I'm a full-time mummy

Years ago, I used to think that life is not fair and wondered why other people get to have this and that... Until one day I realized, oh well, sometimes you've gotta look at the other person's perspective and you've gotta also look at the bigger picture. For example:

* It's not fair that I don't get to continue my studies, I mean I only had 1 year Diploma in IT... but before I quit my IT job in June 2009, I know I earned more than my friends who went overseas, got degree, got Masters, etc etc...

* It's not fair that I have to work my way up with just 1 year Diploma in IT, but I realized now I get higher pay because I started working at a young age. Those years and years of experience is way much more valuable than a degree...

* It's not fair that my parents passed away (dad in April 2006, mum in Jan 2007) but I realized, God works in a mysterious way... I am comforted in knowing my parents accepted Jesus before they passed on.

The grass always look greener on the other side. How am I to know that maybe the other person is also envious and saying that it's not fair I get this and that? Right?

And, think about it... God gave us another day to live on this planet, no pain, no sickness, with loved ones around, what more could we ask for?

What more do you want?

Why must we be so greedy and keep wanting more?

Why can't we make do and be happy with what we are blessed with and stop saying it's not fair?

Look at the bigger picture and be contented and give thanks to what we are blessed with! I'm thankful for my health, my hubby's health, my family's health, and oh yes, thankful I have a family of my own!

What are you thankful for today?

** Pst: Btw, that's the Nissan LEAF car we were posing next to. I am also thankful we get to test drive the car for 7 weeks!

I have no idea when or how this Oppa Gangnam craze started but just to be frank, we are not yet affected by this craze.

Sure, 1 month ago a nephew of ours was playing the song on his iPad and busy memorising and singing along to the chorus of the song. I just tuned out of the song before I requested our nephew to please not play this song as I do not want Benjamin and Alyson to be affected by it. Nope, nephew continues singing along.

I then pulled my boy away somewhere else and tried my best to distract him from sitting next to his cousin brother. It works and I'm glad.

Again, apart from that brief moment of listening to our nephew singing along to the chorus (the Oppa Gangnam style line), we are still pure from this hahaha...

I also skipped and scrolled away when I see friends posting about the latest Gangnam video clips on Facebook. Not interested at all. Really.

Hubby said that the music video is not suitable for children to be watching. I don't know, I have never watch it at all. I just want to say 'Op-Pa-leaseeeeeeee go away!'

What do you think of this craze?

Yesterday, I was watching my kids play in their water pool at our balcony when I saw my 3.5 years old boy started building things with his Mega Bloks.

Me: "Wow! Ben, what are you making?"
Ben: "I'm making Jesus!"

I was stunned and looked again at the Mega Bloks that he made and yes, it does looks like a statue and upon further asking ("What do you mean Jesus?"),

Ben: "This is the statue on the mountain".

Which reminded me of our homeschooling the day before when I let him spun his globe toy and his index finger landed on Brazil and I showed him a Youtube video of Brazil National Geographic Traveler which features Christ the Redeemer amongst many of its famous landmarks and places of interests.

The idea to do this just came to my mind the moment I woke up yesterday. I was thinking how to make things interesting, to teach something different, change a little method of teaching to make things fun. So I thought of letting my boy spins his globe toy, let him choose a country where his finger landed on and we go from there. I repeated to him the country name, getting him to repeat after me too, 'Bah-bah-bah, Brazil!' (also teaching phonics) then I tested him again by spinning the globe toy and asking him to pinpoint Brazil again to me and he got it. (He still gets it 2 days later!)

Then I go to my laptop, typed 'Brazil National Geography' (my preferance, somehow I think videos from National Geography will be educational and safer without any weird/sudden surprises in the clips etc. Then I got my boy to sit next to me with my girl in her playplen right next to our chair and we watched the video clip together.

I explained to Benjamin what is happening, what are the buildings and objects shown. Even tried to bring in other references when we saw similar scenes such as the Carnival in Brazil ('Remember the Rio show, there is carnival in the show, this is the carnival!')

Just a simple 5 minutes plus video and casual conversations with my 3.5 years old boy about the highlights and famous places in a country. Never did I expect these things will sink into his heart and mind.

Of course, I never think that these topics are too complex for my boy to understand. Like I mentioned before in one of my homeschooling post, I teach and explain whenever the opportunities arises.

So, yeah, what I'm trying to say in this post is,

When it comes to homeschooling,

don't restrict yourself or your child!

Just because you think the subject is too complex,

don't just give up or avoid teaching it!

Complex for you doesn't mean your child will not understand!

Just my 2 cents... That's all the updates I can share for now, feel free to ask and share if you have feedback!