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coolest kids ever

coolest kids ever, growing up, homeschooling

Carrot and stick, without the stick.

We’ve just introduced a reward system. It’s a system where good behavior is rewarded. Like if I manage to get through an entire day without yelling at the kids, I reward myself with a large bowl of ice-cream. Ok scratch that, it’s a bad example because I reward myself with ice-cream even on bad days with lots of yelling.

I tried the sticker reward system a while back when the kids were younger but they didn’t really buy it. It went something like this.

“Kids, these are called reward stickers! Whenever you do something good, we’ll give you one sticker and when you get 3 stickers, you can exchange it for a treat,” I explained with my enthusiastic high-pitched voice. “Who wants stickers?”

They glanced at it and threw me a dismissive “No need thanks!”

“You sure? Look, these stickers are so pretty and they’ve even got your name on it. You can exchange it for gummies and potato chips.”

They were unimpressed. “Uh, no need.”

I couldn’t understand it, it seemed like such a great idea. Perhaps they didn’t understand the concept. Perhaps they didn’t like my specially printed pretty stickers. Perhaps they were actually surly teenagers wo didn’t care for stupid rewards. Whatever the case, my ingenious plan was failing miserably so I shelved the idea.

Recently, I was inspired to give it another go and for some reason, this time it turned out to be a massive hit. I basically said the same thing to them while waving the exact same stickers.

“Kids, these are called reward stickers! Whenever you do something good, we’ll give you one sticker and when you get 3 stickers, you can exchange it for a treat. Who wants stickers?”

“ME!!!! I WANT, I WANT,” they yelled in unison.

“Ok, let’s start by packing up your room. You’ll get one sticker each if you pack up your room really well.”

5 minutes later, I came back into the room and they were scrambling to pack everything into their toy boxes. When they finished packing, we held a reward ceremony and bestowed upon them a shiny new sticker each. It was the lamest reward ceremony ever but they looked so terribly pleased all the same.

That night, we tried it again.

“Guys, you’ll get a sticker if fall asleep on your own. Daddy and mommy will be right outside but you can’t get off the bed ok. If you do well, you’ll get a sticker in the morning.”

We walked out of the room and waited for the usual requests of water, milk, toilet breaks and bedtime stories but there were none. 5 minutes later, nothing. 10 minutes later, still nothing. Finally, we sneaked in after 15 minutes to check on them and they were fast asleep. On their own. For the first time.

Reward system = hell yeah!

*Here’s a sample of what their charts look like. Download the printable versions here (Truett’s) and here (Kirsten).

coolest kids ever, precious moments

The best and the worst

Now that things have settled somewhat and we’ve all had a chance to get used to having a new baby around, we have a better idea of what life with 3 kids is like.

Especially on weekends when everyone is around.

I’d describe our weekends with 3 kids as both the best of times and the worst of times.

We can’t, for example, go out for a leisurely meal like most other people because there’ll be nothing leisurely about it. Or much eating for that matter. One kid will want to be carried, one kid will be ripping open wet tissues to wipe the cutlery (then her own face), one kid will be getting acquainted with all the germs under the table and we’ll glance at each other and immediately regret having been so bold as to attempt a lunch at a public place at all.

Somehow, we’ll manage (barely) to shovel food down everyone’s throats and breathe a sigh of relief that nothing was smashed or spilt or destroyed in the process.

But then on weekends where we’re crazy enough to venture out with 3 kids, we also get heart-melting moments like these.

‘Nuff said.

coolest kids ever

Gunning for a win

With two toddlers who are about the same age, there’s a lot of mediating to be done.

You know how toddlers are – what someone else is having always seems to be SO MUCH MORE FUN that whatever they have, and they’re always clamoring for the same items all the time.

We’re not the sort of parents who buy two sets of everything just to stop them from fighting so instead, we have to come up with creative ways to make them share.

One of these ways is what the husband calls the Crossbow Shootout.

It’s pretty straightforward. The kids take turns to knock over a target with the crossbow and the first to reach 3 hits gets first dibs on the desired object. This method has been surprisingly effective and whoever loses will be a good sport, like “sighh ok fine you can have it first.” No tears, no fuss, no shrieks, everybody’s happy. Plus they develop psychomotor skills in the process. #WIN.

At first we thought that Truett, being the more athletic, physically-coordinated one would have the upper hand but as we’ve come to discover, Kirsten has quite a deadly aim. She’s outshot Truett, the husband and me. And no, we didn’t deliberately let her win.

All the girl needs is some crazy red hair and she’ll be Merida from Brave.

We’re going to have to come up with a new challenge to balance the odds.

coolest kids ever, kids in motion

Serial planker

A big part of parenting is being able to identify your kids’ talents and develop them at a young age.

Sometimes, these talents are obvious, like an angelic voice or fancy footwork. Other times, they’re less apparent and it takes a bit of effort to discover them. In some cases, it may not even look like a real talent at all and that’s where some foresight is required.

Truett’s special ability: planking.

We’re not quite sure how this started because we’ve never introduced the concept of planking to him but one day, he just walked up to a ledge and started doing it. He planks in the car, at McDonald’s, at the pool, on sofas, on a plane…pretty much on every surface he can find. To date, he’s planked on at least 30 different surfaces in 3 countries.

And you may think that planking is so 2011, but synchronized swimming is so 1900 and people are still doing it for some bizarre reason.

To develop this unique talent, we’re on a mission to complete the Green Eggs and Ham checklist.

Could he do it on a boat?
Could he do it with a goat?
Could he do it in the rain?
Could he do it on a train?
Or in the dark? Or in a tree?
Or in a car? Or at the sea?
Could he do it in a box?
Could he do it with a fox?
Could he do it in a house?
Could he do it with a mouse?
Could he do it here or there?
Could he do it ANYWHERE?

Why yes, yes he can.

coolest kids ever

I spy with my little eye

Truett has been complaining about some discomfort in his eyes so we brought him for an eye-check at the doctor’s yesterday just to be safe. As part of the procedure, the doctor got him to put on the special eye-patch glasses (where 1 eye gets covered at a time) to test his eyesight.

It looks like he’s got slight myopia because when the doctor got to the last row of numbers, he started squinting and couldn’t really make out what they were.

Doctor: Can you tell me what this number is?

Truett: *squinting and tilting his head in various directions to get a clearer view

There was a long pause as Tru was trying to figure out the number on the screen, then a voice quipped from next to him. “It’s 6, kor kor. Number 6!”

Obviously, I had to shush the little one so she wouldn’t interfere with the test results.

Me: Kirsten, no helping. Kor kor is supposed to do this himself.

Kirsten: Ok ok fine.

Doctor: How about this number? What number is this?

Truett: *pause

Kirsten: 3! Number 3!!

Me: Hey, shhhhh, no helping!

Doctor: Truett, how about this one?

Truett: *pause

I gave Kirsten my stern mommy look to make sure she kept quiet, which sort of worked because even though she kept fidgeting and inching closer to her brother, she didn’t say a word. Until finally, she couldn’t help it and she whispered to Tru: “9. Just say 9.”

I had to physically restrain her to stop her from talking but it was also quite sweet that she went to such lengths to help him. I guess that’s what siblings are for.

coolest kids ever, milestones & musings, picture perfect, playgrounds!

The Perfect Party

You know how kids’ birthday parties are, right? Venue, theme, decor, balloons, streamers, pretty hanging things, party bags, games, activities, cake. OH, THE CAKE. Back in my time, we’re lucky to get a tacky 2-D one with a deformed dinosaur that looked like Barney’s mutated half-cousin. These days, the cakes are jaw-dropping and I won’t be surprised if in another couple of years, kids will be having life-sized cakes that will sing and do cartwheels on cue.

It’s crazy having to put together a party and I’m glad they only come around once a year. Plus we usually make it a combined affair so we only have to go through the madness once.

This year’s birthday bash for the kids happened yesterday and let me just say that I’ve never been to a more awesome party in all my 30 years.

First of all, the venue. Prior to the party, we sourced for over a dozen venues all over Singapore to find a suitable location. We wanted something cosy, chill and preferably outdoors (but not too hot) where the adults could enjoy a nice afternoon tea. But most importantly, we needed a place to contain the mayhem and keep the kids entertained.

So when we visited Seb’s Bistro & The Playhouse at Rochester, we fell in love with the beautiful al fresco dining area with lush surroundings. That there was an entire 2-story air-conditioned playhouse right next to it made it a winner. It was perfect.

Being as aesthetically-challenged as we are, decor usually means going out and buying a bunch of balloons, some banners and taping them randomly to the walls. But we got smart so instead of struggling with the decor and party planning like we usually do, we handed over all the planning to Jen and Van, the lovely ladies from Party Perfect.

Best. Decision. Ever.

All we needed to do was to pick a theme and let them do all the work. The kids are still in their pirate phase so this was a no-brainer…Scallywags and Buccaneers, Ahoy!

When we arrived, it was like stepping into a pirate wonderland, which is the nice kind made for cute little pint-sized pirates. There were gorgeous pirate loot bags, a pirate ship with cut out figurines, personalized pirate cupcakes, pirate hats, a treasure chest, pirate cutlery, pirate balloons, and pretty hanging pirate cloth things.

In addition to the dining area downstairs, The Playhouse also allocated the 2nd-floor party room for the kids to hang out.

The folks at Seb’s Bistro take their parties very seriously so they don’t just leave the kids in the room on their own. They pull out all the stops to make sure the kids are engaged and having fun, which is a tall order considering that we had kids ranging from aged 2 to 10.

Meet Imran, an incredible party host. He conducted the games, sang songs, made them dance, got them to do silly actions and did a spectacular job of keeping the kids entertained.

We also had Queenie from Artybody work her body-painting magic on the kids during the party. Ok, seriously, her work is amazing. Each person she paints is a stunning piece of art and she’s able to do anything from superheroes to sparkly princesses. I’ll never forget her epic Hulk creation during Happee Day almost 2 years ago.

The paints are totally safe for kids as she uses only professional face paints which are U.S. FDA-approved, as well as cosmetic-grade glitter and stickers. They were able to last the entire afternoon and washing off was really easy. We just had to rinse with water and a gentle cleanser, so no painful face scrubbing involved.



Just look at this final product on Tru’s hands. Consider my mind blown.

Kirsten naturally went for a princess look and she was so pleased with her “pretty princess paint”, as she called it for the rest of the afternoon.


Remember how I was saying that the cakes are out of control these days? I’ve seen some unbelievable cake creations in the past couple of years but this, ladies and gentlemen, this masterpiece by The Patissier totally takes the cake.

I’ve heard some really amazing things about The Patissier, like how their head baker and co-owner was trained in the time-honored techniques of the great French patissiers at the Cordon Bleu, London. That their designs are a joy to behold. And that their cakes taste even better than they look.

But nothing prepared me for this cake.

Believe it or not, almost everything is edible. There’s the giant pirate ship made out of brownie and icing sugar, the pair of pirate figurines, the palm trees, the gold-dusted skulls, the gold doubloons, the treasure map, the chest of jewels, the sea animals and shells all on a gorgeous seawater cake board.

Then at the bottom were 5 x 500g mousse cakes made up of 3 separate flavors: Chocolate Dream, Strawberry Delight and Mango Madness. All 3 flavors were ridiculously delicious, which explains why they were all gone in record time.

Here’s Kirsten still admiring the cake while munching on her fries.

We had the most fabulous time and a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made it possible. As well as all the friends and family who took the time to come by.

Till next year, mateys!

coolest kids ever

Cooking with Truett and Kirsten

For their combined birthday present, we got the kids their first play kitchen. We don’t usually buy a lot of toys but it was their birthday (sort of – Tru’s was on 2nd June and Kirsten will be having hers in July) and this one was going at a very sweet price so the husband decided to give up the PSVita he’s been eyeing, to get this for them.

That move alone puts him in the running for Daddy of the Year award.

My brother was appalled that this costs as much as a PSVita but hey, it is a gorgeous wooden set with a stove, oven, sink, microwave and what I presume is a larder/fridge.

More importantly, it’s been keeping them occupied for extended periods. Whenever we need some time to do work, we make a list of our dinner orders and get them to cook up a storm in the kitchen.

All that chopping, stirring, baking and cooking easily buys us 20 minutes of peace and quiet.

Occasionally, we do get strange concoctions like porridge with chili, Swiss cheese and orange juice or waffles with peas, which is a good thing we don’t actually have to eat them.

Although Kirsten does take her pretend play quite seriously so she’ll stuff the food into our mouths for a more realistic experience. I’ve tasted a fair amount of wood and plastic over the past couple of days but I guess it’s a small price to pay in the name of stimulating creativity.