Posts from — March 2010

Northcross Christian School held another Public Speaking Competition this year . Along with the other levels, students in stage 3 (years 5-6) presented their speeches. Nine finalists were chosen and competed last Thursday, 18 March 2010 in front of a guest adjudicator. RD came in 3rd Place. We are very proud and happy for her.

Perfet Place
by RDVA

A few months ago, I watched a movie called UP. It’s about a man whose name is Carl, who is looking for his perfect place. Which he thinks he’s is in Paradise Falls, South America. I find this interesting as how Carl would do anything just to find his perfect place. He even blew up thousands of balloons just to find his.

Like Carl, many are looking for the perfect place. Question is, is there even a perfect place. I think there is. But where? Give me a moment and i’ll explain.

Let me see…the desert! The desert can be quickly dismissed as too hot and can’t be perfect. But I’m sure a camel would be quite happy taking the Sahara as a perfect place. How about a place in sub-zero degree temperatures? Well, certainly many will say that can’t be perfect. Yeah, well everyone besides emperor penguins who are suited in that climate.

Each one has a perfect place. God put each and every one of us in a perfect place to grow and to learn because he wants the best for all of us. It can be different. But it can only be perfect.

Family is one perfect place. We’ve been placed in this family, our perfect place. It can have ups and downs, bad days and great days. But our family which encourages us and teaches us is the best family we’re ever going to get.

How about percfect school? If we do a survey, we’ll probably end up with thousands of perfect schools. And well, that is exactly right. God placed us where we are for a special reason…a special purpose. Apart from learning, there is something else that we are all here for.

An important thing we should all remember is that a perfect place does not always ‘look’ perfect. Ironic isn’t it? If we see with our own eyes, we can be deceived to believe that where we have been places isn’t perfect at all. But if we see things accoirding to what God promised, and trust our life in Him, then we can understand what perfect means.

After saying all of these, let go back to the question: Is there a perfect place? Yes, there is. God has plan for all of us. It may be to move in another place or country or maybe it is to stay where we are. Just remember that God is always in control. And if we let Him work in us, we can be assured that we are in the perfect time, in the perfect place.

CN won 1st Place in Public Speaking Competition Kindergarten Level in her school. Getting first place means CN get the chance to present her winning piece in thier school assembly last Tuesday. And she delivered it beautifully. We are so proud of you CN.

Who Do You Want To Meet?
by CNVA

Some grown-ups ask little people like me many questions like “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Well, this is my favourite: “Who do you want to meet?”. Many people may say they want to meet the Prime Minister, or a famous actor or a singer.

But hey, I’m just new in kindy. Meeting famous people is kind of interesting but for now, I would like to meet you, you, and you. There’s a lot of classmates, students, teachers and mums and dads that I’d like to meet and be friends with. We can study together and of course have fun together. I’m sure the best time to start is now. Besides we’ve only got 7 years in primary school.

As we work together and learn together, we will have more chances of meeting the Prime Minister, or a famous actor or a singer. Who know’s we may even be one! These can be possible if I start to meet you, you and you.

It is a couple more years but we as parents have now started to look for suitable secondary school for our daughter. Certainly there is a checklist of things to look out for. I guess this is just the beginning as it really won’t be long and we would be looking at further studies. Initial information from school websites would certainly be helpful. An example is the Western Governors online university. Their site contains detailed information about its programs, admissions and the overall experience. Of course the actual offering is as important. I have always been attracted to online courses. Having unique opportunities including an online nursing degree should certainly make it even more attractive. It’s still a few more years before I will probably look at these things for my kids. Perhaps consider further studies?

I could not recall purchasing a set of invitation cards for any of my kids birthday parties so far. That is because we normally design and print personalized cards for these occasions. It probably started way back as we even printed out our own wedding invitations. Now, the kids are also in the habit. Our eldest daughter started doing her own cards in past couple of years. There are certainly a lot of advantages doing it this way.

There are now a lot of online gaming sites for children. There is a huge range of content available with some claiming to be ok even for younger kids. Some would have bright and colorful graphics perhaps of a penguin in tuxedo while some would have more intense and even dark scenarios. In most cases, the latter types would have some sort of ‘age declaration’ before users can join. But despite all these checks, nothing beats the proper parental advise when dealing with online games for kids.

A few weeks ago while cleaning up, our small media organizer got damaged. That has left me with quite a number of children’s DVD and some music CDs ‘homeless’. We then went out to find a replacement but had some tough time looking for something suitable. There are entertainment centers which can do the work but what I am after is really something simple. And because of experience, I would like to have one which would conceal the disc cases instead of having them on display. I think it is a better way of organizing the lot.

On a small corner of our house, we have a simple home office. It really does not have much apart from a desk, a chair, filing cabinet, and a pedestal. But even with this set of office furniture, in most times, the place looks more of a craft shop. My kids like doing crafts and whenever they see the desk cleared up, they find it a great place to do their stuff. So whenever the space is needed to do its real ‘job’, there is likely to be some clearing up needed.

Has your children ever asked you what those huge containers have whenever you pass by a chemist or vitamin shop? Well, so far my kids have not. It is really kind of interesting why these muscle builder products or protein powder are stored in such massive bucket-like bottles. I would not say I know a lot about them. And that is good that the kids have not made me explain. Otherwise, I’ll surely get help from the friendly search engine.

Oral hygiene somehow starts with us parents rubbing some cloth on our finger against a baby’s first set of teeth. And when they are old enough, we can guide them into brushing on their own. My youngest daughter is already independent during toothbrush time. Sometimes, I am tempted to get some custom plastic cups perhaps with her favorite cartoon characters or prints. I have seen some of these before and I think they could be rewarding/encouraging especially for younger kids to keep on brushing!

In today’s busy lifestyle, there are some who tend to spend lesser and lesser time with family. Yes there is no doubt it is busy out there. But ensuring time spent with the kids will certainly go a long way. There is probably a cure for hair loss but that would not change the way time goes on. Time is gold. Time well spent with family is more than a treasure.

Is it true that as one grows older, there is a tendency to be more challenged in remembering one’s age? Ask a kid and I am quite sure they will be quick in responding. Could it be because older adults just couldn’t be bothered? Or is it because of the challenges associated with aging? While a healthy diet and maybe muscle supplement could help on the physical side, I have also heard of some things that would facilitate remembering. A healthy diet is likely to be important, too, and some would say some mental exercises could keep the engines running our mind run smoothly.

It is definitely a joy for me to watch my kids as they grow up active and healthy. Certainly it is good to just be reminded that each day comes as a blessing from God. Mothers like me could have taken prenatal vitamins when our children are still in the womb, and then followed it up with children’s vitamins once they are out. Yes it is ok to do these things. But we can only do so much. The Lord blesses our children more than what we can understand.

Took my ‘final exams’ on driving the other day. I am glad to announce that yes, I have passed it. I can now freely drive around town without flashing my P plates. The full license is valid for quite a while. In fact, when I thought about it, my eldest daughter will be well into her teens by the time it expires. I’ll probably be tied up figuring out the best acne treatment for my kids before I would have to think about renewing my license. Oh well, that is quite a long while to go. For now, I’ll be just driving around without the P’s.

My husband brought up the idea of an unwritten ‘gift policy’. Not sure if other people has something similar. So what is this ‘policy’? For younger children, gifts for birthdays or Christmas should always be in the form of toys. As it is an ‘unwritten policy’, the definition of ‘younger children’ is not clearly defined. The rationale behind this is that kids do learn something from toys. And besides, who would not have a great time seeing the joy in a child’s eyes upon opening a gift box with a toy inside it!

Almost every night, I am pleasantly amazed how my little daughter would be knocked out to sleep almost instantaneously. Yes, it just happens like a snap. But that is not without some last minute burst of activity. Kids are so active it seems it is nearly impossible to get them to sleep without over the counter sleeping pill (ok fine, that’s an exaggeration). But when they’re really hit the limit and become too tired, they’ll just be on their way to dreamland even before we know it.