mindchamps preschool

we are sending alexis to mindchamps preschool in another two more months, the month when she reaches nineteenth month. i am very blessed to have my dad helping to look after her during the day, but i still insist on sending her to childcare.

none of us including my dad are trained in education and probably does not know how to teach or what to teach. but i really appreciate the fact that my dad who is the main caregiver during the day tries his best to read to her, play with her, bring her down for walks and abides by the 'no TV and electronic gadgets for kids under two' policy. frankly there is nothing as comforting as leaving the girl with the people who love her as desperately as i do. but with a set of doting grandparents, the last thing i want this girl to learn is to have her way of wrapping her grandparents around her finger in order to get what she want.

many people feel and remarked to me that that at a tender age of 18th months, it would be better for her to stay home rather than be alone in school. after all, there’s loads of time for that once she is older and starts proper school. but all i want to answer to these people is, my main goal for my daughter to go to a proper preschool at a young age is for her to learn social interaction and positive social behaviour, not for her to be pumped with ABCs.

mindchamps is a renowned preschool in singapore. their curriculum and facility, definitely there is no question about it. i was quite impressed when i went for the open house. i like their way of exposing these preschoolers to different areas, in academic, artistic, musical, physical and even gourmet. by keeping their class size small, it also ensure all children has adequate attention from their teachers. however with a hefty fee of $1,595 per month (before subsidary), many think i am a bit mad to do this, but the man and i maintain it is a good decision and it will be a worth it investment. we believe in a good foundation and also had managed to work out our financial. so between a decision to buy a car or to send this girl to mindchamps, we made our choice.

in my idealistic plan, enrolling alexis in school will allow her to learn to interact with other children of her own age. she will learn to share, she will learn to say her 'please' and 'thank you'. she might also learn to be more vocal and verbalise her needs. one of my main concern is for her to learn and speak mandarin properly. it will be beneficial for her to be fluent, without the wrong accent and many random singlish words thrown in. now that the girl knows how to say 谢谢, i hope she can learn more chinese vocabulary during 'The Love for Chinese Language' which is one of mindchamps preschool curriculum. and maybe one day, i might swtich the girl to another childcare which is fully immersion in Mandarin, allowing her to be in a proper mandarin speaking environment. and yes, alexis has a name which i called her rather frequently - 嫣嫣, praying that she will know that her name is also 洪语嫣 :)

of cos the usual concerns of falling sick easily is there. however i still strongly believe in healthy habits start from young. alexis is not yet exposed to any form of seasoning and her diet now is still mainly consisting of vegetable, fruits and grains. i will also be starting supplements on her soon to boost her immune system, keeping my fingers cross that they will lessen the chances of her falling sick. i am very anti junk food type of parents because i will much rather alexis eats good healthy food than waste her appetite on non-nutritious food. the decision for now, alexis will not get chocolate, ice-cream, sweets, potato chips etc. once, i froze ripe bananas, thaw them abit, blend and present it to my lil one! she loves them as much as i do :) i am rather hardworking these days looking up healthy snack and dessert recipes. i have a dream that one day alexis will come up to me and say that my cooks and bakes are the best thing she has ever had :)

this girl is actually quite a pretty easy going and independent toddler, and does not make my life too difficult. these few weeks when the man is not around, i managed this lil girl alone during night time and weekends. she is now at her coming 17th month and so much easier to look after. she will spend most of her awake time reading, talking, doodling, exploring, climbing up and down and playing with my neighbour's boys. that said, i suspect she may not even feel the separation anxiety :)

the thought of going to work and getting off work with this little girl is so strangely irresistable :) i want to walk the world, hand-in hand with the man and our daughter, i do not have a plan yet, but i will one day.

human and politics

things are never as simple as they seem. everything is so complicated. humans. politics.
this is so so so bad. this period is so traumatising and i do not ever want to go through it again.

mask more than reveal

feel like curling up into a tight ball and fading away into oblivion, probably until the day wheh the man is back into my arms or when i can find slight balance with the negativity deep inside my heart. not that i am against positivity or those optimistic life-is-beautiful nonsensy quotes. just balancing to come to terms with my inner thoughts - the point that i can feel i can give up everything that is holding me back. but reality sucks because the world does not stop to wait for me to ponder.

some people was not suppose to make my mood dip so low. somedays i feel like i have had enough of everything i have been putting up with. it is hard to swallow so much of discouraging remarks and those daggerous smiles. it is so hard to be practical and realistic and considerate always. it is so hard to put on a happy face for the world everyday and make people believe that i am merrying. it is harder when the world looks through you and dismisses you as one of those young mommy who does not know anything. how much do i want the whole wide world to know everything about me?

i am too tired and sick of all this to care. too much inner thoughts revealed these days so from now on, i will make less selfish decisions that will hurt the people i love.

feelings of a proud mommy

i am a proud mommy and there is nothing more satisfying than appreciation for the fruit of your labour. there are no words to describe this motherhood experience fully enough, however tough the going was, i'm glad i was part of this and part of her.

alexis always illustrates the concept of being strong, now she is a toddler learning the facts of life. along the way, she stumbles, falls and probably yearning to grow up at times. there may also be some days she feels like giving up. but the fact is she is striving, in the only ways that she perceives as available to her, to move towards growth, towards becoming, towards knowledge.

let us be smiling forever

i know i should be sleeping, but i feel far too exhausted to rest. it really sicken me to have to pore over the stack of backlog at work. i just want to lay down and be without the sickening sense of deadlines pouncing at me. today i lazed through the day till 6pm, i know i shouldn't be doing this but days without the man always leaves me like this. my thoughts flit between my ever perfect dream and harsh reality on quiet nights. surreality plays out beautifully in my exhausted daze.

i feel strangely disconnected. at work.

it will be so nice to have the man around. anyway i think the girl really enjoy seeing us the moment she woke up, til the moment she falls asleep at night. these two are my favourite people always. it is magic how some people just catch your heart not only at the first encounter, but everytime.

so it is unbelievably insane that it has already been sixteen months. i do not even remember life without alexis anymore. she has made our everything complete :))

on a side note, this girl, now at 78cm tall and weighing at 10.9kg, is brave and adventurous in her own ways. with a thing on hand, she explores and tries different ways to make it fun. sometimes she ended up smiling proudly, sometimes she has a bump on her head but that is perfectly fine. if she wants to do this, she thinks she does want to do this! she just have to figure the best possible way out asap! she needs to believe in herself. she needs to do things to make herself believe in herself :)

bakes

during this weekend, i had my fair share of bakes. i made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisins cookies, fat-free banana-strawberry bread, blueberries chocolate fudge, peanut butter chocolate fudge and strawberries chocolate fudge. yes, in my humble opinion, they were as good as they sound.

the banana-strawberry bread had fed the girl and i well for this weekend breakfast. this is something very simple to make and very easy to throw together, plus it is oil/butter-free and eggless. it is also excellent for babies – alexis loves the gooey texture and the banana gives a natural sweetness to it. i serve it to her with some peanut butter spread, and she gives a brillant smile and slurps everything up.

so much for my lonely beautiful weekend with my little girl :))