A fellow stay at home mother recently shared with me a typical parental concern : child who is not interested in schoolwork.

Her reasons were also typical : TV and electronic games.

But if she could not control this distracting and addictive activities NOW – what hope does she have when her child is older and more independent a.k.a rebellious.

How is she going to tell her child to switch the TV off or stop that game and pick up a book or do schoolwork – after letting him have free access all these while.

Imagine, the said child is ONLY 7 years old right now!

Other will say, it’s different raising boys and girls. But surely if they had been trained right from the start that TV or electronic games is a privilege, they will get used to it – as mine have.

But easy availability of entertainment tools is one thing.

The worst is the way some parents let their kids be exposed to all kinds of shows and expect them NOT pick up anything. Yes, it is good sometimes to let them know the realities of life.

But what kind of “truth” is, say, a 6 years old who (in jest) points a finger on his father’s forehead and demand for money threatening “Or I will kill you!” – learning, exactly?

Even though their father has been away for several days, the kids did not seemed to miss him much.

Nobody asked when he is coming back and nobody got me to call him so they could talk to him. Perhaps they are occupied by our house guests that his absence is easily forgotten. After all, on normal days he is only home after work and it is me whom they expect to see around all the time.

So even though I long to go for a short holiday away without the kids, I know it is not possible – without much drama. Their father is very capable of looking after them but they will make it hard for him. Just imagine when I can get a call asking me to come home – 5 mins into a  short shopping trip. Definitely a headache and adult acne-inducing kind of stress that he does not need and I cannot force on him.

If there is one disadvantage to being a stay at home mum, this can be one.

A close friend delivered her second child last week even though it really felt like only months ago when we discussed about her morning sickness, prenatal vitamins and labour pains during her FIRST pregnancy!

Much like how I feel sometimes when I look at my kids pictures and see how they have grown.

My youngest child is now very mobile and able to come up and down the 2 steps staircase in our living room, unassisted. She no longer needed the baby walker and luckily we didn’t have to get a new one as she only used it for a few months!

This ancient (which we bought for my eldest child when she was a baby 6 years ago) and well-used walker is now due for the dumpster.

And since I no longer use this controversial piece of baby equipment – with many childcare professionals issuing warnings about its use – I can say that with basic common sense such as not leaving babies in it without supervision for a long time or letting baby use it when there are staircases, this equipment is as safe as most things that we use for babies.

A few friends are expecting their bundle of joy soon.

One has already started her maternity leave and judging from on how regular her blog is now updated, we can safely assume that she is having a little too much time in hand since she is used to the busy life of a career mom.

But I enjoyed reading her latest post on her baby wish-list. I am especially keen on the portable rocking chair although the price is a bit too steep for my liking. As for the other stuffs, as I told her we are a family of hands-me-down-and-waste-it-not so we are proud of the fact that many of our baby items have been used by my all of my kids (those that have not been destroyed by them, that is).

Baby walkers, porridge thermos, baby crib, baby blankets are handed down from my eldest and are now used by my youngest.

In fact, the most expensive spending we made so far, in regards to the kids, were their delivery as I had all of them in a private clinic although I had my regular check-ups in the government clinics where I did not have to spend on organic prenatal vitamins.

Let’s hope that the next big spending would be when we pack them off to universities.