Moving House

Hello everyone! I’ve decided to shift this blog over to Posterous. The link is here.

I don’t post often these days, but am hoping the functionality of Posterous will make it more likely

So for those who follow this blog, please do change your bookmarks!

Love,
Pilgrim Mom

Maturing Palate

During the school holidays, the Pilgrim family had an evening out which included dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant. The boys usually have the kids meal or a bowl of noodles, but this time Athos was amenable to trying our platter of salmon sashimi.

Athos: Mmm, it’s good. I like it.

Pilgrim Dad and Mom: (in unison) Oh dear.

Reading with Daddy

Pilgrim Dad brought the kids to the library yesterday. It was primarily for Athos’ benefit – he has an extended book list from school that he’s working through.

But Pilgrim Dad decided he would try to encourage Porthos (who doesn’t like books) to read as well. I was delighted until I saw the book – a war-time commando comic.

Me: What?!?!

Pilgrim Dad: Hey, he now knows what ‘strafe’, ‘achtung’ and ‘luftwaffe’ mean. And the different pain levels as denoted by “AARGH” and “AAAAAAAAH”.

I roll my eyes and rest my case….

The Curious Case of Supposed Poultry

This morning, I took some time to understand Athos’ current book series obsession, Beast Quest. As far as I can tell, it’s a fantasy with the usual battles between good and evil. And thus ensued this conversation:

Pilgrim Mom: You know, a lot of modern fantasies are inspired by classics like “The Lord of the Rings” and the “Chronicles of Narnia”. [We chat about common themes, and land on betrayal.]

PM: Remember how Edmund betrays his siblings in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”?

Athos: Yah, all because he likes…what was it…Chicken Supreme?

PM: Eh?!?!

Athos: Isn’t it Chicken Supreme?

PM: No, it’s Turkish Delight!

Athos: Oh, it’s turkey then!

I couldn’t stop laughing for a long, long while. We were on the way to the optometrist so it’s a mercy that I didn’t crash….

John O’Donohue: A Blessing For One Who Is Exhausted

Some months ago an older woman whom I greatly respect introduced me to the poetry of John O’Donohue. His poems, for me, occupy that rare space between humanity and the divine, a sort of linguistic thin place.

Today I returned to this poem, felt my breathing slow, a calm return. Perhaps it might bless you too.

A Blessing For One Who Is Exhausted
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On the mind like an endless, increasing weight,

The light in the mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now become laborsome events of will.

Weariness invades your spirit.
Gravity begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.

The ride you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.

You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken for the race of days.

At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.

You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.

Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.

Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.

NLB’s Video Library

Exams are over and the school holidays are almost upon us! Which means I am once again trying to keep half a step ahead of boredom and mischief among the Pilgrim brood.

Thankfully, there are few places more trustworthy than our neighbourhood library. I’ve raved about Singapore’s library system and its treasures elsewhere on this blog, but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned that besides the books (which already offer rich pickings), NLB also carries DVDs.

I’m not sure how they determine what titles to offer – you won’t find Hollywood blockbusters or primetime TV series – but there are award-winning documentaries, instructional videos, educational CD-ROMs and the occasional classic movie.

This week Pilgrim Dad and I borrowed and watched To Kill A Mockingbird, the 1962 film adaptation of the book, that won Gregory Peck an Academy award for Best Actor. And for the kids, we’ve found the Popular Mechanics for Kids and Bill Nye the Science Guy series delightful.

I can imagine few better uses for my tax dollar!

Digital Ontologies

Aramis and I had this little exchange yesterday:

Me: I’m bringing the computer.
A: That’s not a computer, that’s an iPad.
Me: An iPad is a computer.
A: No, computer is computer. iPad is iPad.

I wonder what Steve Jobs would have to say about that!

Gigantic Beans

I had to sign Porthos’ spelling sheet last week. As I pulled out my pen, I saw that he got a score of 9/10. The one he got wrong was “gigantic beans”. And against it, the teacher had written, “gigantic bins”.

Me: Why did you write “beans”?
Porthos: Because that’s what the teacher said!

Pilgrim Dad and I couldn’t stop laughing. Another case of “leopard preenz”!

Porthos and Athos the Exegetes

Family worship time and Pilgrim Dad leads the children in a reading-cum-artistic interpretation of the Fall of Man.

They are having a right good time drawing the snake and the fruit and the Man and the Woman (complete with censorship blocks over vital anatomical bits).

After they are done, Pilgrim Dad asks them what they think God is teaching us.

Without hesitation, Porthos says, “Fruits are bad for you.” We dissolve in chuckles, during which time he surmises his answer was not quite the authoritative interpretation.

“Don’t listen to talking snakes?” he ventures in all sincerity.

By this time, Pilgrim Dad and I are in fits. Athos decides to have a go as well and calls out, “Don’t listen to your wife!”

Let’s just say my boys don’t appear as yet to have bright prospects as men of the cloth….

Why Goldilocks should get a different name

Story time with Aramis so I asked him what he wanted me to tell.

Aramis: Bear bear and the logs.

Pilgrim Mom: You mean Bear Bear and Dog Dog? (regulars in the Pilgrim cast)

Ar: No, Bear bear and the logs. With the porridge.

PM: Ah, you mean GoldiLOCKS and the Three Bears.

I proceed to tell the story.

PM: So what story do you want next?

Ar: I want Loggage and the Bears again!

Update on 28 Sep
What story for today? Aramis says, “Goldi-blocks and the bears!”

The Answer

It’s 2am and I’m still awake. I had every intention to go to bed at a decent hour but for some reason, my mind was churning with thoughts about the future, of work and family and health and life’s larger purposes.

So I decided to listen to a new compilation I just bought. What joy to find another beautiful gem by the gifted (and – may I venture – anointed) Corrinne May. And now I am off to bed.

The Answer

Lyrics by Corrinne May Ying Foo
Music by Gustav Holst, ‘Jupiter’ from The Planets Suite

I believe you are the answer to every tear I’ve cried
I believe that you are with me,
My rising and my light.

Give me strength when I am weary
Give me hope when I can’t see
Through the crosses I must carry
Lord, bind my heart to Thee

That when all my days are over
and all my chores are done,
I may see your risen Glory
Forever where you are.

Pilgrim Mom Kena Scolding

Athos and Porthos have a Mandarin tutor who coaches them through their school syllabus. This has led to, I must confess, a rather lackadaisical attitude on my part when it comes to the boys’ progress in Mandarin.

And I was caught out today -

Tutor: 我已经开始准备孩子的 CA2.
Pilgrim Mom: CA2 是什么？
Tutor: 你这个妈妈真没用！

Ahem. For the record, CA2 is Continual Assessment 2. And I still don’t know what that really means….

A National Day Dessert

We had family and friends over for National Day dinner and parade-watching on the goggle box. (Wasn’t this year’s just splendid?)

Anyway, earlier in the afternoon, Athos, Porthos and I created this patriotic and healthy dessert using grapes and canned lychees. Simple fun, and I must say the end result looked pretty decent too.

Happy 44th birthday Singapore!

The Hair-Brained Adventures of Porthos

There’s something about my middle child and his hair. Elsewhere in this blog, I’ve catalogued his self-administered haircut, and his foray into gel-based styling.

And now this morning.

It was just after 6am and Porthos came into our bedroom, woke me up, and pointed at his head. I turned on the light and there it was – a massive lump of electric green silly putty, enmeshed into the hair at the back of his head.

Even at that bleary hour, I wanted to laugh.

Porthos had been playing with the putty just before bedtime, and must have left it right next to his pillow and fallen asleep on top of it. The stuff had pushed right into the roots, and there were tufts of hair sticking out in all directions. I had no idea what to do.

Ordinarily a Google search would have been my first instinct. (Oil? Alcohol? Industrial-grade solvent?) But Porthos would have to leave for school soon so I didn’t have time.

We went to the bathroom and suffice to say it was the combination of lots of water, lots of shampoo and a fine-toothed comb that eventually coaxed the stuff out. I silently thanked God that Porthos was in a good mood that morning, and apart from an “ow” now and again, he seemed none the worse for wear.

“Do we have to throw away the putty?” Porthos asked woefully.

“I’m afraid so. And the comb too – I broke two teeth,” I said.

In the midst of the commotion, little Aramis woke up and called out, “Mummy…. Mummy!…. MUMMY!” (When you’re a third child, that’s about how many tries it takes to get the attention you want….)

“Yes dear?”

“Come and sayang me,” he said. (Sayang is Malay for “love”, and in our household, code for hugs and snuggles and the like.)

So putty problem solved, and Porthos finally settled down to breakfast, I dutifully went to snuggle with my youngest.

And that was just the first half hour of this mother’s day! (Later that morning, my bottom got pinched by a cracked toilet seat. But another story for another day….)

The aftermath. The big lumps of putty were assembled after the fact - they were actually spread out all over the back of his head. Note the two broken teeth of the comb.

George Eats Laksa, Not Durians

A few days ago we were playing Bible Quiz over lunch with some friends. One of the adults asked – “Who can name the first five books of the Bible?” After Genesis and Exodus, none of us were entirely confident about the order (which speaks volumes about our Bible knowledge!)

Anyhow, it was an opportunity to teach the kids about mnemonics, specifically first-letter mnemonics. The one I learnt in school for the colours of the rainbow was “Richard Of York Gained Battles in Vain”, which I always found a bit odd since the poor Duke is mostly unknown to Singaporeans. Much better that we come up with one that makes sense for ourselves!

Anyhow, I challenged the kids to come up with one for the Pentateuch so we wouldn’t be lost for the answer again. And the title of this post is Athos’ attempt, which I thought was quite a winner!

The Ten Commandments in Textspeake

A friend sent me this. Brilliant!

1. no1 b4 me. srsly.

2. dnt wrshp pix/idols

3. no omg’s

4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now; sun l8r)

5. pos ok – ur m&d r cool

6. dnt kill ppl

7. :-X only w/ m8

8. dnt steal

9. dnt lie re: bf

10. dnt ogle ur bf’s m8. or ox. or dnkey. myob.

M, pls rite on tabs & giv 2 ppl.

ttyl, JHWH.

ps. wwjd?

Ice, ice baby

In the midst of this impossibly hot weather, I’ve been trying to think of things to do with the kids that don’t involve us (well, me really) getting too sticky and sweaty.

I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before but ICE is such a great, low-cost, boredom buster. Today we spent a good hour outside doing icey things, which worked so well in this nasty heat. And you can always teach some science on the sidelines – freezing, melting, surface tension, adhesion, cohesion, hydrophilia, hydrophobia blah blah blah.

But it’s really too hot to get into the science. So on to the activities -

• Ice-racing – Give each kid a piece of ice and get them to blow it across a table. The first person to blow his ice off the opposite end wins. It helps to wet the table thoroughly to minimise friction. One variation we also tried is to use drinking straws to focus our blowing more precisely.
• Ice carrom/hockey – Kids are to use their fingers to flick their ice cube carrom-style into a goal (I just used my hands in a V formation). They can also use straws, spoons or some other item as a stick or bat.
• Ice fishing – Fill a basin with water and throw in some items that sink like marbles, coins or paper clips. Cover the surface with ice, the more ice the more challenging. Give each kid a spoon and they are to fish out as many items as they can. If you mix items you can give more difficult ones more points. To increase squeal factor, instead of spoons they are to use only their index and middle fingers (like chopsticks). If you have a bigger basin, you can also try bigger items which the kids must fish out use their feet.
• Ice bags – Fill a small Ziploc with ice cubes and seal. Practice throwing and catching, and take cool break in between!

Stay cool!

More Fun and Frugal Birthday Cakes

It turns out the most popular post on Pilgrim Parent at the moment is
Birthday Cakes for the Fun-Loving and Frugal

So here are more cakes, created since that last post. All are made from Betty Crocker cake mix, and the icings are either butter or whipped cream based.

Porthos’ 6th birthday cake – an aircraft carrier with Lego figures and models made by Porthos himself.

Milo powder and nuggets simulate soil and rocks in this military-inspired, sugar-saturated creation for Athos’ 7th birthday.

Aramis’ 3rd birthday cake is a train featuring chocolate-chip cookie wheels, windows made of Loacker biscuits, and Kit Kat tracks.


Athos is begining to outgrow cutesy cakes so we had some difficulty brainstorming for his 8th birthday. Since he likes Lego so much, we decided on a Lego block cake. I’m a little embarrassed to say most people had difficulty recognising it

Make sure to check out these other cake posts too!
Birthday Cakes for the Fun-Loving and Frugal
The Smoke-Emitting Prehistoric Cake
The A380 @ Camel Diaries

Water shooters for toddlers

It has been blistering hot in Singapore so water play is the activity of first resort in the Pilgrim family these days.

It’s not always convenient to go to a pool, so here’s a fun alternative, especially if you have younger kids. Buy a spray bottle from any household goods store, fill it up with water, and let the kids at it! The cheapest bottles go for under $2, and the more expensive ones have different nozzle settings.

Here are some ideas:

• watering plants, leaves, flowers
• spraying into tubs and basins
• aiming at specified targets (we sometimes draw a bull’s eye on our blackboard)
• shooting at each other – this works especially well if you have, as the Pilgrim family does, kids of varied ages. The older ones will always win in an all-out water gun fight, so spray bottles level the playing field enormously. Be forewarned that older boys might consider this extremely uncool! Athos was most dismissive at first, but eventually deigned to join in and had fun.
• add different food colourings to each spray bottle and let them spray paint on a large piece of mahjong paper or the bathroom wall
• if it’s a sunny day, challenge them to make a rainbow. Porthos managed to do it without any guidance and was utterly thrilled (not surprising given his history with rainbows). The spray should be the kind that shoots out a mist of water rather than a jet, and you should stand with your back facing the sun.

The spray bottles are a useful tool for sand play as well – if you are building sandcastles on a hot day, spray the built structures occasionally to keep them wet and intact.

Don’t be surprised if the kids find other interesting ways to use the spray bottles. Athos started giving Porthos a “haircut”, spraying water like an old pro barber!

Have fun!

Red Sports – Daily PE? One primary school shows the way.

Just a quick post to link everyone over to Red Sports’ feature story on Seng Kang Primary School, the only school in Singapore that offers daily PE lessons for all its students, rain or shine.

Earlier this year, Porthos came home from school saying that he didn’t have PE that day, even though it was on the schedule. Why, I asked. “Because we were behaving badly. So the teacher punished us and didn’t let us go for PE.”

I thought that was one of the more absurd things I’d ever heard. I’ve also heard anecdotes of schools cancelling PE for PSLE revisions or make-up classes. Is it any wonder that the ruggedness of our nation is in question?

According to Singapore’s Health Promotion Board, “Singapore has one of the highest rates of myopia in the world. In Singapore about 30% of the children become myopic by the age of 7 and by age 12 about half of them are myopic. There is a grave need to prevent myopia in children at a younger age because the younger the age of onset of myopia, the higher the risk of developing eye related diseases later in life.” HPB also supports daily outdoor time because “emerging evidence suggests that spending more time outdoors may help delay the onset or progression of myopia.” (Source: HPB website)

Add in our obesity rates, and the range of learning disabilities and sensory problems present in our chidren, and Seng Kang’s example truly stands out.

Red Sports – Daily PE? One primary school shows the way.