No One More Special Than You

Don’t read on if you are allergic to mushy words. But if you are Kless, please do read!

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This year is the 21st time we are celebrating Valentine’s Day together. How time flies and may I say 21 years is like a significance of the maturity of our love for one another, be it good or bad times.

Sometimes I wonder, being together for a long period before we got married, was a plus for marriage. Did we have enough time to grow individually before making the decision to merge and cleave? Would our lives be different? Honestly, I do not know and maybe it’s not important at all. The fact is we are happily married, with two wonderful children and we are still very much in love with one another.

Too bad I don’t have the photos of our beginning years but these are significant enough to see how far we have we walked together. Being a diehard LFC fan as you know me to be, the motto of YNWA is truly apt to describe my feelings towards you. In whatever situation, you can be sure we will be walking together.

Ready for the walk down memory lane? Just for the records, Kless you always are the most beautiful woman I have met and I will love you forever!

As cliché as it can be, here are the reasons why I love you:

Kind
You are always there to provide support for all my decisions. Some may not be good but you are always kind towards me and point out my wrong attitudes in a loving manner. You never make me lose heart in what I do and encourage me on all the time.

Loyal
Loyalty is not about how long one has been with another, it is about how much one has sacrificed for another. You may not have talked about it much, but I know and will forever remember all the sacrifices you have made for me. Love.

Eloquent
I don’t know why and how, but you are always able to voice out my mind or thoughts, better than I planned to. Whenever I am lost for words, you are always there to rescue me. Never leaving me alone to be a fool and I am so thankful for that.

Sweet
You may not agree on this point, but when you smile it is always so sweet and captivating.

Special
I probably have not told you before, but you are definitely very special to me. Sometimes we may not talk much when we are together, but whenever I am alone or with friends and you are not there, I can’t help but will always think of you and wished that you were there with me. Like it or not, I’m going to be there with you always! =p

Happy Valentine’s Day. I love you!

This post is part of a Valentine's Day series, brought to you by Daddy Matters (https://www.facebook.com/DaddyMatters)

Click on the daddy Matters pic to read all the 14 valentines’ story. Some may be mushy, touching, dramatic, insightful, but all are written straight from the hearts of a group of thankful and loving men.

iPhone To iParenting

For some reason, I have decided to remove my iPhone 5 cover and it was one of the best decision ever made. Now I am truly enjoying the beautiful design by Apple. I read a tweet recently that said something like, “Apple spent millions to make their iPhone as thin as possible, but users spent $5 to buy a plastic cover and made it twice the thickness”. How true and funny that is.

After I took off the $5 phone cover, a few interesting things happened.

(1) I hardly drop my phone before that, but a few days after I took off the phone cover, I dropped my iPhone 5 on a cobbled floor and dented one corner slightly. Of course, I silently cursed myself for being so ‘kaypoh’ and regretted the decision for that half a day. But subsequently, I got over it and now as I looked back, it was just a small incident. I still prefer the phone with a small dent than the phone with a cover.

(2) Now, when my friends see my mobile phone, one of the first thing they will say is, “Wah, you did not put on a phone cover? That is so ‘garang’ of you. But the iPhone looks so nice without a cover”. All of a sudden, people are realising more of the phone I am using than before. And I have become a “brave” person.

(3) Previously when I had the phone cover on, I was thinking to myself that I will one day sell of my iPhone 5 when a newer model is out. But now, I have this unexplainable decision to keep using the phone until it is spoilt or at least until the line contract is over. Why? I don’t really understand, but I guess it’s because I have realised it’s real worth and beauty that I no longer feel like changing.

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Strange enough, all these happenings got me thinking deeper into why did I feel what I felt.
And this is what I figure out - my iPhone to iParenting philosophy.

As a father, I did not start off with the intention to bring my daughter into this world so that I can protect her. My intention was to have someone to enjoy life with, to share my joy with her, and to see her grow up to be like herself, the way God has created her, a unique person. It’s the same like buying an iPhone 5, it’s not for the purpose of slapping a $5 cover on it to protect it. It was for the purpose of using it and at the same time flaunt it as a nice accessory. As Singaporeans, it has become a sigma that parenting equates being kiasu & kiasi. Are we too over-protective of our children? Are we putting a cover over their lives so much so that no one can see the beauty or creativity hidden underneath? I am reminded that a futsal kaki of mine is migrating to Australia by the end of this month with his wife and 2 kids. He cited the reason that Singapore has become a stifled place for his children to grow up in. His children are not getting the best out of their lives. Sad but to a certain extent true.

Parenting is not about winning but it is about handling failures. So what if I took off the phone cover, I will have a greater risk of dropping my iPhone and spoilt it? Just pick it up and continue with life after a short period of heartache. Similarly to educating my girls, I won’t discourage them to try new things even if I know the risk failure may be higher than not trying. But at least they will learn something out of it, which is definitely learning nothing out of not doing anything. I feel as a father, I want to encourage my girls to be a true champion, who is never afraid to fail but must never quit.

Which brings me to my final point, after falling and picking themselves up time after time, I pray that my girls will learn not only life-skills but also the importance of treasuring what they have. To be a contented person. One phenomenon I am starting to see in my own girls’ live is, not being contented with their current and always wanting more. I mean it’s not bad to have expectations and want to have more things in life. But that is definitely not the only purpose in life. And the fact of the matter is, most of our children in this age are already having more than is necessary. Why do kids need more than 2-3 pairs of shoes? Why do kids need more than 2-3 bags? Why do kids need to have all the toys? Learning to be contented is such a huge lesson. Even adults like myself is learning it constantly.

This is all my personal humble opinion of parenting and do not represent any group of people or society. Simply saying, do not crucify me if I may sound wrong in any of my writings.

Have a good iParenting day!

Délifrance - Thank You, Mum!

Media Invite

Thanks to Délifrance, we were invited to celebrate Mother’s Day early. About 5 Celebrity Daddy or Daddy Bloggers were invited to bring along our children for a chance to interact and to create a Mother’s Day cake from clay.

 

One of the celebrity Daddy is Aide Iskandar, this is probably the first time I see him so up close and personal. He seems to be a nice guy. A national hero!

Before the actual program starts, we were treated to some of the signature mini sandwiches and tarts.

After some nice food, the kids were ready for the clay-making session. Instructions sheets were given out according to the design they chose.

The girls look so cute in their chef caps.

 

Jayne chose Garden of Love and Joey chose Blossom of Love.

 

Me? I was in-charge of photo-taking and occasionally chip in to help the girls. I did my part for Mother’s Day too =)

 

 

Joey did the flowers all by herself and wrote a very nice note for Kless.

 

So sweet!

Cindy from Crowd, taking a photo with our cutie Jayne.

Say “je t’aime maman” or “I love you mom” with Délifrance’s delectable Mother’s Day cakes.

Garden of Love
This refreshing vanilla mango yoghurt mousse cake is fluffy, smooth and creamy. Coated with white chocolate, and decked with bright chocolate sunflowers, this cake will definitely bring a bright smile from your mom. This cake symbolizes a mother’s gentleness and beautiful nature.
Approx. 700g, selling for S$42.80.

Blossom of Love
2 different flower pots to choose from. This creation is made of delicious chocolate-coated cake. If you are keen-eye enough, you may recognise that the flowers are actually made of macarons!
Approx. 250g, selling for S$12.80 per pc.

Thanks to the generosity of Délifrance, we had a cake to bring home for another surprise for Mummy Kless!

Gift of Love
This rich chocolate cake oozes with hazelnut praline, Belgium chocolate mousse, and is drenched in velvety chocolate ganache.
Approx. 700g, selling for S$42.80.

A little contest for everyone to participate and have a chance to win one of the 3 x $100 Délifrance Dining Vouchers.

Contest Details
Submit a photo featuring your mom on Instagram with a caption telling us how endearing your mom is and hashtag the entire with #delifrancesg.
Duration is from 1st May to 12th May 2013.
Winners will be notified via Instagram on 15th May 2013.

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It’s been a long time since we had a precious Daddy-Daughter time. It was even more meaningful all 3 of us are doing something for Mummy Kless.

I Am A Father

If you have not heard about us, now is the time to check us out. Click on the picture below to visit our site. Also join us on FB and contribute your experience as a father.

Daddy Matters started because one of the Daddies, Winston aka The Blogfather, took an April Fool’s Day joke one step further. 11 fathers gathered online to discuss about this idea of setting a community page for sharing of fatherhood experiences. The rest are history.

Fatherhood is probably one of the least talk about topics in modern parenting. The notion of ‘absentee fatherhood’ is real and has been around for the past decade or so. So personally I am just glad to finally have some sort of platform where the active Daddy Bloggers can convene on ideas and bounced off experiences.

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One of the question posed in our recent talk was, “When did you first – truly – realise you were a dad?”

As dramatic as it may sound, when Joey was born, I was alone outside the delivery theatre. I can only hear her cries from within and immediately tears welled in my eyes. At that moment, I was thinking to myself she is my flesh and blood, she is the special one. The rest of the days passed by like a flash. I don’t even have time to sit down and ponder about fatherhood. It was just work, take care of baby, work and more taking care of baby.

Soon, Joey turns 1 and she has already learnt to call me Daddy. It was a wonderful feeling, a new title added to my profile.

By the time Joey turns 4 and ready to start some schooling, a new phase of fatherhood has begun. Besides providing the necessities of living, now I have to learnt to teach and lead by example. That brought out a new me I didn’t even know, to be an example for your child is not an easy task.

So to answer the question, when do I start to realise I am a Dad? I think there isn’t a specific phase but rather a gradual curve of realisation as a Daddy learns to Guide, Guard & Govern his family (child).

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So are you more interested to know about the dM? Check out the founders! You will have a rough idea who are we and why we are doing what we are doing.

Kelvin Ang – Cheekiemonkies
Edmund Tay – edunloaded
Nick Pan – nickpan
Daddy M – The Wacky Duo
Patrick Pang – patrickpang
Andy Lee – Sengkang Babies
Kelvin Ang – Daddy Nivlek
Vincent Lee – roamingglass
Christopher Vu – christophervu
Winston Tay – The Blogfather & Dear Xander
Isaiah Kuan – J Babies’ Dad

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