E for Edric...

Yes, I am expecting our fifth child. It's a boy. He will be coming out to this beautiful world on 8 February,  2 days before Chinese New Year 2013. I am looking forward to his birth. Not much to prepare though. I did "tai jiao"  on and off. I likes the sending energy ball sessions. In my mind, I can see him a happy n healthy n smart baby growing inside my tummy. I do send images to him when I attend Shichida class.

As for my nutrition and supplement, I am taking Nma, Chloreana, lecithin granules daily. I took Hycoflex on and off. And I started Gr8 boost, a high quality brain food with "nerve growth factor", in the third trimester.

Nma is an extract of Chlorella sorokiniana and haematococcus pluvialis, and is a cell food. I highly recommends and religiously took it myself, and higher dosage during pregnancy is for baby's brain growth and overall grow, since the cells of the baby is multiplying at a high speed. What I want is a healthy and superior multiplication of cells, especially the brain cells. According to Prof. Shichida research institute, the number of cells in a baby's brain is the highest at birth. After coming out of the tummy, the brain cells will not increase anymore but will start dying. The rate of dying cells will be dependent on after birth care. The quality of brain cells n their connections will depend on quality brain stimulation and education from birth to 6yo.

As for what exactly "nerve growth factor" in Gr8 boost really does, I am not 100% sure yet. In adults, Gr8 boost does increase our memory, especially our short term memory. People with migraines are benefiting from it. One of my retailer has been taking it since it launched in Dec12. Her feedback 2 weeks ago was she is more alert at work and can complete her work with less stress and faster, due to her clearer mind. As a researcher me, so far I have looked into the individual ingredients. Gr8 boost contains extracts from two types of medicinal mushrooms used for Alzheimer, Parkinson's disease, etc. I am kiasu when it comes to anything that can boost brain development,  especially with my kids. So far, Bernice n Charlene will take,  Darius will take a little.  I am trying to get Aloysius to drink cos he's not used to the taste yet. I am not into the fish oils though due to the polluted sea we have now. Our alternative to fish oil has been Lecithin granules. Now, with gr8 boost, I guess it will take a while for me to discover the real effects on my kids.

Now is the time to prepare for Edric's arrival. So I will test out Gr8 boost at the meantime before really going full steam in distributing this. Anyway, if you are interested to find out more on the opportunity to retail or even distribute Gr8 boost, call / sms / Whatsapp at +{65}-8363 5559.

Review of my ABCD.

Aloysius' journey into Primary One.
Aloysius just started his Primary school journey. I have been reviewing and correcting in setting the priorities for him. Or rather I have been aware to correct myself. Perhaps i shoukd not interfere too much in setting his priorities. Ultimately,  he will need to be able to learn about his own priorities and what he wants to achieve in life. He either learn now or later. I will prefer the former though. I have to keep reminding myself that I gotta guide him in decision making more than imposing rules and restrictions on him. He's in a "Chinese" school. In Singapore, how Chinese a Chinese school can get as compared to those in Malaysia. It's still a bilingual school,  just that the school offers more programs more towards the Chinese culture.  I hope the teachers there have values more towards the Chinese way -  礼仪廉耻。

To be honest, I am still figuring out how the school work and the values that the school teaches. So far, I am satisfied with the teachers he has. In his first week of school,  his form teacher, Mum Sim was already looking out for Aloysius' mommy to feedback on his behaviour in class. For the first week of school, his teacher spoke to me 3 times out of the 5 days I picked him up after school. Aloysius has loud voice and he cannot control himself when answering questions the teachers asked. And he keep chit chatting with his new found best classmate. His teacher asked me whether Aloysius is more for the soft approach or the hard way. I was caught by surprise. Here, I must praise the teacher that she bothers to get to know her students. Thumbs up for that :)  I can put my heart down that he has a caring form teacher who bothers. I do not expect his teachers to adapt to him cos I think he needs to adapt to different kind of people out there in the society. I told the teacher that he takes on the soft approach. The teacher replied me, "I think so too." Not all teachers can accept the students' way like this teacher does. Not many teachers bother to find out from the parents more about a child, and in the first week of school. I am impressed. I thank God for giving a dedicated and patient teacher like Mdm Sim to guide Aloysius. After the feedback from Mdm Sim, we spoke to him about adapting to the class environment and have self control, and also respect his teachers in class. I also told Mdm Sim that Aloysius' buzz word is "self control", cos his kindy instill "self control" in him and used this vocabulary. She remembered it on the spot! I guess she remembered our conversation. To me, a teacher who remembers a conversation with a parent and bothers to adjust her way of communication means she cares a lot. One week later, at the end of the second week of school, i met Mdm Sim during pick up after school. She feedbacked that Aloysius has improved a lot in class. Phew... He has a young Chinese teacher who is quite dedicated too. On the first day of Chinese class,  Aloysius brought back a letter. It was a survey by the Chinese teacher asking about his history of Chinese learning and about enrichment classes he's attending outside school. Wow! Very efficient Chinese teacher he has. I really thank God for giving Aloysius teachers who care for the students despite them having 30 students.


Bernice and Charlene in K1.
Ok, so much about Aloysius. He's coping very well in school so far and discovering a bigger environment. Let me move on with Bernice and Charlene.

They are now in K1. I have stopped their Montessori class in school,  after two long years. They started the Chinese program in school, which is 3hrs of Chinese daily. Aloysius been through this program n I feel this is very good for recognising and reading of Chinese words. I am not sure if the Montessori program can achieve the level that is equivalent. Honestly, I did not see vast improvement in my gals after two years in the Montessori program after doing a review of my own. I guess I was a bit late to really go into the details of the program and the mindset of the teachers only last October. I had a feel that the program will not give me what I wanted when I put Aloysius there for 6 months. And that it's not really Montessori,  and we are just wasting money n time. I was pretty disappointed after talking to the teachers. And I went to talk to the teachers with an open mind. No wonder I needed more drilling in my gals academically at home on my own. At least I know... Darius will not be following this education route like my gals.

Bernice n Charlene are still in the weekly Shichida program. So far so good. They are able to cope. I am spending quite a lot of time with them on their poems recitation n linking memory. I would say this journey was not a breeze in the beginning. It is a lot better now after I figured out what and how to motivate each of them. They ahave different ways though. Therefore I need to spend the individual time with them.  Phew... Bernice n Charlene have different strengths too. Bernice hhas more interest in reciting poems n linking memory. Charlene is more interested in writing n doing homework. Bernice is open to trying more challenging n new things. Charlene is competitive and catch up without you knowing. Bernice will practice new poems n linking memory,  whereas Charlene is into perfecting n improving on the poems n linking memory that she knows. This term of Shichida is pretty challenging for me too. They will be learning 5 sets of linking memory plus 2 poems within 12 weeks. My target is 2 poems and 3 linking memory sets for them, and recite each set of 50 within 30s. Pant pant for me... As of now they need 2 weeks to learn the items in sequence, then 1 week to increase their recitation speed to 30s. But really gotta be daily practice. If I am too busy to practice with them for a week, they will be back by a week. Time n tide waits for no man. Being a perfectionist me, I have planned to achieve the goal one set at a time. But if need be, I will need to readjust.


Darius...
Hmm... I don't have a lot to write about Darius. But he's a very smart boy and learn from ABC. As of now, he's only attending Shichida enrichment. He learns very fast. He loves animals sounds, Thomas train, bus, cars. And at times the teddy bears and the children's stroller. He's learning about sharing n being able to return jie-jie and get-get toys. At this age, being able to give n share, is very good development in his social skills. He knows almost everything that you asked him to do. He knows single words, and trying to communicate in sentences. Nowadays, he will say "mama, I want this". When he's playing with something that he's enjoying, he will call "mama, look!" He will be very happy when ge-ge n jie-jie come home in the afternoon. Darius is close to daddy too. Sometimes when I return home alone, he will ask "mama, where papa". In the evening,  when he hears someone at the door, he will put down everything he's doing n run to the door calling "papa, papa".

I have started his potty training for 7 months now. It's getting better, but I just guide the maid. I will need to gear up the potty training after E is born. It was honeymoon potty training for last 7 months. Hahaha... Perhaps after 3 kids, I understand potty training will take minimum 6 months, disregard at what age the kid start this potty training journey. The earlier he starts, the faster he is potty trained. I started Aloysius at 18maths, n he's fully off diapers including night time at 2.5yo. Bernice n Charlene potty training started at birth. They were off diapers including night time at 18 months. I reckon Darius will be off diapers including night time before he hits 2yo, but now is gearing up to off diapers when going out and at night. Lucky I have a young n efficient maid. I thank God for that.

I have been looking around for suitable programs n schools for Darius   Number of hours in school, distance from home, programs offered are my considerations. So far, I have enquired n visited 6 schools. I have not made the decision yet. I am still looking out. If Shichida kindergarten is still operating, I will send him there. Though their teachers turn over was very high in the first year that Aloysius was there,  the effectiveness of the program is there. Cos I have seen it in Aloysius. Darius will go to Brmck for K1 n K2 though.And baby Edric will follow Darius' path.

Aloysius' K2 graduation.

today is Aloysius' graduation ceremony and service. as a mother, I felt that my little boy is no longer that little anymore.
next year, he will be going to a bigger environment - a primary school. I am not sure how he will turn out to be when he goes to primary school. probably I have not yet make a concrete decision how I want his primary school education to be like. different schools offer different values and teachings. and different schools have different academic standing and pressure.
I am not worried about the academic side for Aloysius. I have equipped him with the skills to be able to learn fast and catch up if he does falls behind. but he will need to have someone better than him to work towards to.
currently I dunno how to effectively teach him to compete with himself and his own results. after catching up, he will relax, mommy here also relax. probably I will need to chat with people who are experienced in competing with themselves.
when Aloysius was in the Shichida program, we were blessed to be under stress when we changed to another class. we changed from a relaxed, comfortable class with relaxed teacher to one with a "kiasu" and fast speed teacher. the other 5 kids in that class were way ahead and disciplined. in the beginning, I felt mentally drained after attending lessons with him. that was a shocking and an eye opener change though. it took us 6 months to catch up with the rest of the "new" classmates. that was an intensive daily home drilling journey. the experience was worth it. it gave me the opportunity to guide and show Aloysius perseverance, planning, and coping with stress.
recently we had another of this catching up experience again. this time, the stress is only for two weeks. Aloysius recently started the Yamaha JXC program. previously when he was in the JMC program, I did not bother of his progress. I left it completely to the teacher and he did not practice at home. 3 weeks ago, his daddy keep asking me to go music class with him cos daddy cannot cope anymore. that was my first JXC lesson with Aloysius. oh my! he was the last in class, way behind his classmates. we then started the intensive stressful journey of catching up again. we had several moments of frustrations, anger and impatience. lucky he caught up within two weeks of practice at home. phew...
currently Aloysius is registered in a neighborhood school just across the road. it is basically for my convenience to go to the school just within walking distance. I haven't decide on his primary school years, whether it should be stressful or no stress.

Primary One registration!

Aloysius is going Primary One next year. Time flies. The heat is on now during this registration period for parents who have kids going Primary One next year. 
When I was pregnant with Aloysius, I started thinking about Primary school for him. Which is the school for him? I narrowed down to a school with strong alumni in Singapore. However, it's a school that is not easy to get in. The academic results of the students there is quite good generally. Another way to get into this school is to swim for competition. Hence the focus in getting Aloysius to swim since 3 years old. However, at the moment, he's not into competition yet. He has started the training though. His current stamina is 750m, according to the coach.  It's whether mommy here got the time to send him for intensive training. So far it's at least once a week. And once a week in the competition pool. Sweat...
And another thing is I gotta consider is the distance of the school. The school might not be ideal. There are schools nearer to home, but not at the top of the list among Singapore schools in terms of academic results.
This Primary school registration thing really got me to rethink of my priorities and putting them in place again. 
I will want the school to focus on the academic side, and not me having to send my kids here and there for enrichment and tuition classes in order to be able to catch up in school. I felt it's quite ridiculous if kids need to go for extra enrichment and tuition then can catch up in school. It makes me wonder what's the role of the teachers then. I was quite disappointed when I get this kind of feedback from friends. 
Before I started out the route of following the Shichida program years ago, the objective is my kids no need any stress from the extra tuition and enrichment classes, and will be able to cope in school. This will free up their time to do things they like, and play. Shichida program trains on the ability to learn things and grasp concepts fast. So far, Aloysius is doing quite well as a fast learner. I should go back to trust my kids' abilities and not chase after in getting into the elite schools. I should not just follow the crowd, but go by my priorities. I don't see myself coaching the academic side. I will rather coach them in values, soft skills, principles, these are more vital when they go out into the society. In order for me to coach them well in these areas, I must not be drawn into the academic side. To me, coaching them in academic and school work gives me a lot of stress, and I will tend to forget about the other areas. 
Let me share a dream I have for my kids even when I was pregnant with Aloysius. I read from one of Shichida books that mothers must have dreams for their kids, whether they follow or achieve it in future or not. The key is to have dreams for our kids. My dreams for my children is they earn their first million by age 18. They are well loved, accepted and respected by the people around them irregardless of age. They have 2 mentors who are very successful and wealthy, who are willing to guide them to their next level in life.  Wealthy not just in terms of monetary measurement, but wealth of experience.
Ok. Gotta stop here. Update again.

Recognition!

Last weekend, it was very exciting. My husband and I were recognized on stage for our achievement in Sab with our children. We had an amazing standing ovation. Bernice and Charlene followed us to the seminar, and they went up on stage with us. Everyone stood and clapped for us. I believe it was an awesome experience for them. They stood there and looked at the crowd while we spoke. They also get to experience applause during our speech. I hope this experience will lessen their stage fright and shyness. They both really enjoyed being on stage and enjoyed receiving the claps from the crowd. This is the first step to their leadership exposure by mommy and daddy :). This is my little gift for them, which money cannot buy - experience and exposure. Their only complaint was why did daddy speak so long... Lol...

Through Shichida Method program, it gives my ABCD the brain training for the ability to learn and grasp knowledge and concepts fast and easily. Today, I met my friend who inspired me and convinced me of starting our children from birth while I was still pregnant with Aloysius. His son just finished P1, and he received a letter from the MOE that he's top 20%.

Through sports and competition, it gives ABCD the fighting spirit and the feeling of winning. Lately, we have been speaking to Aloysius' swimming coach. Very soon, Aloysius will start the training to swim for competition. He still have some fears of the water which he gotta overcome before he can join in with the other boys in the training for competition.

Through SAB, it gives them the real life experience outside school and home. Leadership of all age groups, center of influence, building a legacy for themselves, being among successful entrepreneurs, expert in building relationship, etc.

Who am I?

Last month, I attended a seminar by Mr. Arthur Yap about identifying who am I. I paid special attention to this seminar cos I know the importance of knowing who am I before I can achieve great success, be it as a mother or as an entrepreneur. This seminar has changed the way I think about myself and certainly raised my self confidence many folds. I believe I am a better mother now. Not only I find myself different, there are people around me whom i meet frequently also commented that I am different now. And my kids' future will be changed. I appreciate my past and appreciate what I have. If you know me well, you will see that I am a "kiasu" (competitive) mommy. I am always looking into the "best" ways to nurture my kids, and how to nurture them in such a way that they will be great and contribute to society next time. I also keep moving on and improving myself, and also learn from the experienced, not so much from the so-called experts though.

As a mother, in order to be able to nurture our children more effectively and confidently, and be able to stand up in the society on their own, I need to have self confidence and be an achiever, achieving great things. Children usually follow what we do rather than what we say. A mother with little self confidence will have lots of challenges in disciplining her own kids, plus difficulty in nurturing kids with self confidence. With higher self confidence, we will naturally have higher self respect for ourselves, and naturally earn respect from our children. Recently, I read from Dr. Sears about disciplining our children. He wrote that "Being an authority figure, you are trusted and respected, not feared. Lasting authority cannot be based on fears." Therefore, it's very important to earn respect from our children. In order to have their respect, we need to have self respect for ourselves. If we don't, we better do something to improve ourselves.

I will attend Mr. Arthur Yap seminars monthly. Mr. Arthur Yap conducts a seminar on personal development monthly. Why I attend so often? Firstly, I am kiasu. Secondly, it's affordable (cheap) and value for money. Thirdly, I learn something from him every time I attended and improved myself. Fourth, Mr. Arthur Yap is down to earth. Fifth, Mr. Arthur Yap has changed many lives before. Imagine you learn one value from him every month, over 1 year, that will be 12 values, which means 12 parts of your inner self have changed, and the changes you went through will definitely impact your family life and certainly your children's future.

According to Prof. Shichida, nurturing and educating our own child, starts from the mother. Stressful eh? Haha... Stressful or not comes from the mind too. It's another topic to talk about though. To sum it all, as a mother, we must always keep improving ourselves.

After the seminar last month, I am proud to write that I have achieved a bigger goal last month in Sab. I have achieved a success which many people admired in Sab. I hope I will be an inspiration to you too.

Ok, I gotta go. Lastly, if you want to find out more about Mr. Arthur Yap seminars, I will be glad to provide you more information. I guarantee you will be a different person over one year. Email to me at linnaung@gmail.com.

Joy of having twins.

This morning, I went to Thomson Medical Hospital to meet a couple friend who just gave birth to a baby boy. My car was with the valet service. I need to take a shuttle bus to collect my car. On the bus, was a couple sitting opposite me. The wife is pregnant. We started to have a chat during the bus ride. She's going to deliver in a couple of weeks' time, and she's expecting twin girls! I was very happy for them. Having twin girls are very special, I told them. Oh... While talking with them, I fell in love with my girls further although they were not by my side. I am enjoying my life journey with Bernice and Charlene - my twin girls. They are indeed very special and warm my hearts every morning with their smiles and singing. I told them that the girls will grow up with a special bond between them. They will have each other for company, they will sing together, they will look after each other when in school, they will negotiate and compromise with each other, they will play imaginary mommy and baby together, they will protect each other, etc. Sometimes they will dance and sing together. Cute right? Maybe next time I will upload their singing and dancing videos :)
Ok, I gotta go.

How to share your blog posts on Facebook and Twitter.

Mommy here is catching up with technology, and the social media. I have left my blog quiet for a few months, partly because I have been busy, and partly because I am spending more time on Facebook via iPhone. Now, with some time, I am sorting out how to continue to blog here plus using Facebook, with the minimal time required. And sharing my blog posts here to my Facebook and Twitter, preferably with only one click. Voila! I got it! Let me share with you.


Here is how to do it. First, you go to AddThis.com to make a button and install it on your blog. It is very easy. No registration is required. Just go and generate a button and install it on each blog post, NOT on your sidebar. Installing it on your individual blog post makes sharing much easier. AddThis recommends adding the buttons after the title and after the posts. After you have installed it, it will look something like what you find on this post, right below the title and date, and at the end of the posts. If you still blur about installing the buttons, go to the Help@AddThis.

Now, whenever I blog, all I have to do is click on the Twitter button. It will open up the Twitter page with my blog post title and a shortened mini url for Twitter purposes. I can add any text I like then I click submit and voila! My Twitter is updated with my latest blog post. And you can do the same for Facebook.

I highly recommend doing this to all bloggers who are blogging and especially those who have a few blogs. Your goal is to get higher page impressions and more visitors for your advertisers. This is one way to do it. It helps your friends and followers keep up with your latest updates on ALL of your blogs on one page whichever social networking site they may prefer whether it is Twitter or Facebook. I am limiting to two social networking sites because those are the sites I am on at the moment.

Your readers can easily click on any of your blog post if they have the time and inclination and it makes it so much easier for them to follow than having each and every one of your blogs on their blog reader and trying to know when you update which blog. Nowadays many people have several blogs and it is hard to keep up with each and every one of them for each and every blogger on your blogroll. This makes it easier for everyone. They can then choose what they want or don’t want to read.

So what are you waiting for? Go do it now! Then tell the world.. go tell your readers, I mean. Announce it on your Twitter, Facebook and Blog. Make it easier for everyone to follow you whatever method they may choose to do so.

You can also checkout my Facebook page and my Twitter page to see how my blog updates look like on Facebook and Twitter. And hey, if you like this blog post, why not click on my Facebook Like button above (below the title and date and sharing buttons) and see what happens?

For the know how on how to install the Facebook Like button like mine, you can easily get the code and follow the instructions at Blogger Plugins.

I installed these buttons for my own use but if lets say you have those buttons and someone likes your post, they can easily share it on their Facebook and Twitter pages in the same manner. Do test it out. Its really cool!