Hula Girls

Found this website which has plenty of good stuffs. So decided to do something with my little one, eagerly, anticipating some moments of fun. And, we thought of making 2 hula puppets, adapted from MollyMooCrafts. Instead of toilet rolls, we had a kitchen tissue roll, apparently just ran out of tissues recently. Good!

Too long, so we cut it into 2. 

Next, I got the ever ready professional painter-turn-messy to paint it. She was happy doing it. With of course smearing some paint on her face and legs. But, its okay...cleaning up mess is my job, accepted it with my full heart :-)

And the outcome is 2 fully completed biege colored rolls.

Next, we got few attractive pink color papers as their skirts and wrapped around the rolls. Get my LO to draw the eyes, noses and mouths. So tempted to correct her each time, but I understand this is her "project" so gotta let her manage herself. 

Added some colored papers as their hairs and some flowers to be adorned. And here is the completed hula girls!

Looks funny with their suppose-to-be coconut shell bikinis. Anyways, it is a good activity to fill up free time when books are not in favor :-)

Swim Your Way Out

Today, I realized that I have forgotten about my parents wedding anniversary date. It was already due for a week. I wish them every year without fail. But not this year.  I dropped a message to both of them. And my dad replied, "Finally, you remembered!". I said, "Ya, too many things lately". He replied back, "Life is like that. You got to 'swim' ". Swim???
Ya, I think I can decipher that. We are not talking some alien language here? Don't we? I thought I can make some sense out of it. For someone who have lived almost 3/4 of his life, experienced enough, tasted almost all kind of tastes, sour, bitter, sweet, you name it, his life lessons are just too many. 
Therefore, I can figure it out. He meant to say, even though life gets tougher, you got to find your way out. You got to somehow find some solution for your self rather than sitting down and sulking. The trigger point to change your self is in your hands. No one else can help you out but yourself. Obstacles are meant to be faced, not to be shooed away. The battle is for you to win. If you 'swim' harder without giving up, you will succeed. What he  says there is no life without challenges. In fact life will not be called as LIFE if you don't face difficulties. It comes in a package. 
Sometimes, I used to sit and ponder. How could they 'survive' through their relationship for so long? In my early days, I used to observe several occurrences, well, I would say or anticipate almost gonna-be-erupted volcanoes. But always there would be someone pulled off or rather give away. Guess this is how it should be. In a broader picture, it is all about tolerance and perseverance. And of course, appreciation. If you think life as complicated, then it is complicated. Actually it will be complicated if you think it is complicated. Our mind translates into actions based on how we think. Great piece of reminder to keep our lives going...

Empathy

Empathy simply means "Empathy is the capacity to understand what another person is experiencing from within the other person's frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another's shoes." ~ extracted from Wikipedia.I was reading this article http://www.positive-parents.org/2012/07/ignoring-their-cries.html and I realized it was not really the article which sort of disturbed me. The article described about realities faced by many parents these days. Kids. Challenges. Tantrums. Understanding them was never an easy task. Each of them are unique in their own ways. There is no fixed methodology to handle them but parents need to tailor made their attempts and efforts to understand their behaviors. 

So often we are lost in our own world. There are many of us wear different kinds of hats every day. We are too engrossed in our thoughts and often forget our roles. This article reflects my own self. As if I was looking at myself in the mirror. Sad to say but it is true. Time to wake up and get back to the routines to add values to myself. So I don't get too 'lost' and I have to remind myself over and over. There were many comments posted by readers on this article. The key point is we should treat and see our kids as human themselves. An interesting note says "You're not managing an inconvenience, you're raising a human being. - Kittie Frantz". If they are complaining there is something bothering them and they are not satisfied. They need to be understood in a better way and not to be brushed off. 

Empathy does not only applies for adults but also to kids. Practice empathy, show them what you would like to see in them. It takes time and efforts but that is why you are given the role. --> Reminder for myself.

Life is ... To Be Appreciated !