I was racking my brains for somewhere to go on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon. Outdoor fun isn't any fun if I'm sweating buckets. Air-conditioned comfort was what I needed. I asked E if he would like to check out a new shopping mall. And his reply was,"Shopping is boring. You keep looking at things and you have to walk a lot." He added (after a bit of reflection),"But I like presents." The bottom line was shopping is fun only if he gets a gift.
Fine. Toss out that suggestion. I'm not going to sow the seeds of consumerism in a young child's heart by buying him a toy each time we visit a mall.
It's good to learn the virtue of window shopping.
Anyway, I wasn't really keen on walking a lot. There are two things which I try my best to avoid. Getting baked in the hot sun and crowds. I'm sure a new mall will attract my fellow countrymen like bees to honey.
We could stay at home but the poor kid needed a tangible reward after completing his homework (which took the whole morning). Saturdays were no longer as carefree as before.
And then, I found out that Chingay@heartland was going to be held near our estate.
Excellent!
E spent the afternoon looking forward to this evening entertainment. The event had his favourite lion/ dragon dance so he was very enthusiastic about it. There were floats, firecrackers and loud CNY techno music. Somewhat cheesy at times but the festive atmosphere more than made up for it.
On Sunday, we had the opportunity to minister at an African life group meeting. We brought the kids along (reminiscent of our Johannesburg trip). Thankfully, the hall was spacious. Kids love huge spaces and Baby C was in explorer mode the moment her feet touched the ground. We had to take turns to entertain the kids for the first few hours before my parents came to pick them up.
I am thankful for a fabulous weekend of frivolous fun, fruitful interactions and food glorious food!
Giving thanks for ...
o free festivities which brightened up a child's day
o the opportunity to pray for and encourage others
o help in the form of loving grandparents who drove all the way from the east to the west side of the island just to fetch the kids home (making ministry a whole lot easier)
o crispy delights (incredibly good prawn paste chicken) in the company of good friends
Sounds like a lovely weekend! Thank God for loving grandparents! And yes, the free entertainment too. :P
ReplyDeleteLayla used to have to buy something every time too, back when we were always cash strapped and all my freelance checks were late, some by up to six months!
ReplyDeleteSo I gave her a couple of shopping choices whenever we headed out:
1. Party shop stuff (usually slime!)
2. One Daiso item
3. Beans from the supermarket
She was actually pretty satisfied!
Btw things have settled down a lot more around in my corner, so we could do that meet-up at last :o)
Wow seems like a fabulous weekend you had! It's been ages since I saw the lion dance and your pics just brought back some fond memories for me. =) Great that the kids had a fun time too! =)
ReplyDeleteSummer
P/S: I love prawn paste chicken too!
June: Free and good stuff always makes my day!
ReplyDeleteEvelyn: Daiso is great for good for value buys. I've implemented this reward system to motivate Ethan to do his homework. Think I shall bring him there to choose his gift.
Yeah! Let's meet up. What's a good time for you since both Layla and Ethan are in the afternoon session? Or should we have it during the Mar sch hols?
Summer: The lion dance certainly adds to the festive atmosphere. Do you get to celebrate CNY in Sweden?
ReplyDeleteIs it a boy thing? Kyle absolutely hate following me when I have to shop...so these days, I hardly bring him when I need to do some serious girl shopping.
ReplyDeleteI think its so cool that E gets up close and personal with a lion dance troupe. These days cultural experiences like that are not so common for most kids.
Yes, it's much more productive to shop alone!
ReplyDeleteThis was the first time E had such close contact. He wanted to take a lot of photos but I was ready to escape the crowd.