TV OR NO TV"Ai yo, this is a rule I have set at home..... that my kids cannot have their meals in front of the TV........ must not let him make it a hablt!"
"Wah...this mummy who is the best preschool teacher in church cannot handle her boy....must eat in front of the comp (cos we let him watch Barney while having his lunch in the food court!)....can take care of other kids but come to your own kids cannot handle...haha....."
"Sharon, you cannot let Joash make this a habit......... very bad for him! You should train him"
AND THE CONVERSATIONS GO ON ENDLESSLY............. blah blah blah.............
Yup, I am a lousy mother who let her boy sit in front of the TV to have his meals......... But I don't need all these unnecessary comments......... don't I know better.......... I fed him without TV for a pretty long time....... each time nearly end up wacking him ........... anyway, I have my reasons for doing so.........
Before I had decided to put him in front of the TV, I actually look at why I want to do so.........won't I be instilling a bad habit in him........ anyway, just look at the reasons below:
1) Everytime Jo has his check up, my PD will always tell me that he is underweight (25th percentile plus slightly premature). She thot that I did not feed him enough food...... hello...... he doesn't want to eat...what can I do....... I pryed open his mouth, I changed his food....... I tried to entertain him...... he just wouldn't finish his food! So I took the advices of some "gurus" and stop when he doesn't want cos those "gurus" say that that's becos he is full! They advised me to just give him milk. And then my PD "accused" me of not feeding him well and I should not give him too much breastmilk (the "Gurus" told me that BM is the best!) ....... she told me to try all ways to get him to eat more solid food......... she even suggested I give him ice-cream to heap on the calories ( I did!). But I can't be giving him ice-cream for every meal right! So should I listen to my PD or the "Gundos" .....oops......sorry....I mean "Gurus" !!!!!!!!!!
2) I tried very hard with tears and anger ok! The pressure is rather great sometimes cos I am a preschool teacher mah....so must know what to do with them right? Honestly, the kids in the centre are not ours ....if they don't eat, it's really not very much our problem..... MOE, don't allow us to punish or force them to eat.....so no pressure.........just don't feed loh! Anyway, teachers have many other things to attend to besides getting them to eat. Back to my tears and anger........ ya, Tommy understands that very well....he didn't even want to help feed him when he was younger and without TV...my son will push and turn over the bowls ....... I have tried scolding, coaxing, wacking....... nothing works! I think some of my regular visitors have seen how difficult it was for us to feed him...... some even commented that feeding him is an art...... ya..... the Art of Feeding Joash...haha! He's just one of those babies who had problem feeding.
3) I thot that my cooking method was wrong...... some told me that maybe he doesn't like my cooking...... I tried giving other food... even outside food..... but in the end, he actually took more of the porridge that I cook than any of those supposingly nicer food....... I even cook rice with 3 dishes for him (go see my post on that)! Do you know that it takes a lot of effort and brain cells to prepare a dish....and when my Prince refused to eat it, all my labour goes down the drain....... plus $$$$$ (cod and threadfin ok!) too.
THE BOTTOMLINE WAS THAT HE WASN'T PUTTING ON WEIGHT AND I NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! SO I DECIDED TO TRY THE "TRIED AND TESTED" METHOD OF MANY MOMS WHO HAD BABIES LIKE MINE.......... ON THE TV....... IT'S OK FOR BABIES TO WATCH EDUCATIONAL SHOWS! (many dare not tell others cos they will kena same fate as me..... actually we're more irritated then embarrassed!)
FINALLY one fine day, against all odds, I took a Barney CD from the dusty bag of VCDS that my SIL gave me and switch on my DVD player...... And for the first time in all of his little life, Joash was silent and cooperative for a whole 20 minutes with Barney singing away and most importantly, HE WAS EATING....AND SOMETIMES HE CAN EVEN FINISH All! (I love those moms...... they are the true Gurus.....and the TV is our life saver!) In fact, when he is full, he will sign the "no more" handsign and I will know when to stop (As usual, I will try to force a bit more in la...haha!).
So the results:
1) My dear boy had put on weight, though not a lot but at least he is in the 50th percentile and my PD is finally satisfied with his weight gain. During the last appointment, she mentioned that Joash might put on more since he is now on formula. I gave up BF when he's 16 months cos he seems to not be gaining much from it. Btw, I am considered the very rare few who attempted to BF for so long...... I applaud myself for that...... great sacrifice you know....... mass, tone and muscle...... if you know what I mean! But I am glad I did.....I am the best!
2) Joash has learnt a lot from Barney and Hi-5...... whose the silly fellow who says that TV is bad? My darling son learnt to dance and even "play" the drum and guitar now....go check out his blog! Not only that, he knows how to insert the the discs and make choices as to which VCD he wants to watch for the day (motor and intellectual development.... As someone who studies child development..... I know the importance of these developments..........yeah yeah!) Music is considered mostly right brain...... that's the part where creativity lies ok! I know I taking this a bit far...... sorry, just have to show off a bit cos I am a preschool teacher mah! I saw a lot of improvement in his speech development too..... Barney deserves all the credit! I am going to side track a bit... have you read about Thomas the Tank Engine shows and toys helping autistic kids to speak and learnt? If not, go check it out in google and yahoo...... if you're interested!
3) I am saner now cos I no longer need to scream and shout at him during meals time. Life is more peaceful..... I am happier..... he is happier....my hb is happier..........and that's makes a lot of difference....... plus Tommy is feeding him about 3-4 times a week without much struggle cos I have to work. In short, we got our life back.
"Wah...this mummy who is the best preschool teacher in church cannot handle her boy....must eat in front of the comp (cos we let him watch Barney while having his lunch in the food court!)....can take care of other kids but come to your own kids cannot handle...haha....."
"Sharon, you cannot let Joash make this a habit......... very bad for him! You should train him"
AND THE CONVERSATIONS GO ON ENDLESSLY............. blah blah blah.............
Yup, I am a lousy mother who let her boy sit in front of the TV to have his meals......... But I don't need all these unnecessary comments......... don't I know better.......... I fed him without TV for a pretty long time....... each time nearly end up wacking him ........... anyway, I have my reasons for doing so.........
Before I had decided to put him in front of the TV, I actually look at why I want to do so.........won't I be instilling a bad habit in him........ anyway, just look at the reasons below:
1) Everytime Jo has his check up, my PD will always tell me that he is underweight (25th percentile plus slightly premature). She thot that I did not feed him enough food...... hello...... he doesn't want to eat...what can I do....... I pryed open his mouth, I changed his food....... I tried to entertain him...... he just wouldn't finish his food! So I took the advices of some "gurus" and stop when he doesn't want cos those "gurus" say that that's becos he is full! They advised me to just give him milk. And then my PD "accused" me of not feeding him well and I should not give him too much breastmilk (the "Gurus" told me that BM is the best!) ....... she told me to try all ways to get him to eat more solid food......... she even suggested I give him ice-cream to heap on the calories ( I did!). But I can't be giving him ice-cream for every meal right! So should I listen to my PD or the "Gundos" .....oops......sorry....I mean "Gurus" !!!!!!!!!!
2) I tried very hard with tears and anger ok! The pressure is rather great sometimes cos I am a preschool teacher mah....so must know what to do with them right? Honestly, the kids in the centre are not ours ....if they don't eat, it's really not very much our problem..... MOE, don't allow us to punish or force them to eat.....so no pressure.........just don't feed loh! Anyway, teachers have many other things to attend to besides getting them to eat. Back to my tears and anger........ ya, Tommy understands that very well....he didn't even want to help feed him when he was younger and without TV...my son will push and turn over the bowls ....... I have tried scolding, coaxing, wacking....... nothing works! I think some of my regular visitors have seen how difficult it was for us to feed him...... some even commented that feeding him is an art...... ya..... the Art of Feeding Joash...haha! He's just one of those babies who had problem feeding.
3) I thot that my cooking method was wrong...... some told me that maybe he doesn't like my cooking...... I tried giving other food... even outside food..... but in the end, he actually took more of the porridge that I cook than any of those supposingly nicer food....... I even cook rice with 3 dishes for him (go see my post on that)! Do you know that it takes a lot of effort and brain cells to prepare a dish....and when my Prince refused to eat it, all my labour goes down the drain....... plus $$$$$ (cod and threadfin ok!) too.
THE BOTTOMLINE WAS THAT HE WASN'T PUTTING ON WEIGHT AND I NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! SO I DECIDED TO TRY THE "TRIED AND TESTED" METHOD OF MANY MOMS WHO HAD BABIES LIKE MINE.......... ON THE TV....... IT'S OK FOR BABIES TO WATCH EDUCATIONAL SHOWS! (many dare not tell others cos they will kena same fate as me..... actually we're more irritated then embarrassed!)
FINALLY one fine day, against all odds, I took a Barney CD from the dusty bag of VCDS that my SIL gave me and switch on my DVD player...... And for the first time in all of his little life, Joash was silent and cooperative for a whole 20 minutes with Barney singing away and most importantly, HE WAS EATING....AND SOMETIMES HE CAN EVEN FINISH All! (I love those moms...... they are the true Gurus.....and the TV is our life saver!) In fact, when he is full, he will sign the "no more" handsign and I will know when to stop (As usual, I will try to force a bit more in la...haha!).
So the results:
1) My dear boy had put on weight, though not a lot but at least he is in the 50th percentile and my PD is finally satisfied with his weight gain. During the last appointment, she mentioned that Joash might put on more since he is now on formula. I gave up BF when he's 16 months cos he seems to not be gaining much from it. Btw, I am considered the very rare few who attempted to BF for so long...... I applaud myself for that...... great sacrifice you know....... mass, tone and muscle...... if you know what I mean! But I am glad I did.....I am the best!
2) Joash has learnt a lot from Barney and Hi-5...... whose the silly fellow who says that TV is bad? My darling son learnt to dance and even "play" the drum and guitar now....go check out his blog! Not only that, he knows how to insert the the discs and make choices as to which VCD he wants to watch for the day (motor and intellectual development.... As someone who studies child development..... I know the importance of these developments..........yeah yeah!) Music is considered mostly right brain...... that's the part where creativity lies ok! I know I taking this a bit far...... sorry, just have to show off a bit cos I am a preschool teacher mah! I saw a lot of improvement in his speech development too..... Barney deserves all the credit! I am going to side track a bit... have you read about Thomas the Tank Engine shows and toys helping autistic kids to speak and learnt? If not, go check it out in google and yahoo...... if you're interested!
3) I am saner now cos I no longer need to scream and shout at him during meals time. Life is more peaceful..... I am happier..... he is happier....my hb is happier..........and that's makes a lot of difference....... plus Tommy is feeding him about 3-4 times a week without much struggle cos I have to work. In short, we got our life back.
In my opinion, THE BEST INVENTION IN THE WORLD FOR A HAPPIER FAMILY IS THE TV (and all the likes....laptop, dvd....etc...!) BESIDE THE EQUALLY IMPORTANT AIRCON!
p/s: We are getting Joash a portable DVD player soon.......yeah!
