Meet Fluffy

But first, some "cookie" talk...



These would have been choc chip cookies made from scratch, if not for a slightly more e-savvy Ben shutting down my computer before I could size up the recipe. I was left with literally no cookies, no clue, nor trail. And if not for my "backup" boxes of Pillsbury's Funfetti cakemix, we wouldn't have made these "hot dog cookies", as Ben called them. He had deliberately rolled the dough into sausages, rather than into balls! Hence, these oval-shaped ones, instead of the usual round outcome.

A nice twist, and that was the one thing we did differently, for this my favourite (by now you'd have known) "shortcut" cookie that works with choc chips or dried fruit like cranberry and raisin. We don't always do it the Funfetti style though, preferring to leave out the frosting, because I know it'll mean more cleaning up for the teachers to do, for kids Ben's age or younger. Also, there was just enough time for Ben and me to be done with the simple baking, before we had to scoot -- to go fetch Jon from school!



Star of the Day
So, besides these cookies, did Ben bring me for his third Star of the Day? "But mommy, you are too big!" he changed his mind, when I reminded him that it was his suggestion to begin with, other than that parent helpers are especially welcome on such days.

"Oh, but you can't fit into my backpack! You can't fit into the mystery bag!". Excuses, more excuses! And you know why?

Because... not me, but Ben brought his daddy instead! And Ben couldn't be more pleased! It was super nice that Vern, who's got his own really important deadlines and schedules to worry about, made time nonetheless to be there. A few other daddies had made their appearance, too, and Ben had hinted to his daddy that he should go visit the class one day soon.

So, what else did Ben bring? For the real Show-n-Tell, I mean.

It was Fluffy, his toy penguin and souvenir from our Chicago trip. The one thing that he fell for instantly, when ordinarily he, nor Jon, would go for plush animals.



But when Ben set his eyes on this furry creature, he started naming it right away, even before we said he could have it. Now souvenir stores aren't the place I like to take the boys -- think the "Gimme" syndrome, and so many breakable things, I almost knocked over some glass with my backpack! Before kids, though, when it was just the husband and me travelling light (lighter at least!), I was silly to be obsessed with having to pick out souvenirs for our immediate families, colleagues, and closer friends. So much so that Vern would have to tell me off, and remind me that sightseeing should take precedence over shopping.

So anyway, it's been Fluffy this, and Fluffy that, since we got back! In between other scenarios for pretend play, Ben and sometimes together with Jon will treat us to a penguin show. And if the penguin could "fly" from one end of the couch to the next, and better yet, over Ben's head, it would get a reward of 'live' fish out of a jar. One time, Jon slipped up, and said, "Well done, Ben! , when it should have been, "Well done, Fluffy!". Haha! Looks like not just the penguin's the one that is well-trained!

More Penguin Fun
So then, we've had some fun there, and while there isn't any snow here yet, the boys are getting a piece of Antartica action here and there...

And not just from their all-time fave Bear Grylls, in "Man vs Wild", but also from Bindi, in "Bindi the Jungle Girl", daughter of the late Steve Irwin, as she explores the animal kingdom from a kid's point of view, that Ben takes to readily!

There's more good penguin stuff, some just lying around in the library. I happened on "Augustine" by Melanie Watt, a charming tale of how young Augustine (named after Renoir whose first name, is Pierre-Auguste) and her parents moved from the South Pole to the North Pole, and it was Augustine's artwork that broke the ice for her and her new friends in school. And if you look closely, the illustrations in the book -- Augustine's artwork -- are "interpretations" of the works of renowned artists in the likes of Renoir, Monet, Picasso, etc. So his teacher, Miss Lisa, for example, bears an uncanny resemblance to Mona Lisa, and Augustine's bedroom, just like Van Gogh's!

I didn't know before, but this book is said to be a possible good introduction to art for young children, besides helping them understand changes in their lives. Real penguins do not live in the North Pole though, and that's the factual inaccuracy that the book was criticized for. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, according to this Wikipedia entry. I always assumed they lived just anywhere in the cold of the Pole!

There's of course, also the "Happy Feet" movie -- again, it was something I'd just come across at the library, before there's "Surf's Up" which we haven't got to. But the close-ups of the huge sea creatures going after Mumble in "Happy Feet", frightened Ben, and I couldn't leave him to watch the DVD alone with Jon.

Ben's at this stage where even unfriendly characters in a children's book, make him want us to skip the story totally. Sometimes assuring him that there's going to be a happy ending helps. And just last month, there was also this cool "Max and Ruby" play that his class got to watch, and I'd gone along as one of the parent-chaperones (but that one was more play, rather than work! ;p), and Ben clung onto me all throughout the Blue Tarantula scene when it was creeping and crawling behind Max's bedroom wall. A figment of Max the bunny's own imagination, as a result of a book by that title, that his sister Ruby had read to him for naptime.

Only one other classmate said out loud he was scared, but he took it better than Ben. And if you ask Ben now, he will still say the Blue Tarantula is "too scary", although the play in itself was a big treat! How times have changed, I don't think I got to watch a real play like this -- acted out by professionals, with great props and a multi-scene plot at that, till I was way older!

Ben's Happy Feet
Finally, here's Ben's own version of Happy Feet -- with a recognizable face, body, and limbs!



He'd done it as part of a simple cut-and-paste kind of DIY storybook we took a few minutes to work on, yesterday, using pictures from a store brochure. He had me write down "My Toy Book" as the title, and because it was a picture of an ambulance and fire engine he stuck on the cover, his story started out like this, when I asked him to tell it to me:
Once upon a time, there was an ambulance and fire engine.

The next page was a camera, and Ben said...
This is a camera... to take pictures of the house on fire.

And then, came his drawing of Happy Feet...
Happy Feet had to stay out because he didn't want to be burned!

And on Ben went for the next few pages, till it was
The End!

Now, isn't that something? I absolutely love it that this is the age when imagination just takes flight, and yes, even penguins can fly, if you think they can!

I think we're playing supermarket tomorrow! Want to play? ;p

"But I want it to snow bad!"

Going to fetch Ben from school, it was starting to snow. Teeny tiny specks of white bouncing off the windscreen as soon they hit it, but not enough for me to have to turn the wipers on.

Once Ben was strapped into his seat, I decided to make a quick grocery stop, "We'd better go get our fruits now, and not wait till tomorrow. In case the snow gets bad."

"But I want it to snow bad!", came Ben's retort. Yes, yes, like a child, like Ben, and I know Jon must be wishing the same thing too, I was also thinking, "Let it snow, let it snow!". It's already winter wonderland here and there -- where Lazy Weekend and Blur Mommy are -- elsewhere in the States. And looking at their lovely shots, I'm going "Ooh!" and "Aah!", and can we have a slice of it, too?

"We shall see," I told Ben, not wanting to get his hopes up. And many people must have, like me, also thought about the possibility of the snow getting heavier -- the line at the grocery store was super long.

By the time we got back outside with our purchase, with Ben still in the cart, there were more white bits coming down, and on us! My three-year-old was beaming away, no less, and so excited, "It's snowing! It's still snowing! Look mommy, it's snowing bad!"!

Keeping our fingers crossed, we drove home, and I turned the wipers on. But even before it was time to head out again to pick up Jon, the flurries had petered out. Jon was disappointed, too. Aw, just a false start. Maybe we'll have snow, some real snow, before year-end!

But it hardly snows here, and if we do get some, it's usually an unexpected shower. You could say, like a shower of blessing -- to us, to the kids, especially if there's enough to play in! We can't wait! Bad!

Day by day

Thanks for asking, I'm here, still here! Maybe it's the chilly weather setting in, I'm rather worn out at the end of each day, from the driving, chores, and errands, and whatever extra little things I get to squeeze in here and there!

Temperatures dipped to -3C yesterday! But the glistening leaves side by side with bare branches (in this picture taken days ago, just before the colours faded), tells us winter's not quite here yet. I still prefer it whenever the sun's out. But not so much the hot and cold.

What have I been up to?

Staying warm, yes, and also trying to heed The Penguin's Advice in my last post, to keep my cool -- especially when the boys push my buttons, or each other's. It's not easy. Doting, and needing to discipline, too. Because it seems more straightforward to just say "I'll do this for you", than "I have to take this away from you".

But obedience doesn't come easy, and neither is teaching responsibility -- the hand-holding ("let me show you how"), and at the same time, knowing when to let go ("now you do it yourself"). And even something as basic as safety issues, playing nicely between brothers, and putting away our things, resurface day after day, because we still haven't quite got them.

The day Jon forgot to put his schoolwork in his backpack, (and I'm normally the one to put it away for him when it's still lying around), I decided not to drive all the way back to school just to take it to him. He brought home a note he had to write out, from the teacher, reminding him that he has to handle his own responsibilities, because us parents have our own responsibilities, too. How well put, I thought. Yet, once home, Jon was asking me, "Can you get this for me?", and "Can you get that other thing done?", and even telling me where and how I could get to them, to make life a wee bit easier for him!

For Ben, if it's not something as serious as heaving himself over the grocery cart, I try and just shrug off his whining, hopefully before it escalates into a temper tantrum. And with a bit of humour -- pretending I can't understand his "alien language", wiggling my ears for extra effect -- chances are, he will calm down some. Then, together, we take a deep breath, and more deep breaths, before he makes another attempt at his request; this time, I remind him to "use your normal voice". It doesn't work all the time, but we keep on trying.

And until one day they know to do the "right" and "responsible" thing, without any prompting from us, we will have to keep on trying, and learning together. And relying on the grace of God. Many a time, from my children, I see my own inadequacies, and there are daily lessons meant just for me. But I like what Dr John Cox, a Christian clincial psychologist said, and I'm paraphrasing it here, and adding my own interpretation, too, that "walking our talk" doesn't mean having to be perfect parents ourselves. But with our imperfections, struggles, and all, leaning on God to help us be the best for our children. Grace-based parenting, that sounds simple enough, yet so deep at the same time, and easier said than done when a real situation stares one in the face.

A few good moves, and still learning...

Ben and 3K
In the first parent-teacher conference, over the phone (!), on Ben's progress report, I'm happy to hear he's interacting well with his classmates ("the boys, but not the girls", he admits!), participates in circle time, and enjoys the story sessions. He's also asking the teacher if he can do this activity or that (like, "Can I paint?"), rather than saying he wants to skip it, unlike in the beginning for every other thing he would rather just do at home.

Now I know that the American education system tends to praise and possibly overpraise, but I'm thankful nonetheless for his teacher and her aide, for helping Ben settle into school nicely. And there hasn't been any separation anxiety, after that preview day before school started.

Our church problem
For Sunday School, though, it's a different story, that I'm still trying to figure out what may work best for him and us. Ben is not old enough to move on to the next level where the kids he used to hang out with, have gone, missing the cutoff date by a few months. And he's not wanting to be with the other new kids, who are at least a year younger. But it shouldn't be that he is there, and the rest of us in church, only when I'm rostered.

Ben not wanting to be in Sunday School, and not being able to sit beyond the praise and worship (his favourite part) of service, or all through the sermon (I don't expect him to), has become too convenient an excuse for us not to go to chuch, just to be running after him, and then, to hurry off for Jon's Chinese lesson. I think this is a priority for us to get right, and no, electronic, GIRO-like deductions for offerings do not help, even if that was to be my lame excuse to go to church.

The husband said we may have to look for a different place and time, but isn't there some way to work around our current church? Am I being unrealistic? Any suggestions on what we can do?

Jon and Chess
On Saturday, Jon went for his third chess tournament. We weren't all there with him to lend our support, although I drove him and stayed for the first two hours, and watched how an older kid took him down during the practise session before the first game started. After that, Vern went back for Jon, instead of me with Ben, because it was a really cold day.

Jon won two games -- beating one person whose rating was twice his, and another about his same level, and a drew a third with yet another twice his rating. For the other three games he lost, they were to two persons whose ratings were five times his, and one thrice his -- as the luck of the draw, to some extent, would have it, and he didn't really stand a chance.

Nevertheless, while Jon did not fare well enough to take home anything, it was an encouragement to us all, that, as a result, his beginner rating of only 120-something from the second tournament, went up by some 70 points, and it's now at just under 200. We haven't been giving Jon any stress, just asking him to go and do your best, and have fun. And I think he did!

I couldn't wait to hi-five Jon when he got back, and he was grinning from ear to ear. We both knew -- and from the way his schoolfriends who'd been on the team longer, played, that if chess was something Jon was serious about, he would have to work hard for it. Jon only started learning the game in September, and there is still more he has to learn, not just about moves and strategies, but also staying focused and enduring to the end.

Stuff I have to remind myself, too, in the course of everyday living. And it's true, that moms are on their feet pretty much throughout the day, and only get a chance to really sit down after the children go to bed, because there's always this and that to do, but we have only so much energy!

Be back later, when I can! Meanwhile, here's a little "back" talk...

My 30-second back massage
I pulled a muscle earlier, loading 24 mineral water bottles into the boot from the grocery cart, for our Thanksgiving roadtrip. It isn't every day that my boys will give me a back massage (although that'll be nice), but this was one of the funniest I've ever got from Jon!

Jon giving a running commentary of the back massage...

Now, I'm giving you the "knock on the door"...
*Pound! Pound! Pound!*

Now, I'm switching to "karate chop"...
*Hiya! Hiya! Hiya!*

Now, I'm switching to "dog fur brush"...
*Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!*

And now.... I'm switching...
OFF!!!