Entertainment That's Worth The $$ - The Wiggles Concert

Many of you might think that $35 Wiggles Concerts were only meant for kids but you were wrong. We managed to buy last minute tickets for the Wiggles Concert 2 weeks ago.

The event was held at the Brisbane Entertainment Center. We drove off 1.5 hours before the event and were surprised by the number of cars entering the car park. We had to line up for almost 30 mins before we could get a car park and it costs $10!

I did not have very high hopes of an entertaining event because I thought that it would be more like a kids event whereby the Wiggles (Sam, Murray, Jeff and Anthony - the yellow, red, purple and blue Wiggles respectively) provide kids with some sing-a-longs. We managed to get front row seats which were just 2m away from the stage.

The concert had a big round platform in the middle, trapezes and swings hanging from the roof. The show started with the circus ring master Ringo introducing the Wiggles. Acrobats and gymnasts came out performing their respective feats and created a circus-like atmosphere. Of course there were singing, jokes and performances by all the Wiggles.

I was surprised that many adults were as excited as the kids when they saw their favourite Wiggle perform on stage. We also knew many songs that they performed and had a great time as well. For sure, the $35 front row seats were definitely worth it for the 1.5 hour concert!

Getting On My Nerves

Me & my wife both came from "traditional" families where our parents used to spank or cane us when we were kids. It was believed to be the most effective disciplinary method according to old timers. However, after years of research and analyses, physcologists discovered that corporal punishment might lead to the development of "rebellious traits" when kids become teenagers. Spanking is believed to make children think that problems could be solves through violence.

We do not normally spank our toddler son but sometimes he just gets on our nerves. We read that warning them verbally "1-2-3" before spanking them like how our parents used to do to us in the past does not really help. Therefore, we had to resolve to a softer approach, which is coaxing. Sometimes he will listen. However, when he wears his "rebel hat", his cheekiness + refusal to follow orders + whining could drive us in sane!

I could still recall bending and hiding all my parent's canes when I was young so that I could get rid of the "pain punishments". We used to "run away" from the canes but they kept landed on our backsides no matter where we hid. My wife told me that she also did the same too and his brother even threatened her mom that he will report her to the authorities!

My parents never let us learn martial arts when we were young. They said we might mis-hit our kids but I think people who learn martial arts will be able to control their actions more?

We do not want to use the cane as a disciplinary tool, so we don't have any at home. We tend to give in to him often and not spank him (but not pamper him). We used to use our hands to spank him but thought it might land too hard on him. In the end we resorted to using a wooden spoon (used for stirring in a pot) in place of a cane. We want our son to treat us with respect and not fear. Whenever he acts mischeviously, I will warn him that it is not good to do so. If he still does not listen then I will try to use persuasion (sometimes a little bit of bribery & threats) & taking away his priviliges (keep his toys on top of the fridge or pretend to give them away).

If all necessary measures have been taken but he still refused to obey, I had to smack his backside with the wooden spoon (not too hard though). I know that it is not painful but he will always break into tears. Sometimes we hit him with the wooden spoon on his palm.

I hope he does not use this post againts us in the future as proof of receiving corporal punishment from his parents!

3 Photos of The Week - HAIR, PEMPEK & TRAINS

HAIR: Kids love to immitate adults especially in the activities that adults perform like cooking, driving, building houses etc. It reflects in the games that they play everyday too.



Somehow my son likes to comb my wife's hair. He could comb it for a long long time. Maybe it is a sign of affection and also "doing things to help" the parents?



Of course my hair is a bit to short for him to continuously comb. However, seems like mama does not mind having being pampered!

PEMPEK: One day I took my son to PTC Mall to do grocery shopping. His mom did not come along, so we had a father and son outing. I asked him whether he wanted to have some "perkedels" (fried mashed potatoes) and he nodded. However, halfway eating the perkedels he felt that they are a bit spicy, so I suggested him to go have some "pempeks" (fish cakes).

Straight away his face lit up. Now I know why Palembang people like to eat pempeks! Because they eat it from young. Not many people like these floury fish cakes but it is rather famous in Palembang and majority of the Palembang people love pempeks. So from these photos, you can tell whether my boy is a Palembang boy or not!!...;)


TRAINS: My son also loves trains. His english and chinese characters on his white board is always "TRAIN" and "HUO CE" (mandarin for train). I have taught him many chinese characters but he would only write his favourite one.

Toddlers & Accidents

Perhaps when you first read the title of this post, you might be thinking of a post about accidents that could happen to toddlers?... well, it is not.



Since my kid started to watch "Thomas & Friends" the train series, he has learnt a lot about accidents because the stories often have lots of eventful things happening, including accidents. They even have a song called, "Accidents Can Happen"!

At first, he loved accidents because he thought it was part of life to have accidents (well, he was right in a certain sense anyway). After some explanations, he gradually understood that people do get hurt during accidents and everyone should try to prevent accidents from happening.



However, as a kid full of imagination he still likes to "create his own accident scenes" and gets his "friends" to come and save the victim. This photo shows you his story about a train that fell off a collapsed bridge.

So when I asked him, "Did anyone get hurt?" he just answered "no" and continued playing while singing his Accident song," Accidents happen, sometimes just like that". His made-belief accident scene will always come with stories containing the following words:

1. Crashed
2. Smashed
3. Tumbled
4. Collapsed
5. Bent
6. Surprised
7. Saved
8. Oh, No!
9. Help!
10. Cinders & Ashes! (I don't think I even know how to say that word when I was in primary school)
    

Who Does Your Son Look Like?

Many friends have been asking me, "who does your son look like?" and I will normally say my wife.

However, from one of the old photos that I've found of my wife and my brother in law, I have found that my son has the most similar facial features as my bro in law.

As you can see in the photos, they both have chubby cheeks and pointy chins (so does my wife). Their hair type are both soft. Hairstyles are similar (snipped above the eye brows and do not need much combing). They both have big ear lobes. I think personality wise they are similar too....both of them tending to be cheeky!! Their noses looked similar but my son's eyes are bigger and not as slanty as my bro in law.

I guess kids will change their looks as they grow up. Hopefully he has inherited my "tall" genes and will be close to a six footer when he grows up.