It was time for our then 5 week old baby girl to sleep so we sang a lullaby, like we did with our first child. It didn’t work. A small pout appeared, then a bigger one. And then she started crying, sadly. What happened?!

Our son loved being sung to sleep. We sang to him till he was two! His favourite lullabies were God Save the Queen, Edelweiss & Old MacDonald had a Farm(in complete monotone). He would sleep so well in the car with his favourite Katherine Jenkin’s Welsh vocals playing on repeat. He would hum the Welsh anthem during his playtime. And now he’s picked up the Australian and New Zealand anthems too!

It’s totally different with our daughter though. We caught a hint of it during my pregnancy when she showed no reaction whatsoever when we played chorals/opera/anthems for her to listen while in the womb. So we tried the other extreme of Rock and Techno beats and electric guitar solos. She kicked so hard it hurt!

It has worked ever since. When she would have a difficult time settling down (especially now in her 4th month mental leap stage), we’d blast the Eric Clapton playlist for her, with I Shot the Sheriff & Cocaine & random electric guitar solos being her favourites currently. I still find it strange that she finds such songs comforting for sleep but the biggest surprise of all came last Thursday.
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We were out for lunch at a nearby coffeeshop and it happened to be their official opening day. As part of a Chinese tradition, new business owners would usually invite Lion Dance troupes to perform onsite to bring in good luck and fortune.

Apparently, the auspicious timings for that day was between 3pm-4pm. We arrived at 3.10pm and we had the chance to witness the entire thing. The staff were gently cautioning us that our baby might be afraid of the loud drumming and noise that was about to occur, so we carried her just in case. You can take a look at how loud it probably was in this similar video here.
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Miraculously, she FELL ASLEEP. I literally did a double take. How was it even possible! She was out cold. Dead asleep. It was her first encounter with such an event and she fell asleep!!
So Moms out there, if you’ve had trouble with lullabies and getting your child to sleep, maybe the problem isn’t with the singing. Maybe your child just has a different (or crazy, in my case) taste in music. They could be rock stars, classical singers, football commentators or rappers in the making. And it seems they start really really young nowadays!

Whoever told you the terrible-twos are horrible, was wrong.
My 3 year old is going through his worst stage yet and I might just call it the “t-rex threes”. He somehow thinks he can rule over everyone just by saying “no!” to everything an adult would say. He’s at the stage where every single boundary is being tested and it’s driving me crazy.

At 2, he happily ate whatever we fed him. At 3, he would just scoop bits of white rice and leave the rest of the dishes aside. That is, unless we feed him the entire meal.
At 2, he would quietly watch tv while I took a shower. At 3, he would watch tv right till the bathroom door closes. Then he’d run around the house singing loudly some made-up song and that would wake his sister from her nap.
At 2, he would let us dress him and wear his shoes. At 3, he insists on doing everything on his own, 50x slower, and getting it done all wrong anyway. This explains why we’re late for every appointment.
At 2, he would obediently sit on the potty to pee. At 3, having graduated to the big toilet seat, he would rather pee in his diaper, or if he does get onto the toilet seat, the pee would be everywhere but in the loo.
The husband and I have tried every method possible to have him listen to house rules:
Time outs don’t work. 
Restraining him doesn’t work. 
Merit/Reward system doesnt work. 
Demerit system doesnt work.  
Praise works for a brief period. 
Punishment works for a brief period.
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I’ve reached a point I have given up doing stuff to get him to listen. I’m going to do nothing. I’m going to let this overly independent 3 year old do everything by himself and watch him struggle till he realises he needs to follow rules and he needs to obey an adult.
I started yesterday afternoon. He couldn’t put on his pants after his trip to the loo. He struggled for 20mins before succeeding with a new pair he took from his cupboard. I wish I there was an easier way to find out what’s going on in his head!

Over lunch I asked the son, “Is it okay if we had pasta everyday?”
He said, “YES.”
Then I asked, “What if there was no pasta and we had to eat rice everyday? Will that be okay?”
And he says flat out, “Not really. Rice is not okay.”
Zombie mom couldn’t be happier. (:
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We have done it. We have finally gotten down to starting a page to share about our odd lives, parenting hacks, rants and silly doodles that keep us sane or make us insane. 
We are slaves of two under five, part-time tutors and the founders of this online baby shoe/gift store. Staying home and managing both the kids and the business is something we're absolutely proud of but the lack of me-time does creep up every once in awhile.
So that’s where this page comes in – a chance to connect with our inner selves and with the readers out here. We believe many new adventures await our little family and we hope to be able to capture those precious moments here.
What we can promise is a candid read with every new post! 

The dream has always been to be with our children, live the (penniless) life of an artist and stay-home parent. But I guess being a blogger & shoe designer (that actually earns bucks) isn’t that bad too haha!