Motherhood

Being a mother is really not easy...

Or rather, it is so difficult to be a woman... so tough to be a GOOD wife, mother, daughter, daughter-in-law, employee, superior, friend... sigh... What is good to one person may not always be good enough for another...

Every year during my boy's examination period (which is in this moment of time), I will surely have a meltdown. Just today, I had a tough argument with my son yet again; and the end result - both of us breaking down.

Every examination period, I will always feel that I am the lousiest mummy alive (and i don't even dare to think that this sunday is mother's day and I deserve to be praised or appreciated?!) Feels extremely much that I have been such a bad mummy... Have been always so busy with work that has resulted in me neglecting him and not be able to help him in his studies. It feels that I could and should have done much much much more for him. But with my limited time, what would be considered good enough?

I really wondered and pondered over the decisions I had made and what has happened for a good few hours just earlier on... Will really spending less time at work and more time at home help? Will earning lesser and spending more time helping the kids at home work out better with such high levels of standard of living in Singapore?

My conclusion? There is no perfect solution or answer. No one answer is right or wrong. People make different choices and with the choices we make, we just need to bear the consequences that follow. So it boils down once more... did I or did I not make the right decisions???? I'm thinking hard and trusting God for things to work out eventually. :)

P.S. thank you to all my friends for being my cheerleaders!!! i am so so so blessed to have you guys!! =D

Fighting the Flab!

For my dear friends we haven't read the article of an interview I did with The Straits Times, I have attached it here for your reading benefit.

Hope it helps you in a bid to fight those flabs. Let's all become more confident women! :)

Flower Girl 3 Times Over!

My princess is growing up really FAST!!! From the little baby she was, she is now a preschooler that can hold her own fort. In a span of two months, she has helped out as a flower girl three times over in november and december. It was really a busy yet joyous month!

Eileen's wedding, 07 Nov 2010
Thinking back, it was with great exhuberance and excitement that we agreed to Eileen for Daryl and Chyanne to be her page boy and flower girl for her wedding. Of course, Chyanne hearing the news that she was being a flower girl (for the FIRST time in her life) was both apprehensive and excited at the same time.

A part that she loved was the dolling up!!! Doesn't her curls & tiara complete the princess look?

Thankfully, the nervous part was resolved with Daryl and many good friends alongside her in the entourage. There were more than 30 flower girls and page boys in Eileen's entourage. It was such a beautiful sight to behold, and of course, totally deserving of our beloved children's church pastor!

Chyanne and her charming brother, Daryl

All the Page Boys

All the Flower Girls

Chyanne with her best friends. Jada curled her hair for the occasion too!

The most anticipated moment came when the wedding march-in tune was played and the children walked down the aisle in pairs, holding hands. All the flower girls held a stalk of gerbera of different colours accompanied by a page boy. Look how serious Chyanne is with Gerald...
And when the matrimony was over, Chyanne went around taking a few more shots with her friends.


She sure had lots of fun!

Finally, not forgetting, a group photo with the gorgeous bride and bridegroom.

This was definitely a very memorable experience for my darling.

My dear bro-in-law's wedding, 14 Nov 2010
By the time we got to this next wedding, Chyanne got the hang of things and was a perfect natural at aisle-walking. She has gotten more confident as well!

The groom sure has the support of his family... With his elder brother being his witness and second brother being the solemnizer, we are behind him in every way!
Mum & Second brother helping with the wedding ceremonies

All the cousins ready to walk the aisle with the couple

My beloved sister's wedding, 5 Dec 2010
The next stint Chyanne had was at her aunt's wedding. Together with her brother, it was with no sweat that she did this. Am so glad that she can be a blessing to my sis.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO 奶奶

As an entire family, we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday last Friday night. It was a great time of gathering for the family as various ones played their parts to make the evening an extra memorable one.

The kids came together and made a birthday card for their beloved 奶奶!

Very sweet and thoughtful of them isn't it?

We had different contributions from the adults. But what I loved best was the seafood soup my darling hubby prepared. Looks really yummy and appetizing!

Once again, here's wishing ma ma a very wonderful birthday! 生日快乐!

The family is indeed so blessed to have you being there for us all these years! We LOVE you!

Great News For The Ladies!

From 1 Nov 2010, Medisave300 is extended to include the vaccination against cervical cancer.

What this means for all the ladies out there aged between 9 to 26 is this:
The cost of vaccination is greatly reduced since one can tap into their Medisave Account (or their family members) to subsidize/pay for their vaccination costs. This is however subjected to a maximum cost of $300 per year. Hence, the name Medisave300.

What is Medisave300?
It is basically a withdrawal from your current Medisave account to help cover the cost of some costly vaccinations and treatment of chronic diseases at the outpatient level. The withdrawal limit is capped at $300 per year.

I am just thinking, if you get your vaccination next month, you can possibly have the vaccination totally covered for since the three doses are given over a span of six months. So for all my dear friends that are yet to be vaccinated, get yours once its November!

You can read about these changes in details on the Ministry of Health website: http://www.moh.gov.sg/mohcorp/pressreleases.aspx?id=25060

To facilitate your search for a clinic near you, you can use the clinic locator provided by POCC: http://www.pocc.sg/#/prevent/find/

Remember, PREVENTION is DEFINITELY BETTER than cure! :)

Art With A Heart For Cambodia

The last weekend was especially packed, not forgetting that Friday was Children's Day.

In line with the celebrations, a friend of mine invited us to her daughter's art exhibition. This was in a bid to raise funds for the children in Cambodia.
I was amazed and appalled when I first received the invite. And quite obviously, I was eager and expectant at how the exhibition would be like.

Held at their home, the 8-year old Rachel had the walls fully utilised, displaying all her artwork.









It was interesting to note that she used a wide variety from colour pencils to water colours. Beside being awed by the sheer number of artwork on display, I am even more touched by how BIG the heart of such a young girl is. Here is a picture of her!





My princess also did her bit for the underprivileged kids in Cambodia and bought this painting. Beautiful isn't it?


As an afterthought, isn't it true that we are all capable of doing our part for someone that is less fortunate than us? All it takes is just a bit more effort and thought on our part. I'm inspired by little Rachel to do something more. Hope you are too!

Memories of Chengdu

Having went along with my hubby to Chengdu for a business/mission over the weekend proved to be an enriching and fulfilling experience. There were many many firsts for me on this trip and the company we had on the team was a great joy.



We very much spent the first day doing some sightseeing and familiarizing ourselves with our surroundings while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. The places we went to were majestic and in fact, very advanced too!




The food we had throughout the trip was equally glorious, save some being rather like exotic, like rabbit heads (Chengdu's specialty)!!! Not feeling so adventurous that day, I settled for a piece of rabbit meat instead.




The following day, we met with many members of the church, including the missionaries who speaks PERFECT Mandarin. This is but one of the many things that inspired me. Having met the women entrepreneurs in the city has also greatly encouraged me that women can indeed do much more. Amongst them are Candy Guo (General Manager of Empire’s Forever Garden Restaurant), Lu Ya Lan (President of Century Ophthalmology Hospital) and Susan Yan (Chairman of C.G. Families IT mall). They are really powerful women shaping the business world.

The warm welcome by the church during the service made us feel right at home as we worshiped together. Hubby really took a step of faith and preached in Mandarin that very morning. Words can't describe how proud I really am of him! Glad that the service was a great success!

The next part of the day was very much spent on visitations and what I would term experiential learning. We went to a farm in the mountains, owned by a church member. We had everything homemade - food, milk and wine. We even went rowing on a boat together! There was also time spent on recreational exercises with the guys pitting against each other in China's national sport - table tennis!

The last day of our trip was of course to have our inaugural businessmen meeting! There were many new people and friends in the midst of us. Hubby shared in Mandarin again. I do wonder sometimes how he actually does it. Gary and Sara also shared their testimony during the session. Powerful! By the end of the meeting, many lives were touched, changed and impacted.

I had so much fun and of course, work done over the five days. And one thing for sure, I'm looking forward to come back again and see what has been done as a result of this trip! :)

You can check out my tweets of the trip on http://twitter.com/yuanwenling.