I now have been a mom for 5 years and 5 months. I have two boys, Miki (born 2008) and Rafa (bon 2012) who are very active, talkative and smart. Sometimes I do get unsolicited parenting advice from the people around me. Most of the time I just shrugged it off, you know… Cause hello? I am a mom of two yo! I pushed two babies out of the birth canal myself yo! And Miki is now 5 plus but he hasn’t broken any bones, and neither have I left him in a parked car out in the sun, so I think I am not so bad a mom. Hmmpph! LOL!
All these while I thought I was a bit crazy though. Coz like some other crazy moms out there, I keep track of my child’s growth like an accountant monitoring a high profile financial expenses. I have their weight and height in articulate bar charts, I keep Mikictionary (Miki’s Dictionary) that lists his vocabulary development since he uttered his first word at nine months until he was about one year two or three months when he started speaking in long sentences that I just cannot keep track. I tabulated Miki’s dietary intake. I calculated the nutrition values. As newborns, I monitor wet diapers and color of poops. Yes color and texture of poops. Now who can say I don’t deserve a Channel on Mother’s Day?
My husband thinks it is unnecessary but he likes relics too so encourage me to note down all these facts especially in this blog.
Last month I attended FISHER-PRICE THE “JOY OF LEARNING” PARENTING WORKSHOP at Empire Hotel Subang. I was there not because I was a Fisher-Price Malaysia Play Ambassador but cause I really want to. I already missed the earlier workshop in 2012, it was held about the same time I delivered Rafa and I am not gonna be absent this time.
And boy wasn’t I thankful! Thank you Carrie Lupoli, and the current spokesperson for The Joy Of Learning for Fisher-Price in South East Asia and main speaker for the workshop. I KNOW NOW THAT I AM NOT CRAZY!
Carrie in the workshop said that it is crucial that we keep track of our children’s milestones and developments because that’s how you detect if something goes wrong and quickly address it. Carrie said . “Research has shown that we can still develop character traits in our kids as they get older. The most pivotal time is the first 5 years but all is not lost if you started at 6 or 7. It’d be harder but is not impossible. The earlier you do it, the better your chances of building a very strong foundation.”
It’s important to realise that the first five years are a blank slate for the child, says Lupoli. As parents, we have a huge responsibility to colour or fill that slate. “It’s mind-boggling when you think about it,” she says. “The first five years is a crucial time for developing not just cognizance skills but also character skills. It has been proven that love, empathy, persistence and being able to stick with difficult tasks and delaying gratifications are traits found to be the pivotal components of adults who are successful later.”
Don’t just leave everything to teachers or the maid, she advises, or you’d risk missing out on a big piece of character training. “It’s the parents’ relationship with their children that’s going to carry them through, not a different teacher every year. If a parent is absent, and someone else is doing their job, then they’re really missing out on the priceless bonding moments and experiences that nobody else can give them.”
Another thing that I have learned from Carrie is about goal. Exactly what is our goal in bringing up our children? Is it to create a dependable heir to takes care of us in later years? Or have we reached our goals when we manage to bring up our children as HAPPY people?
I quite agree with Carrie, she said, ultimately, is for them to be independent.
She says, “A lot of parents think that our goal is for our children to be happy. But I’m not so sure. In a recent workshop, I showed a video of the movie, Failure To Launch, with Matthew McConaughey. He plays a 35-year-old who still lives at home. His parents hire somebody to try and get him out of the house. He’s happy, so happy that he doesn’t want to leave. So if our goal as parents is to ensure the kids are happy…
“Being happy is finding contentment in any situation that you’re in. We want our kids to be able to live successfully without us one day and we teach them this from the day they’re born. When you think about what an effective parent is, I like to measure their ability to be independent as we go along.”
I think this is right. I want Miki and Rafa to be happy when they are adults, but they must be happy as independent persons who can sustain dunia akhirat lah!
Apart from Carrie, we also have 2 other speakers who gave us really good talks on nutrition and dental health. In the workshop, I was in the same group with Belinda Chee, the beautiful artist and mom of a daughter. Since I was ehem the Ambassador, I was also invited to pick up a lucky draw for the participants like her.
Over all the workshop was highly interactive, fun and provided new perspectives in parenting. I see many parents look forward to the goodie bag too.. Which is full of Fisher Price awesome toys and other freebies as well.
With the success of the FISHER-PRICE THE “JOY OF LEARNING” PARENTING WORKSHOP, I believe Fisher-Price will be hosting it again next year. So for all of you moms and dads out there, do look forward for the next edition. I am sure you will get fresh and useful outlooks on parenting like I did last month.
To Miki and Rafa, although Mummy is poyo and wont listen to unsolicited advice from poyo moms out there, I will sit, listen and interact in reputable workshops such as this because I want to be the best Mom for the both of you. I love you much! Muah!
