Parenting on Purpose

Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina is one of the highest peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountain Range and is famous for the dramatic views from its summit. It also boasts of the famous Mile-High Swinging Bridge, which is 5,280 feet (or one mile) above sea level. Indeed the mountain is an iconic feature of the High Country and over the decades, many travellers have come all the way here to drink in the spectacular sights of the summit. The famous Mile High Swinging Bridge.  Normally boasting of spectacular views all around. The mountain has always featured significantly in our itinerary. But we have not always been sure when to go. When we arrived on Friday, we felt that perhaps it might be tiring to go on Saturday, given that we had just driven a long way from Georgia. Then Sunday came and again we felt that perhaps we should defer our travels to Grandfather for another day, since our young ‘uns (the littler one especially) seemed more tired and needed to rest. So we decided to...

Christmas is a season for love and the family; and often a time of reflection for us. ’Tis the Season for Reflection December is always associated with festivities – with Christmas, celebrations, and the advent of a New Year. For us, the month is also associated with our wedding anniversary, which is just a few days before the end of the year. Every year, we make it a point to go away for our anniversary. This has been the case since we got married 11 years ago. When the kids came, we decided that we would still choose to take a break just to get some respite. Life in Singapore is busy; with kids around, things can get even more hectic. So we have decided that kids or no kids, our anniversary will be a special time away just for us. We tell them that “Daddy and Mummy love you very much. That’s why we’re going away…so that we can learn how to be better parents and to take care of you better!” We are also thankful that our parents can help with the kids while w...

In the words of the Ray Weather Channel, “A front is stalled just to our south, and a moist, southeasterly flow persists across our region… The Blue Ridge will be soaked in fog.” Indeed. We woke this morning to see the mist descend from the mountains and envelope us like a glove, bringing with it sudden cool weather on this third day of autumn. This meant us having to improvise again, abandoning our original intentions to head to the Moses Cone Memorial Park for a walk along one of its carriage trails. If there’s one thing we’ve learnt on this trip, it’s to let go of our expectations and see where things take us. True enough, a pleasant surprise awaited us at the Blowing Rock instead. We decided to go ahead and pay the entrance fees despite the overhanging fog. We were told, we would be able to see the rock, but not the view. Known for being North Carolina’s Oldest Travel Attraction, the legend of Blowing Rock goes way back before its establishment in 1933, almost 250 milli...

Hush now baby, don't say a word Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird And if that mockingbird won't sing Daddy's gonna buy you a diamond ring These are the words of a lullaby that I have been singing to the little girl who has become our foster child. It's been almost three months since little R came into our lives. As I shared in my previous post , it has not been easy to foster a child; and now, more than three months into the fostering journey, we have realised that things are a lot more difficult and complicated than what we had expected it to be... What keeps a family together? It's lots of love and time spent together. An attempt to understand each other and to love them "just as they are". There are many reasons why children enter the foster care system. Their birth parents could be abusers of drugs, or become incarcerated for a variety of reasons, and therefore not be in a position to care for them. They could be victims of abuse, and...

The boys were keen to do some apple picking, so we headed off to the Orchard at Altapass, located along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway itself took over 50 years to build. It is one of the most scenic drives in the world - most of the land surrounding it is owned by the National Parks Service, and private developments are strictly regulated. The result is a more than 400 mile (700 kilometre) stretch of unparalleled scenery and beauty. It was indeed a joy to drive along the Pathway, described is among the most beautiful in the world. We arrived at the Orchard expecting a regular apple picking session hosted by a regular farm tour. We got no apples, and there was no regular farm tour. Sadly, the cold had killed off most of the apples, and the Orchard did not have a single harvest this year. As for the tour, it was far from regular. For starters, it was a wagon ride - described as a “hay ride”. by the owners. And then, we realised that the ride would be led by storyteller Bill Carso...

We awoke to a new day in the Tar Heel State with much excitement; for today was the first day of fall, and we couldn't wait to see how much the scenescape would change almost in front of our very eyes... Hungry for breakfast and fulled by a need to stock up on groceries, we headed to a local country market, the Watauga County Farmer's Market, where we got to enjoy the fresh produce of the land, wandering around and spending much time talking to the different people and hearing their beautiful stories. There was a gentleman who has been carving birdhouses for almost all his life. Our boys were thrilled to talk to him. Z in particular was impressed by the architecture of the birdhouse creations; and especially since he was Z's age when he first started learning about woodcarving. Then we met two girls who were selling bags to raise funds for a trip to visit their birth country. It was heartwarming to meet these dear girls and their mum, and we shared many lovel...

Leaving Helen, we proceeded to Tugaloo State Park for the kids to complete the last of the activities needed to get their Georgia Junior Ranger badges. However, for some strange reason (likely due to an error in the GPS system), we ended up in Tallulah Gorge State Park instead! Tullulah Gorge is the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi and was supposed to be one of the places we would have visited if we had more time.  Formed by the Tallulah River cutting through the Tallulah Dome rock formation, the gorge is approximately 2 miles long (about 3 kilometres), and features rocky cliffs up to 1,000 feet high (300 metres).  Given the circumstances, we decided to let the kids complete their badges here instead of Tugaloo. One thing led to another, and instead of simply walking to the overlook points to view the waterfalls, we ended up walking down the 300 steps to the suspension bridge swaying 80 feet (25 metres) above the waterfalls….. And then walking up the 300 steps back ...