I DON'T WANT TO SHARE!

"I don't want to share!"

Does that sound familiar to you?

With Nathan entering two and now at two years 5 months, we have been doing our best to inculcate good values and of course, many times to model the way. However, at this age when their cognitive development is very "caveman" and it is mainly about themselves and their needs and wants, it is not very easy. The power struggles that come with it haven't been too pleasant either. 

So today, we decided to use his favourite snack "honey stars" as a teaching tool for Sharing. :)

First we speak with Nathan about honey stars being his favourite food and he feels happy when he eats them. And it is good if other people can be happy too. So we can give them honey stars and let them feel the same "happy" that Nathan feels. :)

We took out some small zip lock bags and some animal puffy stickers from Daiso. We let Nathan choose a sticker for each of his cousins.

He chose an alligator for kor Kor ah rui; a lion for didi yisheng and a cat for Mei Mei   Beatrice. Then we guided him to stick them on the zip lock bags.

Then we let Nathan fill these zip lock bags with his box of honey stars!

Hahaha phoebe also wanted to join in!

Here are the end products!

Finally we went to Gardens by the Bay's children playground to meet the other cousins. Nathan then presented each packet to each cousin. (Minus yisheng cos he was asleep)

The concept of sharing is very difficult to grasp for young kids.. It's hard for them to understand why must they share their favourite toy with others esp just because the parents said so.

So we are going to continue to explain, model the way and guide our kids to do so...

Jiayou, everyone! 

Till the day we hear "I WANT TO SHARE". :)

River Safari: everything is just right!

I was trying to give this review a title but the one phrase that came to mind is: Just Right.

It was a very comfortable trip with everything just right. The walking is just right, the excitement is just right, the engagement is just right, the environment is just right and the whole experience is just right!

Just right is a state that all parents with young kids try to achieve as we always worry about the tipping point when kids are over tired and hyper and it can affect the remaining part of the day and if worse, the entire night. 

So for River Safari, it is JUST RIGHT. :)

This was the last excursion about 1month back before I ended my maternity. We were blessed with an awesome weather, slightly sunny but nice breeze. Thank God for MOE privileges, we have four adult tickets complimentary with boat rides!

Nathan was briefed about the pandas before that so he was really excited!

Family portrait at the entrance!

(Disclaimer: Phoebe was playing with the foam fan, she was not injured. She pulled out the whole blade. The fan was the one who was injured.)

What greeted us was tranquility! 

Never knew Singapore could still have space for a sight like this. :)

River safari is structured by major rivers and the entire walk to the pandas and passing through all the rivers is only 30min. It is fully covered and there is not much terrain. We had our girl in the stroller and there was no problem moving about. 

This crocodile is a monster. It is so huge that I was traumatized!

If your child likes the underwater world and SEA aquarium, he is bound to like river safari! This place is a combination of those two and the zoo! :)

The red pandas were really close to us. I love how the panda enclosures were. Up close and they were really tame and also showy.

As kids below 1.3m is not allowed on the boat ride, we had to stagger our turns to take it. What was impressive was they had a corner for parents to wait near the queue and do the exchange! 

Ok, the ride!

I LOVE IT! It is like night safari kinda experience which you sail through the animals homes. They are just right beside you! Only thing is, it is not very sheltered so be sure to have a cap on or slab on some SPF 1000000 sun screen. :)

This was how near the jaguars were from our boat.

The boat ride is located just at the half mark of the whole trail. It is about 30-40min from entrance, based on casual walking. 

Pls save some energy as the second part of the trail is as fun or more fun!

These monkeys totally freaked us out. My mother in law RAN out cos the monkeys were following the stroller she was pushing and trying to grab my hand bag. So please be very careful and alert when u enter this area and DO NOT BE COMPLACENT.

Then we went on to this beautiful and mysterious underwater ecosystem, aquatic animals swim and live amidst the trees and plants until the waters recede. 

We arrived just in time for the feeding and it was so interesting! It was about 1pm if I remember correctly. :)

The whole trail will take you about 1.5 hours with a casual stroll speed and stopping at all the exhibits and animals. But we stopped for lunch and had to do swapping for baby sitting and diaper changing etc, it was about 3+hours being out and learning something.

When we left at 1+pm, Nathan was tired but still not grouchy and the timing was just right for a long afternoon nap! :)

That's why I said from the beginning, this place is JUST RIGHT! :)

Ok, shall end with a unique selfie shot.

(Disclaimer again: I did not teach him that.)