Worryfather would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year 2011.
Wish for a healthier and happier years ahead!

     Set your resolution and do your best! Happy New Year!

     Parents in Asia like to provide fish for their children's meal.

     Fish, especially salt water fish, is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which is heart-friendly.
Fish is also rich in DHA which boost children's brain, and less in fats and cholestrol.
Most believe that Japanese and Nordic have high life expectancy are due to their consumption of fish and fresh seafood.

     Due to industralization and urbanization, some of our seas have been polluted. Thus, fish living in the polluted sea will carry and accumulate the toxins/metals. One of most common metal found in fish is Mercury. The presence of Mercury is harmful for pregnant ladies, nursing mother and children. Mercury will accumulate in our body if constantly taking fish contaminated with mercury.
If reach a high level, mercury will acts as a neurotoxin, interfering with the brain and nervous system. It might also affect the development of feotus in pregnant lady.

     So, what are the fishes that have highest mercury level?
The NRDC compiled a list of fish and their level of mercury

LOWER MERCURY
Akagai (ark shell)
Anago (conger eel)
Aoyagi (round clam)
Awabi (abalone)
Ayu (sweetfish)
Ebi (shrimp)
Hamaguri (clam)
Hamo (pike conger; sea eel)
Hatahata (sandfish)
Himo (ark shell)
Hokkigai (surf clam)
Hotategai (scallop)
Ika (squid)
Ikura (salmon roe)
Kaibashira (shellfish)
Kani (crab)
Karei (flatfish)
Kohada (gizzard shad)
Masago (smelt egg)
Masu (trout)
Mirugai (surf clam)
Sake (salmon)
Sayori (halfbeak)
Shako (mantis shrimp)
Tai (sea bream)
Tairagai (razor-shell clam)
Tako (octopus)
Tobikko (flying fish egg)
Torigai (cockle)
Tsubugai (shellfish)
Unagi (freshwater eel)
Uni (sea urchin roe)

HIGH MERCURY

Ahi (yellowfin tuna)
Aji (horse mackerel)
Buri (adult yellowtail)
Hamachi (young yellowtail)
Inada (very young yellowtail)
Kanpachi (very young yellowtail)
Katsuo (bonito)
Kajiki (swordfish)
Maguro (bigeye, bluefin or yellowfin tuna)
Makjiki (blue marlin)
Meji (young bigeye, bluefin or yellowfin tuna)
Saba (mackerel)
Sawara (Spanish mackerel)
Seigo (young sea bass)
Shiro (albacore tuna)
Suzuki (sea bass)
Toro (bigeye, bluefin or yellowfin tuna)

 source: NRDC - http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/sushi.asp

Please choose your fish carefully.

     Rectal Prolapse. What is that?

     Yes. When the first time I heard about it, that's the same question I asked.
Why am I asking that? My daughter had this problem.

     According to wikipedia, Rectal Prolapse is a medical condition wherein the walls of the rectum protrude through the anus and hence become visible outside the body. Sounds scary right?
When it happens to our daughter and we had no idea what's that, we were freaked out!
    
     My daughter has her 1st prolapse a few months ago. That time, it came out and went in very fast when my wife saw it. We didn't really wory about it.

     A few weeks later, it happened again. My daughter refused to stand up from potty. We felt something amiss. We lifted her up from potty, and saw the prolapse. She thought the 'something' was her stool. We were traumatized, as we do not know what was it and why keep happening. I was carrying my daughter and wanted to put her down on the bed. My daughter kept crying and refused to lie down. After half an hour of carrying and coaxing, the prolapse went it. Immediately we went to consult our family doctor. The doctor wrote a referral letter for us to consult specialist.
 
    We went to consult Paed Surgeon, that's when we first heard about rectal prolapse. He said it was due to constipation. But our daughter pass motion everyday. He pointed out that she has hard stool. Hard stool causes her to strain when there is bowel movement. After straining too much, rectum become loose and prolapse happens. He prescribed Fybogel (fibre) and Lactus (laxation).
We suspected it was her formula milk that cause hard stool. We switched to fresh milk.

   The following week, it became worse!

The prolapse lasted for one hour before went in, as we didn't know how to reduce it. And subsequently, it happens daily!! We went to consult another Paed surgeon. He also didn't give us any concrete solution, except reassured us that it is nothing major and it is curable by solving the hard stool.

   We still worry...

We searched high and low for information and worry why our daughter has such uncommon problem.
Read a lot of medical articles about it. We suspect it was due to cow's milk. Formula milk contains cow's milk too.  Although formula milk has a lot of nutrients, but it doesn't contain fibre. It might cause constipation!

We decided to stop fresh milk and reduce my daughter formula milk intake as well. Give her a lot of food rich in fibre. It helps. At least it didn't happen for the past few weeks.

    As it is an uncommon medical condition, there are limited information about it. Do take care of your kid's constipation problem and give them food rich in fibre. Prepare a healthy diet for your kids. 

     Today I would like to share an interesting book, 50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education.
     I first came across someone talking about this book in a forum and I find some the rules are very useful for the kids and even for adults.
     My favourite rule is
          #1 Life is not fair. Get used to it.
According to the book, it is said that the average teenager uses this phrase "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. I guess most parents are tired of hearing it from their kids. And I believe some of the parents themselves also complain about it. It is so true that, we can't control the unfairness of the world. What we need to teach our kids is that, What they can control is the way you react. Some kids are born with silverspoon, some are born with talents while some are born to be normal. The kids have to learn to accept it and cherish what they have.
   In fact, most of the rules are so true, and are very useful for the parents and the kids.
          #2 The real world won't care as much as your school does about your self-esteem. It will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.

         #5 No matter what your daddy says, you are not a princess....

        #17 Your parents weren't as boring before you were born as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, driving you around, saving for your education, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. 
        
       I feel the rules though quite cruel, but it is so true. If the parents keep protecting their kids and treat them like prince/princess, it is very difficult for them to grow up and independent.
What do you think?

     Facebook is Evil..


      Yes. I am talking about the social networking site which most of us use. A report in Wall Street Journal found that the phenomenal amount of personal information shared by Facebook members might be sold extensively to marketers, advertisers and data collectors.
       It is estimated there are 500 millions users in Facebook. And there are hundred thousands of applications in Facebook. When you connect to any of the application, you agreed to share your information with them. I am sure many of us are familiar with FarmVille, Pet Society, Bejeweled, Mafia War, etc. These are some of the most popular games in Facebook. Once you connect to those apps, your personal IDs and profile will be shared to them.


     I also got a shock when I went to one of the website. I just need to supply some basic information without password, I can see whatever I have posted in Facebook - photos, status, comments,.. I still wonder how on earth that website able to get such information.

     When you put your photo, your profile, personal information on the internet, you will need to bear the risk of exposing your privacy. Although it is the website or company's responsibility to protect your privacy, you yourself have to be careful as well.

     Most of the kids nowadays have accounts in multiple social networking websites like Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc. It is worrying that their privacy might be compromised. Kids might unknowingly exposed their identity to strangers. So, as parents, I guess it is important to guide your kids.


Some of the tips that you can advice your kids:
     1. Do not post your latest status too clearly or the things you going to do, e.g. "Going to watch movie at Cineleisure tomorrow".
      2. Do not know actual name or spell your name in full.
      3. Do not 'connect' to unknown apps in Facebook.
      4. Remove/Delete the apps if you are not using anymore.
      5. Try to befriend with your kids in Facebook. This will help you to know what have they posted or how frequent they use Facebook.

     As a parents, you will have monitor, guide and protect your kids and their privacy. If you have any tips, feel free to share.

     This month and next are the tough time for many students. There are year end exams and other important assessment like PSLE for primary 6 students,  O-Level, A-Level in Singapore, PMR and SPM in Malaysia.

It is the busiest month for the parents too.


     Nowadays some of the parents are more nervous than the students! The parents will stay up late to do last minutes preparation with the kids, take week off to teach their kids and some even quit their job to prepare the kids.

   On top of that, Singapore newspaper reported that $820 millions was spent on private tuition in 2008. This is not something new. The students are burdened with tuition classes after school. Students have to attend tuition in English, Maths, Chinese, almost all subjects, every week. Imagine if one subject requires 2 hours per week, it will be 6 hours per week! Reported in another article that in 100 students polled in 2008, only 3 students do not have any tuition at all.

    This is worrying!

 
     Are the parents spending too much on the kids' tuition? Are we burdening the kids with too much tuition classes, enrichment classes on top of their school?

    With the highly competitive society, most parents think it is necessary!
Most parents are not hoping their children to be high flier or high-income earner. They just want their children to have a competitive edge and able to find a decent job. According to NUS admission statistic, there are 25984 undergraduates enrolled for 2009/2010. This is just one university, there are three local universities. There are about 60000 per year! Not to mention, graduates from overseas universities!

     Will you want your kids to be left out??

     Raising kids required a lot of love, patience and money. In Singapore, it is said that you will need about SGD350k to raise one child from baby till he/she can become independent.

     Scary??!?!

      Not quite! I believe it is quite true. In fact I think it is slightly underestimate.
To give you a rough estimate, here are some breakdown of the costs (for a middle income family):

Milk Powder 1.8kg for 2 years	$50 x 24 (months) = $1200
Meal for child till 22 years old excluding meal for first two years	$20 (per day) x 365 x 20 (years) =$146,000
Both parents working, babysitter or childcare, kindergarten service required	$600 x 12 (months) x 4 (years) = $28,800
Primary and Secondary School Tuition Fee, Enrichment classes	$700 x 12 (months) x 12 (years) = $100,800
University Tuition Fee (without subsidy/scholarship), Business in National University of Singapore	$26,490 x 4 (years) = $105,960

Based on the above assumption, it is about SGD382k. I haven't include other expenses like clothes, transportation, entertainment,.. and inflation!

     Want to be a Singapore millionaire? Get yourself 3 kids!

     It is over!



     The inaugural Youth Olympic Game has come to an end on 26th August.
I am no fan of YOG. In fact, I didn't quite like it as it had taken much of the TV slots.



    The game held in Singapore, started on 14 August with opening ceremony filled with fire, water and lights.  It started spectacularly with Darren Choy walked in water to light up the YOG flame.


      For the next thirteen days, although there were some complaints on the food and minor incident, Singapore has managed to put on a great show. Many had previously cast doubt about the ability of Singapore hosting the game. After the dazzling display, many has second thought.

     Before the game. there was this 12-year old boy who was so enthusiastic with the torch relay that he trailed the torch relay in Singapore for more than 2 and half hour in the rain or almost 15km. His action moved many readers and the organizing committees too. He was invited to be one of the torch bearer as well.

      I didn't watch any of the games, I don't think it is comparable to Olympic games. But I amazed with the performance of the athletes. Champions are not made in one day, nor one year. It is through perseverance, determination and hardwork that make one shines. The athletes, though are kids, have gone through years of training to come this far. They have put in great effort for the game. I guess their parents are very proud of their kids and they are the champion to them whether they win or lose. And I think they should be the role model for all kids in the world!

Give your best in everything you do, success will be yours one day!


 

     It was a sunny afternoon, worryfather and friends were having a meal and chit chat. One of my friend told us that she felt bad recently. She told us, her daughter were often teased by her schoolmates. As she was in a famous school, many of her schoolmates are from well off family. They always go to North Asia, Europe or even US during school holiday. While my friend who is a decent family, only manage to bring her daughter to nearby places for holiday, if there is. So, her daughter is always teased by her friends, like 'kampung girl' (village girl).
This lead me to think that this is part of Bullying, though not serious.

    Bullying in school is not new. It has been in school for very long time. During my primary school time, though I wasn't targeted, but I still vividly remember that one of my classmate shouted across the class to address a female classmate as Tigress. The female classmate broke down and cried. Luckily, the bully stopped his action. And recently, Princess Aiko of Japan, daughter of the Crown Prince Naruhito was a victim of pranks and harassment from classmate. She complained that she was been hit by a ball during a game. There was a case of 15 year old girl set on fire by her school mate over a text message.
     Bullying can be in physical and verbal context. Most parents are more concern about physical bullying as they can see the physical injury. But, verbal bullying can be deadly also as for the case of Phoebe Prince due to constant verbal bullying.
      As a parents, how are you able to protect your children? It is no easy task. Child expert, Dr Michele Borba has provided some marvellous advices if your child is teased or bullied.
     I think the first thing the parents must do is to able to notice your child is been bullied. The victim might become quiet, introvert or afraid/worry to go to school.One of the story I read from newspaper, the mother noticed her daughter asked for more pocket money when going to school, while she knows that the pocket money was more than enough. She questioned her daughter and found out that her schoolmates were forcing her to give them a treat almost daily. So, communication with children is very important.
      Like Dr Michele Borba suggested, it is important to stay calm and don't get offensive when confronting the bullies. Most of the bullies are usually just want to play a prank or making fun of others. They are just been playful. If your child able to stay calm, not agitated or take it too seriously, the bullies will just go away. Teach the child to stand up for themselves but not resort to violence. If they still harass you, you should let the teachers or the principal knows. Parents are not advisable to confront the bully or the bully's parent directly as this might complicate the matter.
      Bullying is happening everywhere. Most of the children will encounter some sort of bullying. Parents are advise to stay calm too, and not to teach their kids to hit back or become offensive with bully. Help your child to build confidence and teach them how to handle bully.
     

     Once a while, I like to surf for parenting info.

      Today I would like to share about my wife friend's bento website.

     Every time I read about children bento blogs, I am very impressed. The mothers really put in a lot of patience and love to come out with creative ideas. Look at one of the bento set I stole from my wife friend's blog. I specially like the chick in the egg. It looks absolutely marvellous and appetizing. And it is very healthy too. I am sure most kids will be proud to bring one of such bento to school, and they will love it.

     It doesn't really look difficult to prepare it. It is just an egg, corns, kiwi and watermelon. That's all, but it is the thought that's difficult. You will need to put in your heart to make one, that when you or your kids look at it, will make them smile and happy. It is really a Happy Meal.

     There are many good blogs on bento, but today I would like to introduce this blog to you. Simple but creative, healthy and delicious.
It is in mandarin, though. Please feel free to visit her blog, Cozy Kitchen

Worryfather was googling and found this article.

The article is about 4 internet whizz-kids who have successful developed iPhone applications, online games and server management software. 1 of them, a 10 year old boy has published numerous iPhone applications. His first application, Doodle Kids has been downloaded for more than 680,000. Another at 13, has developed 33 online games. All these kids are very impressive and their parents are very proud of them.

We have known many internet prodigies like Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress. Both are 26 only, but their applications have been used by millions of people worldwide.

What do these four teenagers have in common? - They all started to use computer at young age.

According to the 10-year-old boy's father, Ding Wen knew how to boot a PC, use mouse and run software since he was 2. He had learnt 9 programming language since he was 7. Very impressive for a young kid. Most kids at this age, still learning spoken languages, simple maths and science.

Couple of weeks ago, Worryfather published a post on most parents were not aware of what their kids doing online and some children intimidating sexual poses after exposure to online pornography. The current article definitely has a huge contrast with the previous one. Those exposed to online pornography, violence, drugs or gambling will bring the negative side of the children, while those make good use of the internet and computer will help them shine!

But what is the difference?

The parents of these kids are aware of what their kids are doing online or using the computer. They UNDERSTAND how their kids spent their time. This will help the parents to guide their interest, and advice them if they misuse it. The parents dissuaded their kids from playing too much computer games and to focus on learning.

One of the teenager's father even took back the PlayStation Portable gave to his son.

Ryan's father, Mr Lee, said: 'Too many kids today just consume. In this case, we instil in him a sense of wanting to be part of the creative process, to be more involved in production and creation,' he said.
He added that he dissuaded his son from just spending his time playing computer games.
'I even made his brother return a PlayStation Portable he received as a gift,' joked Mr Lee, referring to Sony's hand-held game console.

    Not everyone will become genius, but it is definitely on the parents' hand what they want to their kids to be. I am not asking you to immediately remove your kids' Facebook account or to ban them from playing computer games. No, doing this will be even worse! What I am suggesting is to understand them, guide them and communicate with them. This will help to bring the best out of them, for their own good.

Every parents in Singapore will go through this stressful period at least once.
For some, this period might be much more stressful than work!

I am talking about Primary 1 (P1) registration.

Education is very important. No doubt about it. For parents, their children education is one of their major concern.
They want their children to get the best education so that they can do well in the society in the future. They want good teaching method which will not be too taxing for the kids and yet not too relax. They want good teachers who can teach, attract the students and cultivate the children learning desire.
And more importantly, a good and safe school environment with no or less bullying.

Not easy, right?

Singapore has developed good education system with many good neighbourhood schools. But to get into the good neighbourhood school is no easy task either.

Currently is the period for parents to register their kid for Primary 1. Parents are getting stressed. Some of the parents I know, who has been posted to oversea, will take leave and come back for the registration of their kid. For worryfather, I have been started to gather information about the process since my daughter is 18 months old.

Now, let me brief a bit on the process. It is complicated and not for the faint hearted.
There are 3 phases for the registration as according to Singapore Ministry of Education

Phase 1
For a child who has a sibling studying in the school of choice.

Phase 2A1
For a child whose parent is a former student of the school and who has joined the alumni association as a member not later than 30 Jun 2009; or whose parent is a member of the School Advisory/Management Committee. 

Phase 2A2
For a child whose parent or sibling has studied in the school of choice; or whose parent is a staff member of the school of choice.

Phase 2B2 
For a child whose parent has joined the school as a parent volunteer not later than 1 July 2009 and has given at least 40 hours of voluntary service to the school by 30 June 2010; or whose parent is a member endorsed by the church/clan directly connected with the school; or whose parent is endorsed as an active community leader.

Phase 2C
For a child who is ineligible for or unsuccessful in earlier phases. If there is more children than the seats available, there will be ballot which will be divided into 3 categories.
Children staying less than 1km from the school, between 1km to 2km and more than 2km.

Phase 2C Supplementary
For a child who is unsuccessful in gaining a place in a school of choice at Phase 2C. Those schools with vacancy will be those less popular or in a more secluded place.

Phase 3
For a child who is neither a Singapore Citizen nor a Singapore Permanent Resident. 

Each school has certain amount of vacancy. Going through each phase, the seat will be taken. If in either of the phase, the number of registrants is more than the vacancy, ballot will be held.
Most popular schools will have enough students at Phase 2B2!


This mean that parents has to stay near the school (forgot about your dream house outside of the city), do some volunteer work at the school in order to have a chance to get your children into good school.
As of 16 July 2010, here is the school vacancies by phases.

So, parents, if you plan to send your children to Singapore primary school, please get a map and start planning now! But not to worry, every children will have a place for Primary 1, it is just a matter of which school.
Maybe you would like to share how's the process for your country too.

Recently there are a slew of reports on internet safety for kids.

     Firstly, there is such report on children intimating sexual poses. It was exposed by some netizens on a Chinese forum. I believe for any parents out there to see such photos, they certainly feel angry about it. Worryfather also saddened for what's happening to our kids.
No doubt as reported that the photographer should stop such poses by the kids, but what's the cause for the kids to intimate such poses should be our main concern.

Kids exposure to pornography should be one of the main concern, if not all. Pornography can be accessed anywhere, anytime with the availability of internet. Compare to last time, pornography was available through magazine only. Through internet, pornography is available just a few clicks and it is on for 24 hours a day. Though most pornography sites only allow 18 and above, but it doesn't really able to tell how old is their reader. This is very disturbing!

According to another survey conducted at 14 nations, 25 percents of the parents worldwide were not aware of what their kids doing online. 6 in 10 parents in Singapore were ignorant about their child's online activity. This is very scary but yet understandable as most parents were 'busy' with work, lack of tools to help them as among the reasons.

For the fact that the children spent about 16 hours per week online as what most parents thought of 14 hours, this is something to be taken seriously. This means that parents underestimated their kids online time, and thus do not understand what their kids online activities. Internet is full of seduction. If any of the 16 hours spent online, chanced upon pornography and go unaware, the consequences might be regrettable.

Hence, I think it is important for the parents to monitor and understand their kids online time and online activities. Is it against kids privacy? You might argue so, but as the kids' guardian, you have the utmost responsibility to make sure they grow healthy physically and mentally.

If you don't understand your kids, who will?

Today I want to introduce a marvellous educational DVD.
It is Richard Scarry's Best ABC Video Ever.

     This educational program has been in the market for very long time. I first heard about it when my niece was 2 years old, she is now 18 years old. I believe some of you has heard about it.
This animation video is surely a fun and attracting way for kids to learn ABC.

    The video is put into an interesting story. The teacher was teaching 26 cute animal students ABC. Each of the student has a letter card, which they will need to give a word starting with the alphabet. The students were able to make a nice story with each of the alphabet. The students were able to come out with a story on how banana gorilla, the main character, stole banana, how he escaped and finally been caught. The story was simple but interesting.

     On top of the simple "A" for "apple" kind of words, the video also introduces human names that start with the letter. Adjectives and adverbs were used too for some of the alphabets like "Excellent", "Silly", "Sickening".Of course, there is ABC song too.

     My daughter has been watching this video weekly for 1 year. It is still her no. 1 video. We always play this video for her, and she will sit there and watch until the end. She will even laugh when she sees those characters she likes.

     I think this is a good and interesting education video. If you are looking for one to teach your kids ABC, I do recommend this video to you.


  

Image via Wikipedia

One of the concern of couple is how to have a baby boy/girl.

The first baby, parents won't be so stress or care much. After having the first one, most of the parents, particularly in Singapore and Malaysia, would like to have second one of opposite sex.

Thus, it will create some 'stress' and cause most parents to find methods, nutrient, medicine, potions to increase the chance of hitting the right one.

I am no expert in this, but I would like to share some I read or heard. I hope my post will not be categorized as PG later.

In theory, sperm carrying "Y" (or boy) will be more active and strong. Sperm carrying "X" (or girl) can last longer. Meaning, if there is an egg coming out fresh from mother's ovum, the "Y" sperm will swim the fastest to reach the egg.
If the egg come out days after you have intercourse, most likely the sperm "X" will last longer to fertilized the egg.

Based on this theory, there are a few methods you can try.
1. Ask your wife to get both her legs up high while lying on the bed after intercourse for a while. This (gravity) will help the sperms to get closer to the egg if there is ovulation. Chances to get a boy will higher. Don't blame me if your wife sprained her back!

2. Monitor and measure your period. Try to get the ovulation date as accurate as possible.
Usually your body temperature will be higher when ovulation. You will need to measure your body temperature (up to 2 decimal points) for a few months and chart it. After getting a consistency in the chart, you will know your ovulation time.
Based on the above theory, to get a boy, you will need to have intercourse when wife is about to have ovulation, vice versa.

3. The less frequent you have intercourse, quality and quantity of the sperms will be better. Hence to get a boy, save your stock, do it the right time! Sorry guys.. hold your horses..

4. The stronger or excited intercourse you two have, the furthest your ejaculation. Boy will be more likely. :)

5. Sweet food will increase the chance of having baby girl, salty food will increase the chance of baby boy.

6. Diet rich in calcium and magnesium will attract "X" sperm, while diet rich in sodium and potassium will attract "Y" sperm.

These are some of the methods or myths I read or heard about. Believe or not, it is up to you.

Happy trying and accidents do happen!! :)

Cherish your children whether it is a boy or girl!

Image via Wikipedia

It is father's day. Father's Day usually has been celebrated in lesser scale than Mother's Day. But father role is as important.

My father was a hawker. He was selling clothes in the wet market and also night market for over 30 years. With his sole income, he needed to feed himself, my mother, my grandmother, and six children. He didn't earn a lot, that's why he needed to work very hard. He cycled to wet market in the morning and night market during evening time in his trishaw with six boxes of clothes and metal stands and a few planks. Sometimes, he had to cycle up to 8km per trip.

When I was young, I seldom talk to my father due to he needs to work from 7am to 12+ noon, then 630pm till 11+pm. That time I remember he was a strict person. With so many people depends on his income, I think he hardly had time to relax.

Nonetheless, he showed us great love. I remembered the first gift they bought for me when I was a kid. I was asleep that time, at night. Father and mother came home from night market. They bought me a teddy bear soft toy. It wasn't soft actually, not like those now. But I loved it!
I kept it for a few years before I was too old for it.

When I was older, I remembered another gift from him. A jigsaw puzzle, 24 pieces, if I remembered correctly. It was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle jigsaw puzzle. I kept playing and playing. I didn't know someone was observing, my father. He noticed that I liked it, so he bought another one for me. I didn't play these two for long though.

Although he didn't earn a lot, he and mother always reward us if we did well in our school exam. Every year, if my brother and I did well in our school exam, they will buy us whatever gift we want. Instead of spending the money on themselves, they will keep the money and buy the gift for us. He never celebrated his birthday, father's day, in fact, I know he worked almost everyday, unless he was sick.

My father seldom scold me. But I remembered he raised his voice on two occasions.

First occasion when I was in primary 6. I was invited as a school leaver representative to give a thank you speech in one of the scholarship award ceremony. I scared of public speaking and shy. I asked my father to reject them. My father advised me to try and tried to give me confident, but I was very stubborn and persistence. My father finally fed up and asked me to call the organizer myself if I didn't want to give the speech.

I gave in finally, and the speech went smoothly, not as bad as I thought of.

Second occasion when I was in university. I was back home for summer break. During that time, long hair and dye hair were popular. I said that I wanted to keep long hair and dyed my hair dark blue. As a conservative father, he objected and advised me not to. Not sure why, I dismissed him and said he is outdated and old-fashioned. I think he was quite sad, and replied "yeah, you are the smartest".

I didn't keep long hair nor dye my hair.

As time goes, my father got older. I started to understand the sacrifices of father are as great as mother. As his youngest son, I graduated from university, he also retired from working hard. He enjoyed his work, but age has catch up on him.

He passed away after just retired for 10 years. It is kind of sad that he didn't have much chance to enjoy as his kids are all grown up and independent.

It was also sad that most of his sons were working overseas and not with him when he moved on. I was also quite regret that I failed to notice my father was getting old that time. In fact, the last sentence he told me was "I am old, I won't have much time, I don't need another surgery to remove cataract."

So, do remember to take this chance, Father's Day, to celebrate with him and cherish every moment with him.

A tribute to all fathers....

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World Cup 2010 is just around the corner. Daddies will be watching World Cup from all over the world. It would be great that daddy and kids sit down and watch together! Mothers are welcome to join too.

I am not going to discuss the teams or predicting which team will win, though I would love to. This is a blog about parenting.

It was World Cup 2002, hosted by South Korea and Japan. As it was held in Asia, the timing was right and created craze among Asians. Everyone was talking about World Cup, from young to old. That was the first time that I saw so much madness for World Cup. Those ladies and aunties who never watch soccer in their life also chipped in to watch. Community dinners and gatherings will show the matches live if there is.

This was the period that many started to gamble. I would like to share a story that happen to my friend then.
He was 17 then. He was not good in study, so he started work early. His income was low, and he was from a poor family. During World Cup 2002, he wanted to 'earn' more money. As most soccer fan, everyone think he is soccer expert. He followed friends in illegal betting. He won a few matches. He thought he understands soccer and his luck has come.

From betting with friends through illegal way, he started to collect bet. Each bet can up to thousands of dollars! Anything can happen in soccer. There were a lot of upsets in World Cup 2002. South was 4th, after beating the like of Italy and Spain! Argentina and France didn't qualify for 2nd round. These countries are famous with soccer.

Eventually he lost 30+ thousands. His debtors threatened him and harassed his family. His mother was too poor to pay his debt, went around for loan. Luckily he still has a sister who works a few years after graduate. She helped him to pay all the debt slowly, and had to postponed her marriage due to repaying the debt.

It is a lesson to be learned. Illegal betting can happen anywhere, over a meal, over a phone call. And now, with internet so popular, it is even easier to bet online!
There are plenty of websites that 'encourage' you to bet by giving you credits when you open account with them. And these websites can be found easily like on soccer players' jersey ads.

Online betting is just one click away. So, parents really need to monitor their kids, especially teenagers over potentially they involved in such activity. Before things get out of control, monitor and communicate with your kids well!

Have you ever attracted by some advertisement on TV?

I love this one! Their really know how to capture the parents' attention by showing a cute and pretty girl. You can watch the different version ads in YouTube by clicking HERE, HERE and HERE
The ads fulfilled most parents' dream to have a talented and pretty daughter. I am sure many will be enticed to sign up with them.

Can anyone tell me how to get my daughter to become the model in the ads? Or is there any audition for Singapore Kids Idol?

Image by tim ellis via Flickr

School holiday has just started. It will an one month holiday. In the past, it was pure play, fun for the kids during school holiday, well, apart from the home work.

Nowadays, it will be a busy schedule for the kids even during school holiday. Some of the parents have their kids holiday all planned up. This includes a 2 weeks language workshop, art-and-craft classes, gymnastic, sports clinic for the rest. In fact there are many more variety of classes available like yoga, scuba diving, art and drama, cooking, Lego engineering and Robotics, camps, etc...

The parents don't mind to splurge thousands for the holiday programmes for their kids. No doubt, the parents are doing it for the kids own good, to catch up whatever subjects the kids are lagging, to cultivate creativity or maybe just to let the kids socialise and learn. But, I do think that it will worn the kids out. It is just a short one month break, where there is still homework to be done, tuition classes to attend. When the school reopen, the kids might be too tired and unable to cope with the lessons.

I encourage parents to send their kids to the classes if the kids really interested in rather than forcing them on the intention to cultivate their creativity, or to force them to socialise or learn something new which they might not be interested or worse because of kiasu (afraid to lose out).

I think it will be a waste of money and waste of time, if the parents didn't listen to the kids whether they want to participate in the classes or not.

Image by alex.ragone via Flickr

Today I heard a story from my friend.

His 21 month old daughter just came out from hospital with a cast on her arm.

This happened in a childcare center. He sent his daughter to this childcare center.
One day, he went to the childcare to fetch his daughter together with his wife as usual. When they reached home, they were shocked to find that their daughter's arm was swollen. Immediately they called the childcare to find out. To their surprise, the childcare teacher didn't know what happen!

So, they complained to the principal. After investigation, they only found out that their daughter while playing with other kids, she was accidentally pushed and fell on the floor and fractured her arm!

It is so unbelievable that the teachers didn't know!

Unless you tell me that my friend's daughter didn't cry even she fractured her arm, else I find it very difficult to understand why no teacher aware that this poor kid was crying in pain?
And the teachers didn't even realize it the whole day in the childcare center!
Futhermore, this childcare is quite reputable in Singapore!

This is really worrying that is it safe to put toddlers in childcare center. Is the number of teachers enough to take care of all the kids in the childcare, or they just merely meet the teacher-student ratio on paper?

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Lately, Pampers has been on the news in the US. Their new DryMax diapers have received complaints from mummies through the internet. It has been reported to cause rashes and "chemical burns"!

You can read some of the comments from the mummies in here. If you do a Google on "Pampers Chemical Burns" you will find a lot of news about it.

Procter & Gamble (P&G), the company behind Pampers, is scrambling to fight against the allegation.
And it has been reported in some of the famous news sites like WSJ and AFP.

This is truely amazing that mummies using the power of internet, blogging, facebook to get their complaints through and the the words spread very fast. P&G is listening and responding to the complaints seriously.

I am pretty sure that in future, the mummies bloggers will be even more important group of people that baby care products companies would like to friend with.

Now, when will father bloggers will be taken note of??

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography via Flickr

Birthday gift for kids usually will be toys, games, books or clothes.

Recently a friend told me.

My 7 years old daughter's birthday coming soon. So, I asked her what does she want for her birthday. I was expecting like "No need, daddy", or "Barbie Doll" or "Zhu Zhu Pets", something like that..

Guess what's her answer...

"I want manicure, pedicure and hair done up like princesses"

Wow! The girls mature early nowadays. This kind of session, according to an news reported on the paper, can range from SGD30 to SGD430!! It only lasts for days and cannot be shared with others like PSP.

I think a lot of fathers will start worrying...

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Recently I read an article, it is quite disturbing, but I think it is quite true and worth a read.
The kids and we also might indirectly expose ourselves through internet unknowingly.

You might have read it somewhere too, for those who haven't seen it before, please spare a moment to read.
You can find the article in here too

After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line. She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message:

ByAngel213:
Hi. I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird!

GoTo123:
LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you? Don't you live in a safe neighborhood?

ByAngel213:
Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see anybody when I looked out.

GoTo123:
Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven't done that have you?

ByAngel213:
Of course not. I'm not stupid you know.

GoTo123:
Did you have a softball game after school today?

ByAngel213:
Yes, and we won!!

GoTo123:
That's great! Who did you play?

ByAngel213:
We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees. LOL

GoTo123:
What is your team called?

ByAngel213:
We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really cool.

GoTo1 23:
Did you pitch?

ByAngel213:
No, I play second base. I got to go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don't want them mad at me. Bye!

GoTo123:
Catch you later. Bye

Meanwhile, GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.

Her name: Shannon
Birthday: Jan. 3, 1985
Age: 13
State where she lived: North Carolina

Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall. Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the eighth grade at the Canton Junior High School . She had told him all this in the conversations they had on- line. He had enough information to find her now.

Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ballpark that day. She didn't want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball games. Parents were always overreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be so overprotective.

By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.

Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her second base position to see a man watching her closely.

He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn't look scary and she quickly dismissed the sudden fear she had felt.

After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew he had found her.

Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few blocks to Shannon 's home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car.

Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon 's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move.

Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room.

"Shannon, come here," her father called. He sounded upset and she couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa.

"Sit down," her father began, "this man has just told us a most interesting story about you."

Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never seen him before today!

"Do you know who I am, Shannon ?" the man asked.

"No," Shannon answered.

"I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123."

Shannon was stunned. "That's impossible! GoTo is a kid my age! He's 14. And he lives in Michigan !"

The man smiled. "I know I told you all that, but it wasn't true. You see, Shannon , there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. You named the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the position you played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze."

Shannon was stunned. "You mean you don't live in Michigan ?"

He laughed. "No, I live in Raleigh . It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn't it?"

She nodded.

"I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn't as lucky. The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone. Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information a little here and there on-line. Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I hope you've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again. Tell others about this so they will be safe too?"

"It's a promise!"

That night Shannon and her Dad and Mom thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation.

Image by Joe Shlabotnik via Flickr

Every parents care for their children.
We always want to give the best for our children.
But Parenting is tough.

From feeding, bathing, changing diapers, teething, teaching, schooling, Facebook-ing, growing up, dating, it is always new thing for parents to learn.

I am a father. I am far from being a great father, but I would like to share what I have of bringing up kid.

Parents are welcome to share ideas and comments too.