For the longest time, my wife and I were wondering when our 3-year-old son will start pronouncing the letter “S” (and “F”) correctly.

We both knew these were 2 of the more difficult letters most young kids will master pronouncing correctly last. But we just wondered when…

So imagine our joy when out of the blue one day, my wife noticed he could pronounce it properly in a one of the words he used. Just a few days before, we also noticed he could pronounce “V”an instead of “Ban”.

Now it is a matter of changing the habit. Occasionally he will still say “You TEE”, and we would both jump in “You SEE!”

Here’s a useful article for parents who are stressed out with their kids mis-pronounciation. Do not be so hastened to look for a speech therapist.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pediatrics-1429/2009/2/Preschooler-t-pronounce-F.htm

(written by footywife)

“Parina” turns out to be be “Hazina”.

It was her birthday last week and all her classmates including my little son got goody bags.  When I asked whose birthday it was my little son’s good friend Dominic kindly informed me that “it’s Hazina’s birthday!”

Seriously I do not know how “Hazina” ended up as “Parina”.  My little son could pronounce “h” as in “horse” but why not “Hazina”?  Beats me.  The world of the little children is sometimes like an enigma.

(written by Footywife)

Today while sending my little son to school we saw the principal (Mrs Tan) talking to a few other people.  We were waiting for the lift and the principal was talking to the few people just beside the lift.  They were speaking in Mandarin about some timing issue.

When the lift door opened we went in.  As soon as the lift door closed, my little son looked at me conspiringly and said “Mrs Tan was talking about Mrs Chee.”  Mrs Chee, by the way, is my little son’s form teacher.

I was most surprised by what he said.  I didn’t know what the principal was talking about but I was sure she wasn’t talking about Mrs Chee.  Besides she was speaking in Mandarin, a language which my little son struggles with.

“How do you know?” I prodded.

“Because Mrs Tan said chee” he replied.

Oh.  I was most amused by his revelation.  Before I could say anything, the lift door opened and my little son said goodbye and happily went into class.  Imagine if he had gone into class and told his form teacher that the principal was talking about her!  And his form teacher would probably believe him because as we all know, children don’t lie.

Yes, children don’t lie.  But they often misinterpret.

(written by footywife)

The other day on our way home I asked my little son who sat beside him during his meal in school.

“Parina” he replied.

“Oh, Farina” I said, certain that he had mispronounced the letter “F”.

“No!  Parina!” he exclaimed.

“Sharina?” I asked.

“NO! PARINA!!” he screamed, looking really annoyed with me.

I was a little uncertain what to say next.  What could “Parina” be in his mis-pronounced world?

“Parina?” I asked hesitantly, pronouncing the name exactly as he did so as not to antagonize him any further.

“NO!!!  PARINA!!!” he burst out, looking at me as if I was a complete idiot.

“Ok, alright” I said, trying not to say the word again.  One must really know when to shut up.

I have yet to find out who this “Parina” really is.

I don’t know about you, but I was so so touched when I watched this.

Susan Boyle epitomises the very song she sang – I Dream A Dream – in the recent audition in “Britain’s Got Talent”

What can we teach our kids, or for the matter, ourselves about her amazing adventure?

NEVER STOP DREAMING.

PS: I seldom watch TV these days, but I am absolutely hooked on the this show after watching some SPLENDID auditions on the show’s website.

Check out my current top  4 :
- Shaheen Jafargholi
- Flawless
- Julian Smith

& of course,  SUSAN BOYLE.

PSS : For a talent-hunt show, I find it amazingly touching. Enjoy.

(written by footywife)

My little son has been having loose stools over the last week.  But he just refused to “do it” in the school toilet.  As a result he sat through his class yesterday with a tummy ache.

I could only recall two incidences where my little son “did it” in the school toilet (and that’s over a 1 year 4 month period).  Even when we’re outside, he would prefer to wait until we get home to get his business done.

My little son’s good friend, Dominic, is however the complete opposite.  According to his mum Julie, everytime they go out, Dominic would inevitably poo.  As soon as they sat down in a restaurant, the much-feared “mummy I want to poo” would come out of Dominic’s mouth.  And while he’s at it, he would talk to Julie, take his own time to poo while poor Julie can’t wait to get out of the toilet.

My little son’s other good friend, Javen, is however just like my little son, if not worse.  He adamantly refused to do it while the family was on a 3-day cruise.  On their way back home, he hurried everyone as he couldn’t wait to get back home to do his business.

It’s strange why some kids have no qualms about where they do their business and why some kids can only “do it” at home.  Hopefully my little son will become less paranoid about doing his business “away from home” as he grows older.

(written by footywife)

The other day while my little son and I were in school waiting for the lift, we saw his classmate with her father.  Because there were a few other parents and kids standing between us, we didn’t get to say hello.

When the lift came all of us got in.  Before we could turn to say hello to the little girl, she opened her mouth and started ranting about how rude my son was, how he didn’t say hello to her even though he saw her, how she had never met anyone so rude… blah blah blah… Mind you, she is only 3 years old and a lot smaller in built than my little son.  But she was so cute in her little tirade that the adults in the lift including myself couldn’t help laughing.

But the best part is my little son couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying because she was ranting in mandarin (my little son is not very proficient in Chinese).  So he kept quiet all the while, smiling and probably wondering what it was that his friend was talking about that was making all the adults laugh.

Finally I told my little son to say hello to the little girl.  When he did that, the little girl stopped ranting immediately, looked satisfied and smiled.

Well, that surely is a feisty little girl that you don’t wanna mess with.

(written by footywife)

To continue from my husband’s previous post…

The next day or so we were spending family time together in the living room. My husband again prompted my little son to pray for a sibling. To which my little son retorted with annoyance, “Prayed already!!! God-God is making in heaven now.”

And that kind of settled the issue for my little son. As far as he was concerned, he had prayed and that was it. Period. He needed to pray no more.

He continued playing with his toys.

The simple faith of a little child.

I was on the bed with my cheeky 3 year old son just now and I asked him, ” Would you like to have a little brother or sister to play with?”

He said, “er, yes.”

“So let’s pray!” I encouraged.

Here’s what he prayed, “Dear Lord, please give me a little sister who will grow up into a boy!”

Duh.

Please DON”T say AMEN to that!!

(written by footywife)

Last week was school holidays in Singapore and my little son invited his good friend over to our place to play.

As we were walking towards the carpark (to fetch his friend over to our place), my little son queried whether his friend’s parents would be coming along.  “No”, I told him, “They are working”.

“Why are you not working?” my little son asked.

I was stunned momentarily, struggling to find a neutral answer so as not to take sides on whether parents should or should not work.

“I need to take care of you”, I finally blurted out, hoping that would satisfy him.

“You are a good mama”, my little son declared, much to my surprise.  “Because you take care of the children”, he continued.

That was really heartwarming to hear and really made my day.