~ Article by Cheng YiOver the recent weekend, my husband and I brought our 1 year old daughter, Amelia, back to his hometown, Muar, to celebrate her great grandmother’s birthday. We stayed overnight at our good friends’ house. Ching Leng and Poh Koon have three adorable daughters and they are Sara, Hannah and Abby, aged 16 months, 3 years and 5 years respectively. During the stay, I have had the chance to witness the fun, creative and somewhat carefree approach Poh Koon uses to bring up her kids… I must say, it is an eye-opening experience!
For example, Poh Koon encourages her children to go outdoor and play in the garden, to fill their lungs with some fresh air and get their dose of vitamin D from the morning sun. The kids will be riding on their bicycles, running around just to keep themselves healthy or perhaps a cold dip in the pool. At time, she will even drive them to a nearby park or the children’s playground near the seaside, just to give them a change. Hence, on that Sunday morning, I decided to expose Amelia to the outdoor experience! We joined Poh Koon and her three angels, for their usual dose of sun in the morning at a nearby playground. When we were there, having fun, I was so surprised to see how little 16-month old Sara, confidently sat on a swing, being pushed by her mom from behind, without support! In my head, very quickly, I heard myself saying, “I can’t do that! Amelia would fly off the swing!”
Of course, as an inexperienced first time mom, I was so eager to find out how she train
ed her baby to have such good motor skills. Through our casual chit-chat later on, I find out it all started when she encouraged her baby to sit in the baby swing (those that have a bar that kept them from falling off) and soon her little girl very quickly learned how to hold onto the swing confidently and graduated to the ones without the bar, just like her two other sisters.
Through our stay in Muar, little Sara continues to amaze me with her exceptional motor skills… from pedalling bicycle, to jumping into the swimming pool just like her 3 & 5-year old sisters, to holding her breath in the water and enjoying her acrobatic act in the pool… all these are timely reminder to me that providing fun outdoor activities is just as important as reading, flash-carding to a child’s development!
And Amelia had lots of fun both playing indoor and outdoor throughout our stay in Muar!
For example, Poh Koon encourages her children to go outdoor and play in the garden, to fill their lungs with some fresh air and get their dose of vitamin D from the morning sun. The kids will be riding on their bicycles, running around just to keep themselves healthy or perhaps a cold dip in the pool. At time, she will even drive them to a nearby park or the children’s playground near the seaside, just to give them a change. Hence, on that Sunday morning, I decided to expose Amelia to the outdoor experience! We joined Poh Koon and her three angels, for their usual dose of sun in the morning at a nearby playground. When we were there, having fun, I was so surprised to see how little 16-month old Sara, confidently sat on a swing, being pushed by her mom from behind, without support! In my head, very quickly, I heard myself saying, “I can’t do that! Amelia would fly off the swing!”
Of course, as an inexperienced first time mom, I was so eager to find out how she train
ed her baby to have such good motor skills. Through our casual chit-chat later on, I find out it all started when she encouraged her baby to sit in the baby swing (those that have a bar that kept them from falling off) and soon her little girl very quickly learned how to hold onto the swing confidently and graduated to the ones without the bar, just like her two other sisters.Through our stay in Muar, little Sara continues to amaze me with her exceptional motor skills… from pedalling bicycle, to jumping into the swimming pool just like her 3 & 5-year old sisters, to holding her breath in the water and enjoying her acrobatic act in the pool… all these are timely reminder to me that providing fun outdoor activities is just as important as reading, flash-carding to a child’s development!
And Amelia had lots of fun both playing indoor and outdoor throughout our stay in Muar!
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