...and then there were two!

Pressure Cooker

A good friend recently shared about how low she felt when she observed a 16-month old doing amazing things like sing along to songs (!), respond "the wheels of the bus" when asked what her favourite song was (!!!) and construct sentences like "bye bye, see you next week" (!!!!!). Show off!

Let me put things into perspective for those without kids.

DN is also 16 months old. (But I once told someone that he's 14 months old because I was thinking, "Okay, he's 1 year 4 mths... 12 months in a year... 12 x 4 - 5 + 3.5 - 12 + 4... divided by pie 3.14... equals... he is 14 months old!" And I said it with such glee and pride too. PF just shook his head. That's why I teach English and not Maths, honey!)

Anyway... DN is the same age as Wonderkid but the only thing that he says now is "mum-mum" (for food). "Bye bye, see you next week?" What ARE they feeding this kid for breakfast? Brains??? DN only gets mixed grain cereal so I'm still waiting for him to call me 'mummy'.

At 16 months, some babies are just learning to walk and Wonderkid is helping the teacher pack up after class. Whoa nelly.

Attention! Sour grapes alert!

What with newspaper articles about 7 year olds taking O Level Physics, 12 year olds playing Wagner at their own concerts and youtube videos of 10 month old babies naming objects from flashcards, it's not unusual to start feeling stressed about living in such a pressure cooker society. The fact that these other wonderkids come from humble, regular families also makes the idea of one's own kid being a wonderkid all the more achievable.

Saya anak boleh! (I think.)

Last weekend, I started to panic in the middle of "Bob The Builder" because DN and I were lounging on the couch, staring vapidly at the TV. I'll put money down that our eyes were glazed over and our mouths were agape. I got up with a start. "Die! This is not stimulating AT ALL! How ah!? Where are the books? The puzzles? The shape sorter? His brain! His brain! His brain!"

PF, the voice of reason, calmed me down after listening to my latest concoction. (A game where I'll put all sorts of stuff into a box and get DN to take out the ones I name. It's lame, I know. I think MY brain needs stimulating!) The words of wisdom from the voice of reason? "Can you please stop being so competitive and let him enjoy his childhood!?!"

Ho hum. He's right. Do I want to spend my weekends flashing flashcards (it's 1 per second okay!) at DN and teaching him how to read before he talks? Mr Shichida can take his dots and cards and shove it! (Or is that Mr Doman?!)

I will spend my weekends with DN walking around the estate, pointing out the birds, cats and dog poop, reading him books from his little library and just, hanging. When he's older and loses the baby instinct of tearing paper, I'll bring him to the library. When he's older and loses the baby instinct of putting everything into his mouth, I'll bring him to Sungei Buloh. When he's older and loses the baby instinct of using food as an art medium, I'll make muffins with him.

In the meantime, I'll just let him enjoy his childhood so that I can enjoy his childhood!


DN : "Sounds like a good plan, Mom!"