitude by watching them sleep...
For some strange reason, I've always felt a great sense of inner peace and filled with gratitude by watching them sleep...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 9/07/2006 07:59:00 AM :: and invited 14 Blah(s):
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ZMM,
Mumsgather,
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Greenapple,
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amanda,
Shannon,
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