Spanking: It Hurts More Than You Think

Mamma went to Austin's pre-school to pay for his first Fall 2007's tuition. While at school, mamma picked up some pamphlet about raising children. Right there, mamma knows that she made the right choice of sending Austin there. The school not only educate the children, but also educate the parents and that the teacher and the parents are consistent on disciplining children!

There is one particular pamphlet about spanking which mamma likes to share. It's a bit long, but it might change the way you feel about spanking, forever......


SPANKING: IT HURTS MORE THAN YOU THINK

Parenting is very rewarding, but nobody ever said it was easy. There are ups and downs, and both you and your child will make mistakes along the way. That's okay. You're not alone.

One if the major challenges you might face is discipline. When your child's behavior pushes you to the edge, how do you handle it? Do you see spanking as a solution?

You may feel really frustrated at the time, but spanking is not discipline. It is physical punishment and it can hurt you child.

You can discipline to teach your child to behave. It can be hard but it's also rewarding. If you're not sure how to respond to your child's behavior, take a moment to read a little further. After all, every parent can use a little help sometimes.


THE PROBLEM WITH SPANKING

Spanking is hitting. Spanking is meant to cause pain to control a child's behavior. When you're stressed and angry, spanking may seem like a quick way to stop misbehavior - but it doesn't work.

Spanking may cause your child to fear you and stop trusting you. Anger, resentment and shame can build up in your child, and this can hurt your relationship. These bad feeling can also hurt your child's self-esteem and ability to have healthy relationships with others.


REASONS NOT TO SPANK

- Spanking is hitting and hitting hurts physically, emotionally and socially.

- Hitting people is wrong - and children are people, too.

- Children who are spanked are more likely to be aggressive. This can lead to other problems, like bullying.

- Spanking can result in fear, not respect. A child who fears a parent may learn to hide behavior and lie rather than trust that parent to guide and teach.

- Spanking may get a quick reaction, but next time you may end up hitting harder. And when you're angry and stressed, it's easy to injure your child.

- Spanking doesn't teach the right lesson. It shows a child that hitting is a way to solve problems.

You may be saying to yourself, "I was spanked and I turned out okay." It could be that you turned out okay in spite of being spanked, not because you were spanked.

In the past, parents did the best they could with what they knew. Today, we know a lot more about how children develop. That's why more and more parents are
choosing not to spank.


WHY DISCIPLINE WORKS

All children need discipline. It teaches self-control, responsibility and acceptable behavior. Unlike spanking, which uses pain, fear and shame, discipline means teaching, guiding and nurturing.

Discipline doesn't mean your child gets away with misbehaving. Discipline puts rules and limits in place early in life to give children guidance. It takes patience and commitment, but the rewards are worth it.


USE DISCIPLINE TO ENCOURAGE GOOD BEHAVIOR

- You are the best role model your child has. Show your child how to solve problems in a peaceful way.

- Make a few simple rules that are fair and reasonable for your child's age.

- Make sure children know what is expected of them so it's easier fir them to cooperate. Be consistent.

- Make routines and stick to them, especially at bedtime and mealtimes. Your child's more likely to misbehave when tired, hungry and over-excited.

- Listen and try to understand your child's point of view. Help your child to talk about feelings like anger and sadness. Let your child know that it's okay to cry.

- When your child's having fun, it s hard to stop. Give your child time to end the activity.

- Children can get bored easily, so plan ahead for outings. For example, distract your child with a toy or play a game while waiting in line.

- Allowing children to make simple decisions makes them feel good, and it teaches them how to solve problems. Offer choices like, "Do you want to wear the read shirt or the blue shirt?"

- Children don't always understand dangerous situations. Supervise your child and explain the dangers as often as possible.

- Be part of the solution. Encourage your child to come to you with problems and figure them out together.

- Praise your child when rules are obeyed and be patient when they are broken. Learning is a process and it won't happen overnight. Remember, you can never give too many hugs.


USE DISCIPLINE WHEN YOUR CHILD MISBEHAVE

Your child knows the rules. You've reminded gently but nothing seems to be working. So what do you do next?

Choosing to discipline rather than spank is still the best way of getting through to your child. Testing the limit is natural and part of growing up. Teaching your child how to behave is up to you.

- Don't let your anger get the better of you. Take a moment to cool off. When you are calm, find out why your child misbehaved.

- Talk it out. Let your child know why you're upset. Be careful what you say - mean words can hurt your child.

- Use consequences that make sense with your child's actions and age. For example, if your four-year-old throws a toy, take away the toy for a short time.

- Turn a tough situation into a game. A child who refuses to put away the toy is more likely to do it when you make it fun. Children also learn through play.

- Your child will have bad days just like you. Hugs and staying calm will help your child get through tantrums and tears.

- Ignore minor misbehavior. Ask yourself, "How important is it to respond?" Ignoring often works to stop unwanted behavior.


REMEMBER

- Babies can do no wrong. They need love and attention. They should never be shaken or hit in any way.

- Be patient with toddlers. Everything is new to them and they have short memories. Gently remind them of the rules when they forget.

MAKE IT WORK

Your child will be happy and healthy if you are happy and healthy. When things get to be too much for you, take some time for yourself. Go for a walk, take a bath or call a friend. If that doesn't work, there are ways to get help. Relatives and friends, other parents and family resource programs can help.


Published by Toronto Public Health

Busy Sunday

Our upstairs neighbor must have gotten up 7am practicing tap dance or something, the noise woke mamma up and she almost wanted to run up and give them a piece of her mind. But she didn't! She waited until Austin woke up at 10am and got daddy to watch him, then went back to sleep, waking up just before noon!

After playing at home all day Saturday blowing bubbles, daddy and mamma tried to get Austin to go out on Sunday! The boy prefers staying home and only the book store or the toy store might tempt him, depending on his mood! His daddy bribed him with LEGO if he goes to the toy store with us (but I think it's daddy who wants to go to the toy store and get LEGO for himself)! So we spent the afternoon at Toys 'R' Us! Then we went to Awfully Chocolate and had some ice cream and a cake for take-out and headed on home!

The grandparents (on daddy's side) had invited all of us for dinner at a Thai Restaurant 清邁城 in our neighborhood. Austin and his daddy went there a bit early to work on their LEGO. The LEGO lasted Austin for about an hour, eating nothing as usual! Then we left for an outdoor broadcast of a concert at CKS Memorial!



Mamma heard that The London Symphony Orchestra, and the famous 25 year old Chinese pianist, Lang Lang 郎朗, are performing at the National Concert Hall 國家音樂廳, and the concert will be broadcast live outside the concert hall on a giant screen at 7:30pm. All tickets were sold out long before, and with Austin, it's probably best if we just listen to it outside! Since the program includes a Mozart Piano Concerto, mamma thought that Austin might enjoy it! But wrong...... the boy didn't like the crowd and wished to go home! So mamma took him far way from the crowd and listened. It was quite disappointing because the concert lasted for less than an hour, and the Mozart piece by Lang Lang seemed like only 15-20 minutes! With the long breaks in between each piece (total of 3), the concert probably lasted for a little over 30 minutes! Might as well because Austin wanted to go home anyway!




Another exhausting day for mamma and daddy! But we felt better after we remembered that there's a chocolate cake waiting for us at home! Ha~ Ha~

Space Bubble

Mamma spotted "Space Bubble" on our Danshui trip and bought quite a few since she hasn't seen them anywhere else and they're very cheap (NT$15 for two small tube at Danshui and $10 at Bali)!

Daddy blew the most humongous bubbles that Austin's ever seen! But all Austin likes to do is to pop them!

Daddy blows......



Then daddy tries to keep the bubble away from Austin as long as possible......



A few minutes later, Austin catches it and pops it......


After about 5 huge bubbles, daddy's already out of breath!

Danshui Ferry Ride

Austin's has already graduated from his mommy-and-me class. But since Auntie Joyce and SDD still have class, we met up at school for our Friday's playdate! While waiting for the class to end, Austin begged mamma to take him into the classroom and wonders how come he's not in it. Guess he doens't know the meaning of "graduation"!

We decided to go to Danshui 淡水 and take the ferry to Bali 八里! After arriving Danshui, we had McDonald's for lunch first. Watching SDD's already eating by himself, Austin's still more interested in playing with the happy meal toy and eats only if his mamma feeds him! Guess mamma could only look at the bright side of things, Austin will never have an over weight problem! And mamma doesn't have to buy new cloth so often since he's still in 2T! But strange as it seems, the boy is average in weight and height for his age! And his daddy and mamma always wonder how come he even has poop because he never eat!

Austin has never been on a ferry ride before and was he scared! Mamma had to carry him on board and hold on to him for the first few minutes. Then he realized that it's safe and looked a bit more relaxed!

"Anchors away!" hollered captain Austin......



Mamma always wanted to take Austin for a bike ride but Austin's too chicken to get on one. So when mamma borrowed the bike which Auntie Joyce rented and went for a ride with SDD, Austin wasn't too pleased and finally decided to give it a try!

Oops! Mamma blocked Austin's face. But might as well because he didn't look too thrilled anyway. The boy was really nervous on the bike for the very first time......



The boys spent some time playing at the little park at Bali. Then we took the ferry back to Danshui, slowly walked back to the MRT station and headed on home!

Thank God the playground wasn't too crowded! SDD ran around here and there while Austin repeatedly climbs up, goes thru the tunnel, then slides down...... over and over again......



What an exhausting day it was! But not as exhausted as Auntie Joyce who carried SDD walking back to the MRT station because he fell asleep!

YeYe's Toy

YeYe is a classical music fanatic and has the stereo on playing loud classical music 24/7, which drives NaiNai crazy! And when he's out, he has his iPod on so he'll have music to his ears! Maybe it's because he can't hear very well that he listens to them really loudly, maybe that's the effect he wants, or maybe he'd just like to screen out other noises and NaiNai nagging!

So when YeYe was in the States years ago visiting, he discovered the coolest toy that Samantha had and asked mamma to see if it's available on the internet because he wanted one, too! But mamma couldn't find it and asked Auntie May where she got it, and she offered it to YeYe since Samantha already has too much toys!

Hard to imaging an old man wanting a toy which belonged to a 2 year old little girl! But the toy is way too cool that YeYe just couldn't resist! It's a plush interactive Wolfgang Mozart Wolf which plays any combination of five different instruments - harp, French horn, piano, flute, and violin - to collaborate on eight Mozart tunes. Each of the wolf's palms and tail plays an instrument! And when its belly is pushed, all the instruments play together like an orchestra!

Austin loves classical music too from watching and listening to Baby Einstein ever since he's a baby! And when he discovered this cool toy at YeYe's, he couldn't resist either! Everytime he visits, he will play and dance with the wolf until he sweats like a pig! And since it's YeYe's toy, it stays with YeYe!

But recently, Austin asked YeYe if he could take it home for a few days and then return it on his next visit! So the wolf went home with Austin and he danced every night and day knowing that he'll have to part with it on our next grandparents visit!

New Beitou Visit

SDD's mom, Joyce recommended that we visit the Beitou Library at New Beitou 新北投 because Austin just loves libraries. The MRT red line takes us to New Beitou and the library is located inside the New Beitou Park right outside of the MRT station, about 5 minutes walking distance.

Beitou Library......



Entrance facade......



Side view......



Crossing a bridge to get to the building......



Playing outside the library before entering......



The Beitou Library is the first "green architecture" in Taiwan. The architecture is a beautiful wooden 3 storey building, enetering on the 2nd level. Everyone's welcome to take their books to the balcony on any floor and read outside while enjoying the view! Since it's a small library (althought the architecture looks grand from the outside) and all the windows are open, it seems like reading in the forest even if one were seated inside, with all the wooden materials and furniture!

Third floor......



Looking up......



First floor, children's floor......


(No entrance floor, 2nd level, photos were taken because mamma didn't know if it's allowed. But it pretty much look like the 3rd floor!)

What a great concept and a cool library that is ...... except...... we went on a very hot and humid day and there's no air condition in the library (or it's just not turned on). Also, since windows were all open, and with the surrounding greenery and the beautiful hot spring river along the building, mosquitos were chasing us around, in and out. Austin was running almost the entire time asking mamma to chase and kill those damn creatures flying around him. Mamma killed a few but there were just too many of them! Kind of hard to read when you're sweating from head to toe been chased by hundreds of blood sucking suckers!

Austin trying to read......



Sitting in a hole full of mosquitos......



So he started running around......



Mosquitos are out on the first level balcony too......



After we had our excercise for the day in and out the library, mamma decided to go somewhere with air condition, anywhere! Strange as it sounds, but even the near by McDonald's has out door seatings, so we skipped it and went to KFC where there's less people and more cool air (and very good toys with children's meals)!

Austin and the KFC kid's toys......



Then we headed back to the MRT station and Austin spent more time there, observing the MRT tracks and studying the train (at rest) inside out, than at the library! Unfortuately, it started raining after we came out of the MRT station at CKS Memorial Park. Otherwise, Austin wanted to go fish feeding at the pond.

New Beitou MRT entrance......



Beitou MRT station......



Enjoying looking around inside out while waiting for the train to take off......


Another exhausting day for Austin and his mamma, sweating like pigs while getting chased by mosquitos, or vice versa!

Choo! Choo!

Austin loves trains and has been building them with blocks or legos even before he could say "train"! Or at least he tries! But lately, he has been constructing the coolest steam engines, with wheels and chimney and what have you...... Every time he finishes, he would ask his mamma to look at his masterpiece. But before mamma could get a hold of her camera, he knocks them down silly, and then build another, and another.

Mamma's amazed! (It might not be a big deal. But moms are always amazed at what their kids could do or make, even if it's just a piece of shit, literally!)

An Afternoon in Tienmu

It's 32C (90F) out! We didn't want to spend the entire weekend at home, yet didn't feel like spending any time outside either. So after watching a TV special on "Awfully Chocolate" the night before, we thought going to Tienmu 天母 (Tienyu Street 天玉街) is an excellent idea!

Our first stop is Ethan Allen. After both mommy and daddy worked there a few years before getting married, no one has visited the store since. Austin walked the showroom back and forth, up and down the stairs between floors, while mamma and daddy chit-chatted with our old coworkers! When we were walking out the door, Austin refused to leave! Mamma remembers when she took Austin to the Stickley Showroom a while ago visiting friends, Austin liked hanging around it too. Guess he's just a boy who appreciates fine furnishing!



Our second stop is Caves Bookstore 敦煌書局 (www.cavesbooks.com.tw), just a few steps down the block. It's momma's favorite bookstore, an educational bookstore with English books only! The greatest thing is that all the books and magazines are uncovered, unlike any other bookstores in Taiwan!

Mamma picked up a few books with transportation to occupy Austin while she walks around. When mamma handed him the Ed Emberley's Drawing Books of Trucks and Trains, he must have spent almost an hour reading it! Nothing could make him leave until mamma promised to buy it, not even bribing him with chocolate and ice cream. That just shows how much he loves the book!

Ed Emberley is a wonderful illustrator and has numerous books on how to draw. Mamma loves the way he draws, and now Austin enjoys it too......



Our third and final destination is the Awfully Chocolate Tienmu Store (www.awfullychocolate.com.tw), a few more steps down the block. The store sells only one flavor of ice cream - CHOCOLATE, and 6" chocolate cake. And when we got there, we were told that the cake needs to be pre-ordered 3 days prior! So the only item selling in the store is chocolate ice cream.

This is the picture of the store that mamma saw on the internet......



This is how crowded it is when we got there......



There was only one girl scooping ice cream and another cashier in the store. There must have been 20 or more waiting in line! The ice cream seems to be really hard because it takes the girl about 50 scrapes to get a scoop of ice cream and about 5 minutes per customer. Everyone in line was shaking their head watching the poor girl scoop away and some left because of the long wait! We waited for about 15 minutes and it was well worth the wait! The ice cream is extremely rich and creamy and costs a bit less than Hagaan Dazs right across the street ($90 for one scoop and $160 for two).

And it comes it the cutest little carton......



Since it's just too hot outside, and there're no seats in the store (it's a take-out store), we decided to just sit around the store display. There were too many people waiting in line and the staff was too busy to notice us!

Austin and daddy sitting in the window display......



Austin poses for a picture......



Austin and his mamma and daddy all had a great time spending the afternoon in Tienmu. After Austin attends pre-school there, we'll be hanging around Tienmu area much more often!

A Real Playdate

After SDD and Austin's mommy-and-me class, SDD and Auntie Joyce came over as usual so the two mammas could have their girls talk while the boys play!

What took mamma by surprise is that Austin actually invited SDD inside to play with his cars so the mammas could have lunch in peace and talk away. Austin used to never let SDD or anyone touch his cars. But he held SDD's hand and led him inside to play with him.

Austin took his cars out one by one. But before SDD has the time to play with them all, Austin's already cleaning up and putting them back into the bucket. Then he took out more cars, and more cars......

Austin takes his cars out to share with SDD......



Then putting them all back again before SDD played with them all......



Austin finally took the first step and found a way to "socialize" with someone younger than him. Probably because SDD's not a baby anymore and Austin believes that they could really play together! Or better yet, he believes that SDD's easier to control now and he could boss him around! Ha~Ha~ But whatever he might be thinking, one thing for sure is that they're interacting and no one's crying! Yeah!

SDD and Auntie Joyce had to leave early, so Austin and mamma walked them to the MRT station at CKS Memorial.

Austin trying to act cool with his hands in his pockets......



Austin and mamma spent the rest of the afternoon there feeding fish and walking around people watching. Mamma tried to keep him out as long as possible so he doesn't go home and play games on his laptop again!

Last Mommy-and-Me Class

Austin attended his last 2-3 year old mommy-and-me class and received a certificate! Since this is the only mommy-and-me class that mamma could find, she begged the teacher to let him attend even though he's already 3 when he started it (he started last September and attended for two sessions).

This is his favorite class and Teacher Yo is his favorite teacher. Because of this class, he loves going to class and wishes that he could go everyday (but the class is only once a week)! And because it's a mommy-and-me class and the moms interact with the children, he feels very secure, and enjoys it much more than any other classes!

But we will leave for LA soon and he will start pre-school after summer, we have to say good-bye to Mei-Yu Music School, to his favorite teacher, and to his favorite class! He will never be 2-3 again! But he will remember that he had so much fun and learned so much through playing in this class. And these good memories will last a life time!

"Let's Go To Daddy's Office!"

Austin used to hate to go to his daddy's boring office because it feels just like the hospital, cold and rowdy with lots of offices like the examining rooms! Plus the strange ladies who tries to stop him from crying reminds him of the nurses, and the guys of doctors! Don't blame him! The little boy does make some sense!

But after a few times there, he's beginning to like it! Why? Because it's the only place where mamma lets him play with the interactive games on his daddy's computer! We forbid him to get on-line at home. Because we've done it before and he became glued to the computer. It's already bad enough now with just a few pre-school games which he's addicted to, sitting in front of his lap top 2-3 times a day for about an hour each time! If his mamma doesn't find other ways to entertain him, he'd sit and play all day!

His favorites interactive game sites are www.thomasandfriends.com and www.bobthebuilder.com. At Thomas' website, he loves all the games...... races, puzzles, build a train, even LEGO!

So when we're bored out of our minds stuck at home all day, Austin will suggest that we go visit daddy! And when we get there, he'll rush straight into daddy's office and climbs into the humongo chair and asks us to get him on the website. Then we just leave him there and let him play away! This time, we had to force him to leave after almost 2 hours of none stop interactive fun!

There're all kinds of expression on his face when he's playing. Sometimes he even talks to himself, or to the computer......



Playing with LEGO on www.thomasandfriends.com......



Who would believe that a 3 year old boy is already addicted to computer games? When we were young, we were still picking up bottle caps on the floor and running around with other kids in the neighborhood at his age! Mamma only started using Macs in the later years of college as a word processor and daddy still uses it only when he had to at work, never personal nor for entertainment!

Thank God Austin will start school soon! Otherwise, mamma will have a hard time trying to find ways to entertain him everyday in order to get him away from his personal laptop! He's already playing things even his mamma can't comprehend!

It's Pre-School! Not College!

Mamma received an application package from Tiger Tots in the mail (the American Pre-School) which means there is a vacancy for Austin in the 4 year-old program (after being on the million miles waiting list). Yeah!

Sitting in front of the thick pile of application forms, mamma's already getting a headache. Besides registration forms, there's this form and that form; Austin needs to get a physical; he needs to have his picture taken; everyone who might need to pick him up also need to have their pictures taken for pick-up authorization; there's pre-registration, registration, parents orientation, parents and students orientation...... Why does it feel like Austin's going to college when it's only a half-day pre-school program? Mamma never knew going to a pre-school could be so much work before it even started! Not to mention the application deadline and fee is already due by the end of this month!

But since a good pre-school is so hard to find, especially one with more play than learning the academics, and such an excellent environment, no matter how big of a headache mamma gets while filling out those forms, as long as it's good for Austin, it's all worth it!

And mamma's already having sleepless nights worrying about Austin's pre-school days...... What if he won't let go of his mamma? What if he doesn't stop crying? What if he refuse to go to school? What if he can't understand English? What if he doesn't play with the other children? What if he doesn't participate in class? What if the others make fun of him or bully him around? What if......

Hope this anxiety doesn't last for the next 15 year ('til he really goes to college)...... or will it last a life time...... Yikes!

Cousin "Dodger"

The little fella has just been picked-up! He is Austin's youngest cousin, Dodger! What an adorable little pup! Can't wait to see him in LA!

Bubba

Bubba is mamma's first nephew and Austin's first cousin (maternal). Long before Noah, Nicholas, Samantha, and even Austin was born, Uncle Max and Auntie May had Bubba while he was just a little pup. The boy chewed up all the furniture and went through garbage after garbage when he first arrived. One of his favorite trick was to chase after his tail, and bites it!

Bubba was almost 6 when Nick was born and Noah was only 2...... no Sam or Austin yet......


Sometimes he manages to unleash himself or sneaks pass the gap of the unclosed gate and happily goes for one of his adventures, and never finds his way home! Everyone panics and looks for him neighborhood by neighborhood until he gets discovered in someone's yard and called the number on his tag! Or we'll discover him in front of a house which smells like Chinese cooking, that he probably thought it's "home"! But one thing he will never forget is to wait for his daddy to get off from work by the window EVERYDAY!

Waiting for his daddy (Uncle Max) to get home......



Bubba refers to mamma as GooGoo. And when his GooGoo visits LA twice a year, she loves to walk him mornings, afternoons, and nights, even if she had to pick up chunks of poops! And sometimes when he sees things which he likes or dislike, he will drag his GooGoo along for a ride because he's almost as heavy as she is and way stronger!

1998......



2000......



But he's such a gentle fella when it comes to kids. All the babies has either slept on him, rode on him, or played him, even pulled his hair! But he has never gotton angry; he just laid there and let the kids do their things! Even mamma used slept on him in the winters as a pillow, warm and comfy!

Noah rides Bubba......



...... and plays with him......



Sam rides Bubba......



Austin meets Bubba......



He passed away at home in Auntie May's arms a few days before Christmas 2005, at the age of 13, and everyone had the worst Christmas of their lives, ever! Now, another pup's on his way, and we're all looking forward to his arrival! But Bubba will remain in all of our hearts forever and we'll never forget him!

Last glimpse of Bubba......

Another Ordinary Week!

It's another ordinary week! Mamma has really ran out of places to entertain Austin and is too lazy discovering new ones! So besides the library, the parks, and grandparents', Austin's been spending most of his time at home playing or running errands with his mom to the bank, post office, bakery, pharmacy, electronic store, grocery shopping......

Except Fridays, when we always find some place to go with SDD and Auntie Joyce after our mommy-and-me class! And this week, it's 101 Pageone Bookstore, then McDonald's again!

At Pageone Bookstore, Austin and SDD reading......



Enjoying the window view...... Austin could spend hours looking out the windows, one by one......



Below are some of Austin's new discoveries......

- Swinging himself on the swing by bending his legs, then straighten them out......, repeatedly!

- When leaves cry too much, they will fall off. (In Mandarin, cry and wither are both "koo". But "枯" ≠ "哭".)

- Not all convenient stores are called 7/11!

- Operate a DVD player! (After being able to operate a VHS player and a CD player around 2, mamma's finally letting him do the DVD!)

- Dora's best friend is Boots and Sponge Bob's best friend is Patrick!

- Finally, do an air somersault in bed (after watching cousin Samantha doing it all the time)!

American or Chinese?

Mamma took Austin to a pre-school interview! It's the Tiger Tots American Pre-school located on TAS campus (Taipei American School). It's the first time mamma set foot on campus and she's REALLY impressed! (No wonder parents pay a million bucks NT a year to send their kids there!) The school is very big, clean and nice, with a HUGE outdoor playground, sort of reminded mamma of her high school campus back in the States!

The pre-school program's cost just as much as any good pre-schools in Da-An District. The only draw back is that it's in Tien Mu, about 30 minutes driving from where we are! And we still have to wait for available spaces after been on the waiting list for over a year!

Without a doubt, mamma would take Austin there if space becomes available, no matter how far it is. Besides, it's not THAT far, only 30 minutes commuting! But the problem is Austin! He doesn't want to go there! After we left the campus, he told mamma that he's afraid of the school because it's SO BIG, and he's also afraid because the teachers are all Caucasians. He likes the small (home-sized) pre-school which we've visited before, with Chinese teachers!

The boy's got a point! It is a bit intimidating when he puts it that way! So now mamma doesn't know what to do! What to do? What to do?? WHAT TO DO??? Should she listen to a 3-year old (soon turning 4), or should she just sent him there without his consent and let him cry it out (it's not like he won't cry at other school)?

It's sort of like picking a mate...... the tall, handsome, rich guy who speaks English? or the short, cute, sensitive Chinese speaking dude?? HELP!

PS. If Austin gets into the American Pre-school, mamma could volunteer and work there while Austin's in school, where it's not possible at other local pre-schools. They want the parents to stay as far away from school as possible!

The Happy Easter Bunny!

Yeah! Happy Easter!

Let's dye some eggs! Since there's no egg hunts, or none of those fun activities like back in the States, mamma had to find some way to have fun with Austin!

Austin's watching mamma pour in the color food dye into bowls filled with water......



Mamma's cooling off the hard boiled eggs, cuz they're still hot......



"Could I peel and eat this one?"......



P.S. Mamma decorated the eggs. Austin just cut & tear up left over pieces of construction papers while watching his mamma!

Crazy about Cars

Austin is CRAZY about cars! Mamma believes that it's because we live in the city and everywhere we look, there are cars, cars, and more cars. Plus there's MRT construction around our neighborhood and will last 10 years! Therefore, he's seen every kind of construction vehicles, a lot even mamma & daddy can't name!

On 4/4 Children's Day 兒童節, daddy got Austin another car, a Lego Ferrari! Austin's thrilled! But Austin said something amazing...... "Didi has too much toys and can't remember what he has anymore! So don't buy anymore!" (Austin calls himself didi.) Ha~Ha~Ha~



So lets see some of Austin's car collections. If we see them one by one, we'll be here forever. So here's his cars in lots, or buckets......

Austin's duplo Legos......




Big kids Legos......




Tomy car boxes, bigger cars, and smaller cars buckets......



His baby toy cars......




And Thomas and Friends wooden railway system......



Mamma had to hide some of his Thomas' friends because he likes to connect ALL of the trains. And when the they disconnect, he gets frustrated and throws a tantrum! So mamma just let him have what he could handle!

These are just some of the reasons that Austin likes to stay home all day!

Mammas' Playdate

(Fotosearch Stock Photograph)

It's a 4-days Tomb Sweeping Festival 清明節 long weekend. Every one's busy tomb sweeping!

Mamma and Auntie Joyce arranged a playdate for just the two of us and leaving the boys at home with their dads! Ever since Austin's born, mamma has never left him with his daddy for more than an hour or two either to go grocery or to the hospital! But this time, our date is to see a movie and then lunch! It will take about 4-5 hours! Yikes! Could the two of them last so long?

When mamma left late morning, she asked Austin if he'd like to tag along. Since Austin loves to stay home, he told mamma that he wants to stay home and play with daddy! All's well, just making sure!

Auntie Joyce and mamma met at Warner Village and decided to see something funny, none of those weeping, or scary stuff! We just want to laugh ourselves to death! So we bought tickets to see "Wild Hogs"..... by Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy. It's a comedy-adventure about a group of middle-aged friends who decide to rev up their routine suburban lives with a freewheeling motorcycle trip. Although the critics gave it bad reviews, what do they know? It's hilarious and just what we needed! But mamma couldn't help checking her cel phone (turned on silence) every once in a while to see if there's any emergency back at the house!

Then we had shabu-shabu for lunch! It really didn't matter what we eat, it's the chit-chat that's important! And 4 hours passed really quickly! It's time to wrap it up and go home! Mamma and Auntie Joyce said good-bye at 101 and went our separate ways!

When mamma got home, Austin's still playing. No surprises, although the entire house was a mess! Austin asked mamma how come she took so long, and he told mamma that when he knocked his foot with a toy, he started crying and looked for mamma. So daddy took him on the balcony and waited for a while but she didn't come home. Then they went back to play! Since it sounded like a peaceful playdate for daddy and Austin, mamma thought that she should do this more often!

Wow! It might not be a big deal for any other mom. But it's the first for Austin's mom! Mamma finally got to see a movie at a real movie theater after 3 years and 9 months! Ha~ Ha~ Ha~ (laugh of contentment!) Hope it was as fun for Auntie Joyce as it was for mamma!


P.S. Auntie Joyce is mamma's best friend. Because we both quit our jobs while we're pregnant; we're both full-time moms; we both have boys crazy about cars; we're both Geminis, our husbands are both Aquarius (except they're about 10 years apart); and we both shop at landsend.com......

Playdate at the Children's Museum

Auntie Kitty and Little Moises are leaving soon! Therefore, another playdate has been arranged for Austin, Noah, SDD, and Moises!

Auntie Kitty playing with Little Moises......



Unlike the other three boys, all running around been chased by their mammas, Austin still needs to see his mamma wherever he goes or he'll follow her around. If he can't see his mamma in sight, he'll start looking for her!

The little chicken boy's crying when he sees mamma walking away......



Austin spends quite a long time in each area while the others are already long gone! So mamma has already given up trying to take a picture of all four boys!

But here's one with Noah, SDD, and Austin from behind......



And Austin with SDD......



After the others are already long gone, Austin's still at it......



Looking at where the ball goes......



And follows where the ball ends up......



After the "ball" area, he continues to the "bubble" area......



Then he goes riding in the mini Austin......



Mamma and Austin sneaked out for a late lunch at McDonald's, then sneaked back again. Austin walked straight into the "giant blocks" area and started building......



"It's a house!" Austin said......



Austin stayed in line to get on the digger. Even though there were two kids in front of him, he waited out quietly for his turn......



Piling up a pyrimid with wooden balls......



Austin goes grocery shopping at the pretend supermarket! He's picking out his favorite cookies and snacks from the shelves......



Looking at a fish at the frozen meat section which he's never going to eat......



All ready to check out......



Heating up all kinds of stuff in the revolving microwave to feed his mamma......



Austin and SDD refuse to leave and hide out in the fire engine......



Walking to the MRT station before sun down. Everyone's exhausted......



Auntie Gwen and Noah have already left early and forgot to take a group picture again! Here are the three tired mammas with their three rascals at the MRT station while waiting for the train to arrive......



This is our second visit to the Taipei's Children's Museum 兒童探索博物館. Austin was so scared of this place because of the dentist chair out in the front. Everytime he passes by, he drags mamma and runs. But now he likes it better and even asked to be seated in the dentist chair! Let's just hope he's as brave when he goes to the real dentist!

Worship Luncheon

Three times a year, daddy's family gets together to worship their ancestors (拜拜, bai bai). Da Bei Bei, Shiao Bei Bei, and daddy's family all take turns! This year, it's Shiao Bei Bei's turn and everyone met at their apartment, worship, burn paper gold, and had lunch afterwards!

Couple years ago when it was daddy and mamma's turn, mamma asked daddy if we could have their ancestors try some delicious KFC or Pizza Hut, and daddy just looked at mamma funny! Oh well, guess old folks only likes Chinese food (which mamma can't cook) and aren't interested in trying new things, with all due respect! So when it comes to our turn to prepare food for the ancestors, we either cater out or daddy cooks. Mamma just sets up the table and pretends to be busy helping daddy!

Shiao Bei Bei found an used tricycle that used to belong to cousin Yueh Yueh (樂樂) and let Austin ride it! Austin tries to get the hang of it......



All during lunch, Austin just happily cruise around the apartment while everyone eat in peace......



After Austin got tired of riding, he begged daddy to take him into cousin Yueh Yueh's room to look for toys. He found buckets of Legos and took them all out......



Austin concentrates on his Lego and didn't want to go home......



P.S. It didn't seem respectful to take pictures of the worship or the setting, so mamma didn't take any!

Shanghai Visit (The Final Day)

It's our last morning in Shanghai. We'll be heading home this afternoon!

YeYe's friend insisted that his driver take us to the airport, so after we checked out in the morning, we've asked the driver to take us to Shangahi Science and Technology Museum 上海科技館 in Puding on our way to the airport.



Instead of taking the tunnel, the driver took us on the Nanpu Bridge 南浦大橋 over Huangpu River.



We've heard that the museum is a great place to hang out the entire day, but it's closed on Monday, so we just enjoyed walking around it. Even if it's open, we didn't have the time anyway.

Austin looks at the great footage on YeYe's digital cam......



Austin runs around with daddy......



The boy ran and ran......



Everyone's tired after walking, and chasing after Austin......



We've also heard that after Xiangyang Market 襄陽市場 (the "knock off" market) got shut down, it relocated to the underground of the museum. So we stopped by, but stayed no more than 5 minutes because we were being followed everywhere by vendors, bugging us to buy stuff. We're told that all the "good stuff" are not displayed in the stores and are stashed away, and had to ask around in order to see them!

The "knock off" market......



The airport is about an hour drive. We spent the rest of the day either at the airport or on the plane! There isn't much shops at Pudong Airport in Shanghai. So as soon as we landed in Hong Kong, mamma went looking around and left Austin with daddy. By the time mamma got back (in less than 15 minutes), Austin already got a new Lego toy!

Austin watches daddy build his Lego......



Daddy's still building after boarding while Austin eats his seaweed......



Well, all mamma could say is that it's a very interesting and tiring trip! Traveling with a kid to a foreign place as tourists is really not fun at all! If mamma had a choice, she would rather sit home and do nothing!

Shanghai Visit (Day 4)

Day 4 is our last day in Shanghai. Tomorrow, we'll be heading back home and spending most of our time at the airport!

Our destination is to walk around People's Square 人民廣場 in the morning, then Xintiendi 新天地 in the evening for dinner!

Across from People's Square, Austin saw a really cool building and insisted on going in - Shanghai Unban Planning Exhibition Center 上海城市規劃展示館 at Y30 per person. It is the coolest place we visited in Shangahi! The center condenses the planning stages of yesterday, today and tomorrow, showing the construction of the Shanghai metropolis based on the themes of City, Humanity, Environment and Development, making reference to the experiences of other countries' planning efforts.

The cool lookin' building......




In the lobby, is an artistic model of "Shanghai's Morning", integrating the landmarks of Shanghai at various times......



The second floor displays the rich historial and cultural connotation of Shangahi's urban development, with multi-media and interactive demonstrations. Austin and daddy are standing in front of the model of Waibaidu Bridge 外白渡橋......



The third floor is the master plan, with a huge model of Shanghai to the year 2020. It is the biggest urban planning model in the world......



Austin's too short to see the entire model......



So he asked daddy to carry him up high......



The fourth floor is the high tech displays of all the special planning for the future development if Shanghai, including construction planning, the deep water port, and airport, development of Huangpu River, improvement of Suzhou River, urpan transport system, municipal infrasturcture planning, envirionmental protection, greening, real estate, and tourism etc.

Austin and daddy are looking at the airport model......



The fifth floor is a really bad cafe with really bad food. But it has a great view......



And the basement is a street scene of Shanghai in 1930......



Finally, we get to the heart of the city - People's Square 人民廣場, which is only 0.5 km from our hotel. It is a park surrounded by buildings and facilities for administration, cultural activities, transportation and commerce.

People's Grand Theater上海大劇院 is next to the Urban Planning Exhibition Center. It is another cool building, designed by an French architect......



The Shanghai Museum 上海博物館 is the centerpiece of People's Square. The Museum is a harmonious combination of square shapes and circular ones, epitomizing the Chinese traditional concept which imagines heaven as round and earth as square. The design is also in keeping with Feng Shui principles and said to resemble a large Chinese cooking pot with two handles protruding from either side......



We just walked around it, because Austin hates museums......



Austin was happy because we're finally leaving People''s Square and walking back to the hotel......



After a good rest, we're off to the famous Xintiandi 新天地, 1.2 km from our hotel. We walked along Huaihai Road 淮海路, a charming six-km stretch road with almost 400 shops and department stores offering examples of the architectural styles of different countries. When the night falls, the lights flash and shine and truly comes alive. (Photo from Flickr.com)......



Xintiandia is a re-creation born out of the sprawls of Shikumen 石庫門 housing, the architectural symbol of Shanghai in the 20th century, by retaining the antique walls, tiles and exterior of the old housing, converting the entire residential blocks into a multifunctional dining, retail and entertainment center flowing with restaurants, boutiques, cafes and bars of an western standard. Most people there are foreign tourists or expats because it's just too costly for the locals!

These photos were taken by YeYe......




We arrived in the late afternoon and most of the outdoor seatings were occupied by people drinking, chatting, and smoking away! After a brief tour around the place, which is not very big, we're ready for dinner! Trying to find a place without any smokers was a challenge, but mamma managed to find a place without any smokers, sat down, and ordered a big fat burger while daddy have his coffee. Austin had a few of mamma's fries and cranberry juice. YeYe and NaiNai had a beer and pizza!





On our way home, we passed by Liuligongfang Museum 琉璃博物館 (http://liuli.com/museum/en/intro.html). The entire facade is made of unique Chinese glass art style. It's not only a museum, but a music lounge in the evenings....... But Austin's a minor, so we headed back to the hotel......



This concludes our last evening in Shanghai...... relaxed and enjoyable!