Parenting | Reflection on a schoolwork article

This article (or sentences) is among Eric's school work that was taken home yesterday in the green folder:-

"I am like my mom because we both read.  I am different from my dad because he is good at chess, but I am not."

This article made me pause and ponder. Eric and I usually do a lot of reading together, but I'm still pleasantly surprised to see him put it in writing in this way.  

Hubby loves playing chess.  He has always been spending most of his leisure time on playing chess since very young.  Because Eric is a school boy now, we always hope Eric also likes to play chess as a hobby.  Sometimes Eric and daddy play chess together, and most of the time Eric loses.

From this article, I sense that Eric likes to play chess, but he is kinda lack of confidence compared to daddy's skill.  On reflection, I realize that nobody likes to be pushed to play chess.  What we as parents do is to respect Eric's feeling.  Also I'll remind hubby to encourage him more, nobody likes to lose all the time.  After all, interest is the best teacher.

Simple life | love within a bigger perspective

The kids and I sat at the table for dinner while hubby was busily preparing the drinks for us.

He poured the juice into four glasses, took two of them, walked towards the table, and he put the fist glass in front of me.  The second was for Eric, and the third and fourth for Daisy and himself.

He did all these in a natural and smooth way, and always in the sames sequence, although I only noticed it recently.  Sometimes the kids shouted loudly for drink upon hubby walking toward the table, but he still pass the first drink in front of me.

This is one of the smallest details of our daily life.  From it, I appreciate hubby's care and thought for our family.  He puts me on higher priority, he shows respect on me, and he is using all these little details to set examples for our kids.  Being unconsciously influenced, the kids will learn to respect parents, and later on, they'll also show respect to their life partners.

Upon introspection, I seldom pay attention to such details.  In fact, whenever I pass drinks at meal, I pass to the kids first.  The kids weigh too much on my mind and I always put kids on the highest priority, sometimes I even neglect my husband's feelings without knowing.  Hubby loves the kids too, but he loves within a bigger perspective and with a bigger heart, which I shall learn from him.

Stroll

We did a little outing during the weekend.  The sunlight was warm but not very strong.  A typical comfortable afternoon of the fall. Perfect for a little walk in the neighborhood.

Daddy and son. Love them.

Birthday party fun

Jesse, Eric's friend from the Church, turned four on the weekend. We went to Jesse's birthday party on Sunday.

The party theme is Spiderman. Jesse was dressed in Spiderman costume.  The cupcakes and goodies bags are all decorated with Spiderman icon.  Very cute. 

Several activities were also arranged for the kids, including pizza dinner, swing, climbing tree (only interested Eric :-)), and blow bubbles.  Super fun.  Eric had a blast.  When it's time to get home, Eric was so reluctant to go that he shouted, "I am not tired." :-)

Eric has been longing for climbing trees for a long time. At the friend's backyard there is a small tree which is perfect for Eric to horn his climbing skills.  Eric didn't miss the chance and he played with the tree for a long time :-)

Parenting: OK, let's play

The other day, during a casual talk, I told Eric that when daddy was at his age, daddy could read books all day long, and was very interested in math. Secretly, I had two purposes to say this: 1. to motivate Eric to ; 2. to set up the Husband's brilliant image in Eric's mind.

Eric's response was totally beyond my expectation. He asked,"did he know how to play?" For a moment, I didn't know how to answer.  To be honest, I was deeply impressed by a four-year-old's pointed remarks. It hits the nail on the head.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." This is a familiar saying.  I am Chinese.  But I am not a tiger mother by any means.  However, sometimes I become very pressured and tend to be kind of pushy, especially when I knew several friends' three-year-old kids have already begun piano and swimming classes.  I definitely need a clear reminder (like the one from Eric's reply) to make me recognize that play is still preschoolers' main job.

Eric is climbing up a tree :-)

We plan to give Eric more time to play, at least for the time before he attends elementary school.  After all, play is the path that young children take to learn. Learn though play will be more fun.

Meet Daisy

Daisy is an almost-three-months-old little darling.
This little one's main daily tasks now are eating and sleeping.  However, she has a clear craving for communication.

 She loves to talk...with her own coo language. If I respond her back with the same coo coo sound, she will be very happy, always paying me a sweet smile, a smile that can easily melt my heart.

 When I speak to her, she stares at my mouth intensively.  It is obvious that she wants to observe how my mouth moves and curves so she can imitate to let out the same sound.

She is very curious.  Sometimes during her cry, if I turn on a light or walk to another room, she will forget about crying and rove her eyes around trying to find out what's going on.

Dear Daisy, I love you!

Meet Eric

Eric is a cute, smart, playful, and easy-going four-year-old.  He is our dearest sweetheart.

Eric is very easy-going.  At day care or at church, he has a lot of friends and gets along well with all the other kids.  The teacher appraised him that Eric is so understanding and sympathetic that he never lets anyone down or feel upset.

Eric loves to draw. Whenever he has a pen and paper on hand, he will draw.  His most favorite drawing is train and tracks.  All kinds of trains and different shapes of tracks.

Eric is a gourmet, meaning that he is very picky at eating. Variety and flavor are the most important for his little tummy, which constantly challenges my cooking skills. The good thing is that he loves to drink milk with honey,

Dear Eric, I love you!