Reasoning with children - possible or impossible?

I tried this new approach with Clarissa and Christa last night. We had a short discussion after dinner after which I had a 2 minute 'sharing'. Usually it would be quite difficult to get the elder girl (Clarissa) to get out of bed in the morning. She would also refuse to finish her milk as she 'hated' the taste of it after being exposed to 'adult' foods. After telling her the reasons why we wanted her to comply, she seemed to understand. Christa nodded her head in agreement just to rub salt into the wound.

It seemed to have worked as Clarissa was the first to get out of bed and the first to put on her shoes and head to the car. As usual, Christa would take the front seats and we had to move Clarissa back. She didn't throw up a fuss. Was it the reasoning which worked or the movie we had last night?

Malayan Tiger swimming for the kids!

There are days that you just feel lucky. We felt just that last weekend when the Malayan Tiger decided to take a dip into the pool as we were watching him. He was trying to attract our attention! Soon after he was satisfied with the cooling-off session that he came out totally drenched. Aren't you glad you behaved in the zoo, children?

Touching the ceiling!

I was busy preparing for a lecture when Christa decided that I was to accompany her for her usual toilet visit. "I want to pooh-pooh!", she said. I just dropped her at the toilet entrance and left her on her own. As usual, she would insist that I was to stand there until she finished her business.

I took some time to stretch and accidentally touched the low ceiling. Upon seeing that, she got off the toilet bowl and wanted to touch the ceiling too. "But you only passed urine. Finish the job and I will let you touch the ceiling", I said. It was a good deal I suppose. She quickly got back to 'work' and within seconds, she emptied her bowel.

As a form of reward, she was carried up 5 times to touch the ceiling. That left her smiling with glee. "I touched the ceiling!"

Standard Chartered KL Marathon Treadmill Challenge

Clarissa, Christa and I had a 5-minute brisk walk this morning at 1U to make it into the Malaysia Book of Records. It was part of a promotional activity for the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009. I walked in my leather shoes doing 7.0km/h, whereas Clarissa and Christa did 3.5km/h and 1.8km/h respectively. The girls did the walk as they did not want to be left out in a fun activity.

Zoo Negara: Malayan Tiger - what a beauty

Malayan Tiger

Zoo Negara: Flamingo fear

"I don't want to take a photo", said Clarissa. "The Flamingo will peck me!", she exclaimed as she saw a Flamingo or two coming closer with their wings outstretched. I couldn't get a clear shot but Mommy and Christa were looking photogenic and I shot the photo anyway.

I've got my cheap Nokia phone!

Now, don't be jealous, because I've got a cheap Nokia phone! It may not be great but it surely works and I can drop it and press all the buttons without a worry. I can even listen to the different ringing tones if Mommy lets me. Mommy, the photo says it all. You've got another satisfied customer, Nokia!