WFMW - How My Son Learnt To Blow His Nose

Hubby-jr, my five year old son, inherited his daddy’s nose albeit a sensitive one. This makes him terribly prone to a runny nose. I have tried many, many times to teach him how to blow his nose and have failed almost every single time. There was a moment or two where I thought he got it but nah, the next time he needed to clear his nose he just sucked it in rather than blow it out (ooohh). Somehow he just couldn’t get it.

That was until two days ago.

His nose was acting up again and it was getting just plain gooey. “Wipe it off your face with a tissue please and throw it afterwards! Do not wipe it off with your hands!!” Get my drift?

Anyway he obeyed me and soon afterwards he developed his own tissue game. And whaddaya know??! This game taught him how to blow his nose!

First, take a piece of tissue paper.

Next stuff it into the nose, just like this.

BLOW and out comes the tissue. (Sorry we couldn’t catch a shot of the tissue hanging in mid air.)

Ta da! Easy Peasy. He now knows how to blow his nose and if he forgets I’ll just stuff tissue up his nose! For more tips and such please head over here.

P/S: No icky stuff was dislodged in this demonstration. All gooey thingies were properly cleared beforehand.

WFMW - What Doesn’t Work For Me

I haven’t done Works For Me Wednesdays (WFMW) for awhile now but seeing this week’s theme, I couldn’t resist.

The first thing that popped to my mind was… screaming!!! By that I mean screaming at my kids to stop screaming. Totally DOES NOT work. They always end up screaming even louder than before (and yet I still find myself screaming at them at times!?)

Second thing that did not work for me was the pacifier.

No, I wasn’t dead set against the whole pacifier thing to begin with. Trust me, I was the regular desperate, stressed out new mom who tried everything to stop baby from crying and helped baby fall asleep. (Of course having colicky babies made me all the more desperate!)

So hubby and I tried the pacifier right from day one when baby arrived home. Baby took to it. Suck, suck, suck. No more crying? Woo Hoo! But wait… what’s that I hear a minute later? Waaaaaaaa! What happened? The pacifier dropped out. Okay, calm down. Just pick it up and put it back to baby’s mouth. There you go. Hmmm… sweet silence again… yah, right! Just seconds later, it falls out again and baby wails and we have to plug his/her mouth again. This cycle just went on and on and on… until baby got frustrated (and frankly so were we) and just flat out rejected the pacifier.

This didn’t just happen with baby no.1 but with our baby no.2 too.

In the end, our babies pacified themselves with their own thumbs (which somehow they naturally outgrew on their own). And eventually we got our babies to fall asleep on their own by letting them cry it out. After a few naps and night sleep they got it and just went to sleep on their own without fussing.

Yes, we tried carrying the baby to sleep initially, especially in the evenings (they were colic!). But that didn’t work either. After a while, they’d cry to sleep even when we were carrying them. So I figured, “if you’re gonna cry to sleep even when I’m carrying you (yes, even rocking didn’t help), well baby, I’d just put you down and let you cry yourself to sleep!”

Of course it was terrible to hear the crying but it was well worth the pain. Putting them down for naps or night sleep became a breeze. Just a song or two and down they’d go wide awake and they’d just doze off on their own.

For other stuff that does not work (for them) click over here.

Do You Know?

It’s almost a year since I stumbled into the blogosphere and I’ve gathered some really interesting/useful tips. Here’s a few very neat “how to”s I’ve yet to share with you.

How to:

• chill a drink in two minutes
• treat burns with ketchup
• treat ear infections (natural remedy)
• revive limp vegetables - this seems to apply more for salads. I’m not sure if it’ll make a difference to stir fries.
• teach a child how to add/subtract

So far I’ve only tried putting ketchup when I scalded my hand. Yes! It worked. Pretty amazing huh?

For other tips I’ve shared on my blog click on Parenting Tips category found on the left bar.

WFMW - Sweet, Non-spicy Curry

I discovered this Japanese Curry Mix. Uh… well alright its more like my brother in law bought it and cooked it sometime ago (i.e. a few years) and we (hubby and I) liked it. After that I tried cooking it at home but Hubby-jr didn’t take to it and so I kind of shelved the recipe.Then very recently as I was cracking my head for a new quick and easy recipe for chicken I remembered this and decided to give it another go. I prepared and served Hubby-jr another dish just in case the curry turned him off. At the sametime I asked him to try the curry. Guess what? He liked it! Hurray, another super easy yummy dish my family likes.

Seriously, it’s really EASY and YUMMY. The curry is not spicy at all and is a little sweet (it claims to have a touch of apple and honey). It goes very well with steamed rice and if you feel up to it, serve it with sunny side up eggs (one per person). Hmm… yum. And if potatoes and carrots are not enough veggie for your family just toss a salad.

To cook the curry, add chicken, potatoes, onion and carrots to water in a pot and bring it to boil. Then remove from the stove and break the curry mix (they come in chocolate like bar) into pieces and plonk it into the pot. Stir until the curry mix is fully dissolved and place the pot back over the stove. Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes after it boils. That’s it. Easy right? All the instructions can be found at the back of the box, in English.

The thing I love most about this recipe is that I can even cook it using my magical Thermal Cooker. I follow the steps up to dissolving the curry mix. Then after bringing it to boil I immediately put it into the thermal cooker (instead of simmering on low heat for 20 minutes). It worked. The vegetables cooked nicely without disintegrating and the thermal kept it hot until it was time for dinner (I cooked it at 2pm and we had dinner at 7pm).

Yummy and easy to cook Japanese curry works great for my family. For other tips that work go here.

P/S: Yes, thankfully I’m feeling quite normal today despite catching chicken pox. I just have very tiny spots here and there but its crummy that I’m quarantined at home.

WFMW - Easy Chicken Stew

Hi! I’m back after a long break from Works For Me Wednesdays (WFMW).

Today I’m sharing with you a simple Chicken Stew Recipe. I got the basic ingredients off someone (sorry, I can’t remember who) and through trial and error (poor hubby had to endure the first few unsuccessful attempts) I finally figured out the right amount for each ingredient.

Well folks I’m pleased to say the taste of the stew has been consistent the last 3 times I cooked it and even hubby thinks it’s yummy. It’s really easy and I cook it almost every other week.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken thighs (cut into small pieces) - marinate with 1 tbsp oyster sauce, dash of dark soy sauce, dash of pepper for about 20 mins.
• 2 large potatoes - peel and cut into cubes
• 2-3 medium carrots - peel and cut into cubes
• 2 medium onions - peel and quartered
• 1-2 star anise
• 1/2 cinammon stick
• 1 tbs oyster sauce (in addition to 1 tbs used to marinate chicken)
• 1 tbs dark soy sauce (the thick sort)
• 2 tbs light soy sauce
• 1 tbs worchester sauce
• 1/2 - 1 tbs sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbs cornstarch

I usually cook this using the magic thermal cooker that I raved about sometime ago. What I do is put everything into the inner pot of the cooker and bring it to a boil over the stove for about five minutes. Then I remove the inner pot from the stove and plonk it into the outer magic thermal cooker. The stew’s ready 2-3 hours later!

You could cook it in a slow cooker too but I’m not sure for how long (until the potatoes and carrots are soft). Alternatively you could cook it over the stove at low heat after bringing it to boil, just add about 1/2 cup or so of water.

Easy and yummy. I hope it works for you too. For other WFMW tips head on over to Rocks In My Dryer.

P/S: I finally splurged on the Tiger Magic Thermal Cooker and its worth every single cent I paid for it!

WFMW – No More Fishy Business!

Sometime ago I threw away a whole bag of frozen dory fillets!

Just before the throwing incident, I had patiently defrosted two pieces of the big fillets, lovingly sliced them and after that coat them with eggs and breadcrumbs before deep frying them (hey, I followed a recipe closely!) I had also taken great pains to whip up a Chinese sweet sour sauce just to go with it. BUT… to my horror when I took my first bite, it tasted FISHY! Really FISHY! Being somewhat new to cooking then and it being the first time I cooked Dory fish, I simply leaped to the conclusion that all frozen Dory fish are fishy. So I threw whatever pieces of frozen Dory fillets I had left from the bag I had bought into the bin!!

Then there were other times I threw away fish I had cooked (again because of the fishiness) thinking the fish had gone bad. It’s only recently that I realized what a doofus I am was!

My dear mom (God bless her) pointed out to me that all I needed to do was to rub salt and pepper onto the (thawed) fish and let it sit for about 20 minutes before doing anything else.

I’ve been doing this ever since and let me tell you, there has been no recurrence of me throwing out any fish! I’ve successfully eradicated fishiness from all my fish dishes! It worked for me. I hope it works for you too. Just a point to note, do not skip the step of letting the fish sit for about 20 minutes. It’s critical!

(However this is not necessary if your recipe already involves coating your fish with pepper. Like my simple salmon/cod fish recipe but best to still let fish sit with seasoning for a while first.)

Now head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for more tips.

Backwards WFMW - How To Deal With Bullies?

This week is Backwards WFMW again over at Rocks In My Dryer, so instead of sharing a tip that has worked for me, I’m asking you for tips. 

I’ve taught and am teaching my children, no kicking, no pushing, no pinching, etc. and reinforce it regularly. Unfortunately they are faced with such kids now and then. If this  happens with hubby or I present, we’d warn the bullies. However we’ve come to realise that it happens sometimes when Hubby-jr’s (my four year old) in school. How should I teach him to defend himself and still remain honourable?

So far, when I’m present, I’ve been trying to teach him to be assertive. I tell him to face the “bully” and say, “don’t push me!” Or “don’t shout at me!” and leave the scene. He’s not very good at it as he’s a little delayed in social skills but I’m working on it.

How do you teach your kid to deal with bullies? How should they defend themselves when bullied? I would really appreciate any wisdom you’d like to share.

WFMW - Neat Toys Rack

I used to have about 2 big plastic trays of toys in my living room. Of course there were more toys in my then only child’s (now I’ve 2) room. But generally I kept some in the living room so he could play there too. Well as parents you probably know that toys grow. Um hmm… almost as quickly as kids do! The room filled up and soon more trays were needed in the living room. It created more mess and it was such a bother when we needed to clean the floor what with all the filled trays lying around.Then one day when I visited one of my “mommy” friends I noticed she had bought a new plastic 4 tier trolley and kept her kids’ toys neatly in her living room. It was brilliant.

So I shopped around and bought one myself. It’s really neat. It takes up less floor space. It’s easy access to the toys for the kids. Best of all, it has wheels on them - yes! It’s mobile. You can push it around when cleaning the floor without having to bend too much. It can be be pushed to anywhere you want the kids to play (mine stays in the living room as there’s not much “other” places besides the kids’ room where they can play!).

Every now and then I rotate the toys. You know, store some into the cupboards and bring out others. Keeps the children interested… well… at least it does sometimes!

For more ideas visit Works For Me Wednesdays (WFMW).

WFMW - Indoor Fun with Beans

The weather has been rather unpredictable of late, sudden showers has taken on an added dimension. They’re no longer just sudden, they’re erratic too! Sunny one second, pouring the next, sunny again and who knows? It may pour again! The eccentric weather plus living in an apartment with two young and active kids made me desperate for ideas to keep them entertained indoors.

Thankfully I remembered reading about this wonderful indoor activity at Pilgrim Parent sometime ago. I couldn’t try it out then as Little Missy was too young to handle beans (but not young enough to just lie down and stare at mobiles!). But now at 19 months…

Anyway, here’s what I did. I lined the floor with a quilt cover (any flat sheet will do. The bigger the better!) I opened a bag of raw soya beans I had and poured them into a plastic container and put it in the middle of the quilt cover. I added some toy plastic kitchenware like cups, spoons, plates, funnel and also beach stuff like buckets and spades. Then I revealed the set up to the kids! It wasn’t much beans but it was enough to keep my kids occupied for quite a while (I’m sure it’d be more fun if I add some more) and on more than one occasion! It’s a great substitute for sand or waterplay. When they were done, I removed all the plasticware, lift the quilt cover from the corners and gathered all the beans and poured them back into a container. I can always reuse them either for more beans play or to cook!

Besides just occupying their time, I also realised it’s a great platform for refining their motor skills (more for 19month old Little Missy) and for them to learn. I could use it to teach concepts such “empty”, “full” and “half full”, “shallow” and “deep”. It can also be used to reinforce “in”, “on” and “under”. Simply great as a speech therapy activity for Hubby-jr! (And at the sametime Little Missy learns too!)

I never would have thought a bag of cheap beans could be so useful! Thanks Pilgrim Parent for sharing the idea. It works marvellously for me. For more stuff that works go here.

WFMW - Frugal And Eco-Friendly Way To Cook

I can’t rave enough about this magic thermal cooker. My mom told me about it years ago but since I was single and wasn’t cooking much (okay, more like NOT cooking at all) it fell on deaf ears. Besides it was such a hefty “investment”.

Well since I became a stay at home mom, things have changed drastically (to say the least!). Cooking has increased exponentially in my life! And I just love easy, hassle free cooking. That’s how I remembered this thermal thingy that mom talked about a long time ago. I window shopped for months before I took the plunge but I am SO glad I did. I think it’s the most ingenius and wonderful cooking invention since the microwave!

Anything you can cook in a slow cooker you can cook in this magic cooker. Just put all the ingredients in the inner pot and bring it to boil over the stove. Then remove it and place the inner pot into the thermal cooker and close the lid. Hours later your dish will be cooked. Voila! Yes that’s it. The food will cook just from the heat retained in the pot. Yes, without electricity or gas! Save some money and no worries about forgetting to turn off the gas stove. Wonderful huh?

So far I’ve cooked chicken stew, bak kut teh (local pork ribs herbal thingy), braised pork and even brewed chrysanthemum ginseng tea with it. It works! (Even for western stuff, click on the picture and read the Amazon review) It.Truly.Does.Work! It’s magic!

For other magical tips click here.

P/S: I finally bought a cheaper version (as I still had doubts about it and didn’t want to end up regretting an expansive buy) but it still worked. Now I’m saving for the branded one like in the picture!