Weekend Reflections- Visit to the Library

Dominique Thoughts

The past few weeks we have been bringing the boys to the library on Saturdays. There are many families there on the weekend spending time reading books and borrowing books for their kids to read.  The boys like to visit Queenstown library as it is not as crowded and easy to get parking nearby. There is a very big children’s section on the ground floor and even a cafe in the corner where one can purchase snacks and drinks.

Today we visited the National Library at Bugis for a change. The library there  is more suitable for adults as they only have story books for children and no non-fiction books to borrow. Ryan is still interested in looking at books related to space and planets. We managed to get a picture book of planets for Ryan to borrow.

I would have liked to borrow some of the cookery books but as the holiday is drawing to a close soon I doubt that I will have enough time to try out the recipes in the book.

We did have some nice cakes and tea at TCC (Bugis). I would like to try out the Nandos chicken outlet which just opened . However the queue was really very long and it was not worth waiting in line with the boys. I guess that I have to wait a few more months till the novelty has worn off before I get to try  the Nandos chicken. I really wonder if it is just as tasty as the Nandos that we use to have when we were studying in Melbourne.

How was your weekend?

Setting a Chore List for Kids

Dominique Thoughts

Ryan will be entering primary school  soon and I have been  thinking of how to revamp and set him a more age appropriate chore list. Now that he is older he is capable of helping out more at home. I strongly feel that kids should be taught from young to help out with the household chores. This is to ensure that everyone is given their fair share of age -appropriate household chores so no one is being overstretched in the family.

Many household I know have domestic helpers to do the household chores. I feel that the children are not given the opportunity to learn if this occurs as many of them may start to develop an attitude that it is “expect” that others will pick up after them and they do not need to be responsible for their own actions within the house.  These little people will get too dependent on others and will be denied an opportunity to build up their own independence in the process.

I certainly do not wish to bring up spoilt brats who wouldn’t even lift their own fingers to pour themselves a glass or water or help to put away their own laundry. Therefore getting a domestic helper for our family is not an option which we will be considering.

Here is a list of chores which I have drawn up for Ryan.

Ryan has been doing most of these since he was 3 or 4 years old and I intend to step up the pace with him come July.

I’ve decided not to peg completing his daily chores to his weekly allowance but give additional cash to him if he does carry out the extra chores listed in the chart above. This will act as an added incentive for him if he does do any listed on the “extras”.

Do you have a Chore list for your children at home?