Mom.Dad.Chat

I remember that when I was a kid, we don’t really have big concerns about spreading germs around. We went to school even when we were sick with mucus running down our nose. Unless we were down with fever, we were probably told to go to school, runny nose or not. Same with coughing. You have go to school even if you are having a cough.

But now, things are much different. With the current swine flu problem, it is much worse. My son has to wear a face mask to kindy everyday, which is unheard of in my time. If he has runny nose or slight cough, he has to stay at home, not for a day or two but for an additional two days after the symptoms disappear.

This means once he fall sick, he will have to be taken off school for at least 4 days - 2 days to get rid of all the flu symptoms and another 2 days to make sure all the germs are completely gone. If you try to send your kid to kindy if he has not fully recovered or sat through the additional 2 days, you will get a call from the management to pick him up once they have checked the roster or see that the flu symptoms are still there.

I agree that it may be a necessary precaution against flu outbreaks. Maybe those viruses and what not have mutated and are more deadly nowadays. But imagine years ago, we were all confined in school without any face masks, sick or otherwise. Even if our friends were sneezing and coughing, we still played and studied together. How times have changed!

With the current economic slump, many shops are having promotions and sales to entice customers. Hard hit are electronic goods and other luxury items. People are more careful about how they spend their money and only buy things which are necessary.

Even if they want to buy other goods, they will wait for better deals. So, the other day, when there were laptop deals at an expo, a huge crowd ended up at the place as everyone wanted to get good bargains.

During better times, I think some people might just avoid the crowd and shop comfortably in well-established stores than cramming an expo looking for bargains. But then if it’s me, I would shop online since there are also great deals on the web than fighting with the crowd looking for bargains!

I was chit-chatting with a fellow mom today whose son is my son’s classmate in kindy. She is living with her in-laws and on those few occasions that I was at her home, I noticed that there is rarely any word spoken between her and her in-laws.

Being curious, I just asked her today if they get along. She said that there are no arguments but they hardly talk to each other as there is nothing much to say. Which brings me to this question and that is, how many people are actually close to their in-laws.

I think that parents will always have this feeling that their kids’ spouses are not good enough for some reason or other. It doesn’t have to be anything major to trigger dissatisfaction. All it takes is just a feeling that you can do more and treat their son or daughter better. Maybe it’s that protective feeling that one naturally has as a parent. That you want to see them happy and treated well by their spouses.

The thing is most in-laws will have both good and bad things to say about their kids’ spouses. Even my own mother-in-law has complaints about me. She doesn’t tell me directly but she will tell my husband and perhaps, her other kids. Since I don’t live with my in-laws, I can’t really say that I’m bothered about her complaints. It is nothing serious and I have realize that to preserve harmony with your in-laws, you just have to ignore their complaints. Never take them to heart and you will have a easier time dealing with them.

One other thing is my husband will come home and tell me what his mom said about me. Out of respect, he will entertain and listen to what his mom tells him and then, he will laugh over it with me later at home. I guess when I’m a mother-in-law next time, I too need to beware of this type of situation. That my own son may be laughing over my complaints about his wife when he goes home to her. I guess the lesson being if your kids are basically happy with their spouses, you are better off keeping your mouth shut!

I have been using a wireless router for the past few years and I can say that it is certainly much more convenient than having a cable plugged into your computer while you are online.

Gone are the days when you can’t move your computer when you are surfing the internet because the cable needs to be plugged in. So, basically you will be stuck with the computer at that particular spot until you get offline.

In fact, I think most laptops nowadays have the wireless LAN feature since people would prefer more portability and convenience with a laptop. Even when you are out and about, there are ways and means now to get online. Technology is getting increasingly more advanced which makes it all the more convenient to get online wherever we may be.

At what age do you start exposing your kids to extra-curricular activities and lessons, such as tae kwan do, piano, ballet and swimming? Now my son is 4, and I’m sending him for tae kwan do and swimming lessons.

Personally, I feel that 4 is a bit young to start learning some of these stuff but then again, I see a lot of kids starting even at 3! Maybe in Hong Kong, everyone starts learning at a much younger age due to the competitive nature of this place.

Anyway, I’m sending him for some of these lessons to expose him to different things and hopefully, I will be able to see what will interest him in the longer run. I don’t really expect him to be able to kick really high and well for those tae kwan do lessons that I send him to but more of an avenue for him to build his confidence and see if it may be something he might enjoy.

I’m still trying to discover his interests and I just wonder how do you decide if your kid should be pushed to learn something new. At 4, it is kind of hard to know where his aptitude and interest lie and my husband’s idea is that we should expose him to as much activities as possible over time and go from there.

When I was 4, I was still lazing around at home. But my son at 4, is already in his second year at kindy and has started learning other things along the way. In a way, it’s good to start young but on the other, are we pushing them too hard, too fast?  

I have always wondered how it feels like to own a RV and lead a RV lifestyle. It must certainly be a pretty relaxing and stress-free life to be able to travel around in a motorhome and experience the sights and sounds of all the different places.

However, owning a RV does require maintenance and a RV insurance. I imagine it would be quite costly to maintain a motorhome and when there are breakdowns and accidents, it would surely cost a bundle to repair and make it roadworthy again.

I guess if you can afford it, then it must be a great experience to travel around in a motorhome. It certainly beats staying at motels and inns each time you arrived at a new town or city.

I have installed the Being The Other Woman forum for quite a while now and I have been reading some of the posts that people have been making. It is an interesting insight into the lives of women caught in an affair with a married man.

Reading through the problems there as well as comments on my blog for certain posts, I think women do need to be rational when caught in such a situation. Frankly, I have not come across a man who left his wife and children for the other woman he is seeing. If there is such a man, it is indeed rare. The problems in the marriage must be insurmountable and the man must be truly, deeply unhappy to give it up.

If you think about it, if the man is really unhappy in his marriage, he would leave, whether there is another woman in his life or not. I would prefer a man who can make a decision and stick to it, rather than waiting for someone to come along to push him into doing what he should have done all along.

And if he is unhappy and doesn’t want to leave for whatever reason, then he has already made his choice to stay in the marriage. Therefore, pushing him to leave will get you nowhere. Even if he leaves under pressure from you, it will be a torture for him because the decision did not come from within himself. He will find it hard to put the past behind and start anew with you because he was not that willing to leave in the first place.

As an outsider looking in, I can only say that if you are the other woman and want to continue to be one, stop expecting a married man to leave his family. That way, if he leaves, consider it a bonus. If he doesn’t, there will be less disappointment and unhappiness because you are not expecting anything to materialize anyway.