Parenting Tips for Working Moms

Hands On Learning

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:32:24 +0000

A couple months ago, my husband found a very good condition easel sitting on someone’s driveway on the way home, waiting to be picked up by the garbage truck in the morning. He knocked on the door and asked the person if he could take it. The person said yes. After I cleaned it, the easel looks almost new with some minor scratches. He also brought home a black plastic garbage bag which contains some art supplies. I let the bag sitting in the garage thinking I would go through that once the weather gets warmer. Last week I checked the bag and found some chalks. I brought it inside and decided to play with the easel. At first we drew some pictures, then I showed my son some letters and numbers. Being such an independent child, he insisted on writing on the easel himself. Then I held his hand and started to write letters and numbers. We started with numbers since it was easier to write. I used the method that my mom taught me as a child, which is using the shape similarities, e.g. number 1 looks like a stick, 2 looks like a duck, 3 looks like an ear, 4 looks like an upside down chair, etc. Not all numbers have shape similarities, but this method actually helps. Then we moved on with letter A, B and C. He knew a few letters from the daycare, books and flash cards, but never through the actual writing itself. Obviously his coordination is not good enough to write those letters and numbers by himself, but in the end he could write number 1. I praised him as he practiced.

my son "number one" work of art

That night I read him “Cleo’s Counting Book” for his bedtime story and he recognized number 1 to 5 instantly. He also recognized letter A, D and K. Having said that, I realized that my son learned numbers and the alphabets a lot quicker through hands on experience.

Quick and Easy Salt Pepper Tofu

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:57:00 +0000

I always try to cut corners everywhere I can when cooking as time is so precious for me. I found a way to make those Salt and Pepper Tofu in just a few minutes. It’s super easy and hubby loves it. Even though it’s not so much of restaurant quality, but it’s still delicious considering how quick and easy to make it. The key is to use a ready to eat soft fried tofu that you can find in most Asian grocery stores. The soft fried tofu tastes a lot better with this recipe because it gives extra crispiness when baked / toasted.

Ingredient:

Two Package of Soft Fried Tofu
3 Jalapeno pepper
2 tbs chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable cooking oil

1. Season soft fried tofu with salt and pepper and bake it in the oven at 350 F for 10 - 15 minutes until it’s soft and crispy.

2. Heat oil in frying pan and stir fry chopped garlic.

3. Add the tofu into the frying pan, season it again with salt and black pepper.

4. Add jalapeno pepper and stir for a few more minutes in medium heat oil.

5. Serve over steamed rice.

When Moms Get Together

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:25:09 +0000

I belong to two moms group, the Indonesian moms and the American ones. Once a month we would get together without kids and hubbies, and just hang out. Occasionally we would have a family event together. Last night I had “girls night out” with my fellow American moms. We went to Jliu restaurant during happy hour, ordered appetizers and martinis. I had a total blast. I have to tell you that I have met so many wonderful moms from both groups, and these people really keep me sane. Here’s what typically happened when a bunch of moms get together:

We complain about our hubbies. We love ‘em dearly, but talking about them is just unavoidable. It’s like eating pizza without beer, burger without fries, reality TV without drama. You get the idea. No moms’ day out complete without bashing on our hubbies. Some of the things moms typically complain about:
- How often they get to go out to either play sports or simply hang out with friends
- How little they involve in taking care of household (very typical in Asian households)
- Throwing temper tantrum when they get frustrated
Kids kids kids!!! Potty training, sleeping through the night, troubles they got in school, bad habit, transitioning from crib to a “big boy’s bed”, super-hyper kids. Boy… don’t we love ‘em?
Last but not least… Mother-in-Law. Super protective mother-in-law, those who know it all and try to teach us how to raise our children using ancient knowledge, Mrs. Santa Clause who shower our kids with excessive gifts, or the one who simply don’t want to be bothered by our kids are the typical “black listed” mother-in-laws

Although it might seem like all we do is complaining, we just want to share our experience that being a mom is the hardest yet most rewarding job ever. Sharing our frustration about the job we cannot quit to fellow moms is just a way of telling ourselves that we are not alone and we do something right in the end.

Our Birthday Cake from Fonny’s Cakes

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:10:50 +0000

As I had mentioned in my previous post, my husband and I decided to throw a birthday party for our son. For his birthday we decided to have Thomas the Train as our theme since he’s so crazy about it. His birthday was on Tuesday, so we decided to bring cupcakes to the daycare during afternoon snack time. We ordered both cupcakes and birthday cake from Fonny’s Cakes, a Columbus based company that specializes in custom order fondant birthday cakes. Her cake is so moist and tasty, not mentioning her artistic design and attention to detail. For the cupcakes we had about 13 2D cupcakes and 3 3D cupcakes with Thomas, James and Percy on the top. It was more than enough to feed two teachers, 12 kids and us. The kids loved it, the teachers were amazed, and my son kept saying that he ate Percy.

We had the birthday cake at the Rainbow Recreation Outlet on his birthday party that weekend. For the birthday cake we had, again, Thomas, James and Percy on the train track and the roundhouse right behind them. My son just loves it!

I highly recommend Fonny’s Cakes to anyone who wants to throw a one of a kind birthday party. She will work with you during the design stage to make sure she delivers what the client wants. For more information, visit her website at http://www.fonnyscakes.com/index.htm.

Tips on How to Throw an Affordable Birthday Party

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:23:09 +0000

My boy just turned 3!! Time flies like speed of light, doesn’t it? I had been planning on his birthday party since last year. My son is a Winter baby, meaning I have to have the party indoor, and having a bunch of toddlers and school-aged kids running around my house is completely out of the question. My goal was to find a venue that my son could enjoy as well as the guests, whose ages range from babies to first graders with the majority of them are toddler-aged, all within $250 budget. Seems impossible? The average birthday party venues cost around $200 just to rent the space. So if you’d like to spend $200, you have to avoid lunch or dinner time so that you don’t have to spend money on meal. The very least you can do is providing snack for the kids and cake for the kids and parents. After doing several research, I made a list of options:

1. Inflatable bouncy house at local recreation center

Renting a room at a government subsidized recreation center at your local neighborhood (e.g. Lazelle Woods recreation center in Worthington) is very affordable. Check http://recparks.columbus.gov/RecCenters/RecCenters_59.asp for a list of recreation center in your area. An average size activity room costs around $25 for two hours. In addition to the room, I was going to rent a bouncy house that costs $175 for three hours from Cool Cats Entertainment. This is a good option if the kids are about the same age. Otherwise, you will have bigger kids that are being too physical and might end up hurting the younger ones.

2. Graeters Ice Cream

Graeters is another good option to have a birthday party. The one in Bethel rd actually have a fun play area. The party options are either decorate your own Sundae or ice cream cake party. The cost is $10.95 per child for up to 14 children. Visit http://www.graeters.com/bethel_parties.aspx for more information.

The above options were being strongly considered, but I still faced the same problem. I had way too many guest list than what these venues could accommodate. Therefore, I decided to ask one of my friend, who is in my guest list and her son’s birthday is 4 days apart, to have a double birthday bash!

She agreed and suggested Rainbow Recreation Outlet as our party venue. After visiting the place, I fell in love with it. The place is huge with tons activities for the kids to play. They have several Little Tikes toys such as playhouses, diners, cars, and even two roller coasters. They also have basketball hoops, big and small ones, trampoline, slides and swing set. The place accommodates kids up to 7 years old, which is perfect for my guests. You can also rent a private after hour party, which what we ended up doing. The cost for the after hour party is $249 for two hours. My friend and I split everything except the cake. We even split the goodie bags by guests, knowing that most parents don’t really like their kids having too much candies and trinkets that are typically found in goodie bags. I provided the paper plates and cups and my friend provided sodas. Since we split the costs, we have enough budget to order pizza. I’m so happy to be able to have this double birthday bash. Not only we both save money, we also make it easier for our guests. My total costs:

party room: $125.00

cake: 65.00

favors: 18.00

plates: 6.00

pizza: 60.00

Total: $274.00

I was a little bit over budget, but we all had a fabulous time. Perfect venue, perfect time, I got to invite everybody, my friend was a wonderful partner, it couldn’t be any better. However, this double birthday party only works if you and your partner invite the same circle of friends that you both hang out with, and I’m happy that my friend and I did just that!