The advent of the iPAd heralded a new era of gaming. App gaming is what I would call it.

Millions of App games have been developed since the iPad was launched in April 2010. And most game developers’ primary objective is, like any corporates, to ring in the till. And to do so, the developers have to be creative in designing a game that will not only entice gamers to play their games addictively, but will also “persuade” them to part with their money willingly.

One such common game feature is to introduce the concept of a psuedo-money. These “psuedo-money” could be earned through achieving certain challenges in the game, OR in a much quicker way, bought using REAL legal tender money. My wife coined (pun intended!) this action as “using real money to buy fake money“. These “psuedo-money” could then be used to exchange for certain game-enhancing features.  Some games called these gems, some called them stars. They all carry the same connotation. To make you part with your real money.

My 7-year-old son was recently hooked onto one such game. No matter how we try to explain the incredulity of this real money-fake money concept, it was futile. He just wanted to get the gems to move on tho the next level.

What should I do now? I guess my only remedy is to try and steer him towards more wholesome games. But frankly, not many app games are like the traditional Tetris or chess anymore. Most are just out there to suck our finances.

For the record, according to UK’s The National Autistic Society, “Autism” is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.

Children with autism may find these things difficult :
-Telling people what they need, and how they feel.
-Meeting other people and to make new friends.
-Understanding what other people think, and how they feel.

We have just passed the AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH in April, but let’s continue to be compassionate and understanding towards these children. They are no less GOD’s precious gift to us.

And those who DO make decisions, do MAKE MISTAKES. But they MAKE decisions. And they know what they want in life.

Being decisive is also not being impulsive. The difference is that the former encompasses careful consideration while the latter does not.

Our children are growing all the time. Gradually, life challenges require them to make more and more decisions as they grow. I would like to think that most adults do pretty fine, but sadly some actually never grow up, still depending on their aged parents to help make decisions.

One major reason is due to the “well-intentioned parents” syndrome, where parents like us subconsciously shield our children from making decisions in every aspects of their lives, denying them the opportunity to sharpen themselves.

My encouragement to all parents is this, forget about the consequences of wrong decisions. Let our children make wrong decisions while they are young, so that they won’t grow up frozen, not knowing how to be decisive when it matters.

What’s my thoughts?
1. It is not as innocent as the original CARS movie – the movie was laden with the themes of spies, gangsterism, “killing” other cars, sinister motives etc

2. The sub-theme seems like an afterthought
- In the first movie, there was a strong theme centering around how a selfish and boastful car was transformed into a humble, selfless and well-loved car.
- In this sequel, the sub-theme about accepting “accepting your friend as they were” didn’t fit too well into the story

3. The number of new characters seems overwhelmingly large
- is this a ploy to get kids hooked into buying all the characters?

At the end of the day, I can safely say most children under the age of 6 wouldn’t understand what the story was about. The only thing that kept them going was probably the idea of how many of the new toys they could buy!

There is something good about cartoon movie sequels…… the old toys enjoy a revival!

My son absolutely adored the characters (and toys) from the Disney Pixar movie CARS when I first introduced the movie to him about 3 years ago. Needless to say, within a short time we built up a rather huge collection of the characters (above photo probably makes up only a quarter of that collection). He would play with the toys almost everyday.

Alas, and naturally as time passed, new toys and distractions in the form of Beyblades and iPad took over. These car toys were then stored …and forgotten…until the launch of CARS 2!

We then excitedly watched the trailers on Youtube and naturally again, the pleas to get the new characters began. In a few hours time, we will be heading to watch the GALA premiere in Singapore. I can imagine the pleas will become louder and louder after that!

In front of my son, I frowned upon such desires to get all these toys. But privately, I can’t wait to get my hands on the whole new collection!

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This began when my wife gently told him about an ex-colleague’s death, and that she needed to go to the wake. From that moment onwards, he would repeatedly say he did not want to go to heaven. Sometimes in the car, he would turn all quiet, and then burst into tears. My wife tried may ways to explain to him gently, but none seemed to comfort him.

Thankfully we found a very good resource in a bible-based book called “Someone I Love Died” by Christine Harder Tangvald. It mentioned that once a child grasps the concept of death, it becomes one of their greatest fear in life. How true!

The book then helped break down the fears and answer questions a typical child may ask in a gentle and comforting way. From the experience, we as parents also learnt not to “run away” with “fuzzy-wuzzy” answers that children in this new generation could easily see through.

I wouldn’t say we have found a quick-fix solution, but my son is happier these days, having found out about things like “our soul gets to heaven faster than when we clap our hands”. Of course he still feels sad when he realised that we parents are likely to leave him first. But we rejoice that there will be reconciliation in heaven!

One night recently,  as my wife, my son and I lay on our bed, I suggested, “Let’s pray this way tonight – I’ll pray for Jadon, Jadon prays for Mama, and Mama prays for Papa.” “

“No, I want to pray for you”, my son said. (There are certain things where he prefers me, and others where he prefers the mother)

So I said, “Fine, so you’ll pray for me, I pray for Mama, and Mama prays for you.”

“No. I’ll pray for you and you’ll pray for me,” clearly indicating his preference for me this time.

“What about Mama?” I asked.(Mama had been silent all this time, probably wondering if all the effort spent in cooking healthy, nutritious yet yummy food for him was worth the while)

And my son replied, “Erm…we need one more person then.”

There was only three of us in the family.

Shamelessly,  I have slipped in quite a few pictures of our son Jadon in there as well

2 things I need your help on:
1) Do give me your honest feedback on how I could improve the montage. I do take my “creative work” very seriously.
2) I am looking to do more of these montages. For the first 3 person to respond to me, I’ll create your very own montage for free!

Awaiting your responses!

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!