Computer Games and Kids

Just sharing my thoughts here on Computer Games and Kids.

So, computer games are bad for kids!

Not entirely true. This has been disturbing us seeing many kids spending many hours in front of PC, laptop, iPhone, iPad, mobile phones, PSP and PS3. According to some researches, there are a number of benefits. But, like all other things, too much of everything is not good.

After weighing the ‘goods’ and ‘bads’ of computer games, we decided to allow the little one between 30mins to 1 hour per session, mostly with either parent to guide and share.. (erhm…the fun!). We ensures that he gets a balance of indoor and outdoor activities, so as not to strain his eyes and getting sufficient fresh outdoor air.

Here’s one site I found which is pretty interesting and my little one enjoys a few games on weekends and during the holidays when he has completed his homework.

coolmath-games

The followings are Max’s favourites,

IQ Ball 

So sorry for this Mom...

I was truly appalled when I read this. While we understand that a Company is not a charitable organisation, the Company is run by people and the management is made of people, human with hearts! Although there are many cases of abuse by employees, it is hope HR can identify genuine cases.

I’m sure some arrangements can be made… with humanity consideration given to the employee concerned. 

Here's an article that caught my eye.

Philadelphia Woman Said She Was Fired for Taking Time Off to Donate Kidney to Son

By SUSANNA KIM

Sept. 13, 2011

Claudia Rendon, 41, of Philadelphia, said her employer, Aviation Institute of Maintenance, fired her after she took time off to donate a kidney to her son. Rendon said the school was also trying to collect up to $2,000 from her son, a student at the school, related to his sick leave.


(pic extracted from Circle of Mom)

Rendon, who worked for a year and a half in the school's admissions office, said she notified the school that she planned to take leave on July 19 to undergo kidney transplant surgery on July 21 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania on behalf of her 22-year-old son, Alex, whose kidney failed last January. After extensive testing in early July, Rendon was found to be a match.

"I would do it all over again. No questions asked," Rendon said.

Kidney transplant surgery normally requires at least six to eight weeks of recovery time, and Rendon said the Aviation Institute agreed to give Rendon unpaid leave until Sept. 1. Rendon told ABCNews.com that on her last day of work before the surgery, her manager promised Rendon she would have her job upon her return, but one hour later, asked her to sign a letter acknowledging that her job was not secured.

"They said, 'If you don't sign this letter, you are abandoning your job and quitting,'" Rendon told ABCNews.com. "I said, 'I am not abandoning my job. I am saving my son's life.'"

Read more here 

Getting Max to sleep alone in his own room

How do you get your child to sleep alone in his own room? It’s not easy if he/she is an only child.


When Max turned 6, we persuaded him to sleep in his own room. As expected, we were met with resistance from the little one. Imagine, sleeping on his own in his own room can be daunting for a small single child of 6. Again, we broached the subject a week later, he refused.

No! No!

It took us a lot of coaxing, encouragements, praises, reassurance and sometimes even bribing :-( before we succeed when he began formal schooling last year.


This is what we did.


The room, across the hall from ours, was prepared for him with his favourite blue walls when he was a baby - cartoon wall decal, photo frames, soft-toys friends, big floor yoga mat, his favourite toys etc… but we agreed to redecorate some parts of the room and re-arrange some furniture with him so he’ll have some form of control over his decision (or rather parents’ decision!). We let him placed his bookshelf beside his bed so he can reached for a book when he wakes up in the morning “What a great idea!”, we praised him. We let him arranged his soft-toys, Tigger should sit next to Stripes, Tung-tung (the oriental Pig) wants to sit next to Ping-ping (Chinese piglet)… :-D. This didn’t work.

One of his replies, “But I do not have any brothers or sisters to take care of me at night…”. After much coaxing and having failed… I finally resorted to bribing! Terrible Mommy! :-(( I got him the Wall-E bed-sheet set so they’ll keep him company at night. It didn’t work!

So, we decided either myself or Hubby stayed with him at least for 30minutes of an hour beside him till he has settled into a deep sleep. Sigh! This went on for about 5 weeks.


On the 6th week, after reading 2-pages of a story with him, I firmly told him to sleep on his own (Daddy won’t be back for another couple of weeks from overseas). I needed to scrub the pot, the kitchen floor, polish the counter…(whatever I can think of!) but I’ll be up in 5mins to check on him and again in another 10mins… I started stretching the waiting time after a couple of days to 10mins then half an hour. By a week, I noticed he's asleep within 10mins... :-)


I personally feel that being in the same bedroom gives the little one reassurance of support as parents being close-by. Max has his own baby cot in our room since birth. Much as we love our little guy, we do not encourage co-sharing of bed. I agree that having him so near, I can easily check on him at night, especially when he has flu’-fever, eczema-caused stuffy nose or when he needed to pee in the middle of the night. As he out-grown the cot, we moved in a 3½ -feet wide bed into our room with side-guards.


We maintained the old bed in our room for about 9-10 months in case he does return in the middle of the night for comfort and re-assurance. He did for a few nights, quietly and slept peacefully till morning. No, we didn’t want him to crawl into our bed!


It’s good to establish a certain routine with kids, where he will grow familiar with expectations. I normally gave him a warm bath, followed by a nice story by Mommy or Daddy, recount some pleasant events of the day and bring the hope of a beautiful next sunny morning’s events. A warm hug and kiss from Mommy and sometimes a hug from Dad if Dad is back early (boys don’t kiss boys! :-D)

Image from Mantaka

AVOID all scary movies or stories prior to sleeping. There was once, he dreamt of the giant spider with Frodo in Lord of the Rings! Now, that gave me disturbed nights too for the next couple of weeks. Constantly being woken by Max, having him jump into my bed, refusing to go back to his own room... no thanks to Hubby! If he is very disturbed, sometimes you can encourage him to recount, it could be a nightmare or some thoughts troubling him, might be good to clear them. If so, I’ll stay awhile till he falls asleep again.


We allowed the little guy to go to his bed with his favourite soft-toy or blanket, he always has his favourite baby-pillow Josh with him :-D Comforting!

When he comes back to our room, firmly and calmly I led him back to his room. Then, I gave him a pat on his back and some encouragement to go back to sleep again.


It took all of 7-8 months, for him to walk voluntarily to his own bedroom after his bathroom routine, get out his favourite book while waiting for either Mommy or Daddy to come over to read with him.


Finally, we did it. :-D


It’s the biggest step taken by a single child, overcoming fear of darkness and of being alone and taking a step forward to becoming more independent. It may be a small step but to a little kid, it’s a giant step.


Hope the above will be helpful to some parents of single child.


Here are some helpful articles:

How to encourage your Child to sleep alone
Helping children sleep in their own bed
Children Sleep
Getting your child to sleep in his own bed

Playpals

The 4 boys took up my challenge! 


What a noticeable difference...in dB (decibel) ... it was so peaceful and quiet for 47 minutes! Amazing!


I could see the look of concentration on the kids, creased brows, intense focus on putting the pieces together, one boy was seen chewing his lower lips, peeking at their friends work and trying to out-do with better looking robot-android..haha...wished I'm a pro photographer. The pics would be priceless!


The boys have at least 2000-3000 pieces available at their disposal, sockets, joints, claws, flexible tubes, wheels, gears... Yes, letting their imagination run. 


Creativity = Fun-Time


And, the winners get stickers. *wink-wink* All received a sticker each or their wonderful creation. And, another sticker each for clearing and putting away the unused lego pieces and for good sportsmanship. 


Here's what they did,

You may like this :

Kids Holiday Activities

Happy playmates

As I’m writing this posting, there are darts flying over my head from the Nerf guns and one just whizzed pass my left ear. One of them suited in cardboard armour (Max) and the others hiding behind the sofa, the dining table and the indoor potted plants. I have 4 boys in my house now, 3 of them age 7-8, Max’s classmate and one, age 6, the younger brother of one of the boys.

(@..@) 4 boys sounding like a dozen boys here! Mine has to be noisiest house on the street now! Can you just imagine?

Well, it’s school holidays…! It’s time for the kids to have some fun with kids of the same age. Never mind that Mommy needs some ear-plugs, let them have some fun and Mommy’s job is to keep the boys’ tummies filled. J

Fun-time with playmates makes good memories for kids. Kids learn from playing, they learn to interact, to share, to work together, to compete, to negotiate, to have group fun and to learn from each other. I remember I grew up having so much fun with the kids in the neighbourhood, cycling, exploring, camping in the backyard (with all amenities close by, of course).

Next, I’m trying to get them to settle down a little with some organised play after the “good-guy-go-after-the bad-guy” play. This good guy-bad guy stuff is largely motivated by their inner human spirit’s desire for power. They admire power, strength and courage…aiikkk…another dart just whizzed pass my tummy as I'm writing this post.

I’ve just thrown out a challenge to them to make the “Coolest” robot-android with the lego pieces (combination of pieces from 9 Bionicle sets, Technic set, duplo set, Mars, creator set, exo-force sets and some others)


I'll tell you what happens next ...

School Mid-term Break

School mid-term break is in for 2 weeks starting yesterday. As both my hubby and I are unable to take the little guy away for a family holiday for now, we have made some plans for the little guy.

Here’s something we found that is good family activity – Origami!

Origami (Japanese: 折り紙; ori, to fold, and kami, paper; "folding paper") is the Japanese art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create three-dimensional paper figures using geometric folds and crease patterns. Today, origami refers to all types of paper folding, even those of non-Japanese origin. 

I found in my ‘treasure box” a stack of colour origami papers which is approximately 6”x 6” that I bought from Daiso (a slowly gaining popularity, RM5.00 per item concept chain store).

And, we found a helpful friend in Youtube! The little guy followed the video and made a butterfly himself!

To start off, here’s one of a simple jumping frog that kids love, especially toddlers…


And this is what he did with his Dad this afternoon,

Origami fireworks

Kids love origami. We started origami as a family activity when the little guy was just 2+, showing him and then teaching him how to make a ball, a simple boat, a jet-plane and a crane.

Some of the stuff he has done when he has the time.

You may want to read more about the benefits of origami. Here’s what some experts say about origami.

Origami builds fine motor skills and is a fun family craft. It can help develop fine motor skill.

…and in the medical field,

“..Many therapists use paperfolding in their fields of medicine. Physical therapist use origami as a fun way to exercise hand muscles that they are trying to rehabilitate. People who suffer from arthritis or other physical problems also report that as they fold origami figures, the muscles in their hands are strengthened. Psychologists, as well, are using origami in their medical field. They have found that the coordinated work of both hands when folding origami helps with the development of motor skills, as well as attention, memory, and imagination processes. The folding of origami can also be helpful to some people because it can be a tool by which they can relieve stress” Extracted from http://library.thinkquest.org

Check this up, at RachelKatz's site and if you want to know more of the history of origami.

The crane is perhaps the most popular origami model, click here for a tutorial. Make this a fun family activity this school holiday with your kids.

The Crane is a symbol of peace…

A visit to the local shopping mall, Sunway Pyramid last month, we saw many paper cranes folded by customers and visitors, to let the Japanese know that we understand, we care and we sympathise with their loss in the recent earthquake that devastated the north-eastern coast of their largest main island, Honshu.

TO JAPAN WE CARE @ SUNWAY PYRAMID

According to a well-known Japanese legend, a thousand origami cranes will make wishes come true and the messages written on the wings will reach the desired person.
This initiative is supported by the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur (JFKL).

If you are keen, you can visit your local bookstore for some books on Origami and you can also order some good ones from Amazon.


































You might like this:
Holiday Fun Stuff


Have a fun school break!

Mom is unique!

I received this in an email and thot it'll be nice to share with you.

WHEN I CAME DRENCHED IN THE RAIN…………………

BRO SAID : “ WHY DON’T YOU TAKE AN UMBRELLA WITH YOU?”

SISTER SAID:”WHY DIDN’T YOU WAIT TILL IT STOPPED”

DAD ANGRILY SAID: “ONLY AFTER GETTING COLD YOU WILL REALIZE”.

BUT MY MOM AS SHE WAS DRYING MY HAIR SAID”

“STUPID RAIN”

                                                                                       

 THAT’S MOM!!!

I never thot of this until I saw this email that made me think…how special Moms are! This sets Mom apart from the rest of the family…lol! Moms are ever-protective of their children and most times, they will blame the sun or rain or whatever but not their precious kids! :-)

Ear Infection (Part II)

A visit to the ENT confirmed a redness in his eardrums. The diagnosis is done with the help of a tiny camera inserted into the ear. The doctor also confirmed it’s not a swimmer’s ear where the canal (from ear drum to outer ear) is dry.

The doctor prescribed Zyrtec and Augmentin (antibiotics) to help clear the Eustachian tube. Unfortunately, this did not go down too well for Max. For over the next few days, he has severe diarrhoea and purging. He has described his tummy as, “…like a washing machine, it’s churning!” He felt nauseous and vomited. He emptied his stomach's content in his bed 2 nights in a row. While his ears were healing well, his gastrointestinal tract was in quite bad shape.

He has poor appetite, soiled his briefs because he couldn’t reach the bathroom on time and lost 2kg in weight. He called me to pick him up from school while lessons were on…sigh!...he missed a few days lessons. Never mind that but his self-esteem has taken a bad knock, he lost control of his bowel movements! It is embarrassing to soil his briefs at his age! :-(

Over this period, we ensured that he is not dehyderated, gets a good balance of fluid and mild juices and his electrolyte drinks. As his paediatrician had previously advised, the situation can be helped with replenishment of gut/intestinal flora with good & friendly bacterias to restore normal bowel functions.

He’s smiling again when he saw his favourite Yakult!

  

His paediatrician has given the go-ahead for 2-3 small bottles a day till his bowel functions normalises. That really brought a big smile in the otherwise glum face! Poor kid! Sigh!

These juvenile illnesses suffered by young ones really tear at their Mommies’ hearts! But it’s part of growing up…

Ear Infection (Part I)

Max is very prone to middle-ear infection.

I found him curled up on the sofa, faced flushed, forehead warm to the touch and moaning of pain his left ear. He was having a stuffy nose (runny nose). His lips were bright shade of red. Sigh! Ear infection again!

This time, I quickly took him to his paediatrician who gave the expected diagnosis. His paediatrician prescribed Sedilix and Progesic for his throat/nose and pain. I like this paediatrician who does not prescribe antibiotics unless very necessary. It is important to stay with the same medical practitioner, that is if you are comfortable and satisfied with him/her over the years.

When the pain persisted after five days, I decided to take him to an ENT specialist. Now this may seem like “…do u need a specialist for an infection! 8-0” We thot it may be a good time to establish a relationship (@..@) with an ENT doc since the little guy is so prone to ear infection and we wanted to get him assessed. He seems to be getting ear infection once a year and each time it happens, his hearing is affected. It will definitely affect his lessons because recovery may take 2-8 weeks!

(chart featured in MyChildHealth)

Meantime, his class teacher was kind enough to ensure he is seated right in front of her and also notify the rest of his other teachers, of his medical condition till recovery.

We have always made sure that he drinks plenty of water but while he is in school…he may have forgotten. We also ensure his diet has less of fried or deep-fried food, make sure he eats plenty of fresh fruits and avoids getting a cold.

So, it is a very good practice to get small children to have a habit to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

If you have toddlers or young children, you may want to read up to keep informed.

Here are some informative sites:

My ChildHealth

Kids Health

Baby Center