How to choose a childcare centre/ nursery for your kid?

If you are a new parent, choosing a childcare centre or a nursery can give you quite a headache or you may not even care much and think that all child care centres are the same.

Well, I wouldn't agree that all child care centres are the same but here are some things to consider when you choose a child care centre or a nursery for your child.

1. Opening and closing time - If you are a working parent and you are responsible to send and pick your kids from the centre, you have to choose a centre which has the opening and closing time which works for your office hours. If you often work slightly late, some centres are able to have your child for an extra hour or two with additional charges while some strictly do not provide any leniency.

2. Transportation - Having transportation option from the childcare centre to your home can be quite useful if you are a stay at home parent or have a guardian to care for your child at home.

List of Registered Childcare Centres & Nurseries in Malaysia

When it comes to finding for a childcare centre or a nursery for your little one in Malaysia, where do you start?

Well, you can always start of with finding registered nurseries and child care centre which are registered with the Malaysian Welfare Department.

How do you find these nurseries?

1. All you need to do is go to this Malaysian Welfare Department link.

Top 3 Free Apps For Baby & Toddlers 1, 2 & 3 years old - Monki Mun

If you are looking for advertisement free and free android apps for your baby and toddlers but want something more than just ABCs and 123s, check out Monki Mun apps.

I would consider their apps more oriented towards creativity and building your child's fine motor skills. Besides that, the visuals are very colourful and it is advertisement free =)

They have several apps which I had downloaded for my son. See below!

1. Monki Birthday Party

This app theme is about celebrating the main character's birthday. Your toddler gets to choose the birthday cake for the main character. Then he/she has to place (more like drag) ten candles on to the cake and everyone will sing the Birthday Song.

Once the song is completed, your child has to assist them to blow out the candles. It is a great app for your kid to learn about counting numbers (because they have to drag the candles one at a time) and also a great way to learn a new song which is the Birthday Song!

Much Guilt Being a Mother

I constantly feel guilty.

Feeling guilty that my son has both parents separated. Sometimes I feel I didn't do enough to keep the relationship going even though I know both side played a part.

Feeling guilty of leaving my son when I go to work. After two months of work away from my son, it is still quite hard to accept that I have to be away from him most of the day.

Feeling guilty of being so tired every single day even during weekends that I am not able to spend much quality time with my son.

Top 3 Free Apps For Baby & Toddlers 1, 2 & 3 years old - Fisher Price

I admit that I frequently allow my son to have some 'Technology Sessions' ever since he was one years old. However I do limit his time and I realized sometimes technology is not always bad for babies.

I used these few apps for my son and he actually managed to learn about animal sounds, the alphabets and rhymes through repetition (meaning the more he played or uses the app, the more he his able to grasp the concept or information which was being portrayed.

I love these Fisher Price apps are because most of it does not require internet/ WIFI, it uses limited space and they are advertisement free!

Here are my favourites:

1. Storybook Rhymes

Fisher Price has three Storybook Rhymes which are book like apps. Check them out here: Volume I, Volume II, Volume III. You can flip the pages and the pages are interactive. You can press on the illustrations and there will be music or movements which is great for your little one to learn about action and reactions. It is also a great way to introduce nursery rhymes to your kids.

Free of charge & low cost toddler activities!

Having a child can consume a lot of your money especially on educational toys.

During my free time, I would think of ways how to create toys from what I already have which my son would enjoy as much (or even more!) than the toys which I purchase form the local toy stores.

Here are a few of my 'homemade with love' games!

1. Cups and water.

If you have plenty of small containers good enough to scoop a hand full or a cup full of water, these are the items you will need. I have food containers with I had lost their lids, or disposable yoghurt cup containers which are ever so colourful (very attractive for those little kiddies), old party paper cups which you were not able to use but don't plan to use it anymore because you would rather get new ones and also spoons.

Top 3 Nursery Rhyme Youtube Channel For Your 1 - 3 Years Old Child

I frequently use Youtube as an informal educational tool for my son and I didn't realise that he was actually absorbing what he was watching since he was 1 year old.

Although I allow him to watch Youtube, it is important to make sure that he only watches it for a limited amount of time to avoid any 'addiction' issues.

Here are my favourites.

1. Super Simple Songs

This channel has plenty of classical nursery rhymes and their visuals and graphics are really well done! I thoroughly enjoy watching their videos together with my son. Besides that, some of the nursery rhymes has been simplified so that your little one whom has very limited vocabulary can also sing along =) If you are bored with the usual nursery rhymes, they also have their own original simple nursery rhymes which are easy to sing along such as Walking In The Jungle, Little Snowflake, Wag Your Tail, My Teddy Bear and so much more.

My Hobby Is Basically Everything That Has To Do With My Baby

Last week, one of my colleague asked what are my hobbies.

It was such a simple question but I felt embarrassed to admit that my hobby was really to spend my time with my son. It is not reading, not gardening, not cooking, not Facebook-ing, but to spend time with my little boy.

Specifically hugging him while he is playing with his toys, smelling his little back and his little head while doing his activities, annoying him, give him a foot massage, tickling him, piggy back him around the house, play ball with him, blow bubbles with him, making bubbles baths with him, changing his nappies, feeding him his meals, hugging him while he is asleep, staring at him while he is asleep, taking photos of him, brushing his teeth, dancing with him, making squeeky noise with him and so much more.

Everyday Is A Challenge After Separation

Everyday is a struggle.

Felt like I just got married yesterday and today we are both separated.

Took care of my baby for the first one and a half year of his life and now I am struggling to get use to the working life again.

I felt I was lucky to have a good husband and an adorable child and was able to work from home and take care of my bundle of joy.

But I guess, it was an illusion and it was not as seem as I thought it was.

A Bad Mum?

I don't know if how I'm feeling is right or wrong but I'm feeling quite drained and tired.

Ever since I had my baby, I had been always with him almost 24 hours and 7 days a week. I'm his primary care giver so fair enough that I have to be with him most of the time but I feel like I need a break. I don't really feel I had a proper break since I gave birth.

I feel that my in laws would look at it like I'm a bad mum because I want to get away from my baby, but I feel no one can understand this feeling unless they are in my shoes. I do enjoy his company and I love him to bits, but somehow I'm longing for a break where I can do what I want without having to stress and worry about his needs.