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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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October 18, 2023 · In: Motherhood

A positive natural birth story – delivering my second child drug-free

A drug-free natural birth in Singapore is rarely talked about except in the case of “accidental” drug-free births, where the mother is too far along in labour for an epidural…

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unusual things to pack for travel

October 11, 2023 · In: Travel

5 unusual things to pack for travel that no one will tell you about

So, you’ve consulted our family travel packing guide and think that your list is complete – or is it? In this article, I’m sharing 5 unusual things to pack that…

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non toy gifts for 1 year old

October 5, 2023 · In: Gift Guides, Motherhood

A guide to the best non-toy gifts for 1 year olds

Looking for gifts for 1 year olds that are not toys? Here’s my list of useful gift ideas that won’t add clutter to other’s homes.  We try to lead a…

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travel on a budget

September 25, 2023 · In: Travel

How to travel on a budget with kids – tips for frugal family travel

We’ve done multiple family trips with our two little ones (including to Melbourne and Perth in Australia, Jeju in South Korea, Hanoi in Vietnam, Kyushu in Japan, and Phuket in…

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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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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.
#proofofdad He’s a hospital bag essential and bes #proofofdad

He’s a hospital bag essential and best confinement man-ny you can’t employ. 

Perhaps the extended time away will dent his year-end bonus, but for sure it has already added truckloads to the relationship bonuses in our family, and its impact will be felt for many years to come. 

Fatherhood in this day and age is increasingly complex, with the expectation that they would be more involved on the home-front, yet without any regard for how that would affect the work-front. When they want to step up, they are often gaslighted and pushed aside in favour of the mother as default parent. Not to mention, many are coming from a childhood of their own where they didn’t have much of a (positive) relationship with their own father. Talk about breaking cycles. 

Celebrating fatherhood and the sweet two months of paternity leave we enjoyed 😭💕
April was made up of many moments with friends, le April was made up of many moments with friends, learning about relating to the world, and to each other. We are all growing — in learning to care for one another better, in pushing through the tough moments, and in knowing when to step back to watch things naturally unfold. Much to be thankful for. 

April was also marked by lack of sleep. Hope that gets better soon!
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