Ball Ball Rash

Yesterday the school called(3pm plus), said kieran got rashes all over his body, ask if someone could come and bring him back home.(i tempted to ask:" is he turning green green?" just saw the trailer of Edward Norton's Incredible Hulk, ROCKS MAN!) Then we realised we had not teach our helper, Modesta, what to do when the kids fall sick in school. Thank God for Mel's mother, she was able to help. I found out later that, even with my MIL, kieran refused to go back home. He only wants daddy and mummy. Teacher called Mel, Mel talked to kieran,(no used one, cannot talk to a 2 and half years old kid lah) finally with Kayzia's help, who was willing to scarifice her playing time in school, they got Kieran back home.

When I came back home(6pm), I expected to see a cranky boy, crying in pain with rashes all over. Nope, he was happily jumping and dancing with Barney's music! When he saw me, he went, "see, see, ball-ball, ball-ball, so many ball-ball " like he had a new toy! I brought him to the Simei GP, Doc Chua, who also specialised in treating skin problems. On the way, Kieran kept looking at the ball-balls and kept asking me to look at them. I asked, "you like ball-ball?" pointing at the rashes. I could see it was a very complicated and confusing question. On one hand he loves playing with ball but on the other hand, he felt the itch of the rashes growing all over his body. Finally he went, "dun like ball-ball, ball-ball go home". Even then he kept laughing at himself for having so many ball-balls on his body. Normally he is quite cam shy,(not a problem with Kayzia thou!) but in this case, he was like a proud kid showing off his new toy!

Dr chua confirmed he had Urticuria, (dun ask me is simi, i only know rash), can happened to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No cause, wont spread, just need to take med(Zyrtec oral drop) and will be fine in 24hrs. By 9pm, after dinner, med and bath, the rash is 99% gone. Thank God!



Look daddy look, ball-ball on my hand.


Ball-ball on my face.



Doc Chua gave him a sticker book. Look at how shy he is with the cam.... He didnt cry at all when Doc Chua was checking him. In fact, he was proudly showing Doc Chua where all the ball-balls were!

Andrea's birthday party and Kieran's happy pics

Last Sunday was Andrea's birthday (Chee Wan and Yoke Ling's daughter). We were invited to Jacob Ballas Children Garden. It is opp the old NIE school at Bt Timah Road


It is on the same road going into the old NIE school. On the left u can see the NIE running track. Look out on the right now.....





Please note,
1. Close on Mon, unless Mon is holiday.
2. Opens from 8am - 7pm.
3. Got car park but no ferry bus. Can take SBS bus, 48,66,151,154,170,186, SMRT 67,171. Stop after Old NIE school, 5mins walk.
4. Only children aged 12 and below will be admitted and must be accompanied by adult(s).
5. For adults not accompanied by children, please contact a staff to arrange for a viewing.
6. No pets allowed.
7. FREE.


Not much food at this cafe, so better pack own food.


Chee Wan and family















I realised many of Kieran's pics in our blog tends to be moody or gloomy.
So these are some rare happy pics of him!

Help is here! part 2 (getting a helper)

My good friend Christina asked me, "you not afraid the kids will be close to the maid?" First of all, Mel and I prefered to use the word helper than maid. My answer is, yes, they will be close to the helper, as she will become a part of our family. I am not worry about that. But the kids will never ever be closer to the helper than to the both of us. We are very clear about this issue. Personally, we think many parents leave the task of raising the kids to the helpers.

When the kids have fun in the park or playground, who is there with them? Helper. When they whine and cry, what do parents do? They half expectingly wait for the helper to bring the kids aside so that both the parents and kids can cool off. which to me, is the worst thing to do. So in good and bad times, the helper is with the kids. They go to school together, play together, they bath the kids, sayang them when the parents scold them, talk to them about anything under the sun, cook for them their fav food, make their hairdo, etc.... And the parents wondered "why my kids not close to me?" It is not the helper's fault but we have forgotten the reason we hried a helper for.

I dun think, any parents want the kids to be closer to the helper than themselves. Most got lazy, find it hard to deal with their kid's character issues, let their work and career take out more time than it should. This is especially true for fathers. They are the most adsent firgure in most family outings. You seldom see fathers bringing their kids out by himself, but you will see lots of mother doing that, or worst still, helper. I am not refering to non working mums bringing the kids out on working hours. I talking about weekdays night and the weekends. Where are the fathers?

In the last posting, part 1, I stated the 3 main reasons for us hired a helper. I am not going to compromise with my time with the kids. I will still cycle them to school and back home daily. I will bring them to the playground how ever tired I am. I will read the bible and pray with them. I will discipline them myself and never let them go crying to the arms of the helper. When they cry I want to be there to feel their pain. When they laugh, I will be the one laughing the loudest and when they sleep, I will be the one carrying them (but seriously they are getting heavy for the both of us...), protecting them from all dangers.

I know I do sound very self rightous, I am saying this so that people can hold me accountable if I fail to be a good father to my kids. We love them more than our very lives.

So will they be close to my helper? yes. Will they be closer to my helper than us? Never! They are our kids, not the helper's.



"You talking about me??????"




"I have a bad feeling about this....."