Tackle it Tuesday – Shopping for Baby

Dominique Thoughts

The past few weeks I have been busy shopping for baby R3.  Currently we are having the Great Singapore Sale and I am looking around for good bargains. Unfortunately there aren’t  many baby items on sale and most are going for only 10%-20% cheaper.

I finally got most of the essentials for the baby purchased.

I had been looking around at BPA free milkbottles and reading through the reviews on the different brands.

They are quite expensive as they can cost like $9.00 per bottle. I had been scouting around and double checking with the lists of BPA free bottles which I have found online.

Playtex BPA free Bottles

These are the bottles which  I managed to purchase at a 10% off.  I hope the baby will take well to these milk bottles as I haven’t tried this brand with the boys before.

Babies mittens and booties- -checked!!

I managed to find  some reasonably priced mittens and booties set at the JL Expo sale. I got them at 50% off regular price which is an absolute steal.

Baby onesies and rompers – Checked!

I bought the clothes from NB to 12mths old during our overseas trip to Hong Kong last year.  R also bought some items during one of his business trips earlier this year. We do have some baby clothes that we set aside from Roy which we intend to re-use  for the baby.

Diapers- Checked!!

I managed to purchase these Nepia diapers at a discount during the recent Motherhood Expo.  They are normally $17/pack but we got them at $14/pack.

Now what is left is to set up the crib just before the baby arrives.

Bringing up Junior Properly

Dominique Thoughts

Today I am participating in Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. It has been quite some time since I last joined one of her writer’s workshop. Now that we are having school holidays I have slightly more time to do more posting here at Dominique’s Desk.

I’m writing based on the #3 prompt-

What current event do you feel strongly about? Write an opinion post!

Ryan playing with his trainset

The past month has been a rather reflective month for me. I have been reading a lot of articles of youths misbehaving, indulging in undesirable behaviour and getting into trouble with the law. A lot of these problem youths come from broken families or unsupervised families.

As with the rigours of having both parents working to support the family. Many households are heavily reliant on domestic helpers or grandparents to take care of the young kids. Most of the time these kids end up as spoilt brats or society misfits as they are not properly guided and groomed during their childhood.

I shudder when I think of the possibility of my own kids falling into this category. Parents too busy working to earn money to actually spend quality and quantity time with their own kids. Most of the students in my form class has mothers who are  busy working mom. They are sent  to aftercare, grandparents house or leave their kids to the maid when they are at work. They rarely get to see their parents.

Some of my students complain that they do not see their parents during the week even as they come back very late and way past their bedtime.  As a result they are unable to get forms signed and returned promptly. This has been rather stressing for me when I have to meet datelines regarding form submission.

I have suggested to some students to paste the form with a big note  ” SIGN ME” on their parents room door or the bedroom wardrobe to get their parents attention and the form dutifully signed.  I think that this act may have worked as the next few times form submissions came around ( which is like monthly for our school) his/her form came back promptly signed.

I  really pity the child as he/she has to resort to such actions to get their tired and exhausted parents to communicate with them.

The degeneration of the family nucleus and families ties between parent and child is a real issue nowadays.  Some parents are too caught up chasing the almighty dollar or climbing the corporate ladder that they outsource their parenting responsibilities to maids/grannies/tutors & teachers.

Many of these parents also believe that money will be able to solve most of their problems. This is certainly UNTRUE!!

It is a dismay to see many parents taking the “easy way out” and as a result end up with rebellious, uncouth and hard to handle kids.

As the parent you should be the one MOST responsible for the development of the child and not the domestic helper or grandparent.

If one as a parent  do not put in effort to discipline and understand your own child don’t expect another person or the state to do your job for you.  You have to start to build your relationship with your child since birth and constantly work at maintaining if not improving your relationship with them through time.

I strongly believe both the father and the mother have to play an active role in the development of a child during their childhood. This will certainly help them grow up into independent and self-reliant individuals which can contribute to both their families and society.  Having both parents around will certainly help to bring up a well-balanced child who is able to relate both peers and other individuals.

For my kids I do intend to be there for them throughout their childhood. Work and career are secondary to me compared to their development.  It is certainly not worth it to spend my time and effort in my job and my own kids get neglected in the process. Time lost can never be replaced as they will only go through childhood once.

My children are my 1st priority and to groom them from birth is essential for me. I want to be there for them when they need me the most and be able to inculcate good moral and civic values within them as they are growing up. They deserve my time and dedication and I will not be shortchanging them.

How do you feel about parenting?