Parenting in Brissy

After a couple of weeks of warm weather, it is feeling more like autumn yesterday and today. The temperature is dipping and I was glad i bought a bathrobe from Aldi last week. I got Clayton one too and he is loving the use of it after every shower.

Sometimes I feel that a mother needs to have a strong heart. If others don't need it, I do. I get emotional when he tells me sad stories and encounters he had in school and I often have to pray for strength for him and me. I find this parenting journey tiring at times but God has taught me so many things through my six year old. I learn how to accept him and love him for who he is because that's how the Father accepts me too. My responsibility as a mom is to pray with him and for him, stand by him and teach him how to love God. And I can't do that in my own strength and ability.

It's just been so fast that we will be married for eleven years in a few weeks' time. We won't be traveling far for a little celebration though I want to go somewhere near. Since it's school holidays, it will be a good opportunity to spend a night at a beach or mountain retreat. I think it would be hard getting a gift for DH though a friend suggests that I check out Swisher Sweets but I told her DH isn't a smoker.

Oh well...maybe I should surprise him with a deal from the deals site or buy him a voucher from a private shopping club. I think cooking him his favourite Assam fish or Curry Chicken may be what he really likes for a gift!

School Has Started and Back to Routine

The second semester has begun and it's back to the daily routine for the work at home moms. It was a relief cos I don't have to scratch my head to keep little junior busy since he isn't allowed to watch the TV all day.

In two days' time, I'll be busier cos DH will be away for his first missions trip. He is very excited about this trip and had started packing his bag since the weekends. I can see the enthusiasm in him and am very blessed by his desire to serve in simple ways. He prepared himself well and did all the necessary shopping for the trip including getting a raincoat, a manual old-style fan and simple treats for the kids.

We had a very nice Father's day celebration in our friend's house and the kids and dads had lots of fun in two inflatable pools. They gave the dads a garden spa and we even had to bribe the boys to 'scrub' their dads at first! I didn't know what to get for DH and looking back, I should get him one of those binoculars for his missions trip.

Since I won't be joining him for the trip, I can support his team in spirit by committing myself to a morning prayer everyday. With work at home and lots of tasks at hand, I don't think I have much time to laze and relax.

Parenting and Work at Home

Whenever I hear about a friend expecting a baby, it brings me great joy. Being only a mom who focuses alot on parenting and work at home in the last five years, there are lots of joys and pains, fun and challenges. Never easy, but it's worth it.

When you are working from home and are expecting a child at the same time, you will find it easier to rest when you are tired. You can step in and out of your home office, eat regularly, take your prenatal vitamins and even prepare the arrival of your child. Sometimes, you can be surrounded by many blessings but not counting them.

I know that many mommies actually work outside home till the day of their birth... kudos to them! But when given a choice, majority would prefer to get more rest cos it's tiring when you are carrying a baby! This is excluding the cooking at home, cleaning duties and work responsibilities. But however tough it is, we will get around our difficulties and rise up above them all. With that strength of a new arrival, you will find it easier to move forward in your parenting journey.

Work At Home Mom Gets Busy With Birthday Celebration

Finally, the busy week of preparing for Clayton's birthday celebration in school and the water park is over. I have been juggling with my work at home duties and getting those party bags/favors and gifts ready, ordering food for the guests... I didn't know that planning for a birthday party requires so much work!

All we can say is that, we made the right decision to have Clayton's first birthday party at The Club @ Bukit Utama. The water park is enough to keep the kids busy and all we need to do is to make sure the food arrives on time and that everyone is happy.

DH and myself went to Chinatown for some kids' toys shopping days before the party and I was amazed that there were so many toys (imitation) available at the shops in chinatown. They were much cheaper than those in the retail stores cos they were mostly for wholesale. We managed to buy some nice favors for the party.

Clayton was so happy that we brought some yummy cupcakes for his school celebration and on his party day, he had a Ben10 cake. He was a happy boy. Most of all, he was so happy that he could have his friends partying with him at the water park last Saturday.

With all this planning to do for the work at home mom, I haven't been writing and updating my sites in the last couple of weeks. So this week, it will be back to work with a workshop leading up towards the weekends. It's been a challenging year for our offline business and yet, God has been so good to us in bringing in the numbers in the last couple of weeks.

In the next few months, many of you will be away for your family vacation and breaks. Whether it's a vacation or a city break, it's good to take time to spend some time with your loved ones as the holiday season draws near. It's time for all work at home moms to wind down too as we usher into the new year in a couple of months' time. It's a time to reflect and renew, to refresh and restore.

The Challenges of Work at Home Moms

In life, there are always ups and downs. The work at home mom is not exempted from low moments and struggles in her journey to build a home based business.

Imagine having to deal with your child's crankiness in the morning before hurrying him off to breakfast and beating the morning traffic. A stay at home mom has to deal with this every morning and sometimes, she will feel like throwing the white towel and says "Suits you, do what you want!"

Recently, a work at home mom/friend of mine told me that her son had stopped attending school because getting him to school every morning was such a chore. He would kick a fuss, cry and throw tantrums. The parents decided to keep him at home instead and resorting to personal home schooling.

The work at home mom has to take care of more than just her home business. She has to do grocery shopping, clean the house (for some), cook, does laundry, teaches her kids and sometimes, even fit the faucets in the house when they fail to work.

Being a work at home mom requires lots of strength, grace, endurance, patience and determination. There are times she wishes the man of her life will understand her sacrifice, pain, struggle and heartaches. But sadly, sometimes her wishes have gone unnoticed and her efforts unnoticed. If you are one of those as described, take heart, keep your faith and don't quit.

Long Weekend Again for the Work At Home Mom

It's another long weekend this week but it seems like there are so many things being lined up this time. Basically, the work at home mom takes a break when the active kindergarten boy takes his.

We are off to Sungai Klah hot springs tomorrow with a group of friends. I reckon that will be a lot of family fun for all of us. I had experienced hot springs in Japan and New Zealand but never in Malaysia! I am geared up to take some video and photo shots for the excursion. It's been a while since we take such trips locally other than the nice drive to Bukit Tinggi last weekend.

Today, I had a conversation with a church friend who has a son suffering from epilepsy when he was five months old. Before talking to her, I was a weary soul wondering how to cope with my very active child. But after that short chat, I felt convicted of my impatience and ungratefulness. I have forgotten to treasure and record my child's little progress in life. I have taken his milestones for granted. I felt embarrassed. She helped me regained my joy of parenting. I found myself thanking God for all His blessings upon Clayton and my family.

I am grateful...

Work At Home Reports Clayton's First Sports Day

Here comes another busy week for the work at home mom as the school holidays begins! It's also Sports Day at Juara Cerdik today and it's Clayton's first as well.

It was good that it was done in Yuk Chai School so there wasn't much traveling for us. All the kids were geared up for action in their respective coloured PE uniforms and there was so much excitement in the air!

Though it was only a short 4 hours of fun, I could tell the children were getting restless while waiting for their turns for game time. All parents were equipped with their digital cameras and video recorders, all ready to capture memorable moments of their children in action. It was nice.

We met a few friends and familiar faces and everyone was just waiting patiently to see their children on the field. Events and gatherings like that gave me an opportunity to get to know other parents better. From business plan writer to stay at home moms, all parents came from all walks of like!

I managed to capture some shots of Clayton as he ran his best to 'bring Rollie home'. Even the parents had their share of fun when it came to parents' games time.



I must say that the school and all the teachers and helpers had done a great job for the sports day. They worked so hard to prepare for all the games, prizes, goodie bags, parent's gifts, food - may the Lord bless all of them for their hours of hard work.

With school holidays starting today, I would probably need to slow down my home business. It isn't easy keeping my boy occupied for the whole day - he just never stops until he crashes at night! That's the only time the work at home mom gets to catch up with work, emails and other things. This is what parenting is all about - it keeps me going!

Disciplinary Action From The Work At Home Mom

This week started off a little rough for me, the work at home mom when the little master in the house kicked a fuss with Monday Blues.

He got a hard 'punishment'. Mommy had decided that he went on without TV for the entire week. It was an agony for him. I must admit that this punishment was harder for me cos this would mean that I had to keep him occupied once he got home from school, now that I couldn't have the TV as the 'babysitter'. Well, it was tough but I had to do it.

The good news is, this disciplinary action turns out to be very good for us. Though he tried to humbly ask for a little TV during the week, he was able to accept a straight 'no' - he was very good. I was very impressed by his subservient attitude... he didn't fight nor demand. It wasn't as hard as I thought.

We spent abit more time doing things together and it was great to see him 'self entertained' with his imagination and creative play. From this, I learnt that having too much TV stifles creativity!

At my home office, I still do my best to work on my earn money from home projects. It was a little slow this week with the bad internet connection but I am glad I still got another site set up. I have to look into identity theft protection information as I have been receiving some 'fraud' emails demanding private information. Those of you who earn money from home have to be careful with these things. Don't release any personal information to third parties through your social networking sites or chat rooms.

With the weekends approaching, the work at home mom looks forward to take a break and does more research on their upcoming Phuket trip with some wonderful friends. It will be a good short break for us and it will be a fun one.

work at home mom takes his son swimming

The work at home mom is excited when Saturday arrives and so is the preschooler at home! He can't wait to go EC Swim and last Saturday, he stopped removing his goggles during his swimming class and that was the first breakthrough for him.

Can't wait to award him a nice warship when he learns how to swim breast stroke in months to come!

work at home mom counts down to the weekends

My journey as a work at home mom continues....

Last weekend, I collected my new MSI Wind Network, another new addition to my home office gadgets. Then my work at home hubby suggested that I should have a LCD monitor so that I didn't have to add too much stress on my eyesight... so he graciously got me a 20" Samsung LCD Monitor.

This week has seen an unending string of events from running errands for the home office to firming up details for some upcoming training. Working at home allows me the flexibility of time but that also means that I must be efficient during those precious hours when Clayton is away in school.

I'm still working on more niches for my online home business and every niche presents me a new opportunity to learn new things as a work at home mom. The only setback is the slow internet connection that affects our productivity in the home office. This can be annoying and frustrating when we are working from home.

With the weekends leading up in a day's time, I'm hoping to catch some lost sleep, do some abstract painting with Clayton, make some vege rubber stamp art, build some more trains with his lego blocks and perhaps, treat ourselves to a yummy Japanese buffet lunch.

The work at home mom counts down to the weekends!

my blessed boy

This is the third week of Clayton's first year of kindie. Tomorrow is also the first time he'll be in school uniform. Unfortunately, the school uniform seems too big for him and mommy would have to get them replaced.

Come february, we have decided to try him out on ASP (After school programme) as he is getting bored every afternoon after he comes back from kindie. Instead of those extensive hours in front of the tv, ASP keeps him busy and at the same time, enriches him. This would also mean that we've got my free time to build our online business and do more during those 3.5 hours he's in school.

My little boy is growing up so fast. Everyday, he's learning new tricks, using new vocabulary and pushing new boundaries. Parenting can be tough and challenging on some days but the fact that I can give my love to nurture a little one brings me lots of unspoken joy.

I am so blessed to be mother to my little boy. Despite his monkey tricks, he's so precious, so unique and so blessed.

A bad cut on the chin - ouch!

How many mothers know that it's so heart sick when your child has a bad fall or has an accident?

My little boy slipped in the long bath two days ago and it traumatised him badly. It was the worse fall ever and he had a bad cut on his chin. He was screaming in pain and all I could do was to hold him close and pray. He refused any treatments and would struggle so hard when I tried to put a bandage over that cut. I almost thought he needed stitches cos I could see the open wound but I knew that he wouldn't allow that. Finally, after much struggling and 'forcing', I managed to put a op-site plaster over the cut.

Thank God the bleeding stopped and he's now back to his old tricks... I'm praying for a nice healing of the wound and that there'll no scar left behind. I'm truly thankful to God for His protection... it could have been worse...

another parenting rant

Sometimes we parents forgot how to overlook our kids' faults and appreciate them for their innocence and ignorance. I saw myself 'nagging' at my preschooler on many misbehaviors, from getting him to keep his books on the bookshelves to putting his toys back in his toy box. Sometimes, you wonder why they keep repeating certain bad habits and can only feel bad about being too stern at the end of the day.

I find myself asking for grace and more patience especially when the frustration levels are increasing. It can be challenging when you have a preschooler who never sits still and always needing attention and stimulation. This is when I have to quiet down and count my blessings for this little treasure given to me during my time on earth.

It's just another one of those parenting rants...

quality time together in the garden

Lately, we have been spending time in the garden when the evening sun is not scorching hot. Since recovering from that bout of diarrhea and vomiting (whatever is the cause), I learned to do more fun things together with Clayton - simple things like spinning windmill in the garden, counting the snails after the rain, kicking football and messing with the garden hose. In fact, I can't wait for him to recover totally so that he can try out his new swimwear!

It only takes an adversity to teach us how to appreciate the simple things in life sometimes... and often, the simplest doesn't cost a cent - only our time. Parents, are you listening?

Clayton is all well - thank you for praying

Here's a quick post to thank all my wonderful friends who showed your love and concern for Clayton during his bout of diarrhea and vomiting last week. It was a very scary experience for me. I had never seen my son so sick, tired, weak and pale... I got so scared on Saturday that I broke down and cried while holding his weak body. He felt so cold then and I got so frightened.

Through this experience, I have learned to offer 'spoonfuls' of water when a child is suffering from excessive vomiting. It was very heartsick when he threw up all the water on Saturday and for a moment, I was clueless on how I could keep him hydrated. He was obviously very thirsty. Plus, he didn't eat the day before.

I'm so thankful for God who answered all our prayers that Clayton got better on Saturday afternoon and started taking small amounts of food. The strange thing was, he started asking for pistachios. We don't usually eat that at home. I had to drive to the organic shop to grab a pack and was very hesistant to offer him since nuts don't digest that readily.

Today, he's already 'quite himself' - playful, loud, noisy, full of mischief. I can't complain anymore. Thank God for active children... better to have them active than to lie down listless and ill.

the heart of a mother

These few days have been very tiring and worrying for me. Clayton started having diarrhea and throwing up since Tuesday evening. I have no idea what is wrong but all I know is that I just want this throwing up and diarrhea to stop!

He started showing signs of recovery yesterday but today, things seemed to be a little worse. I am scared and worried. Not that he has alot of weight to lose, he's already so small and he's now passing out all that goes in. I have tried to be very careful with his food intake these few days but somehow, the recovery signs has been irregular. It saddens my heart and I am praying so hard that all these bad stuff that is attacking him with be gone!

Coaxing him to drink and eat has been very tough. Coping with his crankiness and discomforts is challenging too. Worse still, DH went to be a busybody in some friend's restaurant celebration in Malacca yesterday and tomorrow, he's off to Malacca again for golf with his old classmates. I have no problems with him catching up with friends and taking a break but in times like this, I believe men need to recognize their priorities.

I have an important work meeting tomorrow and I might have to call it off if things don't get better. I would like to stand firm in my faith and believe that Clayton will recover but mothers being mothers, we are willing to sacrifice, our time and everything else.

For now, I'm just praying that this bout of virus will be gone into the land of never return. Please say a word of prayer for our little boy. He needs to be well again. This is the heart of a mother.

when a mom gets stressed

A mom gets stressed when:

her child is not eating well.
her child is not putting on weight.
her child is ill.
her child is cranky.
her child is misbehaving.
her child is not listening.
her child messes up.
she is in need of space and rest.

It's not easy being a mom, is it? Oh Lord, give us mothers the grace, strength and wisdom.

viral fever ordeal over for Clayton - whew!

The scare was over after Clayton's fever broke on Thursday. The poor little boy had to go for a blood test on Wednesday morning since the fever persisted for five days straight. I wasn't comfortable about feeding him medicine everytime the fever hit so after much thoughts, we decided to take him for a blood test.

I had to tell you that he was one of those who disliked going to the doctor. He didn't like the thermometer in his ears, didn't like the stick that went on his tongue to check if he had a sore throat... it wasn't easy. I wasn't too sure how he would react to the blood test.

The time came and when he had to lie on the bed for the blood test, you could imagine his screams and fighting ordeal with the nurses. They had to wrap him with a blanket to restrict his movements and the poor boy kept screaming like someone was trying to rob away his freedom - that was my boy!

Finally, the blood test ordeal was over and after one hour, we were told that his blood was perfectly fine - no dengue - thank God. And infact, he didn't even need anti biotics. I did what I could to bring that fever down and gave him half dose of fever medicine that night. I was determined not to give him another dose after that seven hours gap and I was so thankful that when morning came, the fever was gone! Praise God!

I could see that he's still recuperating cos he seems to get tired early and tends to sleep a little more than before. It's not just him who needs recuperation really, I guess I'm just as tired during that whole week of nursing a sick boy. So glad it's over and I can only thank God for all the prayers and for His protection.

working at home and moving on...

photo taken by Uncle Jason, one of Clayton's good friend

The week seems to pass so fast. I don't know if it's because we are counting down to our July seminar with Ron Kaufman or we are too busy with parenting and work duties. It's been like this for the last 3 years and 8 months and we are still dealing with new challenges and experiences everyday. That is parenting from home. It's fun, exciting, inspiring and frustrating.

DH and myself are also talking about our plans for next year. It is full of uncertainty at this moment. Yet, we are looking forward to the change. We know it won't be easy but entrepreneurs must embrace change with courage and strength, plus lots of faith. Our hearts are longing for a breakthrough for our personal and work lives. But we are counting our blessings everyday to have come so far and be where we are in our business. Most of all, in the last 3 years and 8 months, we have seen how our little boy has grown... his baby photos on my home office wall brought me lots of comforts and appreciation. We know that we have to keep moving on... knowing that at the end of the day, we are not alone and it's worth it all.

we just gotta slap ourselves!

Hubby and myself had to slap ourselves for leaving our camera behind on Clayton's first stage performance last sunday. It was a BaoBei Mandarin Class concert and it was also our first school function appearance!

We couldn't wait for him to perform and my, were we proud of him! He was dancing and singing with his classmates and it was even cuter cos he was the smallest boy! I know that medals and prizes meant alot to kids especially if for the boys, their soccer trophies will mean alot to them in their growing years. Clayton was awarded a medal for completing 7 sets of Chinese flash cards and all I did was to snap a photo with my 2 Megapix phone. Now I have another reason to get a 5 megapix camera phone - for emergencies like this!!