Day 268: The Heartbreak of Preparing Food for a Toddler

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One of the worst elements of having a toddler is preparing food for them.  Imagine if you will, a situation where you cook a magical meal; thought-out to every element, with all the important bits covered, plus a few just in case.  Now imagine you serve the meal, and the person eating it just cries and throws it on the floor.  That’s my life, 3 meals a day, plus a few snacks thru the day, every day.  

The little guy is going thru a phase and/or teething now, so he is not really interested in food that is not crunchy.  So foods like bread sticks, toast, and Japanese pears are great, but everything else, in his opinion, should simply be thrown on the floor while screaming.

It’s so frustrating to make a meal that is nutritious and right for your child, and even encompasses “play” in it, and to then see that food be rejected, thrown away, and generally hated.  Especially when you know he likes the food, but it’s just some weird new behavior.  I guess I just need to keep on offering the food as I do, and try not to let my soul be crushed by the wastefulness of my 1 year-old 😉 

before
  
after
  
before you get excited and think he ate a lot, look under the table
 

Day 267: A lot of people in Hong Kong?

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One thing our guests have all commented on when we have been around the city and on the MTR in Hong Kong and Kowloon is that there are a lot of people here.

Of course this is true, and sometimes it’s frustrating and annoying and you just want people out of your way.  But as I told one visitor: you don’t even see the other people anymore after a while, you see the gaps where you can go, the places where people are not walking or standing.

I am not too sure this is a good thing.  On the one hand, it’s a pretty natural part of living in a big city, I guess.  On the other hand, these are other people, other humans with feelings, emotions, stories of their own.  

When you think about it this way, you want to just slow everyone down to a 1950’s pace and say hello, ask people how they are doing and so on.  But I guess that’s not possible, so for now all I can do is remember these other people I share the city with and at least carry a smile and good attitude with me – that can make a big difference when there are so many others!

Day 266: The Little Guy When We Have Guests

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The little guy has always been social – he loves people and he loves it when people are around; the more the better.  When it is just me and him, it’s pretty smooth: he doesn’t whine or cry, he eats during meals, and he is generally awesome.

Then the visitors come.  We have 5 people visiting and staying with us for the next 10 days, and he is super pumped.  He is like a wild horse with all the energy in the world; but a wild horse who doesn’t eat well during any meals, and doesn’t want to do anything that we normally do (like sit in a civilized manner in the stroller).  

The one benefit of this is that he completely wears himself out by the end of the day.  So basically while he is a major handful of confusing emotional torment during the days, at least I can get some rest during the nights to handle that craziness well the next day.

It’s weird how “charged up” he gets by other people, but I guess it’s better to embrace it – being social like he seems to be is a good thing, so I guess there’s no reason to stifle it 🙂

Day 265: Fair Weather Swimming (or being a Badkruka)

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The weather has cooled down in Hong Kong from the summer, but it has still been pretty warm during the week, peaking at around 29 this week.  So, early in the week we made the plans to go swimming this morning, when the weather was supposed to be 27 or 28 degrees.

You can imagine my disappointment this morning when I got outside and it was 24,5 degrees and windy.  To a person like me, who is a fair weather swimmer (it needs to be HOT outside!), this was not awesome news.  I texted my friend to try to change the plans, but we ended up going anyway.

We went to the pool, and the little guy was sleeping, so I got into the water.  Slowly.  And after a few minutes I has 1/2 way into the water.  It was freezing!  I finally just dropped in, and adjusted and found it “refreshing” (that’s a positive word to use when it is cold but you want to enjoy it).

The best part of the swim was when I got out and took a nice warm shower so I could be changed and ready when the little guy woke up.  I realized while showering that I have always enjoyed the warm shower after swimming more than I enjoyed the actual swimming.  Pools were always too cold for me (and still usually are).

I learned from our Swedish friends that I am what the Swedish call a “badkruka.”  Literally it means “bath pot,” but it’s what they call people who are reluctant to get into the water when it’s cold.  And I fear my son is also one.  This summer we were in Sweden and the weather was warm, and everyone was at the lake swimming.  We tried to put the little guy into the cold lake water, and he raised his legs up 3 inches for every inch we dropped him towards the water, until he was climbing up our arm to avoid it.

No big deal, the little guy and I can still enjoy swimming when it is hot and doing normal things when it is not-so-hot.  Like playing ball games or being in the yard or park.  Swimming is not the only way to have fun in the summer, especially if you are a Badkruka. 😉

Day 264: Hayfever Cafe, Mong Kok Hong Kong

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Today I went to a few wonderful places on the Kowloon side of town – mainly the MOKO mall (which I’ve written about before but back then I didn’t know they had a playground for the little guy!), and the flower market.  Nestled in amongst all the flower shops is a wonderful place called Hayfever, which has a fantastic coffee shop in it!

Hayfever is everything you wouldn’t expect from being in the middle of Mong Kok.  It’s super fresh and clean, it is a nice size (there’s also a second floor), it smells amazing (it’s a flower shop!), there were not many people there, and it has great coffee.  They even had ice drip brewed coffee, so if you are a snob about coffee you too can be impressed.

I had a cappuccino with a rose shot in it, which tasted like a dream.  I figured since I was in a flower shop, it would be the right thing to do 😉  We have visitors in town next week, and I think if we are in that neighborhood, this will be a wonderful addition to their trip.


  
  

Day 263: Rosie Jean’s Cafe, Hong Kong

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If there is one cafe that I have recently visited that I wish I had learned about sooner, it’s Rosie Jean’s Cafe.  Located at 119 Caine Road, it is a long way up the midlevels – but if you are already there, and you have your little one with you, it is the perfect place to be.  In fact, even if you aren’t already there, maybe it’s worth the trip.

What I like about it is there is a huge terrace to enjoy, and they have toys and things for the little ones to play with.  This means it is populated with parents meeting their friends for a coffee while their toddlers play around.  The staff is nice, the coffee is good, and the environment is welcoming and nice for children in a city full of small spaces that children can’t really be let out of their strollers.  So you can see why I am excited about it 😉  Check it out!

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Day 262: Sometimes You’ve Gotta Stop and Reflect

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Sometimes it’s a good idea to stop and reflect on the positive things in your life.  Stop.  Look around.  Notice all that you have – not about what you do not.  I’m not talking about material things, I’m talking about relationships, people in your life, your situation in life, and so on (you know, the really important things).

If you can do this occasionally, I think it’s healthy and right – it is certainly a positive action and it can fill you up for that moment and maybe longer.  If you can’t find anything in your moment reflecting, don’t think too big – think smaller or go backwards to something you’ve overcome, and walk yourself forward – you’ll find tons of great things in that path if you let yourself see them.

Whatever your situation, there are positive things to see – you’ve just gotta let yourself see them 😉

Day 261: 60% of your time with a toddler

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When you have a toddler, there are a lot of things that take your time.  You want to play, chase them when they crawl or run away, go places and do errands, change diapers (which is increasingly disgusting and challenging as time goes on), and so on.  But there is one thing that I estimate takes 60% of your time: meals and snacks.

When they are younger, you have quick and easy meals, and move on with your day.  But now that you have a toddler, meal time is looking like 30 min- 1,5 hours, and that counts for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks inbetween.  Why does it take so long?

Imagine you have a person who does not know how to eat and does not know what eating is for.  They just think everything is for fun.  Then give them no concept or awareness of time.  Then make them throw every other item on the floor, and drink as much water as they can inbetween every other bite.  Then make it so their bites consist of smashing their food on their face and dragging it down to their mouth until they find it (20% of the time, the rest of the time it goes to the floor).  At this rate you have approximately 1 item out of 10 going in the mouth.  It’s no simple task for them to get full!

I told my brother and his wife yesterday that meals last until the little guy is full or bored.  But I think a more accurate statement is that they last until he is full or you (the parent) are bored.  Otherwise meals would last half the day.  For example today he ate dinner, got bored and played with his food, and then ate some more.  If you ignore that you are cleaning the floor from the other 90% of the food he didn’t eat, it is actually a lot of fun – as long as you are not in a hurry. 😉

Day 260: The Most Annoying Toy in the World: Vtech Spin and Discover Ocean Fun

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My wife had some points from using her credit card, and one way to use them was to buy baby toys.  Anyone who knows how much money you spend on baby toys will understand the appeal of using points to get “free” toys, so that’s just what we did.  One of the toys she got has got to be literally (yes, I mean literally) the worst baby toy in the world.  It at least wins the “most annoying toy in the world” award.  The toy I’m talking about is the Vtech Spin and Discover Ocean Fun.

VTech Baby Spin and Discover Ocean Fun

Basically this toy has a lot of potentially awesome features.  It has a star that when you press down on it the thing spins, and various buttons and songs that the little one can make play.  There are also four sea creatures on it that also activate music and words when the little one interacts with them.  So what’s the problem?

First, the music is annoying.  Ok, ok, all baby toys have annoying music.  But this is enough to drive any sane person to the brink.  And then there’s the voice on the thing.  What kind of voice should it have?  Maybe a playful voice of a man or woman, or even a boy or girl.  Maybe someone who sounds nondescript, accent free.  Surely that is what they went with, right?  Nope.

The voice that sings and talks to the little ones is almost a parody of some kind of cockney British accent.  It’s as if they went to a screening of Charles Dickens in a really rough part of town, and picked the only kid who wasn’t walking around wearing an Adidas track suit, and asked him to do the voice for this toy, and paid him with a ticket to the local soccer game (not 2 tickets, they had a budget!).

Seriously, when you press the dolphin, you would expect to hear the word “dolphin.”  But nope, my little guy is hearing the word “doughfin.”  When pressing the turtle, he hears “tartl” and so on.  If you think I’m making this up, go to this youtube clip and see for yourself, skip maybe to minute 3:00 and you’ll hear it all in action.

So, my advice would be 3 parts.  1) If you love your child, do not give them this toy.  2) If you love someone else’s child, do not give them this toy.  3)  If you really want to be a punk, and give the worst gift ever, hurry up and order a few and keep them in stock for gift season, you will win all the “bad gift” competitions at Christmas and it’s a good way to pick on someone who might have a child coming soon – for example a brother and his wife 😉

Day 259: Just Throw It!

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The little guy is coming along in his development.  For example, he is now in a really cool phase where he simply throws everything he is done with.  

Done with that bottle?  Just throw it!  How about that hand full of peas?  Just throw it?  What about your pacifier?  No problem, just throw it!  Everything he can possibly hold is a potential thing to throw – let’s hope this is a short phase. 😉