Mervyn Hoe: My Daily Happenings

Yesterday, I brought my two children out for a Bishan Park walk and it's really a cool morning, just that it was cloudy. They both cycled to Bishan Park and there were so many people exercising! Everything was so fine and at the bridge, someone gave us bread. To eat? No. It's to feed the fishes illegally. We did and the children love to see the tortoise and fish eat the tough solid overdue bread! It started to drizzle slightly and we headed to the nearest place to eat. MacDonald's! What do you expect? The only fast food restaurant happily beaming at you early in the morning! That's really once in a while breakfast. Josh reminded me that it's one time and he even told Kate that we are going to have breakfast at MacDonald's! She didn't really understand what's that, so she didn't show any excitement! We bought Breakfast Deluxe ala carte because I do not want them to eat hash brown and drink tea too. We went to a nearby shelter and it was really nic...

I'm really amazed as to what Parenting really involves and it's fun! Eve and I have been attending Parenting with Confidence course and it has enriched us dearly on the appropriate approaches to manage children's behavior, expectations and how to love them! I'll make it 3 parts! I'll share about the loving children. Buying toys for children are not loving them. Telling them 'I love you' is not enough. What we can do is to experiment what kind of love language our child is! There are 5 of them. I have been taught to give these to my spouse. It didn't occur to that our children also needs it too! 1. Acts of affirmation This is so good when we praise our children specifically to what they have done right. Try not to use 'good boy', 'nice job, Kate.' This is too generic. Once we have praised correctly and with details, it will make the child feel appreciated and love. They will boost their confidence too. 2. Giving gifts This is...

Shocking Article I'm just so shocked. I have been thinking how to help other people this year. Volunteering? Donation? Helping the environment? You can click the title to see the link . I chanced upon this article about Midway Island at Pacific Ocean. This place is very unique as the only inhabitants is birds. These species are very smart and amazing. Upon reading it, I was shocked. This island is 2000km away from any nearest coastal place. Yet, there are so much rubbish found. A picture of an albatross bird. Look at the stuff digested! (Source: thepointshave.com) The birds are actually killed slowly by the plastic trash they found along the beach and the sea. When the birds die, the remnants are skeleton and the trash that they eat! Ranging from bottle caps to sharp rusty metal objects. I saw one with the cigarette lighters! My heart literally sank! All these stuff are man-made. Guess that these objects are stuck in their stomach because of indigestion. Furthermor...

What a title! I am really amazed that having a child, your life is between you, your wife and child. Having two children, it means life between you, your wife, child number 1 and child number 2. And the things that you see between the two children is really very amazing. At times, just by looking at them, you will get to see yourself when you are young! Josh learning how to write with a bamboo pen! Relationship Permutations I feel that it's really very fun and priceless to experience your very own father-son, father-daughter and husband-wife relationship! I'm honored to experience this everyday. And the cutest one is the sibling relationship! You can actually see that these growing children are really learning from each other! 1. Kate copies what Josh is doing. Now she even loves to wear his clothes to sleep! 2. Josh sings and teaches Kate English and Chinese. Those simple songs and what words to say. 3. They will quarrel at times but the war ends very fas...

I have to advertise this Goat's Milk! It's really very good and I can feel the difference in myself and both of us feel good to have our children drink it. Initial reaction Eww! What a smell and taste? That was the initial feelings I had when I first tasted this Hay Diaries milk! However, after that, I felt the natural sweetness of it. And the benefits of Goat's milk is plenty! Our collection of the Goat's milk bottles Why the change I used to drink cow's milk and I will get loose stools (aka diahoerra). I wonder why. Maybe I have lactose intolerance? However when I was younger, I do not have this case. Then we bumped into this Goat's milk and decided to give it a try. And amazingly, I do not have any of it! And it was nice and good. Benefits 1. It is easy to digest. 2. It is able to match our body rather than cow's milk. 3. It is less allergenic. And doesn't cause much allergies to humans! 4. It is naturally homogenic! It means th...

When you sow your time in your children, somehow it will reciprocate back to you. I have seen some successful families and until today, there is respect and love to the parents shown by their children.. And the love of parents to children felt by their actions. It has been present for over 28 years... Uncle Tang This uncle of mine is commendable. His efforts and thoughts in providing for the well-being of the household is amazing! I'm actually trying to sieve out what he has done and do it for my family. He has a wife, four children and three grandchildren. For the past 28 years, both his wife and him have provided alot for his family and until now, he didn't demand any care from his children. However, automatically, there is filial piety from his children! Picture of me and my children at Mount Vernon Columbarium. He has done these for the past years as a father: - wake up 5am to prepare porridge, simple dishes for breakfast. - go to marketing in the morning and...

This is amazing. I wonder do I want to name my third child, Love.  I happen to click on pregnancy giving birth video. Guess what? They documented the birth of Baby 'Love'. What a coincidence! This is still in the pipeline! Help me vote at the right hand side column! --> I'm just so excited about it. Loving your child is undivided and not equal. This is the fact. Josh and Kate are different in terms of character and behaviour. And both Eve and I know it. Josh is a boy who needs more loves and hugs and confirmation from us, and of course we have to explain to him at times what should be done, and what is right and wrong. It's challenging because we are learning. Josh is learning too! For Kate, she can roam around by herself and at times, when an aeroplane flys by, she will be afraid and needs our attention. Here comes our hugs to her! Every child is different. Compliment We must try ways to compliment our children as much as possible when we see good acts f...

I'm not sure whether do I really want to post this. But recently, I have been thinking about what is the purpose of us here on Earth. What is your purpose? I just happened to know of these news: -A female elephant was stripped off her skin, removed her trunks and ivory and the organs are also taken out. -Peta: A supposed 'care of animals' are removing the animals and they do not actively promote the adoption for the animals. In fact, every year, they 'remove' the thousands animals that under their care. I'm not sure it's true. -Magazines of stars who are famous because they are buff and they are shirtless in movies. So what! -Celebrities who are together and broken up. -Radiation in Japan What is these significance value for all these? Money? Fame? What do we humans gain at the end of the day? I really have no idea. However, I felt a little affected when I saw the female elephant being hunted in Vietnam. And they left about 100 of their kind the...

Hey! This is the first time I ever felt so bad. I am actually down with a sore throat! And the cause is because I drank milo. This drink - I haven't drank for quite awhile. I get heaty easily after I drink milo. And I drank it once with my friend on Friday, and it brought my immune system down! I began to lose my voice today and the feeling is just terrible. Nevertheless, we went to church. It was a fruitful journey as today, they taught about sheep! Moses and the sheep. And they did the sheep art and craft! So cute! Pictures of my children with the artpiece! Ain't they look like cute lil' sheep!! However after church, I was feeling quite feverish and totally no more voice left! We have to quickly rush home and we forgo an event at Josh's ex-teacher place. Felt bad about it. Thank God I rested and managed to regain a partial of my voice back again. Dinner at Chinatown We went to Chinatown for dinner because I crave for claypot frog leg porridge and I...

It's easy to be a parent because after 9 months, a baby is born. And everyone is so eager to know how the baby looks like, the weight, height, time of birth and the name of the baby. Especially on Facebook, Twitter, every new parent will eagerly post their new born! It's very cool! Isn't it? However, it is actually the next step that is of great importance! Managing your baby / children. TIME, NOT MONEY, is important Managing your child / children. NO ONE HAS EVER TAUGHT US HOW TO DO IT! This is the actual facet of life. In fact, I just feel that everything is up to us to learn and willingness to fork out how much effort on your children. TIME is an important factor. One should really think carefully before having a child. Actually many people asked me how much is it to raise a child. I'm not really sure the exact amount. I will answer them that it is actually the TIME spent that is more important than money. Money is important because you need it for food, cloth...

I'm so proud that currently, Josh is 100% diaperless. And for Kate, we are in the process of reducing her usage of diapers in the day. Night time for her is still required. Probably when she is about 2 years old, then we will let her practice. Kate is currently 21 months old and she uses about 3 diapers a day now. Diapers is actually very wasteful and usually a new born will use about 8 to 10 diapers a day! It's really not so eco-friendly. However, it is hygienic.  Using alternatives such as nappies, is good but the amount of washing, drying and folding is quite extensive. However, when the baby gets older, the nappies may not be able to hold the urine and will leak! I can still remember that Josh effectively didn't wear diapers when he is 31 months old. The process is difficult! Just like the weaning of the breastfeeding. Process of diaperless for Josh When Josh was a baby, we tried different ways to be eco-friendly. 1. Nappy : It's very comfortable for the ba...