Great Sites For Kids

Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer has compiled a LONG list of great sites for kids. It’s not just a list that goes on and on and on, she has actually categorized them. A great first stop to find wonderful online stuff to entertain our pride and joy(s)! Click on the icon below to get there. I’ll be putting it up on my sidebar too.

So far I’ve checked out KneeBouncers and StoryPlace. KneeBouncers’ great for my two year old girl and both my kids liked StoryPlace.

Coincidentally the list includes Storyline Online which I discovered via Pilgrim Parent and was just getting round to introducing it. It’s a delightfully wonderful site featuring stories read by actors/actresses. My kids may be too young to fully appreciate it but I personally was captivated by some of the stories. A definite MUST see!

Okay, I shall not hold you back any longer. Go knock yourself out and click away! 

Online Books Exchange

I don’t know why it took me so long but I just discovered BookMooch (thanks to The Sojourner). BookMooch is (in their own words):

A community for exchanging used books. BookMooch lets you give away books you no longer need in exchange for books you really want.

They are an international community with over 200 Singapore members! 

I’m so excited over this new discovery! I’ve lots of books I no longer need and after eons of not touching them, I’m convinced I’ll no longer re-read them. Yah, I finally came to my senses. The incredible amount of stuff we’ve accumulated since having kids is edging me to simplify, simplify, SIMPLIFY!

And what better way than to exchange used books I no longer need for ones I really want to read. This way I get to read more books in an “un-accumulative” way.

It’s such a cool way to recycle used books!

P/S: If you’ve other stuff besides books that you want to give away (instead of dumping), check out the Singapore Freecycle Network.

More Speech Development Links

I had a little trouble falling asleep two nights ago. This time it was not due to the usual suspect… anxiety. This time it was because I was excited! I was surfing the net just before bed and like a kid stumbling into a free flow candy store, I discovered some wonderful speech development websites! Check them out.

General Speech Development Stuff 

• First stop, Speech Delay.com - I like this site because it’s comprehensive and very easy to understand. There’s a page on the degree of hearing loss which gave me a clearer picture of Hubby-jr’s situation (the chart helped a lot). If you’re interested to know, Hubby-jr has about 40-50dB HL only in the low frequencies and only in his right ear.
• Speech-Pathology.org - Okay the only reason I’m listing this site here is because I like their one particular page which charts normal speech sound development in kids. It’s a useful gauge.
• Speech Language Pathology Websites - A very comprehensive list of sites. This is where I found (in the Children category) the other sites l’ve mentioned here but if you need other related information, this is a good place to start.

Websites with Ideas/Activites to Encourage Speech Development

• Speech Therapy Activities (Speechtx.com) – I LOVE this site. It’s just filled with free ideas.
• Communication Connects (Parents Page) - They have a list of home activity ideas.

That’s it for now. I hope you find them useful.

By the way I struggled through the next day due to my lack of sleep. Hmm… I think I better stop surfing the internet too near bedtime lest I stumble on something that’s gonna overstimulate my mind!

“Yes honey, I’m coming to bed soon… as soon as I’m done at the computer…”

Respect Your Husband = Not Nagging

A while ago I wrote Submit = Respecting Your Husband and that post was quite popular. I suspect I’m not the only one struggling with “submission” issues. Well if you are one of “me” I want to share with you a must read article I chanced upon today, I’m Not a Nag … Am I?

“I have a need, and it’s not being met when and how I want it to be.” For a long time, I couldn’t figure out why my husband didn’t understand this. I thought of nagging as “reminders” or “motivation.” But when I asked David for his explanation, he agreed with the more descriptive definition in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary: “To find fault incessantly.” Ouch!

Sounds familiar? That’s an excerpt from the article. Sabrina, the author, also shares four ways to be nag free! She quotes,

“Scripture tells us that wives are to respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:33), and nagging shows a lack of respect.”

I don’t know about you but those words hit me and I’ve some pondering to do. My nagging seems to have increased proportionately to the number of years hubby and I’ve been married (almost 6) and the number of kids we have (we only have 2!). Me think it’s time to reverse it a little… OKAY maybe more than a little…

Sigh… anyway… don’t miss the other great reads on the topic of marriage from the same site:

God, Why Don’t You Fix My Husband?

What Every Husband Needs To Know

P/S: I found these articles by way of Raising Five where she quoted from the “What Every Husband Needs To Know” article.

P/P/S: Have a blessed Sunday!

WFMW – Quick & Easy Salmon/Cod Recipe

What kind of mommy are you? I’m the always-in-chaos type. So when it comes to cooking the more fuss free the better! I try my best to avoid the complicated ones with a thousand and one steps. Anything more than 2 steps is too much for me!

That’s why I love my mother in law’s recipe which I’m sharing with you today. A chinese twist to seasoning salmon or cod fish. It’s really easy and tasty.

Marinate a piece of salmon or cod fish (of about 300 grams) with the following:

• Oyster Sauce (1 to 2 tbsp)
• Sesame Oil (1 tsp)
• Ground Black Pepper (generously)

Then grill or bake the fish in the oven or oven toaster. You can also choose to pan fry it as it is or coat it with corn flour before you do so. I usually bake it in the oven toaster for about 10 minutes.

There you have it, your main or meat dish for the day!

For more of this week’s Works For Me Wednesdays tips click here.

More Links…

Just two more…

Let’s get Wokking! features many home cook food recipes. This incredible mommy really loves to cook and she whips up these creative stuff for her kids. Great site for recipes with yummy looking photos of the end product.

BetterChinese – this is an educational site that helps kids learn Chinese. Great thing about the site is that the instructions are in English! Downside is that it’s free only for 30 days after you sign up. After that it’s ka ching! Thanks Parenting Times for finding this site.

Hope you find them useful. Have a great weekend!

More Mommy Blogs I Like

A month ago I wrote about three Mommy Blogs I Like. Since then I’ve discovered two more – Raising Five and Fruit in Season.

I’m loving both these blogs. They are wonderfully lovely women. No I don’t know them personally but I can tell from their posts which are insightful and meaningful. They have such a gift in writing and I’ve been very blessed by them.

So head on over there and enjoy and be blessed!

WFMW – A Remedy for Hives

I’m submitting this post as my very first Works For Me Wednesday (WFMW) a “blog carnival” hosted at Rocks In My Dryer. Basically, the idea is that on Wednesdays I’ll post a little tip I’ve learnt - anything at all that has “worked for me”. I’m not sure if I can sustain beyond this entry but I thought this remedy is worth sharing.

Hubby-jr suddenly developed hives (urticaria) when he turned 18 months. At first we thought he was having a very bad reaction to mosquito bites but as it persisted we discovered that it was hives.

Antihistamines made the hives disappear but when we stopped administering the medication, the bumps would appear all over again after a day or two. Guessing that it must be an allergic reaction I went into a wild hunt for any possible cause. After weeks of elimination, I kinda hit a dead end. I could only conclude that it was most probably something environmental as it seemed to flare when he played outdoors. And it seemed to emerge at exposed areas such as his arms and legs.

Well having decided that I couldn’t possibly confine him indoors, I made him wear long pants all day long. That wasn’t easy as it’s really hot living in Singapore. But Hubby-jr never complained.

Four months of feeding him antihistimines on and off and witnessing the hives flare up now and then, wore me down emotionally. Sometimes my son would wake up with very large swellings on his forehead and it broke my heart. You bet I prayed very hard.

Then one day, an acquitance called me just to ask me something and we ended up chatting. Lo and behold her daughter too suffered from hives for months and was cured by a remedy someone shared with her. Yes, of course she told me what it was… not only that she gave me some a day later. Her remedy was - Korean Ginseng (Panax Ginseng) slices!

As Hubby-jr was only 18 months then, I soaked one small slice of Korean Ginseng (reddish brown in colour) in about 50ml of hot water covered for approx 30 mins. The essence of the ginseng would have transferred to the hot water by then. After removing the slice of ginseng I mixed the ginseng water with Ribena to make it more drinkable and fed it to Hubby-jr. Two days later, I gave him another dose. After 6 doses (with breaks of 2 days in between each dose) of the Korean Ginseng drink Hubby-jr was cured of hives! Seriously! It was AMAZING! A miracle! And I believe God led it to me.

I’m not sure how accessible Korean Ginseng is in other parts of the world and in what form they are sold. Over here in Singapore I can buy them in slices at Chinese Medicine Shops. They look like this.

  (Click on pic for bigger view)

Amazing Photography!

I found this website featuring the most amazing photos of plants, flowers and insects! You MUST go to LordV Macros and enjoy God’s creation through this photographer’s lens. Truly, truly beautiful.

How To Teach A Child To Hold A Pencil

I found this wonderful tip at Rocks In My Dryer, a very popular mommy blog. It’s easy, just involves a piece of tissue paper and a pencil. Click here for the details and photos to show you how.

I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll motivate Hubby-jr to do more pencil work. Just met his nursery teacher yesterday and it’s one of the things he has to work on. He really is quite adverse to table work.

I remember how he just scribbled a few lines on a picture of an apple with a red pencil when he was supposed to colour it on his first day at playgroup (I was with him as it was the first day). He scribbled hurriedly just to get the “job” over with so that he could go back to playing. Hubby-jr was the first to hand in his “masterpiece” while the other kids were making an effort to colour properly!

But as I mentioned in my post just before this, the teacher was really patient and intent on helping him learn. Throughout the year, I saw many ”interesting” art, she was more successful at times but others not so. Nonetheless she managed to make him sit and do all the table activities that the others did. She was great!

So this year at nursery, while he’s weak in his writing skills, I’m very amazed that he participated willingly in all the other handicraft stuff like pasting, painting, making collages, etc. I’ve no doubt a large part of it is thanks to the wonderful teacher he had at playgroup.