Lesson #4: Never Too Young

Denise had to choose a co-curricular activity (CCA) this year and she decided to join Christian Fellowship (CF) and Scrapbooking. CF meets every Wednesday and she would come home sharing what they did with me. Prayer meeting, collect prayer requests and eat (real fellowship) :)

Whenever there was a skit in the main service, Denise would request to sit-in with her little friends. However this weekend, she chose to sit beside me. Things I noticed...

1) She requested to sit along the aisle (like most adults who prefer that first seat for better view and bigger leg space)

2) She sang very loudly during Praise and Worship (I could hear her)

3) She lifted her hands

4) She joined hands with us and repeated the corporate prayer loudly

5) And I thought I saw her praying in tongues when Pastor asked us to pray for our neighbours... (I have not had a chance to ask her yet)

Kids are never too young to learn and understand spiritual matters. I think the key is exposure. I thank God that my kids are growing up in a great church with an excellent children's church. Going to church, attending cellgroup meetings and the spiritual realm are normal "things" to them.

This past week, Denise commented that it was tiring to stay back for extra activities after school. I casually responded, "Then don't stay back for Christian Fellowship". She was quick to reply, "No, cannoooooooot." :)

Lesson #3: Love Language - Quality Time

When Denise first started P1, she would call me EVERYDAY during recess-time. I guess it was the excitement of sharing her day with me and at the same time the sense of independence that excites her. Initially, being cost-conscious, I would asked her not to "waste" money to call me. But one day, I realised that my girl would one day grow up and perhaps the first person she calls would be her bf or bff....:p

Now, I would sound very enthusiastic whenever she calls and spend time chatting with her :) To date, she would still call me, either during recess time when she needs something or after school when reaches home!

According to Dr Gary Chapman, the 5 basic Love Languages are Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Gift-giving and Physical Touch.

My kids only know QUALITY TIME.

We can walk the malls, Toy R Us included, without having to buy any toys for them. The kids just enjoy spending time with the family. Often we are guilty of leaving them to watch their TV programs or play the "i"machines on their own. I started doing simple handicrafts with them or watch them do their favourite activities like paintings :)

I realised that the kids are just contented that we are involved.

Last weekend, Debbie was sick. I stayed home to look after her while JX brought Denise to church. After service, Denise called and excitedly told me that they went to Starbucks and Carrefour for some "Father and Daughter Time" :)

I do not want to complain and regret later why are they not close to me. Building relationship takes TIME and I want to build a strong relationship with my children while they are yet young. And while I am typing this, Deb is "pestering" me to play Wii with her. I got to go.... :)

Feel free to comment and share what are some of your favourite activites with your children!

Lesson #2: Keep Your Cool

School reopens and homework started to come in. Denise  always take the initiative to complete her homework for the day before I pick her from MIL's place. All I need to do is to check through them and do some corrections if there's any error.

It was my mistake to check through her homework on a Friday night at 10pm....when she was already sleepy. Found a few mistakes. Tried to explain to her but lost my cool when she couldn't answer a few simple questions...

Mistake #1: Don't do revision or homework when your child is tired and sleepy... (especially for my case)

Mistake #2: Don't be a gan-cheong spider, like me... (you have the weekend to go through the homework)

Mistake #3: Don't lose your cool!

I got upset and started to lecture her! C'mon! It's only the first week... Give her a break!

Finally, she completed her corrections and went to bed....

She said, "Mummy, when you scold me, you make me feel that I am not good enough." :(

I felt very bad and quickly repented (in my heart). I apologized for losing my cool; I knew I overdid it. Like what my Pastor taught me "Tact and tone go together" and "Right + Rude = Wrong".

I consoled myself that it's only the first week... I have another 51 weeks to do better :)

Lesson #1: Listen To Your Children

The best thing about having children is that instead of teaching them; you learnt new things from them all the time!

I decided to start a blog on "Lessons I Learnt From My Kids" and will *try* to post something every week :) So for Week 1, I learnt "Listen To Your Children".

Denise wanted to pack her winter jacket for our Taiwan trip last December. We wanted to save luggage space and managed to convince her that it was not necessary. A simple sweater like the one above would be sufficient.

It turned out that winter came earlier than expected. Taipei was experiencing 14-16 degree in the day and on certain nights 11 degree! We regretted not packing the girls' winter jackets... And Denise kept telling us "You should have listened to me" :)

Denise needed to bring a book to school for her journal-writing. I suggested using an exercise book and wrapped it with some nice wrapping paper... Just when I was about to get an exercise book for her, she suddenly turned to me and said "Why don't you listen to me" :) I remembered the previous incident and asked her what did she want to tell me.

She wanted to use her nice notebook as a journal instead :)

I was quick to learn my lesson. I told her ok and she gladly went to find her own notebook!

Lesson #1: LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! :)