Parenting on Purpose

It's been a total of 5 weeks since Covid left its imprint on our family. For more than 2/1/2 years, our family had been Covid-free, likely due to our semi-geographical isolation in our little corner of Singapore, as well as our general dislike for shopping malls and all things crowded. But on the 2 July, the dotted "T-line" was finally crossed, and I was the first in the family to come down with the virus. I wrote the following words in my Facebook announcement: "Thankful that it's so far been mild; fever over the past two days and an incessant dry cough. And so when I realised it was Day 1 yesterday, I just took it as a matter of fact. What's been hard has been the non-stop work. Teaching continues with or without Covid. Zoom workshops continue. More laboured as I seem to consume a bucket of water for every two hour session. Admin work continues. Still preparing for a major 11-trainer, 55-workshop session next week, with all the client meetings and trainer b...

The much-anticipated moment was at hand. The focus of our attention was just metres away from us; and it seemed like that moment would never come. But it did. And so last week we took the final step of getting our passports checked; and we crossed the land bridge between Singapore and Malaysia for the first time in more than two years. Not a car on the road as we made our first trip to Malaysia in more than two years. I remember the last time we crossed that bridge. It was 19 March 2020, just one day after Malaysia effected its Movement Control Order in a bid to curb the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus. Ours was the only car on the road, and the usually crowded crossing was devoid of all traffic. It seemed as if a deathly stillness had descended on the area; and we didn't know then that it would be the last time we would be travelling, for what has seemed to feel like a lifetime away. So as we embarked on our travels to Malaysia once again, there was a sense of anticipation and...

The 3-year-old grinned brilliantly at me, a picture of complete bliss. In one hand he held a half-eaten char siew bao. And as I looked at what he had in the other hand, I realised it was another char siew bao , also punctured with little bite-marks.  "Tada!" he proclaimed, obviously feeling triumphant at what he had managed to accomplish. The look in my eyes transformed at once from curiosity to exasperation. "K! What are you doing! Why are you eating in this way! Why can't you eat one thing at a time!" And my frustration increased a notch when I learnt that he had already eaten one other bun, and this meant that he had singlehandedly finished all three of the buns that were meant as a snack for all three of my kids! Our little foster boy gets along well with our other kids. As the youngest in our household, he is always trying to fit in and play with his Kor Kors.  This was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was the culmination of one week of behavio...