Like most parents, one of the first thing we taught the kids was about animals – the names and the animal sounds.

We have several books on animals but all my kids have now passed the phase where they enjoy looking at animal pictures – and have yet to reach the stage where Animal Planet channel is interesting.

But while they have outgrown animal pictures and no longer look for their basket of toy animals, they do have one animal-related game which all of them seem to enjoy.

And although I know how they got this idea, I still don’t understand why this is such a fun game for them. It’s not even a game actually – just role-playing a CAT!

It’s normal in my household to suddenly hear meowing while on all four and to hear another saying “Hello kitty cat”.

I guess we should be thankful that they enjoy impersonating only cats (so far) – instead of say, horses, as neighing would grate on my nerves and galloping without equestrian helmets would invite head bumps in our small living room.

At least I know they will never role-play a fish because as much as they enjoy looking at fish in aquariums, they love eating fish more.

Like many parents, we control the kids’ TV time – and we limit their access to electronic games.

By limiting the time they get to watch TV, we get to be more selective of the kind of shows they can enjoy. It has been this way for them since they were born so it is easier for them to accept when their show time is over – although not always without protest.

The same policy goes with electronic game device. At this moment, despite the many educational-driven themes from devices such as the xbox games, Playstation games or even basic computer games, we have no intention (so far) of buying any video game devices.

Instead, we spend more money on reading materials to encourage them to make reading a habit – and we have books everywhere around the house (and cars).

They might be the most “backward” kids in their class in terms of slangs and knowledge of TV shows or games – but judging from their highly animated and very spirited role-playing games, I think they are doing just fine.