Hospital Land

Couple of weeks ago, I signed Jazz and her friend, Nad for Hospital a day, a similar event to Doctor for a day we did previously. This time round, the girls had a taste of the different occupations in the hospital. It's more than just a doctor in a hospital. They tried minutes of being an Anaesthetist, Optometrist, a Pharmacist, Radiologist, Surgeon and Nutritionist. Though this round they were not donned in that cutesy scrub, they were rewarded with pin badges after completing each station. Lovely momentos to bring home.

 

The whole event was held at the lobby of Mount Elizabeth Novena hospital, which I thought was rather noisy during the time of our session, with a lucky draw session going on concurrently. I could barely hear the facilitators, even though I was quite near. I hoped it wasn't the same for the kids.

The first station they embarked on was being an optometrist, where they learn to determine their master eye and help their friend's identify any eyesight problem with colour and reading charts.

They then trooped off to be minutes of Pharmacist, where they learned to prescribe and dispense the right medication for patients. The pretend tablets were so huge and colourful. They sure know tablets aren't any form of candies after this station.

They then switched roles to become a radiologist and surgeon. In the radiologist section, they learned about medical imaging technologies like the x-ray and PET- MRI scan (Read that it was the first and only machine in Singapore). Little ones take turn to be the patient and radiologist.

Getting more serious was being a surgeon, where they were introduced to the different parts of our seemingly intriguing body. They learned to arrange the different organs like our brain, heart, lungs, stomach and intestine onto the correct parts of our body.

Their last station was introducing an app on the ipad. An app developed by Mount Elizabeth, Doctor for a day can be downloaded for our young aspiring doctors. Yet to explore, but it does sound educational and fun.

After which, their hospital journey ended. I really can't recall where the anaeathetist station was, even though they were awarded a badge. It was probably replaced, removed that day, or I missed it out. 

My favourite stations were the 2 stations open to non-registered public. That's where our less than 4 years old can join in the fun. They learned to be a nutritionist and did some bandaging lesson for first aid.

 

 

There was also a bouncy castle on site for the kids. Nice play area to keep our less than 4 years old waiting siblings occupied, but it can get too rowdy when older kids get on.

The girls enjoyed their time, and again, slots were snapped up fast within minutes of event registration launch. I do hope they will be running it again, so stay tune with their updates here (Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital) and here (Parkway East Hospital).

They are fun experiences not to be missed. 

The spirit of Competition

Earlier this week, we excitedly took part in a blocks building competition as a family. Yeah, that's what we've been busy practicing with, building blocks. 

The competition organized by Rise and Shine was a pre-registered event for families with children between the ages of 1 to 6. I strategically planned Jazz and the man in a team, while me and Jare formed another team. Daddy's girl and Mummy's boy were the considerations. It was mini competition that gave us much lessons to learn and share. 

The younger team groups competed first. We were given 2 simple pictures and tasked to build it within the shortest time. It was unbelievable that Jare and I emerged as the top 3. Don't attempt to challenge stay home mums on their block building skills. It's probably the next best thing I've mastered after leaving the corporate world. Ha.

Cheerfully ready!

Prize collection!

Our goodie bag and win

When it was Jazz and the man's turn to compete, the organiser decided to amend the rules a little for the older aged group kids. Parents were not allowed to aid in the completion of the blocks, only guidance. The build up was more challenging for the older age group. My darling girl was so nervous and lacked the confidence that she decided to pull out. She thought our win in the previous round was her benchmark. She told us she won't be able to win. In midst of the crowd, I knew we needed some serious conversations. I stoop down to her eye level and assured her that the spirit of competition isn't just about winning. Yes, we may get discouraged, we may get disheartened, especially in competitions that we trained religiously on, but there's more to just the end result. Nah, we seriously didn't train for this.

Interesting to note that participating Daddies are more clam than Mummies

I'm thankful that this light-hearted competition allowed me to shed some light on the spirit of competition with Js. Simple reminders are:

Focus the journey, not the outcome: We often focus on the outcome, which is an uncertainty, that we forgot to enjoy the process. How and why we played the game? The effort and attitude put into the game generates a healthy mood for competition. An appalling witnessed that day was overhearing some parents telling their kids not to touch the blocks. Mummy and Daddy will complete it. It was a pity that what supposedly to be of great family teamwork became insignificant. Though I was a tad concern that Jare, my teammate might not cooperate despite some brief and task dedications, I thought what mattered most was enjoying ourselves. Which we did.

Integrity: It's just too important to play a game with great integrity. Adherence to game rules is an honourable respect to organizers, judges and competitors. Identifying this because we saw how some parents blatantly cheat, in hope to win (not a car as prize). Ain't too sure if such merit is worth a celebration. Oh well, we aren't judges.

Be a good sport: Whatever the outcome, we need to assure ourselves that we tried our best. We, as a family, is always rooting for each other. Let's not grump over a lost, or sulk at our competitors. Look at it as a game well played.

Jazz comprehended and excitedly took up the challenge. Nope, the Daddy and daughter team did not score a win, but I know, in the deepest part of my heart, they played the game tremendously well. They came out with all smiles. Their enthusiasm, teamwork and integrity constituted a winning spirit, which was the best prize to carry home.

Every competition is an opportunity to learn about the game and deal with victory or defeat graciously. Our stressful and self-created competitive society could be more condusive if parents encourage their children with the beautiful elements of competition. Both academically and non-academically, we should avoid adding stress to our kids.

It had been a fun and meaningful experience for all of us. Although I thought the event was not very well organized, I'm heartened with it's good intent to help families identify bonding through play. Which is the bigger picture to look at. Very glad to have organizations focusing on family fun activities.

Hairy Maclary and Friends {Review}

We caught the Hairy Maclary and Friends show today!

Rewarded with balloons after the show

An all interactive stage show that brought us through a series of selected stories with music and singing. A show with very minimal acting or plot, but with lots of interactions to get our little ones' hands and feet moving. It was just too cute witnessing a whole bunch of kids enjoying and participating the show in levitated excitement.

If your kids are long time fans of Hairy Maclary's books by Lynley Doddy, this is a show not to be miss. It will take them to a new level of love!

Photo credit: Kidsfest singapore

If your kids are like mine, rarely chanced upon these books, a little introduction to the characters will help everyone appreciate the show better. This is one quick thing, non Hairy Maclary readers can do before checking into the show. Only 6 shows left for this Saturday and Sunday.

Photo credit: Aba productions

Going back into pages, let's meet all the favourite characters such as Hercules Morse, as big as a horse; Bottomley Potts, covered in spots; Schnitzel von Krumm, with the very low tum and Scarface Claw, the toughest tomcat in town:

These characters were brilliantly and creatively brought out live onto stage. Their costumes were very much like those printed in books. I enjoyed and particularly heart Harily Maclary and Muffin Mclay's costumes. They were just too fluffy!

It's a fun filled show that creatively brought out these much loved children's books to life! Come to think about it, fans or not fans, my extreme dogs lover kids enjoyed the show tremendously.

Here's the review of my little watchers:

"My favourite part is when the cat scared the dogs away." - Jare

"My favourite part is when the dogs showed what they can do." - Jazz

And my favourite part was when they told me they loved and enjoyed the show! It was a great  evening of entertainment for us.

Disclaimer: We were given tickets to the show, for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was involved. All opinions and photos, unless credited are our own. Cartoon pictures adapted from Hairy Maclary.