Hip to be Mom» Hobbies & interests

Fairy tales too scary for your kids?

Clairity — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:20:53 +0000

My 3 kids grew up on fairy tales, the classics. It was our nightly routine. I’d get home from work and after dinner and shower, I would settle down with the kids to read them a bedtime story (or 2 or 3 ). My kids were around 2+-3 years old at the time but they loved every fairy tale we read and they would eagerly pick out the book they wanted me to read.

But a study by the British TV channel, Watch seems to say that some of the classic fairy tales (as we know them) are just too scary, or could be inappropriate if kids with overactive imaginations took them literally.

In the case of Snow White, the idea of a wicked witch for a stepmother who tries to poison her is perhaps too much for little kids. Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin involve stories about kidnapping, and in The Little Red Riding Hood, the big bad wolf gobbles up a helpless grandmother.

So apparently some parents are ditching these classics. To be honest, I would never have thought of these storylines as a problem. The question never even arose. At least, they make more sense than Teletubbies and Spongebob, just sayin’. Anyhow my kids loved reading these stories over and over, and these books are now part of our prized collection.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was a big favorite for us. Don’t ask me how many times I’ve read this book!

So how do you feel about the classics? Would/do you read them to your kids? What do your kids read?

Bread story

Clairity — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:06:13 +0000

Like I always say, my kids are my biggest inspiration when it comes to cooking and baking. Okay, let me back it up a little here. I was never a kitchen person. Growing up, I rarely ever ventured beyond the kitchen door. But when I had kids, it all changed. I found myself trying to cook or bake whatever they liked to eat.

I’ve never had any cooking or baking lessons, never felt inclined to spend the money. Just trial and error, and winging it most of the time. When my kids in their pre-teen years went berserk over sausage rolls, we spent a small fortune going to that bakery near our house to feed our bread frenzy.

My cinnamon rolls

Bread making was uncharted territory for me. I didn’t even think I wanted to try it after seeing how the bread my aunt used to make could knock a person’s brains clear out of their heads if they ever got hit by one of her rolls. Bread making sounded deadly!!

My apple cinnamon braid

If my aunt, the so-called “celebrity chef of the family”, couldn’t do it, what were the chances that my bread would even be edible? Then again, it’s not as if parenting is without its risks, right? So I ventured to make my first batch of sausage rolls. Worst case scenario, I would build myself a nice little rock garden with my rolls .

Our daily bread

Making bread takes patience and calm. No electronic breadmakers for me. My unlovely SIL gave us a loaf to show off what her new breadmaker could do. Oh sure, leave the loaf overnight and tomorrow you could stone someone to death with it. My kids hated the rock-hard bread. So that was it, forget the breadmaker!

Let’s get down and dirty. Work up some elbow grease. I dare say bread tastes better with that secret ingredient – Mom’s perspiration.

My bread rolls, so soft and yummy

What is one food that you love to eat and learnt to cook, or wish you could cook?

There’s something about books

Clairity — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:39:17 +0000

My brood of bookworms grew up reading books. I’m so glad.

One of the treasures in our library

Well, if you’ve noticed, for some time now, books are being slowly but surely replaced by the Kindles and the iPads and the e-readers. I’m not sure I like the idea. Somehow a book doesn’t feel like a book when it’s a bunch of words on a cold, hard screen.

It’s just not the same.

With a book, you come to the last paragraph on a page and your fingers are eagerly twitching to turn the page. The excitement is at your fingertips followed by the familiar rustle of the turning page. Not if you’re reading from a screen!

With a book, you can curl up like a foetus on the sofa or the bed and bury your face in the soft pages. With a screen, um, not so much!

With a book, there’s that challenge to remember the page number you stop at (if you’re stubborn like me and refuse to use a bookmark). And if you can’t remember the page number, having to flip through the pages to find your spot really isn’t so bad. With a screen, I don’t know.

A book, yellowed and worn with age, is like an antique, a true treasure to be passed down through the generations. As you flip the pages and cast your eyes on those well-worn words, it’s like taking a trip through time, living the story that others before you have lived in another place, another time. That, in itself, is a priceless adventure.

How do you feel about books?

6 reasons to be excited and 1 not to be

Clairity — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:17:41 +0000

First, the good news. This morning, I looked out the window and all the stars were aligned in the dawn sky. Tis the perfect day to head to the gym with Raine. We worked our butts off (literally), came home, rolled up our sleeves and started baking.

Within an hour and a half, we had the first 4 reasons to be excited. We were done baking 2 loaves of wholemeal bread and 1 carrot cake, and making the batter for pumpkin pancakes. Easy-peasy, right?

Oh, a friend brought us practically half a fresh produce sectionful of seasonal fruits and veggies from his farm. What were we going to do with all those carrots?

But apparently the carrot power was just a little too much for my fingernail and IT BROKE!! *sobs* That’s the bad news.

I hate, hate, hate breaking my nails, grrr! I had to rush upstairs, remove my nail polish right away and cut all my other nails short to match. Bummer! On the brighter side, surely that must mean I’m now qualified for the handicap parking spot (Reason #5 maybe)?

They say that everything happens for a reason. So I’m thinking maybe, just maybe, breaking my nail might have something to do with my spanking new iPhone 4S. Since I got it last weekend, I’ve wasted a few hours of my life rekeying all my phone contacts from scratch.

In the process, I’ve noticed how my long nail was getting in the way because now I have to use my fingertip instead of my fingernail to type. Yup, I’m sure that’s how I weakened my nail causing it to break today. Oh well!! Sometimes you ask for an orange and life gives you an Apple *shrug*.

Incidentally, these incredibly clear food pix were taken with my new phone (Reason #6) which looks like the billion other iPhones out there that a billion of you already have. So I’m late to the party again, huh?

On a roll

Clairity — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 01:30:06 +0000

You would not believe how I spent the whole of yesterday! Well, whoever said Sunday is a day of rest is wrong. We slaved from 8:30 in the morning till 9:00 at night. I baked 4 loaves of bread and 2 fruit cakes! With the help of my 2 budding bakers, of course. We worked so hard we darned near broke our backs. But it was fun.

Well, if we’re not going anywhere for the holidays, we might as well be baking up a storm, right? If you recall, I recently worked my flimsy little whisk to death. Today, my hand mixer broke. We’re on a roll here (literally) and had to take turns beating the batter by hand. My biceps are thanking me now and I’ll be showing off my toned arms tomorrow .

Of course, there’s nothing like homemade wholemeal bread bursting with flavor and goodness! Photos of our hard work coming up as soon as I get them downloaded.

Doin’ her mama proud

Clairity — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:17:20 +0000

Oh, by the way, did I mention that at the book sale, we had to park far away and hop on a shuttle bus to get to the building where the sale was at? The bus ride was a blast but that’s another story .

The bus coming back was crowded with families carrying bags and boxes of books. We managed to secure seats but they filled up fast. When a mother carrying her baby came on, Raine stood up and offered her seat to her.

On the bench opposite us, there was another mother with 2 toddlers who had an extra seat on which she chose to “seat” her bag of books instead. That seat could easily have gone to the mother with the baby, no?

So am I a proud mama? You betcha .