Happiness is... treasuring the time when the kids are still little

I have four kids who are in different phases of life as their age gaps are not that small. If you compare the oldest and youngest, they are turning 16 and four respectively and yes, that means their gap is nearly a full cycle in the Chinese horoscope since they are both born in the Year of the Ox - although the big sister is at the end of the year and the little brother at the beginning.

This gives me a whole new perspective when it comes to spending time with my youngest and I totally cherish the years left he has in preschool before he goes to primary school. We still have over two and a half years left where he goes to school merely three hours a day and we get to lunch together, go out together and nap together every single day. And yes, I absolutely love and cherish this fleeting phase.

In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about making the most of our time with our kids while they are still little. 

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I make it a point to check the lion dance schedule during CNY and try my best to bring the kids to watch a live performance. It gives me great joy to soak in the festive ambience and the kids are always very fascinated and impressed with the lion dance.

Given that Ansel is the only one who still can 'pontang' school and dismisses early enough for me to pick him and make it for noontime performances, we had a one-on-one date one morning. He would always try to hi five 财神爷 and hope to one of the lucky ones to catch a plushie and so far, he has been quite lucky already.

Don't you love CNY too?

Back at home, we still keep up with home cooked meals although I must say I do quite a fair bit of dabao-ing too because some days are just too exhausting.

Although I can't cook as well as the hubby or many fellow mums, I think the kids still like my simple dishes because it has the taste of home, and of love. Can you guess one of their favourite dishes of mine? It's steamed egg lor. Haha. Such a simple dish but they only like mine cos' of the taste and smooth texture, and it's something I like to make for them too. On good days, I would even add bit of ingredients into cups and make chawanmushi for them.

When the hubby is around, we dine out sometimes and one of our favourite restaurants is Ding Tai Fung as the kids totally love their xiao long baos and chicken noodles soup.

That said, it is getting increasingly expensive for us to dine there due to inflation and the pure fact that now that the kids are bigger, two longs or 10 xiao long baos ain't enough for our family to share. Yup, expensive to eat there and it's a treat for them every few months.

So I said to treasure the time with Ansel before he goes to primary school, right? This month, we had an outing to Sentosa and even though it was mainly to capture videos for a campaign, we still had fun walking around, eating at the Malaysian food court and he was most stoked to get a LEGO present in advance for his birthday.

It's all in the simple things, right? Like the random chats we will have on the MRT, seeing the beautiful scenery on the monorail, stopping to take a mother-and-son photo and so on. These are the things I love to do with him while his whole world still revolves around me. We all know how short-lived this phase is, right?

February makes his hatch day and it's been four fabulous years since Ansel came into our lives and joined our humble family. I'm not sure if I've said this before, but I didn't plan to have four kids, neither did I plan to stop at three. It was more of a leave it to fate kind of thing but I did think my hands were already pretty full as stay-at-home mum of three who has no help and needs to solo parent on most days. 

But then, fate decided that I got pregnant after just one try, even though I had assumed that I won't but then again, I'm not the guru at counting ovulation dates and fertile periods. So Ansel came into our lives (read his birth story here) as a preemie at 35 weeks old and let's just say life has never been better for me as a mum. I love having four kids!

So the hubby took time off to join us at his birthday celebration in school where we cut cake, interacted with the teachers and kids, and gave out goodie bags too. We keep our goodie bags small, affordable and filled with stationery rather than snacks just so to be more thoughtful about the well-being of these little preschoolers.

To celebrate his big day, we had a Sheriff Labrador themed party which was filled with lots of games and laughter, and he was truly a happy boy that day. You can read all the details about this 4th birthday party here.

It's a tradition to gather with the extended family for the kids' birthdays too so February was no exception as we got together to celebrate the special day of our youngest family member. Happy turning 4, dear Ansel! Please know that you are deeply loved by every one of us.





This month also marks a milestone for Ariel who has graduated from her Heguru journey after over eight long years. Yes, I can't even describe how amazing this learning experience has been and she has been blessed to meet many wonderful teachers who truly care for her.

Unlike the big sister who (used to) excel in academics in primary school without much effort, it's harder for Ariel and she needs to put in more effort in order to be consistent and get the grades that she wants. She did an average job for her Primary 6 Prelims and I think it was a good effort and job well done given that she has not have any tuition or academic related enrichment class outside of Heguru.

Then lo and behold, she improved her score significantly for PSLE, achieve her target score and got into her first choice of secondary school. We are beyond proud of you, Ariel, and I'm sure all the teachers at Heguru are proud of you too.

With the girls fast growing up and having their own busy teenager schedules, I have more time to spend with the boys these days. I love that they still like to hang out with me, let me make decisions on where to go, and are very happy even it's playing at a neighbourhood playground or enjoying a soft serve.

We also still go to KidsFest to watch theatrical shows because they enjoy these performances and I would do this for as long as I can, if it makes them happy. This month, we watched The Hungry Little Caterpillar and it's one of our favourite classic tales of all time. 

Then if we have free time, we will take leisure walks, enjoy a cooling breeze, walk hand in hand and just chit chat about anything under the sun. These moments, which are free of electronic devices, are much appreciated and cherished. Things will be so vastly different once they have their own phones and personal learning devices, as proven with experience, haha. So yes to nature walks and more hands-free family bonding sessions!

February also marks Valentine's Day and this year, I got a nice sunflower from the hubby who got it when we were shopping at Sheng Shiong and the auntie cashier managed to persuade him to part with his money. Haha. I'm not a flower lover but such gestures are still greatly appreciated.

Last but not least, CNY also means a time to gathering with friends and I'm glad my Jie Meis managed to meet up before the last day of new year, woohoo! We also make it a point to celebrate each other's birthdays and it's a tradition that I hope we can keep up for many more years to come. 

Yes, time flies and it's quite amazing how every CNY comes and goes so fast as I take down one animal horoscope decorations and put up the next. 

That is also why it is especially important that we make each day count when we spend time with our kids. They grow up just way, way, way too fast and guess what? Time can never rewind but only go forward. So believe me when I say you are gonna miss the years when the kids are little so hold on to every moment, cherish it and know that you are blessed. Till the next post of "Happiness is..."!