Seriously very fed up liao. I can understand and accept it if the boys have certain preferences and only want to eat a few selected dishes. BUT they can wolf down one dish the previous week and totally reject it this week..!! What the...??!! And yes, this applies to pan-fried foods as well..! I think the only food they will eat happily everyday is perhaps... urmm.. I can't think of anything! I am SURE they will get sick of 'favorite' foods such as crispy chicken or french fries if I serve it to them everyday.. because the appeal of these foods must be largely due to them being forbidden and thus 'luxury' items!
I have thought of two more methods to try. If they still do not work, I shall just give up lah. Anyway my tests and experimentation will have to take a backseat once Meimei is out, cos it will be the confinement auntie doing all the cooking. I considered still cooking for the boys while the auntie cooks for hubby and me, but seriously, who am I kidding? As if the boys will eat... Once I tell them 'no, these dishes are not for you', they will definitely decide they cannot eat anything else but auntie's dishes!
[Anyway, who am I kidding? How to give up? Once the confinement period is over, if I don't cook for them, who cook??]
First method to try: Western recipes. So far I have been using bento-style i.e. Jap style, and Chinese style. But the boys usually do not eat much rice.. though sometimes Jiale finishes his rice and not touch his meat/fish/vegs.. don't ask me why.. I think he does it just to make me happy.. >.< So maybe I will replace the rice with potato or other starchy foods.
Second method to try: Continue Chinese style cooking, but instead of serving individual portions on their plates, I shall serve the boys only their rice on their plates, and they take the meat/fish/vegs they want from communal plates. Like the way we eat when I cook for all four of us or when we eat at my in-laws. Not very hopeful for this, cos Jiale doesn't eat much either when we are at my in-laws... And I think Didi tends to copy his behaviour.... Haii...
Just try, see how : /
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
One-Week Activity Log
Too difficult to do a proper activity log! Kept forgetting to take photos or to note down what we did :P So here are the few photos I did take, and my inspiration for some of our activities/books we are reading.
We definitely did a lot more than what the above pictures showed. Other than the main activity in the mornings, it was hard to remember to take photos each time we engaged in an activity. Other than the child-led activities we did, I used the book 'Playful Learning' as a guide to choose our library books and activities.
In the picture below of the library books we were reading last week, the Big Cats and Cheetahs books were a follow-up on our recent visits to the zoo and Jiale's interest in these animals, and the Monster Trucks book is his all-time interest. The other books were recommended in the Playful Learning book, which has themes such as 'Mathematicians at Work' (Black Dot Adventures), Scientific Investigations (Cloud Gazing, The Life Cycle of A Seed), Exploration of Art & Artists (Open-Ended Art Explorations), Growing Globally (Wake Up, World book on how children around the world live, My Map Book), Nurturing Young Authors (Making Lists), etc.
For most of the topics, we did not go very deeply into them. Some of the books were too advanced/wordy for Jiale, so we just read through. Mainly, it's a guide for me to introduce new ideas/concepts to him, so that we are not stuck on 'academic' topics. I did a few Themed Learning with Jiale before, but it's not often that he gets so 'obssessed' with a topic that it's worth a theme on its own. So in between such 'big' themes, I shall just do small bits here and there with him. If he shows more interest in anything, I will then go further with him. This method also allows me to have a clearer idea which books to borrow from the library, cos it's very difficult to go browsing with the boys in tow! Now I just reserve online and collect the books from the service counter.
For the Seeds topic, we grew a few green beans and the boys water them everyday. One of the seeds did not make it and I explained to Jiale that it did not get the nourishments (nutrients or sun or water) it needed and thus it died. For the Ten Black Dots book, I gave the boys black dot stickers of course :p
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| Monday morning: Messy play with milk, dishwashing detergent, food colouring |
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| Sticker play in the afternoon |
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| Did a jigsaw puzzle together |
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| Tuesday afternoon: Did 3 sticker books with Jiale while Didi was napping. No morning play that day as I had a gynae appointment. |
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| He asked to play with flour : ) |
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| Playing with Geomag |
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| Hao Xue Bao talking pen |
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| Wednesday morning paint play with marbles & other round items |
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| New Chinese nursery rhyme sound book which just arrived in the mail |
In the picture below of the library books we were reading last week, the Big Cats and Cheetahs books were a follow-up on our recent visits to the zoo and Jiale's interest in these animals, and the Monster Trucks book is his all-time interest. The other books were recommended in the Playful Learning book, which has themes such as 'Mathematicians at Work' (Black Dot Adventures), Scientific Investigations (Cloud Gazing, The Life Cycle of A Seed), Exploration of Art & Artists (Open-Ended Art Explorations), Growing Globally (Wake Up, World book on how children around the world live, My Map Book), Nurturing Young Authors (Making Lists), etc.
For most of the topics, we did not go very deeply into them. Some of the books were too advanced/wordy for Jiale, so we just read through. Mainly, it's a guide for me to introduce new ideas/concepts to him, so that we are not stuck on 'academic' topics. I did a few Themed Learning with Jiale before, but it's not often that he gets so 'obssessed' with a topic that it's worth a theme on its own. So in between such 'big' themes, I shall just do small bits here and there with him. If he shows more interest in anything, I will then go further with him. This method also allows me to have a clearer idea which books to borrow from the library, cos it's very difficult to go browsing with the boys in tow! Now I just reserve online and collect the books from the service counter.
For the Seeds topic, we grew a few green beans and the boys water them everyday. One of the seeds did not make it and I explained to Jiale that it did not get the nourishments (nutrients or sun or water) it needed and thus it died. For the Ten Black Dots book, I gave the boys black dot stickers of course :p
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| Extension of My Map Book - I drew the plan of the boys' bedroom. I could see the quietly amazed & incredulous look on Jiale's face as he watched his 'room' appear on the paper.. it was priceless.. the moment you know something has 'clicked' in a child' head : ) |
Why My Kids MUST Sleep Early
Main reason: they wake up around 7am no matter what time they go to bed the previous night.
To me, there are three main types of bedtimes for children (around Jiale & Jiahe's ages): 1) Early - 7pm+ (or earlier!) to 8pm; 2) Still-ok-early-not-too-late - 8.30pm to before 10pm; 3) Late/very late - after 10pm.
I am ok with them sleeping at 9pm+, even if it's every night, if not for them waking up so early the next morning. Even though there are cons such as me having to work till later, there are significant pros like the convenience of going out for dinner/other family activities (as it is, we never go out in the afternoon/evening, only in the morning, except to the grandparents'), the kids spending more time with daddy after he comes back from work (but it also means less time for daddy to rest after a long day at work), etc. BUT but but, since the boys stubbornly wake up early (usually before 7am), a 9.30pm means TWO whole hours less sleep every night...!! No no noooooooo..! I strongly believe that sleep is the most important contribution to a young child's growth.. no need to do learning aids or learning activities - I believe the child can and will still find ways to learn at a very fast speed... no need to prepare special or nice food for him - I believe he will eat when he is hungry or wants to eat.. But the parent must be in charge of sleeping habits, because a child can stay awake till very late and is likely to want to stay up even if he's tired.
If they go to bed very late at around 11pm, perhaps they might wake up later in the morning. I have no idea cos it has happened less than.. urmm.. 5 times since Jiale was born..? Once was at my brother's wedding dinner.. and the Chinese New Year reunion dinners (in bed by 11pm).. But I think it's way too late for a young child if that is the regular bedtime.
Since Jiale stopped napping willingly/easily recently, the boys' bedtimes have become earlier at 7.30pm. Not that Jiale die die will not nap, but after coercion and threats and scoldings etc, he will probably only fall asleep at maybe 4pm+..? That might work for him.. but poor Didi will also be wanting to play with Kor Kor as they sleep in the same room, and a 4pm naptime is way too late for a 21-month-old who wakes up at 6am+. Then they wake up around 6pm... and end up going to bed around 9pm... which brings us back to their early wakings in the morning.. the amount of naptime remains the same for Didi, but his night sleep has been shortened..!
Total amount of sleep does not differ much for Jiale - he goes to bed later at night but it is made up for by his afternoon nap. But it means a lot of unpleasantness for him and me every afternoon - scoldings and tears and anger etc : (
Alternative: let the boys sleep in separate bedrooms. We have three bedrooms but one is reserved for the coming baby. I don't like the idea of co-sleeping or sharing our room with the kids but I have considered letting Jiale take his afternoon nap in the master bedroom. That will take Didi out of the problem. But still have to scold Jiale to make him sleep : ( Unless I lie down with him - less scoldings.. but this arrangement will fall apart very soon.. Once Meimei arrives, I will be on call 24/7 to attend to her.. Given that Jiale will take at least 30 minutes to fall asleep (since he's being forced to nap and not really tired in the afternoon), it is very likely that I will be activated by Meimei.. end up Kor Kor still not napping and I waste the time lying there waiting for him to sleep.
Anyway it's not that I don't LET him nap. I ask him umpteen times every afternoon whether he's tired and wanna nap. I remind him a zillion times that if he's tired, he can nap in my room or on the sofa anytime. But I do not try to MAKE him nap.
I am actually very satisfied with the current arrangements. I do not know whether it's related to him dropping his afternoon nap, but I see that he has been more lovey-dovey toward me and more loving toward Didi and more well-behaved in general since around the time I stop forcing him to nap. Might be just a coincidence.. or maybe it's because he has more alone time with me now.. and less scoldings from me to force him to nap.. and more time for him to be alone to play, to think, to be quiet. It also gives me time to do certain learning activities with him which are too dangerous/difficult to do together with Didi.
The 7.30pm bedtime works great for Didi too. Even though he usually takes a 2-hour nap and wakes up at 3pm+, he is usually behaving in a 'drunk' manner by 6pm. (I am very lucky that Didi doesn't get cranky when he's tired - he just goes nutty and cute-drunk, haha. I was once very worried that he was intoxicated by the cooking wine I used for their dinner.. but I realised he behaves that way even when I don't use any cooking wine that day, lol.) And since the kids are in bed so early, I am happy too! Daddy is happy too - though he doesn't get to spend much time (if any) with the kids after work, urmm he's not the bleeding-heart type of daddy la... no great desire to play with them every night :p
Speaking of Didi.. I asked the PD whether being tired is related to having fits.. and the PD said yes it's related.. cos I noticed that both times that Didi had the fit, he woke up very early (5am+) that morning. So now I get very nervous when Didi doesn't get enough sleep. As a matter of principle, I don't like to carry the boys now that they are so big. Furthermore, because of my pregnancy, it's dangerous to carry them too. But now, especially after the second fit, I often carry Didi if I see any/a litte sign of him being tired even though he rarely asks me to carry him anymore. I am scccccaared : ( Luckily I am already in the last leg of my pregnancy and Meimei won't be too small even if I pop now.
The only problem now is when we visit the grandparents during weekends. By the time we leave after dinner, it's usually 8pm+ at the earlier, which means the boys only get to be in bed around 10pm, after their milk and bath. Plus it's more difficult to get Jiale to go for his bath since he's tired and cranky by then. (Unlike Didi, Jiale goes crazy-cranky when he's tired.) And he's super tired, cos he would have been awake since 6am+ that morning with no nap. At the grandparents', we also keep asking him whether he wants to nap, and the answer is usually no. I guess I can force him to nap, but I don't think it's fair to him since napping or being forced to nap is no longer part of his daily routine.
Really felt so terrible and so guilty and so apologetic towards Jiale last night, seeing him so exhausted after coming back from the grandparents. He only went to bed at 10.10pm : ( I have thought about it and decided that the parent(s) have to do something about it and not just keep letting the same thing happen. I shall think hard about what to do.
To me, there are three main types of bedtimes for children (around Jiale & Jiahe's ages): 1) Early - 7pm+ (or earlier!) to 8pm; 2) Still-ok-early-not-too-late - 8.30pm to before 10pm; 3) Late/very late - after 10pm.
I am ok with them sleeping at 9pm+, even if it's every night, if not for them waking up so early the next morning. Even though there are cons such as me having to work till later, there are significant pros like the convenience of going out for dinner/other family activities (as it is, we never go out in the afternoon/evening, only in the morning, except to the grandparents'), the kids spending more time with daddy after he comes back from work (but it also means less time for daddy to rest after a long day at work), etc. BUT but but, since the boys stubbornly wake up early (usually before 7am), a 9.30pm means TWO whole hours less sleep every night...!! No no noooooooo..! I strongly believe that sleep is the most important contribution to a young child's growth.. no need to do learning aids or learning activities - I believe the child can and will still find ways to learn at a very fast speed... no need to prepare special or nice food for him - I believe he will eat when he is hungry or wants to eat.. But the parent must be in charge of sleeping habits, because a child can stay awake till very late and is likely to want to stay up even if he's tired.
If they go to bed very late at around 11pm, perhaps they might wake up later in the morning. I have no idea cos it has happened less than.. urmm.. 5 times since Jiale was born..? Once was at my brother's wedding dinner.. and the Chinese New Year reunion dinners (in bed by 11pm).. But I think it's way too late for a young child if that is the regular bedtime.
Since Jiale stopped napping willingly/easily recently, the boys' bedtimes have become earlier at 7.30pm. Not that Jiale die die will not nap, but after coercion and threats and scoldings etc, he will probably only fall asleep at maybe 4pm+..? That might work for him.. but poor Didi will also be wanting to play with Kor Kor as they sleep in the same room, and a 4pm naptime is way too late for a 21-month-old who wakes up at 6am+. Then they wake up around 6pm... and end up going to bed around 9pm... which brings us back to their early wakings in the morning.. the amount of naptime remains the same for Didi, but his night sleep has been shortened..!
Total amount of sleep does not differ much for Jiale - he goes to bed later at night but it is made up for by his afternoon nap. But it means a lot of unpleasantness for him and me every afternoon - scoldings and tears and anger etc : (
Alternative: let the boys sleep in separate bedrooms. We have three bedrooms but one is reserved for the coming baby. I don't like the idea of co-sleeping or sharing our room with the kids but I have considered letting Jiale take his afternoon nap in the master bedroom. That will take Didi out of the problem. But still have to scold Jiale to make him sleep : ( Unless I lie down with him - less scoldings.. but this arrangement will fall apart very soon.. Once Meimei arrives, I will be on call 24/7 to attend to her.. Given that Jiale will take at least 30 minutes to fall asleep (since he's being forced to nap and not really tired in the afternoon), it is very likely that I will be activated by Meimei.. end up Kor Kor still not napping and I waste the time lying there waiting for him to sleep.
Anyway it's not that I don't LET him nap. I ask him umpteen times every afternoon whether he's tired and wanna nap. I remind him a zillion times that if he's tired, he can nap in my room or on the sofa anytime. But I do not try to MAKE him nap.
I am actually very satisfied with the current arrangements. I do not know whether it's related to him dropping his afternoon nap, but I see that he has been more lovey-dovey toward me and more loving toward Didi and more well-behaved in general since around the time I stop forcing him to nap. Might be just a coincidence.. or maybe it's because he has more alone time with me now.. and less scoldings from me to force him to nap.. and more time for him to be alone to play, to think, to be quiet. It also gives me time to do certain learning activities with him which are too dangerous/difficult to do together with Didi.
The 7.30pm bedtime works great for Didi too. Even though he usually takes a 2-hour nap and wakes up at 3pm+, he is usually behaving in a 'drunk' manner by 6pm. (I am very lucky that Didi doesn't get cranky when he's tired - he just goes nutty and cute-drunk, haha. I was once very worried that he was intoxicated by the cooking wine I used for their dinner.. but I realised he behaves that way even when I don't use any cooking wine that day, lol.) And since the kids are in bed so early, I am happy too! Daddy is happy too - though he doesn't get to spend much time (if any) with the kids after work, urmm he's not the bleeding-heart type of daddy la... no great desire to play with them every night :p
Speaking of Didi.. I asked the PD whether being tired is related to having fits.. and the PD said yes it's related.. cos I noticed that both times that Didi had the fit, he woke up very early (5am+) that morning. So now I get very nervous when Didi doesn't get enough sleep. As a matter of principle, I don't like to carry the boys now that they are so big. Furthermore, because of my pregnancy, it's dangerous to carry them too. But now, especially after the second fit, I often carry Didi if I see any/a litte sign of him being tired even though he rarely asks me to carry him anymore. I am scccccaared : ( Luckily I am already in the last leg of my pregnancy and Meimei won't be too small even if I pop now.
The only problem now is when we visit the grandparents during weekends. By the time we leave after dinner, it's usually 8pm+ at the earlier, which means the boys only get to be in bed around 10pm, after their milk and bath. Plus it's more difficult to get Jiale to go for his bath since he's tired and cranky by then. (Unlike Didi, Jiale goes crazy-cranky when he's tired.) And he's super tired, cos he would have been awake since 6am+ that morning with no nap. At the grandparents', we also keep asking him whether he wants to nap, and the answer is usually no. I guess I can force him to nap, but I don't think it's fair to him since napping or being forced to nap is no longer part of his daily routine.
Really felt so terrible and so guilty and so apologetic towards Jiale last night, seeing him so exhausted after coming back from the grandparents. He only went to bed at 10.10pm : ( I have thought about it and decided that the parent(s) have to do something about it and not just keep letting the same thing happen. I shall think hard about what to do.
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