My Potty Pooper's Potty Training

I am here to proudly announce that Miss K has now officially passed the potty poop test with an A+.
Hooray!

I have to say that when I started her off on potty training, I was not looking at a hardcore regime which includes potty "drills" recommended by several potty training expert sites.

Let me share my potty training experience...

Week 1
Introduced her to the potty (free potty which came with the baby cot, I didn't bother buying any fancy ones with handles, music, elevation etc) before her bathtime at 8pm. I spent about 5 minutes per day showing her the potty (minus weekends), sat on it to show her how it should be used & encourage her to sit on it. She refused for the first few days, but after a while, she could sit on the potty for about....10 seconds.

Week 2
If you have read my previous entry on potty training, you'll know about the potty books which I find incredibly helpful when it comes to potty training.
This is Miss K's favourite potty book, she loves this book so much I had to renew/borrow it 3 times!

Week 2's potty time is more like a "story time" before her bath time. The little one will always beam with joy when I declare "Its Potty Time" as she knows its story time. I encouraged her by asking her whether she will pee and poo like Lily does? She will always nod and said "YES" most of the time - but no poo, no pee....yet.

Week 3
Miraculously, she pooped!
The next day, as she sat on her potty, I did not pin my hopes on her being able to "deliver" what she did the day before...but she did!
And since her first ever potty poop, like clockwork, she delivers her "stuff" once a day, everynight, right before bath time.

It has been about a month now, and she still poops on schedule, well done, Miss K!

Extreme Parenting?

During a departmental lunch yesterday, a few collegues were discussing about the controversial "Chinese Parenting" book written by Amy Chua, a Law Professor at Yale, Battle Hymm of the Tiger Mother.

No TV and videogames, No Playdates, Insist on physical labour, MUST only get As in school....Is this the 'right' way to raise smart and successful kids?

Its surprising to hear (from some of my colleagues) that one might be partially "forced" into this parenting style in order to keep up with the Singaporean Education System.

One colleague told me this story:
Daughter came back from primary school, with her first report card, she scored 75-80% (on average) for her subjects, so parents were really happy.
Daughter was sad.
Why? 'Everyone else' in class did much better than her!
Daughter pleaded to go for extra tuition and music classes as 'everyone else in class' goes for tuition and enrichment classes.

My childhood memories were often filled with lots of fun things;
Lots of care-free days chatting and baking with mum in the kitchen.......
Running around the garden, plucking grass, wild flowers and leaves for 'masak-masak' session with the siblings while dad mows the lawn.......
The whole brood cycling to the beach to see the sunset........
Going for swim-dates with my friends and family, fooling around the pool and beach (I miss the beach club)....
And what I love best, putting on my Brownie uniform and using Brasso to polish all my badges for Brownie sessions every saturday....

Will Miss K be able to enjoy a rich and fun-filled childhood, like what I had?

I really identify with Corsage's blog entry I'm a Chinese Mother Too.
I pray that God will lead me each day, so I will have the wisdom and knowledge to bring Miss K up well, to be a Godly child and Blessed in all aspects of life.