Just like the rest of Singapore, we slowed down, spent time cooking, baking, and came up with creative versions of snacks. Our new favourite is digestive biscuits with Biscoff crunchy spread topped with ice cream. Try it!
Whenever the kids are bored, they would congregate in the kitchen and we seem to be eating round the clock. #1 has successfully brewed her first kombucha tea! She’s currently trying to brew a mango and passionfruit version.
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When we see some yummilicious desserts on IG, the girls would gamely try to make it. We can open a home bakery soon, eh? As for the boy, he spends way too much time gaming but rationalises that Minecraft helps with creativity and he is bonding with his friends and there’s teamwork involved. He’s been patiently teaching Kate how to play it and they both tell me gleefully that “Isn’t it good mum, that we are getting along nicely?” Ah well, it’s the holidays anyway. I have decided long ago to pick my battles. Right now, I need peace in my household.
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For many families, the bonding time together is something we will remember and treasure.
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The hubs deserves a CB Medal – “Best person to be stranded with”. He was still working but managed to serve up restaurant standard meals daily. He loves to cook and does it very quickly. Hmm, perhaps we could open a Home Restaurant – hubs cook, kids make dessert, I entertain.
He was also Mr DIY. Our water pipe burst and the toilets couldn’t be flushed and he sweated for hours, problem-solving with his box of tools until everything was working well again. The air-con leaked and he got up there to fix it. Not only that, but he cleans up thoroughly after he is done! Finally, I appreciate all these monstrous-looking equipment lying around the house.
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I have always been daunted by technology but decided to face it squarely and get comfortable with it. I learnt to access one platform at a time, both for work and to help Kate navigate HBL. We fumbled through it, failing time and again, but every morning, she would say, “Mum, let’s try again today!” Love her indomitable spirit.
One big takeaway was that I’ve found a better way to help parents. I’ve been running parenting workshops for years and the biggest challenge for parents was to find time to attend and they tell me they wished they had come down and learnt all of this earlier. With online sessions, they can do it from home at their own time. Now to figure out how to get my workshops online!
I am embracing this whole new world that tech has opened up. Such a dinosaur. But better late than never right?
Tune in to MOE’s Facebook page tomorrow Thursday, 21 May, 8pm where Ms Liew Wei Li, Deputy Director-General of Education (Schools) and Director of Schools, along with Ms Beatrice Chong, Divisional Director of Curriculum Planning & Development will be taking questions live. So join us, and ask away! (I’m just the sidekick.. I’m sure parents have lots of questions for them regarding the new announcements made yesterday about returning to school).
I’ve been using this time constructively to keep up and I joined my first Webinar. Wow. All so foreign to me, but I’m getting the hang of it. I signed up for a Webinar for SG businesses by IMDA, Webinar for education providers by DBS, Webinar for parents with teens etc and it’s mind-blowing how technology has made so many things accessible.
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With the extra time on our hands, we’ve been exploring all sorts of things. #4 is studying for her O levels, and to de-stress, she spends time on her hobbies and is launching her jewellery brand.
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We can walk away with many valuable lessons from this experience and change the way we look at things. I’ll be asking a lot more why not? in the months ahead 🙂