This school year - I’m only going to do one fund raising for Chloe’s school - instead of doing a few. This fund raising - is selling Lobster tickets and as usual - Chloe is truly blessed - not only the people here buys the tickets to support her effort but her Godmother and my friends from overseas donated to the fund raising too. As of today - we’ve raised $572.00 - and we are going to keep at it till December 15. I have to say that I’m very grateful to all of my online friends - who’ve donated very generously - between $10 - $100 each. I’m hoping to raise as much as I can for this fund raiser - that way for the rest of the year - I don’t have to raise any more money.

Many of us remember when educational toddler toys began and ended at alphabet blocks and pull-string toys that emitted animal sounds. These days, however, the emphasis on encouraging your children to use their minds from an early age means that the field of educational toys has exploded. There are some wonderful toys out there created specifically to feed your child’s brain from infancy onward.

1. OLLO Action Robot Kit

If you want to give your child a head start on those mechanical engineering programs you hope to inspire him or her to delve into later, this OLLO kit is an excellent educational toy. Five different pre-planned robots can be built from the same pieces included in the kit, including a windmill, walking T-Rex, dog, and more. There are also plans not included that can be looked up online. All of the designs work on a single AA battery.

2. Creative Puzzle Peg

Intended for children 18 months and over, this unique puzzle toy goes a bit further than your typical sort-and-stack toy. It encourages problem-solving skills and helps to develop fine motor control. The base comes apart in four puzzle-piece shapes and each piece has a post featuring small nubs. The included brightly-colored shapes stack on the posts, but they first have to be manipulated to move the opening of the shape over the nubs to get it down to the bottom.

3. First Time Gear Clock

This child-friendly clock is based on the first mechanical clock’s design. It teaches how gears work, as well as how to follow directions, and encourages cognitive development. The color-coded set of directions shows your child how to assemble the 27 parts into a working clock that runs for over eight hours without requiring a battery.

4. Mozart Magical Cube

The popular theory that Mozart’s music helps to improve spatial-temporal reasoning in infants and toddlers continues with this toy. This is a bit more than a music box, though. It features five large buttons that are easy for small hands to work, each of which plays a different instrument – piano, violin, flute, harp, or French horn. A sixth button plays them all in a choice of eight of Mozart’s compositions while the toy flashes to the tempo.

5. Chinese Magnetic Poetry

In a world where everything and everyone is connected, being multilingual has never been more important. Many schools are teaching foreign language from preschool on up now. This magnetic poetry kit builds on this by providing an array of 140 double-sided magnets with a simplified Chinese character and its pinyin pronunciation on one side and the English translation on the other, allowing for vocabulary-building. The set comes in a hard plastic case to keep them organized.
Learning just got more fun!

P.U. - what does it mean? I’ve never heard of P.U. till chloe started school and each time her school friends or camp friends say that the food she eats is P.U. - she becomes so embarrassed and stopped eating immediately. So each time she comes home with all her lunch intact - I know something is not right. This week - I gave Chloe some rice with chinese mushrooms and whole mushrooms with oyster sauce for her lunch and she brought almost everything back without finishing it. Apparently, one of her classmate - said her food was P.U. meaning “smells rotten”

So what do you do - if you were the mom? we encouraged her to talk to her teacher about it - but she won’t, then what do we do? we write a note to the teacher - hoping she would address it of course - so we’ll wait and see what happens? or do I take the easy way out and not give her food that she likes? I know that Chloe needs to grow some backbones and not be too bothered by what other children say - but she is and no matter what we say - she is just offended. I don’t want to teach my kid to be rude and say P.U. back to her friends - it’s tough being a kid when we were kids - it’s even tougher to see our kids being a kid *sigh*.

We had brought in some apples for Chloe’s class like we usually do every fall. When the Apple farm where grammie works has apples for sale we usually get a 10lb bag every week. They are very cheap, and sometimes grammie will pay for it or there is no charge from the good Wallace owners. We are grateful always for such kind people in this area and cannot thank them enough for being so kind to Chloe. We are really blessed because just on the weekend - Chloe received a huge teddy bear - one that is bigger than her, from our customer - Gillian - just because, therefore I always have thank you cards handy, so that I can write out thank you cards to all these wonderful people who’ve not only been kind to us but also touched our lives.

A friend just told me I’m a Godsend but little does she know that she is the one Godsent and I cannot thank all of them enough for always sending food and gifts from home for Chloe and I - even all the way from Australia. And I’m usually so busy and even sometimes forget to send thank you cards to all these wonderful people, therefore, we do our bit for the kids here and pay it forward. Friends who sends food and gifts to us never expect anything back but I’m always grateful and want to do kind things for others because of them, so they are the ones who are Godsend. Once again, I cannot thank them enough.

So before the school year started for Chloe this year, I ordered some labels from Mabel labels for Chloe`s stuff for school. Now this decision was made because of a stolen hat from Chloe before school ended earlier this year - and yes it was in school. That made me a little paranoid and at the back of my mind I just felt that I need to label just about everything that Chloe have from then on. Not really because of the cost of the missing hat - but more so because of how devastated Chloe was with her lost hat, she felt that it was her fault but it wasn`t.

Mabel labels were expensive but they were by far the best quality I`ve seen, so I ordered them online and since they came from Vancouver it took a few days to reach us - at the other end of Canada. But it was worth the wait - Chloe loved them - because she loved fishes but as soon as her classmate said they didn`t like fishes - she wished she had chose a cupcake instead for her icon - hahah! wished the kid would stand firm on her own and not be swayed so easily though.

So yes, we labeled just about anything we can find of Chloe`s and still have some left. I know we can`t stop those who are out to steal her things - but at least we can hope that if she loses it, someone will return it to the office at school.

12 yrs as a owner by association to the spouse’s business - you would think that he would get the hint and get me some business cards right? well apparently, my hint wasn’t that good - so I am going to get some business cards by postcards and the price is so cheap - the spouse cannot even say I spend too much on it. For as little as $6.99 for 100 business cards - you cannot go wrong with it - i’ll say. One can even upload your own photo if you so desire - for example if you are a realtor or a mortgage consultant and even a banker - like I get all the time when I visit my bank.

1000 of templates to choose from and if you are not internet savvy - no worries - they have a live chat person to help you along the way. But it’s very easy to do - just follow the instructions - and you will receive your business cards from as little as 2 days. I liked that moms like myself can order as little as 20 business cards just to have when we want to give them out to teachers, principal or other parents for play dates.

And since Christmas is just around the corner - I too am looking at making some personalized greeting cards with our family pictures on it - just like the ones I received every year from friends and family. I admired those cards tremendously and since they are so easy and cheap to make online - I’m going to try it out this year. So friends and family look forward to our family picture in our greeting cards for this year.

I’m so excited - we just booked the Westin Hotel at an incredible rate - and we are heading to the city for the weekend - a long overdue break - to be honest. We haven’t gone anywhere during the summer and it is driving me crazy - because I had hope to bring Chloe to the city to do some shopping. We didn’t even buy her any new clothes for school - for the local kid’s boutique here closed its door just before the summer. We bought some tourmaster jackets for ourselves online in preparation for the fall/winter - but we didn’t get poor Chloe anything. So this trip to Halifax we hope to get some good quality jackets like the Tour Master’s at kid’s size and of course at a sale price. I told the spouse that since we spent some money for ourselves on Tour Master - we should get a bit of stuff for Chloe during this trip too - like gloves, jacket and pants. I loved the leather gloves I got for PB from Tour Master - they were at a very good price - so lets hope we can get quality stuff for Chloe at just as good price too.

Well, we survived the first week at school as a Grade 2 student and she seems to be quite happy with school - although she complained that they are doing the same thing all over again. Hopefully, it gets a little bit more difficult for her soon - so that she will be a little bit more challenged. I think this year I’m also more comfy because she is with the same teacher - and I’m trying not to go into class with her so much and disturb her home room teacher as much as I did last year. I’m surprised her home room teacher took all my nonsense last year and I appreciate it very much - that she didn’t kick me outta class last year - hahahha!! So wish us good luck eh! the fun is only beginning.

The new school year starts tomorrow - and Chloe will be in Grade 2 this year - with the same teacher. I’m pretty happy with the arrangement for she did really well with this teacher. She is also looking forward to school tomorrow - and today is the long weekend of Labor day - so she is out playing with her friends on the trampoline. She should have been in Grade 3 had it not been the crazy french teacher she had for the first year. But oh well - she is doing well now - and that’s all that matter. This year she will have a new principal in her school and also a new Music teacher - she loves gym a lot - so she loves her gym teacher and talks about her all the time. In fact, she wants to be a gym teacher - sometime last year - hahah!! I can’t wait for school to start and see what she learns this year.

So someone wrote to me the other day - about sending her kids to Canada to finish their studies - and wants my opinion about it. In which my reply was - that if they do send their kids here - they will fair a lot better than most Canadian kids because foreign kids are much more competitive than our Canadian students. The teachers in Canada loved exchange students and they in turn learned about other cultures and also the different weather - if they come from Malaysia, Singapore of even Indonesia. Here in this town, we see lots of foreign students but sad to say - they are not as exposed as they should be.

So before sending your kids here - make sure you get them to the right school - the right area - a lot of kids do not like to be in small town - and they have no choice - after coming here - because they have nothing to do once school is over. If you are seriously thinking of sending your kids here to finish their high school - check out both Halifax area - as well as Vancouver - I know you have to pay a little more - but I think your kids will be more accustomed to that area instead of places like a small town. If you can - try to make sure that you go and visit the place before sending your kids here with just a brochure - brochures are meant to lie.

So school is finally over - and Chloe is ready for her summer fun - summer camp that is - this year - she did very well in school and we are very proud of her. She had 5 As and 5Bs - and her reading improved tremendously. We felt that the teachers for last year and this year played a very important part in her improving so much. Thank God for good teachers and not crazy and inexperienced ones like her first teacher.

So I went for the school BBQ alone - i took a walk up to the school on my own and I stayed for the BBQ because Chloe had asked if I would go. She said - I didn’t need to go - but she hope I would go. She was too cute when she asked - she wasn’t demanding that I go - but she would loved that I go - actually PB and I - but since PB needs to look after the store - I went instead. It was a good BBQ - nothing spectacular - only another parent was there chatting with me and some of Chloe’s teachers. But it was a milestone for me - since I never go anywhere without PB - so yes - I’m starting to feel better it seems - I hope soon I will be able to drive on my own - so looking forward to driving!

Chloe’s new cap from Etsy got stolen in school - and no she didn’t lose it - she left it near her book bag where they are supposed to be - and when she got out from class for break time they were gone. Shitty! this is a one in a kind cap - handmade and pretty expensive - and it sure broke my little girl’s heart. She loved the hat so much - she was really upset about it and couldn’t eat nor play the entire day. I hope the person who stole the hat gets lice all year round and rashes on the hand all year round too. We believed it is not a child that did it - more like someone who came to the school for the Grade Primary orientation that day - for Chloe had the cap for almost 3 weeks now - and nothing happened - and as soon as new people were in the school - the very first day - her cap was stolen - shitty is not even the word to describe how i feel about the person who stole Chloe’s cap. So from now on - I told Chloe - she can’t bring anything expensive to school no more - else she would end up getting them stolen - and that’s not good.

Chloe’s school friends came by to visit yesterday and they stayed a bit for a chat and to eat some donuts and hot chocolate. While i did my work - they were chatting, playing and eating at the same time when one talked about Justin Bieber and said that he was a two - timer - hahahahha!! these girls are but 7 yrs old - and they know what two timers were but not my Chloe. So that got me thinking about how careful we have to be in front of our kids and also what kind of shows we want them to watch - for I bet this girl learned it from the tv. Maybe I am being overly protective or maybe I just want my Chloe to be a baby for a little longer and enjoy the innocence of being a kid of 7 yrs old. Kids shouldn’t be thinking of crushes, Justin Bieber - or a two timer - they should be playing princess tea party.

We are heading to the city this weekend and I can’t wait - it’s long overdue - and we should have gone to the city in April for my birthday. Unfortunately, because of my dentist (filling caused me so much pain) - we didn’t go at all. I’m going to be having a shopping spree and eating spree - I’ve got so many things I wanna buy - from corsets and bustiers to skin care products and maybe a real leather bag from Roots that I’ve been eying on. And then I’m also going to the Swaroski store in Halifax - to treat myself. Japanese food is a must - and some dim sum on Sunday - and of course, lots of chinese groceries. Hopefully, I can find some lingerie for myself as well - since there are none here that I like. I’m so excited to be trying out clothes and lingerie but it would have been nicer to go with my girlfriends instead of PB. But oh well - can’t leave the kid with him and go to the city and have fun right?

So we went to pick Chloe up from her After School program today and she complained that she had a bad day. We asked why? she said one of her classmate - a boy said to her - that he hates CHINESE! *slap forehead*. We asked Chloe if she had spoken to her teacher about it - and she said yes - and that her teacher had spoken to her entire class about it. I don’t know how a 7 yrs old would said something like that to another kid in his class. In our household, we never use the word “HATE” - according to Chloe “HATE” itself is already a bad word. While we constantly teach Chloe right from wrong - why are other kids saying hurtful things to my daughter? What had that kid been taught at home or around home/friends? I’m curious to know exactly what is going on at this boy’s home/friends. Should I be worried for Chloe? or should i just brush it off as a kid’s thing - that they don’t know any better?

May is already here and the school year will be coming to an end really soon. Each year - we try to show our appreciation to Chloe’s teacher for all that they have done for her and this year it will be no difference. I’m sure teacher gift from students is common but we don’t want to just give a mug or a box of chocolate - we would like to give her teachers something that they can remember her by and something really useful. Besides the regular personalize note pad that we made for Chloe’s teachers yearly from a printer shop in town - we will have to think of something else to give her. I cannot express how grateful we are to Chloe’s teacher - for taking care of her and giving Chloe so much confidence in her reading - Chloe has definitely done so much better in the last 1.5 years. Plus we also need to get some gifts for her after school program teachers as well. Therefore, I need to start now to buy the presents and not wait till the last minute.

A few months ago, we noticed that Chloe won’t eat her food during lunch in school - of course, we asked her why - and she didn’t want to say at first - and just told us that she didn’t have enough time to finish her food. So we told her that we were gonna talk to her home room teacher to let her stay till she finishes her food before going out to play. Of course, that didn’t sink in too well with Chloe - so she told us the truth about her lunch time. Chloe explained that some of her friends in her class - said that her food was smelly - so she didn’t want to eat it in school as it embarrasses her. Yes! kids can be insensitive and we believed that it wasn’t meant to be mean but we also know that you can’t control what other kids think or say to our kid. So we enlisted her teachers help and also tried to explain to Chloe that not everyone need to like her food - and that she can go right ahead and finish her food even if someone in her class don’t like her food.

A month later, still Chloe would eat a bit more of certain food but some food - she just won’t eat them even though she loved the food at home. So what do every good parents do? We made extra food - first for the home room teacher to try and then 2 weeks later - a bigger batch in a corning ware dish (presentation very important too eh) and sent it to school to offer to Chloe’s classmate to eat. And guess what? today Chloe came back with her thermos empty ! woohoo!!! so if your child ever come home without touching their food - there may be more to it than meet the eyes.

Did I tell you that I’m a helicopter mom? Yup ! that’s me alright! and although PB never ever tell me not to do anything - whether I’m being overly protective or overly alarmed or immediately jumping up to help Chloe when she falls, gets upset that her friends don’t want to play with her - or even if she gets mosquito bites - I’m also learning to take a smaller step backwards each time Chloe complains about something.

For those who had been following this blog for a long time - you would know that Chloe had changed school last year - and her Grade Primary teacher had gently mentioned that her diction isn’t all there yet. Of course, we had refused any help given that she had to change school in the middle of spring - we didn’t want to stress Chloe. But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t stressed nor was I not thinking about it. I thought of it constantly and almost signed Chloe up for private tuition or was checking out Mariposa - a learning center in town.

As usual, PB was very relaxed about it - and didn’t agree nor disagree when I had suggested help for Chloe and Chloe’s Grade 1 teacher had helped by putting her in a reading help class in school - not the recovery program but something extra on the side. We are grateful for it - because Chloe loved her reading class and we are pleased to announce that Chloe’s reading had improved tremendously since her last report. Like Chloe’s grammie used to say - it will come when she is ready - and I’ve gotta constantly remind myself of that - when someone says that Chloe is not there yet about anything. Different kids just are ready at a different pace - and I cannot compare my kid with others.