It was at the start of Primary 4 last year when my daughter first said those dreaded words: “Mummy, I can’t see the whiteboard clearly…” I received the news with no small amount of resignation. As a parent in Singapore, where the rates of myopia area among the highest in the world, it does feel almost unavoidable that children eventually end up myopic. The increase in the amount of online learning for children since the start of the pandemic in 2020, with its corresponding increase in screen time has not helped matters. I was dismayed that despite my best efforts, another of my kids had ended ..read more

I consider myself pretty moderate when it comes to my kids’ school work – I make sure they do it and are prepared for their exams, but otherwise, I leave them be, only stepping in when I think they need help. But really, there’s no running away from the academic rat race if your kids are in the school system here in Singapore. Other than Chinese, my kids don’t attend any academic tuition or enrichment, so the task of helping them keep up with their school work falls mostly on me. This means I’m the one they turn to for help with homework or when they have doubts to clarify, and the one who get ..read more

Guess who has staked claim over all our CNY goodies from pineappletartsg? This boy was so excited about the snacks that he ate a good number of Love Letters before I realised, and later sneaked away 3 Pineapple Tarts into a box for the fridge for himself! Having a good selection has been such a huge temptation. Less than a week and about half of the goodies have been wiped out! We all have our favourites, the most popular being the pineapple tarts, naturally! The kids and the husband gravitated towards the open-faced Nyonya Tarts, with their generous dollop of pineapple jam, but my vote def ..read more

Christmas is coming! Just last week we put our tree up and it gave me such joy to put up these beautiful ornaments that we made ourselves at Resin Play! This is the third year running that we got to make our own resin ornaments and it’s such a joy to see them on our tree. Each year, Elaine comes up with something different and pretty for Resin Play’s Christmas ornament workshop and this year was no exception. Best of all, it was a lot of fun! Mei with her jesmonite in-fills, in a swirl of colours After a short wait for the in-fills harden, we placed removed them from their moulds and plac ..read more

As any parent would know, e-learning is very much a part of our kids’ educational journeys these days. My children have regular e-learning days where they stay home to complete work on educational portals. And apart from such official school-designated e-learning, the children also make use of digital aids for learning and research. Even as I write this, Mei is sitting next to me on the computer doing quizzes to practice Italian terms for her upcoming music theory exam. My kids used to hunch over my laptop at the dining table whenever they needed to use the computer but with older two already ..read more

How is it that two weeks (and a half) of school have flashed by already?? I’m only slowly settling down into the routine of the new year and the times we spent during the holidays have started to feels like a distant memory. But the one thing that is still going strong and has carried over into the new year with the kids has been Scratch! I like to use the long holidays to let the children try out something that we don’t do on our regular schedule, and this time, it was coding. Noey had done some coding in school as part of his after-exam activities and really enjoyed it. Not that I was expect ..read more

With the Christmas season fast approaching, I think we are all busy making our list of gifts for loved ones. It isn’t always easy though to find the perfect gift for everyone. Especially those you’ve been gifting to for years whom you might feel you’ve given every possible gift to already! Well, the best gifts, as they say, are homemade. But before you baulk at the idea — no time, no idea, terrible baker — I’m here to tell you that help is at hand! I first tried out Bakestarters early in the year with their kit for Pineapple Tarts. I’d made pineapple tarts before and I appreciated ho ..read more

I still remember the day I learnt that Noey would have to wear spectacles. My bespectacled boy, circa 2016 He was in the early months of Primary 2 when he nonchalantly came home with a slip from the school health check indicating that he would have to go to an optician for a further evaluation. It did seem inevitable, considering how much of an avid reader he is, and the number of times I have had to bark at him for reading in the dark! But I did hope that he would be able to hold out for longer. Not only because having to wear spectacles was an inconvenience, but also because I knew that the ..read more

How to choose your morning cereal: Step 1: Do a box taste test Step 2: Rummage through to ascertain contents Step 3: Grab and make a run for it! This little man has been on an eating journey and I’ve been enjoying it. Is it just me that loves browsing the baby food section? So many enticing options available waiting to be tried! We recently received a selection of food and snacks from HiPP for Nate which I think I was more excited to try than he was. One of Nate’s breakfast options is HiPP’s Organic Cereal Pap Multicereal with fruit, and when I picked it up, I was attracted by the ..read more

I consider myself pretty moderate when it comes to my kids’ school work – I make sure they do it and are prepared for their exams, but otherwise, I leave them be, only stepping in when I think they need help. But really, there’s no running away from the academic rat race if your kids are in the school system here in Singapore. Other than Chinese, my kids don’t attend any academic tuition or enrichment, so the task of helping them keep up with their school work falls mostly on me. This means I’m the one they turn to for help with homework or when they have doubts to clarify, and the one who get ..read more