Temper in the public

Sometimes, I get surprise tantrums from lil Joy when we are out. They do come in all sorts of styles and situations.

Last night, Lil Joy has a strong opinion against her dad's decision to stop her from running around in the library while I was borrowing books. She cried really loudly in the peaceful library. I calmly brought her outside and told her that she is not allowed to run in the library. This method obviously does not work for a two year old. Lil Joy avoided eye contact and kept wanting to run off. She threw a little tantrum by crying and sitting on the floor.

Honestly, I do not know what to do and so I waited till she has calm down a little and ask her to look into the library. I pointed to her that the people inside the library are all walking and they do not run. So I pointed to every single person who walked past the entrance to emphasis my point. When I thought I saw the light in her eyes that signal "oh.. people walk in the library", I held her hands and told her that we are going to walk into the library this time. So we did a little walk into the library back to the same location where she had been running about just a while ago and then out of the library.

I really hope that this little exercise do get something into the little mind of her.

DIY Do A Dot Markers

Have you seen the Do A Dot Markers? I have seen activities done on the blogs of some preschool homeschoolers using these Markers. I checked the pricing of these markers and they are sold at SGD39.90 for a set of 6 markers.

I have tried to look for DIY solutions but is not convinced with the alternatives that I had found online mainly due to the concern that lil Joy is only 26 months old and I need something that is more leak proof. This project has been on my mind for more than a year before I finally see the solution at Art Friend, a local art and craft supply shop.

It is the Paint Applicator! Price is about SGD 6.90 plus for a pack of 3. I never knew such things exist and soon realise that Martha Stewart has similar products under her branding. So I grabbed a pack and  tried it out with watercolor paint.

Here is how the paint applicators look. I used a palette knife to coax the paint in, add a dribble of water, replace the top, give it a shake, start dabbing and the paint comes out shortly. It will be a slight mess during the preparation stage but everything is easily washed under a tap before I handed these paint filled applicators to lil Joy.

And yes, these applicators comes with a cap and so far it has been leak proof.

Here is how the sponge part looks like up close. The control of the paint flow has been good.

Here is the end product. We only did some sampling during the first session and I am happy with the results except for the vibrancy of the colors. I will experiment with the different kind of paints and consistency to find something that I like. In the meanwhile, lil Joy is having a blast with dotting on the paper and discovering that she can draw with it. I love the price and the convenience that I can just put the caps of the applicator on for storage and easily do this activity with just some papers.

Sharing this little find of mine and hope it helps some moms. :D

Emotions at 2 years old

It has never been very obvious to me that a child's emotions start to develop. They do not cry just because they want milk, hugs or they are tired or in pain anymore but starts to feel sadness, happiness, jealousy and many more.

There was this incident which happens when I am watching a television program with lil Joy. It is a reality show about the life of a family with quintuplets. Lil Joy enjoyed the show a lot because there were a lot of toddlers running around.

When the show ended, Lil Joy turned to look at me very sadly and repeated 'baby' multiple times. Soon she started to tear up and cried badly. It dawned onto me that she is very sad that she could not see the toddlers on the television anymore.

The only thing I can do is to cuddle her and explain to her that the show has ended.

It is funny to have a 2 year toddler, with the capacity to feel and armed with new emotions. I feel like I am walking into another new and unfamiliar terrain of motherhood.

A rocky and relative start of 2015

Hi World,

Happy 2015 on the 3rd of Jan 2015.

Yes I am so glad to be up and sane on the 3rd day of 2015.

The last day of 2014, we were messing around with the battery operated LED lights and lil Joy had a blast with it... placing it around the room, putting it into a tupperware and keeping it under a blankie and finally.. I hung it up on the row of photos on the wall.

We have the last family picture of the year and look forward for more of it in the coming years. Yes.. all in the Pyjamas .

On the first day of 2015, we did the most interesting and important activity.. grocery shopping and train up a new skill in lil Joy, that is to push the shopping cart. It is so much fun to see her making 3 point turns and pretending to check out the goods on display and finally heading to the cashier. All these actions while wearing her backpack with her favourite doll inside.

That was the end of the beginning of 2015 before i had a very bad gum infection which left me in pain and sleeping stage for 2 full days. 

Most importantly, I am on the way to full recovery and this painful experience has once again reminded me that health is really important. Sometimes, we wanted to get things done and accomplish more to make our life fulfilling and that sometimes made us focus on the wrong things occasionally.

I do not have the time to sit down and set out my resolutions properly but I have more or less plan out certain things that I would like to follow thru for 2015 in Dec which are as follows:

1. Spend more quality time with family
2. Wake up earlier (like 7.30am)
3. Practice piano on daily basis (and yes,, i still got up and hit a few ivory keys on those 2 days when I was in pain.)
4. Exercise on a more regular basis (like 3 times a week)
5. Be more in control of my work demands
6. No buy of craft materials (unless really required to finish up a project)
7. Clear out the clutter in house, buy less and clear more (we have already planned out the home re-organisation plan for 2015)
8. More diligent with my virtual diary aka this blog

These are the things that I would like to remind myself on a more regular basis on 2015 and no, I am not going to whack myself hard if one or two of them slips due to unforeseen circumstances. I am going to enjoy and live 2015. 

Last but not least, I would like to thank all those who have walked in my life in 2014. You all matters and had made me who I am now. I am even more grateful to those who have made a positive impact on my life.