The Nature for Children

We live in Singapore, one of the most developed country in South East Asia. Beautiful and efficient. Less polution and clean. We are bringing my daughter up in a cosmopolitan, cultural and mentally stimulating environment. The different races live side by side and we celebrate most of their festival together. I am not too sure if it is stimulating physically. I didn't grow up in the small village, but the environment I had was child-friendly. I walked to school on my own from the age of six. We could happily let ourselves play in the garden with trees and other bugs.
I may be a little bit worry that my children are not being given the freedom we probably had and are missing out an incredibly important lesson in life, namely being able to be responsible and independent in a safe environment. Lately I was reading the article by Richard Louv, a term for this called "Nature Deficit Disorder. It is a damaged caused to children who never experienced the natural world.

Now I prefer turning my little kids into outside adventurers....
The best time for the children is surrounded by nature, trees and fields....

La boum avec Lapinou...

La boum avec Lapinou..., originally uploaded by L'Aubergine Grillée.

Yayy!

She loves the dress that Tante Sari gave her. When I put on the swing Jazz Manouche, she moved and pulled me to dance. After a few minutes, I took a break and recorded this in my iPhone. She could be doing this in one evening and refuse to take a shower!

The second chance!

28 weeks, originally uploaded by L'Aubergine Grillée.

I am up for another chance. And I am hopeful it's gonna be the last one in Singapore.

My lil' Noe has grown up to be a nurturing little girl for her baby dolls.

And I still have a bit of patient to hear the small baby cries again in a few months time! No, of course it's a joy. But until now I do not know what to expect for the second one....

2 year old Noelia

Children Cereals, are they good?

Kids love sweetened cereal for breakfast. I used to see on TV about average American families have for breakfast. They usualy on the breakfast table having the bowls of cereals with milk and a glass of orange juice. And for quite sometimes I thought, this is what normal family need to do in the morning before doing their activities.

Little did I know that not all breakfast cereals are healthy, even though they may seem like they are. I spent sometimes on the research of this issue when I started to walk on the aisle of supermarket figuring out what to serve my family for breakfast. There are many brands of cereals from oatmeal to US cereals dedicated for children. And I thought, let's do some researchs on what is the good brand to choose since I would like to give the best to my family. A good, healthy and sometimes fun breakfast helps children to start the day out right.

One of other reason why I need to know this issue is to be able to explain someday to my kids why it is better not to have sweetened cereals for breakfast. Someday Noelia would probably come back home and request to get the same cereals as her friends have in the morning.

According to US Consumer reports, Cereal companies spend about US $229 million a year advertising cereals to the children, hoping to get them to beg to their parents for their favorite brands. Are they good enough?

Studied have been made that 161 breakfast children cereals from 4 leading manufacturers were high in calories, sodium, carbohydrate, and sugar but significantly lower in fiber and protein. Why not sugars for them?
We need to ensure the children maintain a diet of complex carbohydrates and decreasing simple sugars will help them maintain their energy throughout the day rather than all at once. When children have long days and need to concentrate in school providing unhealthy start to their day can inhibit their development and progress.

Apparently, breakfast cereal is among the worst in the industry, labelling their products being "made from the whole grains" when they are made primarly with refined grains. Those US made cereals such as Kellogg's Honey and Post Golden Crisp, are more than 50 percent sugars and 9 or at least 40 percent sugar. Some of it has high sodium and zero in dietary fiber. Many cereals that have "chocolate" in it actually the chocolate made out of sugars. It is partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, and cocoa. I think the real chocolate would have been healthier.

Some of the best cereal for breakfast which could be fun for the kids are;

1. Raisin Bran
Love the organic Raisin Bran. We can find it in supermarket and it is cheaper than US made cereals marketed for children.

2. Granola
This probably consume for most European.

3. Oatmeal
I served organic oatmeal that I found in NTUC supermarket on alternative days for Noelia. Some days she has wholegrain bread that I bought in Cedele as a 'tartine' in french. It is a slice
of bread with the fruit jam. That bakery shop has a good range of healthy diet breads and cake.

4. Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats Bite-Sized
I am not bias, although that I do not serve this to my family but according to research this can be a good option for fun breakfast. It has 12 grams sugar per serving but it also very low in sodium and has 6 grams of fiber.

5. Honey Nut Cheerios
If I am forced to have choices I may get this as an alternative for other healthy breakfast

6. Cheerios (all General Mills)
Personally, I want to help and support the products from small farmers not big
manufacter like General Mills. I will have to do more more research on this issue
as General Mills maycontribute to global warming.

7. Kix

Luckily, Noelia is not fussy about breakfast. She loves multi-grain or whole-grain bread with a jam or oatmeal because it contains lots of fiber and iron she needs. She usually starts with Kiwi or other vitamin C fruits and followed by 'tartine' or oatmeal porridge with milk.

Honestly, I prefer not only encouraging the healthy habit to the children but purchasing with consciousness the products we consume everyday. This involves also the whole stakeholders, the farmers, the environment, the distributors and the products.

Remember, check the nutritional value on the box if we have to purchase the cereals. The cereals who have 'a halo effect' such as added iron and calcium need to be examined before purchase.

And Have a healthy breakfast to start your day!

Lazy Sunday Mini Cheesecakes

Ludo is in Cambodia for more than a week. This weekend, I wanted to go easy. The weather has been perfect for cocooning on the canapes with a cup of tea while watching TV. It's rare to have rainy and windy weather in the hot spot Singapore. Ah no, I wished I could do that.....I have a toddler!!

So I put those minds away from me. I called my ex-room mate who stayed a few months after I came back from Paris in 2004. She lives in Yishun now, 40 minutes away by MRT train. We used to bake or cook together on the weekend if she wasn't busy with hairsaloon training. It always nice to have a visit and we plan to do simple baking on lazy sunday while we update each other lives. She loves baking cheesecake and I miss it!

Noelia decided not to nap at her usual time. My friend came, and she immediately wanted to play with her. Noelia used to be shy with new people, but with my friend she loved her. They gigled, danced, sang, and do the silly things. After a few hours, finally she napped! There you go, we have time to make the cheesecake inspired from the toddler's recipe book.

Mini Cheesecakes

No Baking. The muffin cases are needed for these cheesecakes. It's great for tea party and I think I'm gonna make these for her birthday celebration.

Ingredients

6 digestive biscuits

50 g butter

1 tub of philadelphia low fat cream cheese or mascarpone cheese (if we use this mascarpone we need to add 120ml double cream)

icing sugar (it depends how much sweet you want)

fruits, anythings like kiwi, strawberry or canned-peaches.

Line the muffin-tray with 6 large paper cases. Put the biscuits in the ziplock bag and crush them using your hands or a rolling pin. Take out the butter from the fridge and let it soft a few minutes. Put the butter together with the crushed biscuits in the bowl and stir it with your hand or wooden spoon. Divide the crumbs between the cases and use clean fingers to press firmly into the base of paper. Chill in the fridge whilst you prepare the filing.

Mix and fold it together the philadelphia cream cheese and icing sugar until soft. Spoon the filling onto the crumbs on paper cases. You may put them back in the fridge for awhile so the cream chesee will get hardened. Meanwhile, you can prepare for the fruits by cutting them small. You can decorate the top part anything you like.

Good luck!

Take them Outside!

A couple of days ago, my friend asked me "Why don't you try Little Gym or Gym for the toddlers in Forum and other shopping centres? They have a good reputation among parents with toddlers to improve their skills and confidence"

And I was wondering for awhile that it is not a bad idea to try a couple of times for Noelia. She probably required more skills and it looks like she's ready. Of course, I wasn't agreed to do it when she was below 1 year old. Furthermore, it's a comfortable place to hang out in aircon room. There are many indoor playground in Singapore these days.

When we look for child care around where we live, I took the consideration on how much time she can play outside. The staff explained to me about 45 min in the morning from 9-9.45 am. So I was pleased to hear that. She loves to ride a tricyle, jumping around on the grass, exploring the toy house with friends. But yesterday when I picked her up, Noelia jumped in to the tricyle and did not want to leave. The teacher told me that they didn't have outdoor activities because it was a morning rush for them and really busy. I regretted that they did not plan the day properly. But hopefully, it will be one occasion that won't be repeated again.

This morning I read an article titled 'Playtime-Take it Outside' by Rae Pica which now I have cleared the doubts about Indoor Playground on regular basis.

She said, "... The outdoor is a very best place for preschooler to practice and master emerging hysical skills...that the children can fully and freely experience motor skills like jumping, running and leaping.
The Outside is also important because the outdoor light stimulates the pineal gland, the part of the brain that regulates"biological clock", is vital to immune system and make us feel happier. Outside children more likely to invent games. As they do they are able to express themselves and learn about the world in their own way. They feel safe and in control, which promotes autonomy, decision making and organizational skills. Although the children are playing only to have fun, they're learning the following;

• communication skills and vocabulary (as they invent, modify and enforce rules)
• number of relationships (as they keep score and count)
• social custom (as they learn to play together and cooperate)

Furthermore she said, "...Children who spend alot of time acquiring their experiences through television and computers are using only two senses (hearing and sight), which can seriously affect their perceptual abilities"

Now I believe that outdoor in nature is their classroom. It may be hard sometimes for us to spend sometimes outdoor because of the heat and humidity under the sun. I know even if we are going for a jogging, we will choose the time after the sun goes down. But I know for sure that I won't pay to get my daughter enrolled in indoor gym on regular basis. Whatever the ad says that it improves the flexibility and skills, maybe it is. But nature is best for them now.

Recently I allow 30 minutes of Baby TV program, 4 times in a week. No, I am not thinking about introducing computer or laptop until she really needs it. Although most parents are proud that their kids (below 5 years old) can use the computer, well I don't.