Kuih Bakul

Hello there! Just woken up from a Rip van Winkle sleep since my last post.

School has been underway for about 3 weeks now. We're still adjusting to schedules and adjusting the schedules to suit us.

This term's targets

1. For Sarah to learn to be more on task and do everything without a)daydreaming, b)fidgeting or c)being distracted by things around her.

2. For Ben to be able to fully come on board.

3. For Gabriel to learn to occupy himself without too much interruption to us

4. For me to manage all my household chores, and sleep earlier at night.

Today, I attempted to fry up some kueh bakul. That's a sticky glutinous rice 'cake' that is the tradition of the Lunar New Year. Legend has it that some monster (or god??) is released during the month before the Lunar New Year, and it prowls the kitchens looking for food and gossip to report to the 'gods'. So people make this sticky cake to glue up the kitchen monster's mouth so that it cannot report all the bad things to the gods in 'heaven'.

Well, I called Mum this morning to ask her how to do the kueh bakul (also known as 'nian gao') with yam slices. She said to sandwich the yam between slices of kueh bakul, dip in batter and fry. It didn't sound right to me. Shouldn't one sandwich the kueh between the yam instead? That would make it less sweet!! Anyhow, I tried it her way. It turned out quite nice, except that the yam was not sufficiently cooked inside. But just now, I looked it up online, and actually, I was right all along. The yam should be on the outside... it would cook better. And also the melted kueh bakul would not stick onto my wok like it did just now. So, conclusion : sandwich kueh bakul between slices of yam.

OK. Time to start school now.

A great article with a challenge for homeschooling parents

A very good article leading to some major self-examination. I think I am guilty of pride and arrogance in my homeschooling. I need to learn to be more humble to others' suggestions and criticisms. On the other hand, I am also pressurized by a controlling partner and one who is prone to measure our parenting success by the success of our children.

A must read...

http://www.familyministries.com/HS_Crisis.htm

Dear Father, please help me love my children as they are, and not for what they can do FOR me. Please help me be more supportive to my children in whatever they do, as well as develop a strong relationship with them. Help me to remember that You have loved me unconditionally, and you have not depended on my 'performance' to bring You glory. May I reflect Your love in my relationship with my children as well. In Jesus' precious name, AMEN.

A medal

On a happier note, Sarah did well at the Singapore Gymnastics Nationals 2011 held on Sept 11. She passed her grading for Level 1, was placed 8th in a field of 15, and won a silver on the uneven bars. A nice surprise for all of us.

Next week, we have a one week term break for gym. So we'll take a homeschool break as well so we can do things that take all day :).

Oh, and we have not been late for gym for the past 4 weeks. Hurray! The kids have gotten into the groove of things. We have not been late for Chinese class either. Thank God that we've become more motivated to do things on time.

Personal Struggle

My boys are so ill-disciplined, and I blame myself for being too lax. I also see myself as being very conceited, and not considering others before myself. Why? I believe I've been too influenced by my own thoughts and distractions. Perhaps a bit of a proud, complaining person has rubbed off on me too, such that I also think that the world must revolve around me.

Well, I've sought the Lord's forgiveness for this, and I'm now working on these sins, by God's grace.

The boys kept running onto the gym mat at the end of Sarah's gym session, until the coach had to tell them off. They did not obey me. They got a caning from me. I forgot to apologize to the coach. Must remember this next time. Thank others for helping me with my kids. Apologize on their behalf, and get them to apologize too. Then, they noisily interrupted her discussion with another parent. Over, and over again. Dealt with the kids at home. Need to apologize again next time. Hope it doesn't happen again.

I need to learn to respect other people and consider them better than myself. Lord please teach me this lesson and help me to learn well.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4

Gym again

Sarah's floor routine is finally coming together. Although she hopes for a medal, realistically, she is still not up to the standard for one. Perhaps in bars, if she doesn't foul that up, there might be some hope. Sunday's the competition, not ideal, and I wish it were not on Sunday. She's got balance issues on the beam, I have no way of helping her practise this, and her arms and legs are like a hula dancer's.

I've been so tired lately. But homeschooling has still been going on. Just barely. I need sleep without the children bothering me half the time.

I want to spend more time reading books, but again, my eyes can't stay open and my mind goes to sleep anyway. I practically fell asleep teaching Phonics to Ben the other day.

Dear Lord, please give me strength and energy for all that I need to accomplish today.

An article to write

*sigh*... I'm supposed to produce an article for this Music magazine. It is due end of this month. So far, I've only drafted out some points that I'd like to cover. How am I going to churn out the whole piece? It is an opinion piece on Music education for children from a homemaker's perspective. How how how? Help!!!! No time! No ideas! I think I need to stop the homeschool train for a few days just to be able to write.

At times, I think that this homeschooling thing is not going too well. We're always running late, the kids are not attentive, they don't come when called, they dilly-dally over starting school. I also have to clean the house, cook the meals as well as wait around for them to follow instructions. Then there's the problem of the kids messing up the floor as soon as I have finished cleaning it. Also the foolish one who disobeys and plays with a toy at meal time, and subsequently knocks over his whole plate of rice (right after I have cleaned the floor). Is this 'redeeming the time?' Then there is the one who decides to throw a tantrum over the shirt I have put on him to go out. Just as we are trying to get out of the house, he vomits his meal. We were going to be nice and early for the gymnastics class, but now that I have to clean up the puke, we'll be late. Late, late, late. How can we be early for once?

Dear Father,

I'm sorry that I have not redeemed the time. I'm sorry that I am also guilty of wasting time, and leaving things to the last minute. Please forgive me. Forgive the kids too, of not realizing that time does not wait for them. Help them to control their impulses and to be able to be more forward-looking. Help us to get to our next appointment with time to spare. In Jesus' name, Amen.

A Blessing in Disguise

We've been on a brand new schedule (again) for the past 2 weeks.

Just over 2 weeks ago, Sarah's gym coach informed us that she should be transferred to the Intermediate class for training. She had been training 8 hours a week with a China coach in an ultra-competitive group (Development), and making little progress. I had been frustrated watching her, and I think she was also frustrated with the endless drills and the tiring conditioning.

However, when we were told that she should go to the Intermediate class, training 4 hours a week, I was rather disappointed. My baby was not cut out to be a gymnast. I felt like withdrawing her altogether. Why was Sarah not making progress? Why was her work attitude so poor? Why couldn't she do the things that her classmates did?

So I prayed and spent time thinking it over, as well as comforting her (she was upset at the change and at the prospect of leaving her friends), and I read in Paul Tripp's Instructing a Child's Heart, that we must never make an idol of our children's talents, or even idolize ours or their dreams. It seemed that I had been doing this. So I was comforted by God's word, and then spent the weekend re-organising the homeschool schedule to fit in the new classes.

Hence, now, on Mondays and Thursdays, we're off by 8.30am for her 9 am class. 4 hours a week is half of what she used to spend on gym. But I still have to bring Ben for his 1 hour class where it used to coincide with Sarah's class. But after 2 sessions in this new class, Sarah is loving it all over again. And guess what, on her third class yesterday, she learnt new skills!!!!! Coach Nicole is from Perth, Australia. She's much more hands-on, and tells the girls what they can do to improve their form. It's not just drill, drill, drill, do a skill over and over again until your arms and legs can't carry you anymore. Sarah's progressing much more happily here. I'm happy. The stress of competition is not there. She gets proper coaching in a quieter environment (who does gymnastics at 9am in the morning but the Pri 1 and Pri 2 girls in the afternoon session?), and Thursday's class started with 2 of them last week, but will have an additional girl from this week.

Thank God that He knows best. Sometimes we think we know what we want for the kids. We're disappointed when it doesn't turn out the way we'd hoped. But the LORD will always take care of us and give us what is best. PRAISE THE LORD!!!