janet88:

when the kids arrived, most of the time is focused on them. even now, time is revolved around my younger one. that spark has disappeared and it's really hard to find a common interest.

Aiyo where got sparks. Maybe only during first 3 to 6 months of initial relationship after that I think my heartbeat is normal ever since leh. I also 怀念 those 青涩， 心跳加速 moment that only happens during initial relationship，so sweet hor 可惜太短暂了
Hmm go watch korean romanace drama maybe can relive a little

It is common to focus on kids when they are very young but this focus would naturally be diminishing as they grow older. I spend more time with dh than kids on a daily basis. Kids are too busy to spend time with me.

starlight1968sg:

Somehow am having challenges in this area.


There are no 3rd party, just have nothing much in common anymore.

Perhaps add a little playfulness in your daily lives? Eg smack his butt when he is washing dishes, offer to hug him after he did some house chores and then purposely run away giggling because he is all sweaty, brainless bo-liao stuff like that

Oh, and be generous with your thank-you and appreciation eg. after he made you coffee, smile and thank him each and every time.

Don't have hard and fast rule. Just be spontaneous!

I chose to DIY. Huge savings versus engaging ID.

Just the window grill alone ID mark up with a huge margin. I was quoted $5k+ by ID while direct factory price was half of that. For wetwork I feel that there is no need to engage ID because there is no design involved so purely mark up by ID for helping you to make phone calls to contractor

For carpentry and soft furnishing, then maybe ID does help especially If you do not know what you want. If you already have a pretty good idea what you would like then you can design your own and coordinate with carpenter and choose your own curtains/lightings.

I happen to rent a place a few blocks from my house at that time so it was convenient for me to supervise renovation on a daily basis and I also don’t mind coordinating with various parties to get things done.

I don’t like the practice of some teachers communicating through whatapp. That gave kids an excuse that they need to constantly check their mobile phone but in actual fact 99% of the time is simply nonsence chat or spamming within group chat. Complete waste of time


By the way, I don’t think that teacher is rude (on page 1). Tone is matter of fact

janet88:

I dolled up daughter because she looked like a boy when she was about 1-2 year old. that's the beauty having a girl.
most of the time, I was in the children's department. those dresses are so pretty and cute.

I don't doll up my girls. Mainly just tees and skorts/pants when they were toddlers. Those that can throw into washing machine. Minimum effort mah.
I go for colours instead. I pick the colours I like. So much so that my kids received a specific colour for their birthday presents because all their friends thought that they like that particular colour. It is a misunderstanding. Paiseh, it's their mother who likes that colour :rotflmao:

And by upper primary, they chose their own wardrobe. I only control budget, won't interfer too much with their style of clothing so long they have sensible taste

MrsKiasu:

Totally agree that the elder kid can usually be a little helper. Dont underestimate them. I dont have maid and take care of kids mostly myself. It is not easy, especially the emotions side for me, but doable.

I think the role at home has changed between me and my first born child. Not suddenly but gradually over the years. She behaves as if she is the one in charged while I'm the kid. I got lectured for not finishing my rice (it's just a few grains left!), for my supposedly incorrect political views on Donald Trump and for eating shark fin. Stuff like that.
And she cooks and bakes better than I do (don't ask me why lol) I have mixed feeling about this development.

I’m not too concerned with aging flats. Once lease up return to HDB lor. I won’t be around by then anyway. Our generation won’t outlive HDB 99 year lease even if your flat’s lease commenced in 1970s. Location is more important to me. Compared to a brand new flat in ulu location I would rather have an older flat in a more centralised location. Convenience yield to me is daily


Of course a brand new flat in centralised location is even better but that obviously come with a high premium. So back to cost vs benefit analysis.

Although I think it’s is highly unlikely that government will kick everyone out from their expired HDB. That will be political suicide for any government haha. Anyway just reference what other countries are doing with their expired lease for public housing. Most likely there will be some scheme to pay to extend lease if building structure is still safe

ngl2010:

slmkhoo:

[quote=\"ngl2010\"]My niece travelled ALONE to Europe for 1 month after her A levels. She is so daring! I won’t allow DS to travel alone for 1 month overseas at 18yo. When I asked her how she ensure her safety, she told me she carries penknife all the time. :faint:

I wouldn't allow that either! How did her parents feel about it? Even my husband and I, at our age and with our experience, wouldn't travel alone like that. There are just too many risks, and unless she is extremely good at self-defence, a penknife isn't going to help! Travelling from point to point would probably be safer - I would be fine if my daughter wanted to visit friends overseas, travelling from place to place, for a month (depending on where and how).

Of course she went with her parents' permission. The parents doesn't think it is dangerous. Oh well... I guess it is different parenting style...

Btw, she doesn't know any self defence.[/quote]I travelled alone in Europe/Scandinavia for 2 months when I was 24 years old. Had 2 to 3 close encounters so indeed important to stay alert at all times.

I wouldn't agree to my kids travelling alone regardless at 18 or 24 though. Europe was comparatively safer 2 decades ago.

Mine watching anime

Cloud Cloud:

DD textbooks and guidebooks are collecting dust on the shelves. Next year, will only buy if she ask.

I realized I forgot to buy Science textbook vol B. It's in the booklist beginning of this year. I bought vol A only, intending to buy vol B later. dd2 never remind me so it completely slipped my mind after a while. For textbook, teacher only asked them to read up on their own