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at the chias

at the chias

making a home | finding beauty in the ordinary | living for things that matter

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Archives for December 2023

rent car taiwan

December 19, 2023 · In: Travel

Can you self drive in Taiwan? Here’s our take.

The easiest way to explore Taiwan with young children is by private car, but do you get a driver or drive yourself? This was the question we asked ourselves. It…

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I’m Audrey, a mom of two, living in sunny Singapore. Here, I hope to share inspiring ideas and snippets of our daily ordinary life, to spur you onward and upward.

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How to baby proof your Singapore HDB flat without sacrificing style

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@atthechias

On mixed aged friendships, and no, I don’t mean fo On mixed aged friendships, and no, I don’t mean for your kids

As much as I love watching my kids in mixed-age environments, cultivating relationships with kids of different ages, I’ve come to realise that such friendships aren’t just good for children, they’re good for adults too. 

==

Today we were driving in the CBD, and a familiar aunty was crossing the road in front of us. I waved frantically and excitedly through the window. 

Many years ago, when I was breaking under the weight of a toxic work environment, I found myself in her office during a lunch break. You see, she’s a GP with a clinic near my workplace. No biggie that she’s 1.5 generations ahead of me. 

In that moment, what I needed was an older, wiser, friend, and she was that to me. I left the clinic with an MC and some drugs for my psychosomatic symptoms, and a dose of courage to confront my struggles. 

==

A few months ago, while digging up letter-writing stationery for my children, I unearthed a letter written to me when I was 12. My mum’s friend, who was living in Japan, was like a penpal to me back then. She’s a generation ahead of me. 

As a tween, my peers weren’t mature enough to be giving good advice, and it’s an age where it’s hard to be receptive to everything parents say. An older friend who isn’t a parent can say much more, and that she did, to encourage me in that season. To this day, she continues to encourage me in my season!

==

Becoming a parent, I’ve started to see friends who are half a generation ahead of me as treasures in my life. Parenting is hard. There is so much unknown that we face. Yet, having carried their babies and now watching them launch those babies into adulthood, I have stronger conviction of the impact of my role as a parent, and deeper understanding of how I steward but not author my children’s lives. 

==

If you’ve read till this point, all this to say, go find friends who are of a different generation from you. There is so much to gain from building relationships with people of different ages. And yes, I do need to invest in relationships with younger friends too!
“What’s for lunch?” “Can I have a snack?” This @t “What’s for lunch?”
“Can I have a snack?”

This @tjean_online steam oven has multiple functions packed into a small box, perfect for our small homes. I was impressed by the quality of the finishings and versatility of the machine. It’s probably best suited for small families — this machine will go to my parents now that they’re empty nesters. 

Other than the functions featured here, it can also dehydrate fruit, ferment yogurt, and steam bake. I used the probe thermometer to cook juicy chicken breasts, and you can do the same with other meats (roast beef anyone?). 

Find it on Shopee: ADU-SFZ-LPV
Blowouts are part and parcel of parenting, but the Blowouts are part and parcel of parenting, but they can be greatly reduced with a few tricks 😉😬

What else would you add?

#parentinghack
What would you add to the list? What would you add to the list?
For years I was wired toward efficiency. Every wee For years I was wired toward efficiency. Every week had an overall plan, and each day was taken in blocks. The school holidays, in particular, required precision planning — scheduling holiday activities then deconflicting meetings to ensure they don’t overlap with pick-up and drop-off timings, ordering enough snacks and making plans for each meal, strategically taking leave days for travel. 

This was how we survived, even thrived, in the past years. 

This year, as the holidays approached I started to think about what we needed to plan. 

Nothing. We didn’t need to plan anything, because time is ours now. 

What a privilege. And yet, how does one best steward it without falling into the “productivity” trap? What if I start to feel like we’re “wasting our time” without a detailed plan?

I recently took the kids to Gardens by the Bay and set us one objective: to choose a flower and use our coloured pencils to best replicate the colour of that chosen flower on paper. A full excursion with a simple, singular objective. A quiet protest against optimising the outing by getting as much as possible. A test of my own grit and commitment to this cause. 

The kids did brilliantly. They found a very random flower, plonked themselves down, and got to work. I stood around awkwardly. 

When they were done, they said we could leave. And so, silencing my internal voice that “we’ve barely seen anything”, we left. 

As I walked off with all three kids in tow, it struck me. It had been one of the easiest and most delightful outings we’d had in a while. Perhaps inefficiency does have its place. And sometimes, that place is delight.

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