Happiness is... taking it slow in a new beginning

2023 came and flew by in a flash and before I realised it, we were counting down to the new year already. As much as I would love to think that we accomplished a lot and had a good year, sometimes I do wonder if I had done my best to cherish the passing days and fleeting years.

Anyway, we had a very fulfilling year end during November and December which were filled with family staycations, gatherings, birthday celebrations, fun outings as well as a cruise holiday. Thus, it felt good to do the opposite and slow down the pace as we stepped into the new year. 

January marked a new school year for the kids - Angel is now in Secondary 3, Ariel is in her PSLE year, Asher is now in Primary 3 and Ansel has started his Nursery 1 class. Yes, how time flies - that was my exact sentiment as we packed the bags, wrapped and labelled the books, and got ready to head back to school. My kids are growing up way too fast, which also means age is catching up with me faster than I think and I'm not sure how ready I am to see them blossom into adults and learn to finally let go.

In this post of "Happiness is..", it's about intentionally taking it slow and enjoying a new beginning.

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We always count down to the new year as a family and would usually catch the fireworks and performances on TV. This year, we did something a little crazy on the first day of 2024 and that was to head out to the beach at past 1am. Yup, it was barely a couple of hours into the start of the year and there we were, enjoying the cooling sea breeze, admiring the twinkling stars and feeling the soft sand at our feet.

While the older ones went with the hubby to try to catch fish, I took the youngest for a stroll and we went to the vending machine to get tidbits and drinks for everyone. Yes, a mini picnic at 2am! Haha. It ended up that we slept at nearly 4am and it was a wild night to remember but I hoped the kids would remember that we did it out of love.

That wasn't a bad way to kickstart the new year, right?

My two middle children started school a day later than the other two so we got to enjoy a breakfast together, just the three of us. We went to Ya Kun for their favourite kaya toast and eggs and went shopping for snacks at Don Don Donki. I used to love having the whole family together and one-on-one dates, but now I kind of cherish these days when I have just half the brood with me too.

Of course, before we went for breakfast, we had to send the littlest to school first. It was his first day of school and we kind of expected some reluctance and tears from him, but it turned out that he was a brave boy who went straight into class after saying goodbye. Wow. I was amazed!

Okay, to be fair, he did ended up crying for the next few days and even refused to change his clothes one morning so he wouldn't have to go to school. But unlike the older brother who cried for months and would always hold me so tight and not let go whenever we were nearing his school, this toddler only needed a total of four days to adjust and from his fifth day of school, he never shed a tear up till now. That, to me, is a remarkable feat and way better beyond what we imagined. So kudos to you, my dear Ansel, and I am so happy to see that you enjoy going to school!

Like his siblings, he only goes to school for three hours because I think that is the maximum amount of time I am willing to be separated from him. Haha. It will remain like this till he goes to Primary School so I am still very much cherishing our lunches and our time together before the rest come back. Those three hours, though brief, also gives me a much needed break and I can do the grocery shopping and have breakfast on my own before going over to pick him up.

January also marks a time for gatherings with friends as one of my jie meis came back from overseas and we took the chance to meet up a couple of times and have play dates for the kids. We have come a long way since secondary school and it is nice that we still hang out together and that our kids can play with each other and have fun too.

I love chatting with these girls and despite the fact that I have the most kids and have been a mum for the longest time, I feel like I still have so much to learn from them in terms of parenting methods. It's a blessing that we have each other's support in this motherhood journey because I can honestly say that after 14 years, it still baffles me  more often than not and I am not quite sure how I can be a better mum to my kids even if I desperately wish to.

Look who's all excited to receive his superhero costume! Yup, this little one is turning three in February and has decided that he wanted a Spider-Man themed party. We might not have asked any of his friends over (not that he has many, actually) but the fact that his siblings were all willing to dress up as Miles and Gwen with him as Peter Parker, plus the fact that we had so many fun games and activities lined up for him, I think he pretty much had a blast on his birthday.

For those who have not, do hop over to find out all the happenings at Ansel's Spider-Man Party and who knows, maybe you can get inspiration for your next party too! Pssst, I still have some decorations leftover from the party, including a beautiful banner, balloons and hanging swirls so do drop me a message if you are keen to take them.

Apart from settling down in school, gathering with friends and planning for parties, we also took time off to go for a couple of shows, including Madagascar the Musical which we enjoyed very much. I let the kids watch the movie before the musical even though we had watched it previously already. This was so that they would be more familiar with the plot and main characters and thus be able to relate more to the show.

I don't know how long more we will be able to watch such theatrical productions together now that the most of them are tweens and teens but so long as I have even just one kid who wants to go for such live shows, I will make sure that I bring him/her and that I will be there right beside too.

Bedtime stories is a must no matter how late we sleep and Ansel has been enjoying listening to story after story every night. One of his favourite books these days is "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" so we was over the moon when I told him that we could go watch a live adaptation of it the next month. Just check out his wide grin! I am glad to know that you love reading books, my love, and I hope that this passion can continue even when you grow up and even when you don't need me to read to you anymore.

What started out as a holiday activity has seen the kids progress bit by bit and now, they all want to get to the end of the journey. Yup, the kids are quite determined to achieve their black belts and junior black belts in Taekwondo this year and as the mum, I can only make sure that I support them, cheer for them at gradings, and encourage them to go for it. It's awesome to see that you wanna persevere and carry on so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all of you will achieve your target this year, yar?

A tragic thing that happened this month was the passing of Milo - our beloved pet hamster. We're not sure how or why it happened since he is only over a year old but after playing with our friends when they came over, he shortly became ill a couple of days after and the big girl saw that he was getting weak and unable to stand. That was why we knew he was likely leaving us and indeed the next day, we had to say our goodbyes. Please remember that you are very much loved, dear Milo, and that we love you very, very much.

When do kids start learning to use chopsticks? I don't think there is a correct answer for that but if I had to say, it would be "When they are ready to try". I remember Asher excelled in using chopsticks at two to three years old and could pick up marbles with them easily while the older sisters had to struggle a little. For Ansel, I still let him use a fork to eat his noodles when he wants but if he tells me that he would like to try the chopsticks, I would get a pair for him too.

This was his first time reading noodles with a pair of chopsticks and even though he took longer than needed and found it challenging to let the noodles stay on the chopsticks without sliding off, you should see that look of achievement on his face even time he did manage to get anything into his mouth.

I also brought him to the dentist for the first time because this boy likes to eat sweet stuff and drink sweet drinks, so a checkup would do him good. The dentist helped to clean his teeth and also reminded him on the importance of brushing his teeth well and at least for twice a day. This boy nodded and totally looked way older than a soon-to-be three year old as he laid on the dentist's chair with that cool pair of shades on his face. Let's keep our teeth clean and not be friends with cavities, okay?

Last but not least, we are also thankful for media drops that arrive at our door. These cupcakes were delicious and it made Ansel look forward to celebrating Spot's birthday with him next month. He is a lucky boy who have siblings who are willing to play with him every day. For instance, Ariel cooks with him in the pretend kitchen while Asher plays Lego and all kind of boyish 'fighting' games with him every single day. All this make up part of his precious growing up memories and I hope spending time with siblings brings him lots of warmth and joy.

So that marks the end of Janaury which like I said, was a slow but still enjoyable month for everyone. I hope everyone settled down well into the new year too and I look forward to picking up the pace a little so I can share more exciting happenings with you soon.

But, as age catches up, I also think it is okay to take things slower at times even if it doesn't give me that adrenaline rush that I desire. Perhaps taking it slow will allow us to see more of the beauty in life that we missed out on because we were were always dashing about. So relish, enjoy, breathe in and make more treasured memories, yeah

Till the next post of "Happiness is..."!

Happiness is... treasuring the stress-free days

I always look forward to December.

It's a month special to us because it marks the birthdays of two of my babies. Since it is the school holidays, it's also a time where we can travel, explore, have fun, spend time together as a family and be able to sleep in. Yes, I give three cheers for that last part and I love being able to turn off all my alarms and let everyone sleep to his/her heart's content.

Unlike in June where the kids might have holiday assignments or CCA practice to attend, December symbolises the wrapping up of a year and the kids are usually more free. Yes, no extra lessons, no homework and no co-curricular activities means more time for play, yayyy! While December means the end of a fruitful year, it also gives hope for the next new beginning and makes you feel excited about what lies ahead.

In this "Happiness is..." post, it's about cherishing the stress-free days in this last month of the year. 

First up, we went on an epic 6D5N cruise on board Spectrum of the Seas! It was Ansel's first cruise and it was so funny when we told him he was inside the ship already after boarding and he asked "Huh? Where?" because it totally didn't feel like it. I know right, my dear, I felt the exact same way on my first cruise too.

I've yet to write about the trip in detail and I'm still trying to do up a video for the kids, so bear with me because I will get there one way or another. At least I'm still keeping this blog alive - it's mainly for myself and my kids to reminisce the good old times and remember those golden moments - because I know of many parenting bloggers who have since stopped writing and moved on to creating content on social media instead. If you've been here for a while, thank you for all the support and do stay around, yeah?

Since this wasn't a sponsored trip, it meant that the videos and photos we took were for our own keepsake and I think that makes me feel slightly more relaxed. I still took a lot though (my video footage for the whole trip amounted to nearly 3 hours!) because I think it's ingrained in me and I just wish to capture more of these precious moments.

Plus, we paid over $7k for the trip (we had two connecting balcony staterooms) so I thought it would be good to remember all that we did. Here's a sneak peek first - we visited The TOP in Penang which included the Jurassic Research Centre and a Rainbow Skywalk located at Level 68, and we also went to the beach in Phuket and went on a exhilarating off-road buggy adventure.

Back on our island, we also went to many kid-friendly places and events because December is usually jam packed with such activities. This was at Gingerbread Wonderland at Nex which consisted of huge inflatables by Kiztopia and the kids had a blast! It's nice to see that the elder two still follow us to such events and they love it when they get to play with Ansel, help him up the slide, jump with him into the ball pit and they also still enjoy playing tag with Asher too.

Well, I will cherish these moments till all of you outgrow these kiddy fun times but for now, please enjoy such carefree moments and take your time to grow, my dears.

At Space Fest @ Expo, the kids went on rides including the viking, played carnival games and also went on a bouncy castle together. It was nice that the hubby could join us too and we had lunch together as a family - a luxury that I do not take for granted. Guess what? We were in luck and saw a travel fair happening at a nearby hall and that was where we bought fairly cheap luggage for us to bring to the cruise. Woohoo!

It's also nice to at times let the girls spend sisterly time together while I bring the boys out. I mean, the two of them are quite independent already and it is my hope that they can be the kind of sisters who can go shopping, share secrets, dance, chat about girly stuff and do lots of stuff together.

I took the boys to Polliwogs since we won the tickets from a lucky draw a year ago and the tickets were expiring. It amazes me how fast time flies and looking back, the years are so fleeting and it won't be long before my babies take off and move out of the nest and outgrow the need for Mama. Do I look forward to that day so I can finally have peace and lots of me-time to do what I want to do? Well, actually not.

The kids love eating at places where they get to cook and Yakiniku is one of them. We waited fairly long to get seats one day but they were delighted with the meal, which I must say is quite yummy! Well, we ate together for three meals a day in the whole of December so at times, I was at a loss of what to eat next, haha. I usually tried to ask them for their preferences and we would head to where the majority wanted.

I also cooked less than usual since we were out so often (yayyy!) but I must say eating out as a big family can be quite expensive so we have to learn to be prudent in our expenditure. The food court is still where we hang out most often because it's just cheaper to eat there than in any restaurant. I keep telling the kids they are very blessed already because it wasn't like this in their grandma's or great grandma's eras - they had to work at a young age just to put food on the table - so we truly ought to be grateful for what life has given us.

I have been cutting Ansel's hair since he was born because he just prefers to let Mama be his hairdresser. One day, he saw Korkor going for a haircut and knowing that he could receive a candy after it was done, he decided to be brave and try it out too, woohoo! It might be a simple milestone but it was still an important for me, because it showed that this boy had grown up a little bit more, is not so scared of strangers now, and is courageous enough to step out of his comfort zone.

Well, he didn't cry but he fidgeted quite a bit during the whole experience because I guess he was tickled or scared by the shaver and the close proximity of the auntie, but he did it in the end and I had to take a photo to remember that moment.

If you have not, do hop over to read about Ariel's and Asher's birthday celebration at D'Resort where we had a fun-filled 3D2N staycation. Since we usually squeeze into a room that has two queen beds, it is one of the cheapest ways for us to have a staycation in Singapore and the best thing is it comes with four complimentary daily tickets to Wild Wild Wet (for NTUC members only).

It was an awesome family bonding time where we did lots of fun activities, including swimming, indoor climbing, arcade, movie night, cycling, pony riding and more. I feel a little bad that the two kids have to usually combine their celebration since their birthdays are two days apart, but I make sure to make him/her feel special on his/her actual day. Like for Asher, we had a hotpot dinner at Hai Di Lao, sang a birthday song for him and surprised him with a late night movie outing to watch Aquaman 2 which he was very excited about.

For Ariel, she wanted cupcakes and a slice of rainbow cake instead of a big cake so I took her to choose her favourite cupcakes from 12 Cupcakes, brought over all her presents in the luggage to surprise her on the morning of her birthday, and had a cake cutting ceremony in the comfort of our room before we rushed to pack up and check out. She wanted to have prawn noodles soup for lunch and go indoor climbing so we did those too. Whatever you want for your birthday, my dears (as long as it is affordable). 

You know, despite all the happy moments and fun times, there are always the not-so-desirable bits and pieces and most people would choose to not write about it. Let's see, for us, it includes the sibling bickers, the constant backtalking, how the hubby and I had different opinions about where to head to, accidents like how Ariel's finger got trapped in the balcony door and bled quite badly, or the part where Ansel almost fell off a horse and was left with one leg dangling. And more! Yup, it's never as easy or as smooth as it looks and there are always the part behind the scenes which remind us that we are all the same and just trying our best to be a good parent for our kids.

The kids are still going strong in their Taekwondo classes and we try our best to plan the holidays so that we would not have to skip any lesson. What started out as a holiday activity two years ago has seen the kids learn to be more resilient and disciplined and they have all surprised me by wanting to carry on till they achieve their black belts. Woohoo! Way to go, my loves!

Earlier in the year, I went on a one-on-one date with Ariel where we went for a cooking class, with Angel where we attended Blackpink's concert, and with Ansel where we went to an indoor playground. Well, so it was time for Asher's turn with Mama and he chose to go to an arcade. He would have been happy to settle for any arcade but I decided to bring him to the biggest one and it was one that we had never been before - Timezone in Orchard XChange. Before we made our way there by train, we had a nice breakfast at McDonald's which made him a happy boy.

 

We played lots of fun and new games the the arcade and for that couple of hours, I focused on this one kid and make sure he was happy. He loved this Ninja Turtles game which he played for the first time and requested to play it several times. So we did. I wanted him to have the freedom to choose what he wanted to do and best of all, I wanted to accompany him in every game that he played.

We've had our fair share of bad days and rough moments in the past year but that day, all was good in the world and we made so many precious memories to bring home with us. One-on-one dates are truly precious! I love you, my darling Asher.

We also had a gathering with Asher's kindergarten school mates and had a cake cutting ceremony for him too. It is so wonderful that we still keep in touch with a small handful of the ex-classmates and he always looks forward to such gatherings because they would have a blast and end up playing lots of games. Fun fact: Ariel was the emcee at Asher's graduation ceremony so all of them know her. Plus, another classmate's elder sister was her co-host so two of them would join in the gatherings too. That means we get to sing the birthday song for both of them (again).

We also went for a water carnival where the kids were treated to candy floss and popcorn, as well as had fun on obstacle courses and paddle boats. These are the simple joys in their growing up years which will hopefully be remembered because one day soon, they would not want to do this anymore. Trust me, I know, I have a full blown teenager at home.

Last but not least, it was time for Christmas! The kids look forward to this time of the year every single year because we would set up the Christmas tree (it has become a mum-and-kids tradition every year to do it together), go shopping for presents, wrap them up and write wishes on them (this is Ariel's favourite thing to do and she is always helping me with the wrapping), eagerly await the arrival of Santa Claus and leave milk and cookies for him on the eve of Christmas, and of course, receive lots of presents and open all of them on Christmas Day.

We would also have family gatherings whereby the adults would do a gift exchange (everyone has to bring a $20 gift and we would draw random numbers to see who gets which gift) and the kids would all get presents. Yup, we might not celebrate Christmas for religious purposes but this season of giving is one that our family cherishes very much.

It symbolises that the year is coming to an end and gives us hope for the new year. Oh, and we would usually get a log cake so that the family members can celebrate Asher's and Ariel's birthdays together. This time, we added fruits, chocolate eclairs, custard puffs and tarts too. Woohoo! Family gatherings are simply the best and these are moments to treasure and hold dear in our hearts.

To love and be loved. That is just want all of us want in life, right? December has been such a sweet month and one that reminded me of all the good things we have. 我们真的是很幸福的，要惜福，要把握，也要懂得感恩。

That finally marks the end of 2023 and I look forward to sharing more of our family moments with you. Till the next post of "Happiness is..."!