Look at how much Jon has changed

HELPING YOUR KIDS FIND HAPPINESS

Whenever I ask parents what they would like for their children, invariably their answers revolve around the issue of happiness. “What I want is for my kid to be happy, is that so difficult?” said a father of a 14 year old son. This is the reason why parents work so hard and spend long hours in the office. This is why they camp over night in front of a school gate to enrol them in the best schools, and send them to ballet classes, music and other enrichment programmes. They do all these things and more so that their kids would be happy.

Happiness however is not found in external things. True happiness is not just in the good times but also in the difficult times. When we learn that tears are good to help us to be in touch with our humanity, then we have achieved the state of happiness.

We can never give our children, or anyone for that matter, happiness without spending time to cultivate three essential life skills which are

1. ATTENTION SPAN - to be able to maintain focus on things that are not particularly interesting to the child;
2. DEFERRED GRATIFICATION ? to grasp that rewards for actions are not always immediate and sometimes people have to “knuckle down” to dreary, repetitive tasks because the “pay off” only comes later; and finally
3. EMPATHY ? to balance the needs and interests of others against their own.

Let me share some thoughts on the first skill of attention span. Why is attention span important? Because TV and electronic games have shortened our children’s attention span to flickering seconds. This in turn has led children to cry for attention because they are easily bored. Indeed
boredom is a huge issue in the home. I see parents scrambling to keep a fully booked calendar so that their kids are constantly engaged. One parent proudly said “Jeremy’s schedule is full. He has no time for TV.”

Ironically the problem is not the TV. It is boredom brought on by short attention span which means it is a lifestyle problem. Today’s electronic influence is multifaceted. Along with the ubiquitous TV monitors, children are trained to shorten their attention span by the computer internet and the mobile phone. Phone SMSing itself is terribly efficient in this regard because of its instant messaging nature.

So the next time you plonked your baby in front of the TV to keep him occupied while you do your own thing; just stop and ask yourself, “Am I helping him expand his attention span? When your child comes to you on a lazy Sunday afternoon and said “Hey dad, I am bored”. Take heart, he is actually inviting you to teach him how to improve his attention span ? a very vital life skill to survive in our world.

I got this tips from Kenneth from Fathering Matters

Swimming Time

With the super duper HOT weather, the best time will be in the pool or aircon. So we picked the pool. Went to YCK instead cos there is water playground in the baby pool. Jon had so much fun in the pool, and he was totally exhausted after that. *hehehe*

** YCK.. here we come **

** See.. I can walk in the pool now **

** exploring the washing area **

** Bathing time **

** checkout the water playground **

** Sunset **

** tired look **

** aiya... no more pics pls! I am tired **

Fun Time

We bought this writing pad for a while and decided to let Jon try. What so special about this is that you just need to fill the pen with water and you can try. So it is toxic free cos Jon still likes to try everything with his mouth.

** exploring time **

** Study table just for Jon ?? **

** Look.. I can write **

** checkout the pen **

** still holding on tight **

Barney the Kiddy Ride

** Exploring the Kiddy Ride **

** Hello Barney **

** Say Cheese!! **

** Er.. Bored already **

** Er.. wait, he is looking at something **

** looking looking **

** something more interesting is going on.. oh there is a TV hanging on top!! hahaha **

Hot & Sunny Sat

** So bright that Kenneth can hardly open his eyes **

** Car inspector **

My Little Tots

My little tots :

Whenever Kenneth & I have time to talk, we will always tease each other that our honeymoon period is long gone. And we are now in Bleah & PUKE period. I not saying we are at war zone but it is another phase of life. It is very interesting how human relations are. ** hahahaha **

What is honeymoon period?

It is the time when we have butterflies in our tummy whenever we meet our other half or call each other. We will try to make him/her happy even if it means giving up on certain things.

But what happen next?

This is what I defined as BLEAH & PUKE period. After the lovely honeymoon has passed, it will go into the BP period. When every little things that used to be so sweet become very irritating. When you feel like kicking him/her down the bed. It is during this time that the couple will face another phrase of life. How to adapt without killing each other? Normally the trick to survive, is to focus in another common area e.g. KIDS. So the couple can focus together once again. But what about love? Er.. this little feeling aka LOVE needs to be cultivated so that it will not be too strange.

Jon 1st Wedding Trip

Whenever we receive any wedding invitations, we will look at each other and wonder "Should we bring Jon along?" In the end, we always end up not attending, attend without him or 1 will go. We received another invitation from my cousin inviting the whole family. With more help and he being older, we decided to bring him. Wedding dinner was held at Miramar Hotel. We tried to make him nap during the day without any success. He fell asleep on the way and woke up when the dinner started. And was running up and down thru-out the dinner. Kenneth & I had to tag team to look after him. By the time the dinner was over, it was around 10.30pm. And we have to quickly tuck him to bed as it was past his bed-time. His bed-time is around 9.30pm. A very challenging task for the parents. *hahaha*

** hardly can have pictures with Jon **

** the next golden couple in Oct **

** Lisa & us **

** Lisa & us **

** mum & lisa **

** the old golden couple **

** still so loving **

** finally we have a updated family pic **

** pretty mummy **

** Sleepy Jon **

** Daddy & Son **

** Granddad & Jon **

** aiyo.. so shy.. no la. Jon just woke up. hehehe **