Parenting is a Verb, not a Noun
Ever since the end of my internship, I have become a part time nanny at home taking care of my 2 years old niece Giselle. Being a parent (in my case, an aunt aka yiyi) is never an easy job, I now fully understand the “joy” my parents had while dealing with my sister and I.
There are just times when I feel like strangling Giselle literally or throwing her down the window (trust me, it’s THAT maddening) – it is easy to let go and let her be but the consequences are huge and it’s not like Giselle is mature enough to tell what’s right from wrong or what’s danger etc. I have to admit that I am a very protective yiyi in a way, mainly because I was rather sheltered by my dad to begin with. Even though I disapprove of how my dad (still) controls me at this age, I think Giselle has not reached the age where I think it is alright to let her do what she wants or build up the individualism/independence in her.
Take for example – my sister and husband has to work and because my mom was sick recently, we can’t afford to take care of Giselle at home anymore. So Giselle has to be enrolled into a pre-school which she has been attending for the past weeks. I understand that separation anxiety is a common phase for all toddlers but it was hard for me to accept the process I/she has to go through every morning. (Note: My dad and I pick her up every morning at 8am to send her off to school)
I think it has to be a fair balance between providing the opportunity to venture off on one’s own and letting the child to feel safe enough to do it. The way to ease the child’s anxiety is not to just leave him/her behind, crying and turning your back on him/her. If you deny the sense of security as a foundation, the child (already filled with anxiety), will flounder. Leaving the toddler alone in the room with a group of strangers thinking he/she will get used to it and it’ll allow her to grow up and be more independent – it does not work that way. I’m not saying that you should carry on “babying” the toddler and sticking by his/her side forever, but just long enough to let him/her understand that it is ok to play with their peers and it is a safe environment to be at.
What I believe is that you come and go on a happy note, no matter how Giselle might cling onto me with her tear-filled eyes etc, I do not just leave her with the teacher thinking that she’ll deal with it. I think it works better with either a transitional object like a storybook or a toy to distract her focus or at least let it be a happy goodbye and ensuring her it is just for awhile and that you’ll be back for her. Don’t just dump her there and walk away from her cries without a word. Though one thing about such promises is that – you have to make sure you will be back, on time. Kids do know and remember it when you betrayed their trust. I’m sharing my opinions because it affects me alil to see my niece crying every morning when pre-school was enjoyable for me and how other kids at the school are also experiencing the same thing. (Maybe it says something about the school, hur) Basically, going to school at their age should be a fun experience instead of something that they dread waking up to.
As much as I would love to whine and say how much I dislike Giselle for being in my life or how she has “ruin” my life in a way, I think I’m still thankful to have a niece like her because not many of us get to experience a special bond like ours. I just hope that she’ll grow up as a good girl (like her yiyi, haha) , respect and take care of her parents in the future.
Ultimately, it’s a matter of perspective and tackling your attitude when it comes to these matters in life. Parenting is not as easy as just words of advice or going through parenting blogs, it takes more than that to be a good parent. So think twice before you decide to bring another innocent life to this harsh reality. (lol)
Disclaimer : I’m not saying that my sister does not make a good parent because I know that she is trying her best but sometimes you just can’t have things as you wish it’ll be. So before you question about “where on earth is Giselle’s parents” or “What the hell have they been doing”, I think my sister deserves the credits as a good mother in my opinion (although she can work harder, haha)
Social Media Breakfast 6 (SMB6)
It’s been awhile since I’ve last updated the blog, been tied down by school work (last 2 weeks of the ter, yay!) 
There’s just so much to blog about (HBO True Blood event, my overdue blip.fm review, SMUBE Campus Radio etc), so do keep checking the blog in the next few weeks to come !
Anyways, attended my “virgin” Social Media Breakfast (SMB) yesterday night and boy, I’m glad I took the time off from work to.
SMB6 was held at Island Cafe, Tangs at 7pm in conjunction with Tangs virtual launch of its SecondLife store and Earth Hour. (That probably explained why it was not a “Breakfast” but a really late one instead 
)
Being my first SMB experience, I was looking forward to meet new people and mingle around. (which of course I did)
Seeing familiar faces from Plurk was great because I can’t exactly call myself a Social Media Junkie or a Blogger per se , was feeling rather “extra” in that sense.
As for the consumer panel, I will not go into details of what the discussion had to say as you can read Dorothy‘s live-blogging action here.
Just a few words on the event itself as a participant of the night
1) Venue and Technical Glitches – I guess the SMB team is unable to do much about such constraints, the venue was indeed alil small for such a crowd (I’m guessing at least 80-100 people turned up?!) but I felt it was rather cozy and a smaller area tends to bring people together easily (like you have no choice but to mingle around..haha) It was quite disappointing that the venue caused another problem which I’ll mention next.
The audio system was rather flop right from the start, but such technical glitches are not to be blamed ? Coming from SMU Broadcast & Entertainment, I know best that such problems are the last thing an organizer would have wished for, especially after soundcheck etc…but there’re really nothing much to be done during the event itself if sh*t happens. I guess the team will probably learn from the “mistake”. 
2) Type, Not Chat- I understand that alot of people were there to network/mingle around, but I feel that it’s only basic courtesy to respect the panel and listen to what they have to say. Like hello, there ARE people who are straining their ears and trying to catch up on the conversation betwee n the panel. Ok, maybe the audio/venue problem has a part to play but I was rather annoyed by the fact that it IS already difficult to listen to the discussion and people are chattering away at the back. I’m not saying that it’s bad (ok,quite rude actually) to talk or comment here and there but be alil more considerate ? If you are there to catch up with a friend, kindly do it outside. Maybe SMB should have this “no talking,just typing” rule in the future. haha 
Of course, I understand that people were late and pretty much jammed outside the main discussion area, but bear in mind that it IS rather small, and people don’t exactly “whisper”.
3) “Social Media…what ?” – I was quite amused by the fact that those sitting down were whipping out their netbooks and 3G/WIFI devices during the event. But it was rather sad to see the discussion(s) were not exactly about the consumer panel. I was probably one of the few who tried to twitter away during the event, mainly to keep track of the discussion and make notes. Plurk was as usual a more “informal” topic starter with the usual plurkers plurking about random things. I thought the SMB participants could have been more involved via these platform if you’re like some “introvert” or too shy to speak up during the panel discussion. In fact, I was quite surprised that not many people were involved with the panel discussion or twittering questions/comments regarding the topics. In the end, I find that Plurk and Twitter have become a feedback outlet for the SMB team instead, with people commenting or complaining on the venue/sound etc.
4) Cheep Cheap Cheep,Free ! – Is this a Singaporean (bad) habit/trend ? Are people turning up for events just for the free food/drinks ? I overheard someone going “wah..so fast no more drinks already..yadda yadda” and I’m quite sure I didn’t see him/her was not very active (or rather,not even there) during the panel. What’s an event without food you say ? Sure, food can still be provided but at your own expense. “How can like that !” So does that mean you are NOT coming for the event IF you were to pay for your own meal ? I do think that less(er) people will turn up because of this change if the team decides to take away the “free meal”. But hey, I’m sure you guys out there are really turning up for the content and not the free meal right ?
5) Discussion Topic (s) – Perhaps because it’s a consumer panel, I felt like I didn’t “learn” much about Social Media/Marketing but I could relate to them as a whole. I understand that SMB acts more like a “beginner/introduction” to Social Media but I think some of the participants were looking for more in-depth discussions. Perhaps a closed-event would encourage that. But having an invite-only event also defeats the purpose of “introducing” Social Media to more people out there and engaging them. I guess the SMB team will have to consider alot of factors to see how the next SMB can cater to both groups. 
6) Tangs Virtual Launch – I was quite “lost” during this segment because 1) I didn’t bring my specs (haha) – it was too far away and the screen was kinda tiny. 2) Maybe a live Demo and hands-on will be more interactive 3) Explain why Tangs decide to use SecondLife which doesn’t seem to be a very popular platform for Singaporeans ? (correct me if I’m wrong, because I’m not a SecondLife fan)
7) Earth Hour – “errrr…so what do we do now ?”, “lights off ! yay!” was my reactions before/during the lights off period. I was expecting more but I guess with people streaming out of the room, the “atmosphere” was kinda dampen. It was still rather interesting to talk to people in the dark (that explains why I’ll probably NOT recognize/remember the ones I’ve met..haha..excuses)
These are just some personal thoughts on SMB6. I’ve enjoyed myself a great deal and great to meet some of you out there (do leave a comment/drop me an email at ingridmak (AT) gmail [dot] com if you happened to be one of them!). I’m looking forward to SMB7 already. 
You can read Daryl‘s personal comment on SMB6 here as well. I think some of my concerns were explained/reflected in his post.
P.S: I figured that I need some grammar/spellcheck plugin (haha), too lazy to edit. Sorry ! Not many photos taken either, too dim for my N82..anyone wanna sponsor me a proper DSLR ? =P
Giselle loves the tote from Tangs by the way, it brings out the “little aunty” in her. HAHA
and don’t ask what’s with the 3G “joke”…it’s MORNING and i have 4 more reports to complete 
