Jermain!

This coming November, Eleen and I have the honor of being witnesses for little Mr Jermain Aw’s Infant Baptism.
I have myself a Godson!
Very happy and proud about it

This dear little kid is 9 months old, healthy, strong and soooooooooo adorable!
He seldom make noises unnecessarily, and makes the cutest noises even when he complains ^^
He is the center of attraction everywhere he appears and there is no wondering why.

The above picture, is not extracted from stock photos of cute babies.
He is the very adorable kid I’m now talking about
He kills by virtue of his cute little hands and cute little feet. Have his little fingers wrap around yours and you melt instantly; See his mini little toes and you die of cute.

He’s my godson, my godson ♥
I feel like I love him half of how his parents love him already :p

 

百万小学堂

昨晚看《百万小学堂》，里面那位平时很跩的小盆友“威力”把台湾的总面积答错了，使郑元畅没法继续闯关。那时我就料到，这位平时因为自己的学识很跩的小兄弟恐怕会受到很大的打击。不出所料，幕后花絮放出威力向郑元畅道歉的画面，接着就哭了。

那一刹那我感叹：还是哭了比较可爱啊，就是个小孩嘛。

我希望我的小孩首先能诚实地表达自己的情感。
我们经常说，某某孩子很老成——其实当人显得老成的时候，就是学会隐藏或弱化自己的情绪表达，不是大哭大笑，而是隐忍和微笑。人到了十七八岁，就应该学习老成，保护自己也照顾身边的人的感情。但十七八岁以前的孩子显得太老成，不仅有点好笑，也显得不太可爱。我喜欢憨厚的孩子，不喜欢精灵油滑的孩子。我不要满口标准答案的孩子，也不是要一板一眼的“乖孩子”，希望我的孩子能告诉我他真实的想法与感受。

我希望我的小孩能谦卑。
这也是我们所有的人都需要学习的。但是要如何教养出有信心，又谦卑有自知的孩子，这个就是大大的学问了。一个人总是张扬自己的优点、强项，不仅会让别人讨厌与嫉妒，也会让他自己过度的膨胀而学习不下新的事物。平时太张扬的人，是给自己铺了难下的台阶。

我希望我的孩子长相端正，但不要太漂亮。
长得漂亮的人，在有意识无意识之间总会有些优待的地方，也有不方便的地方——例如：漂亮的男生女生总是不能确定追求自己的人是不是只看上了自己的皮囊；在职场上，长得漂亮的人有时可能有优势，但常会被人说是因为长相而上位的（女生在这方面很吃亏），自己真正的才华反而被湮没。还有一点就是，长得漂亮的人容易被娇惯，容易觉得别人对自己的好是理所当然的。

我希望我的孩子是个善良体贴的人。
我不要孩子油嘴滑舌，也不需要他是个热情外放的人，但我希望他能从心里体贴别人的立场。

我也希望孩子聪明，但希望他不是耍小聪明。
比起讨人欢喜的小聪明，我更愿意孩子长期学习由上帝而来的真正智慧，做一个蒙主喜悦的人。

 

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Just a while

Before I go back to catch sleep for the long rehearsal day ahead…

Was telling Mum this morning that whenever I look at teenagers nowadays and feel irritated, I would stop to consider what I was like when I was 16 and younger. Then I will remind myself to give those kids more time.

Remembering my awkward and embarrassing teenage-hood filled with angst and ridiculousness is difficult. I try not to think about those times and if I do, I give thanks that I got to know the Lord at the absolute low of my growing years. So yes, I have sympathy for teenage angst and awkwardness, I can understand that kids this age need to be gently and firmly reminded of responsibility and yet respected like adults and treated like friends.

Growing up is difficult, like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Notice how the little creature has to struggle and struggle to squeeze itself out of the cocoon. Even right after it comes out, its wings are crumpled, pale and weak. Then it stands in the sun and spreads itself – behold, a beautiful butterfly.

So yes, just a little while more.

 

Whee Wii

My first time on a Wii set took place in a hospital…

Apparently I played Wii with the kids at the Adolescent Hub (aka “The Cabin”) and we had much crazy fun shouting at the TV and at each other. My Mum wondered if it was they who were playing or I. I said we were playing together. =p

On my way to the hospital, I prayed that I will not go with the mentality of “helping” them, but the mentality of serving them instead. “Helping” connotes a sense of superiority over the recipients of help. I also prayed that I’ll be natural around them, not awkward like I was last week. Upon my first encounter with really ill children I was a little shocked and didn’t know how to act around them. Yet at the same time I know that they don’t need pity. They don’t need me to be all sympathetic and ultra-sensitive and ultra-nice. They should be talked to like how I would talk to any other kids.

I prayed for their health. However hard I remind myself that I should empathize and not sympathize, it can still be heartbreaking to see kids being so terribly ill that they spend more time in hospital than in school. But what I also saw in their lives is a maturity not found in their “healthy” peers. They appreciate their parents, their friends (especially their fellow patients) and their lives.

Their physical pain reminded me that I have a good life simply because I have a good body and the ability to go places and do things that I want to do. I don’t have to be painfully conscious of the IV-needle in my arm when I’m playing Wii like mad, I don’t have to stop playing because I had to go back to my Ward on time, I go in and out of everywhere – to church, to school, to shopping malls without having to be reminded that my kidney dialysis is two hours later. It’s like what Cong said, we who are “suffering” should learn to see how blessed we really are.

So when we are so blessed, why are we still wasting our lives by whiling our days away in self-centred angst and blaming life and God for not giving us what we want?

 

Blessed day

Give thanks, because the Lord is good. In fact, He is too excessively good to me, who does not deserve all these at all.

What I did today:

1. Research
2. Volunteer at NUH Adolescents Hub
3. Attended forum at NTU

——–

I didn’t so much “help” the kids at NUH than allow them to inspire me.

Game card drawn by Boy A: What are some of the nice things you did for your friend?
Boy A: Errrhh…
Boy B: Yes, tell them, you did. You went through thick and thin with me.
Boy A: Oh yeah man.
Social Worker: Can you tell us more?
Boy A: I never gave up on him.
Social Worker: Is that true?
Boy B: Yes~ went through physio(therapy), … etc with me

The kids have allowed me to see in this time I was with them how they appreciate their friends and family so much more than the so-called “healthy” kids. Upon first contact, they were simply your every day teens who talk crap and are annoyingly precocious. But when things like praise for their social workers came up – saying outright and clearly that the social worker is a very nice person – I realized that these kids have beautiful souls in them.

Boy A kept telling his other patients to treasure and appreciate their family members. Speak of good company.

And all of them are adolescents no more than 16. In no more than 3 hours they taught me so much.