June 2007 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

How I Made My 2 Brats Sleep

A few nights ago, Alycia and Sherilyn refused to sleep. Why? Because daddy was downstairs and they wanted to go down to play with him but I didn’t allow it coz it was already 11ish pm and Alycia had cough and needed to sleep early. They whined and whimpered, jumped round the room, knocked on the door and yelled out to daddy and I got really pissed off. My temper was about to flare when I told myself that if I break out, it’s going to worsen the situation as they would end up crying and most likely throw up and gosh, it was close to midnight and my helper was already fast asleep.
So I calmed down and sang “Jesus Loves The Children Of The World”. Within SECONDS, the room was filled with silence, save for my melodious voice singing, aherm… It felt magical. As I laid on my back and sang, my left hand stroke Sher’s head and right hand stroke Alycia’s hand. I was multi-tasking…. singing and stroking 2 resentful toddlers to lull them to sleep. I sang for about 10 minutes but they were still not asleep yet. They were hypnotized by the song and kept asking for more. I sang another song but Sher only wanted THAT song, so I sang and sang for over 30 times until my voice went hoarse and then I pretended to fall asleep and started to ‘snore’.
When Sher heard me ‘snoring’, she jumped up from bed, slapped my face gently to wake me up and said “mummy, what’s that shound?” She then shook my shoulder and again said “mummeeeeee…… what’s that shound?” I ignored her and continued to snore. She then went back to sleep and began imitating my snores and she went “kgorrrr… kgorrrr… kgorrrr…..”. Boy, that was so hilarious, Sher pretending to snore in her cute babyish voice and I was trying hard not to laugh out loud and pursed my lips hard to contain my laughter. Minutes later, both Alycia and Sher finally drifted to slumberland and I wearily but happily sneaked back to my room to sleep.

No. of times viewed = 265

Fridge All Locked Up

My 2 brats love to open the doors of the fridge and freezer to get their frozen teething rings or to rummage for food. In a day, they open and shut (with loud bangs) at least 20 over times. Not wanting them to wreck the fridge again, I fixed these gadgets to the doors :

Now, I have piece of mind!

No. of times viewed = 328

Home-cooked Food

This was our dinner yesterday.

Stir-fried asparagus with tiger prawns and organic soya sauce. Notice the beautiful orange colored sauce? It’s not curry but the natural colouring from the thick creamy roe of the tiger prawns. It tasted really delicious because of the flavourful essence from the big tiger prawns. The asparagus were crunchy and the prawns were succulent and juicy. The thick and creamy prawns’ roe sauce can easily whet one’s appetite.

Fish cooked in preserved soya bean paste (tau cheong), puffed tofu, shredded ginger, a dash of rice wine, spring onions and chinese celery. Sometimes, I alternate the soya bean paste with organic miso paste.

Winter melon soup with barley, fresh sea coconut, red dates and kampung chicken.

No. of times viewed = 207

Lucky Day

Today must be my lucky day. I have just received 3 offers from Blogitive and without any hesitation, I quickly clicked on the reserve tab to reserve all 3 offers. Blogitive has so far been quite prompt in their payment and in responding to all my e-mails, unlike some competitors who don’t even reply my e-mails. Of late, Blogitive has been quite slow in approving the posts that I had written for them. Some I’ve written more than 2 weeks ago but have yet to hear from Blogitive on the status. But I know they are in the midst of reviewing these posts as informed by them to me in a recent e-mail. Keep the offers coming to my URL Blogitive!

No. of times viewed = 216

Tag : SAHM vs FTWM

Have been tagged by Mommy of 2 Angels. The tag is if I were given a choice, would I wanna be a SAHM (stay at home mum) or FTWM (full time working mum).

When I was still working in the corporate world, I was always yearning to quit my job to stay home to be with my 2 angels. Each morning I’d leave the house with an extremely heavy heart as I kissed my 2 angels good-bye. I was constantly thinking about my 2 gals whilst I was at work and I missed them terribly. I finally got my wish granted when my babysitter who was my mil had to go to Hong Kong to attend to some personal matters. I was at a cross-road and finally after months of soul-searching and deliberation, I finally tendered my resignation.

A few months into being a SAHM, I realized that maybe I just wasn’t cut to be a SAHM afterall as I didn’t have the patience and endurance to be a full-time mom. It was a difficult transition for me as I wasn’t used to doing the laborious and back-breaking job of washing poopie bums and potties, bathing two under 3yo screaming toddlers, teaching them, cooking for them, playing with them, stomach their endless nonsense, the list is endless. I was so used to sitting at the office and sometimes getting people do things for me. Now, I had to do things for people who don’t seem to appreciate me.

I’d considered returning to the workforce during times when my 2 brats drive me bonkers but I couldn’t bear the thought of my 2 angels in the care of a babysitter or a maid and not knowing whether they have had proper and nutritious meals, hygienically handled or whether they have been abused, physically and sexually.

When my 2 angels fall sick, I can give them the best attention and tender loving care round the clock so that they recover faster. If I were still working, I wouldn’t be able to take emergency leave so frequently and the sleepless nights tending to them would render my brain foggy, thus would affect my work.

Despite all the meltdowns, power struggles and batttles I’ve had with my 2 angels, I have absolutely no regrets being a full-time mom to them coz they are only young once, they will only be toddlers, adolescents and teenaagers once and I want to be with them every moment of their lives, to share with them their joys, fears, anxieties, victories and all their growing pains.

Now, I’m into my 2nd year of being a SAHM. I’ve finally accustomed myself to the throes of being a full time mom and despite all the challenges and struggles I have to go through, I gladly choose being a SAHM over a FTWM.

Now, I would love to see the following mommies’ choice :

Leena (Baby Shern)
Barbara (Mummy to Chumsy Ashley)
Hui Sia

~~~Instructions~~~
Here’s how it works:
1. So easy peasy, if you were given a choice, would you be a SAHM or FTWM? Just provide 3 darn good reasons.
2. Include your post link to the list below and Finally,
3. Tag another three mommies
List:
1. Immomsdaughter prefers to be a SAHM
2. Etcetera~Mommy prefers to be a FTWM
3. MummyInVain prefers to be a SAHM
4. Lovely Mummy prefers to be a SAHM
5. Mommy of 2 angles prefers to be a FTWM
6. Health Freak Mommy prefers to be a SAHM

No. of times viewed = 833

What’s That Nice Smell?

A few days ago, I baked a loaf of bread for the gals. After I had returned from my morning jog, I quickly prepared the ingredients and dumped everything into my breadmaker so that the gals and I can have fresh hot bread for lunch.

When the bread was almost ready, the sweet aroma of bread wafted up from the storeroom next to the kitchen. It’s as if one has walked into a bakery. Alycia asked me what the nice smell was towards lunch time and I brought her to the storeroom where the breadmaker was. She was delighted to see a fresh loaf of bread in the breadmaker.

The gals and I almost wolfed down the whole loaf of bread for lunch.

No. of times viewed = 192

What Dishes Am I Going To Whip Up?

We went shopping at Mid Valley the whole afternoon yesterday. As usual, as I went on my bi-weekly retail theraphy to de-stress myself, DH secretly bought the gals yet another toy but this time, I have to give DH credit coz the toy is both educational and fun to play with. Want to see the new toy? Wait…. let me snap some pix of it and post them later.

Anyway, I wanted to show you what I’ve bought from the supermarket at Jaya Jusco.

Fresh oyster mushrooms and Enoki mushrooms.

Fresh ginko and fresh lotus seeds (lin chee).

Fresh bamboo shoots.

So, want to see what dishes I am going to whip up with these fresh and healthy stuff? I haven’t got a clue yet. Any good suggestions? I bought the mushrooms coz they are known to be wholesome, full of vitamins and minerals and anti-cancerous. Gingko seeds are supposed to be good for memory and blood circulation and the lotus seeds and fresh bamboo shoots… ah can’t remember what they are good for but they are wholesome too.

Do come back to see what this quack and wannabe cook has whipped up, k?

No. of times viewed = 230

Little Ah Sow

Alycia has caught the ‘toy-obsession bug’ from her lil’ sis. All of a sudden, Alycia has developed an obsession with this Disney plastic bag that my mil brought back from Hong Kong weeks ago. Inside the plastic bag are her toy food, some Pooh Bear cards and some Lego blocks. Each night, she would bring with her this plastic bag filled with toys noisily clattering as she goes upstairs to her room and in the morning, she would carry the shabby plastic bag down, just like a little ‘ah sow’ (meaning middle-aged frumpy woman in cantonese) going to the market. Don’t you think she looks ridiculous?

No. of times viewed = 447

How to get angry leh?

Alycia and Sherilyn have completely different personalites. Whilst Alycia has always been a high need child, very sensitive and more reserved when she’s with strangers, Sherilyn has a very ‘colourful’ personality. She is very chatty, fears no strangers and would greet anyone she meets on the street (which can be dangerous), very cheerful and slap-happy, just like her daddy.

Whenever I scold Sherilyn, she would either sing a song out loudly and lets out a loud pretentious laugh to overshadow my voice or she would run to me and say “mummy, kiss you”, then gives me a wet kiss on my forehead and lately when I reprimand her and give her the fiercest stare ever, she would look back at me, straight into my fiery eyes, puts on the most pathethic look ever and then she would start blinking her eyes. First blink…. no response from mummy, then she tries blinking her eyes harder the second time and I try hard to suppress laughing and often, at her third hard attempt of blinking, I succumb to her hoodwink and would burst out laughing out loud. And when she sees me laughing, she jumps and laughs in victory, as if to tell me “i won again!”. You tell me how to get angry with her leh? From fire raging in my head, her cute tomfoolery douses the flame instantly like rain water pouring on a raging bushfire. I wonder where she learnt all these from.

No. of times viewed = 200

Rubbing Vicks On Soles Of Feet – Part 3

Yesterday was the 5th straight day I applied Vicks on the soles of Alycia’s feet and again, she slept soundly and peacefully through the night. Well, I am QUITE convinced now that Vicks did help to prevent the cough. Today, Alycia is feeling much better, her cough has lessened and the phelgm has also reduced. I must also give credit to Manuka Honey. Other factors which contributed to her speedy recovery include :

1) Sleeping in an air-condLESS room
2) Eating plain rice porridge with dishes that are mostly steamed
3) Avoiding heaty food like crackers, pan-fried food, sweet stuff and cold food.
4) Drinking lots of water and barley water
5) Getting enough sleep
6) Lots of praying

However, what works on a child may not work on another child as every child is different.

No. of times viewed = 443

Tracing On Doodle

Alycia loves drawing and tracing on her Fisher Price doodle. Each morning as Alycia and Sherilyn eat their breakfast, they have a habit of either scribbling on their doodle or have me or my maid read to them or play jigsaw puzzle on the floor or dining table. Learning to scribble and doodle on the Doodle Pro has definitely helped improve Alycia’s and Sherilyn’s fine motor skills and that’s one of the best toys I’d bought them. Best of all, the gals never seem to get bored with it.

Alycia tracing a picture and word from a flashcard on her FP Doodle Pro.

Alycia’s ‘artwork’.

No. of times viewed = 354

Sherilyn and Her Toy Ice-Cream

This is Sherilyn’s latest craze and obsession : her toy vanilla flavour ice-cream. Not that it’s a brand new toy, daddy bought the gals this toy about 2 months back but for the past few days, Sherilyn has been clutching on to her toy ice-cream everywhere she went, including sleeping with it. When she wasnt looking yesterday, I stealthily took the toy ice-cream away and washed it as it was laced with her saliva, only to have her screaming her lungs out when she couldn’t find it the next minute and instead found her ice-cream all wet.

No. of times viewed = 218

Home-cooked Food

Our dinner yesterday :

Braised chicken with canned green peas, bombay onions, pepper and Lea and Perrin sauce.

Stir-fried baby kailan with diced chicken breast, shredded ginger, organic soya sauce and rice wine.

Hmmm….. perhap I should consider starting a food blog one of these days since I am having so much fun experimenting with food, snapping pix of them and writing about them. Another food for thought…..

No. of times viewed = 213

Blog Back-Up

Weeks ago, I had posted a query in my blog on how to back-up a blog. Yesterday, I found out from Ai Lian that I can now back-up my blog at www.blogbackuponline.com for FREE!! All you have to do is to create an account, register your blog and you get 50MB free back-up space. You can choose to schedule a daily auto back-up of your blog. My query is finally answered but once the 50MB free storage is utilized, I think the blogger would have to pay for the service.

Thanks Ai Lian once again for the community service!

No. of times viewed = 165

200th Post

I cant believe that today marks the day I’ve written my 200th post since I started blogging 2+ months back. I can’t believe that I’ve written so many posts and I’m still enjoying blogging very much. The best part about blogging is that I’ve made new friends with many wonderful blogging mummies & daddies, besides earning some pocket-money through writing reviews.

No. of times viewed = 438

Aly and Sher In Church

Alycia and Sherilyn look forward to Sundays because they get to attend Sunday School. They love getting the attention from their sunday school teachers, story-telling, singing sessions and especially getting stickers at the end of the sessions from Jeff and Shir Lin, 2 young and dedicated sunday school teachers.
Jeff and Shir Lin will be tying the knot in 2 weeks’ time. Last Sunday, the kids from sunday school did a rehearsal wedding march at the church.

Jeff and Shir Lin giving all the attention to Alycia and Sherilyn

Jeff showing Alycia and Sherilyn how to march to the altar.

The kids in single file, waiting to march to the altar.

Instead of marching in slowly, the kids ran helter-skelter. Definitely not an easy task to teach a bunch of under 5s!

No. of times viewed = 195