While browsing some stuff in a department store, my daughter CN happened to sit on the floor and after a few moments, started to cry. She sustained a small cut on her wrist with a small piece of glass still embdded on her skin. We were able to take the nasty piece out when somebody from the store took notice and offered to help with her first aid kit. Long story short, we reported the issue. They did ask if we want to take her to a doctor. But we thought it wasn’t needed at that time and we didn’t have to go through the nittyngritty in front of point of care carts. They did leave their contact details and a copy of the OHS report. The intentions seem alright but I couldn’t say I’m impressed.

“Lord help us to train up this child in the way that she should go.”. This is easily one of the great parenting songs I have come to know. And there is no surprise from it as the message comes from the bible. Parents know that indeed it is not an easy task. It is just like constructing a steel building. It can only be good if there is a plan and consistency in building.

I really like Sunday School songs. I have always believed that they were probably aimed at young children, they definitely apply to adults including parents. One song which I enjoy is “Oh Be Careful Little Eyes”. As parents, I guess whatever we do as parents will always have an impact on our children. One part of the song that really hits the target is this: “Oh be careful little tongue what you say!”. Yes, we parents have every right to be upset when the situation calls for it. But if we have something wrong to say, treat it as if it were a gun and is something you would prefer to be in a gunvault. It may be a one second statement. But this second may be carried by the little ears that hear it for a lifetime.

I’ve been trying out a couple of mobile apps to track distance and time I do my walking. Even my daughter has used this when she is training in the park. It is quite useful as it is quite encouraging to see the numbers at the end of a sweaty run. Yes, it is quite difficult to get some sweat these days, thanks (or no thanks) to the cold temperatures in Sydney. An OxyElite Pro could be a quicker way to lose weight. But some perspiration and a little bit of inspiration, one can be on track to reach the goal.

Everyone in the family enjoys the time when we can just go around a table to play an easy board game. It really is more than the game itself but just being together and enjoying each other’s company. So sometimes we go beyond board games and go for more techie games which are easily as enjoyable (or even more enjoyable). So here is where a ps3 slimline comes to play. And this gear so good, after everyone is tired with the game, we can just pop in a movie on that device. We then sit back, relax, (drink coffee or hot chocolate), and enjoy our family (and movie, too!).

I do meet a number of mothers who spend a considerable time everyday on their car or on the road. No, they are not mechanics! They are stay-at-home moms just like me. But what we do have in common is that we drive around to take our kids to their different activities. We also need to drive around to do the groceries and other household ‘work’. I really never thought I’d be driving around this much or even have much involvement with cars.

Now, I even take on the chore of brining the car to the service station for routine service. It was just a few weeks back when I had to take our car to the service station for a repair of some minor issue with our car. It is not really complex as all I had to do was drive in, tell the service advisor what is wrong, I wait in the lounge, and after a short time, I get informed that all is good and ready to go. The whole process seems to be so easy that I could not really complain having this ’skill’. Now look who’s talking.

We have not really gone out of our way to go fishing. The closest is probably when we tried our hands into prawn fishing. Well, to cut the long story short, we were not so productive. Anyway, when we went to the beach about a couple of weeks ago, we did see some people having great success on fishing even though they are just do it from the beach. So it seems to be a favorable idea for a family with young children. Formerly, we thought that we had to take a boat complete with fishing clothing and go to the deep to get some real fishing action. But now the thought of just hanging around on the beach to fish becomes more appealing.

Where do babies come from? This is an interesting question young kids typically ask. And at their age, the answer that they will take is equally amusing. While at some point they probably realize that it does come from a mother’s tummy, the question still lies “how did it get there?”. So even before a baby boy is born and the father starts handing out macanudo cigars to his buddies, it is quite likely that an older sibling will have puzzled looks staring at his or her mom’s enlarged tummy. Of course that goes without saying that the famous question will be asked. Where do babies come from mommy?

A kid’s imsgination is a wonderful thing. By adding creativity to simple things, they can come up with some really good play things or play time. A brown box destined to go to the recycling bin can become a doctor’s kit, a cash register with laser barcode scanner, a jewellry box, or a hideout for Mr. Potato! It is inspiring to see these young kids believe that things can be made possible.

Raising a family is a great experience. Part of the experience is to face different challenges and uncertainties. It is here where several insurance products try to find their way into family homes. Competition is tough and hopefully that makes families the eventual winner. But that still leaves some work for dads and moms to do their homework to pick out the best one for the family.

A lot of parents wish to have more time with their children. But going to work daily would typically leave only the weekends. For some, even this time is taken overby work… or extra work. Some look at other ways to create more time such as doing a family business or may look at franchise opportunities. I guess it is really challenging. And parents who go out of their way to make more time for their kids should be applauded.

We have move a couple of times due to work opportunities in different countries. In fact, we are in Sydney initially ‘just for work’. But then we liked it here and decided to stay longer. It was a bit easier then when the kids were younger. But as they grow up, things will not be as easy. We heard of some interesting opportunities in the US. These charlotte jobs tend to be quite interesting. Besides, they could be yet another adventure for us. But at this point, we’re not really sure if we want to keep the moving pattern.

My eldest daughter went to a school camp earlier this week. This left little CN some ‘vacant’ time to fill in as she does not have her big sis to play with for a couple of days. She opted to be a helping hand in the kitchen. She did a variety of chores including washing dishes as well as helping in food preparation and more. Though, we did not get a chance to do some cookie making a-la mrs fields peanut butter cookies or the oatmeal cookies she is so fond of. Oh well, it’s school holidays from next week so there will be more work for the little cook.

The past weeks were really busy. The kids had activities one after another… both in school and out of school. One of the big ones was a public speaking competition on which both my kids participated. The youngest one got the top place in her level while the eldest got the second place for middle school (Years 5 and 6). It was quite rewarding when it was all finished and definitely worth more than a gold bullion in our hearts. But after the school competition, RD still had to compete in yet another inter-school competition.

We had a chance to go camping with some friends the past weekend. However, due to weather and a bit of a fever, we had to do a raincheck. Hopefully we could still plan one before winter begins. Actually, the camping spot is just a short drive of maybe 5-10 mins from where we live. And so a magellan gps may be more important to navigate the site rather than having a normal road/traffic GPS. There is still some chance to schedule a camp in the coming weeks. However, Sydney weather has been a mixed bag lately, signalling that the warm summer months are really gone.