Girl

Even before turning 5, Chloe is already very girly, in terms of behaviour. Many times, when she comes back from school, she will say, 'I did not friend Angeline'. I asked why. She said 'She is naughty and not following instructions'. And other days, she will not friend so and so. Lucas has never say he does not want to friend so and so till today. This must be the girl's thing.

I was catching up with some of Lucas's classmates Moms. And a few of them who have daughters were saying their girls are talking about boys! And they are definitely not very pleased about it but what can they do. Lucas meanwhile could not care less talking about girls. He is into trading Animal Kaiser cards with his friends.

I suppose that is the difference between boys and girls. Girls mature a lot faster. Imagine Chloe taking boyfriend home at the age of 8!!

TV & Computer

We always tell ourselves not to let our kid be a potato couch or hook into computer games. And somehow, we failed thus far. Lucas is into watching TV. He can spent his whole afternoon, after school and lunch, watching TV. He doesn't mind if the shows are re-run for umpty times. Then, he is into computer interactive games. Playhouse Disney has interactive games for most of its shows and he will somehow managed to navigate the mouse and started playing the games. Pathetic activities for a 3 1/2 years old.
So, I am determined and trying to break his bad habit. I tried to get him to do any other activities other than watching TV and playing games. I got him watercolours to draw - this took 30-45 mins off TV time. When I am not in a conference call late afternoon, I will get him out of the house. We will either go to the neighbour's house jumping on trampoline or in the garden playing with ball, sand, water or cycling.
Now I understand what it means when others said you need to spend time with your kids. The kids need to be encouraged and accompanied to do their activities. If they are left alone or the parents do not have the time, watching TV is the best solution for both the kids and parents. Sad but true.
Everyday, I am thinking what can I do to get Lucas to do to get him off the TV and computer. And when will he be old enough to do this own things without being accompanied 100%. It is not easy.

Punishment

We gave Lucas a taste of punishment and surprisingly he understands the concept very well. He is always grouchy if we wake him up from his afternoon nap. He has to wakes up at his own terms. We have been tolerating and thought he will get over it. But on Sunday, he was impossible. It was past 6pm and I woke him up. He was in such foul mood and even turn aggressive. First, he said he did not like my shirt (shirt I have been wearing even before he was born) and asked me to change. I was busy feeding Chloe dinner and asked him not to disturb me. Then he goes on and on for 10 mins about my shirt. Even tried to push me to my room to change. My temper is rising. After Chloe finished her dinner, I asked if he wants to go to the playground or go cycling. He said no. Fine. I took Chloe to the garden and he started wailing asking me to go inside the house. Somehow, we managed to calm him down. He said then he wanted to go for a drive. Great, we were planning to drive out to buy dinner. In the car, he said he wanted milk. We told him no. It's dinner time and he can have his milk after dinner. He made such a big fuss. He refused to eat his dinner and still insist that he wants milk. That's it. We had enough of his temper.

We gave him his bath and told him he has to go to sleep hungry. No milk, no reading and we will not accompany him to sleep. After his bath, he has to stay in his room. To our surprise, he did not protest at all! No crying and obediently followed our instruction. Stayed in his own room with the door closed until he falls asleep at 10pm+.

On Monday, he was great. He apologised. He said 'Mommy, I'm sorry. I have been naughty'.

On Tuesday, he did it again. This time, he wanted milk and not dinner. So, we gave him the same punishment. He followed obediently. No protest, no crying.

This morning, he apologised again. He said 'Mommy, I'm sorry. I have been naughty. I will be a good boy on 10 (today's date)'. And he is.

Guess parenting does not get easier with older kids!

Yet Again?!

Lucas landed himself in trouble again, in school!!
It is a ritual now that I got discussion with his teacher every other day!
While waiting for him to finish school, I saw that the teacher is having another long chat with him. Then I told myself, what now?
So, the latest drama is this little boy asked his teacher to hold his penis when he wants to pee!! He did not want to hold his own penis and aim properly, instead asked the teacher to do for him!! Well, well...there goes the nice lecture from his teacher. Teacher told him penis is his private part and he cannot ask or let anyone to touch his private part except for Mommy and Ms A (his teacher) to clean him. She made him promised not to do so again.

Should I be embarrassed?

Naggy Me

Now I understand why all mothers are naggy!.
I nagged at Lucas all day long!!
In one day, I nagged him :
- twice to take his bath
- twice to brush his teeth
- twice to eat his food (lunch and dinner)
- twice to sleep (afternoon nap and at night)

Sigh....I really hate myself for being soooo naggy.

Lazy, Firm or Rebellious? Part 2

Oh well......it looks like he solved his own problem.
I asked him again today when I was reading him his bedtime story.

Me: Lucas, did you finish the work you did not finish yesterday?
Lucas: Yes.
Me: What colour did you use?
Lucas: I painted the basket under the balloon with brown only (so, it is not a heart shape picture)
Me: Did you ask Ms A (his teacher) first?
Lucas: No.
Me: Did Ms A say anything?
Lucas: Nothing.

So, he gets it done according to his own way......

And by the way, I said a new sentence to him today. He was asking me to see what's wrong with the TV (the Astro decoder was off) while I was nagging him to take his bath. So, I was annoyed because he refused to take his bath and decided not to on his cartoon until after his bath. So, I told him to 'go and solve your own problem'. Let's see when he will use that sentence on me!

Lazy, Firm or Rebellious?

When I went to pick up Lucas from school today, the teacher told me Lucas did not want to do his school work. I sensed something was amissed earlier. After their Good-Bye song, the teacher had a rather long chat with him. I was wondering if he made a fuss earlier and the teacher had to pacify him. When the teacher told me what happened, I was rather surprised. So, I told myself I need to get to the bottom of this matter. Asking him in school will be a waste of time. He will not want to talk about it. So, after we came home and had his lunch and bath, I subtly asked why he did not want to do his work in school. He said 'I do not want to be busy'. Ok...I let it go and will ask more later - one question at a time. If he doesn't want to talk about it, he will not say a word. If he wants to talk about it, he will spill all the beans - whether you asked for it or not.
At night, after I read him his bedtime story, he was very chatty. I took the opportunity to ask again. This time, he said 'I do not want to use 4 colours to paint the heart shape. It is too much'. Ok...so it sounded like he does not agreed to use 4 colours to paint the heart shape picture. Therefore his action of not wanting to do his work.

It is not the end yet. Tomorrow I will ask him what's wrong with using 4 colours? Can't he use whatever colours he wants? Will also tell him to tell his teacher if he doesn't agree. After that??? Tell him to stand firm by his opinion or just follow teacher's instruction?