Shasha is good with the handmixer now. Nanang helped us with the flour..
now, the best ever moment........
Hot cupcakes!! hot cupcakes!!!
"yess, we made it mom!!"Snapshots of these memorable moments with my kids are engraved in my heart. They have a bittersweet edge to them too. They always make me so conscious of the limited time I have with them before they grow a few years and will be beyond that stage with me. They will have their friends and their adolescence and will be looking outwards for independence, other horizons and new friends.
These precious moments have been carelessly allotted just a tiny corner or slot of time in our humming lives. It is so hard to find time free between play-dates,school and our busy work schedules for doing simple old-fashioned activities that bring more joy than anything else in the world. Our time is being manipulated more and more, day-by-day practically, by the television, cell phones and computers.
During moments of retrospection, I rue the fact that I am not making a conscious effort to include simple pleasures and activities in our lives before it is too late. That is what memories are made of. They are not made of the times you played Free Cell on your computer or watched Desperate Housewives on DVD or sorted your emails.
Memories are made of the family dinners together at home. Memories are made of playing catch-the-ball with your father. Or baking a cake with your mom. Walking to the ice cream shop. Strolling along the shopping arcades, park or better yet, the seasides.
Dear all,
The pressures of modern life are robbing our lives of so many sentimental moments, sucking away the Technicolor. They are stealing away our memories before they are even born, making our lives bland and monochromatic like a Palm Pilot screen.
Those thoughts were the inspiration behind a special bit of time planning I did for my kids and for myself. I consciously drew up a list simple things missing in our lives and am attempting to squeeze them in.
Funnily enough, if you make a conscious effort to pencil them in, you do find the time. Focusing on them actually makes these activities possible.
The result: my kids are over the moon. And my regrets have lessened.
Let me share my list with you and why don't you try them with your kids and tell me how they work for you?
Take your child to the park at least once a week for half an hour and spend time talking to them. I am thinking of taking them for a ‘sampan’ ride (plan it with hubby this Raya)- Do gardening with your kids. Every two or three weeks, plant a few seeds in small pots on your windowsill and see what pops out.
- Cook, bake and barbecue with your children. Kids love to cook. And they are good at it. Bit by bit, teach them how to do simple kitchen tasks..such as toasting the bread or mixing their on drinks
- Read to them ..every nite
- Watch a special television programme on National Geographic or Animal Planet. (this would amaze them...)
- Do a craft activity with your child. Help them cut, paste and create baskets or mobiles or hats or bookmarks or whatever strikes their fancy. Teach them to craft their own gifts for cousins or grandmas or grandpas for Christmas or birthdays.
- Take your child to the market to buy vegetables and fruits.
- Plan spontaneous, fun outings
- Teach them to write letters and draw cards for their friend's, cousin's, grandparent's birthdays.
- At birthdays and festivals make sweets/ Christmas cake/ gingerbread men/ cupcakes with them. (Those cupcakes were for Nico's 14th Bday...)
- Do household tasks with your children. Dust, sweep or clean together. Teach them to tidy their toys and books or clothes' cupboards.
- Read the newspaper/ magazines with your child.
- Plan the occasional picnic with your kids.
- From time to time, take the day off to be with your kids.
.JPG)
