Babylicious

2nd Pregnancy: 8th Visit to the Doctor

Shen-Li — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:40:49 +0000

I had my eighth visit to Dr Wong on Friday. Vital statistics were good: Blood pressure 110/70 Urine clear Weight gained was not so good – 3.5kgs since the last appointment. Gosh I wonder how that happened? *eyes wide with innocence* Seriously though, I did think I was relatively well-behaved. Baby’s weight: 3.4kg Ironically, Dr Wong’s palpation of my stomach [...]

Chocolate Cure for Suppressing Coughs During Pregnancy

Shen-Li — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:50:50 +0000

I’ve been down and out lately. It appears the nasal congestion I have been experiencing lately isn’t due to my sinuses but a little bug that Gavin picked up from school and passed on to me. It became evident when it spread to my throat. I’ve been surviving with the nasal congestion without having to take [...]

Are Praise and Punishment a Sign of Conditional Love?

Shen-Li — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:41:10 +0000

I think it goes without saying that every parent (at least most of us) love our children “unconditionally”. In fact, this belief has been so completely accepted in my own mind that I never even considered it a possibility that my actions might communicate something different. That is, until a friend shared with me a [...]

Toddler Behaviour: Devious Little Minds

Shen-Li — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:19:02 +0000

I have always wanted Gavin to learn how to think outside the box. I believe it is important that he learns how to deal with problems creatively and have always encouraged him to try to solve a problem even if he cannot find a solution immediately. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work. More often than not, [...]

Toddler Discipline: Kill ‘Em with Kindness

Shen-Li — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:10:55 +0000

Here’s a tip I recently discovered… Actually, it’s not really a new trick. In fact, it’s an old trick I’m sure many of us have pulled in the office to deal with those difficult colleagues who are nasty to us. The funny thing is, it works with children, too. Or rather, it worked with Gavin… They [...]

How to Negate the Negative Effects of Preschool – Part 5

Shen-Li — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:23:10 +0000

See the previous post on this topic. Read this topic from the start. And now, the continuation… 8. Don’t offer rewards for positive social behaviour There is a more thorough article on the negative effects of offering rewards for positive social behaviour on Parenting Science which you can read about in depth. In short, it basically says: empathy [...]

Toddler Development: Learning Through Example

Shen-Li — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:13:56 +0000

I’ve always made it clear that I am anti-corporal punishment. If you read my post on the topic, you will understand the reasons why I am against it. Lately, I have discovered one more reason to avoid using physical punishment for my children. Monkey See Monkey Do Well, in this case, it was more like “monkey hear, [...]

Nurture Shock: Chapter 3 – Why White Parents Don’t Talk about Race

Shen-Li — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:13:28 +0000

I found this particular chapter from Nurture Shock particularly enlightening. We’ve never had any issues with Gavin reacting to the colour of an individual’s skin until he started going to school. I thought it quite odd because we’ve always tried to be very careful about things we say regarding race in front of Gavin. It [...]

Digital Cameras for Children

Shen-Li — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:46:33 +0000

I’ve been considering getting Gavin a camera because he always wants mine whenever I take it out to take photos. He’s also been taking a lot of self-portraits using my mobile phone camera. Although I am keen to encourage his new-found interest, I’m afraid I get worried he’ll press the delete button or drop the [...]

Toddler Discipline: The Power of Firm Love

Shen-Li — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:41:22 +0000

In the book “The Complete Secrets of Happy Children“, Steve Biddulph talked about the importance of “firm love”. In essence, firm love is basically parenting with set rules and structure. It was found that children whose parents provided firm love were generally better behaved than parents who were permissive with their children. Biddulph explains that children [...]