Tip 16: Dear Pampering Mothers…

In today’s world of instant gratification (for the precious little brats), they must know – nothing comes free. The sooner they accept this life lesson, the better.

We have adopted a reward system where, if the kid wants something, they got to work for it. Be it packing the room or improving on a subject’s grade. Reason being – whatever they have earned, and gained through their own effort, they will treasure it more. Welcome to the real world I’d say!

Mummies however, have the knack of throwing that to the winds.

It started over dinner with a wonderful friend of ours, Aunty K, and her two lovely daughters, our girl’s bestest friend. Having a ball of her time, our little one poured loads of sugar on her roti prata for dinner. Mummy agrees that it was alright. I can live with that.

Then pleasing the kids further, off they went for this sand painting activity. One piece of this craft work, no bigger than A5 size, is at S$6.50. Hey, I can have two decent plates of chicken rice meal with change to spare! An hour went by… while mummies patiently sit through the sand painting activity with their daughters – you can leave SmackDad out of this money wasting activity.

To top it all, Aunty K went to the slot machine and bought mini rows of Mentos sweet for each three girls. This is where it all started to slide.

Instead of showing appreciation, here you have this blasted whiny kid, whining throughout our entire train ride home, on why she can’t have a go at the slot machine. And there was mummy patiently hearing her out (amidst the din of her whining and tears) and trying to reason with the little brat!

When we alighted from the train, I’ve said this quietly to SmackMum and my brat ‘If she grows up to be the devil that is demanding and unreasonable, I will kill her first. Note the word I used, kill’. That shut her up.

SmackMum was appalled such harsh words were used (And I appreciate she did not protest in front of the child). Taken out of context, it seemed I am threatening to kill my precious little one. Are you mad!?! Look at what I carefully said. I will kill the devil that is demanding and unreasonable, in other words, the kid’s behaviour!

It is a no brainer to handle such tantrums from a kid – with the many creative ways I have described in my earlier post – but to go up against the kid’s mother, who defends the pesky kid whining, is another matter all together. And with SmackMum, you wouldn’t want to cross that border.

Given that ‘A man knows no fear till he met a woman’s scorn’, SmackDad take on man's equivalent, ‘Make a man angry, he kills first and then regrets later’. Stupid but true. Call it caveman mentality if you'd like.

Any how, the night ended with mummy allowing our little one two more Mentos sweets! Grrrrrrrrr. SmackMum, if our little one do grow up to be one unreasonable, demanding brat…

Rule of the Day: Never ask the kid what they want for dinner, unless they are paying for it.

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Tip 15: School Break! Where to Bring the Kid?

It’s kinda funny we feel lost when the school holiday starts – where to bring the little brat? Singapore is boring! Well this is how we felt till we discover the farm visits.

Yup, hop onto bus 975*, it’ll bring you to some ulu, or boondocks, place that you’d never know existed in our tiny place here! One advise, bring lots of water (or juice) and sandwhiches, if u like, because there is no convenient eating place. And for the ever careful ones, a hat, suntan lotion and mosquitoe repellant!

First stop was to Hay Dairies Goat Farm. The kids – the human kind – will squeal with excitement seeing those goats, especially with the kids – the baby goats. You can feed and stroke them. The kid’s fur is really soft!

For feeding the goats, a bag of S$2 grass can be bought over the counter. Better still, scrab the fallen grass from the floor, it can be quite a hand full, and still can feed them! It was frightening for my little one to feed the goats initially, by the end of the visit, she has the kid feeding off her hand!

We, however, miss the milking of the goats. It is for public viewing only from 9 to 11 a.m. Fresh goat milk is sold starting at S$2.50 per bottle. We bought the chilled chocolate flavoured milk. Even that, it has a tinge of mutton after taste. In fact, with all the stroking of the goats, the hands smell of mutton!

Next stop, walk over to the Hay Dairies neighbour to the Dragonfruit Farm. It was a first for me, to see a dragonfruit tree. Darn tree looks like one big cactus plant! Besides the dragonfruits, there are other edible fruits and vege grown, such as passion fruits, pepper plant, sweet potatoe leaves. Passion fruit grown in Singapore?!?

By 2 pm, it was so hot, the little one just wanna run into a shelter, away from the sun. The farm has a laid back canteen, looks kinda dead though. But they do have a soccer table – for free! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, mummy and daughter versus daddy, so what’s new. Eventually the girls won! Mummy claimed it’s her first time playing – beginners luck I’d say.

Then it’s taking bus 975 back to LOT ONE for lunch. This is the part where we wished we brought sandwhiches! After lunch, it's back to bus 975 to Qian Hu fish farm. Prepare to walk for 20 minutes from the bus stop and did I mention mosquitoe repellant? Yup, damn kamikazes sting you even while your arms, hands and legs are moving!

The new attraction here is the spa treatment by having the spa fishes (Garra Rufa) nibble the dead skins off your feet! It is S$10 per half hour and S$5 for kids during this school holiday. We decided to let the little one go for it. Apparently, it is one ticklish and itchy sensation.

For those who is crazy enough to want to experience the same spa treatment at home, it is sold at S$10 per small spa fish and S$20 for the bigger ones. Apparently, it bites off black heads too. How? Hold our breathe and soak our head in the pond?!?

This is one memorable day trip for the entire family. Best of all – no need to pay entrance fees! Worth the experience! Come next school hols, we might just do it again, more prepared.

* To get to bus service 975, stop at Chua Chu Kang MRT station, walk to the bus stop, opposite LOT ONE Shopping Mall.

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