When the child is unwell, we learn Q for Quilt

Jiejie has not been unwell for the longest time.

It was probably the rain on Saturday triggered her sensitive lungs and caught a cold. Hence started coughing again yesterday morning, feverish in the middle of last night. She burst into tears since then, telling us she was in great pain. I had no choice but to absent at work again, for different reason though.

Anyway, after visited doctor early in the morning and slept through till lunch time. She seems so much better and started to request if she could go back to her class again in the afternoon. How can? Childcare leave counted as 1 full day, no half day, my dear. I then realised that she has no interest to sleep again. Her eyes were wide opened starring at the ceiling. I tried to avoid the television show for her. So I dug out Jann's Phonics' material and flipped. Decided to do the activity for 'Q for Quilt'. 

First, craft work: Paste cloth (alternate pattern) on soft cloth as quilt. 3 X 4 pieces of fabric, contributed by Jann and my limited fabric stash. But I improvised and let Jiejie had a little fun to sew it like a patchwork with the sewing machine. She was very enthusiasm at the beginning but died off half way of sewing. Can't really blame her, she ain't her usual self. I completed the work in the end.  

Second, story time on The Magic Quilt. She was happy and into this: Get ready duck headband, queen's crown and the craft quilt. I read the storyline that was prepared by Jann. Jiejie insisted to be the Queen and so, Little Bomber is the ducky... the one without the noisy quacking. 

• Once upon a time, there was a farmer with a group of duckies (put duck headband on child). 
• But there is one little duck that quack very loud and will lead the other duckies to quack all day long. (Child to quack... and quack...). They were never quiet. 
• One day, the farmer was tired and he needed a Quiet peaceful rest. He yelled, "QUIET! QUIET! STOP QUACKING!" But the duckies continue to quack. (Child to quack... and quack...). 
• While the duckies were noisily quacking away, a Queen (Mummy put on the crown) passed by. She heard the quacking and wanted to help the farmer. 
• The queen took out a Magic Quilt (the craft quilt) and told the farmer that if he raise up the quilt, the duckies would keep quiet. So the queen raised the quilt up and the duckies stopped quacking and were QUIET! (Prompt child by putting fingers on lips) But when she took the quilt down, they started to quack noisily again (Child to quack... and quack...). The queen again raised the quilt up and the duckies kept quiet.
• Finally, the farmer hung the quilt in the farm and the duckies stopped quacking. At last, the farm was quiet again and the farmer can have a good quiet rest so everyone is very happy.

Thirdly, pretend-play: used the craft quilt to cover Jiejie, pat her and sing "Are you sleeping". At the same time, I pat Little Bomber too. I usually don't pat them to sleep, but I reckon this time 1 was just taken the medicine & the other kid was tired, both dozed off at 4 plus in the afternoon.

Her condition was rather like riding on a roller coaster. She became teary after dinner and cranky. "No" was the only word I don't wish to hear more but she kept repeating it. Somehow, when she is ill, it also means both of us on EQ test. It was a busy day on remote desktop connection and 2 kids, thank God that MIL is here to help around. As she's got sensitive lungs, I began her Ventolin and Flixotide puffers to ease her breathing.

Let's hope that she will be better tomorrow.

Side note... I am now game into making a proper quilt like expert Yvette:o)...

Learning Compassion Early through Volunteerism by Emily Patterson

This is a guest post. Thanks Emily for sharing with us about teaching children to volunteer.

Submitted on behalf of Primrose Schools: preschool working to be the best in education and child by Emily Patterson (@epatt1062)

In a world where television highlights spoiled teens or the extravagant lifestyles afforded to rich children, many parents are seeking ways to counteract such images and ideas by raising more compassionate and caring children.

Many parents seek to do this by teaching volunteerism to their children while they are young and giving them an earlier start on helping others.

Volunteering can play an important part in building a child's character and establish a positive habit, rather than a bad one. Working together at volunteer work with their child can allow parents precious bonding time, while making an impact in their communities that a child will certainly notice and be proud to have done.

One of the first steps to getting a child involved through volunteering is not about the child at all. Instead, the parents should address their own goals for getting their children to volunteer. What sorts of organizations do the parents want the children to be involved with? What kinds of lessons do they hope their children will learn? Choosing a cause that is meaningful to the family is a good start in this direction.

With a broader group of organizations in mind, parents can begin narrowing that list down to those that are appropriate for a given child's age. Some activities might be very meaningful, but they may be difficult for a child to understand or even find ways to participate. When they can see the results of their work, they are more likely to grasp the idea. Also keep in mind that young children do well in group activities and are capable of following instructions.

The third step narrows the list down further. While some activities may be wonderful learning experiences for children, the atmosphere or organization itself may not necessarily be child-friendly. Parents should research a group's staff and history to understand if their children would be welcome.

Having planned these parts out will make the final step much easier on parents: Explaining to the children about volunteerism and the contribution that can be made to the community as well as the type of work the child may do at a specific organization. Once a parent has established an answer to these questions for himself or herself, it is much easier to answer that most-popular question in a child's vocabulary: "Why?"

Teaching a child to volunteer benefits both the hear-and-now and the near future. A compassionate, giving child is much more likely to one day become a compassionate, giving adult.  

Goodbye

My maternal Grandma.
1921-2011.

May she rest in peace.

Credits: Designer Digitals Chat Freebie, Katie Pertiet, RuthMelody Designs. 

I didn't get to say goodbye in the end.

Cover for sofa... my way.

Three years ago,

we moved into this house without a sofa.

No time for furniture shopping.

Minimalist for easy floor mopping. 

Good 'common' space for Jiejie to have lots of play and mess.

The hall is small, so to speak.

Anyway, a living hall without a sofa isn't friendly to my guests. 

A year later we saw this in The Green.

Clean cut.

Naturally elegant. IMO.

2-seater, 

Simply fit into our humble space.

However, I have to be extra careful when the girls are around.

It's fabric!

It's extremely troublesome to unzip and separate the cover sheet for washing purpose. 

Well, Jiejie is old enough to know where not to doodle.

But not Little Bomber who is naively curious to explore anything and everything.

It was just another attempt to sew. 

It's fun to dress up the sofa bit. Isn't it?

I mean, it is really a fabric being stitched at the 2 corners and top over the sofa seat.

See what I mean...

See how fun this could be for her? 

Peek-a-boo!

It took me a while to find another fabric to "close the loop" seamlessly.

Thought this is tight to be hold at both ends at all time; 

easy for me to remove the cover for washing if necessary.

When it is in place, the leafy cover sheet will be tug in and hid under the cushions. 

See the tightness of the cover?

I was beaming from ear to ear.

The work revealing.

Trust me, it is tightly tug in and hid under the cushions.

For most of us when we sit down. 

The sheet may fold a bit,

coming out a bit.

Different story for my dear fatty SC, the neatly leafy cover will behave like a runaway son after he sits on it.  

Crumple, and half of the cover is out from the seat. 

Sobbing for tug-in nicely again. 

He is warned!

Now, peek-a-boo no more:).

I wanted to continue the sewing on the sofa cushion covers.

But the problem I have now is, 

I didn't buy enough fabric!

I went back to Spotlight the other day.

They sold out this colour, particularly!

Very bad luck. 

Sigh... need more shopping to find the right match for the leafy sheet...