Loving Children unconditionally

Recently I’ve subscribe to Positive Parenting weekly newsletter. Okay, I know some might says that I’m too anxious/kiasu/obsess over Gabby upbringing or being a ‘perfect’ parent. The funny thing is I’m used to think about my friends (with kids) too. It is only come to this stage of life then you realize you do need quite a lot of external advice to keep your life in ‘sane’.

To me, raising a child is like an art. It require a person to equips with the knowledge, patience, experience and most important, LOVE. Gabby is my 1st born, hence to increase my experience and lessen ‘the pain’, is to read on related topic and talk to experienced parents. So this begins my journey on my new found reading topic.

Back to the subject, there is a column in the weekly newsletter that caught my attention.

7 Helpful Reminders on Loving Children UNCONDITIONALLY*
1. Children are children.
2. Children tend to act like children.
3. Much of childish behavior is unpleasant.
4. If I do my part as a parent and love them despite their childish behavior, they will be able to mature and give up childish ways.
5. If I love them only when they please me(conditional love) ... it will make them feel insecure, damage their self-image and actually prevent them from developing better self-control and exhibit more mature behavior.
6. If I love them only when they meet my requirements or expectations, they will feel incompetent. Insecurity, anxiety and low self-esteem will plague them.
7. If I love them unconditionally, they will feel good about themselves and be comfortable with themselves. They will then be able to control their anxiety and in turn, their behavior, as they grow into adulthood.
* Reference: Positive Parenting Digest, A weekly publication of Institute of Advanced Parentology

This is a reminder to me that no matter how ‘unpleasant’ Gabby can be at times, she is still my beloved child. My love for her can never be lessened but increased over the time, just like GOD love for us is unconditional and will never change.

Strawberry and Gabby

Lately, Gabby is into strawberry. It all started many weeks ago, I came back with a box of Korean strawberries. As most of you know, Korean strawberries are mostly ‘naturally’ sweet and never sour. Hence, Princess Hon is hooked ever since. She can’t take her eyes off the strawberry. Whenever, I see one, I would try to get a box home for her. Not on every occasion but whenever I can.

For the past 2 weeks, we were having strawberry short cake from Four Leaves almost every Saturday and Sunday. Gabby would take a few bites of the cake but she would eat every single pieces of strawberries (halve and slices) all by herself. The remaining was down into our stomachs. Since then, I can picture myself eating another piece of cake anymore especially strawberry short cake!!!

For those who know me long enough, I’m very into Gabby’s diet. Some would even say I’m obsessed. Well, blame it on the years that I took Food and Nutrition as my ‘O’ level subject but I do believe that diet do play apart in our future health condition. I would want Gabby to have a better eating habit.

Anyway, I did some research on the web to find out the nutritive value of strawberry and here are the findings:
Has the ability to remove harmful toxin in the blood.
A rich source of folic acid
Highly rated as skin cleansing food
Removes tartar from the teeth and strengthens and heals the gums.

Reference: http://hubpages.com/hub/Health_Benefits_of_Strawberry

Who say only an apple a day keeps the doctor away, so now we should also include strawberry in our diet too. More strawberries, anyone……