Crocs - do you own them?? Beware!

"Escalator injuries with rubber clogs on the rise" reported The Straits Times on their Home section on 3 December.  It reported that KKH has 'counted eight such incidents' from the beginnning of the year up to November.  We have read about the many injuries suffered and the near-misses reported.  Why do parents still buy their children the popular brand of rubber clogs?

Stylish, affordable and/or fashionable these sandals are, I have never fallen into the trap of getting a pair.  Neither for ourselves nor for our precious darlings.  After reading all those reports with the adverse news / consequences on them, I am petrified.  I do not want a day where I will have to be interviewed on how my child's / children's toes get trapped between the steps of the escalator!

Some people have reported how light the crocs are, and how they feel a 'wobble' when they are on the escalator that may cause accidents too.  I opine that parents should, for the sake of safety of their children, consider carefully if the sandals are worth the risk.

Still, to each his own.  If you feel there is no cause for concern, and you are not going to fall victim to accidents involving such sandals, I still urge you to read some safety tips the newspaper suggested in that edition:
1.  Do not allow children to ride escalators unsupervised.
2.  Adults should be on the same step, and not behind, their children.
3.  Children should face the front and hold the hand-grip firmly if they can reach them.
4.  Ensure children stand in the middle of a step and not at the edge.  Footwear can be easily trapped when their feet are at the steps' edges.
5.  Be careful of the children's clothing that may get trapped in hte grooves of escalators.
6.  Do not let your children sit or play whilst on escalator steps.
7.  Do not allow your children to lean on the handrails.

We sometimes do not take note of some seemingly trivial safety tips, until it is too late.  I hope everyone stay safe with the festive season looming.  Merry Christmas!

A phrase a week, chases the boredom away...

Miss Little Princess has settled in well in play-school.  The initial period where she did not know what was happening and was left in play-school jolted her out of her comfort zone.  The second phase was the 'clingy' phase - following us to play-school happily in the morning, but hanging on to Daddy once she was there.  One might mistake her for a koala in the dimness!

As the days passed, she has got more and more used to the teachers there.  These days, she gets excited and happy to greet them, going, "Hello, tea*^%!"  She still cannot get the word teacher and the name out, but all the same, her teachers were glad to be acknowledged by our adorable children, especially the tiny one.

There are words and phrases, however, she has learnt that are clearly pronounced.  Nobody has used these phrases too much at home, so I can only conclude that she has learnt them from school.  Like the first one, "Kor kor pushing..."  Poor Felix was seated across the room, minding his own business!

This lasted for quite a while.  In fact, she still springs this phrase every now and then, whenever she feels 'bullied' (toys not being shared), or out of plain boredom!  Rachel is not spared from the accusation too...

Then came "Ah ma, hui lai le!" in Mandarin, meaning "Grandma, I'm home!".  This was from her siblings, and is pleasing.  She may not know what it means, totally, as she could be home for minutes already and she is still repeating the same phrase!

The most recent one is "Daddy, can you &%^(*#@,,," Yes, I can, if only I understand your request!  She could go on asking this for minutes, undaunted by the lack of response from us!  This adorable little girl!

Playing meaningful games

"Children learn best when they are playing".  I have heard this many a time during my stint in school.  It could be true, but I had never been able to find time to devise interesting enough games that is not just mindless banter and laughter, and for learning to actually take place in lessons.  Pounded with the many additional demands that lay on teachers in the shorter than a marathon's time children have with teachers for our academic subjects, it just seems impossible to include games in their learning.

Perhaps I can try including games in my children's learning?  But how?  Enter this book I bought some months back "Number and Logic Games" by Dr D. Einon, Hamlyn (publisher).  I only had time to read it recently after settling down in my new job and schedule and am in the midst of it.  I read with interest some activities that may be interesting for my preschoolers and tried out this activity.


This one is called 'Match the Pictures", aimed at helping children to practise their counting skills by getting them to link matching numbers of items.  It required me to draw six circles and numbers of items in them, so that every two circles willl have matching numbers of items.  Children are to count the number of objects and to draw lines to match circles.  I came out with these:


Amateurish, eh?  Ha.  It will do for now.  I put the activity to the test with Rachel and Felix.  I designed the simplier on on shapes for Felix so he does not get distracted.  The result?

Rachel and Felix enjoyed the short activity.  They were serious in counting and drawing a line to the matching number of objects.  The book offered an extension activity too - to find the odd one out by adding an extra circle with a different number of objects.  Think this short (it only took two to three minutes!) activity helped me in my learning of my children's capability.  They are looking forward to another round of a similar counting and line-drawing, as promised by Daddy!

What is the difference between an A-student and an F-grader?

“Rachel, Felix and Kayleen, you have done very well for your tests in school!”  I hope to be able to say this to them when they do attend primary and secondary schools later.  A bit too early?  I guess.  But it’s not too much of me to dream about it and to work us towards it, is it?  This goes a long way towards ‘The Good Life’ that many yearn to have, to working in offices and earning respectable incomes, as opposed to toiling under the scorching sun for hard-earned pay?

So, what is really the difference?  Is it totally in the genes, that it cannot be helped?  Hey, even the poor can turn the tables and become successful business-people given their hard work, intuition and luck, among other things!  How can we discover the potential in children, to aid them in knowing more to be successful in life?

First and foremost, let me begin by examining school children.  I have seen quite a few of them in these few years.  Pupils in the top classes and the better ones in my classes – what do they have that others might not have?  Is it riches?  I hope not…  Is it time?  Definitely not!  Then what is it?  Wait!  Most of those in the top classes have people to pick them up after school…  and not just domestic helpers who take up the job of fetching them from school!  They are in good hands, good company of educated parents.

Is the most distinct and integral difference having parents by their side most steps of their way?  I recall those in my classes.  I have never been the form-teacher of top classes in the school, perhaps due to the perception that I am not worthy, or the fact that I can only be a subject-teacher and may not be able to bring out the best in the cream-of-the-crop.

But I recall the top students in my classes…  they were mostly independent children who can take good care of themselves (who do not spend needless time at the playgrounds or chatting on the Internet at their age), or they had educated parents who were not working, sacrificing time during their children’s schooling years to take care of them.  Else, their parents are those who are busy working, but are in their own ways, quite heavily involved in their children's lives.

Did they have tuition?  Yes, half of them did.  But this does not explain how those who did not have tuition manage to come out tops in their tests.  One thing I do observe is that these children were not alienated by their parents (or vice-versa).  I could always hear them speaking fondly of their parents during our conversations.  About them spending time with them, telling them things, buying things for them… (no, you do not have to be rich to make your child happy!)  They are closely bonded.  They talk.  About schoolwork, their teachers, classmates, subjects, relatives… almost everything and anything under the roof of their scalp!

Why are some of my children’s classmates loquacious and conversant?  They are of the same age!  What is their secret?  Perhaps talk?  Maybe their parents have been spending meaningful time talking to them about things, and allowing them to make meaningful responses, apart from reading?

This talk, helps, I think.  It helps them in their oral abilities, in their forming of sentences, in their worldly-knowledge (it beats having me explain something to them than to let them go on the Internet and chancing upon unsavoury websites!) and more.  Letting them be comfortable speaking to us (parents) cannot be too wrong.  They may tell us things that we are worried about (their needs, their wants, and maybe even their crushes!).  We can advise them with an open-mind.

Parents can then encourage them to make the right decisions, to pull the reins back if they have veered off-course.  I think I may even create scenarios (like they did in some schools) for them to go to a ‘shop-keeper’ to ‘buy’ something!  To ask ‘someone’ for directions!  That’ll be fun!

So have you been speaking to your child(ren)?  I know I am going to start today!

Adventures of Captain (Wet) Underpants!

“Mommy…  *cry*…”

“Felix wet his bed.  Again.  I thought we sent him to the washroom the previous night, before they retired to bed!” Yen was exasperated.  Felix does not exactly help when he stood there wailing, inconsolable.  How can we help?  Why is this happening?  Rachel does not seem to have this problem.  Not in her younger days.  Not now.

How can we stop him from causing us this inconvenience?

Out of ideas, I tried getting him to wear a diaper.  This was in a bid to try and get him to resist it, and be more aware of him problem.  I was naïve.  Felix thought for a while.  He resisted my 'diaper'-idea for sometime, saying he was a “big boy”.  But threw in the towel, eventually.  He gamely accepted the “preventive measure”.  Oh no!  Not exactly what I had in mind!

But the idea seemed to work.  That night, Felix did not wake up to visit the washroom.  We found his diaper dry too.  We lavished praise on him, and again, on the second night, he kept it dry.  Even better, he woke us up to tell us he wanted to use the washroom.  He let out a little whimper, but pulled out his diaper and did his business.

The third night was better.  He did not cry, and visited the washroom again in the wee hours of the morning.  So my wife said Felix knew how to hold his bladder at night and could go on without diapers again.  How wrong were we?  We paid another heavy price.  Another wet bed that night.

I went to the trusty Internet and ran a search on Yahoo!’s search engine.  According to kidshealth.org, the condition is predominant amongst young children and they will “grow out of it”.  Eventually.

A random site suggested using hypnotism.  Another site opined the use of medication and even using some alarm to wake the child up to visit the washroom in the night.  Do we really have to go that far and take such drastic measures?  Sigh.

These mornings, when we wake up early in the morning, we would go and check on our children, exactly Felix.  And if he has not wet his bed yet, we would carry him in his sleep to the washroom, waking him up in the process for a pee, and carrying him back to his bed for a further few moments of shuteye.

What a bunch of ingrates!

I am still reeling about the news of the sacking of Chris Hughton.  I don't mean to bore non-footballing fans.  But I just have to write about this, and you should see my point, even if you have not been following the 'beautiful game'.

I cannot say that I'm an ardent fan of the team.  Not when I have never been to the much touted St. James' Park and met a Geordie (that's what they call people native to Newcastle).  Not when I have cancelled Football Channel on SCV due to economic sense (I'm the only person watching the channel in the family and it should be the first to go to cut costs).  Not when I refused to subscribe to SingTel's Mio for the same reason.  And surely not when I am unable to follow them on the Internet even with free 'live' screening due to fatigue.

But surely I am free to pour my heart out about how unfair it is to have dismissed someone who has brought them back to the premier league on the first try?  Chris must be insane for keeping his cool.  It is absolutely unfair for such an experienced man who have lived and breathed football for so many years, to be sent to the door, for no good reason!

He has, in the previous season, pulled the team together to play sensibly.  The men were downcast for having brought the club to a lower division and he guided everyone in the same direction.  He was to produce results within the shoestring budget he has had.  He could not have attracted huge signings for the club, not on his credibility nor the club's position the last year.  What happens?  The man is fired before he has a chance to prove what he can do.  This is how you reward the man??

It is absurd!  What reason do we have?  Chris is relieved of his duties because he guided the club up?  Because he managed to get the careers of the crazy Joey Barton and Sol 'Over-the-Hill' Campbell back on track?  Because he managed to produce winning results of 6-0 (vs Aston Villa), 5-1 (vs Sunderlanf), 1-0 against Arsenal in a match I feared decapitation of the club and holding Chelsea (last season's champions)to a 1-1 draw?

Sure, we lost 1-5 against Bolton recently and lost games against Blackpool and Stoke.  But we are not even at the halfway point of the season.  Surely a mid-table finish isn't too bad?  It must be acceptable, given our past years finishes at the end of the campaigns.

Whoever in control of the club's affairs must have gone bonkers, I tell you.  They bought the equally ungrateful Michael Owen, who earned a crazy sum of money sitting out most times at the sidelines, only to let him go for free to Manchester United (of all clubs!), for nothing.

The reason they gave (a big fat lie!  It's a baseless excuse!) was that Chris is inexperienced and they want to bring someone more experienced in.  Shouldn't they have done that in the first place?  When we were fighting to avoid the drop two seasons ago?  They brought in Alan Shearer, a man with no qualification to manage!  And they appointed Chris when no one wanted to take the helm of the sunken ship!  Now they let him go when they think they have turned the tide?  They even had the cheek to let the late Sir Bobby Robson and Kevin Keegan, people men with the fans, go!

Chris is one of the more well-liked and well-received men in football nowadays.  Experienced coach, humble footballer with no bad press, even at this moment - no bitching!  The players at the club are working for him!

I cannot bear to look on.  Who will they bring in now?  Martin Jol - the man who failed at Tottenham?  Gasp.  I think I will quit watching footie soon.  Maybe American Football has more logical beings.

Maximise your leave in 2011!

I have seen a couple of articles like this one before published.  You have twenty-over days of leave to take next year and your are in need of a good rest in blocks.  When do you apply if you need to forecast it early?  Let us work in a scenario that you want at least a four-day break each time, supposing you work on a five-day work-week.

New Year's Day (1 January) already falls on a Saturday.  If where you work grants the following Monday as an off-in-lieu for New Year's Day, you can try applying for leave on 4 January, Tuesday (1 day applied).  Lunar New Year falls on 3 and 4 February (Thu and Fri).  That represents a block of four days off on its own!

March sees no break and we will have to wait for 22 April for Good Friday.  You will have to take leave on 21 or 25 to get your four days' rest.  May Day or Labour Day falls on a Sunday and you should get 2 May (Monday) off.  Apply for leave on 29 April (Friday) or e May (Tuesday) to get your four-day break!  (2 days applied)

This is a must: Vesak Day (17 May) falls on a Tuesday.  Take leave on the previous day and take a rest!  (3 days applied)  Enjoy these breaks as the next few months spell doom and gloom - no holidays!  This is time to get some serious work done as you cannot leave the office.

The next holidays are National Day and Hari Raya Puasa (30 August) on Tuesdays.  Again, get Mondays on leave (5 days applied).  There is no public holiday in September and we will have to wait until late October to get some respite.  Deepavali (26 October) is on a Wednesday and I reckon it is a well-deserved time to take two days' leave here, either before (on 24 and 25) or after (on 27 and 28) to get a long five-day break (7 days applied).  Or if you are badly in need of a break to coach your children in their final year examinations just around the corner that time, take all four days' leave and you have a good eight days' time (9 days applied)!

Hari Raya Haji (6 November) falls on a Sunday and the following Monday is a public holiday.  Thus, take leave on 4 (Friday) or 8 November to get your rest (10 days applied).  Finally, Christmas Day falls on a Sunday and you can be adventurous to take a trip during the year end - take leave on 26 to 30 Dec (Monday to Friday) and you can sail into 2012 recharged (15 days applied)!

There, and you have a few days' leave left, in case you have any ad-hoc or urgent events along the year to attend to!

Who is your hero?

"Who is my hero?  I don't have a hero," Jojo frowned.  Jojo?  Yes, the clown.  You see, I was just watching Playhouse Disney with my three precious darlings.  It was "Jojo's Circus" and it happened to ask the students to present in class the next day who their favourite hero was.  "What is a hero?" Felix asked aloud, adoring eyes blinked in amazement.  Oh, who is MY hero?

First, what is a hero?  What does he / she do?  A hero can be a person from the past or present.  He / she is probably a person who attains an achievement of some sort, benefitting self and/or public.  It could be in the arena of the battlefield, sports, politics, etc.  I can rattle off many names: Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Troy, Napoleon, Michael Jordan, Pele, Maradona, Beckham, Rooney, Washington, Gandhi, MM Lee, etc., just to name a few.

Who is my hero?  Who has achieved so much in his / her time that has left his / her mark in society?  Whose influence has been so great?  Sure, there have been so many sporting heroes who have influenced my younger days then, when I was a very active teenager who spent much of my time in the field or the courts, whom I had imitated their plays and styles in my games and moves.  Some many whom I had dreamt about how good it was to follow their footsteps to be in bright lights...

Or perhaps it is someone who persevered against all odds.  Or someone who touched many lives.  Or...  It need not be someone famous, right?

Too many different types of heroes!  Who is my hero?  Or who is YOUR hero?