Embracing Motherhood – The Type of Mother I am

Posted in Blog Train, Our Thoughts, Parenting decisions by jahbella

When Dominique of Dominque’s Desk proposed that we did a blog train on Embracing Motherhood, I immediately knew I wanted to write something but I really didn’t quite know what I was going to write about. So boarding the blog train from where Estella of Sooddlydreamlike left off….I will attempt to tell you more about myself as a mother…

I struggle a lot with motherhood. Well to be more exact, I struggle a lot with motherhood as a full-time working mother. Some of us choose to be full-time working mothers (FTWM) while others choose to be stay home mothers (SAHM) and others manage to find something in between. Is there really a right answer to this or a balance between being a mother and being in the workforce?

My kids both started going to infant care at the earliest possible age that any infant care centre would accept them (2-3 months old). I had a lot of mummy guilt over this. I admit that it gets better especially when I know my kids are enjoying school and love being around their friends. While I don’t regret putting my kids in childcare, I think they have gained a lot out of it (another conversation for another time 🙂 ) But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel horrible when my kids are the last to be picked up.

Jah’s first day at Infant care

Bella’s first day at Playgroup and learning to self-feed

Wishing me Happy Mother’s Day outside school

There are days where I just wish that I could stay home with my kids, bring them out for a weekday movie or just bring them wherever they want and just spend some quality time with them. These are the days that really get me down.

There are also days where I question my choice of being a full-time working mother and then I pinch myself. :p Because as much as all the mummy guilt kills me and as much as I want to want to spend time with my kids (especially on their good days 😉 ). I am also fully aware of the ‘type’ of mother I am.

I am the ‘type’ of mother who is not naturally good at the arts and crafts. I am the ‘type’ of mother who will find it really challenging to think of creative ways to teach English and Math to my kids. I am also the ‘type’ of mother who will occasionally need a break from my kids (which I currently get when I’m at work). I hope this doesn’t label me as a bad mother but hopefully just an honest one? 🙂

I am the ‘type’ of mother who loves to plan holidays for my family. I am the ‘type’ of mother who loves to imagine how much fun my kids will have and how much they can learn during our family travels and then try to create those moments for them. And to be honest again, my husband and I will not be able to provide those moments if we were not full-time working parents.

First time agreeing to take a photo without mummy or papa

Family pic!

Enjoying and exploring the green green grass in Perth

Learning to be brave..braver than mummy :p

So the occasional mummy guilt aside, I am this ‘type’ of mother therefore I have chosen to be a full-time working mother. There is really no perfect answer for this. Perhaps one day my approach, experience and skills may change and I will learn and become a different ‘type’ of mother. Until then I am embracing motherhood the way I know how and I think we will be just fine for now. 🙂

Bottomline is I’m the ‘type’ of mother they love and I love being their mother.

This is part of a blog train titled “Embracing Motherhood” and what our individual journey means to us. Click on the badge below to find out what motherhood means to 25 other blogger moms!

Up next is Yanxiang

By day, Yanxiang is a civil servant who has taught English in a secondary school, and am now working on policies within the larger civil service. Her work allows her to constantly consider the people around her, and society in which she live, and how to better the lives of her fellow citizens.

She recently embarked on the remarkable journey of parenting a little boy named Isaac. Read about her life as a parent and how it involves twice the laughter, twice the tears, twice the excitement, twice the challenges and an abundance of love at thelittlestandusmakesthree.wordpress.com

JahBella’s Mummy

18Mar2015

The Things I Miss about having a baby and the Things I Can’t Wait to do when they Grow Up

Posted in Our Thoughts by jahbella

You know how we all talk about how life changes once you have kids and how you will no longer be able to do all the couple stuff that you used to do. We parents also talk about how we can’t wait for our kids to grow up alittle so that we can finally ‘pick up where we left off’ and do and enjoy all the things we did pre-kids.

While I talk about those stuff and occasionally miss doing the pre-kid stuff or think and look forward to doing the pre-kid stuff once they grow up. There are also times where I think back to the baby stage and miss having a baby around.

I absolutely miss….

Babywearing my kids (I absolutely love baby wearing, in fact I might even have a baby just so I can ‘wear’ them! 😀 But…. of course I change my mind once I remember the late night feeds, the colic and the clean-ups ;p)

Photo Source: https://www.pinterest.com/glancyevans/babywearing/

Having a baby that can sleep anytime and anywhere as well as extended hours a day.
Not having to negotiate when I need to shower/ change a child

You will notice that this list is relatively short for me :p (Yes so I’m sorry Jah but I will not be having my 3rd baby anytime soon..maybe ever).

The list that is significantly longer for me, is the list of things I can’t wait to do when the kids grow up. Ironically though they are not the list of things I would like to finally do alone or enjoy with the hubby.

They are a list of things that I can’t wait to do with Jah and Bella and I can tell you that this list is ever-growing…

I really can’t wait…

To bring my theatre boy (and hopefully theatre girl) to a proper play or musical..no not kids theatre but the real thing!
To travel extensively with the kids. Plane rides where I don’t have to stay one step ahead of them and we can all just enjoy our inflight entertainment. Oh yes and itineraries need not revolve around naptimes and bedtimes. 🙂 Night markets here we come!

To be able to enjoy a spa day with my little girl. The boys are welcomed to join too if they want.
To have nice restaurant dinners with the kids. One that doesn’t require me to feed them first and then speed eat myself. We can all enjoy our steaks/ omakase at a leisurely pace.
To catch family movies (cartoons and non-cartoon ones). We are almost there…:)
For the kids to pick up golf and for us to play as a family…perfect flight!

Yes so while I’m pretty sure there are some stuff that I might want to finally do alone or enjoy with the hubby when the kids grow up..I am also pretty sure that both the hubby and I are on the same page when it comes to the things that we really absolutely can’t wait to do WITH the kids when they grow up…its going to be loads of fun!!!

What are some of the things that you miss about having a baby or can’t wait to do alone or with your kids when they grow up?

JahBella’s Mummy

14Mar2015

Amazonia Indoor Playground – Review

Posted in Reviews, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

A long time ago, back in the day when my only child was just starting to explore the wonders of indoor playgrounds and when our old bones were just being introduced to this unfamiliar concept of crawling on all fours for more than 5 seconds, I heard about Amazonia. However my research led me to believe that this particular indoor playground was not suited for my 1 year old child (yes Jah was a really early walker/ runner so we took him to indoor playgrounds really early). I read it consisted of huge structures (3 storeys high) and steep slides and well that was all it took to deter me then.

So when we were brainstorming really hard for a new place to bring the kids on a weekend without help, we thought maybe we could finally give Amazonia a shot. Jah is a lot older now and well Bella is the 2^nd kid and we know how parents get abit more relaxed and ‘complacent’ after the first :p It also helped that we found two Amazonia discount vouchers in the house (don’t remember how we got them).

To be honest, I found the place to be alittle on the pricey side but I suppose that also explains the crowd levels which made it rather pleasant. There were 3 areas for play – 1 area for pretend play/ masak masak near the entrance, a toddler area for under 3s (which I never got close to because Jah just refused to play there) and the huge 3 storey playground structure.

Actually the huge 3 storey structure was pretty forgiving on our adult bones. Given its height and higher ‘ceilings’, I found that I was on my fours a lot less and also because I refused to crawl through tunnels now. It was alittle less forgiving on my knees though, because the distance between steps were pretty wide. While I would say that the structure is probably safer for the older kids, Bella didn’t have much issues getting around as long as we were with her to ensure her safety.

My favourite part about the entire place was actually their café and the fact that they served proper food. A lot of indoor playgrounds which we have been to, would serve the usual nuggets, fries, hotdogs, snacks and the occasional pizza. However we got to order a substantial meal – a hot plate of Beef Rendang and Nasi Goreng which at least meant that we didn’t have to go home hungry after all that activity. Yes, Joel and I were working quite hard for our meal!

Kids Menu – Spaghetti

Kids Menu – Fish and Chips (I apologise for the half eaten pic – there was at least 4 slides of the fish) 🙂

While the place and some of its facilities/ toys seem alittle dated, it is generally a nice place to bring the kids if you are looking for something alittle less crowded or rowdy. Having a café with a good menu also helps and its location in a mall also makes it good for running errands or finding alternate food options. 🙂

JahBella’s Mummy

9Mar2015

JahBella’s Day Out at Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Posted in Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

The very first time we visited the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden, Jah was a mere 5 months old infant. I remember Joel and I pushing him around in his infant car seat cum stroller and taking a stroll through the ‘little park/garden’. Quite obviously we didn’t find anything suitable for a 5 month old and proceeded to forget all about that little place in the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Fast forward almost 3 years later and now with 2 kids in tow, we decided to head over to the Jacob Ballas Children’s Gardenfor one of our weekend morning outings.

The Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is free of charge and the only requirement is that kids are accompanied by adults and adults are accompanied by kids. I found that requirement quite cute. :p Oh and also no food and drinks a lot so please feed the kids before going there.

We fed Shaun the Sheep before our visit and we got a happy sheep!

The garden has a small water play area (mainly equipped with little jets and sprays on the ground), a sand pit area, lots of interesting fruits and plants growing along the pathway, a suspension bridge, a nice treehouse with 2 slides and a large sand area as well as lots of other educational areas for the other kids. We spent almost 2 hours at the gardens and most of our time was spent at the treehouse and exploring some of the little nooks and crannies of what Jah calls the deep dark woods! We even had some fun narrating and role-playing the Gruffalo story while exploring the ‘woods’.

We spotted bananas on our walk in…:)

Mummy! The bananas are green! My favourite colour!

Quick guys!!!

Huge treehouse!

The garden is supposedly targeted at 5 year olds to 12 year olds (especially the more educational activities) but my 21 month old toddler and 3 year old kiddo did just fine although you will probably want to keep a close watch on those age groups and follow them around. We also saw lots of kids their age who were happily enjoying the water play area and the other sand pit.

Think the sand there was quite tasty too…

Come meimei…korkor wait for you..

Meimei! We are going on a mission!

Whee!!! Byebye!

A mouse took a stroll in the deep dark woods, a fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good!

Be prepared for the kids to get alittle grubby with all the sand and sweat but nothing a little water and washing can’t solve.

Literally a tree house…

And yes they entered it..

There is also a little café at the entrance of the garden and that was where we headed for our quick lunch. The kids were pretty wiped out by the time we were ready to leave so we figured rather than pack them off somewhere for lunch, a quick fix at the café was just perfect.

The seating area is very family friendly and they even had little chairs and tables for the young ones. The seating area can get pretty packed at times but you will eventually be able to get a seat if you wait around alittle. We were fortunate to find empty tables as we were exiting. The café has a wider ala carte menu however I didn’t notice it and ended up ordering their set menus. The meals took about 10 minutes to be served which was perfect for famished and impatient children. A wonderful morning in all and definitely adding it to our list of places to go that won’t break the bank. 😉

Grubby, sweating…

Thirsty…hungry…

JahBella’s Mummy

8Mar2015

Penang Holiday (Oct 2014) – Adventure Zone

Posted in Holidays, penang by jahbella

Adventure Zone was initially meant to be a back-up activity in case it rained during our time in Penang. How could we let good sunny days go to waste, after all we were staying at a hotel with fantastic pool facilities and a nice beach right in front of us. However the kids got alittle bored of swimming everyday and so we had to bring in our stand-by activity.

Adventure zone is a facility with drop slides and play equipments for the whole family. There were slides available for all ages and also for those with little dare devil children (I didn’t know mine were until then). For those who are considering to go to Adventure Zone, please bring along socks, long pants and a long sleeve top , this is to help prevent ‘burns’ when coming down the slides and they are really strict on the dress code.

I know my kids look like they are on a winter holiday

It is located within the grounds of the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort and Golden Sands Resort so it is ultra convenient for families staying there. It is a 3 minute cab ride away from Hard Rock Penang. The good thing about the place is the fact that adults need not pay if they were accompanying a paying child.

Upon entering the facility, you will find lockers for you to keep your belongings and a small café area for the kids to take a break or for parents of older children to ‘hang out’. The café area has an unblocked view of all the slides so that you can keep a watch on your kids from where you are. It is also located right next to the toddler play area which is very convenient.

Toddler Play Area (Separate from the big play area and slides)

We spent alittle bit of time at the toddler play area for Jah and Bella to warm up but they really didn’t need much of that. I think all our indoor playground sessions in Singapore made them a little more adventurous. :p

We initially rode tandem with Jah and Bella on the ‘gurney sack’ slide but it wasn’t long before Jah wanted to go on his own and we were coming down the slide, side by side. The only downside of him having so much fun and wanting to go again and again, was the fact that I had to repeatedly climb up the long flight of stairs for 3 seconds of ‘thrill’.

Whee! It was quite fast!

Thank goodness there were other areas for them to explore and Jah and Bella occupied themselves with climbing up ramps and across ‘bridges’.

Miss Dare Devil Bella

We were there for almost 2 hours and in that 2 hours, Jah had silently worked up the courage to attempt one of the vertical slides. I never knew this boy was so fearless. I have to say that it was probably easier for him to attempt it since I was lowering him down the side whereas other kids and adults (like myself) had to sit on the ledge and well push ourselves off the ledge. Scary stuff!! (And it wasn’t even their scariest slide).

The scariest slide of the lot…we didn’t try it

My little fearless boy looked like a rag doll coming down the slide and he was so disoriented after landing in the ball pit that he wasn’t quite sure where to go but 30 seconds later, he wanted to go again!

I have to say that we didn’t really expect much from Adventure Zone but I guess sometimes all you need are a few slides and a dose of courage! We will be back the next time we are in Penang for sure!

JahBella’s Mummy