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!

But to my son, if I tell him, “Remember the Orange Julius story”, it means he needs to try out something new.

The story began like this:

My son loves sweet drinks, as all kids would. One day after church, he asked if he could have his beloved Iced Lemon Tea (in a can). Recalling that he has been having quite a few of these canned drinks in the last two days, my wife and I resisted.

But we offered him a healthier and tastier alternative, Orange Julius. Now until then, he has not tried Orange Julius and he did not show any desire to do so, craving only for his canned drink.

We cajoled him by telling him what a great juice it was, and he would definitely prefer it to the canned Iced Lemon Tea once he had tasted it. But he was adamant that he still wanted his Iced Lemon Tea, and not Orange Julius which he had not tried before.

We also continued cajoling and the negotiation went back and forth until we gave him the ultimatum ,”Orange Julius or nothing!”

He had no choice and relented. Needless to say, he enjoyed that very first sip of Orange Julius, and the second sip and the third…and the whole drink

So when he finished we told him, “See! What a great waste if you had not tried this! Always give things a try, if you don’t like them eventually, at least you have tried and know you don’t like them.”

So now whenever he shows any signs of reluctance in trying new things/drinks, we’ll remind him, “Remember the Orange Julius story?”

In the midst of chewing your sweet spiced, raisin-filled bun, have you ever thought about the origins of your tantalising HOT CROSS BUN?

According to Answers.com, the origin of the hot cross bun was that a monk from St Albans Abbey in England made the first hot cross bun in 1361. The cross was originally just cut in, not piped on. The spices represent the frankincense & myrrh. The fruit represents the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The monk then began a tradition of giving Hot Cross Buns to the poor of St Albans on Good Friday.

In years that followed, many customs, traditions, superstitions, and claims of healing and protection from evil were associated with the buns. In the 16th century, Roman Catholicism was banned in England, but the popularity of Hot Cross buns continued. Queen Elizabeth I then passed a law banning Hot Cross Buns except during festivals such as Easter, Christmas and funerals.

And so happily she went one weekend.

When she came back, my son (who was not used to NOT seeing her for hours at a stretch) said,

” You don’t look familiar.” LOL!

I was brought to the attention of this non-profit agency recently. What is does is to provide free summer vacations to New York City children from low-income communities, letting them enjoy rustic experiences in the country and suburbs, while enjoying the friendly warmth of host families.

Such a visit can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child…just take a minute and listen to the experience of Brandon Mendoza below:

I am writing this post to help Fresh Air Fund solicit Host families to bring cheers to our deprived city children. Can you help me spread the word and spread some FRESH AIR? Thanks!

My son was doing some coloring at the dining table and I was sitting beside watching him. Footywife and myself had noticed that over the past few months, his coloring skills had improved tremendously, especially in the area where he was supposed to “color within the line”. We were always lavishing praises on him for coloring well.

However in this instance, he seems to have lost a bit of confidence and did not seem to be in the mood to color well. He said, “I can’t do it”, referring to coloring within the lines.

In my enthusiam to encourage him, I said, “Com’mon, don’t give up”.

He immediately caught on the new phrase and said, “I want to give up“, and instantly stopped.

I just thought, “Fantastic… I had just provided that little bit of catalyst to promote despondence.” Hopefully it doesn’t create a lasting impact on him, but he had certainly learned a new phrase.

I just wished I had watched what I said.

One of the topic they touched on was money management.

It was recounted that my sister-in-law was trying to teach Jeanette how to count her money and get her change back after paying for  food during recess breaks. To which Jeanette confidently replied, “no need Mama, it is very easy!”

My sister-in-law was probably pleasantly surprised until she continued,”…. just let them count and return you the money!“

Any better advice?!

Thanks for your inputs, Donald, Bk and Affection! I myself am thinking where to bring my parents and my own little family of three to. Tough to think of an ideal location where young (my 4 year old son) and old (my 70 yr old parents) can equally enjoy.

How do you identify or determine where to go and what to do?

My guess is to bring the kids to somewhere to enjoy some Fresh Air! No, it should be a lot of Fresh Air! To roll on grass, run by the beach, smell the flowers, etc… Or on the other hand, it could be determined by where we the parents desire to go

For those of us who can afford it, we would even bring them to another country and experience the diversity of life on earth. Who doesn’t like to travel anyway?!

Where is your ideal summer vacation for you and/or your kids?

theChildisKing wishes all readers, especially our Asian readers, a very blessed and healthy Year of the Tiger!

PS: Don’t eat too much junk! Remember, our kids will follow!