SINGAPORE: The Anguish of Premature Empty Nest Syndrome

SINGAPORE: The Anguish of Premature Empty Nest Syndrome

Letting go...

Letting go…

It seemed like it was just yesterday when I held my newborn 3.4kg baby in my arm (yes singular!), breastfed her every 2 hours and survived on not more than 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep. In a blink of an eye, she is now a feisty and energetic 2.5 year old who is ready to “do it myself!” as she likes to say.

It used to be that whenever I asked her to do something, she would do it cheerfully, even if it was to throw rubbish into the bin. Nowadays, however, it is almost impossible to get her to do anything if there’s nothing in it for her

Where did my innocent little angel disappear to? (more…)

Madpsychmum (Singapore)

Madeline lives in Singapore, a tiny cosmopolitan island in Southeast Asia. She is a mother to a beautiful and intelligent little girl born in July 2010. Madeline used to be a stay-at-home mother while she was completing her graduate studies in psychology at a local university. On completion of her studies, she has now joined the workforce and is working in the Ministry of Education (Singapore). Madeline is passionate about children and education and hopes to make a difference in the lives of children living in Singapore. Also an avid traveller and hardcore advocate of breastfeeding, she regularly documents her overseas trips and nursing room reviews with incredible detail on her blog, MadPsychMum @ University of Motherhood.

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SINGAPORE: Dealing with Challenges

My heart has been trudging through tough terrains lately because of some events that  happened unexpectedly.

Tough as it may be, it’s going through this challenging time as a mom that has been harder to handle.

In the beginning, there were times when I just wanted to go away and be alone. Twice, I lost my temper at my son. But just as soon as I did that, guilt washed over me. I immediately apologised and held him tight in my arms, assuring him it wasn’t his fault.

This whole experience got me thinking about how I should deal with tough times as a mom. More importantly, how can I help my son to cope with challenges in life?

While I feel a need to be strong for my son’s sake, I don’t want to pretend that things are fine. After all, setbacks are a reality of life and even the little one experiences a bit of that once in a while – like when mommy and daddy refused to buy him a toy even though he was bawling his eyes out and his voice was turning hoarse from crying.

However, at two-and-a-half years-old, he is too young to understand what  happened. Yet, I believe he can sense that I’m feeling down, and it probably affected him, as he did throw more tantrums than normal when I was riding out the emotional roller coaster.

But it’s never too early to start thinking. So I imagine the day when my son is old enough, and what I would say. (more…)

Ruth

Ruth lives in Singapore, a tiny island 137 kilometres north of the equator. After graduating from university, she worked as a medical social worker for a few years before making a switch to HR and worked in various industries such as retail, banking and manufacturing. In spite of the invaluable skills and experiences she had gained during those years, she never felt truly happy or satisfied. It was only when she embarked on a journey to rediscover her strengths and passion that this part of her life was transformed. Today, Ruth is living her dreams as a writer. Ironically, she loves what she does so much that at one point, she even thought that becoming a mom would hinder her career. Thanks to her husband’s gentle persuasions, she now realises what joy she would have missed out had she not changed her mind. She is now a happy WAHM. Ruth launched MomME Circle, a resource site to support and inspire moms to create a life and business they love. She has a personal blog Mommy Café where she writes about her son's growing up and shares her interests such as food and photography.

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MASSACHUSETTS, USA: How the Garden Grows

Four years ago, my husband altered our family’s  life  journey.

He cleared out a little piece of our property, dug up our soil and put in a garden box.  He started with one box of tomatoes.  He will tell you that he had no idea what he was doing but wanted to give growing our own food a try.  What inspired him to do this, he really can’t say…it was like a light switched on inside of him and then there was no switching it off.

My husband is the type of guy that takes action. He never does anything with half an effort, he is always full steam ahead.  I really admire that about him.  After his first gardening season, he realized he needed to arm himself with knowledge and take more action.  My husband read gardening books, ordered gardening movies and read up on everything gardening related on the internet.

So here we are, four years later, and the progress is astounding.  We’ve gone from one garden box to twenty-four. My husband cleared out a huge amount of brush, dug up tree stumps, dug up all the soil, assembled the raised -bed garden boxes, bought and assembled a green house, and now we have 1,000 square feet of gardening space. Quite a leap I’d say!  (more…)

Courtney Cappallo (USA)

Courtney Cappallo is a mom of two girls, ages 7 and 4-years-old. She is living her dream life by residing on Cape Cod and being able to stay at home with her two little beauties. Courtney is currently homeschooling both of her daughters for 2nd grade and preschool, respectively.

Courtney uses a mix of Classical Education and Montessori. She is a strong believer in teaching to the five senses. Courtney’s homeschooling efforts are unique, as she uses the latest technology of the Smartboard. She is also taking on the task of learning Spanish as a second language, as well as, teaching her two children and husband Spanish.

Prior to becoming a homeschooling teacher, Courtney was the Director of Marketing for Simon Property Group, which is the largest U.S. real estate company. Courtney was Simon’s Director of Marketing for the Burlington Mall, Arsenal Mall and Cape Cod Mall. Courtney is a graduate of Villanova University and is proud of her small town roots from growing up in Oxford, Pennsylvania, which only has two traffic lights! She can be found making homeschooling lessons and more at Table of Four !

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