Category: Family

CNY activities

Chinese Lunar New Year is the period to catch up with relatives and friends.
When we are pinching on all the bak-kwa and CNY cookies from house to house, who need to have a proper lunch :p

Chinese families will normally start with a reunion dinner (团圆饭). Family will gather together for a meal. We got fish and duck on our table, but Kinship and Family warmth is of utmost importance, and Daddy hopes the kids will learn the significance of reunion dinners.

Yummy spread of cuisine, courtesy of 奶奶 (Nai Nai) 🙂

Day 1 CNY starts with our own families. Kids are deck in new clothes top to bottom. Even Boon Xin decides to apply same nail-polish as Mummy.

大舅 (Da Jiu)’s house will traditionally have offerings for deities. Everyone shout “HUAT AH” (meaning prosperous), Daddy show kids the WHAT HUAT kueh.

Together, we will head to visit No2 and No3 Lau(3) Gou(1). Daddy is sorry that his “Chinese relatives hierarchy” is pathetic. Hopefully, the family photos will make it easier to explain the hierarchies to our kids :p

Day 1 will normally end with Dinner at AMK. On a cold day, pepper pig-innard soup and delectable curry really warms us up. We really look forward to Lau Kim’s Ngong Hiang every year. (click for more photos from 2011)

Day 2 – Pin Pin 姑姑’s home with more tidbits 🙂

More family photos 🙂

We found our own Zodiac representatives at AMK Hub 🙂


Kids cannot resist posing with the colourful sculptures. Then they ask what is 犯太岁 (Google will discover something related to planet Jupiter)?

Family Warmth, Love and Thoughts, kept us warm during this festive period.
Angpows and candies kept kids happy 🙂

We hope you are enjoying your Chinese New Year celebrations too.
Wishing you and your Family, Health and Happiness, 新年快乐, 龙马精神 🙂

The water Snake really rings true, rain is still pouring on CNY day4.
(More photos on Daddy’s album)

What if the man becomes a Stay-At-Home-Dad?

This week, Mummy (CEO and COO of SengkangBabies) is enjoying her Tom Yam in Bangkok with Boon Yi. Daddy has been delegated to keep the house in order until Mummy comes back.

A timetable tells us how Mummy runs our family with clockwork precision and efficiency.

Daddy can handle the kids relatively well, and he thought he understands how challenging it is to be a home-maker, that is until he steps into Mummy’s heels.

Making milk, showering, diapers, fetching the kids from school. Tasks are straightforward but it is a logistics-project to ensure everyone meet the timelines.

Between, we are not talking about house keeping, laundry and cooking yet.
HENG1 ah (lucky), 奶奶 is chipping in to help 🙂

… just imagine, how does nursing mums survive and thrive with lack of sleep? Dads can reduce some of Mummies’ stress, please read our Breastfeeding post.

If any parent ever wish to test their patience, try homework with kids haha. 陪读爸爸 is a tough job for Daddy. Mummy told Daddy to spot-check the student handbooks, in case kids decide to KENG1 (malingering). Yes, our kids are experts at bargaining and twisting their way out of homework and chores.

On the other hand, Mummy’s workload doubles whenever Daddy goes on business trips or even holiday reservist. Mindef can definitely help by allowing Dads to book in later (8 or 9am will be pro-family gesture) so that we can help to bring the kids to school. When Daddy last check, Singapore still need to make more babies.

Did you hear about the recent announcement that Daddies’ competence will be measured? What is BFI (Better Fathering Index) HUH? Daddy Andy need not be Singapore’s best Daddy, he just need to be the kids’ dependable Dad. Hopefully, the feeling is mutual :p

Daddy recommends…
All Mummies out there, book a 4D3N vacation with your girlfriends, and dump the husband behind. This is one sure way for the man to improve his parenting skills, and appreciate his 老婆 (wife) more :p

Here comes the dilemma, Daddy miss the kids when he is working, but to soak in all the family chores, and face the kids for three full days, is another story 🙂
Given a choice, Daddy would prefer to retain his Ministry-of-Fun portfolio, rather then to stay home and mind the kids.

Verdict : Will Daddy support Mummy for another 4D3N trip again? YES YES YES.

Daddy is amazed how Mummy bloggers still find time and brain-juice to blog at the end of the day! Daddy would like to take this opportunity to salute all the Stay-at-home-Mummies, your sacrifices are helping to build a stronger family! KUDOs !

For the guys out there, grab your Mrs, hug her, give her a peck, say some “sweet nothings”. If you need more parenting tips and gossips’ from Daddies’ perspectives, drop by Ai Sakura’s Celebrate Fatherhood series.
BlogFather Winston has a summary of everyone who has spoken out about the BFI.

… meanwhile, Daddy is counting down to reinforcement Mummy’s return.