Reflections at Laerdal
- The mind of a child is no man’s landby gohawaypapaThe mind of a child is no man’s land Whose geography is shaped by the forces of our hands Invaded by fear Cowering in trauma Flooded with tears Crying for mama Lifted in joy Discovering a new toy The curve of that smile Extends for a mile Laughter escapes in his sleep At a memoryContinue reading “The mind of a child is no man’s land”
- 3 tools to build healthier relationshipsby gohawaypapaI just joined the respectful parenting Facebook group. While exploring the group, I discovered that Facebook has a guide module. This guide module allows users to craft and package content for other users. I tried following one of the guides (30 days of calm and connection) and shall attempt to summarise the things that stoodContinue reading “3 tools to build healthier relationships”
- Our 1st staycation, with 2 sons, 3 lessons learntby gohawaypapaIt’s been a long time since I last wrote something. When I started my 1 year leave, I told myself that I’d give myself the first term of school to relax. One quarter of my leave is already over! So I’ve been busy. Started learning, attending courses, reading stuff, learning new skills and it didn’tContinue reading “Our 1st staycation, with 2 sons, 3 lessons learnt”
- A phase forgotten, A face rememberedby gohawaypapaMustering every ounce of strength, this 7 month old is attempting to scale to the summit of the mountain of pillows. He risks banging his head against the rock wall, thankfully someone is there to cushion his head if it happens. Occasionally, he stops and turns to glance at me, flashes a smile that saysContinue reading “A phase forgotten, A face remembered”
- Insurance against the dark sideby gohawaypapaFaith in humanity restored is insignificant if faith in humanity did not get lost in the first place. These 4 words that we often see being posted in social media is a hint that humanity has a tendency to gravitate to the dark side. Fear is the path of the dark side. Fear leads toContinue reading “Insurance against the dark side”
- Newton’s 3rd law of (e)motionby gohawaypapaWhat if we borrowed Newton’s 3rd law and apply it to the field of emotions? What would it sound like? This idea struck me as I reflected on the incidents that happened between my son, my wife and me. Most of us should be familiar with Newton’s (less formal) 3rd law of motion – ForContinue reading “Newton’s 3rd law of (e)motion”
- 3 ways to get a child to cooperateby gohawaypapaFeeling defeated by a week of school reluctance, I wanted to expand my toolkit to manage these situations. So I picked up a book “How to talk so little kids will listen” and applied some ideas from there. I wanted to get my son moving without losing my cool or feeling defeated. The first chapterContinue reading “3 ways to get a child to cooperate”
- My son’s punchlineby gohawaypapaThis morning’s journey to school was tough, but the worst part was what happened when he reached school. At 3am, my son was semi-awake and said he didn’t want to go to school. We asked about bullying, about his classmates, nothing concrete. We made jokes, he laughed, eventually he agreed to go school (yeah right)Continue reading “My son’s punchline”
- 6 Things I learnt about my child’s school reluctanceby gohawaypapaThere is something about turning 3. For 3 days after my son turned 3, he refused to go to school. Exasperating would be an understatement. On one day, I took 1 hour to get him to get into the car. It reached a point where I yelled at him, which only served to make thingsContinue reading “6 Things I learnt about my child’s school reluctance”
- Moving from F.E.a.R to F.E.A.Rby gohawaypapaImage by Wokandapix from Pixabay There are days when we are more human that usual. On those days, our frustrations get the better of us, we give in to it and unleash on the child that is acting up usually through no fault of his, except that he too is feeling just like us, whereContinue reading “Moving from F.E.a.R to F.E.A.R”
- What do stay home parents talk about when they meet?by gohawaypapaChina World Hotel, Beijing, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Before parenthood began, my wife and I would occasionally go for high teas during the school holidays. During the high tea, we usually notice groups of ladies with their infants, chatting and laughing and we would pass the comment “So free? Don’t these peopleContinue reading “What do stay home parents talk about when they meet?”
- Protecting from the randomness of life, Preparing for a life of randomnessby gohawaypapaCristian V., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Over the Chinese New Year weekend, most of Singapore was probably following the Tanjong Pagar accident. As a parent of 2 young children, the accident left echoes of fear within my heart. Reading this post by Michael Han – How do you protect your child from theContinue reading “Protecting from the randomness of life, Preparing for a life of randomness”
- Tantrums: 4 Gives to never forgetby gohawaypapaImage by Avtar Kamani from Pixabay When 2 boys want something, but only 1 can be appeased, you get double trouble. Over the weekend, my son was getting excited to meet his cousins for a playdate until… they wanted to watch TV and give the adults a break. Or so we thought. They couldn’t agreeContinue reading “Tantrums: 4 Gives to never forget”
- Looking inward, Looking in the Wordby gohawaypapaIf you have been reading a few of my posts, you’ll know that this year is a sabbatical for me, a time to reflect and look inwards. I haven’t been to church in a year because of the restrictions placed on mass gatherings so one way I’m trying to make/catch up is to attempt toContinue reading “Looking inward, Looking in the Word”
- 3 things to align for the next step forwardby gohawaypapaMany years ago, I remember tuning in to the news of a lady trapped in a roundabout for 50 rounds until the police had to come to escort her vehicle out. Navigating a high traffic roundabout could be one of the toughest driving situation to be in. When you are not sure which exit toContinue reading “3 things to align for the next step forward”
- 1 intervention to minimise ultimatumsby gohawaypapaI have come to notice that everytime we have to pull off a threat or ultimatum with our child, it boils down to 1 thing – Time. The lack of it. Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures.Continue reading “1 intervention to minimise ultimatums”
- Focused? Defocus and Refocusby gohawaypapaHave you ever had difficulty trying to get your child to do something? There can be a myriad of reasons why he does not cooperate. In my previous post, I shared about how I used the LEAP routine to get my boy out of the house and on the way to school. Today, I facedContinue reading “Focused? Defocus and Refocus”
- 4 steps to manage an unwilling childby gohawaypapaNo! I don’t want go school! It was another one of those days. When your child acts up for unknown reasons and you are struggling to get him to wear his uniform, shoes and get out of the house. You are on the verge of screaming or taking out something to threaten your child andContinue reading “4 steps to manage an unwilling child”
- Reflection while runningby gohawaypapa1 February 2021 I ran 2 times today. The last time I did this was 20 years ago. I still remember going for a run on the morning of Sept 11 and came back to the officers’ mess to see the news about the attack on World Trade Centre. It’s been a month since IContinue reading “Reflection while running”
