Is it such a chore for kids to take breakfast? Or am I expecting too much from a 3-year-old when breakfast is concern?

I am suppose to wake Yauyau at around 7.15am and so I would be able to pack her off to school at about 8am, but whenever seeing her so soundly asleep, I will convince myself to give her another 15min. So at 7.30am, I will gently wake her up.

However, our wonderful morning will be slowly ruin when the kid starts to laze around like a zombie. She will slowly slide herself onto the floor while eating her bread or cereal (there is no proper chair at our dinning area, which must have contributed to this bad habit). She could probably take a hundred years before swallowing that piece of bread and another two hundred years to finish that cup of milk. By this time, I have absolutely run out of patience because we are running late and that idea of being late will amplify my frustration.

I have tried “threatening” her. If she continues to eat so slowly, there won’t be breakfast for her anymore. It didn’t went well. I think she would be happier to skip it then to be force to finish them.

The morning battles of breakfast table always ends up with me nagging continuously to get her to hurry up. I am so used to doing it that they flow out of me naturally, regardless whether Yauyau is indeed fast or slow in that matter. Sounds really bad bad.

Hey, we are running late and she still wants me to tie up her her nicely, complete with pretty ribbons and hair clips. Oh man, where got time! Now this works sometime, pretty ribbons in exchange for her improve efficiency in chewing and drinking. Though I must remind her a few times when she starts to slacken.

I guess expecting the child who just woke up to finish up her food within 30min might be unrealistic. I should probably double the time to 1 hour and hopefully bring back the peaceful and happy mornings. Opps, that’s before the baby wakes up and starts my next cycle of morning frustrations.

The new kid in the house is already 5 months old. It is a pity that his little bits and pieces have not been properly logged due to my commitment in other rather less important businesses.

Long before he was born, my mon-in-law has already hinted that she would like to name him using 骏, 旭, 熹 or 曦. She especially like the word 骏, which means a good/handsome horse. Err….my kid a horse!? Nah, joking, it is actually a nice word, signifying the handsome/sturdiness of a horse, but that word never appeal to me. It was actually on my ban list before she suggested it.

We almost used 旭 or 熹, which sound really nice and cool. However, we decided upon 燊 in the end, because being a boy, we would really like to see a stronger character in him, not anything weaker like the morning sun. Blazing, fiery and passionate as in the word 燊 are some traits we would like to see in him, though I think 燊 sound rather boring. And with the character 磊, I hope it will constantly remind us to raise him into a person of integrity and principle.

With 3 fire (燊) and 3 stones (磊) in his names, many people had asked me if we have consulted a geomancer. No, we didn’t. I am quite against it, because it gives me great satisfaction to find a name I like, and I don’t want a stranger to find some weird Chinese characters and tell me to use those characters just because their strokes will bring the kid (or the family) health, wealth…blah blah blah. I would jump if he wants me to create a new Chinese character by changing or adding a radical to an existing word. Thanks, we have enough hanzi, no need to invent another additional one for the promise of good life.

However, my mom-in-law got a little worry when told of the name. She thought it has too many fire and earth and might do harm to the boy. Too elemental I guess. She consulted her shifu and gave us the consent after the shifu told her that name is exactly what the kid needs, as he lack fire and earth! Well, even if they didn’t approve the name, it would be too late to change, we have already had that name registered in his birth certificate, and we like it very much.

Whatever hassle we have gone through to name him, we call him 弟弟 (didi) in the end. He is fated to be that darling little brother ever so dear.