February 28, 2014

Top 10 Highlights of February

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Thoughts Monday Listicles, Monthly Roundup

The reflection of a castle tower at Tokyo Disneyland

February was a really fast month for me. It was over in a blink of an eye. It seem like a reflection in the water, here for the moment and gone the next.

1) In February I managed to clear the backlog on my December holiday post on Japan and the kids and I had many fun moments together.

Tiger girl and me on a ride

2) We went on many different rides at Tokyo DisneySea and the best place there for Tiger girl was at the Mermaid Lagoon which had her favorite character~ Princess Ariel.

Duck swimming

3 ) I shared with everyone how I have been doing practicing my photo taking skills with the photos of Ducks which I took at Tokyo Disneyland.

Monkey Boy’s Gold Medal

4) This year was the first year that Monkey boy took part in the events on Sports day at his school. He was selected to represent his house in the 6 x 80M relay and his team came in 1st out of all the 5 teams who were running in the relay. It was certainly a proud moment for him when he stood on the podium to receive his medal.

A pink bloom

5) It was a month long expression of Love for me. I wrote on how Tiger girl is loved to bits and how I enjoyed my Valentines this year.

Tiger girl smiling

6) 10 ways I love my kids is another post on the theme of Love which I wrote in Feb. There are many different ways to express your love and it is not only limited to physical items.

Monkey boy and Tiger girl having fun

7) Spending time with the kids is what I manage to do and I shared on how I encourage my reluctant kid to read. Since embarking on the new reading routine with Doggie boy he now actively looks to read with me every night before bedtime. One of the books that we have read together was Dragonbreath

The Arabian Coast at Tokyo Disneysea

8) Going on a vacation need not be a stressful affair. It is possible to have a fuss free vacation by leaving the planning to the kids.

Tiger girl posing for the camera

9) Tiger girl is one of my favourite subject for photography. I took many snapshots of her over the weekend when we visited Gardens at the Bay.

If you are into child photography like me you should check out the books which I reviewed this month- Your Child in Pictures and Design Aglow posing for Family Portraits

10) I completed my 1st series here on the blog- Learning with Dominique (English Composition) where I shared with my readers tips on how I teach English Composition to the boys. It is not as difficult as it seems when you understand the rubrics of testing in this component.

How was your February?

February 27, 2014

Writer’s Workshop: Only a Dream

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Thoughts alpha thursday, dreams, mama kat's writers workshop

A Traditional Japanese Room with Tatami Mat

Sleeping is something that we do every night. It is the time of the day where we drift off to a foreign land while our body recharges itself.

It is when dreams may occur depending on the state of sleep you are in. Some say dreams are part of your subconscious. They may be based on snippets of your past life or some things that you are currently struggling with. No one really knows.

I remember when I was studying in Australia I had one of the most terrifying dream to date. It doesn’t scare me that much now thinking back but then as a 16yr old it really did scare the daylights out of me.

At that time I was staying in a hostel near Bondi Beach, Sydney and had my own room with a bunk bed. It was a simple room with a single cupboard, writing table and bed. The writing table was in the center of the room next to a window.

Floating baby exhibit at Gardens at the Bay

I remember that night I left the window half open as it was rather stuffy. ( We didn’t have fans as it is not the norm in Australia) I though I had woken up but in fact I was actually still dreaming.

Everything looked so real but it wasn’t. I tried switching on the light but just couldn’t do it. I tried to open the door but it didn’t budge.

It felt like an out of body experience like how they feature ghosts on TV. I was fully aware of my surroundings but not able to interact with it .

It felt weird.. really weird. Was I awake or not? Was I still alive?

I suddenly felt that I was floating towards the opened window as if it was going to float out of the room through the window.

The feeling sent me into a panic and I kept on repeating to myself that I had to wake up NOW or I may never wake up.

I couldn’t sleep the rest of the night and went over to stay at a friend’s house as I was too frightened to stay alone in the room. It took a while for me to regain my nerves.

From that day onwards I always made sure that the windows were closed before sleeping for peace of mind.

Do you have weird dreams too?

How do you cope with them?