Christmas celebrations at shopping malls

It's the season of the year again. For the younger children, it's goin' to be a joyous season of receiving Christmas gifts and attending parties.

The streets and shopping malls all over Singapore have began to be don with the yuletide decorations, spreading the spirit and meaning of Christmas.

For the last few years, I had brought my children to shopping malls to watch and/or participate in the various children programmes. The kids enjoyed themselves very much. As parents, watching their joyous expressions at these shows was worth the time and hassle bringing them to the packed malls.

For parents who fret what children activities to fill their school holidays schedule, Christmas celebrations at the malls may be a good idea. I have consolidated the Christmas show schedules from various shopping malls for easy reference here (click here to download the xls file). Feel free to pass it around.

Last day of teaching at Rainbow Centre

After 6 weeks of teaching Kindermusik at Rainbow Centre, it has come to an end today. Time flies ! As this is my first time teaching Kindermusik, it has been a great learning experience for me. There are alot of challanges teaching special needs and autistic* children --- catching their attention, lifting those children who are not able to walk while teaching, pacifying crying children who are sticky to their care-givers, etc.. Though I have a diploma in Learning Disorder Management and Child Psychology from Linguistic Council, real-life teaching experience is a different ball game altogether.

I must confess that I was a bit discouraged initially esp those times when there are no teacher to help out while I teach and times when the class is half-filled. Having said that I still find it heartwarming to see that many children are beginning to be more responsive towards me - greeting and shaking my hand as a gesture of thank you. Today, I am happy to see that many of them are getting to be more responsive and enjoying the activities.

Is heartening to see the fruits of my labour and this itself is all worthwhile.

*Autism is a brain disorder that affects development. Autism can affect a person’s ability to communicate, relate to others, and interact with his or her surroundings. Signs of autism usually appear by about 18 months of age. It is usually diagnosed between the ages of two and three. There is no cure for autism but early diagnosis and treatment can help people with autism lead more fulfilling lives.

Congrats to Patrick and Aileen

Having endured a near 24 hours labour, Aileen finally gave birth to their 2nd child baby Samuel Patrick Gallo at Mt Alvernia Hospital on the 10th Nov (Sat) at 8.44pm. We were blessed to be able to see baby wide awake when we visited them today. He is a handsome little baby with sharp distinct features, big eyes and sharp nose. Baby Samuel, may God bless you to be a healthy and intelligent child and to grow up to be a man of God, just like Samuel in the bible.