Tip 218: Helping daddy join contests

As Haruka grows past 2 years old, she is constantly seeking approval from daddy and mummy. She has understood the concept of work (shigoto in Japanese) and she wants to be as busy as daddy and mummy. She gets excited when minor chores are assigned to her as she feels important. She feels she is becoming more of an adult when she can do tasks that adults do.

In the photo above, I let Haruka be part of my contest participating activity. She peels the lucky draw cards that I have collected, takes the stickers out and passes them to me. It seems like an easy task, but it requires knowing how to peel and tear on a dotted line package. As she does it frequently, since I am sending many entries for this contest, she improves on it. It is Haruka who feels a sense of achievement while daddy gets free child labour.

Exposing a young child to adult activity can provide good learning experiences and a sense of pride and satisfaction in work. A child can learn from play, but they can also learn from doing house chores. Tomomi buys a child knife that can cut small items such as cucumbers and trains Haruka to assist in the kitchen. When I come back from grocery shopping with lots of bags to unload, I identify the items that Haruka can put into the fridge. When she does it often, she knows where those items should be and accomplishes the assignment instantly.

It does require some time to identify such minor chores. Also some patience to teach the young wannabe. Yet, its these priceless moments that Haruka appreciates spending time with daddy. When the relationship has such learning moments with daddy, it balances up the moments when Haruka feels unhappy when daddy lectures her to behave. It can be sad when daddy comes home from work only to lecture and scold the child each time, yet not have the time to teach patiently and gently guide the child. The child needs moments when daddy can be proud of her. I am now waiting for the moment when Haruka contributes to my winning contest entry. She can then be proud that the prize was her contribution.

(Photos show Haruka being proud of helping daddy with the Haagen Dazs Word Hunt contest

and the scene from the 31st floor of Standard Chartered Building when the Marina Bay Sands was still under construction. Contest lovers feel free to contact me about this contest and other contests.)

Tip 217: Know who the Best Friend is

Haruka has a new best friend. It is no longer Barney. Though, she would still enjoy a Barney & Friends program if it is on TV. Haruka's new best friend is Agumon. It is amazing how kids at just 2 years old can develop a sense of liking towards a particular TV character and have the interest to learn about such a character. Parents who know their kid's new best friend can understand better what motivates their kid and drive them to learn and play.














Agumon is a character from the Japanese TV cartoon/manga Digimon. There are possibly quite a few reasons why Haruka loves Agumon. Since age 2 years old, Haruka has decided her favorite colour is yellow. I have once asked her why she likes yellow, and she just tells me it is a beautiful colour. A baby may like a certain colour based on their experience of finding food of such a colour tasty or toys with such a colour a pleasure to play with.














Other reasons why Agumon is liked could be because of it being brave, relaxed and funny. Agumon possesses strength, yet does not seem to be too violent, ugly or threatening. At an age where Haruka is beginning to want to be independent, she looks up to such characters where boldness is matched with likeability.














Such knowledge always help dad to motivate the child towards accomplishing values and habits that are admirable. By learning more about the character, daddy can identify values of such a character and encourage the child to emulate those noble values.














Also, daddy can provide incentives for the child to be performing good habits such as finishing her meal or picking up her toys after play with a Digimon TV allowance or a trip to watch Digimon for free at a shopping mall.















Such motivation can be costly though. Being a thoughtful dad that I am, I thought it would be convenient to do my groceries at the shopping mall that provided gifts of Digimon water bottles. Then, I got myself in a sticky situation where the Agumon water bottle was out of stock and Haruka saw the promotion of the different types of water bottle available and yet she could not have the one with her best friend on it.














(Photos show Haruka at City Square Mall, Farrer Park to watch Digimon perform).

Tip 216: Never give up on life's challenges

It takes a dad to understand a dad's contribution. It is because only a dad would understand the burden and weight of expectations of a dad once he carries it himself. Sometimes the expectation is self-imposed. Nevertheless, the burden remains. Whether it is at home when interacting with wife and kids, or at work when managing work duties, or at the supermarket when managing the budget, or at the investment house when managing future cash flow, or at a government office to follow up on complaints for sustainable living, or at church, school or hospital when managing child's education and development, a dad faces numerous challenges each day. To appreciate a father, we need to weigh less on the outcome of a father's contributions, but to esteem the fact that the father is still running the race and have not given up on the challenges.



I watched a movie and remembered a quote. "Life is hard. Marriage is more difficult." It is true that with our unlimited wants and ambitions and towering expectations from our loved ones and society, life can only be hard. It is harder for some with limited abilities, talents and intelligence facing the risk of making wrong choices. Actually, it may be even harder for some who are blessed with more in life, the ability to dream dreams and want a better life as they would thus have higher mountains to climb which presents bigger challenges. The more knowledge of good and evil, the higher the chance to sin. Besides just performing duties, each of us are faced with fleeting temptations each day, natural disasters and dangerous people. It must be an achievement for any dad to raise their kids over two long decades considering the many sacrifices rendered.

It is father's day soon. A friend thanked me for my contributions on the blog. She said she was inspired reading them. But she could not take it upon herself to reconcile with her dad so soon. Each of us have different expectations of what a dad ought to do and be. I used to be the same. But now, as a dad myself, I realized that my kids ought to be thankful that I am still alive and have not given up on life. When we appreciate our fathers, we are in effect recognizing that life is hard. Someone gave up their own life to create another. Sometimes, this person may have failed in many of the ideal expectations of a dad. Yet, this person is still alive today and the kids are also growing up through the many contributions of this father. Any father have many weaknesses like all of us do. Yet, he pressed on and continued in the race to fulfil some of his duties, if not all. Who else can do that? Only a father who has some amount of love in his heart. Can we question the measure of a father's love, when no one else have done the same? Thank you dad for not giving up on life's challenges.

(Photos show Haruka in numerous coin operated rides in Singapore. If only life is just a predictable ride that needs only a coin).