My wife and I usually pray with our son before he goes to bed. It was a habit we started when he was about 3 years old. (He is now 4 going on 5)

Those days, we simply prayed while he lie on his bed and closed his eyes. As he grew older, he started praying in bits and pieces on his own. He also requested that we pray for this issue and that.   One funny request I recall was to pray that he won’t grow up! (Of course footywife and I never said “AMEN” to that!)

Of late, we just need to start the prayer off with, “Dear Lord…”, and he would continue the rest of the prayers from there.

Few nights ago at bedtime, as per routine, I said, “Let’s pray.”

Guess what? He said matter-of-factly, “No need. I told GOD GOD {sic} last night that whatever I have prayed before, He would remember and I do not need to ever pray them again.”

Now I have dealt with “Blanket Approvals” in the corporate world before, but this is my first spiritual enlightenment about BLANKET PRAYERS!

Does anyone know what that cute little BIG-EYE animal in the animation movies Madagascar and Madagascar : Escape 2 Africa, is called?

I stumbled onto this blog HOT THINGS DEAR today and was overjoyed to find an article describing the little animals.

So they are called Pygmy Tarsiers!

Now I can’t wait for my little son to wake up tomorrow to show off my new-found knowledge!

The topic on The Sound of Music brings me fondly to all the wonderful songs in the musical.

Of them, one brings particular memory of how I started our son on singing (I am waiting for my wife to correct me on this!), and that is “EDELWEISS“.

When our son Jadon was younger (he’s turning 3 in a month’s time), we used to (are still) pat him to bed. And as I did so, I would sing him either “Edelweiss” or a very dated Chinese song called “Mo Li Hua”.

And as I sang to him, I would intentionally leave out the last word/syllable of each line for him to fill up. And he would almost always sing it correctly.

Here’s how it goes :

Edel “weiss”
Edel “weiss”

Every morning you greet “Me”
Small and “white”
Clean and “bright”
You look happy to meet “me”

Blossom of snow may you bloom and “grow”
Bloom and grow fore”ver”

Edel”weiss”
Edel”weiss”
Bless my homeland fore”ver”

Now, this cheeky little monster can not only sing the full songs, but has also started twisting the lyrics of songs to suit his own “creativity”!

I am now in Beijing and missing my son…and wife (better say I miss her too else she’ll start saying that all I remember now is my son hehehe!)

Anyway, my wife text me just now to say that my son kept asking to talk to me. So I sneaked away from the midst of dinner and make a call home.

“Papa can you come home please?” , “Papa can you come home NOW please?” were what he kept saying when the line got through. I believe you will be able to empathise with how it tugs at my heart ;(

And what a contrast to the article by my wife when my son hardly mentioned me when I was away!

Strange…children are sometimes so unpredictable…and doesn’t that make them even more cute & lovable & sometimes…irritable as well?

I have a feeling he will say the same thing when I call tomorrow.

I bought my son a pictorial book on the Three Little Pigs recently. And boy was I surprised to find that this version had the first two pigs eaten by the big bad wolf!

I have grown up listening to the ‘less sinister" version where the first pig ran to the second pig’s house, and subsequently ran together to the third and more illustrious pig’s house, where they then boiled the big bad wolf in hot water for a happy ending.

But I am told the "eaten up" version is the original. And that in some versions, the third pig actually cooks and eats the wolf up in some sort of revenge!

Not sure about you, but I sure prefer the HAPPY ENDING version of the THREE LITTLE PIGS!