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...

Effectiveness of Renzo's "thinking corner"

Disciplining Renzo is not a tough job anymore, ever since we introduced "thinking corner", the staircase next to my in law's unit for Renzo to reflect on his misbehavior. Renzo has been sent to the "thinking corner" once in a while, when he refuses to admit his mistakes after our reasonable attempts to correct him.

When he throws tantrums for no reason or have unreasonable requests, most of the time we just need to mention the word "thinking corner", he knows what to do immediately and only on rare occasions when he's really out of control, we have to send him there and I do believe it works better than yelling and hitting.

I didn't realize the effectiveness of "thinking corner" until last Sunday, when Renzo talked to me about buying angry bird toy on our way to Toy R Us.

Renzo:
"Mummy, number ONE thing, mummy must get a blue angry bird;
number TWO thing, Renzo must get a black angry bird;
number THREE thing, Daddy must get a red angry bird!!"

I wasn't paying attention to what he said till he asked me: "Mummy, what's the number ONE thing huh?"
I gave him a blunt look, and he continued:
"You FORGET huh??!!!, Let me REPEAT!!"
He went on to repeat his number ONE to number THREE thing again and I had to control really hard not to burst out laughing.

I then repeated what he said and he was extremely excited this time, "Mummy, you are so good! Tick!! I give you a star!!" He's talking like a teacher, again.

I am very sure that he has learned the way how Daddy disciplines him at the thinking corner. Daddy usually talks to him like: "Renzo, there are 3 things you need to remember, first thing...  second thing....and third thing..."

It seems that there are definitely certain things instilled into his mind at the "thinking corner" =) As a reward, he got his BLACK angry bird soft toy, just as he wished!!

Round the world with Renzo?

A few days ago, Renzo shared with me that his classmate Kaleen went to Disneyland in Japan, well that's how interesting topics among toddlers get nowadays in school. It's not just about Hello Kitty or Mickey Mouse anymore, they do share their travel experience and you will be surprised to find out, almost every one of them go for overseas holiday with their parents very frequently. I always believe overseas travel is an eye opener that allows children to experience different ways of life. And the great thing is they won't even realize just how much their little brains are soaking up, all without a book or classroom in sight!

Renzo went to Australia with us in 2008, when he was barely a 3 months old fetus inside my tummy. And at the time we brought him along to Phuket for his 1st year birthday celebration, he couldn't even walk on his own. Last August, he enjoyed a 2 weeks holiday with us in China, it was definitely a tough trip for us as he was trying to cope with a new life without his auntie AyeAye. He gave us all kinds of unreasonable requests from eating up a big icecream cone on his own (that's when he had his first taste of icecream), to opening windows in the plane (yes he meant literally opening the flight window, not just lifting up the blind). For the past one year, we have not been traveling around due to the arrival of our Baby Rynus, but we have been trying our best to arrange for Staycations at local hotel. And it seems that Renzo loves hotel stay even though it's not an overseas travel.

How do we know that?
He remembers which floor we were staying at during our last staycation, and when he commented that my office is NICE, he added, "But, my hotel is NICER, Ritz Carlton Hotel Mummy!!"

Daddy Chan and I decided immediately to keep our Marriott Vacation Club membership, which allows us to stay at more than 2000 hotels under Marriott worldwide (including Renzo's favorite Ritz Carlton of course), after hearing this comment from Renzo. Although we were pondering about selling it off initially since we do not have much time to travel with small kids.

So up next, where should we bring little Renzo to, for a better family bonding experience??

- The States? Most likely I am going there again for business trip next year so the family could tag along, but the 20 hours travel time is still my biggest concern..
- Bali? Our best friend is holding his wedding dinner there next April, but how to "drink, drank & drunk" with little Renzo around??
- Abu Dhabi? Renzo knows that daddy's brother and sister-in-law are there, we could have visited them together with my in laws earlier this year, if I wasn't pregnant with Rynus..
- Phuket, again? The villa under Marriott property is a great place for relaxation, I won't be surprised if Renzo could still remember that place..
- Australia? I have 3 cousins there so for sure we could get some "babysitting service" while enjoying our couple time, but wait, aren't we talking about family trip here? LOL...
- Taiwan? A place Daddy Chan and I both love a lot and maybe Renzo will appreciate the food there??
- HongKong? Well every time we plan to go to HongKong, I get pregnant.. so.. OUT!!


I realized that when mapping out an overseas trip with young kids, nearby countries are always favorable due to convenient location and comfortable weather.

And maybe, I should plan a trip to Universal Studios with a night stay at one of the RWS hotels, since not just Renzo, even Daddy and Mummy have not visited USS so far, LOL...