Since the hives are keeping me awake (see previous post) and I need to keep my fingers busy so as not to scratch them, I shall update this blog on TheBoy.
TheBoy now is 2 years, 6 months old.
1.
Fully weaned off. Hooray for it but feeling somewhat nostalgic also. He has also stopped waking up at night for milk but still wakes up for other reasons - mostly to get me to sleep beside him. Which I do because I value peace and quiet in the middle of the night. Most nights, I start off sleeping in my own bed but sometime in the middle of the night, I find myself in TheBoy's bed.
2.
It's not that I want to toilet train him at this age. I'm not exactly the most diligent momma in this area. I avoid toilet training for as long as possible because I really, really, really am not a fan of most public toilets.
When showering him sometimes, he would squat down to pee. Each time, he commented, "Macam R--- Z---, kan?" Just like his cousin who is 9 months older than him. Back story: 2 weeks ago, he was showering in the toilet when his cousin needed to use the toilet urgently. (You don't deny a toddler his toilet.) So he saw his cousin pee and ever since that, he mentions his cousin whenever he pees.
The half-hearted toilet-training started. A couple of times, he peed in the toilet. (2 accidents so far though.) Yesterday, he pooped in the toilet too. Not having to clean buttocks smeared in squashed poop is really something.
However, we are not going to go full-on diaperless mode just yet. This toilet training is still in its infancy. I'm doing it for a few hours each day. When we go out, it will still be diapers.
3.
TheBoy has been watching Sesame Street daily. Yup. The Big Bad TV. It started off as something to distract him before he goes to school each day. When his eyes are glued on the TV, I feed him an early lunch. Everything in the bowl disappears when he's watching Big Bird and friends. But the season ended and there was no more Sesame Street at 10.30am on Okto. Thank God for Youtube! On days when he goes to school, he watches it at 10.15am. On non-schooldays, viewing starts from 11.30am.
Has he learnt much from Sesame Street? I doubt so. He knows that my favourite character is Count. His is Elmo. I also found some old scenes involving Mr Johnson/Fat Blue with Grover the incompetent waiter. I love those scenes! I showed some of them to TheGirls who enjoyed it as much.
What I like most about Sesame Street is how real the characters are. I like that there is Oscar who's always grouchy. Telly, who's always anxious. I find him a touch annoying but if we want our children to be accepting of others, they have to know that these characters and feelings exist. I do not like shows in which everyone is happy and sunshine-y all the time. Like that purple dinosaur show. Yucks. I do have quite a bit of Oscar in me, actually.
Unfortunately, there are not many full episodes on youtube. Why? In fact, it's quite difficult looking for full episodes of sesame street on the internet. I will soon finish watching all the available good quality full episodes available on youtube. After that, what? Sigh.
4.
Hives on arms are less itchy now. The ones on thighs and calves still itch though. Hoping for some peppermint oil to numb the itch so that I can sleep now. Like Big Bird says, toodle-loo!
(Maybe that's a subliminal message to all little kids watching to go to the loo. Maybe that's why Ihsan's toilet training is seemingly effortless.)
Friday, February 24, 2017
Hives
Woke up at 1am in the morning, scratching like a monkey. It's the hives again. Little raised bumps, some red, some not. Some merge together to form bigger raised bumps. All itchy as &^$#!
Urgh.
I've been getting them for a few hours a day since mid December. Given up trying to rule out possible causes.
I've seen a doctor for it where I was given Cetrizine, a supposedly non-drowsy antihistamine. Nope. Not for me. I had it twice so far. On both occassions, I could barely get up the next morning. One of the mornings, TheHusband woke me up telling me it was 6.20. Nothing registered; I went back to sleep. (Cannot leh. I am housewife. Housewife must be awake to prepare household for a new day.) But the effect was good. Within an hour or so, the hives stopped .
I have an allergy patch test coming up in May. Hopefully, that will reveal the exact cause of the hives.
For now, I can only hope to stop myself from scratching the hives too much whenever they appear. Trimmed my fingernails short. Applied peppermint oil. But I still wake up the next morning with scratches here and there. Sigh.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Motivation
What drives a child to excel?
Ceteris paribus, what makes a child from household A want to do well in life while a child from a very similar household B remains lackadaisical in his/her studies?
How much of it is innate and how much of it is environment?
Sigh. Like TheHusband and I agreed upon, if we know the exact formula, all of us would be winners in parenting. Wouldn't that be nice?
----
We want our children to do well in school. Why? Perhaps we think that doing well in school means a more secure future. That is not wrong, is that? In most cases, such an association is true. There are, of course, situations in which those who did not do well in school went on to achieve greatness later in life. But, these cases are not as common and not the rule.
What us parents want is for our children to do their best in school. Do their best. That means, put in 100% of effort. Or 90%. Not 10% effort and expect parents to supply the answers all the time. If, after putting in close to 100% effort, the results are not sterling, it is okay. It is really okay.
What is not okay is if the darling child stares at the comprehension passage and expects all the information to float into the head. Merely staring is not enough, my dear child. No matter how dreary the topic is, the passage has to be read and dissected. An absence of careful reading = No efffort = Angry Parents.
Some would argue - what is the point of knowing why Mr. Chen in that comprehension brandished a knife in the wee hours of the morning or finding the height of the triangle or whatever the value of x is. You'll never need that in real life, anyway.
Now, my child, I'll tell you why you need to do such things in life. Because, you can't always do things that you like. When you go to work, you have to do things that you may not enjoy. But you do them anyway. If you don't, your bosses will not be pleased with you and you may not have a job the following month.
Working hard in school forces you to work your brains. It forces you to do things you may not particularly enjoy much. When you taste the small successes in Mathematics, it makes you feel good about yourself. You will realise that even though you don't like it much, you can do it and can be pretty good at it if you put in your 100%.
At your young age, I am your benevolent dictator. I WILL tell you what to do. The assumption is, at the cusp of adolescence, you may not know what is good for you. I will show you the path. I may force you on the path, if I have to. I do this for your own good. So that you will have more options in future. So that, you will have a secure future long after I've left this world. Ultimately, it is to ensure that you can be a good Muslim who fully uses all the faculties Allah has given you.
Ceteris paribus, what makes a child from household A want to do well in life while a child from a very similar household B remains lackadaisical in his/her studies?
How much of it is innate and how much of it is environment?
Sigh. Like TheHusband and I agreed upon, if we know the exact formula, all of us would be winners in parenting. Wouldn't that be nice?
----
We want our children to do well in school. Why? Perhaps we think that doing well in school means a more secure future. That is not wrong, is that? In most cases, such an association is true. There are, of course, situations in which those who did not do well in school went on to achieve greatness later in life. But, these cases are not as common and not the rule.
What us parents want is for our children to do their best in school. Do their best. That means, put in 100% of effort. Or 90%. Not 10% effort and expect parents to supply the answers all the time. If, after putting in close to 100% effort, the results are not sterling, it is okay. It is really okay.
What is not okay is if the darling child stares at the comprehension passage and expects all the information to float into the head. Merely staring is not enough, my dear child. No matter how dreary the topic is, the passage has to be read and dissected. An absence of careful reading = No efffort = Angry Parents.
Some would argue - what is the point of knowing why Mr. Chen in that comprehension brandished a knife in the wee hours of the morning or finding the height of the triangle or whatever the value of x is. You'll never need that in real life, anyway.
Now, my child, I'll tell you why you need to do such things in life. Because, you can't always do things that you like. When you go to work, you have to do things that you may not enjoy. But you do them anyway. If you don't, your bosses will not be pleased with you and you may not have a job the following month.
Working hard in school forces you to work your brains. It forces you to do things you may not particularly enjoy much. When you taste the small successes in Mathematics, it makes you feel good about yourself. You will realise that even though you don't like it much, you can do it and can be pretty good at it if you put in your 100%.
At your young age, I am your benevolent dictator. I WILL tell you what to do. The assumption is, at the cusp of adolescence, you may not know what is good for you. I will show you the path. I may force you on the path, if I have to. I do this for your own good. So that you will have more options in future. So that, you will have a secure future long after I've left this world. Ultimately, it is to ensure that you can be a good Muslim who fully uses all the faculties Allah has given you.
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