Look Dad! Mushrooms!!

I was driving my 3 y.o. kid home and as we stopped at the traffic light near a condominium, she cried out to me and caught me by surprise:

3 y.o.: "MUSHROOMS!!! Dad!!"

She was looking up from the front seat as she cried out about the mushrooms

Dad: "Huh? Mushrooms? Where? In the Sky!!" (She was pointing up)

A closer look near the windscreen in the direction where she was pointing, then I realised where the mushrooms were "growing".

"I AM GAY" !!!!

Mum: "How are you today?" (My wife talking to our eldest daughter)

8 y.o. daughter: "I am GAY!" (then she giggles, as she learnt of the other meaning of "GAY" from her 11 y.o. schoolmate)

Dad: "That's not funny! Such answer is very misleading and you should stop answering this way. You should just say 'I am HAPPY' instead of 'GAY'!"

6 y.o. son: "Dad! What is 'GAY'?"

Dad: "Aiya! You would learn more of it when you are older."

6 y.o. son: "Oh! oh! I know! I know! my friend said 'I am Bo Gay' when we play kungfu! I am also GAY right?"

Dad: "........."

"BO GAY" which means Tootheless in Hokkien (or simply "no courage", as there're no teeth to bite back) is absolutely NOT "GAY".

Rabbits vs Monkeys

This is not another race between the Rabbit, Monkey or any Turtle.

My parents' maid brought in a pet rabbit from the neighbour's house and showed it to my kids; they were absolutely excited to play with it. While we were getting into the car:
My 8 y.o.: "Dad! Can you please buy rabbits for all of us?"
Dad: "I already have 'THREE MONKEYS' and I could not afford to take care of three more rabbits!"
My 3 y.o.: "MONKEYS! Where are they, I want to see and play with them!" (she was so curious and jumped down from the car)
Dad: "Oh, please get back into the car! You don't have to see them, as you are one of them lah!"

I was actually refering to my three adorable and mischievious "Monkeys" who are more worthy than those pesky wabbits ;-)

"Pancake" in the Car?

The little 3 y.o. girl was relectunt to straighten her chair in the car and her mummy was upset with her as she could not put on the safety belt for her. Then the mummy started to raise her voice at her naughty kid:

Mummy: "You'd better straighten the chair, or else you might become a PANCAKE when the chairs sandwiched you in an accident!"

3 y.o.: "You don't want PANCAKE, then you don't eat PANCAKE loh!"

Diaper Routine

My little One wet the bed two nights ago when we forgot to put on the diaper for her. So, I made sure that she would wear her diaper last night:

Dad: "LET ME PUT ON THE DIAPER FOR YOU!"
Little One: "DON'T WANT, I don't want you!"

My wife was already asleep and I did not wish to interrupt her sleep, so I tried to be soft on the Little One.

Dad: "If you don't wear it, you will wet the bed again! This is the last bed I have for you!"
Little One: "I will not 'wee' on the bed!"
Dad: "If you don't want to wear your diaper, then you must go to the toilet now to pass urine!"
Little One: "You go far far away then I go"
Dad: (sigh ...) "OK Ok (then I move to the door)"
Little One: "NO! You go far far away, I don't want to see you!"

So, I move away from the door and out of her sight, but peek through the door momentarily. I was glad that she picked herself up and went over to the washroom, did her business, clean up on her own and went back to bed.

I didn't wana create further nuisance with the little one and took the risk without the diaper for that night... And I was glad that she did not wet the bed.

p.s. Despite such "encouraging" experience, I will still conitnue with the diaper routine till we are very such that she would stop urinating in her sleep, I really do not wish to waste any more $$$ on beddings.

Uncommon Sight!

How many times would you encounter such situations?

Happy Father's Day 2008

This was one of the happy moments for being a father, though I tend to consider Father's Day as another day to boost sales on man's wear/ware/delicacies.

Anyway, I was presented with this enormous breakfast:

My eldest kid literally made 20+ waffles, emptied a whole tub of yogurt, a bunch of bananas and a cup of coffee! (with my wife's help). I could hardly eat my lunch after such a hearty morning meal!

One thing for sure: It was an unforgettable Father's Day!! Thank you!!

Go get your Cushion!

I was getting the little one who just turned 3yrs+3 wks to wean her from using her milk bottle:

Dad: "OK little girl, you will be drinking your milk from a cup."

Little one: "I am still a baby ..." (Ha! Her old tricks again.)

Dad: "No ... you are a big girl already! So you should use a cup and stop using milk bottle!

Little one: "... you give me a cup, I will spill my milk leh ... " (that spilling accident happened a couple of days back, and she had quite a bit of discipline)

Dad: "Hmmm . . . . that's true. Alright! This will be the last time you drink from the milk bottle!"

Dad: "Now go and get your cushion!" (she always had her huggable stuff when she drinks from the bottle)

Little one: "I cannot see the cushion, can you get for me?" (Wow! Another old trick of hers)

I kept real quiet for a moment. When she saw me glaring at her, she went off to get her cushion and returned.

Dad: "You said you cannot see the cushion, so what are you holding now?"

Little one tried to ignore me, then placed her cushion on the floor to wait for me to serve her the milk bottle! Gosh!

Giving the Glare to "innocent" kids

There were times when parents just would not wish to raise their voices or rods at their kids, especially in public places, so they would likely use the "FORCE of the GLARE" with their eyes .... like this:

And this was the response from a 3 y.o. kid when her daddy glared at her for misbehaving at the food court:

As there were silence at the dining table, the little one started to look back at her dad's glaring eyes for a few more seconds, then she said:

"Dad! What happened to your eyes"

The dad looked surprised with the little one's "innocent" response:

Then the little girl had a good giggle over the change of her daddy's expression.

Well, that really helped to dissipate the fumes from the dad ;-)

Boslters Snatching & Pushing on Father's Day's Eve 2008

The little one was making a fuss as she wanted to snatch her elder sister's bolster for the night.

Little one: "IT'S MINE!!!"
Elder sis: "Alright, you can have it ....."
Dad: "Little one, you should thank your sister!"
Little one: "Don't want!" (then she sped off with her loot)

I was upset with the little one's behaviour, but I waste no time to praise my eldest one; the eldest lot of siblings tends to sacrifise a lot more than the younger ones, so it would be proper to give due respect and encouragement for their care and concern for others.

Dad: "I am glad that you are very giving to your little sister, so I will let you have my bolster for the night."
Elder sis: "But you will not have your bolster to sleep later."
Dad: "It's alright."

The elder sis and I were "too giving", so we started a tussle of pushing my bolster to one another; by the way, my bolster ain't smelly or yucky-looking.

Elder sis: "Dad, I really want you to have it."
Dad: "Why?"
Elder sis: "Because it is going to be Father's Day, right?"

At that moment, I was both dumbfounded and touched by her thoughtfulness.

Dad: "It's alright. When you are asleep, I will get my bolster back from you."

I usually felt that Father's Day is more of a commercial gimmick than anything else, but for this time round, I was glad that my kid made this Father's Day's Eve a special one with her simple but heart-warming "gift". Thank you, my Eldest one!

Broccoli is NOT my FRIEND!!

A mum was trying to get his 6 y.o. son to eat his Broccoli and the boy was disgusted, and here went the chat:

Boy: "I hate Broccoli!"

Mum: "Broccoli is good for you; it will make you Strong and Healthy! Broccoli is your FRIEND!"

Boy: "Broccoli is NOT my FRIEND! Broccoli does not have hands and legs, how can it be my FRIEND!"

Well, parents just need to choose the right words for such "intelligent" kids.