Nurturing Family values

In my family, we tend to harp on and instil the importance of these values in our kids.

– Give and Take, Sharing
– Teamwork
– Siblings take care and love each other

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When kids play together, we like to think that they treasure each other’s company and will learn to accommodate each other’s characters, even if one is impatient and the other hate to lose.

Now, that is the IDEAL scenario, which every parent dreams about.

But more often than not, it’s not unheard of for us to deal with squabbling among the siblings.

“Not fair!”

“You cheated!”

“My turn!”

It’s just normal for kids to want more play time for themselves, especially when it comes to toys, electronic devices and games. Some, especially the younger ones, tend to act a little more dramatic to garner more attention from us parents.

But sometimes, the squabbling during play can be too much and that’s when I step in to warn them, “No sharing, no playing”. I will also take the chance to instil the family values previously mentioned.

** Give and Take, Sharing **

We took the opportunity to teach the kids how to work together through playtime with our set of LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS’ The Fortrex. I took the lead, establishing who to work on what. It took the combine effort of the three younger kids and 5 days to complete the elaborate castle (though fun, 1140 pieces with a 200-page instruction manual is no walk in the park).

Playtime with a LEGO set is a good way for the older kids to guide the smaller ones, as the smaller kids could be impatient, skipping a few steps or plugging in the wrong part. The role of troubleshooting and explaining what went wrong fall to the older siblings, which helps to give them confidence in their own abilities.

For us, we believe that it is better for our children to learn “Conflict management and how to achieve a win-win scenario” without the parents stepping in.

Over time, they will learn to negotiate with each other and settle their disputes together.
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** Teamwork **

In life, it’s inevitable to face obstacles and issues. The kids got a glimpse of that when they faced some difficulties building LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS’ The Fortrex. At one point, the tracks were not straightforward to mount, and I needed to step in to help get a few parts right. Bit of Daddy-children bonding time later, everyone was smiling when our Fortrex could finally roll around!

It’s heartwarming to see the kids celebrate little milestones like a completed “ride” or a “soldier” that’s part of the Fortrex castle. Their active imagination lets them imagine themselves as part of this small world they just built, and they played “good guy bad guy” with each other, chasing one another down.

The LEGO modules are so detailed that even the projectiles can be dispatched. The kids took turn to challenge whose projectiles can fly the furthest.
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With the LEGO set, the kids realised that with teamwork, and by breaking down a huge LEGO project into smaller segments, we can overcome a lot of obstacles, and have a lot of fun at the same time.

Both me and the Mrs are very impressed and pleasantly surprised with their determination and patience.

** Siblings take care and love each other **

Siblings must take care and support each other. Parents will not be there for them forever.
I do not believe sibling bonding will come naturally, we need to nurture the kids from young.

We create the environment and opportunity for kids to improve sibling bonding.
Kids are send on errands like grocery runs nearby. They learn to play together. They need to order, make payments and look out for traffic. We pair older sibling with younger one so they learn to trust each other.

Sometimes, Daddy will ask kids to take MRT together and meet in the city area.
Older siblings need to ensure no one is left behind, and alight at the correct station.

Through their growing up journey, we hope kids will learn to be independent.
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After the castle was ready, I told the kids to imagine themselves as the knights, protecting the castle (home) from the scurriers. Siblings must be there for each other and protect our family.

As long as the “knights” stay together, and upgrade their shields, the family (Castle) will only become stronger.

Just like their LEGO building experience, kids will encounter some obstacles and milestones in life, but they can always trust their siblings’ support and family’s backing.

Brick by brick, we are laying the foundation for our Fortrex (our home too).
I am proud of the kids’ achievement.

Olive backed sunbirds so cute!

A pair of Olive backed sunbirds has decided to build their nest right outside our corridor!
讲鸟话 has double meaning in our household (literally bird-talk, I cannot use TCSS as a bit crude for kids haha).

The past few weeks have been an amazing journey as we watch our tenants build and nurture their family.
Olive back sunbird nest

(Above photo taken 2 days ago)
We suspect the chicks are only 4 or 5 days old, we had heard some soft chirps from the nest.
Wow, not one but two chicks!
The weaker one is always in the shadow. The alpha will always pop out when it sensed food is around.

They grow fast, are always hungry (and getting noisier haha), and we heard the chicks will fly off in 3 to 4 weeks time.

(Two weeks earlier)
Mummy Bird was patiently incubating day in day out, she only flew off occasionally to feed. She was so tactical we only realised her “camping” after two days.
Olive back sunbird chicks

We were so impressed that we gave our tenants a hashtag #skb小鸟 (skb = SengKangBabies). Follow us on our Instagram for the latest bird story.
Olive backed sunbird

(Roughly 4 weeks ago)
We woke up to find the nest on the floor! We felt so sorry for the hardworking birds, I quickly improvised and tie the nest back to a sturdier stem. We waited and waited, the couple came back to inspect and certify the nest after 3 days.

(Research told us that it is common for Olive backed sunbirds to leave their nest alone up to 7 days after completion)

Problem was our nest dropped and was never really completed, it is smaller than usual. Feels like a 5-room to 3-room downsize, and we are worried the chicks will have lesser space to manoeuver.

Hardworking Mum multitasking, from building nest to incubating to feeding and now bodyguard.
Olive back sunbird photos

We suspect they are borrowing twigs, barks and souvenirs from neighbours pots and plants haha 🙂
Is that tissue paper for the inner lining? Quite elaborate and intrinsic, a masterpiece of a nest.

(Video taken 5 weeks ago)
Please watch the amazing nest builder in action, (Video Link) : Busy Olive Backed Sunbird parent building nest

(03 March 2016)
And this was how it all started, we first spotted this handsome bird outside our corridor. It got accustomed to us and started weaving. We found it unbelievable for a bird to settle so close to us, what a good learning opportunity and experience for kids.

Did some image research and realised this is the Olive Backed sunbird, the one with blue chest is male. This species of birds are very common in South East Asia. (Female only yellow)
bird corridor

Our little bird story continues, and we hope generations of Olive Backed sunbirds will recycle our humble nest.
Interested in birds, checkout BESG blog 🙂

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* Updated 2016 Apr 15 (Video link)

0.20 – house keeping yucks!
0.40 – Fledging, stretch
1.01 – hummingbird-like hovering!

*Update 2017 Mar Season 2 link **