Category Archives: Parenting

Transporting Babies The Practical Way

Posted by Jewelle Tan on February 3, 2012 None comments

I note with interest how many mothers (especially among celebrities) these days that are reviving the natural way of carrying or moving their babies or young kids around.

No longer do these modern mothers (and fathers) rely strictly on what most of us used exclusively all these years – pushable vehicles such as the strollers, prams and the travel systems.

Of course, no longer do these moms use any everyday sarongs to wrap their babies in and neither do they simply tied these slings in the crudest of ways just as long as the knots are tight.

These days, modern moms are spoilt with the choices of beautiful fabrics to use and ordinary knots just will not do. There will be rings and the such that these baby carriers are easily an attractive accessory of any fashion-conscious mom.

But as attractive as these baby slings may be, I will still go for pushable vehicles such as the UppAbaby Vista stroller because with 3 young kids, I know the necessity of having the squirmiest child safe and secured for times when both my hands need to be free to deal with the other two.

Besides when it comes to photos of new-age celebrity moms with baby slings – don’t think there are no nannies pushing the strollers walking close by.

* Photo Source

Christmas Expectations

Posted by Jewelle Tan on December 30, 2011 None comments

There was a site that posted disappointed/angry/annoyed Facebook statuses of people who did not get their desired Christmas presents – expensive electronic gadgets and even cars!

How sad that it has become simply a time to demand and expect specific items.

How stressful it must be for people in this kind of community and mentality to face Christmas – knowing that certain expensive things are expected.

How did it become to materialistic?

Perhaps it all started with the simple and innocent question asked to small kids, “What would you like for Christmas?“

Growing up with this kind of expectation, it can easily turn from “A Barbie!” to “A purple bicycle!” to “A white iPhone!” – with the list becoming more exclusive and expensive by the year.

In some ways, it is good training for kids to demand and be more assertive with what they want.

But good training or not, my kids are not asked what they wanted and they were happy with whatever they received – stationery, t-shirts, books, hair accessories and etc.

And they mostly enjoyed being with the whole family and that is what Christmas should be about.

Competitive Moms

Posted by Jewelle Tan on April 9, 2011 None comments

One thing I like about my daughters’ school is the competitive spirit among the mothers.

Not competing in the ways of whose kids were taken for the best school holiday trips or being women, who looked like they are ambassadors of programs like click here or sported the most expensive handbags as they walked their kids to class.

But competitive in making the most of the opportunities offered by the schools for their kids.

Just yesterday,  a fellow mom updated me on where to get the materials for a competition. That reminded me of this competition which I was actually trying to forget. Another mom told me that her daughter has completed hers and advised me to get mine started on hers soon. That reminded me that I should not let my daughter miss out on this activity just because it involves a lot of helping out from my side!

For my other daughter, another set of mothers reminded me how important it is to grab whatever learning opportunities are available. A fellow mom confided how she regretted not pushing her daughter for one activity at the time when she saw that mine was involved in two.

But it was one mom words I bring up to mind whenever I feel overwhelmed with all the demands of getting my two school-going children to be exposed to as many learning experiences – which meant a lot of driving to and fro school, coming in early to get a parking spot  and most times hanging around in school for hours.

“Telan saja” or just accept whatever inconveniences there are, for their sake and for their future.

Gadget Generation

Posted by Jewelle Tan on December 15, 2010 2 comments

The familiarity that kids these days have with electronic gadgets is a little scary.

My youngest child, a mere babe of not even two years old, considers my soon-to-be-retired handphone (by the way they seem to enjoy fiddling with it!) as one of her standard toy.

Although we are forced to quiet them down most times, especially at public places, with gadgets like our handphones and an iTouch – we draw the line at getting them a PSP, which courtesy of their cousin who has one is in their radar of cool-things-to-have.

They still enjoy active activities (which involve loud noises, turning a place upside down and sweat – major headaches for us!) and we will encourage these.

We will refrain from giving them more gadgets that will take them away from their (kind of) boisterous activities until this phase is naturally over.

And that means, there is no plan to get them their own laptop or Ordinateurs (which I just learn, is desktop in French) – and definitely not PSP.

Yet.

To Malls, With Kids

Posted by Jewelle Tan on September 14, 2010 None comments

Brunei Times Square, the latest shopping mall and hotel in the country, is now open.

But unlike the rest of Bruneians, we have not set foot on this place since its soft opening day – and we may even wait until next year before doing so.

After all, what’s Brunei Times Square when even 1Borneo of Kota Kinabalu with over 400 stores fails to excite us.

Perhaps it is to do with having small kids that we no longer enjoy shopping or even window shopping – as we use to. They are generally cooperative but dealing with their issues usually takes the most time that unless it is  a really necessary shopping trip, it is just not worth the effort.

Besides there is always online shopping – clothes, handbags, books, cosmetics down to items such as perfumes and even acne medicines are easily found by a simple click here and before you know it, you have a package to collect.

Maybe in 5 years time from now, we can enjoy malls and shopping again. By that time we won’t need to worry about finding a toilet within 5 mins or choose only eateries with baby chairs and kids-friendly menu.

*Picture : 1Borneo Mall, Sabah

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