Father Forgets that you are but my baby...

Thanks to my 4-5 hours sleep a day body, I find myself looking out the window from my seat, staring down at the clouds below while everyone else in my row were nodding away, deep in their sleep. My business flights on planes without in-flight entertainment (no thanks to Tiger Air) oftentimes gives me those moment of solitude outside of my house when I can quiet down and reflect on myself.

Just hours ago, I had picked up a book from the bookstore. It is the international best-seller, "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. I used to own it about a decade ago, but gave it to a close colleague of mine as a farewell gift when our careers parted ways.

So here I was, rekindling the love I had for this book... perhaps the only book I voluntarily read from cover to cover more than once. Seventeen pages in... and already I was emotionally shaken by the book. It was a piece by W. Livingston Larned, which back then didn't mean much to me, but now, pens down my guilt.

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FATHER FORGETS
W. Livingston Larned

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Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guilty I came to your bedside.

There are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, " Goodbye, Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive-and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What it is you want?" I snapped. You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither.

And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs. Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me?

The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding-this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing but a boy-a little boy!"

I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arm, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.

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I am guilty for all the negatives pointed out and as Larned puts, I have been measuring Renzo by my yardstick, an adult standard. Renzo's youthful innocence and his ability to love me shows through in almost exactly how it is worded, with him creeping up to me after a lecture just to give me a great big hug both as an apology for not reaching my standard of him, and also as a relief to receive a hug back from me.

Have I forgotten that my proper manners were learned from mistakes?
Have I forgotten that my capacity for self control was acquired not long ago?
Have I forgotten that my independence was built up from failed experiences?

I focused my gaze back at the runway that we were fast approaching and decided to write this post before I headed for bed because although Daddy is a 2-hour flight away from you, Renzo, Daddy misses you and wishes for your forgiveness.

Remain the boy who's fits of laughter bellows down our halls and remain the boy who finds joys in the silliest of things, because then, and only then, can you learn about yourself and define your own yardstick, one which measures your life, not anyone else's.

Striking "Reading" off Renzo's list of things-to-master

As the final week of the year approaches, sitting here in my bedroom with the kids sound asleep in their's, the overwhelming feeling starts to creep onto me. The very fact that my Renzo is no longer the newbie primary school kid and is well on his way to the second year of his formal education (not to say kindergarten wasn't formal but heck, there weren't grading of the sort that gets anxiety levels up). Actions and reactions that were pardonable shall henceforth be dealt with more severely as my expectations of him being a responsible member of society increases.

But in any case, I can now consider myself a proud parent of a kiddo who has conquered a graded exam in what I might come to consider as flying colors, topped with a congratulatory letter signed off by our minister to encourage the little guy to strive and least maintain his level of academic competence.

Having said that, somehow or other, I must admit that Renzo should get most of the credit as he is really quite an independent learner. For example, just a couple hours ago (as of writing this post) while I was reading the biography of Jack Ma (it is a great read by the way), Renzo was beside me reading his "Dragonworld" fantasy book out aloud. Distracting as he was, it allowed me to listen in on his reading skills and when he masterfully deepen his voice, liken to a medieval story-monger, and regurgitate mythical terms like "Snaggle-Toothed Mountain" and "Glacier Caves of the Antarctic Snow Dragon"...my gosh, I could hardly believe this was the very same kid of mine whom just a few years back was all giggle-filled when whizzing and tooting to the likes of Thomas train and friends.

With a figurative warm tear of happiness rolling down my cheek, I can safely pat Mummy Chan's back and say,"With all the worries that comes with parenting, at least independent reading is one that we can strike off the list."

Now where on this long list is 'reading'... hmmmm....

Another self-reflection day for Daddy Chan...

Every time after I snap at Renzo for an act of mischievousness or misconduct, at the end of the day when everyone is asleep, I think to myself in the serenity and peace of the night, what could I have done otherwise in the course of nurturing Renzo to have prevented that action.

It was no different last night.

I was in the living room and giving Renzo an earful for playfully slapping a neighbour's legs repeatedly and tugging at his shirt and not stopping despite my plea when Renzo was at the playground. And I lost it when he started giggling when I recounted the incident to him. No I didn't physically hit him nor did I threaten him emotionally, but I just walked away in disappointment.

I teared in front of my son for the second time in his life. It was one of those moments when you feel like all the efforts put into him has been for naught. When even your serious tone is nothing more than a passing breeze that even the foolishness of a recounted event can take precedence over. As the day moved on, we chilled and I went back to explaining how disappointed I was and what was my expectations of him when in front of people.

One of those days when Renzo becomes the most wonderful brother

Had an evening jog with Mummy Chan after the kids slept and before I went to bed myself, the word "Parenting" kept fogging all my other thoughts until I had to focus on it to clear my mind.

Being the present participle form of a noun (as opposed to the usual verb) makes the word "Parenting" an interesting one. We call the process of raising children, "Parenting" and not "Childrening" for obvious reasons. We, parents, are the one in focus during this life-long process, not the kids. I may not be a child psychologist or a gifted parent, but I believe for my style of parenting to be success, I need to adapt and change how I influence my boys as they grow and at the same time, observe and understand them, and occasionally...just occasionally...accept that kids value fun over everything else.

The most wonderful thing about parenting is how we need to be an advocate the things we wish our kids to be imparted. To encourage them to drink water, we haven't had a pet bottle of soft-drink in our fridge for a while now. To encourage them to practice piano, Mummy Chan mastered a simple version of Pachelbel's Canon.To encourage them to read, I pick up a book every now and then. All these little actions not only serve to be live demonstrations of our resolve, but at the same time, enrich our lives meaningfully.

So looking back at the little fiasco with Renzo, I guess the next thing that I should be doing is to bring him out more often and play with him to show him the boundaries and limits, and letting him express himself in the most endearing child-like ways within those boundaries, until the day he can truly understand the reason why Daddy Chan sets these limits, and together, we can explore outside of this "box".

Because from my perspective as Daddy, this is "Parenting", from his perspective as Son, this is "Growing Up". Like the 2 lines that forms a letter X, these 2 perspectives starts far, but eventually converges when the duo has optimal understanding of each other, and over time, begin to distant again. Renzo, my son, like most others, we are still learning from and about each other but I know that from the day that our perspectives coincide, we can carry on down the path of a letter Y and be in union. :)

Renzo gets an earful from Daddy Chan

Standing by our main door, staring down at a timid Renzo, I was still catching my breathe after giving Renzo an earful for not holding onto his promise... He was holding back tears of fear, I was holding back tears of disappointment...

The day before was day one of the long weekend, the Jubilee celebration of Singapore's 50th year of independence. He would usually clear his schoolwork after breakfast, but this day, he didn't. Mummy Chan and I didn't persist. Then came this morning, after breakfast, he didn't fulfill his promise to Mummy of finishing them and instead came to me to play with him. Obligingly, I did, but only after we sat down together and planned out his activities for the day.

Renzo's Racing Car Drawing

Whipping out a piece of paper and a pencil, we began to scribble down the things he wanted to do for the day. Then I decided to take it one step further, and told him to decide how long will he dedicate his time to each activity and then to order them chronologically:
- (2 hours) Build Honda NSX 2005 (a model racing car kit)
- (1 hour) Do homework
- (11 minutes) Practice piano
- (13 minutes) Draw..... 13 minutes?... really?
- (1 hour) Play with LEGO
- (1 hour) Play at the playground (he even had a contingency plan that if it rained and the slides were wet, he'll opt for the swimming pool instead)
Looking at this, we can all pretty much tell the proportional "love" he has for piano :P

Model Kit Shopping with Renzo

So with that, I accompanied him into his room and began snipping and gluing pieces of his model kit together with him. And after 2 solid hours, when it was time for him to do his homework, he sulked and refused to do his work. I picked up his books, closed them, and walked towards main door where his bag is usually found, telling him that I gave him the opportunity to do his homework, and if he didn't want it, then fine, I won't give him the chance to do it. And when he came running after me to get his books back, I started to tell him how upset and disappointed I was.

Unfortunately I had to go out to meet up with Mummy (who was outside throughout this whole ordeal), and I simply left the books on the table, hoping that after a little self-reflection, he would complete them himself without having us to beg him to.

As I was narrating the incident to Mummy in the car, I was doing self-reflection myself. And I came to realize how similar Renzo's behaviour, responses, likes and dislikes mirrors mine. From the rapid blinking and stammered speech when in fear, to the fascination with plastic model kits, to the preference of basketball over soccer.

Kids learn best from examples and their best learning tool about life are parents. And with Renzo, I believe at this point, his shortcomings are perseverance and focus, perhaps two of my greatest shortfalls too. I always tell people around me that the best wives are the ones with the best husbands, and I believe the same holds true for kids in that the best kids are the ones with the best parents.

So to educate Renzo about these issues, I would most definitely have to overcome them myself first. And with that, I'll have to inspire myself with quotes from one of the greatest men of all time, Albert Einstein,
Of perseverance, "It's not that I'm so smart; It's just that I stay with problems longer."
Of focus, "Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."

I guess the best place to start is to focus on Renzo and persevere until he grows responsible and discipline enough to take care of himself.

Raising a Rational Renzo

Everyday around us, we can easily spot emotional people.

That frustrated lady, furiously pushing the button for the lift, knowing that pushing it once or dozen times has no correlation to the speed at which the lift will come.

That torn executive, cursing himself for not selling those shares before the prices plummeted.

That unrequited lover, crying over a lost relationship that never was.

People often find themselves in situations where, when given a clearer state of mind, they would have reacted differently or sometimes even laugh at oneself for those acts of silliness.

Emotion gets the better of many adults, let alone kids...

So here I was, sitting at the dining table eating my salad dinner with Renzo diagonally across me, slowly scrapping away at his bowl of rice with the spoon. A few meters away from us stood a Christmas tree that was recently taken out of the storeroom to once again be assembled and in its full glory like it was when we purchased it a year ago. 

Trying to converse with Renzo, I started asking him about his thoughts around Christmas...Bad.Choice... Renzo dropped his spoon and started to sulk. So when I gently asked him, "What's wrong?" He replied tearily, "I want my Christmas present now and I can't wait any longer." 

Just for records, just a few days before this incident, Renzo told us that he would want "Hiro" (a train from the "Thomas the Tank Engine" children's book series) for Christmas (foolish boy thought he can wiggle his way into getting 12 presents for the 12 days of Christmas.. haha)

So now that it is still a couple of weeks away from Christmas, he claims that he is sad.

I looked at him in the eye and slowly explained that there are many children around the world who might not be able to even afford to have toys, and that he should count his blessings that he has his collection and that Mummy Chan and myself have agreed to buy him his "Hiro".

He went silent for a while, digesting what I just said before he began to sulk again, "But I would really really like to have it now. And if I don't get it now, I'll be very sad. :( "

"But Christmas isn't here yet and being sad won't make Christmas come any earlier," I explained to him, hoping to finally give him my first lessons at thinking rationally, "Being sad is a choice. So why don't you choose to be happy?"

"I'm trying but it is just too hard."

With a little laugh, I put out my right hand, palm up, then finger by finger, I clenched it into a fist. Holding it for a few moments, I then opened up my fist again, finger by finger.

Renzo took shuffled glances between my hand and me.

I then asked, "Can you do this?" while expertly repeating the motion with my hand like a magician making a coin disappear. Renzo obligingly tried but as expected, couldn't do it as well.

"It is too hard for me," he complained.

"Daddy used to be like you and can't do it well, but over a period of time and with practice, you see what Daddy can do now." Renzo did nothing but just stared at his fist.

"Now Renzo, imagine that emotion is just another part of your body that you can learn to control with practice. With enough of practice and understanding of yourself, you will be able to choose when to be happy and when to be sad or angry." This time, Renzo looked back at me and through those lovely, inquisitive eye, I could see that he was gaining some enlightenment.

But my excitement was short-lived when Renzo gave a little pout and said,"It is still too hard. I think I can only be not so sad when I forget that Daddy and Mummy will be buying Hiro for me for Christmas!" and with that, he picked up his spoon and went back to scrapping at his bowl...

One small step for Daddy Chan in trying to instill rationalism into Renzo, one big step for the world in almost having one less person pushing lift buttons more than necessary =D

Renzo's Flower Artwork

One year after Renzo's ladybug artwork, I was faced with another challenge (starting to think art pieces is gonna be an annual event for me...). Mummy Chan WhatsApp-ed (is that even a verb?) me a picture a piece of paper with nothing but an outline of a flower and a purple ice-cream stick taped to it (which later i learned from Renzo that it was to be the stem of the flower), I was to think of how to decorate it and have Renzo bring it to his school for his teacher as a teacher's day present the next day.

My immediate idea was to make the flower a 3D one, as opposed to a simple color-pencil/crayon/poster color painting. And with 3D looks, there were a few ways to achieve it.

• get clay or plasticine and mold a flower, but judging from Renzo's handicraft, it would most probably be 95% my effort, not to mention that it would stick to the paper
• get colored paper and do a paper origami flower (try googling "Winson Chan Origami" and you'll see what i mean... and NO, i'm not THAT Winson Chan), but again, it'll mostly be effort on my end as Renzo wouldn't be able to manage the complexity of origami
• soak toilet paper in a 2:1 PVC glue to water mixture and after they dry and hardens, paint over with poster color... my preferred choice and it is very mold-able before it dries and i have had much experience doing it in my childhood days but unfortunately, it is time consuming and tedious 
• get colored beads/sand/confetti and just glue them on... which seems to be the best choice for this job

So I went to Daiso and purchased 3 items at $2 each and started work with Renzo straight away after my dinner and we were on a tight deadline... as opposed to the ladybug project from last year...

And for the benefit of those who want to try it out with their kids, I'll list out the materials and steps :)

Materials

• Colored pipe cleaners (the one i got from Daiso is 50 pieces in assorted colors, eventually i used 2 silvers, 2 yellow and 2 greens)
• Starch Glue (Daiso packs them in 3s... picked it over other type because of the strength and also that it is not too liquid as this project requires a large surface area of glue and those runny ones will soak right though the paper
• deco sand (those gardening deco kind... bought a can of blue ones to be used as blue petals)
• scissors to cut the pipe cleaners
• pen... for writing...duh...
• paper with outline of a flower on it

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Step 1

Slap a generous slab of glue in the middle of the flower and spiral yellow pipe cleaners onto it as the pistil of the flower (if i got the anatomy of the flower correct...haha) and cut silver pipe cleaners and outline the petals of the flower.

Tip: Be really generous with the glue, you wouldn't want the pipe cleaners to move about later when you pour the blue deco sand onto the paper

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Step 2

Spiral 2 green pipe cleaners and then squeeze them near the center so the become over-shaped and kinda like leaves of the flower and again with lotsa glue, stick them where the leaves should be

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Step 3

The trickiest bit of the project

Pour the deco sand onto a small container (I just grab a plastic lid which was within reach), so that you can gauge how much of the sand would be poured onto the paper.

Lay a thin layer of glue on where you want the blue petals to be and gently pour the sand onto the glue

After completely covering all the petals, let the glue set for a while... (I gave Renzo a bath... lol) then dust away the remaining sand that were not held on by the glue. Stick an ice-cream stick between the leaves to make a flower stem if you want to.

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Step 4

Write your own greeting message... =)

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And we are done!

Hopefully Renzo's teacher Stella will like Renzo's little gift and HapPy TeAchERs' DaY to all the teacher at Renzo's school... and every other teacher out there!... You people affect eternity, you can never tell when and where your influence stops, so carry on teaching!

Renzo's week with Mummy aboard

I admit that I have been more of a laid back Dad when it comes to administering Renzo's daily routine since forever. Apart from his daily showers and sleep time, I probably know less than Mummy or Renzo's auntie Jona. You would probably find me in front of the PC or on the bed most of the time, with the exception of Renzo's after-shower activities such as reading or maths time or even colouring/tracing.

But when Mummy Chan goes overseas, I see myself stepping into the role of full-attention parenting quite comfortably (much to my own surprise). My first encounter of such a situation was a little less than 2 years back in May 2011, when Mummy Chan was away for a business trip. Back then, Renzo was still little and didn't have much of a concept of what a "business trip" was, so we simple told him that Mummy went on holiday (he knows that from his Hi-5 DVD) and he seemed to take it pretty well... and to think that it was a 12 day trip. Kudos to the little one... haha

This time round, Mummy is away to USA again. Having spent the last week explaining to him what was going to happen, Renzo apparently was reluctant to be separated from his dearest Mummy and in fact replied, "Mummy, I want to go US too. Mummy you wait for Renzo to wear shoes, I also want to go (A)merica~"... The thought of him having that impression not just melts the heart, but kinda leaves that sour feeling when you know the kid wants so much to be with Mummy yet we know he can't be. Alas, such is life, not everything turns out the way you want it to be. Thankfully Rynus hasn't come of age to even know what is going on...

On the morning that Mummy was US-bound, we sneaked out of the house early in the morning while Renzo was still in bed to avoid having to deal with a cranky 3-year-old who would refuse to let Mummy leave without bringing him too. We made it to the airport smoothly thanks to the empty 7a.m roads and had a simple breakfast there. With a kiss, Mummy went through the gates and I set off on my way back home to take on the role as Dummy (my quite appropriately self-coin term for a Daddy+Mummy hybrid... without the motherly instinct).


Just when I was at the front door... I heard the unmistakable "Noooo... Noooooo... NOOOO"...wailing of Renzo... I knew he was awake and knew that Mummy had left him behind in Singapore and pacifying him wouldn't be easy. It was an pretty one-sided conversation from the start, with every action/word of mind drawing a tantrum kicking response. So I decided to let him wail till he got tired, only then did I crawl slowly into the bed and, with an iPad in hand, so him this very blog of himself. I trolled through the blog to find the entry describing Mummy's previous trip and what had happened and praised him for being a good boy back then and that we are sure he would be this time round. The pictures of Mummy and her voice from the videos finally brought a smile to Renzo. He then calmed down and took a moment to go through a few other videos before going back to his usual Angry Birds and Plants vs Zombies.

He skipped breakfast totally and refused food till I told him I'd bring him to eat some Andersen's Ice Cream, only then was he ready to end his iPad regime and head out with me. Knowing that he was tired from the morning's tantrums, I brought him to Suntec City by bus and sure enough, Renzo slept through almost the entire journey and woke up just a couple of bus-stops before our destination.

The renovation works forced us to take a detour around the building and we entered via a side entrance and just down the escalator was a Burger King. Followers of Renzo's would know that Renzo ain't a stranger to fast food joints and was more than happy to settle for a mini-sundae at BK as opposed to walking to Marina Square for Andersen's. Travelled halfway across Singapore just to have lunch at a fast food joint. Well, at least I haven't had a BK burger in months. =/

After touring around Suntec City and Marina Square (where Renzo thoughtfully (albeit a little randomly too) picked out a pink headset for Mummy, insisting that it would look good on Mummy) we headed home by MRT as Renzo requested and we reached home a happy boy. So satisfied in fact, that the rest of the evening was easy for us too. He showered early, had his dinner without fussing, completed a couple of Maths questions (ooo... he is into the hundreds+hundreds now...) and went to bed himself.

As I write this post, Renzo and Rynus are happily tucked in their beds beside my computer table and I can hear both of them snoring away in sweet rhythmic melody (at least to my ears)... Now I just need to repeat and maintain these incredible feats of awesomeness until 4th Feb and I'll be able to handover the superhero cape back to Mummy...

Renzo's trip to the animal farm

Renzo has been hinting me that he wanted to go to the Zoo in recent days with liners like "Daddy, you have to drive the car and bring Renzo to the Zoo. Then Renzo can see the Zebras", while bringing his little chubby hands up to his eyes to make an pair of imaginary binoculars. But despite having a helper to look after Rynus, generally Mummy Chan and myself still prefer not to be out of the house to too long a period of time and even if we do, we are usually pretty near home (able to reach home within 30 minutes).

So as an alternative to satisfy Renzo's craving to see animals, we decided to bring him to the Pasir Ris Kid's Kampong at Pasir Ris Farmway. Not only was it soooo much closer to home, but it is a hell lot cheaper too... (but of course, ducks and fishes compared to tigers and pandas... Zoo wins hands-down).

It was to Pasir Ris White Sands first for a hearty brunch at Pepper Lunch. It being one of the few times that we actually dined at Pepper Lunch, I didn't even know what was on the menu. Spent quite some time there deciding what to eat and ended up with the first item on the menu, something which I usually do when visiting an eatery for the first time.. (on the assumption that the first item is usually a dish that the establishment is most proud of...lol)

After the meal, we headed to the Bus Interchange to catch Bus 88 which would bring us to within 10 minutes walking distance from the animal farm. The journey after getting off the bus wasn't the most pleasurable. The roads, though wide and empty, were strewn with dead snakes that were run over by passing vehicles... we were even 'lucky' enough to come across one that was 'freshly crushed'... the poor reptile in a struggling slither, trying to maneuver in its pathetic state... disheartening sight.

A couple of turns left and right later, rain starting pouring... and all we were armed with was a little foldable brolly in Mummy Chan's bag that would have to shelter us all the way to the farm. Thankfully we made it there in a relatively dry state and when we did, the pouring rain subsided to a drizzle.

We inspected the place a little and spoke to the usher whom advised us that because of the rain, the visit might not be as fun as it would be during sunny afternoons but we could still buy the packets of feeds and let Renzo have some fun feeding the little animals. And so we did. For a mere $3, 2 adults and 1 child gained admission and given 3 neatly packed animal feeds (1 for chicken/ducks, 1 for fish/tortoises and 1 for bunnies/rabbits)

First stop was the over-populated koi pond with hundred of always-hungry fish. Feeding them was pretty fun and it was interesting to see the fish rushing up to the edge of the pond, all eagerly anticipating Renzo's handful of fish feeds to hit the water and they'll rush at them in a frenzied state.

Then there were the ducks (or were they geese?...seems too huge to be ducks) enclosure. Honestly I have no idea how to feed these guys on a rainy day. Their feeding bowl was flooded with muddy water and there was no way I'd let them eat off Renzo's hand, anyway, Renzo was too short to reach over the fence. So in the end, Renzo just throw the corn feed all over the muddy floors and also into the flood bowl, but they (ducks/geese) seem happy enough to gobble the food up anyway... =/

Next came the rabbits and bunnies, which I found more fun as them being mammals, they seems to really have a high level of intelligence and generally look warmer and more huggable than fish and fowls..lol... Many of them perched up against the wire mesh cage, seemingly really crying out for food. But judging from their large sizes, I'd say either there were plenty of visitors or the owners really do feed them well. Renzo gently rolled the food pellets into the funnel and watched as the pellets rolled down into the food bowl in the cages... and into the mouths of the little critters.

Lastly the chicken coop (which we failed to notice on our first round around the feeding area). And housed in it were aggressive roosters and hens. If I understood their language, I'm sure I would have been hearing curses and swears for Renzo not giving them more corn.

So after the last bit of corn was dropped onto the floor of the chicken coop, we headed to the lobby and tried to book a cab. But turns out that the rain stopped before we could even confirm a booking. With that, we made our way out and back onto the main roads on foot, with Renzo mischievously jumping into every puddle that he came across. At the bus stop, we realised that there was a direct bus that would bring us directly back home and the first thing that Renzo did upon boarding the bus was to nestle into mummy's cradle and sleep throughout the journey home...

Renzo's Ladybug Artwork

Renzo came home one day with a slip of paper from the school in the little side pocket in his school bag. It was a slip to inform parents that there is an art-and-craft homework for the little boy and that the theme was "recycle". So basically, we had to take recycled materials and conjure up some fancy mumbo jumbo with the thrash. Nothing too complicated for Daddy Chan. *ROAR*

Within minutes of knowledge of the assignment, I had ideas in my head and it was mostly selection by elimination.

• No, I am not going to make a robot, cos robots are so cliche
• No, I am not going to make a house, because a simple house is just too simple, and a complex house is just to detailed
• No, I am not going to make a car/bus/motorcycle/Lamborghini, because Renzo would probably play with it and destroy it before it even reaches the school. (with exception to the Lamborghini, I might be the one playing with it =) )
• No, I am not going to make something big and bulky as it would be just too much a hassle to even bring it to school

So with those simple guidelines in head, a decision was made. (and yes, the entire thought process above took less than a couple of minutes)

The deadline was 2 weeks away and in my usual nuaster (for the ill-informed, "nua" is hokkien for "slack") fashion, I sat on it for the most parts of it, much to Mummy Chan's disapproval. Mummy would gently remind me that the deadline was due soon and that I should have started on it.

So on the eve of the deadline, I got the materials prepared. And got Renzo to help out... it is HIS assignment afterall. And what will we be making? A Ladybug!

For the benefit of those who wants to know how it was made. I'll list it out step by step.

(Eventually I didn't use any poster color...haha)

Materials
- 1x Red paper
- 1x Round container lid (i used the one from Renzo's milk tin)
- 1x Round plastic lid (must be smaller than the one above and transparent, i used the ones for food packing)
- 1x Glue (i used PVC glue)
- Standard stationery
- optional colored binding wires (i got mine from party shops, used for packing kids goodie bags)

Total time needed: 1 hour (excluding waiting for the glue to dry)

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Step 1
Draw and cut out circles off the red paper for the 2 round lids

 

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Step 2

Cut the transparent lid into halves

(you only need to use 1 lid, i had two cos i know renzo will destroy at least 1 of the half... lol)

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Step 3

Color in on the red paper to make it look like a Ladybug

then

Cut the smaller red paper into halves

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Step 4

Glue the bigger red paper onto the bigger lid 

then

Glue the transparent lids onto the bigger lid at an angle

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Step 5

Glue the small red papers onto the transparent lids at an angle

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And we are complete

I added the binding wire to give it a little bit of color. Wanted to put them as the Ladybugs antennae but somehow couldn't decide on how best to put it on and gave up the idea... =P

And yeah, once dried and all, we slipped it into a small little carrier so that Renzo can bring it to school the next day.

Ritz-Carlton Staycation! - Day 3 (and 4)

Continued from Day 2 Staycation@Ritz-Carlton~

Woke up to another great morning, greeted by the warm scenery of Singapore's morning. We spent most of the time lazing around in the morning and had a simple breakfast (unlike the day before where we had a splendid buffet breakfast...haha)

One of the things that we haven't do since coming to Ritz was to visit the swimming pool, so we prepared the stuffs. Mummy Chan recently chanced upon a "Blow Up Thomas & Friends Hammer" while on one of our little shopping trips and immediately we thought would be fun for Renzo to wield while in a pool. So we brought it along during this staycation and even brought along the separately purchased foot pump that we bought from Kiddy Palace. Renzo unhesitatingly began working on the pumping and before long, was holding on to his prized possession in his chubby hands.

Half expecting the pool to be empty at this time of the day, the pool was surprisingly populated, though not to the extend of having to jostle for elbow room, but one couldn't complete a lap swim without having to stop somewhere in between and wait for those who swam the width of the pool. Not too much an issue for me as I was the primarily to soak myself and to see what mischief Renzo was up to with a hammer in hand. So into the waters I went, with Renzo test-dipping his toes into the water for temperature checks, while mummy comfortably nestled herself into one of the sundeck chairs and keeping herself dry.

After Renzo got used to the water, he immediately started splashing and rolling around the pool's edge and when I throw the hammer at him, hell broke loose. Renzo became a miniaturized Thor and began his crazy hammering. Everything in sight (except passersby, fortunately) was given a series of hammering. From a leaf, to the markings on the edge of the pool, to Daddy Chan, you name it, he smacks it. He even attempted to throw the hammer at me from a distance but fell short (you need more training kid.)

When we got tired, we retired back to the room and slacked the day away. Dinner time came and we couldn't resist the temptation of going back to the Greenhouse@Ritz Carlton again for the wonderful buffet spread. And so we did. And as expected, the decision didn't fail us. A wonderful dinner made the evening just that much more wonderful. So we ended the day knowing that tomorrow we will be checking out. So we did our final checks and headed to bed early because Renzo still has school tomorrow~

The last day of our staycation was planned as such that we would wake up early, take a cab back home to pick up Renzo's school bag, his beddings for school and to unload some of the laundry and stuff. After we deposited Renzo at the school, we then proceeded to slowly make our way back to the hotel to check out. But not before we enjoy a morning Starbucks time. While the rest of the population were hustling and bustling to get to work, we walked anti-directionally to a Starbucks outlet at Marina Square, picked out a couple of magazines off their racks and basically chilled the rest of the morning away sipping coffee and having mindless chit-chats.

All is well and we would most definitely be heading to Ritz Carlton again for another lovely staycation in the near future~!