Why do we mother? What spiritual legacy do we wanna leave behind for our children?
Category: Kids/Children
Stories from an Apple 🍎.
Getting Eio kids to eat fruits has been easy these days as they can “self-service”.
Mrs Eio thought of sharing some pointers she taught the kids using an apple. As a SAHM, having a proper sit-down lesson is a luxury.
Does Mrs Eio has 21st century competencies, PETALS framework, differentiated learning…(all that she learnt from MOE as a school teacher) blah blah blah.. in mind when she teaches Eio kids?
Nope.
Most of the time, concepts & “lessons” are taught to the kids amidst of preparing meals, laundry, housework, changing bedsheets etc… best part is.. there’s no need for a lesson plan! Haha.
Em was told to leave the apple on the plate & to observe the change to the apple after an hour.
Needless to say, the apple turns brown. A natural question he asked is “why?”
Here comes our 1st learning point:
1) oxidisation.
Mrs Eio showed Eio kids this YouTube video to help them better understand the concept.
(Photo above: browning of an apple after 1 hour. )
Besides sharing on the oxidisation of apple, Mrs Eio also shared another concepts that are related to apple with Eio kids.
2) Apple is a fruit. Mrs Eio shared with Eio kids how a flower on an apple tree grows into a fruit.
3) the story of Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity! Wallah!! Apple!
There are many other stories (concepts) one can teach using an apple. 🍎
Having shared all the above, Mrs Eio thinks Proper “sit-down” learning & intentional teaching are important so Mrs Eio does set aside time for these.
Well… Learning can take place anywhere, anytime but not just from anybody though. 🤔
My son – the big brother
Mrs Eio is grateful to have Em around to help her take care of El. This is especially true when Mr Eio works overtime or is overseas.
Disclaimer: To be frank kids being kids, they still bicker, quarrel & fight among themselves.. but there are days, they are simply loving. 😘lol.
As a SAHM, there are things that she looked forward to…
Eio kids playing harmoniously together..
Cooking together…
Having outdoor fun together…
Couple of months ago, Eio kids were instructed to do their Quiet Time before bed time. Mrs Eio is amused to hear Em leading his sister in prayer. He read this prayer bookmark (picture below) aloud. Word for word! El repeated after him. When they are done, they proceeded to reading. Mrs Eio was so touched that she wanna cry. Anyway… she had a good shower that night.
This is a “prayer corner” (photo below) set up beside their bed. Not well “decorated” but serves its purpose. Ultimate aim to for them to “self-service” if they need prayer guides.
There are days Em will do flash cards with El.
Mrs Eio thinks it starts with the parents reading with the kids. Then the older child picks up reading habits & read to the younger sibling. Frankly, Mrs Eio never once ask Em to read to El or do flash cards with her. It’s his own initiatives. Thankful…🙌🏻
Em reading to El… there are days Em read to El in the room & the house is just so quiet while Mrs Eio is preparing dinner. One important thing to note is that they must be within mommy’s sight. Mrs Eio will instruct them to read in the living room where she can see them while preparing meals in the kitchen. If Mrs Eio is bathing or in the toilet, she must be able to hear what they are doing & she will call El to report to her in the bathroom about their progress!
Lo & behold… after Em goes to primary one & sits for tests after tests… he came to Mrs Eio with a test script one evening & said El failed the test!!! Mrs Eio wondered what happened?!?!! Em set a test paper for El & guide her to complete the questions. For goodness sake! If El can do all these questions correctly, Mrs Eio will sure progress her from pre-school to primary one!! Haha.
Well… there are good & bad days. Look forward to the good days & the bad days will be insignificant. A grateful heart is what it needs she guessed.
Mrs Eio is thankful for his son- the big brother! – With love. ❤️️
九月… My September
漫长、沉重的九月，带给我们震撼、彷徨、心酸和希望。
一个月前的车祸几乎夺走了家翁的性命。感恩他活了下来，希望他一天过得比一天好，慈爱的天父会看护他并赐给他平安喜乐！ 就像圣经里诗篇121:6- 8， “ 白 日 ， 太 阳 必 不 伤 你 ； 夜 间 ， 月 亮 必 不 害 你 。耶 和 华 要 保 护 你 ， 免 受 一 切 的 灾 害 ； 他 要 保 护 你 的 性 命 。你 出 你 入 ， 耶 和 华 要 保 护 你 ， 从 今 时 直 到 永 远 。”
以下是孩子们为家翁（孩子们的祖父）所制作的大卡片。这已经贴在医院病房好几周了。希望他早日康复，能记得他们（孩子们）是谁。多数的字是凯宝贝写的！
倘若我能许个愿望，我希望时间能在此刻停止。 许多人的生活都恢复正常了， 但是对我家翁、家婆、先生、孩子们、小叔而言，一切都变了样。许多亲戚朋友的扶持令我们感动。一些人无视于我们所面对的考验，只说他们想说的…我们坦然面对。 也罢… 这个地球不只是为我们而转动。
这个九月， 我们学了许多许多。孩子们的单纯点燃了希望。他们在家里做家务，尽量减轻我的负担。就算他们生病了也不给我添麻烦。我还能奢求什么？
曾几何时，我是哭着睡着的，醒来了第一件事还是哭。孩子们说：“阿公说这个游戏是这样玩的！” “以前阿公会载我们到医院做体检…”听到这些，我又哭了！
先生的坚强、理智、临危不乱，是我由衷佩服的。家翁出事后那几天，多美味的饭菜都淡而无味。当我还在痛哭，认为一切都很不真实时，他心中已经盘算了许多… 他的眼眶是翻红湿润的，但神仿佛给了他神力和安慰… 他的心是坚定的，思维是清晰的。
许多许多不知如何启齿… 宣宝贝两星期内被扎针4次 。我的心好疼。她会变得更勇敢和坚强。
我好累！我想这是正常反应。我好想把手机关了几天不和人联系。反正每个人的日子还不是照常地过。
十月会更好、更美、更灿烂、更蒙恩多福！我是凭着信心这样祈求的…
哥林多後書 5:7 , “因我们行事为人是凭着信心，不是凭着眼见。”- 圣经
Dumplings making with Eio kids!
Eio kids love to eat dumplings! Weeks ago, Mrs Eio made dumpling skin (refer to the earlier post: Dumpling making | I am Mrs Eio: https://immrseio.com/2016/08/02/dumpling-making/ ) together with them but they didn’t have the time to really master the skill of wrapping dumplings. Mrs Eio has been waiting for a chance to teach them how to wrap dumplings but the plan was put on hold as El was unwell for a week…
El had to rest at home for a week. Here’s the day when El was better & Mrs Eio’s tired of cooking dinner. She’s thinking of a way to keep the kiddos occupied, yet having them to settled their dinner & prepared for their meals to come. No time to make dumpling skin that day & Mrs Eio already bought the ready made Wu Li Hao Taiwan dumpling skin from the supermarket a few days ago. Be sure to get the right ones (NOT shui jiao skin 水饺/ NOT Yun Tun 云吞 skin) . Otherwise, the skin will be soggy after cooking.
Here’s the ingredients for the fillings.
- Minced pork 400g
- 1 egg (realised one is enough)
- 1.5 cups chopped carrot
- 2 cups chopped chives
- 2tsp of grated ginger & it’s juice
- 2 tsp of sesame oil
- 1 tsp of soy sauce
- 2 tsp of fish sauce
- 1/3 tsp of salt
- Some pepper
- 4-5 tsp of corn flour (depending on the size of the egg & how wet is the mixture)
Mixed the ingredients together & chilled it in the fridge for 1-2 hours for the ingredients to absorb the seasoning.
Eio kids were extremely excited. They kept asking Mrs Eio when were they going to start making dumplings while the fillings were chilling in the fridge. Finally the time has come. Here they go!
Mrs Eio was amazed that Eio kids picked up the dumpling wrapping skills really fast! Never belittle little children.
Step by step:
- Wash your hands!!!
- Take a piece of the dumpling skin & put it on your palm.
- Scoop a tsp full of meat unto the skin
- Dip your index finger into the water & put a bit of water on the edge of the dumplings skin. (Explain to the kids that the water is acting as glue here to stick the skin together when they close the openings.
- Fold the skin into half & pressed the sides to close the openings.
- You can make gathers at the sides as you close the openings so the dumplings look prettier! 😊
Quality versus quantity
Eio kids were following Mrs Eio’s instructions. This whole process tells a lot about their personalities. Em would put the dumplings on the plate so that he could focus on making gathers at the edge. He wanted to make pretty dumplings. El would simply close the openings of the skin flat & move on to make the next one. She wanted to make many many dumplings. Lol. 😅
After making a few dumplings, Em realised it’s easier to put the dumplings on his palm to make the gathers.
Lo & behold, Mrs Eio & Eio kids made 68 dumplings in less than 25 min👏 (exclude time used to prepare & chill fillings). They freeze the dumplings for subsequent meals. 👍👍
Here’s their dumplings for dinner on the next day!
Mrs Eio wanna take picture of Eio kids eating their dumplings but in less than 10 min (while Mrs Eio’s washing dishes), El had finished eating all the dumplings in her plate. She swallowed 8 dumplings!!! Yummy! Em still admiring his dumplings & how lovely they looked…haha. How they loves dumplings.❤️❤️
Dumpling making
Mrs Eio finally gets down to make dumplings.
Ingredients for the dumpling skin:
- 3 cups of plain flour
- 1/3 tsp of salt
- 1 cup of hot water
Mix the salt & flour together. Gradually add the hot water into the flour & mix them tog. It’ll be lumpy in the beginning but make sure not to add too much water. Knead the dough till its smooth & ready to be used.
Let the dough rest for at least 1 hour. Cover it when it’s resting so the dough don’t dry up.
This dough yields about 25-30 dumplings.
Divide the dough into 30 pieces . Have a cup of flour beside you to coat the small pieces of dough. Roll them into small balls & press them flat like a pancake so that it’s easier to roll them into skin. Once you have rolled them into skin, coat the skin with some flour to prevent them from sticking with one another.
Add 2 tsp of meat fillings into the dumpling skin. Fold the skin into half. Press it down to close the opening or make a side gathers.
Eio kids trying out with Mrs Eio.
For the fillings, Mrs Eio uses the following:
- 400g of minced pork
- 1 cup of chopped celery
- Half a cup of chopped carrots
- 2 tsp of grated ginger
- Seasoning: 1/2 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of fish sauce, 1 tsp of sesame oil, some pepper, 2 tsp of oyster sauce.
Mixed well.
To make her preparation worthwhile, Mrs Eio also add the carrot & celery (bigger cut) into her pot of corn soup for dinner. There’s another container of marinated pork with chopped carrots to be frozen for another meal. Probably to cook with mushrooms or beancurd. Here’s the dumpling fillings. Mrs Eio will freeze the dumplings for another meal. 🙂
Mrs Eio has her own preference on the sauce to dip her cooked dumplings.
Dumpling sauce for dipping:
- 3tbsp of vinegar
- 1 tbsp of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp of soya sauce
- 2 tsp of grated ginger
Mix all the above together. Wallah! Enjoy…
Walnut chocolate chip muffins
Little kitchen helpers are in action again. This time round, they are helping Mrs Eio bake walnut chocolate chips muffins. Mrs Eio needs to use up the left over nuts from a gathering.
Ingredients:
1) Mixture A
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 cups self raising flour
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/3 teaspoon salt
2) Mixture B
- 2/3 cup nutrisoy milk (reduced sugar)
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3) 1/2 cup chocolate chips
4) 3/4 cup crushed walnut
5) Some almond & cranberries for toppings
El’s a good helper!
First, add & mix all ingredients together for mixture A. Add & mix all ingredients together for mixture B. Add mixture B to mixture A. Put walnuts & chocolate chip into mixture A& B. Mix them together.
Em helped to crush the walnuts. 
This recipe can yield 12 muffins. Scoop the mixture into the muffin cups.
El added the cranberries & almond toppings to the muffins.
Preheat oven at 180 degree C. Bake the muffins for 20 mins.
Done. Let them cool down before serving.
Eio kids love the muffins. 🙂
Good way to get the kids to eat walnuts (brain food). Try baking it!
Little kitchen helper: Eio Kids make egg burgers
Mrs Eio is starting a new category in her blog- Little kitchen helper.
Practical Reason: some of her SAHM or mommies friends are asking what she does with her kids at home? How she get them to help to prepare their lunch or dinner? What exactly Eio kids do when they help to prepare meals?
Here’s some photos & descriptions for easier references. Just sharing some ideas. She’s sure many mommies are doing similar stuff or even better job out there!👍
Please note that most of the photos are back dated as Mrs Eio didn’t really take photos recently when the kids help out. Will try to make an effort to take photos if possible. 😁
Why does Mrs Eio need helpers in her kitchen? Very practical reasons again!
- It’s a life skill they need to learn. Just like some parents think learning how to swim is important. 😊
- It’s educational. Eggs are not scrambled, poached, fried or sunny side up. There’s egg white & yolk too. Lol.
- Instead of them playing & starting to get bored… bickering around evening time… Come on! Do something constructive with/for mommy & the family!
- Kids to learn the process & be appreciative. If Eio kids ever question their mommy why cook this dish today or gets bored with certain dish. OK! DIY!!! After the kids started helping in the kitchen, they can better understand it really takes effort for mommy to prepare a meal for them!
- Eio kids like to help in the kitchen. They like to stand around to see how Mrs Eio prepare a meal. Aiyoh! Don’t stand around. Help out lah!
There’s couple of “things to note” before getting the little helpers to help in the kitchen.
7 key pointers for mommies:
- The task assigned must be age appropriate! You can’t expect a 2 years old to fry an egg?!?!? Probably learn how to crack an egg is more age appropriate.
- Starts with small & simple tasks. Please refrain from getting the little helpers to do complicated tasks when they are asked to help for the first time round. There’s a possibility of them messing things up. If mommy starts to get upset due to the mess, they get discouraged.
- Set rules & boundaries. Be clear with your instructions. Hello! They are kids! There’s stove, knives (dangerous items) etc in the kitchen. You really want the kids to know this is not a playground right from the start! Especially if you have more than 1 little helper!
- Avoid wastage & unnecessary “volcano eruption”(getting upset). Eg. You may wanna scoop out the pasta sauce or put some ingredients into bowls to avoid the little helpers from spilling the entire can of sauce or messing up all the ingredients.
- Preparations needed depending on what you are getting the kids to help you in. Eg. Stools if your kids can’t reach the table top. Cutleries that’s suitable for kids’ use etc.
- Provide compliments & affirmation when you see job well done or good behaviors. Practice makes perfect. The more the kids do, it’ll get better.
- Last but not least, adult supervision is absolutely required!!! They are little helpers. Not adults. It’s important to teach them how to use a plastic knife & supervise how they do the task.
Egg burgers:
As you can see the Eio kids crack eggs & add the sesame oil, salt & pepper to the egg. Beat the eggs. But Mrs Eio did not let them fry the eggs then as they were already very hungry. As of now, both kids can crack an egg. Em can crack it beautifully without breaking the yolk most of the time. El is still trying to attain that standard.
Making burger… Spread butter… Add tomatoes, eggs etc.
Eat lah! Yummy!
From level of difficulty 1-5, 1 being easiest. This kind of preparation is considered level 1. Easy for both their age. For el perhaps it’s 1.5.. But still, very safe & easy to manage. 😊
Frankly speaking, when these little kitchen helpers prepare their meals, they tends to finish everything. Lol.
Enjoy…😄
Singapore Maritime Gallery (Eios 3-part Marina excursion)
Eios 3-part Marina excursion includes gardens by the bay, Marina barrage & Singapore Maritime Gallery. If you are looking for an educational & less crowded place to bring the kids, welcome to the Singapore Maritime Gallery.
A place with various experiential zones. Parking car could be longer than usual as there’s limited lots but it’s worth the wait as the Eios had the gallery all for themselves last school holiday.
Interactive screen to find out things that Singapore imports (ship in) from other countries.
Learn about how Singapore’s port develops over the years.
Viewing the exhibits. 
Do they know what they are doing??
Ring the bell!! Em can’t reach it. Lol.
Beautiful view of the port.
This is the most fun part for the kids.
What do you want to be when u grow up? 
You may email the photos to yourself.
Touch screen activities.
A place worth bringing kids to. Discover Singapore’s Maritime story…
Check it out: http://maritimegallery.sg
EtutorStar Reading Pen 易笔通
Mrs Eio bought Etutorstar reading pen last Nov/dec school holiday from a promoter at Popular bookstore. There’s a couple of reasons why Mrs Eio decided to buy this pen (not cheap) :
1) Since Mrs Eio has never send Em for any CL enrichment class, she thought it’ll be good to get this gadget to read to Em while she read to Eliz.
2) something to get the kids occupied during the dec holiday.
3) this pen can read “好朋友”. The magazine that Em has to purchase when he’s in primary school. However, the content of the magazine has to be downloaded from the website into the pen for it to be able to read it.
4) this pen encourages independent learning & self-learning.
5) there’s other functions in this reading pen (Eg. Voice recording function) which can be useful for Em.
6) Mrs Eio’s mouth can rest a bit more from reading to the kids. Lol.
One may purchase the books at a discounted price if you buy the reading pen.
There are books more suitable for preschool level & another set of books for primary level.
So far, the pen is pretty sensitive in terms of reading the words that it’s pointing to.
Em learning to pronounce the words after the reading pen.
Eliz also enjoys using it. Frankly speaking, Mrs Eio think this reading pen is more suitable for students from Kindergartento primary level & above. Em can maximise the usage of this pen but Eliz needs more guidance in using the pen.
Em’s reading using the reading pen while I read with Eliz.
Mrs Eio decided to share this post only after she has reap all benefits from this pen for the amount ($) she spent. The kids are still using the reading pen. Em will ask for permission to use it so its viewed as a privilege to use the reading pen. After all, people need to increase their exposure to the language if they want to learn it well.
For more information, please visit their website: http://www.etutorstar.com
I am Mrs Eio 