July 21st, 2010
Melbourne visit – Tasmin picks a lemon
Right outside the house is a neighbour’s lemon tree. We’ve been told that we can pick whatever is hanging over the fence. So the kids pick lemons. Smells wonderful!
June 12th, 2010
June School Holiday programs
It’s a week and a half into the school holidays and we’ve done a lot!
~ I attended Robert Allen’s seminar over the first weekend and left the kids to Joe
~ Tasmin went on a playdate to celebrate a friend’s birthday at her house
~ Tas also went for a short day church camp to prepare for her first Communion
~ Sunday we were at Petrina Kow’s place to celebrate her son’s birthday, who incidently is classmates with Lauren
~ Monday we rested after that exhausting chock-a-block weekend
~ Tuesday Megan took part in the Math Olympiad representing her school SOTA, Jordan went for a Math and Science camp which was a total farce and waste of time and money (another story) and had an appointment at NUH for his regular quarterly checkup and weigh-in.
~ Wednesday Joe taughted his Voice Mastery course while I took Jordan for his physical therapy, while my parents took Tasmin and Lauren ice-skating
~ Thursday we went to One Degree Fifteen and visited the Pangaea Yacht and learnt about all the awesome environmental and conservation work they are doing with Youth around the world. We’re proud to have 2 awesome Singapore Youth representatives that have just come back from land expeditions with Mike Horn this year.
~ Friday we went to Science Centre for the Pixar exhibition. That was inspiring. Jordan had to fast overnight for his blood test early next morning.
~ Saturday quick visit back at NUH for Jordan’s blood test. They couldn’t find a vein on his arm and had to resort to taking blood from the top of his hand around the knuckles. Two pricks. Ouch. Walked the Helix Bridge at night at Marina Sands. Nice meh? So crowded I don’t like.
~ Sunday was Tasmin’s First Holy Communion. She woke up early so we could curl her hair. She had a specific look she was going for and she looked gorgeous in her white dress and band of leaves and flowers in her hair.
~ Mon, Tues, Wed was morning Chinese class time for Tasmin.
~ Tues & Wed Jordan went for AWWA day camp. He enjoyed himself cos one of the activities was shopping for ingredients within a budget to cook lunch for themselves. They made pizza.
~ Yesterday we went to the beach at Sentosa and lunch at RWS.
And here we are today, halfway through the month. Phew!
On Sunday, Tasmin checks into Supercamp. We are super excited about that. Megan and Jordan went for Supercamp 2 years ago and they still look back very fondly at their experience. It’s helped them both become very confident and secure kids, and helped them with their school work. They have skills to get along with people, to rise above challenges, and to take responsibility for their words and actions. I’m so proud of these kids. And I can’t wait for Tasmin to experience the same.
May 8th, 2010
Taking my 5 year old to the dentist
Lauren had a bad fall on Monday afternoon. She was coming down the stairs and fell forward, the brunt of her injuries on her upper 2 teeth and lips.
She was a sorry sight – swollen upper lip, swollen eyes from crying, gums bleeding. She looked like a penguin the poor thing.
She was ok, because we gave her Neurofen for the pain, and ice to try and bring down the swelling. But she wouldn’t let us touch her mouth or her teeth. Very diplomatic and polite about it, but it was always, “No, don’t do that” or “No thanks it’s ok now”.
I finally got a good look at her mouth on Tuesday and found her teeth a bit shaky. We couldn’t bring her in straightaway because, ahem we had tickets to Tears For Fears. Besides, she wasn’t in any more pain, she was eating her porridge, she was talking normally… And I’d waited 20+ years for Tears For Fears leh…
She also developed her own way of spooning porridge into her mouth without touching her 2 front teeth. It’s like shovelling food and it’s so annoying cos she doesn’t close her lips over the spoon. Makes for messy eating, but I’m glad her appetite is still ok.
So I took her to KK A&E on Wednesday afternoon after school. Just a quick consult and got a referral to National Dental Centre (NDC) on Thursday morning 8.30am.
Now it’s worth going to A&E or polyclinic for a referral. You pay cheaper subsidized rates. If we’d had gone straight to NDC ourselves, they will see her and charge us full rate. If it’s a one-off visit it’s fine. But it’s worth incurring the A&E charge of $85 to make sure that you are not considered a private patient for all procedures from there on out. Else it’ll just be one big hefty bill at the end. And it’s not easy to downgrade once you’re accepted as a private patient in the system. You’d have to be discharged and let it lapse for a year before you can start through the A&E/polyclinic route again.
The dentist was SO GOOD with her. But he scolded me A LOT. He was all “Come here darling, oh you’re doing soo well! I’m gonna do this and that with this tool and that, see how it tickles?” and to me it was “Mummy that’s too MANY sweets – Mummy what is this, it’s NOT cheese ah, it’s plaque – Mummy she’s too young, you HAVE to brush her teeth for her”
S’all good.
Lauren has 2 shaky front milk teeth and her permanent teeth look like they aren’t affected. She’ll have to be on a soft diet for a week. And we’re going back again in a month because dentist discovered a cavity he needs to fill. Alamak.
April 23rd, 2010
OMG what happened to my site?
This site looks like trash. By this time next week, I hope to clean up and have everything looking nice again.
Anyone got suggestions?
April 14th, 2010
Funny email from Daddy
More goodies to share, this time from my Dad.
AAADD KNOW THE SYMPTOMS
Thank goodness there’s a name for this disorder. Somehow, I feel better even though I have it!
Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. It’s called, “Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder“.This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.I lay my car keys on the table,
put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
and notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back
on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think,
since I’m going to be near the mailbox
when I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table,
and see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
so I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I’d been drinking.
I’m going to look for my checks,
but first I need to push the Pepsi aside
so that I don’t accidentally knock it over.The Pepsi is getting warm,
and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
a vase of flowers on the counter
catches my eye–they need water.
I put the Pepsi on the counter and
discover my reading glasses that
I’ve been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk,
but first I’m going to water the flowers.I set the glasses back down on the counter,
fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I’ll be looking for the remote,
but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table,
so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
but first I’ll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers,
but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back on the table,
get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to
remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
the car isn’t washed
the bills aren’t paid
there is a warm can of
Pepsi sitting on the counter
the flowers don’t have enough water,
there is still only 1 check in my check book,
I can’t find the remote,
I can’t find my glasses,
and I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
and I’m really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem,
and I’ll try to get some help for it,
but first I’ll check my e-mail….
Do me a favor.
Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don’t remember who I’ve sent it to.
Don’t laugh – if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!!
