Excerpts from "The Highly Sensitive Child"

I have not finished the book. Hopefully I'll do soon and still find time to finish "Unconditional Parenting" by Alfie Kohn before I have to return them to the library. I had read excerpts of the latter, and without a doubt, it's going to be an interesting read. Read excerpts of it here.

Anyway, my previous post on HSC has got quite a few mummies interested. Most found the entry insightful. Mummies, go borrow the book yourself lah, don't be lazy!!! Haha. But meanwhile, I'm happy to type out some paragraphs which I find particularly interesting or useful. Some are rephrased.
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"... I was able to create a long questionnaire about it (details of sensitivity), and later a shorter one, and have since given it to thousands of individuals. The 20% or so who are highly sensitive usually immediately grasp the concept as describing them. The nonsensitive 80% or so truly do not 'get it' and some answer 'no' to every item. I found the same results through a random phone survey. Sensitive people are really different."
"... the research is now clear that parenting does matterm and much more, in raising children like HSCs, whose temperaments are at the extreme end of normal."

The 6 most common problems:

1. Awareness of subtleties

In particular, HSCs notice when the smallest thing is not to their liking. But 'little' is in the eyes of the beholder. What seems neat, comfortable, or scent-free to one person is dirty, miserable and reeking to another. Therefore, HSCs often appear to be more 'fussy' and complains more. However, not all HSCs notice subtleties. There are a few who seem fairly oblivious, being more preoccupied with their inner world. Or they may be more bothered by intensity - loud noise, bright lights, or spicy foods. Or they may only notice subtleties in one area. But with HSCs, it's bound to come up somewhere.

2. Being easily stimulated and overaroused

The more stimulated, the more the body becomes aroused to deal with it. Too little stimulation, we're bored and restless. Too much and we are uncomfortable, rattled. We try to calm down, but if we can't, we perform poorly at whatever task we're doing, when we're perfectly capable of doing it.
HSCs will have areas in which overarousal causes great difficulties. These are usually activities in which, early on, they have had a failure or imagined they would have one.The next time they try they are more aroused and anxious and so do worse. But HSCs are usually less easily bored and they are more caring, involved performers in situations when others might not make an effort.

3. Deep inner reactions

Because HSCs process everything more fully, they also have stronger emotional reactions. The more the a new emotional situatuon is experienced and its full implications and consequences imagined, the more impact it will have. HSCs might repress their feelings if they seem unacceptable. Even when the emotions are not worrisome, HSCs may not show their tumultous inner lives to the rest of the world. The introverts (70%) will often keep it all inside.
HSCs are often even more distressed than other children by unfairness, conflict, or suffering. They tend to foresee dire consequences.
Some HSCs are able to develop strong regulation of their own emotions, perhaps even too strong. Usually nothing needs to be said to teach an HSC to control her emotions. She senses what is wanted.

4. Awareness of others' feelings

For better or worse, HSCs are going to be exquisitely attuned to those who take care of them.
As a result of this awareness of others, an HSC may decide to put the needs of others first to spare them (and the HSC) emotional pain. This is usually not conscious and the compliance may only happen with some people. When your child is choosing to be a doormat, it is probably because she finds it easier than feeling the others' pain or burning need, or the threat of the other's anger or judgement.

5. Caution before proceeding in new, possible dangerous situations

Because HSCs see so much in every situation, they will have some aspects to notice even in a familiar one. Therefore, an entirely new situation has to be well processed before an HSC enters it. This can be frustrating for nonsensitive parents especially, for whom a party is just a party, or the ocean is just the ocean - something kids are supposed to love and dive right into. But their HSC wants to check it out, and if forced to proceed, may protest, not enjoy it or reject this 'pleasure' altogether.
Yet, HSCs are not likely to fall from trees, get lost, be hit by a car, try smoking, or be abducted or misused by a disturbed adult. You warn them of the dangers and they check every unfamiliar situation to see if those dangers are present. (this explains why we only needed to tell Mandy once or twice what's dangerous in the household, what cannot be touched and done and she'd never do it again. Yes, even when she was just an infant. BUT for Barry, we can be telling him the same thing everyday for like one year? And he still doesn't get it!)
But you also don't want your HSC to miss out on interesting new experiences.

6. Being different - it attracts attention

It seems to be a human fact that when we meet someone different, especially a member of a minority group (and sensitive people are in the minority. 15-20% of the population), we immediately decide if they are superior or inferior. This is what any child who seems 'different' must face. Unless your child becomes very good at hiding her differences.
Some people will think your child's differences are wonderful. From these people, your child will gain the self-esteem she'll need when meeting up with some other people, the majority in our culture who are less impressed with sensitivity.

There are pointers to the above problems, of course, but I'm too lazy to type out. Ha. If you are interested in any of them, let me know... Kei will provide. Haha. See how lah.

The joys that only parents of HSCs know

- By providing the understanding and help your child needs, you will be deeply appreciated by your HSC. You might even be promoted as a saint among other parents. As you deal with the tough problems, you and your child can have moments of deep mutual appreciation.

- Your child will make you more aware of everything, introducing you to beauty, nuances, social subtleties, and questions about life that you would not otherwise stop to consider.

- The two of you will connect in a deeper way.

- You will see your HSC grow up capable of amazing depths of feelings and of pleasure from the full range of beauty to be known in the outer and inner worlds.

- You will see your well-raised HSC make an exceptional contribution to the world. (eh, this one doesn't only apply yo HSC ba.)

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Ok lah, I hope these helped. It sure enlightened me a lot. And I see so much of Mandy in this book. Heh. By the way, today was a better day for me. Thank you, to all of you who gave encouragement. :)

Rock star and funny faces

This video was taken some months back.

Remember the guitar she made for her 'g' lessons? There was a period when she would ask to play the guitar whenever she hears a guitar lick. That particular day, we were listening to.... Skid Row I think... She went "WOAH! I want my GUITARRR!!!!" ANd we captured the rest on video. :)



This is what we like to do with Barry these days

The cringing of his nose wasn't so obvious here and he refused to do his funny face. He came up with that face himself one fine day. Haha. Hope I''ll be able to capture it another time. 

Mandy imitates

Frown is the original though. Heh.

Alritey, gotta go pacify the boy and go cook liao!

Please don't rain tomorrow!

p/s: Hubby said we were listening to Monte Montgomery. Anyhow, I think most of you don't know (and don't care) who they are. Haha.

Thinking out loud

As in, typing out my thoughts. I need to do something to straighten them out and since there's nobody to talk to at this hour, and I'm not sure if there's anybody I should talk about this to anyway... I'll use this blog as my avenue.

There's something wrong these days. I can feel it in the family dynamics. Mandy's sensitivity went a few notches higher. Barry's screams and wails get on everybody's nerves. I just don't feel like I can get through the day sometimes.

And the night? Why all that tension? All that neediness? Did I do something wrong by trying to empathise with my girl and not turn her into a nervous wreck the next day? Should I be more autocratic? That usually seem to result in her being more clingy and insecure. Secure is important. But how much should I give in? What's reasonable? I don't seem to know anymore.

Am I neglecting the boy? He seems broody these days. He seems to understand now that, the world doesn't revolve around him, most of the time. He seems to be getting a bit resentful. Probably just frustrated. But I know never to give in to tantrums. Am I saying too many NOs? How many variations can there be to a 'no' anyway? Explain the consequences and not use 'no' or 'cannot'? I do that the whole day. Let him suffer the consequences? You bet. Is letting the huge bicycle fall on him enough? Did he stop pushing it? You bet not.

He wants me. She wants me. The kitchen wants me. The living room wants me. Thankfully though, the kids seem to get it that I'm usually busy and will both prefer hubby's company when he gets home. And then I start worrying about how much hubby can take.

The hardest thing is to love them so much, and so feel for them so much. I try to put myself in Mandy's shoes when she whines for nothing (obviously there's something, THINK THINK!); I try to see the world through Barry's eyes when he stretches his arms out, crying for me but I have to quickly bring Mandy to the toilet to poo (she's so not independent these days. Ha.); I try to see things from hubby's perspective, he has a day job, his kids love and want his attention, he has work to do and I cannot be sure when he's willing to or can spend time with them and when he's not....

Then, in whatever short time I have, I try to make the right decisions, do the right thing, which will hopefully benefit everyone and not make anyone feel left out. Of course, that's the ideal. Someone will have to be left out sometimes. So, I try my best to be fair and cater to everybody's needs. It can really get pretty exhausting. But then I remember, it's exhausting for hubby and sometimes, the kids too.

Then I worry that I will push myself too hard again. If I let my body break down like the last time again, I won't be able to do a single thing already. What's the use of that?  But when you're a caregiver to young children, you don't throw down your work and declare yourself a break. You just don't. And I'm not talking about unnecessary extra work. It's all the basic, well-being stuff ONLY. Organise! Prioritise! I have so much to learn. I wish I had more time to learn them. Haiz.

But those are not that's troubling me. Ah, why did I digress..... It's how the kids are feeling. Are they emotionally secure? Do they feel enough love? Do they take it for granted? Do they manipulate it?

Parenting just got so much harder.

Now, I'm sitting here, thinking how I'm going get through the night. (Mandy is still waiting for me to sleep with her. I bet she'll wake a few times, crying for me even though I'll be right beside her). And what's going happen tomorrow? (After the little fiasco just now that involved Mandy yelling and banging on her door and some scolding and beatings on the palm from us, she might just become that nervous little wreck again tomorrow, crying and whimpering at every single little thing... Gee)

How? I only know I won't be able to cook lunch for Mandy and myself tomorrow. (remember to keep the chicken that you left out to thaw in the kitchen!)

And Barry's tantrums??? Argh....

*takes deep breaths.. in... out... in... out*

Actually, I know we'll just get past it. Everything passes right? In a month's time, I might totally forget about how frustrated and helpless I feel tonight. I know, intuitively, I'll know what to do. It might take some time. Some trial and error. And, arghhhh, the kids probably won't be scarred by you know, seeing their parents blow up once or twice.

I just want to feel better, to feel stronger, to be more positive. (somebody please help me with that. haha)

And so tomorrow comes. With some luck, it'll all go well. But realistically, I will still get my fair share of stress. But then, that's what life is about right?

Ok. I feel better already.

Time to go take over from hubby and be Mandy's bedside companion. I will remember to smile when I greet her good morning tomorrow. :)

Terrible 2s

He kicks

He screams

He wails

He rolls on the floor

He beats the floor with his palms

He flings whatever is on hand, and then grabs at whatever is within reach to fling again

Big fat drop of tears roll down his cheeks

Just because he wanted something and was denied.... Sometimes, we don't even know what started the tantrums at all.... Though he look damn funny. Because he looked so funny fussing, I don't get so riled up. Good for me, not so lucky for him as I might even be admiring his chubby little screwed up face when he
cries.

Eh... wait a minute. All these kickings and screamings... the back-and-forth wanting and rejecting. All these are way too familiar...

Aha!

I hereby announce Barry's terrible 2s has started! Congratulations to me.

Don't laugh Mandy. You didn't look any better then.

Where's J?

So, did Mandy do the jellyfish or not?

Haha. She did lah. But only the jellyfish. I already planned the lessons long time back but had no chance to execute. Sick, sick and sick.

Though we're all better now, I want to take my time to recover all my energy before throwing myself into more work. I still have the occasional headaches, giddiness and cough. I've picked up cooking (almost) daily again, been bringing them for walks again.... Slowly, slowly. More things will come.

Besides, these days, after breakfast, cleaning them up, brushing their teeth, changing their diapers, toilet training Barry, helping Mandy with her pee/poo business, wiping tables n floors, washing dishes, breaking up fights, feeding them medicine..... it'll already be 10am, Barry's naptime. Then I'll need to rush out the lunch.

Home learning? When?

My Highly Sensitive Child

This is it! For the longest time, I've been wondering why Mandy is so different from the other kids! Now I know! She IS different, I KNEW IT! And I'm really excited about it.

More about the HSC (highly sensitive child) later. Now, look at her just less than 2 weeks after consuming the TCM medication. Isn't she chubbier and rosier? Ah, she is so much jollier too. I am pleased. :)
So, how do I know she's HSC?

For starters, I'm very passionate about parenting and I love to read parenting books more than any other literature. Through chatting with the forum mummies, I've found Mandy to be very different from their kids.

You know how parents like to share a story about what their kids did, and the rest will go "Yah, mine also like that!" blah blah blah... Very often, when I tell them about Mandy's behaviour, they'll go "Why is she like that?" instead.

I've brought her myself from birth and no matter how many times people bring up the possibility of her having some problems, that her behaviour was somewhat abnormal or unhealthy etc (well-intentioned nevertheless), I have never for one moment, doubted that Mandy was a perfectly normal and an intelligent child. In fact, sometimes, I delight in the fact that she's not like the rest. Ha. I'm Ah Q, what to do?

So I've been looking for parenting books that will help me in understanding my girl more and hopefully guide me on being a better parent for her. Found "The Highly Sensitive Child" by Elaine N. Aron. And it's all clear to me now.

According to the book,

Highly sensitive individuals are those born with a tendency to notice more in their environment and deeply reflect on everything before acting as compared to those who notice less and act quickly and impulsively. As a result, sensitive people tend to be empathic, smart, intuitive, creative, careful and conscientious (they are aware of the effects of a misdeeds, and so are less likely to commit one). They are also more easily overwhelmed by 'high volume' or large quantities of input arriving at once. They try to avoid this, and thus seem to be shy or timid or "party poopers." When they cannot avoid overstimulation, they seem "easily upset" and "too sensitive".

So how could I be sure that Mandy is a HSC? Here's a checklist. If you answered TRUE to 13 or more statements, then your kid is probably highly sensitive.

My child:
	startles easily.
	complains about scratchy clothing, seams in socks, or labels against his/her skin.
	doesn't usually enjoy big surprises.
	learns better from a gentle correction than strong punishment.
	seems to read my mind.
	uses big words for his/her age.
	notices the slightest unusual odor.
	has a clever sense of humor.
	seems very intuitive.
	is hard to get to sleep after an exciting day.
	doesn't do well with big changes.
	wants to change clothes if wet or sandy.
	asks lots of questions.
	is a perfectionist.
	notices the distress of others.
	prefers quiet play.
	asks deep, thought-provoking questions.
	is very sensitive to pain.
	is bothered by noisy places.
	notices subtleties (something that's been moved, a change in a person's appearance, etc.)
	considers if it is safe before climbing high.
	performs best when strangers aren't present.
	feels things deeply.

Taken from this website, which is by the author of this book I'm reading.

18 statements are true for Mandy, and I suspect there could be up to 20, because after reading the book, I realised there might be times when I mistook real discomforts as attention seeking tactics. For example, when she complained (whole days!) about the rashes being painful or when she burst into tears when Barry suddenly hit his toy against the chair, LOUDLY. I always brushed them off as trivial."Ah, she's whining again..." I might have been terribly wrong. Awww....

This book is so enlightening and insightful. Now I know why Mandy

- will not say a word and lock (close the doors nia lah) herself in her room for 30min sometimes. She tells me she wants to read/play alone. Like a teenager huh, need her personal space?

- focus on colouring the whole morning, up to nearly 3 hrs. She won't want to do anything else and we'll have to pull her away from the table come mealtimes.

- hesitate when answering some of our questions when she can sense (accurately or not) that her answer is not the desired one. For example, if she thinks I've put in effort to bring her on a trip, when I asked if she enjoyed the trip, she wouldn't say 'no' even when she didn't. She would usually try to change the subject when faced with 'difficult' questions like these. I've always found this charateristic of hers odd. I mean, she's just a child, why think so much? And we have never chided her or shown any disappointment for giving the 'wrong' answer. Mind you, she's been that sensitive since as long ago as I could remember.

- can brood the whole day as if she's very troubled by something. She broods as young as 1+yo. I don't think a lot of kids brood or look troubled for long continuous stretches like these.

- panicks when we talk about her birthday celebration. She doesn't want a cake, doesn't want candles, doesn't want presents, doesn't want nice food... in short, she doesn't want to celebrate. Prompting further, she tells me she doesn't like so many people to look at her and to sing so loudly. Finally, with some gentle coaxing, she agreed to celebrate her birthday, but only if it's at home, and with 'papa, mama and didi only'. Oh, and popo also. :)

- took 8 long months to warm up to my mum. We visit her every week and after 8 months, she finally felt secure enough around my mum and did not resist my mum holding her. So far, the only people she feels really comfortable with are still only me, hubby, Barry and my mum.

- will wail and scream with so much intensity in her 1st year, after coming home from a long (3 hours will be considered very long for her) outing/gathering. Most kids don't seem so easily overstimulated.

- usually warms up when the outing/class/gathering is over. She was taking her time to process everything and make sure she was safe. Though her warming up time has been cut down quite a lot now. I'm of course very happy about that, because, or else, gatherings are really quite boring for her and me. I think the presence of Barry helps to ease her a lot.

- seems so easily shattered by some of my comments/responses to her. The book says a HSC will be 'excrutiatingly sensitive' to the main caregiver. This is a tough one for me. Really.

- is so SUPER WHINEY sometimes. I guess, she feels worse when I dismiss her discomforts as trivial and she gets more hurt by it, and consequently tries to cling on to me and also puts more pressure on herself to 'do the right thing'

Of course, she's also very persistent, very matured and in my opinion, has quite an extensive vocabulary. Also, she can catch past tense and plural pretty well. When she counts the puzzle pieces, she goes "One piece, two pieces, three pieces.."

She also says things like "Mandy wants to catch fish. That time, Mandy caught 3 fish!", "Papa bought the diapers. Mama and papa take turns to buy." So I know she can distinguish between past and present tense. She would even stop midway in her sentence to correct herself.

She also tries to use 'many' and 'much' in the correct way. She said, a long time back "See! Raining! So many rain. Uh oh. Rain cannot count. Should be so MUCH rain!"

I'm not sure how relevant this is to her being a HSC actually but I think it's her persistence to learn and her awareness of other peoples' speech that helped her.

Oh, there was this particular paragraph that I could so resonate with.

"Well, if he were my child, he'd eat what was set before him."

"Your daughter is so quiet - have you considered seeing a doctor about that?"

"He is so mature, so wise for his age. But he seems to think too much. Don't you worry that he isn't happy and more carefree?"

"In my kindergarten class, everyone participates in group time, but your son refuses. Is he this stubborn at home?"

Are these sort of comments familiar to you? If you've received such comments, it is almost surely a sign that you are a parent of a highly sensitive child.

Our first advice is not to believe people when they imply there's something wrong with your child, and do not let your child believe it either. Nor are the child's difference your fault.

You know what, I've heard those comments so many times, in almost the exact same words!!!! But I can say in all honesty, I've never stopped believing in Mandy, and I've never thought any lesser of her or be less proud of her. But I did have doubts on my own parenting skills. That's why I talk about her a lot, I consulted a lot o people and I read a lot of parenting books. Thank goodness I found this one.

I had to fight back my tears after reading this paragraph. I wanted to shout out "FINALLY! Someone understands Mandy!" Haha, a bit kua zhang I know.

It is challenging, being a parent o HSC. I think it's challenging being a HSC also lah. Poor Mandy. But it can be an advantage. She's not abnormal, just different. And how she turns out... well, a lot of it is up to me.

责任重大啊!

Random pictures and updates

It was almost 12noon, lunchtime for the kids! They were whining and fussing for FOOD! I had to blend a big bowl of steamed pumpkin (some for the boy's macaroni), chop the meat into small pieces, drain the macaroni and serve the dishes that are for Mandy and my lunch...

Meanwhile, Mandy was happily eating some of the freshly blended pumpkin puree.

"Poor little boy has nothing to eat!", I thought. I couldn't possibly let him self-feed the puree! YUCKS! What a mess it would be.

So....
Hearing the gigglings from the kitchen and how Mandy went "Ahhhhh. Didi ahhhhhh. Good job didi!" and the sound of Barry's kickings that I recognised as him being excited, all my apprehensions of entrusting her with the task disappeared. :)

"Mandy eat one mouth, then feed didi one mouth." She said to me proudly when I stepped out of the kitchen.

One of Barry's favourite food:

Baked salmon with mozzarella cheese and herbs
I added diced portebello mushrooms too. It's great that Barry is the opposite of Mandy when it comes to food. He is very adventurous (maybe too adventurous because he wants to eat anything that he thinks are edible.... like ants, insects, nails...but hey, I think he knows they are not edible. Geee.) and eats more.

Mandy would never accept herbs or seeds (e.g. sesame seeds) in her food but Barry gobbled down the salmon with basil and oregano.

Barry sleeps
Shanice, as you can see, your Polly serves our family well. It's Barry's favorite too. Ha.

He still sucks his thumb to sleep. But in the daytime, we will keep reminding him to take it out. He knows and will sometimes grin and pretend not to hear us. Other times, he will plop it out and clap for the job well done, just to plop it back into his mouth again. Haiz!

I have other updates but hubby is waiting for me to watch TV! Haha. Gotta relax a bit what.

And oh, I've recovered and can feel the energy coming back. The kids are much better too, though still coughing in their sleep. The TCM medicine works wonders on Mandy. She is eating like 3-4 times more than usual. Some lunches, I'd have to give her 4-5 servings! It's great really. :)

Exciting!

Last week, I received a comment on my blog, from Diana, inviting me and my family for an event. I was to email her for details. One thing led to another and finally, we got ourselves 4 free tickets for the Grand Premiere of IMAX - Under The Sea, at the Omnitheatre, Science Centre. SHIOK!

Of course, nothing comes totally free. So, I'm blogging about this event now. Which I would have done anyway. :)

Though most of The Wongs were sick that day (and still are :( ), we still trooped down to the theatre earlier than the rest of the guests. Ha. What better way to pass the time then fill our tummies?
Ah, don't be mistaken. He's not just eating his fingers. He's finished his dinner.

The reception.
I checked out Diana's blog previously *wink*, so I knew what she looked like. BUT I didn't expect such a young lady to already have 2 kids!
SHE has 2 kids. *gasp*

A rare smile from Mandy that night. She was so tired and slightly feverish.
The waiting area, filled up with guests....
and FOOD!!!!!
Too bad, my kids hate crowds and Mandy was terrified of the Morphis Movieride which roared and rumbled.

While waiting, we played with stuff from the goody bags.
While Jaime and her family were happily munching away on the finger food inside. *sulk* Yes, they were invited too! :)

This event was sponsored by Mead Johnson Nutrition (think Enfagrow milk powder?). In fact, Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN) has come up with a strategic collaboration with the Science Centre Singapore to further enhance learning for young children.

Here's the deal:

"With every purchase of Enfagrow A+/ Enfakid A+/ Enfaschool A+, customers will be rewarded with a complimentary ticket for one child into the Science Centre Singapore. Adults will also receive a discount voucher for entry into the Science Centre. In addition, the voucher includes discounts for other attractions such as Snow City and Omni Theatre. "

Since we all know how fast those tins of milk powder just disappear from the shelves, it shouldn't be too hard to get enough tickets/vouchers for a fun family outing! *wink*

Naturally, the general manager of MJN Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei made a speech before the show started. He talked about the goodness of their milk powder and how it maximises children's ability to learn more.

The event was also graced by Ms Grace Fu, (pun not intentional!) Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Education. Wow.

In case you've never been to the Omni Theatre, you can learn more about it from here.

The projector:
I think, even a wide angle lens would not be sufficient to capture the huge, dome-shaped screen!
Mandy was very anxiously looking forward to 'see fishes' but when the lights dimmed, she got scared. She startled everytime the creatures make sudden movements. She kept asking.. "Why no lights? Where are the lights? I want the lights.", "Why the show so long?", "Why got sound? Why the sound so loud?", "How come can move?" etc.

I guess at her age, it's natural to be wary of darkness and loudness and anything out of the ordinary for her. Oh well, but she did watch the whole show and is still talking about how funny the cuttlefish were. :)

(pictures from the film's official website)
She refers to the poster in the goody bag everyday and points out all the different creatures. When she comes to this....
she says: "This one sea dragon, not seahorse. How come mama say wrongly?"

Oops.

It's great that we were learning about jellyfish last week, so she could 'see' what she learnt.

(picture from http://kidstvmovies.about.com/od/underthesea3d/fr/undersea3dr.htm)
I found this scene about the the turtle eating the jellyfish mildly disturbing but the kids didn't seem to mind. These days, Mandy keeps rattling about how 'some turtles eat jellyfish. Some birds eat jellyfish too. Fishes don't eat jellyfish you know.' (I've since corrected her, that some fishes DO eat jellyfish. Didn't check the book. My bad. Hehe.) Talk about reinforcing what was learnt in books. :)

The boy, on the other hand, was munching on Gerber Stars, shaking his legs and pointing to the screen every now and then. And what did he do with the free posters? TEAR! But of course. *grin*

My favorite is the scene on the garden eels. Their synchronised movements. So cute.

All in all, I'm glad we got invited. Thank you! :)

Toddler chit chat

Haven't blogged in a while. I've been in a pretty bad shape (still not good but slowly recovering), so I had totally no energy to type even I had the spare time since my mum and mil had been coming over to help out with the kids and some chores. I'm very thankful.

Mandy's at the age when she talks non-stop about anything and everything. Yes, though you don't hear her voice much, she's pretty much a chatterbox at home, like most kids her age.

I, for one, love to chat with her. I don't find her constant questions and chattering a nuisance. It's her whines that I cannot stand. I'd very much rather she questions me incessantly than whine for a minute.

Here are 2 interesting conversations I had with her in the past few days. Had wanted to blog about them. Better do so before I forget. :)

Mandy: Mama, how come the eels must go inside the sand? How come?

Me: Erm. What do you think?

Mandy: I think the eels want to hide.

Me: Oh yes. Maybe they're hiding. But why must they hide?

Mandy: Erm.... I think.... Because they have no hands. No legs. They cannot move by themselves.
(Hubby thinks she meant that since (she thinks) the eels cannot move independently, they have to stay in the sand and not come out. The sand, being their home, their sanctuary.)

Me: Hmmmmmm...

Mandy: No toys outside.

Me: Huh? No toys outside where? The show?

Mandy: No. No toys outside for the eels to play.

Me: Oh? Do the eels like to play with toys?

Mandy: *laughs* Noooooooo!

Me: Then what do they like to do?

Mandy: Erm. They like to hide in sand.

Hahaha. It's kinda wu2 li3 tou2 but very interesting. :)
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Me: So long never eat popo's cooking hor? Do you like popo's or ma3 ma3's cooking?

Mandy: Popo

Me: Ah, but you like ma3 ma3's apple soup right?

Mandy: Yes. Mandy likes mama's cooking. *smiles sweetly*

Me: Awwww. Really? That's so nice. But mama hasn't cooked for so long cos mama sick sick. Mama has no energy.

Mandy: So mama go out and buy

Me: Yes. Does Mandy like mama to go out and buy or cook?

Mandy: Mama go out and buy

Me: *laughs* Outside food nicer is it?

Mandy: Erm. Mandy loves mama is it...

Me: Oh? Tell me. Why did you say you like mama to go out and buy the food?

Mandy: Cos mama sick sick. Mama no strength. *smiles lovingly*

Awwwwwwww..... Mandy so sayang me. * loves* The truth is, she eats more when I cook ok? Hehe.