A peek into the after work hours of a FTWM..

Are you a mom-to-be? Or perhaps you want to know more on how working mums cope with their families after work?

If you are a little interested to know the roles of a FTWM * (acronym for Full Time Working Mum), here will be a small snippet of my version. You might have probably seen a similar one that I had wrote in 2012 and 2013 and it is amazing how much things have changed since then as we are expecting our #3 to arrive in November later this year.

So here is the typical weekday after work routines, tips and tricks of my role as a FTWM.

I am very blessed as this time round, my hub's work schedule allows him to send me and Dora to and fro school which really makes my shuttling with a toddler much easier. A normal day will be us setting off from home at about 745am and reaching home will be around 630pm. Thank God for workplaces near home.

After a good hot shower and a dinner prepared by my helper, here are the night routines that I will have with the children. Thus the quality time will formally start from 8pm to 9-930pm.

TIP #1: Always encourage bonding among the siblings

Do allow the children play together but of course, we can always join in the fun with them. Weekdays nights are usually gadget free, except for Fridays nights.

Dora in Isa's arms. I was asking if he could still carry Meimei and he said he would love to try (this overweight) lil girl.

Such precious moments are meant to be kept.

TIP #2: Break from routines once in a while 

This was a thursday night when we decided to give the helper a break as Isa needs a hair cut so here we are at the mall. A short visit to the library makes the lil man really happy.

waiting for his haircut after borrowing books from the library.

another night when we shopped for groceries that were running low.

TIP #3: Be organised and delegate your duties

• As Isa is being taken care of my helper during the day time, I will set aside some work to be done by him after school so this routine not only help to remind him that he has work but it had also helped him to maintain his own discipline in his work. To be frank, I do check his school bag on a daily basis but I dont micro manage him as I feel self discipline from a young age goes a long way.

His random assessment books on the study table.

The schedule that I will write on every Friday/Saturday night to prepare Isa for the coming week.

• Another person that I am very thankful for is actually my very good helper. She has been with us for 2 years for now and we are only more than happy that she accepts our offer of a new contract. She is just my right hand woman at home. Chores and such are no longer a worry so long as she is around and the children love her so much. She made me realized that helpers are like God's version of sending angels into our lives. She may be imperfect but guess we learn so much with her along the way in our lives too.

Our auntie is very camera shy and it is no easy to capture a shot of her.

This was taken earlier this Feb when it was her birthday.

TIP #4: Personal time is very important

An easy night would be the children sleeping by 9pm. On great days like that, I can always choose to sleep soon right after them, or sometimes doze off before them, or even choose to turn on the computer to blog away. The former choice is definitely the favourable for now as I think I need lots and lots of sleep. Else I will always chat away with ah lao once the children are settle down. Dont ever forget about coupletime. Though it may seemed a little different after 2 children, but I never forget to spend quality time with my big baby.

This is so much about my typical weekdays routines and hope some of the tips can help you.

Tomorrow we are happy to have Susan from http://www.ajugglingmom.com

Susan is full-time working mum who blogs at ajugglingmom.com. As a FTWM, there are never enough hours in a day for Susan, so she's always doing a juggling act between the family and work being a nurturing mum, loving wife and a career woman which is the inspiration behind her blog name, A Juggling Mom. 

Her blog documents her journey and adventures as a mother to a pre-schooler and she hopes to share her story and resources on how mums can lead a balanced life to be happy, healthy and fulfilled mums.

This post is part of a blog train hosted by Christy from Kids 'R' Simple on "A Peek into the After Work Hours of a FTWM". Read about how 22 FTWMs from Singapore Mom Bloggers handle their kids and household everyday from 1 June to 22 June. The aim is to give other working mums motivation, ideas and support to deal with the everyday demands of juggling work and family while keeping sane. We will be happy to hear your story, tips and even an encouraging word will make our day! Share your thoughts in the comments!

My collection of love..

Everyone definitely has a collection of something or another. This is mine, a reduced version compared to the previous. 

This is the fridge which we had been using for the past 7 years. It had sort of retired as we are using the one in the rental apartment so Mr Old Fridge is just collecting dust. But it is how strange we only want to put magnets on this redundant guy in the kitchen and not the latter.

Perhaps it helps us to relive our memories better this way.

Linking up with Justina's "A look on my..."

and with Ai's WW

A ideal and typical Saturday..

About a year ago, SMB mummies were linked up to do a simple show case of our daily lives. And now it is back on a BIGGER and better scale! Ok mayb i exaggerate a lil.

Anyway if you were interested to see what went on in my typical daily life back then in 2012, it is here.

This year, I opt to share with you what I do on a typical weekend! A typical ideal Saturday to be more specific.

Kids getting geared up for a grocery shopping session on a Saturday.

This is only made possible when I am not working else my Ray papa will doing the groceries alone. Such a Mr Nice I know. 

When we arrived, it was almost lunch so keeping our tummies filled was very important. The reason why we arrived so late as we had to wait for this lil lady boss to take a long morning nap lest she being cranky in the mid of the day.

"A hungry baby is a angry baby" no?

Supermarket attack!

We will usually go to a hypermart once a month or whenever we bring the duo along. The luxury of having big space and air conditioning is such a plus point for us.

Dora with her found fave. 

Don't ask me when and how she started to think that anything related to girlie are interesting to her. Sofia the First, Ariel, Rapunzel from Tangled, just to name a few. They ALL keep her mesmerised. 

Non mobile kiddy rides can keep the children happy.

I like bringing my children to supermarket trips.

Mainly because we can get to spend time together. Also they always get to learn new things.

Here Dora was holding on a bunch of fake grapes. They were placed on top of a wine barrel. Thank goodness she didnt bite anything off. Isa explored this same bunch of grapes and said they were "fake" as there were wires in them. 

Good observation!

Dora can usually relatively stay put in the trolley for a while say 20-30 minutes. Well it also depends on who is pushing her and what are the things that are on display that can attract her.

While Ray papa and the duo were watching a Barney on the television, I quickly zipped off to grab some items that are on my shopping list. Talk about effectiveness huh.

Here, we went to the first floor of the supermarket. This is one of Isa's favourite hangout. The air is super cool and there are live seafood for them to look at!

Lesson of the day: The man who was in charge of the live seafood was a very patient man. I didn't dare to take his picture as a matter of courtesy. He was hanging out there managing his prawn tank then he suddenly threw a couple of dead prawns into the lobster tank.

Then we moved on to the fruits section.

Argh. I spotted a watermelon with oozing bubbles.

Anyone wanna help me explain why there could be bubbles oozing out from the fruit?

By the way, the bubbles were oozing from the mini watermelons.

Left hand side: normal size watermelons

Right hand side: mini watermelons.

My mr poser.

Total damage after 2 hours of shopping: 

damage was approx $250

gulps.

Post dinner activity.

Something that doesnt cost much yet it bring so much joy.

And when the kiddos are asleep, I will check on their bags for letters from school and such.

Blogging starts for me in the wee hours.

Is your lifestyle similar to mine? :)

Linking up with Adora's

Registration has been done.. for Primary School 2014

Many may ask, why this school?

• the recommendation from my secondary school teacher. He was the one who told me this school focuses alot on project style learning. A teacher recommending the school. Cannot be that bad right? .
• then I knew of some parents whose children were attending this school also have positive feedback about the school's team of teachers
• I prefer a middle range school so that Isa would enjoy learning and have a good memory of his primary school. In another words, I will not be too stressful guiding him in his work too. 

So the choice was made.
40 voluntary hours make this day a very long awaited one.

Then we also went for the Open House on 13 July.

 

A goodie bag?

The performance by the children.

Isa with Z

Someone whom he can look up to.

A typical size classroom for the primary 1s.

Vision.

A showcase of the harmonica group.

Pretty impressive I must say.

The layout of the different exhibitions for the Open House.

Then came the day of registration, 

a day when I was about to sign on the line.. 

Wait a minute.

Photo credits

You mean this little fellow is going to formal primary school next year?

Hmm.. 

I need a tissue please.

I can expect lots more work to be done.

Sniff.

Linking up with Jennifer's

Making of frittata..

Need ideas to fix a quick, easy and healthy meal?

All you need is ..

Ready to eat in 30 minutes 

Preparation time: 

10-15 minutes depending on how fast is your cutting skills.

5 minutes to saute the ingredients 

15 minutes in the oven

You need:

1. Eggs
2. Potatoes
3. Tomatoes
4. Onion
5. Mushrooms*

*changeable items: You can replace this item with fish, prawns, chicken etc.

My chopped potatoes and onions. I merely chopped the mushrooms into halves or thirds.

My healthy marinates.

I used (from LtoR) paprika, cayenne, rosemary and garlic powder. 

Kindly note paparika and rosemary are more spicy in taste.

Browned a little garlic before the potatoes, onion and mushrooms get sautéed. 

My regular guy who helped in beating the eggs.

I added a little liquid aminos to the eggs as well.

Muffins tray are useful.

I turned the oven settings to about 190'C

 

photo credits: Makan Musings

Pour the beaten eggs and sautéed ingredients into the muffin trays.

15 minutes later.

photo credits: Makan Musings

Easy as it looks!

How can you resist something that is so delish!

{Review} The Humble Loaf..

Got invited by a new friend of mine to this nice little cosy cafe called 
The Humble Loaf (THL)

Tucked in a unnoticed corner of the basement in Katong Shopping Centre, it is indeed standing at a very secluded location. But boy, the food there just blew my mouth mind off.

What greets you behind the glass cabinet are all baked fresh daily.

"We may not be a full-scale bakery. However, we hand-make(hand-mixed too!) our breads everyday(from scratch!) to produce good loaves of wholesome bread that we use for our sandwiches and and for your daily use. They have no preservatives, no bread improver, no fat and no sugar. There are made with unbleached flours, rye and whole wheat and baked in two small-sized modified ovens. We hope that you will enjoy our bread as much as we do. Thank you all very much for your support thus far, we will continue to do our very best to make better food."
Source: THL's facebook fanpage.

Have I got your tastebud tingling yet? Let's go.

For a start and it is a must to try:

Not-so-humble-eggs

 Topped with pepper, olives crumbles, celery, thin slices of ham then dressed with olive oil.

What else can you ask for?

 

Isa was actually wolfing down the eggs, oblivious to me taking pictures of him.

His action definitely speaks louder than my words.

Can we have MORE please? :)

Latte

I love my coffee with milk. So this little gesture actually made my day.

Kick-ass strength to perk me up for the afternoon.

Beef pastrami sandwich.

Fresh nicely sliced beef was placed in between 2 slices of freshly baked multigrain bread, accompanied with sweet tasting lettuce with a special sauce.

Juicy and succulent with a sweet after taste.

Croque Monsieur

Ham and cheese on a thinly sliced bread that was flame grilled to perfection.

It was done with such merticulous effort. 

This little fellow caught me by surprise.

It was that nice that it went all straight to my stomach in minutes.

Close up on how it is being done.

 

Very impressive.

 

Someone just decided to goof around a little further into the cafe.

Banana Castella

This little handwritten sign just caught my eye.

Photo credits from: Makanmusings

This sponge cake has got both fluffiness and fragrance both locked in it.

Goes well with my good coffee.

What a nice, quaint setting, isn't it?

The THL head and his team. He is also known as the Bread Whisperer*.

How apt.

*Source: THL's official website.

Linking up with Jennifer's

Disclamier: This is NOT a sponsored post. All opinions expressed are of my own. 

All pictures without watermark are credited to THL's facebook fanpage.

Thank you THL for the hospitality.

You can also choose to follow them at twitter (@thehumbleloaf) or their instagram

for the latest updates on new items on their menu and opening hours