_What did you do in school?

_Nothing? Just played!

_Who did you played with?

_My friends!

_What are their names?

_They didn’t tell  me yet!

This is my conversation with my son for the past year and a half. I can’t really get anything out of him to know what exactly goes on in his preschool.

_How was school?

_Good

_Did you find any friends?

_Not yet!

_What did you do?

_Made a bracelet with big beads

_My teacher told me not to touch the alphabet section She said it’s not for my age but know all the alphabet and I want to work with them

This is my daughter starting the same preschool today, and she was in gradual entry, spend only 1 hour in the class. Read the rest of this entry »

We just got back from our road trip to San Francisco a few days ago. Lets just say it was a very long road trip, it’s about 1500km (1200 miles) from Vancouver to San Francisco.  We spent around 7 days there  for my husbands  family reunion before we headed back home.

I was worried how the kids would handle the long drive, as my daughter is usually very impatient in the car. I did a lot of research and talked to many moms aboutit. By the time we were supposed to leave, I had a clear idea what to expect and had planned how to tackle the issues.

My husband, sister in-law, my mom and basically everyone around me suggested buying a portable DVD player to entertain the kids with movies. The idea didn’t appeal to me. I thought why would we go on a vacation if they are going to sit in the car and watch TV. To be on the safe side, and also to agree with my husband, I agreed to buy the DVD player but not to use it until it was absolutely necessary.

I found a snack and play travel tray online

It was a good thing I found a little baby shop in Bellingham (just south of the Canadian border) on the way to San Fran and bought it there. (Unfortunately it was too late to order online as we were leaving in three days when I first found it)

I packed lots of different snacks and fruits. My snacks were of low sugar, low sodium, like nuts, dried fruit, low sugar cookies which I made, low sodium pretzels and rice crackers. Fruits were the meaty ones with less water like apple, banana, and pears in order to  make sure to avoid extra bathroom stops and sugar highs.

I also packed each of my kid’s backpack with small toys (big enough not to be eaten) that did not require batteries or make any sounds. I also packed another bag for myself to give away surprises later in the middle of our drive. That bag was full of paper, coloring books, books I picked form library, some new toys and entertainment I bought from Dollar store to keep the interest going .

It was great the minute we put the trays on as they were busy playing with their toys and they had their snacks and lunch on it. The Trays could easily entertain them for a few hours and it was easy enough for them to unlock one side of it.

We were on the road for a day and a half each way and didn’t have to use the DVD player which made me quite happy. The kids learned how to communicate better and be each others friends, and entertain each other.  They learned to pay attention to the nature around them. We played I spy and sang to sing-along kids rhymes. We also made up some games which I don’t remember.  We really connected to each other, which was great especially for dad and kids as they are not always together with dad going to work every day.

So if you are planning a road trip, it is a good idea to invest on the snack and play travel tray, its worth every cent of the money you spend. Check their website at

Family Travel Gear

Until later,

Thank God for spring. This year we had the longest winter ever. And even after the beginning of spring our winter continues. We briefly had a few days of good weather and then back to rain, cold weather and snow!!! Yes snow in spring.

It was so bad that when we had a sunny day after a long time, my son (four year old now), came to me with excitement that: “mama the sun is out, it’s summer, I want the sun out all the time”

Luckily for the past four days we had mostly sunny days. I know this won’t last for long, we have rain in forecast for Wednesday, but even a few days here and there is hopeful.

Today was our perfect day in the past few months. We headed to the playground after pre-school. Playground was crowded obviously; everyone was out enjoying the sun while they could. We then visited my office (the one I have contract with to work from home). It was amazing that the children sat nicely in the waiting area until I was finished. It is amazing how a sunny day can change children’s mood (mine as well).

In the afternoon, after our Karate class we spent an hour in the yard, they played and watered the flowers (and themselvesJ) and I did some gardening. Then there was bath time, dinner, and sleep.

Right now the kids are fast asleep and I’m so rested unlike most night. This was one of the best and easiest days I had with them. They didn’t fight even once and were very polite. I think spending a long time outdoors and also me being in a good mood (for the past few weeks either the kids or I had some kind of a bug) had a big affect on them.

I wish for more days like this for everyone and us.

Until later

I always like to do equal for my kids. Except when it comes to food, as my daughter eats less and I don’t give her some of the snacks my son eats. The rest of their lives, I make it as equal as possible. Well it turned out that kids don’t like to be equal, they like to be special.

When I think about it, I felt and feel special because I was the only daughter. I didn’t care if they did equal for my brothers and me, there was and is nobody like me for my parents, and that’s important to me.

I tried to apply this on my kids, show them how special each one of them are. I can’t see the affect of this yet, I guess they are too young to understand it now, specially my daughter. When I hold my son and tell him there is nobody like him for me, and he is very special, he calms down and lets me to hold him for a few minutes. Which is a big deal with him, he never liked to be hugged or held even in his sleep.

I know it’s impossible to do equal for a boy and a girl, as they grow they will have different needs. It is comforting to me knowing that, they will be fine as long as they know how special they are.

Until later,

Well if you are raising siblings you know there is going to be fighting, screaming, and chasing and …
Interestingly the family consultant who held the parent’s night at our preschool was mentioning that fighting is OK.

As per her advice, if there is no blood involved let them fight and figure it out themselves. Don’t give them any kind of attention, negative or positive. Let them know you know of the situation calmly and tell them you are in the other room doing your thing. They are just looking for attention and when they see they can’t get that with fighting, they will stop sooner or later. Make sure to listen and watch them secretly if you can, to prevent any damages. Of course, you have to stop them if you see they are hurting each other.

The other option is that to tell them because you have to protect your ears they have to fight outside. Take their hands and let them in the deck or yard to fight. They will just stop, I tried this

It is amazing, since I started to leave them alone and not getting in the middle to fix things they have a better relationship. They fight and cry but they have more fun moments compare to before.

She also mentioned that if you have to discipline any of them don’t do it when they are in the middle of fight. Let them to cool down, and them calmly explain, or use other subtle similar situations. In the middle of the fight they are fired up and won’t listen to anything you say, positive or negative.

Well it’s an on going battle, I guess they will be fine if we are.

Until later,