Without kids VS With kids.

Salam,

Let's see these pictures and then tell me if you agree with those situations.

How to play with your children without spending a fortune!

Parents especially new parents will be so excited when they have a baby. They don't hesitate to spend a fortune on toys for their baby just to make sure their baby can play. But what about those who don't really have so much money to buy heaps of toys? Will their children lose the oportunity to play and learn through playing? After having two daugthers and becoming a SAHM, I've gained more knowldge and experiences in being a mom.sebenarnya bila tak kerja ni dah tak banyak duuit nak beli toys jadi kenala kreatif. All mothers out there would have experienced the same thing. We become wiser ye ke sy lg pandai skrg ni.heheWhat I'm going to share in this entry is based on the things that I've learnt through experiences and through my reading. (kalau sesiapa yg rasa ada cadangan, saya alu-alukan sbb saya bukanlah pakar)How to play with your kids without spending a fortune!:

• Recycle some of your rubbish.
  

         For examples, the empty boxes or plastic bottles should be used to set up a pretend shop in your children's bedroom or just in a corner of your own backyard. It doesn't need a huge space. Just make sure the boxes and the bottles are clean. Once your children are bored with the same items, you can discard them and replace with new ones.

• Go to the nearest playground or park.

I reckon most parents already knew about this. But what I'm going to suggest here is instead of only your family, why not inviting more families to join. Well, the more the merrier! You can have a simple picnic together while your children play and socializing with each other. Last Thursday, we (my friends and I here) organised a trip to Parana Park where our children had the chance to play in the huge playground and splishing splashing in the public pools in the park.

• Use your imagination to create something that you can play with.

It's easy to set a play area. You can use your dining table as a cave especially if you have a huge table cloth. Your dining chairs can be a bus when you put them in lines. Your sofa can be a rocket ship. Nothing can stop you play with your children when you use your imagination. Your children can help contributing their ideas too when you encourage them to imagine.

• Involve your children in the household chores.

Doing household chores should not be so mundane. You can change the chores into exciting chores when you ask your children to play some small part. As I have daughters, I like to do some baking with them. They like to help me stir, pour some milk or just put some chocolate chips or raisins on muffins. It's not wrong to teach your son on how to cook because they also need the basic skill especially when they have gone to university. My late mum asked my brothers to peel onions, fry eggs or cook the rice whenever she was too busy with other chores. Now, when they have grown up, at least they can cook something simple for themselves.

• Introduce to your children any simple games or traditional games that you used to play when you were small. 

There are heaps of traditional Malaysian games that I reckon our children don't really know and never heard of. We should revive the traditional games like "congkak, teng-teng, guli" and many more. A simple game of Peek A Boo or what we call "Ba Cak" is suitable for babies. Other games would be more suitable to older children. Playing hide and seek can help you to redirect your children from their tantrums! You only need few ringgits (or dollar or whatever the currency you use) to buy some rubber bands and make a jumping rope for your children.

 

• Share some stories about what happened when your children were small or even include your children's names in the story that they love.

My daughters; Fathini and Hafizah really love the bed time stories. Sometimes when I'm too tired, I just tell them what happened when they were little. They like to hear more true stories about our family and learn more about their relatives too. 

The key to all of these is your time, energy, enthusiasm and your interest in spending quality time with your children. It doesn't have to take so long for you to play with them. They need our attention when they are growing up as they are not going to be responsible individuals if we fail to shape them.

My princesses stories.

I want to share a little bit about my princesses; Fathini and Hafizah. Fathini who is 4 years old, can't wait to grow older and be 5. Hafizah who is 2, still consider herself as a baby as she knows she's the little one. When they are playing nicely with each other, I can have my own time doing other things. (including blogging. hehehe). But when they are bickering, shouting at each other or starting to hit each other, I always find myself torn as I don't know what to do. All the books about parenting will be useless as the techniques are not really suitable to all children. Most of the time, I will tell them to stop hitting each other, stop shouting and bickering.

Both of them are quite good in using English now. Maybe because of the influence from their peers in Peachgrove Playcentre. Plus they are at the age where they can easily absorb languages. Sometimes they sounded so funny when they tried to use English and Bahasa Melayu at the same time. For example, HAfizah usually says "Mama, nak milk please". Fathini will use a word in Bahasa Melayu when she is not sure like "Mama, I want to go to my friend's rumah". We (my hubby and I) want them to be able to converse both in Bahasa Melayu and English. I want them, if possible to be able to kecek kelate too. (Am I too demanding?hmmm).

What's interesting when they are at this age is watching them beceming more creative and exploring new things on their own. Fathini attends Peachgrove Palycentre 3x a week. Hafizah 2x
a week. They have learnt heaps of interesting things there and without a doubt, I myself have picked up some ideas. That's why I like to spent my time at a dollar store and buy some supplies for my kids at home. They have papers, colouring books, colouring pens and pencils, puzzles, some crafts and some other knick-knacks. They also have blocks and other educational toys. (org lain pun mesti beli banyak toys utk anak2 jugak kan).

Sometimes, I just let them use their imagination when they play. It's not hard to do as we can relate to our own childhood games when it comes to imagination. My princesses used their chairs and it became a bus. They used their blankets to build a castle or make a cave. They used the coffee table as their little bed. They liked to hide behind the sofa and pretended that it was their home!.


I'm happier that I have this opportunity to spend my time with my little princesses now. When Fathini was little, I missed a lot of things as I worked from 8-4 Mondays-Fridays. I know that I want to go back to work but at the same time how I wish I could have time with my family too. I'm sure lots of women out there have the same dilemma. It's not easy to be a woman right?