Janice Siew's Blog, page 2

Cultivate Healthy Habits From Young Age

I'm pretty sure everyone knows this and probably applies this mantra at home.

Getting kids to start healthy habits from a young age is important. They will gradually follow these habits throughout their lives.

These are some of the habits that are applied to Jasper and Jaime:

Brushing their teeth

Hand Hygiene

Screen time

Sleeping Routine

I follow these habits with my kids, and usually, I will explain why they must do these.

I realise by the age of 4 to 5, they are more accepting of our explanations and concepts as they start to embrace learning.

Brushing their teeth

I will always tell them to brush their teeth, once in the morning, and once at night.

Brushing our teeth has been important since young. I try to stick to it now that I have toothache issues. This is most probably due to decay.

I came across this random Instagram video by a dentist, and she mentioned that it is important to brush our teeth once we wake up in the morning. This is because the mouth becomes dry while we sleep at night, and it gives chance for plaque-causing bacteria to multiply in our mouth.

We clean this bacteria in the morning, preventing cavities from forming and attacking our teeth.

While I did not tell them to brush for 2 minutes (hard for kids to do something for long), I did tell them to brush every single tooth and tongue. Haha.

I try to floss and use mouthwash before I go to sleep.

I may educate them the same when they are older so that they know the importance of flossing their teeth too.

Hand Hygiene

I am particular with washing and keeping my hands clean when it comes to eating or touching anywhere on the face.

That is because I have sensitive skin. They will become reddish and even hurt after a while when I touch my face with dirty hands.

My kids inherit from me as well. Although it is not as bad for them, it is still vital to keep hand hygiene.

As soon as they reach home, I will prompt them to wash their hands. It has become a habit now that they will do it even without me prompting them. It is a relief to see that it has become a daily habit.

My brother told them this: Dust and dirt are everywhere, so washing hands is a must.

Even when they are going to have a meal, I will tell them to wash their hands first and keep them clean. (And I know that they are going to touch their food somehow while eating. They don't know how to use a fork yet to get the food on their spoons so they use their hands.)

And because they touch their food, I always tell them to wash again after eating, to prevent them from touching anything with their gross hands. Yucks.

Screen time

My husband and I dislike the idea of a baby or toddler watching videos on a mobile phone or a tablet while eating.

Although I get that it is an easier way of parenting, it somehow sticks to the idea of the young kid with the habit of watching a video while eating, and it will grow with them as they age.

Usually, I will tell them to eat their food at the dining table. If they wish to watch the TV, they can go watch it after they have finished their meal.

It is so hard to stick them to this habit, especially when my husband or my mum is around.

When my husband is around on a weekend morning, he often finishes his food first, goes to the living room and turns on the TV. Then my kids would follow him while holding their bread in their hands.

Or when my mum is around, she allows Jasper to play on her mobile phone while she feeds him. I abhor that behaviour, and she explains that he is only playing educational games. It is not about the games I mind, it is the habit that is cultivated when only she is around. I tell her that every time I see this, I can do nothing.

Sometimes, people would tell me if I didn't harden my resolve, I could change nothing.

Sigh.

I do stick to an hour of watching TV. After the age of 3, I believe they are entitled to some screen time. But I still implement only an hour of watching a day.

For example, Jasper wants to watch TV when he comes back from school around 5 pm. I would tell him that it is soon to be dinner and that he can watch it for an hour after his dinner.

When he exceeds an hour, I would strictly tell him to stop.

Fortunately, he is not a TV fan, so he hardly requests TV time. Jaime is not too, she only watches the TV when we turn it on.

Sleeping Routine

I try to let them sleep as early as possible when they are young.

In an article, I saw that 3-5-year-olds should get at least 10-13 hours of sleep per day.

So let's say Jaime goes to sleep at 9.30 pm, 9 hours of sleep will be sufficient and wakes up at 6.30 am. According to her preschool teacher, she also takes half an hour to 1 hour worth of nap before lunch.

9.30 pm to 6.30 am / 7 am = 9 hours or 9.5 hour night sleep

11 am to 11.30 am / 12pm = 0.5 or 1 hour nap

That would add up to 9.5 - 10.5 hours of sleep per day.

I say it is sufficient for a kid at her age. Jasper also has around the same number of hours per day.

They both sleep either with me or with their dad.

We say 6.30 am is the earliest, because their schools are nearby, at most 10 mins walk.

Both Jasper and Jaime could get to school in an hour.

These are the few habits that I encourage parents to let their kids stick to them because they are essential in our lives!

Habits like keeping hands clean, toothbrushing, having enough sleep, and screen time control are a must to teach our children to follow!

Although it is hard to raise our kids, it is also our job to teach them what they need to learn.

You are NOT a failure if you have yet to teach them. You can always start now. It is always better than not doing anything!

Daffie the duck is out on 23rd June!

As the title goes, Dilly-Dallying Daffie is about Daffie the duck loitering in the house when she is supposed to be preparing for school!

Mother Duck is exasperated when it comes to dealing with her.

Who else has such a dilly-dallying kid at home?

I know I have.

Jaime does things lately at home in the morning so slowly that she tests our patience!

My mother does not like that and often scolds her. Well, our mothers help us to take care of the kids. She thinks that Jaime does not like the teacher stationed at the entrance to help with the dropping off.

I thought that Jaime didn't have a good night's sleep, which made her slow.

Anyway, my mum tells her not to cry in the morning because it is not making her pretty anymore.

It works! She did listen and she did not dilly-dally this morning.

Does anyone know how to deal with such a situation?

My girl is 3 and a half years old, and sometimes she does not comprehend what we are saying to her.

Funny that even Jasper is angry with her. We have to explain that she does not understand some concepts.

Hehe.

The story Dilly-Dallying Daffie is rather different. But I guess it is the same for all mothers.

Oh oh! And this is the first time we see Teacher Odin!

We will see more of Teacher Odin in our upcoming stories!

I hope you guys will have fun reading!

I am having an ARC session with BookSirens. If you wish to read for free, go to https://booksirens.com/book/W2NCCKC/UXP2QPN

and download it! Please remember to do a review on it!

I appreciate all your reviews!

Thank you!

Judge a book by its cover!

They say not to judge a book by its cover but I need you to do just that. If you liked the cover of my book, Boastful Brian: A Tale of Strength and Humility (An Alphabet Series of Animals Book 2), please vote for it for the Cover of the Month contest on AllAuthor.com!

I’m getting closer to clinching the "Cover of the Month" contest on AllAuthor! I’d need as much support from you guys. Please take a short moment to vote for my book cover here:

Click to Vote!

My Search for a Bookstore in Singapore that will sell my books

The following AI paragraph was generated when I was playing with the AI text generator. This is why I try not to use AI although it is quite useful sometimes. It distorts my to-be-written post.

'As an avid reader and self-published author, I found myself on a quest to find a bookstore that resonates with my cultural heritage and offers a platform to showcase my work. Living in Singapore, a bustling city that embraces a diverse mix of cultures, I was determined to find a hidden gem that caters to the appreciation of more niche literary works, particularly those reflecting the rich nuances of Asian culture and language, such as Singlish – the unique Singaporean English dialect sprinkled with phrases like "la," "lor," and "leh."'

No, I did not want to mean this.

What I meant to say is that it is hard to find a bookstore that will sell my books in Singapore. Because the local bookstores mostly sell books that contain Singlish (copied that AI text) - the unique Singaporean English dialect sprinkled with phrases like "la," "lor," and "leh." or the books that contain our Asian culture and language. Examples are the Chinese, Malay and Tamil books.

I was looking through the online website of OwlReaders and found that most books they sell are cultural books and they sell well!

I don't mean this is not a good thing. In my context, it does not bode well for me, unless I do it in Chinese. (That's another idea for another day.)

My books are only published online, and mainly on Amazon. I have no physical book printer, so I can only sell them online or print on demand.

The rep of OwlReaders told me that they can store 20 of my books and that they can recommend a printer for me. The pro is that I can finally put my book there and increase visibility! The con is that it will be hard to sell my books and I will have to pay for the printers to print in bulk first. So that means I have to fork out quite a lot before I see some results.

I seriously do not mind paying extra to put my books there.

OR I just put my books there first, and if it doesn't sell, I will stop putting them there.

Can someone please advise me on this?

Updates about my books and merch

Recently if you have seen me promoting my book merch shop, you know I have opened a shop on my wix site.

I have just finished setting up my shop and what's not on my wix site (Google Analytics and advertisements). And great to say that, my aunt is my first customer! Thank you, Aunt Jerine!

I have quite a few products with the illustrations of Abby, Brian and Caleb. The products range from mugs and tees to decals and puzzles! The more I design, the more I get fond of them. And I just bought tons of them for my kids, hubby and myself! Haha.

Jasper and Jaime saw that I was designing my products, and said they wanted them also! How happy I was when I heard that! Jasper wanted Caleb's puzzle, and Jaime wanted Abby's pink t-shirt and puzzle. My husband liked Caleb's handphone case, so I bought him one too. I wish Printify had MagSafe products because Jack keeps asking about it. Well, too bad it doesn't!

I will post about them when the products arrive! Oh! I also got a wall clock for myself, because Jasper says there is no clock in my bedroom. Haha. What an excuse to get a clock.

If you have not started to browse my shop, I recommend a Camelbak water bottle for you or your kids! They are functional and they are cute! I wish I could buy them too but Jack keeps saying we have a lot of bottles at home. I didn't let him know I bought tons of things too.

Anyway, my sales are low, be it my books or merch. I had signed up for a course to learn how to start up and earn from $0 to $100,000. It mentioned that the course is mainly for moms who are struggling financially and want to know how to start a business and grow it. Keep my fingers crossed! I have yet to begin on the course though.

Here to clarify. I am not rich. I have just saved enough before I quit my job. And I invested a little. So I can spend a little, but not for all my books.

Coming to my books, I mentioned on my page that my D-book is coming in June.

I am trying to do the art of my books now that my shop is done. I wanted to learn illustrations using Pro-Create, but I need to upgrade my iPad first. I have rarely used my mini 3 since I bought it in 2016.

If you have guessed my book title, then congratulations! It is... drum-rolled...

Dilly-Dallying Daffie! And yes, Daffie is a duck. I tried to use Daisy, but my brother mentioned copyright laws. Daffy is another duck in Disney, so I changed the name. Hahaha!

I have been trying to do these illustrations for these two days now. I will showcase it to my hubby first! Haha! I will update again if Jack loves my illustrations!

That's it for now. Tada!

Another short trip to Desaru!

We had a spontaneous trip to Desaru! It was a 3D2N trip plus the travel was only an hour's drive away!

Singapore ICA (Immigration and Checkpoints Authority) has a new feature to have our passport information integrated into a group by QR code when you travel by car to Malaysia.

The ICA officer only has to confirm our identity in the QR code and the people in the car. It is a fast travel thanks to the new feature.

We had our breakfast (Dim Sum) at Johor Bahru's eatery.

Left for Aeon shopping mall because we could only check in by 3 pm.

I was going to buy a pair of shoes for Jaime because she didn't manage to find one during our previous trips. Her current shoes were getting smaller for her ever-growing feet! There is an upcoming school trip that requires her to wear shoes, but she can only wear sandals now! >.

We finally got a Frozen purple shoes for her but it was slightly big. Well, we had to get it due to the school trip. Jasper didn't like any. And the ones he wanted were too small.

And I finally purchased my pillow! I have been looking for one since a year ago, but there was no space in the car boot! And now I can get one since it is only a short trip!

We got to check in to Four Point Sheraton Desaru after lunch. The room was unexpectedly huge for a king-size bedroom. It was big enough for 2 queen beds! There was also a balcony!

We went for our dinner at a famous seafood restaurant. We were supposed to go to the beach but the public entrance was closed at 6 pm. The restaurant had a great sea view too, so we didn't mind.

There were small shops nearby the hotel but we didn't visit them.

Day 2 was to explore the mini zoo! We saw peacocks (with beautiful feathers), ostriches and fish once we stepped into the zoo. We moved along and camels, cows, donkeys, horses and ponies were awaiting!

There were sheep, goats, ducks, and other small animals too! Jaime's sole purpose at the zoo was to find rabbits. Haha! She was disinterested in the rest until she found her little animal friend. I can tell that she loves the bunny because she keeps telling everyone about it!

We left for another seafood restaurant for lunch. All day long, you can have lobsters at an affordable price. Desaru is near the coast so seafood restaurants are abundant.

It was still early, so we went to a Chinese temple. But the weather was getting warmer by the time we got there, so we sweat buckets!

Our next destination was an Instagrammable cafe, YARD&Co. Perfect hideaway from the hot weather! Loads of people were there too, but we were lucky to find a table! I didn't join Jasper for the photo-taking sessions because it was way too hot!

We were too sticky from the weather and tired from the day trip that we didn't go out for dinner. We drove back to the hotel after the cafe, and the first thing I did was shower. Haha! My husband went to a nearby store to take away food.

It was the last day. We checked out of the hotel and went to the fruit farm. Oh, the hot weather kept prolonging! Fortunately, there were shelters everywhere we went, so it wasn't that bad.

We gained some knowledge about fruits from the tour guide.

Before we returned to Singapore, we drove to Johor Bahru for lunch. It was a different Aeon shopping mall though. At last, we found shoes for Jasper too, and bought a few kids' shampoos.

That marked the end of our 3D2N trip to Desaru! Here's a compilation of videos and photos!

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The hottest weather in SG *yet*

My husband and I bought a dehumidifier to bat off the moisture so we wouldn't feel sticky. It does not help much.

The temperature has risen from 32 to 34-35 degrees in these few years.

In Southeast Asia, the humidity is high. Almost 80%. And if I ask Google now, Google will say that it will feel like 40 degrees.

The weather in SG is so bad that we wish to be in a mall, relaxing instead of staying home.

We do have aircon in the rooms, but we won't want to waste electricity turning it on the whole day.

If this is freaking warm to us, how does it feel to be in India or Thailand where the temperature is higher than us? I do not want to experience it in any way. XD

I did not study geography when I was in high school. But how does El Nino come about?

How do we keep the temperature down? I keep seeing 'Greenery ' being advertised everywhere. I heard that the countries and companies are trying to do everything they can, but when will we see the effect and result? What will happen in 50 years? Will we cease to exist because we cannot stop these?

So many questions, and so few answers. I need to Google for answers to satisfy my cravings. Haha.

For now, I will just turn on my aircon. xD

Book Merch is happening!

I am really starting a business. Ever since I saw the mock-up of ‘Boastful Brian’, I have been hung up on this new idea.

This is my favourite thing to do now! Which is to design a product and adding them to my website! My adobe skills has not failed me since school haha!

And yes, I had started to design using Printify few days ago. Have been finding a Print on Demand website, and finally sign up with Printify, because it has a free plan for me!

I had started designing using Caleb illustrations, and then with Brian illustrations.

With Printify, there are quite a variety of products to play with. This generates more merchandise ideas for me!

And as I keep designing, I keep finding more products from the category! These products are useful for both adults and kids, e.g mugs and bottles and tshirts.

I am so excited now. I will continue with Abby before I order some products to check on these products so that I can start on my little business! As I design, I keep checking with my husband to get his opinion! I wish I could buy all the products that I design. ‘Cos they look so cute!

Starting a business

I am really starting a business. Ever since I saw the mock-up of ‘Boastful Brian’, I have been hung up on this new idea.

This is my favourite thing to do now! Which is to design a product and adding them to my website! My adobe skills has not failed me since school haha!

And yes, I had started to design using printify few days ago. Have been finding a Print on Demand website, and finally sign up with Printify, because it has a free plan for me!

I had started designing using Caleb illustrations, and then with Brian illustrations.

With Printify, there are quite a variety of products to play with. This generates more merchandise ideas for me!

And as I keep designing, I keep finding more products from the category! These products are useful for both adults and kids, e.g mugs and bottles and tshirts.

I am so excited now. I will continue with Abby before I order some products to check on these products so that I can start on my little business! As I design, I keep checking with my husband to get his opinion! I wish I could buy all the products that I design. ‘Cos they look so cute!

My kids love 'Bluey'.

Since our trip to Perth, my son, Jasper has loved to watch 'Bluey'. That is because I bought Crayola's 'Bluey' colouring pages from Costco. We also watched 'Bluey' in the cottage!

Every evening after dinner now, he would ask me if he could watch 'Bluey'. I agree that he can only watch it for an hour. And then Jaime loves to join him and do a silly dance with 'Bluey' intro to an episode.

Sometimes, I would join them to see what the show is about. I agree that it is fun for the family to watch and that it is educational. No wonder kids like to watch it.

The show would talk about a family of dogs, including 'Bluey' the main character, and their daily lives. They live in a town of canines. I like how the story revolves around the children, and how certain parenting works on them. Most importantly is the blue dog that captures their attention. How intriguing!

Well, they seem to like the 'mess-free' crayons that I got for them. I think I might print more 'Bluey' colouring pages for them too.

What do your kids prefer to watch? Pepper Pig? Paw Petrol? ^.^