PSLE advice..

Just another day of leave. 

Today I had to brave the heavy downpour to fetch her from school, we went for a quick lunch then head to KKH for her 6 monthly eye check up. And here is my not so little girl in her make shift raincoat. 

After seeing the orthoptist then the eye doctor, both of them gave praise for Dora's improvement for her eyeball control. Though squint is still present but it seemed like squint surgery is not longer needed! 

Small yay for the week! 

Eye appointment aside but I feel my children are amazing. I am sure your kids are too. Not that they study fantastic or what but they have indeed opened up my eyes to many other more necessary things in life. Sad to say, to many, academics expectation is still very much sought after. 

For me, I would not say I don't focus much on academic. If you know me, I do send my kids to enrichment classes too but I also focus very much on one other very important aspect of child rearing. 

Which is health, and this includes mental health. 

For the parents whose kids are braving thru the PSLE this year, trust me. Don't forget to celebrate the journey, the efforts and their willingness to share with you how they feel about the exams. Stretching them a little is fine as it will make them more resilience to handle stress from their co workers or even boss next time but don't ever forget to look into their emotion development. 

After each exam paper, don't be in a hurry to ask them "how's your paper?" Or “why you don’t know?” Or dwell if your child tell you he or she didn't do well. 

Rather you can redirect your focus to "ok, one down. 3 more to go" or “we are done with one”.

If you were to step back and look, these two questions meant the same thing. But the starting foot (question) is the determining factor that sets your child's mood. 

Maybe you don't think I have much experience handling PSLE as only my eldest went thru it. But I definitely have my fair share of handling children since 2003. 

Call it a mummy's instinct. Call it a teacher's gut. But PSLE is not everything, it is just the beginning of a windy road ahead. PSLE results will not determine your child, primary school education might mould your child's character but nobody will judge your child just because he or she score a mediocre range. 

Good luck too all the P sixers. 

When Mama Connie say you can do. It means "You can do it!"

He is who he is..

I would say he speaks, maybe not as much as he should or he would as depends on his mood. But the words that he utter.. are usually the classic or the darnest.

He may not be so academic driven, can't really read very well for his age but his very unique personality will usually leave a deep impression on you for he is really observant. He would nick pick and question me why I'm dressed such, too short no, colour ugly also no. And he would roll down my sleeve if he sees my rolled up sleeve.

Come meet him, my little oppa, aka the emperor (as his chinese name has a character 烨- look into Kangxi Emperor).

So today, he just hop on the bus and hogged this seat, gesturing me to go sit at the back. Me being the worrywart, asked ,"you sure?"
He continued to gesture me to go to the back.

I'm so not ready for you to be so independent lil I.

2020 April and onwards..

Been so so long since I pen anything down here.

For a record, 2020 started with a “Big Bang” as many countries got hit by Coronavirus (Covid-19) from December 2019. Singapore was not spare either but guess we were lucky to steal a movie and a staycay during the March school holiday at Festive Hotel. 

Then came the infamous circuit breaker bestowed to Singapore as most of us have to adhere to 56 days of school closure/WFH. Everybody became homebodies, like it or not. No visitation is allowed unless you are dropping some necessity items for your close/direct family members.

Cars were not zipping through town anymore, ERP was off for a record, public transport were labelled with stickers for passengers to adhere to safety distancing. If out, you have to wear a mask or you face a risk of being fine $300. 

Then school reopened on 2nd June 2020, with HBL kicking in for alternate levels reporting. We can visit but not more than 5 people from the same household. 

Retail and restaurant opened from 19 June 2020 with crowd no larger than 5 to be seated together. Masking on is still mandatory. We can also receive guests but not more than 5 in the house. 

Many regulations are still technically in place. Some people are worried, some people are just lax (wearing masks below their nose). I’m just becoming to getting used to be a homebody. I only dined out once, went to the mall because I need the washroom. Else I’m usually home with the kiddos.

We enjoy our time a lot at home, weekends are just meant for doing more school work, they having more access to screen time while I binge on watching my oppa. Ray papa says this seems like Australia retirement plans already. 

Then came the news of Paliament dissolving over the weekend and also came the polling date that gave my birthday a long weekend. Also came the news of a white candidate brought under the scrutiny of the public eyes then came another one, hopefully a more cohorent one.

What a happening year we have so far.

But in the midst of this chaos, I never forget to give thanks to the Lord, never forget to pray to him humbly and continue to serve Him with all my heart for I know what we are going through is according to His will. 

Another thankful moment that everyone in my family is doing good, my kids are healthy as we are bestow with such abundance of His love. 

Here is Lil I at school, drawing his version of the world.

What more can I ask for.

2020 March..

2020 didnt kick off quite nice so far. Coronavirus also know as #covid19 hit our shores as early as late January 2020.

We have been quite hiding at home since CNY period in fact. We were worried but did not panic. It is even more really scary to see how fear can consume one. Govt has been exercising many implementations, QO, SHN etc.

Today is 24 March 2020, even more additional implementations took place and all I can say, our daily routines are still good for now as govt focuses more on public management of crowd for now. So not looking forward to school closures really but it could be happening in a matter of time. Anyway in the meantime, take care everyone. Wash your hands more often, lessen on alcohol sanitizer as there was a report of someone had a third degree burn from lighting up the stove after she used a alcohol based sanitizer before she started cooking.

Covid19 is one thing, we still had to bring the kids out for the school holidays. We don't need a city shut down to tell us to contribute to our own economy right. So here we travelled to .. Sentosa for a 2D1N staycay at Festive Hotel.

Budget tourist on public transport. You will only see this in Singapore perhaps. And from home to the shores of Sentosa, we only took less than an hour.

Upon arrival, we deposited our luggage at the hotel concierge before heading over to have fun at Sky ride/Luge. Boy it was tough cos I was a scary cat and I had to tell Lil I that it is "very exciting" and we are like in the sky. Seriously I really try very hard not to look down. 

But the truth is.. one ride is really not enough.

After the ride at Luge, we had lunch and managed to check in around 3pm. Kids were still bursting with energy so we headed to the pool. Seems like most of the guests here are locals. Everyone seems to be especially nice and kind. I guess we all know that we are all going through a very tough period of this year indeed but we are all glad that we can still call this our home. #OneSingapore 

Day 2: we had to have our SOP breakfast at Slappy cakes after a staycay here in Sentosa.

Time was quite tight so we had to check out before heading to Trick Eye Museum.

And too many pictures to upload so simplied down to just one cute one.
And spot the clown. 

Happy moments always pass fast, dont they. Till the next staycay.

13 years of parenthood..

Isa turned 13 yesterday and this make him an official teenager. Praying for Isa to grow up to be a Godly man and journey his life with Him.

Thankful 2019..

1. Child first aid course over the weekends

2. Oven baked food 

3. My dad’s birthday 

4. Trip to Bangkok Zoo

5. Isa’s fever episode

6. Dora’s swim class

7. Isa’s swim competition 

8. Isa’s swim competition (again)

9. 2019 CNY

Regardless of all the good or bad, thankful and grateful for His provisions for the year. 

Bye bye Primary School..

Year 2014 P1 vs 2019 P6.

Blink blink and it’s fast forward 6 years.
From a cheeky little baby to a fine young man.
How much you have grown.
Pray for God to lead and journey with you in your this phase of your life.
Thank you for working hard and we hope you can get into your first choice of school.

Happy 5th birthday Lil I..

You are not that little anymore my baby. 

So happy that you are 5 years old but yet we can’t bear to see you grow so fast. 

How did the time fly past? Perhaps it didn’t fly at all, perhaps it zoomed. Perhaps time and tide really wait for no man. 

Mama is so proud of you that you are 5.

We love you so much. 

Hope you like the little party we has in school and the little macaron cake we has at home. 

Love 

Papa, mama, korkor and jiejie.

{Review} Herbal scalp treatments at Bee Choo Origin..

As a mother of three, I have had my bad days of hair fall. Balding spots, grey hair, dry ends, oily scalp.. You name it, I got them (almost) all. And to take into consideration that I am not someone who don my hair often, I always blame it on the hormones. But do you know hair scalp care requires more than just hormonal attention..

But recently I was very glad that I was invited to Bee Choo Origins for trial herbal scalp treatments! So if you want to know more information about the herbal scalp treatment, look no further.

So here are some information for you to know:

Bee Choo Origins provides herbal haircare solutions and high-quality products since 2000. With great expertise in scalp care, their founder started out in 2000 providing herbal haircare treatments for a handful of customers experiencing scalp issues. Over the years, customers had seen the effectiveness and satisfactory results in our Herbal Treatment and words began to spread. Today, they have set foot in more than 12 countries. At Bee Choo Origin, our Herbal Paste are freshly made with all natural herbs and ingredients. Our herbal treatment not only helps in maintaining a healthy scalp, it is also beneficial for people facing several scalp issues such as

Their specially formulated Herbal Paste helps to unclog pores, effectively removing residues on the scalp. It provides abundance of nutrients to tackle these issues while rebalancing its PH level so that our hair can grow in a nutrient-filled environment.

Talk about pores on the scalp. Here is a glimpse of my scalp on my first visit. Warning: this is not a very nice picture to share but I decided to show it so that you can have a better understanding of the importance of scalp structure.

Here is a glimpse of my scalp on my first visit. This is a micro scalp analysis in which you can see the condition of my scalp such as size of pores, hair strand count, oiliness area and etc.

A simple interpretation of what is being presented was:

1. oily residue on the scalp is visible
2. single, double or triple strand of hair can be seen growing from hair follicles
3. scalp skin is slight pink 
4. spacing between each follicle is quite spread out

And to give a simple explanation of the above points:

1. oil on scalp is normal but not good if its too much as too much oil might possibly clog up the follicles discouraging new hair growth
2. double or triple strands of hair growth from each hair follicle is always better than single or none
3. slightly pink scalp represent scalp skin might be sensitive
4. a healthy hair follicle should have even spacing between them

And me doing my treatment at Bee Cho Origin AMK Branch

All I took was about 1 hour and 30 min and you will be assured that your tresses will be don in 5 of their most premium herbal paste:

Ginseng (人参）:

• Anti-aging
• helps in new hair cell regeneration

Chuan Xiong （川芎）:

• strength hair follicles
• resistance to breakage

LingZhi: （灵芝）:

• reduces itchiness
• reduce risk of infection

Dang Gui: （当归）:

• regenerates scalp immunity

He Shou Wu （何首乌）:

• slow down grey hair reproduction
• helps restore hair pigmentation

Ah.. if you are an avid traveller like me and still want to maintain your tresses with these herbal goodness, do get this travel kit when you go for your treatment. My favourite one has to be the Naural Hair Tonic spray as it really helped my hair fall issue! 

I am very happy to receive a set as this is my must bring item to bring for my trips.

You will expect:

1. Purity Scalp Hair shampoo
2. Purity Scalp Hair conditioner
3. Natural Hair Tonic
4. Damaged hair rebuilder

Don't touch your hair anymore.Do call them up to book an appointment at  Bee Cho Origin for your next hair scalp analysis and treatment! Let your beauty starts from your scalp.

One last thing!
So much goodness and you are probably concerned about how much it cost?

Easy on the pocket and good for your scalp.

Here are details of the branch that I went:

Ang Mo Kio
Blk 443 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10
#01-1239 Singapore 560443.
Tel: (65) 6554 3003

If you need more info, please visit their website at
Bee Choo Origin

Acquiring the Mandarin language.. reading and writing part 1

First mama provide some guidance in the 田字格 with  highlighter, then I just guide him with the three strokes, and viola.. he can write the word quite independently. 

Writing Chinese words is not about repetition, children need to understand 字体结构. Which is why I highlight the box with yellow highlighter. 笔画 is very important for writing! You can start exposing your child to 笔画 from 3-4yrs old. Writing can start when they are ready.

Remember when it comes to learning Mandarin, 听说读写 is the key to learning.

And when it comes to pencil gripe, I suggest you can expose your child from 3-4 year old. But as all children develop differently, I also suggest you can also expose them to the following activities to improve on their fine motor skills so it can help them in pencil gripe later on.

Some of the many activities

1. Sensorial play with boiled pasta or uncooked rice (from 6 months)

2. Sand or water play (from 12 months)

3. Threading with large beads (from 18 mths due to safety)

4. Squeeze pegs (from 18-24 mths)

5. Play dough - I made my own and they are for sale at my Etsy shop (search for adorablesco) - (from 18-24 mths)

6. Push pipe cleaners into cardboard with holes (from 12-18 mths)

Aren't you amazed at how young your child can start and build their fine motor skill?

Have fun!!

Sent from Connie's iPhone 

Learning 听写 the visual way..

I'm writing this post with a heavy heart. Because my eldest had just made me very upset. Long story about that. Then with a very upset mind, I had to teach Dora Chinese spelling. And seriously I had to flare at her. Whether she is the one who triggered or not, it does not matter anymore. Anyway today I'm sharing a method for #teacherconnieactivities #visuallearners as it helped Dora in tackling her Chinese spelling with more confidence. 

I'm serious. This is Chinese spelling for Pri 1 kids. 

They have 8 words in total, some 汉子，some mixture of hypy and 汉子. And my daughter usually score 20-50 marks only. I’m not saying this is not good but i find it too complexing for a 7yo to handle. Don't tell me the "it's always like that" theory Cos I don't buy that story. But whatever the outcome is, always and also look at the process of learning. This is our first week using this square and line method for Dora. Hope this will help her find a easier way out to differentiate and learn her Chinese spelling better! Have fun trying!

Sent from Connie's iPhone 

Happy 15th anniversary

The cutest man on earth and he is mine.

Did u do the poll on our IG stories?

All the way to Davao Philipines..

It seems so surreal that we are actually in Davao, Philippines for a swim competition. Short trip it may be but it is indeed an eye opener for the kiddos.

And all the parents who are here with the kids all have the same goal: support our kids in their passion.

"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I cannot accept not trying."

Michael Jordan

Indeed. We should allow our kids try, fail and try again. Never say never.

Swim well my kids.

Love auntie Connie

Didi to the rescue..

Lil I had been running up and down to check on the big bro as he is down with fever. He is a man of little words but times like this, I know he is worried and is showing his love for the big bro.

Little moments like this reflect the  big heart and so much love for the bro. And just when I'm typing this, thank God that the fever broke. #thankful #rayconniebaby #naturalremedy #badweathersucks

What a precious sight.

Sent from Connie's iPhone 

Making every moment count..

Morning enthusiastic face!

Weekends post berries class

Looking at this little fellow will always reminds me to slow down in life. Life is short, childhood is even shorter. In many blinks, they will grow up.

God had made things happened and make them fall into place at His time. It's so amazing. Ever since going car-less, we had been learning how to enjoy the time spent together on our public transport rides.

Taking public transport to work is not difficult but lugging my two bags and Lil's I bag can be quite a handful. But he taught me we should just wake up a little earlier, take a slow stroll across the park to the bus stop and making new memories everyday. He will always remind me to be nice and patient if bus is late or not to get upset if bus is too crowded. A reminder of His words:

"with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love" (Ep 4:2)

Lil I’s drawing at 4 yrs and 2 months..

Sample of children’s drawing stages

Many see him as K1 but as he is October born, I still see him as a 4 year old. You can think it as I’m biased but I see it as developmentally appropriate. 

And here is his master piece at 4 years 2 months old

Good 2019 ahead..

So many “first” to start this year with..

First reunion with preschool frd..

First time going to the same school together. 

First lesson with Berries..

First birthday gathering for the year..

First swimming competition for the year. 

What a fine way to kick start this wonderful year!

bye bye 2018..

2018 had been another fulfilling year yet again.

Thankful for everything that had appeared and everyone who crossed paths with me. 

From the many overseas trips to Dora graduating from preschool, this is yet another fruitful year. 

I am so so so thankful for I know I am so blessed.

Dora’s preschool years..

Year 2014:

Dora and Eason.

Here buddy for school and her first self proclaim "boyfriend".

Really interesting to see how assertive she is from young. 

Year 2015:

Still so good with Eason.

Can see how close they are by their body language. And Eason seems quite happy too.

Year 2018:

Seem like they grew quite a bit and she is more shy. Dunno why.

Year 2013 VS 2018.

In a blink of an eye, Dora ended her preschool years just like that. 

All about Lil I turning 4 years old..

turning 4 may seem easy for some. But turning 4 is a big deal to me and my lil L. I felt that he grew alot this year, not just in physical growth but in other aspects of development as well such as cognitive and social.

There was a moment I was worried he was slow. Read: delayed development. Cos he took so long to reach the milestones meant for his age. Then suddenly our Lil I decided to have a growth spurt.. Then it also took me a while to realized that I was placing such high expectations of him that I lost focus. But now that I have shifted my focus to him celebrating his milestones and achievement, things seem to have a little change. He grew and he bloomed. Indeed a watched bloomer don't bloom. Just be supportive and he he will thrive.

Here are his recent achievements..

1. writes some alphabets of his name
2. can sight read some words
3. using scissors with one hand and cut a straight line, sometimes curve 
4. hugs and worry about younger or crying baby
5. dress and undress independently
6. full toilet trained even at night - except for poo in the diaper still
7. talks logic such as understand weather and why things can't be done at times, argue at times and even demanding for things 
8. better control in temperament. Understands  responsibility i.e. near consequence if he misbehaves

What a long list right? Perhaps this is just another reminder child rearing isn't just about academic expectations. 

What's your expectations of your child?

Lil I is turning 4..!

Time really flies when someone was just a 3.1kg baby and now standing strong at 16kg..

Is this a last baby syndrome but I find Lil I really so adorable. He is a late bloomer but so glad that he is catching up with his peers..

So emotional again right..

Happy birthday Lil I.. and we look forward to your party in school on Thursday.

Car break down.. what do I do?

Do you actually know what you should when you car break down? In fact your car is a very smart machine. You should be able to know that it start sending out signals to you before it actually break down. So last night, my battery light came on. So I was thinking I will send to the workshop in the morning. Alas.. our dear grey car had other lights coming on and I was losing control of my steering wheel as well. 

Anyway here are the MUST you should do when your car breaks down.

1. Turn on your indicator lights and slow down. Park at somewhere safe.
2. Get OUT of the car
3. Set up the breakdown sign OR alternatively, open up your boot to indicate that your car is stationary
4. Call your mechanic or tow truck
5. Wait for tow truck to come and pass the car key to them. Stand at somewhere safe.

Lesson learnt: listen to your car.

Trains the mind and trains the soul..

Many only see the glory and the medals. 

Maybe they forgotten that pain and the cries are part of the package as well. 

Today is another medal-less day yet I seen this little boy of mine bloomed and smashed another record of his by 2.99 seconds.

2.99 may seemed trivial to us but it is a nerve wreaking difference to the swimmer. Liked they say: "Every seconds counts".

This learning journey is a tough one yet we are not giving it up. Isa is not giving it up. Not only it trains my son but also it trained myself up. You may think what does a 11 yr old know about hardship. Indeed he doesn't know. He only showed he can overcome the odds and come out shinning from the dark. 

Way to go my son. Forge more. The colorful world is waiting for you. 

Mama Connie having too many emotional moments in these few months. Pls pardon me again. .

Sent from Connie's iPhone