Category Archives: General

Jan27

Back To School: Some Handy Tips for Everyone

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Back To School: Some Handy Tips for Everyone

Back to School

I’ve enjoyed my time at home with the kids these pass few weeks. It’s been great not having to rush around, pack snacks and lunches, take note of notices, and just enjoying the slowness of it all. But, that’s not to say that I’m not looking forward to them going back to school next week. Pity it’ll be on a Thursday for us, but still, it’s something to look forward to – in a way. To be perfectly honest, I’m no organising queen, in fact, I’m more like the – take it in stride – type of person. That’s in all facets of my life really, which is why I’m pretty surprised at how organised I have been when it came to organising their uniforms. I have so far bought the stuff they’ve needed to have replaced – skorts and shorts that have now become too short or small for them to wear, more socks and shoes they have worn out or outgrown. I have actually surprisingly washed all their school jackets – that was done way beforehand and luckily for me the lunch boxes and paraphernalia concerning packing their food are all still in great condition. So yes, I am ready. But, I thought I’d share a few tips for those who a)are pretty bad at getting organised like me b)parents whose kids are just starting school c)because I thought it’d be good for us all to have some sort of refresher before next week.

  • Remembering dates for school events:

This I have to hand it to new technology – my smart phone. Thank goodness for that! I am hopeless at having a physical diary where I have to write things down. Normally, it gets used say….1/10 of the time and then it sits there, collecting dust. I rely heavily on my phone, so if I loose it, that’s it – my life will go down the drain. Each time I get a notice, an email from the school with important dates or even a birthday invitation from my kids’ friends, I will input it into my phone right away. That way I know if things clash, what’s on when, and where I have to be, all at my fingertips – literally. I know of some couples who have their phones synced, which I think is another great idea. That way you both know what’s going on.

  • Notices:

I have been pretty good with notices that require signatures. Basically, the kids will hand it to me the moment they step into the house. Thankfully for me, I don’t have to check their bags and the school normally emails us with updates on what each grade has got going on. So, what I normally do is sign them the moment it’s handed to me and pass it back to my child to keep in their bag right away. That way, I won’t forget to sign it, and they won’t forget to bring it back to school. I also keep a copy on my fridge. I’m not into keeping them in folders because I know I’ll forget. Also, remember to input it into your written diary or phone.

  • Meal Planning for Lunch Boxes:

I don’t normally plan the snacks and lunches for my kids. I usually alternate what they bring for their lunch – sandwiches, sushi (this is easy to make really), pasta salad (again, really easy), rice salad (need I repeat myself?), savoury muffins (baked and frozen days ahead).

Basically, have these items handy in your pantry for emergencies eg. when you run out of bread to make sandwiches.

  • Dry pasta (I normally buy the small vegeroni spirals)
  • Cans of tuna
  • Nori sheets/Seaweed sheets
  • Canned corn
  • Stir through pasta sauces

For sandwiches, I normally use pre-bought cold cuts, with cucumber and/or tomatoes.This is where the stir through sauce comes in handy. To make it taste a bit more interesting I normally spread it with store-bought stir through pasta sauces – like the one from Sacla in Capsicum & Eggplant. My kids LOVE the taste and it gives the sandwich some nice flavour too. If not, then just butter. The kids hate Vegemite so that’s why I don’t use that.

The tuna will come in handy when you’re thinking of making pasta salad, rice salad, sushi and even sandwiches when you run out of cold cuts.

Pasta salad and rice salad actually doesn’t take very long to make at all. They both use similar ingredients but with the rice salad, I normally use day old rice. Rice that I’ve cooked extra from the previous night. Pasta doesn’t take long to cook either. In fact you can also get the pasta ready the night before! What are in these salads? Cucumber, canned corn, tuna or chopped up cold cuts (or shredded), salt, pepper and olive oil. Mix them and place them in the containers. Easy. And can be made the night before too.

People think it’s hard to make sushi. Ummm…honestly, it takes me the same amount of time to make those and sandwiches. So really, it’s not about showing off, it’s about using what’s there. I normally use day old rice (again, I usually do this when I cook rice for dinner the night before). This is when I know I’ve run out of bread from the night before and can’t be bothered to go out and buy it! I don’t even use the sushi rolling mat to roll the sushi to be honest. So, what I do is, place some of the rice on the nori sheet, flatten it with the back of a wet spoon. That way it won’t stick. Spread some mayonnaise (the basic normal ones), and place either cold cut or tuna and…roll! I usually slice them up too, with a sharp knife. You can also choose to add some cucumber batons in there. If not, leave it out. It’s up to you.

Oh and if you’re worried if people think  you’re showing off because your kids aren’t eating sandwiches, ignore that. They’re not feeding your kids, you are!

Those are some of the tips that I’ve got up my sleeve. Pretty good I think for someone who hates organising. But I’ve also got a few other links you can check out from other mums who are a lot more organised than I am:

If you’ve got any other handy tips to share, please do. Goodness knows we all need some super handy hints to survive the school term!


Jan26

Thursday Three: 3 Things You Love About Australia

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Thursday Three: 3 Things You Love About Australia

Today, I’m joining up with Lisa from Life As We Know It for her Thursday Three. This is where she gives us a prompt each week, to share 3 things about something. This week, it’s 3 things we love about Australia.

Having been naturalised as an Australian for 6 years now and having stayed here for 17 years, I’ve got so many things that I do love about Australia. So to pick just three, I really had to bust my brains and think hard. I grew up in Singapore, so there are quite a number of differences that I can note, which makes living in Australia so much better.

  • The Education System – I love how pretty relaxed the education system is over here. NO major tests and exams from when you’re in kindergarten, unlike in Singapore, where kids as young as 5 or 6 are already given spelling lists to learn and get tested from. While we do have the NAPLAN tests here, it’s really nothing compared to what students in Singapore have to go through every term. We are ranked at such a young age and put into streams, that kids and parents are faced with a lot of pressure just to stay on top of things. It’s great that in Australia, education equates to learning not so much on grading. It’s great that it’s about enjoying your time in school and not having to “fight” with others to get to the top at such a young age (ok, maybe some parents and private schools do that, but I’m generalising here). And might I add, whilst we’re complaining about the class sizes – 20 plus to a class, want to know how many there were in my class? 40!

  • Freedom of Speech – Over here, freedom of speech really means freedom of speech. You are not monitored all the time, you don’t have to watch what you say about the government for the fear of being sued, or put in jail. Whilst this can sometimes cause detrimental effects when the things that are being said gets out of hand, but the beauty of it is, people are allowed to THINK freely and SPEAK freely. That is what freedom is all about.
  • Decent Public Health System – Where I was from, we have a saying, “if you’re really sick, it’s better to die”. I’m serious. Why? Because of the fact that if you are in need of high medical attention, you better have the money to be able to even go through the treatment. Over here, I can happily go through the public health system to have my babies and not have to worry about how much I have to pay (and I have gone through it 3 times!). There is such a thing as bulk billing here, which is unheard of in Singapore. The mental health system here is so much better too, compared to where I’m from. It’s not such a taboo to even speak of it, where as down there, you wouldn’t want people to know that you’re living or have had any mental health issues. Again, the meds are just incredibly expensive, although there is a system (I think) for slightly cheaper meds, but they are still pretty expensive. I know this because both my parents need meds for their health and I think that’s where the bulk of their money goes to.

So for those of us complaining about our lives here in Australia (not saying you can’t complain), I think at times you need to stop, take a few deep breaths and remember the GREAT things that you do have being in Australia. I know I’ve been lucky and I am grateful for that. What do YOU love about Australia?


Jan23

New Year Goals Update

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New Year Goals Update

I posted at the start of the year my goals for 2012. Easy goals and with only 2, it should be breezy. So, here’s an update of what I’ve done and how I’m going so far.

First, the training for my run in November. So far, I’ve only been able to run twice or three times a week, which to me is pretty good. Ok, wait, I lied, I didn’t really run all the way, more like walking then jogging, to keep up the pace. I have a LONG way to go! But, I often wonder how much distance I cover each time I do it. Thankfully a friend of mine introduced me to Run Keeper. It’s a free app that I can download onto my phone and tells me how far I’ve run, average speed and my progress. There are pros and cons to this.

Run Keeper

Cons

  • It can get a bit depressing when you find out the ONE round you did around that park doesn’t even cover 1/2 of the distance you’re planning on running.
  • The voice updating how I’ve done while I’m doing the exercise can at first, be annoying

Pros

  • The speed that is listed whilst I’m walking or running can encourage me to speed up a little.
  • I can keep track of how much distance I’ve covered.
  • I can get my progress emailed.
  • It’s FREE!

So, how much have I done? The most I’ve walked/run is actually 3.38km. Hmmm..not good enough, but hey, it’s still early days yet (so I tell myself). Hoping to be able to jog and run the whole way instead of just walking soon.

Next, the volunteering for ASRC. Well, I’ve registered for their information night in February, which would be really exciting. I really would love to find out what I can do to be a volunteer and which areas I can help out in. Hopefully, if I do get accepted to volunteer, this would ultimately decide the path I would take for my future.

 
So how are YOU going with your 2012 goals?

Jan20

Are YOU a Bad Parent? Why Name Calling is NOT the Way to Handle Delicate Issues.

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Are YOU a Bad Parent? Why Name Calling is NOT the Way to Handle Delicate Issues.

Parents and parenting have so many different terms associated with them don’t they? Bad, good, perfect, helicopter, free-range…the list goes on. But, when you look at it, I think, most of the time the terms refer to women. True isn’t it? When we hear about parenting, or someone being a good or bad or whatever type of parent, how often do we see MEN being the subject? And usually, it’s women who call each other whatever names they want to. Sad but true.

I was intrigued by the reaction this particular article had on the people who shared this via Facebook the other day. The title says it all  “Bad Parents Leaving Kids Unsupervised At Playcentres”. It wasn’t so much the article itself that got me interested, more so the reaction surrounding it. Today, I wrote a guest post on Real Mums, sharing my thoughts on the issue of judging other parents. Join me and share your thoughts on this matter either here or over where the article has been posted.