As parents, we worry about all kinds of Qs, IQ, EQ, NQ(nutrition quotient not "No Q"), SQ(Social quotient) etc.....  the list of worries goes on..  I am a parent who particularly cares about EQ or VQ(values quotient) because I feel that this forms the basis of several decision process and decision-making is a major part of our lives.

Recently I visited my favourite mobile "bookstore" and chanced upon this set of books for EQ.... Instinctively I realised there would be hope for those who missed the "幸福的种子".   This set of books is equally colourful and fun for children to flip.  The authors of the original stories are from European countries, translated into Japanese and then to Chinese.

As usual, we do not like crowds so to watch a YOG event is never a priority in our list until........my dear child was given a ticket to go and watch an event at the eleventh hour.   It seemed that the teacher realised that there was no representative from her class and that was how she got the ticket....  I struggled a little initially as the venue of the event was not stated in the letter of consent.   I was not sure how crowded the place would be and being a tiny person at her age, I was afraid of stampede .....sounded like 杞人 

Thanks to 25hourmaid, she really motivates us to try kite-flying in present time.  I used to make kites with my siblings eons ago and flew it from our 6-storey high HDB (first generation flats without lifts type) from our kitchen window.  It was a great time for me to bond with my siblings as I hardly played with them due to a wide age gap except during such moments.  I remembered fondly that we used to draw pictures on the kites but most of our kites were oblong in shape, easy to make, thread and fly in minutes.  Everything was simple yet pleasurable. 

Inculcating good habits in another person is certainly an uphill battle for me everyday as my ever so well-recognised patience is truly badly broken down in this process.  Hence my awake hours as a parent is a constant nightmare to me that I prefer my dreams while I am napping or sleeping.    Here are some examples of my 365 daily echoes(x 5 years) that make me feel worse than the uncertain eerie music produced from the winding gramophone.

"Can you look out of the window when in the car and stop doing something?"

"Can you hold your book further from your eyes....you looked like you are going to join Alice inside the book?"

"Can you lift up your head when you write?"   - just short of me putting a bamboo stick behind and hanging her from the bamboo stick to achieve the correct writing posture

Here's one research paper that suggest learning multiple languages at a young age has other benefits.

The chief reason most people want to learn English is to be able to communicate in the language and forge pathways into the wider world. Now a study published by the European Commission reveals that learning an additional language such as English may bring benefits that go beyond the ability to use the language itself. This report has implications for why, when and how we teach and learn English as a second or foreign ­language.

Parenting has multiple definitions for me.  It is almost being all things to a child.  Sometimes we play the nutritionist, sometimes the audience, sometimes the dentist, sometimes the hairstylist and many more roles...... The one I want to share today in my series of my parenting challenges is a kiasu-pseudo "podiatrist".

When my child was about 5, someone observed that she walked funny and informed me to seek a podiatrist for an opinion.  So off I went to make my research and being a kiasu parent, I returned with not only one but a few contacts to establish the suspecting condition. The flat-feet and pronation made her walk like a penguin.

Don't be mistaken, I am neither from a Chinese education background (albeit I was offered the opportunity but I was a die-hard English "helipcopter" then who did not mind studying Chinese as a second language to become bilingual) nor am I a Buddhist.  Why I mention Buddhist?  This is because some Buddhist organisations are distributing these books for free.

My first encounter with this was when I heard my child reciting the verses(to me was yet another rhyming jingle then)  from one of her enrichment classes.  It did not occur to me how interesting these verses were until one day, I really perked up my ears to listen carefully to what she was saying.