While I was pumping...

I love reading, since small. Unfortunately, I hardly have the time to indulge in novels or books after I had my girls. I envy people who could still do so many things as if they're having 48 hours a day. Try as I may, I still couldn't find those time, whatsmore some me-time. Well, things began to change 4 months ago, when hubby presented me with this gift.

I realized that I could still read - while I was doing my early morning pumping. I only pumped once a day at home, first thing in the morning. Twice in the office during weekdays, but during weekends, I breastfeed directly.

Well, it took me about 1 month plus to complete this book during my ~30min session. And it's really inspiring, things that they share. I think this website summarize it rather well, what it's all about. No doubt that some were mere common sense, but there are some points which I find helpful. One good example is the trick to get both kids to share. For my case, Jie Jie is the big bully who doesn't always want to share. So when this happen, I’ll tell her to count 1-10, then let Mei Mei try it. It worked! Well, of course she’s smart enough to count slowly for herself, but very fast when it’s Mei Mei’s turn (since Mei Mei still doesn’t know how to count yet), but the switch of toys into different hands after the reach of 10 excites both girls and no more quarrels followed. Phew!

Other things that I find appealing include organizing each section of the house with a corner for toys within our toddlers reach. In that way, we could still do the housework while taking care of them. Apart from the tips to manage things (some which I have been practicing, like pre-pack the bags needed for different activities in advance so that we won’t miss out anything when in a hurry), it also emphasized the importance of maintaining good relationship with your other-half. Like taking half-day off for a movie or date to strengthen the relationship. Then this nurturing thing that we could do for our own me-time, like a few hours break for ourselves so that we won’t end up too exhausted. A break once in a while is certainly refreshing! Just last weekend, I managed to give myself a good workout while taking care of my toddler. Yes, I was running while pushing her on her tricycle, it’s a good exercise for me, and she also enjoyed the fun. I took a break when I was tired by letting her play in the playground, and after awhile, I continued with the jog.

So, if you want some inspirations on how to juggle and balance life with several hyper-active kids around, read on! You’ll learn something from there, if not it’ll be a good reminder for you to start do something about it!