Stand up for yourself!

There comes a time in life... when you have to stand up for yourself.  That time came this Saturday for Siu-Wah.... and boy was it stressful.

Saturday morning.. .we decided he must stand up and pee.  No more sitting down!! Pull down the pants... aim... shoot!!  How hard can it be?!  I begged... I scolded... I bribed.  Nothing.  He just couldn't do it.  At the very end... I was on the verge of yelling before he squeezed a few drops. 

Ohhhhh.... the ends don't justify the means.  And I felt like crap.

Later that day... we were at the Great Mall doing some Christmas shopping.  SW screams "Pee-pee!" Quickly grabbed the little guy and ran to the men's room.  And surprise surprise... all four stalls were occupied.  And all four of the men took FOREVER!!!!!  What the heck were they doing in there!?!?  There was an old man standing in line in front of me holding a toddler.  Did he offer me the stall that opened up!?  Nope.  He went right in there and did this thang....

There were urinals opening up. 

SW needed to go!

I had to decide.  Do I give up my space in line and try SW in the urinals?!  What if he doesn't go in the urinals??? Then I'll have to get back in line for the stalls!!

Tic-toc-tic-toc..... time was ticking.  And SW needed to pee.  What to do?! What to do?!

FINALLY!!! A stall opens up.... I quickly run in.  The teenage boy walks out but doesn't flush. Jerk!  So I flush... only to see the dang toilet flood.

I make a quick u-turn... trying to get back in line.  And I see the stall next door open up... PERFECT!!!  Oh.... but the guy behind me didn't care.  He snuck right in.  Didn't give me the time of day.

I was stuck... no where to go but back into a flooding toilet.  Or.... give the urinal a try.

And boy did that training come in handy.  At least... he's done it all, but ONCE.

Took him to the urinal... he was too short!! What do I do? How do I hold him?? How do I coax him to pee? Do I yell at him in public? Does he even understand what's going on?

I pull down his pants and undies....  lift him up and dangle his legs.  Poor guy has no idea what's going on.  In my most loving voice... I ask, "Siu-Wah... pee pee la."  He's lost.  He's confused.  He's intrigued by the entire ordeal.  What's this thing we're standing in front of???

My back in killing me.  I start to sweat.  My arms are tired.  And the little munchkin can only say, "No pee-pee."  He hates it.  He needs to sit in his red potty at home.  He needs the comfort of gravity on his bum-bum.  Not dangling legs... not bah-bee's hands squeezing his armpits.

A million thoughts cross my mind.  Do I have any diapers with us? Do we have a change of clothes? Goodness... we're at the mall... we can just buy another set of clothes!!  Who cares if he wets himself.

So I pull up his pants.... I can't do this.  I can't do this to my son.  Simply can't force someone to pee if they don't want to.  I turn around and start walking out when my spirit of competitiveness kicks in.  I WON'T GIVE UP!!! NO!!!

Turn around and face the urinal again.  Go through the whole ordeal again.  Undo his pants and undies.  Lift him up.  Dangle his legs.  Beg.  Coax.  Bribe..... sweat POURING down my neck.  Still dry as the Sahara.

The heck with it....  not worth it.  When all of a sudden..... SW starts giggling.  He giggles.  He's smiling.  He's looking down... he's pointing, pointing at the stream arcing to the bottom of the porcelain bowl.

OH MY GOODNESS!!! HE'S DOING IT!!!

Couldn't have timed that morning training session any better.... huh???  

Family Altar - 薪火相傳

The other night, we had fellowship at our house. It was more an excuse to have hotpot than fellowship.  But towards the end of the night, Nn demanded we have Family Time.  So the Yu's joined us for family time... after I told them during dinner how it's transformed our family!

Just like normal... we started by sharing a happy moment for the day.  Then I read a verse from the bible... and we blessed one another. 

The next night... Roy texted me, telling me that their first "Family Time" was from Mui-mui's Children Prayer book.  A simple prayer about protection.

Let's hope that Family Time can become a staple in not just our lives... but in everyone's lives. 

Leap of Faith

We're doing it!! Siu Wah is gonna sleep in an underwear for the very first time tonight! 

Oh boy.... do I really get my wish from Santa?? No more diapers!?!?!??!?!  (not holding my breath...)

Family Altar - Day X

Haven't blogged about our Family Altar time in a couple of weeks.  But by God's grace... it's now a part of our lives; to a point where Nn will request it or remind us that we haven't done it.  And SW will instinctively grab my bible when we sit down on the living room floor.

Last night... after our customary 2-minute family time (yeah... 2 minutes is all we can sustain with a 4 and 2 year old), I thought we should extend the time by going around and have everyone share a "Happy Moment" from the day. Worked out amazing!! Everyone felt happier after everyone was done sharing!!

Then today at church was the annual round of Thanksgiving Testimonies - where PAL gets a little lazy and invites people to share instead of preaching.

Is it me...? Or does every year have at least one testimony (myself inclusive) share on the difficulties of conceiving and starting a family?
 Is it me...? Or does Grace go up every year without pre-coordination?
There's usually an "employment" one.
And more often than not a "health/sickness" one.
This year....we even got a couple of "empty nesters!"

After CS2... I told C-hing, "In 18 years... it'll be us giving those empty nest testimonies."

Ahhhh.... the power of thanksgiving.  As Eric said, 「感恩，係可以扭轉命運！」

He did it!! - Part II

Y'know... on second thought... all this "trouble" of potty training a boy (vs. the ease of training a girl) is allllll worth it when I look into the future and think about the long lines at the ballgame, mall, restaurant (women's restroom) or the ease of simply pulling over on any freeway to relieve yourself.

Yeah.... it's a worth it.

He did it!!

My little boy finally pee'd while standing up!! No more peeing while sitting on the little bucket or on Nn's little pottie seat!!

Too bad.... he stood up and pee'd right on the floor, twice.   Sigh.... baby steps never made more sense.

Bedtime Stories - The Poor, Sad Wolf

Siu Wah was overtired and could not fall asleep.  But both mommy and daddy were exhausted.  In my exhaustion... I had another jolt of creativity.

SW demanded the story, "大灰狼", Which is his way of saying he wants the story of The Three Little Pigs.  This is the story I've told a hundred times.... to a point where he repeats the lines with me.  The same story I told Nn.... since she was 2. 

And for whatever twisted, demented reason... I told the story from the Big Bad Wolf's point of view -- where he was the victim of three naughty pigs!

Every last detail that I usually tell in the "classical" version.... I tell the complete opposite.  Down to the "I'll huff...and I'll puff.... and I'll bloooooooooow your house away" became the wolf crying and sobbing "Hawuwuwuw....Pawuwuwuwu....Wawuwuwuwuw...."

The story was so good... even Joyce applauded.

I wonder.... had I only told Nn the classical version all her childhood.  And I only tell SW the "twisted" version all his childhood..... then have them come together and tell each other the story... what would their reactions be??  Oh man....

Now..... do I truly start pursuing my career as a children's book author??? Hrmmm......

Bedtime Stories - Princess Lei-lei

Suddenly had a jolt of creativity... and decided to make up a bedtime story for Nn.  The story... surrounds a little princess, Lei-lei, who had her crown taken away from her cuz she was naughty.  And to earn her crown back... she has to complete 10 tasks.. (or 10 labors, ala Hercules??).  I don't know where I came up with 10.... but between the start of dinner and after dinner... I decided the 10 tasks equated to the 10 commandments!!  And the moral of the story... a true princess need not have a crown.  If she behaves and keeps the 10 commandments... she already is a princess.  All that matters is inner beauty.

I told Nn the story over a span of 3 days.  First day.... the 8th, 9th, 10th commandments.  Second day... the 5th, 6th, 7th.  And the last day... the first four commandments. 

At the end of the 3rd day... after Princes Lei-lei completed the 10 tasks to be a princess without a crown... I asked Nn.  "Do you want a crown now?" 

Naturally... she says, "Yes... I want a pretty crown." 

Family Altar - Day 5

Family Altar - Day 5

Me: "家庭時間啦!"

Nn: "弟弟！家庭時間啦! 今晚邊個邊bless個啊？"

And that is that....

Family Altar - Day 4 - Prayer Meeting

Family Altar - Day 4

Decided to take the easy way out... instead of thinking of something to do for Family Altar... we decided to bring the family to Prayer Meeting and use that as "Family Time." 

It sounded like a great idea.  We bathed the kids early... ate early.... got them dressed early.  But there's a reason why we haven't gone in months.  And tonight, it reminded us that its past the kids' bedtime and they're way too tired. 

We even left early... immediately after worship.  But both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home.  They weren't in their PJ's so we had to wake them back up...then put them back to sleep.  We left early... had we stayed the entire time and the kids get overtired, our night will probably still be going. 

Geez.... on a sidebar... what happened to SJCAC's prayer meeting?  At the start time... only the Pastors, their wives and the ES MA's were there.  The Children Ministries workers were there.  And there were the four of us - probably the only folks who don't "work" there.  Slowly, the two CS MA's showed up.  Slowly, Danny, Connie and their 4 kids showed up.  I really admire them for their consistency and faithfulness.

Still remember back in the days... Wednesday night was fun! We'll go to PM... meet up with the crowd.... have 2 hours worth of harp and bowl... then go out for late night snack!  Nowadays... PM is reduced to 1.5 hours.  Anyone with infant/toddlers probably are "busy."  Kids that are in school have too much homework.  Where has things fallen....? 

As the head of the household... I truly want to lead my family to Prayer Meeting.  Every week.  Be there at 730 sharp!  Get my kids use to praying... let them know this household is a house of prayer!  Yet....there are just so many obstacles... so many excuses... so many reasons not to go. 

How........?

Family Altar - Day 3

Family Altar - Day 3

Still figuring out what to do exactly... so tonight... the heck with it... make them close their eyes and listen to me read Psalm.  Then I asked them what they heard and saw....

Could barely get through 7 verses without interruption.  SW kept on asking Mahmee (who had her eyes closed), "你做咩瞓覺呀？！"   And Nn couldn't stop giggling...

At the end of the 7 verses... asked Nn what she saw.

First she said she saw Jesus on the cross.... and bleeding...and he resurrected on the third day.

Then she said she saw God!!  And all His friends.... Matthew, Jonah, Noah, Adam, Eve....

So we went along with that and tonight's theme was, "We're all God's friends!!" Woohoo!!

Went through a round of blessings.... and that was all she wrote.