Dog ownership in Singapore has risen considerably in the past few years, with over 62,000 canines providing love, companionship, and unconditional friendship to families. Pet numbers (including cats and other animals) as a whole are even more impressive, with numbers estimated at over 825,000. If you have a family with children and you would like to make it bigger and more active in 2019 with the addition of a pet, how can you ensure that you do the right thing by your pet and your children, and that your pets gets all the loving care that God intended?

​Before looking at individual things we can do to foster a good relationship between our kids and pets, it may help to see what the Bible had to say on the subject. In Luke 12:6, Jesus spoke of the power of faith, referencing sparrows. He noted that sparrows may have been sold for a couple of pennies, but “not one of them is forgotten by God.” Psalm 147:9, meanwhile, describes how God ensure that all living creatures, including ravens, had enough food. Genesis notes that God created human beings in His own image. It was his intention that we should take care of all creatures on the Earth the way He cares for them… and for us. It is important to understand that when we are dealing with pets, we are very much God’s representatives. We must ensure they are fed, medicated, and loved, to honor the role that God gave us as their keeper.

​It is important to research well into the needs and character traits of each pet before bringing one home. Depending on the age of your child, certain pets may not be suitable. For instance, iguanas are cute and often sought after by little children, but they need to be trained to go against their natural ‘scratching’ instincts. This will take various hour-long sessions, so unless you can train your iguana prior to taking it home, this pet might be best left for when a child is a little older.

Disclaimer: We received a sponsorship of one term of "Playgroup" classes for Maeleth in exchange for writing this review.  All opinions stated are my own, based on our experience during the classes attended for the year 2018. Mae's teacher was Teacher Deng Ying.  

If you're reading this blog post because of the giveaway, here are the terms and conditions of the giveaway:

1) Trial class is limited to playgroup and preschool classes at Parkway Parade.
2) Trial class is limited to new students who have not tried Hua Language Centre's trial classes before.
3) Trial classes are not exchangeable for cash and cannot be re-sold. 
4) The trial classes must be redeemed by 31 March 2019.

I used to attend Hua Language Centre during my Primary School days for tuition, and it's certainly nostalgic to see my daughter attend the same enrichment centre to learn and improve! Wow, time has really flown by. 

We have been bringing Maeleth for her Playgroup classes at Hua Language Centre's Parkway Parade branch on Saturdays to learn mandarin!
We began in July 2018 when Mae was 2 and a half years old, and at this time of writing this blog post (November 2018), Mae is already able to count from 1 to 10 in mandarin, and say some nouns in mandarin. 
Most importantly, she has developed an interest in the mandarin language which I believe will help her to enjoy learning it in school, and throughout life in the future. 

We don't really speak much mandarin at home, except when we need to say things that we don't want Mae to know, like when discussing how to hide her medicine in Vitagen bottles. Therefore, I find it really important that she has some exposure to well-spoken mandarin.

When we attend trial classes for different enrichment centres, one thing my wife Amilee and I always listen out for is the teacher's spoken accent. If he or she doesn't have an accent that we want Mae to emulate, we won't sign Mae up for the classes, since we believe that children will probably imitate the manner of speech that they hear.  

​About the Author of this Guest Post:
​Jemmy is a trained psychometrician with an expertise in Child Psychology and has over 10 years of experience working in primary education with a special focus on gifted children. He is a contributor with IQ Test Centre, an organisation for IQ testing of children between 5 and 16 years old. Read more of his content on his website, and on his Facebook account. 

The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14) tells us the story of three servants, each set on their way with a number of talents.
When the servants return, two come bringing gain and have multiplied the talents given to them by their master.
They are praised but the third one, who so feared to lose his given share that he buried it, is cast out, for he brings the master nothing more than that with which he set out.

This parable can be understood, today, in the most literal sense: talents are given to us for cultivation, to be nourished and to be multiplied.
Any parent who sees signs of giftedness in his or her child might need to consider this as a talent, one they should nurture and not bury.
Let's take a look at how to raise a gifted child within the Christian faith.

The parable of talents reminds us that we should cherish the gifts within ourselves and others.
Raising a gifted child means, on one hand, that we should embrace their gifts and help the child pursue and develop them.
Whether it is in the arts, the sciences or somewhere else, a talent should be nurtured.
This can mean that the parent should provide opportunities for the child to practice their talent and encourage it, for in this way their gift is honored.

However, honoring and nurturing the gift doesn't mean reducing the child to their ability.
Many parents are enchanted with their children's gifts or view them as the only thing that matters.
This can lead to a lopsided development, especially in regards to the emotional and social aspects of life.
Children who are very smart can still struggle with making friends, fitting in, and developing the capacity for good relationships.
Often, this occurs because children might be “out of sync” with their peers, so it is important to help children manage these aspects of their life and ensure that their life is fulfilled.

(Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links so I may make some commission if you purchase products through my links.)  

It's time for a fun-filled ride~ My 2 year old daughter Maeleth was so excited to know that she's going for the Tayo Station Media Preview today that she slept early last night without fighting sleep. That's how much she was looking forward to checking out this new indoor playground in Singapore!

Tayo Station is located at E!Hub, Downtown East, 1 Pasir Ris Close, Level 3, S(519599).

I've always associated the Downtown East area with kids-friendly activities and a fun day out because of Wild Wild Wet and Escape Theme Park, so it's awesome to know that another cool kids venue has opened for business!

Hi fellow Christian parent! There are natural laws in this world that are true whether or not we want to believe it. 

For example, you can’t walk off a cliff and expect not to fall down.

Likewise, there are also spiritual laws that govern this world. One of which is the creative power in our spoken words. 

(Disclaimer: I received a sponsored Silver membership at Pororo Park Singapore, but  I wrote this blog post of my own accord - it wasn't part of the terms of sponsorship. All opinions written in this post are honest and my own. This post also contains affiliate links so I may make some commission if you purchase products through my links.)  

You may be wondering, why bring my little one to an indoor playground when I can just go to an outdoor playground for free?

Well in my opinion, the only obvious benefit of those free outdoor playgrounds is that it is free.

However there are many good benefits that your little ones are missing out on when you only bring them to outdoor playgrounds and not indoor playgrounds.

After trying many indoor playgrounds in Singapore, Amilee and I still prefer to bring our 2 year old daughter Maeleth to Pororo Park Singapore in Marina Square.

This is the full address: 6 Raffles Blvd, 02-29, Singapore 039594. You can visit their official website here. 

Being a super fan of the Pororo animated series by Iconix, Mae regularly requests to go back to Pororo Park, and there are many great reasons to bring her there.
​

In this post, I will be sharing about my journey of sleep training my two year old (24 months old) daughter Maeleth Sarah Goh: the methods that have worked well and also how it has been a journey of faith for me.

Getting Mae to fall asleep and to sleep through the night has always been a struggle for us so far. But I feel that the sleep training progress is very encouraging - I see light at the end of the tunnel.

Yesterday, it only took Mae 30 mins to fall asleep and night - I was so happy!

By sleep training, I mean having Mae fall asleep on her bed by herself without patting her to sleep or carrying her until she sleeps.
Throughout the whole process, I am by her side until she falls asleep.

In this blog post, I will share 10 tips for teaching kids about Jesus and how you as a Christian parent can help your child to come to know and love Him.
These tips are based on what we practice with our daughter and also what we plan to practice with her in the future as well. 

As I am writing this, our daughter Maeleth Sarah Goh is 23 months old, turning 2 next month! Reflecting on the past 2 years, I have made some parenting mistakes and also have had some parenting wins.

However I feel that the most important thing I can do for my daughter is to help her know Jesus. I want to raise her in a Jesus-exalting environment, and let her start benefiting from the sweet life of having a covenant relationship with God from a young age. 

You see, I was not born into a Christian family. My parents believe in a diluted version of Taoism/Buddhism and I believe that because I was raised in such an environment since young, the devil had many opportunities to attack me and hold me back from enjoying the good life that Jesus died to give me.

It was not until I turned 17 that I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior and found out all that I had been missing out on in life. 

My wife Amilee was also not born or raised in a Christian family and went through many setbacks and hardship in life too.
We both feel that all that unnecessary hurt that she went through was because Jesus wasn't her Lord and Savior yet.

Therefore, it is our deepest desire for Mae to receive Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior from as young an age as possible and grow to be a God-loving child.
​

In this blog post, I would like to discuss about the importance of parental guidance to ensure a kid-safe YouTube, as well as kids songs that seem innocent but are actually potentially-dangerous for your child. 

My daughter Maeleth Sarah Goh is 22 months old now and my wife Amilee and I allow her to watch YouTube only during her meal at home or when we need her to be distracted for a short while when we are completing other tasks at hand. 

As Mae's interest in watching kids shows online grows, we find that it's increasingly important to watch the shows with her so that she only watches age-appropriate content. 

Just a few months back in October, I remember that in Singapore they were having a few Halloween-themed events where staff would dress up in scary costumes and people would pay to go for the haunted houses to be spooked.
I love going for such events because I like the thrill, but I certainly don't want Mae to be experiencing that at her current age - it would probably traumatize her and give her nightmares. 
If your child has already been exposed to horror content and is freaked out, I recommending reading my blog post that can help with that: Eliminate the Fear of Watching Really Scary Horror Movies: Learn the Mental Trick That I’ll Teach my Daughter
 
Well what happened was, while Mae was watching her usual kids videos on YouTube, suddenly a sponsored advertisement appeared, and it was promoting one of those scary Halloween events. 
Thank God I was sitting next to her watching the show with her - I quickly clicked "skip ad" and thankfully she wasn't exposed to anything scary. What a big relief. 

However, that incident showed me how important parental guidance is to ensure a kid-safe YouTube. Sometimes an inappropriate ad can show up in the middle of a kids song, and you have to be prepared to click it away before your child faces potential lifelong mental scarring.