Dear Mr. Xavier Yap First and foremost, may I call you Xavier? I know it's presumptuous of me to ask since you don't know me. And, up until January 22, 2022, when news about you first broke nationwide, the rest of Singapore and I didn't know you either. This week, however, we found out more … Continue reading Letter To A Special Needs Dad — On Faith. Hope. And Love.
Sometimes it's hard to put into words how I feel about my sons. Though regular readers here have no doubt seen some of my humble attempts to do that in past blog posts. But this struggle has become even more pronounced as I watch my sons grow year after year and change in ways most … Continue reading As another year ends, two silver linings bring hope to one dad’s parenting journey
It's official. Since my last post on this, I've decided: I shall not call myself a "stay-at-home dad" anymore! In fact, technically speaking, I probably couldn't from the very start when I stepped away from a full-time career in 2018. While I had several weeks and months without any work or income thereafter, I did … Continue reading Parenting Motivations #14 — Am I still a stay-at-home dad? (Part 2)
It was bound to happen I suppose. Just when I thought everything was cool and we have the best kid in the world, he goes and breaks the family rule on handphones. Despite having signed a contract for it too. And in so doing, break a trust. Talk about a reality check! For wilful defiance … Continue reading Parenting Motivations #13 — Of handphones and trust
Unbelievable right? As previously mentioned, this is now my seventh installment in this series (I dare not call it a mini-series anymore!). While I apologise this still isn't the last one, I do hope to wrap it up soon (fingers crossed!). Thanks for staying with me this far. So. To recap. This series is my … Continue reading What I learned from parenting workshops #7 — Motivations
So here's the thing about this parenting series. When I started it, I really thought it'll be a mini-series. After all, I'm basing it on three webinars about parenting teens. So I figured three would also be the magic number for posts about it, right? Strike #1. As I was working through entry #5 previously, … Continue reading What I learned from parenting workshops #6 — Rules and consequences
Hey guys! I'm writing this parenting entry today as a letter to you because I need to come clean about something deep inside my heart that's not gonna be easy. To be honest, I've no idea if there's a right or wrong time for me to talk about this. So I figured what the heck! … Continue reading Parenting motivations #12 – A “truth” letter to my sons
The Looming Divide! It's happening It's happeningI can literally feel the creep Settling in! All he wants now is time withToys and screensToys and screensToys and screens All I want is time away fromTests and screensTexts and screensTags and screens Yet this has been happeningLong before it's been happeningThe looming divideThe fleeting kiss goodnight My … Continue reading My (July) Monday Metrical Musings #90
All of us go about our days wearing different hats as we transit from one role to another. When at work, we’re the power executive in tailor-made Armani suits. After work we change into our Lululemon sports gear for that weekly HIIT workout. Then afterwards, we’re home in our Alex Mill PJs tucking our kids … Continue reading Parenting motivations #11 — Am I still a stay-at-home dad? (Part 1)
I know this is going to sound like a broken record because I've talked about math worksheets in past blog posts. But because it just happened two days ago on a hot and humid "homework afternoon", and I ended up all hot and bothered, with my son C all scared and flustered, the memory is … Continue reading Daily Living with Autism #8 — Fractions that fracture
