Are your plastic baby bottles and water tumblers safe for your kids?

A friend once told me to check my baby bottles and kids water tumblers for plastic grades. Are they made of materials which are SAFE for use? Plastics are convenient as we can bring them everywhere with you without worrying if your child breaks them and hurt themselves. We might have left them in the car (and got it heated up), reused them over and over again, kept warm-hot water and so on. Have we considered if it is safe? Whether we are drinking plastic?

To be certain, just check the recycling symbol on the bottle – normally located at the base of the bottle. It will tell you the type of the plastic material used. Unfortunately, most plastic baby bottles and drinking cups are made with plastics containing Bisphenol A or BPA, for short. Here’s an extract from one site about the effects of BPA:

"Bisphenol A is a xenoestrogen, a known endocrine disruptor, meaning it disturbs the hormonal messaging in our bodies. Synthetic xenoestrogens are linked to breast cancer and uterine cancer in women, decreased testosterone levels in men, and are particularly devastating to babies and young children. BPA has even been linked to insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes. For more of the science on the effects of BPA on our endocrine system etc. see these studies: Environmental Health Perspectives Journal. Nalgene, the company that manufactures the lexan water bottles also makes #2 HDPE bottles in the same sizes and shapes, so we have a viable alternative. Order one at Nalgene. "


Sounds Scary? Anyway, not all plastics are unsafe. Out of 7 types, 4 are still ‘considered’ safe …so far.

# 1 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE)
# 2 High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
# 4 Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)
# 5 Polypropylene (PP)


And to avoid:

# 3 PVC or vinyl
This is used in plastic wraps, soft bottles, food containers, etc.
Possible effects have been linked to cancer (including breast and prostate), hormonal imbalances, high blood pressure, heart disease, autoimmune disease, weight problems, chronic fatigue, smaller genitals in infant boys and an increase in testicular cancer about adults.

# 6 Polystyrene or Styrofoam
This is used as takeout containers, plastics cups, and cutlery. Its components leach into fatty foods and are believed to interfere with hormones.

# 7 Miscellaneous category that includes polycarbonate (PC)
This is used for most clear-plastic bottles, including 5-gallon water bottles and baby bottles. When heated, they release BPA.

And quite unfortunately, a lot of those fun, exciting, colorful hard plastic bottles are made of polycarbonate plastics and identified by the #7 recycling symbol, and may leach BPA. There are lots of discussions about when it really becomes ‘unsafe’ and so forth.

So if you want to be really really safe, what are the alternatives? How about glass bottles (PIGEON and some other brands have it) and aluminium bottles (eg Thermos, SIGG)? But of course, you have to bear with some inconveniences, such as breakable glass, higher priced and so on.

However out of convenience, I’m still using plastic bottles as my kids are still young. What I normally do is to look for details and information on the bottle packaging and even their websites before I decide.

What about you?

E.nopi Math vs Kumon Math vs UCMAS Mental Arithmetic

E.nopi Math or Kumon Math or UCMAS Mental Arithmetic?.... During last year’s year end school holidays, I had a little time during my confinement to hunt for some enrichment classes for my son. Ya, ya, I know I was not supposed to run about during confinement. But I’m just about one of those people who finds it difficult to follow rules :). My eldest boy just only started to speak properly at the beginning of last year. As such, he was very much behind in many areas – numbers being one of them. I was frantically looking for some classes to help him boost his skills and confidence. I just knew that once I resume work, I would not have the time to do more for him. Sigh!

I have checked out E.nopi, Kumon Math and UCMAS Mental Arithmetic. This is what I’d like to share with you. Please note that this is just my opinion. I would love to hear yours too.

• E.nopi and Kumon are direct competitors. Kumon is more established. In both cases, they offer Math and English, and the availability is dependent on the respective centre. Each centre has its own operating days and timing for classes – you just have to see which one fits you. Your kid would need to attend twice weekly. The key syllabus is on basic math skills (E.nopi calls it Basic Thinking Math). Young children can start from basic numbers 1,2,3,... and slowly evolving into the principles and foundation of math. The correct writing strokes will also be part of the lesson. In both cases, the level of Math in which a child participates is dependent on current competency level. Students will move from level to level and at the higher levels, they will go into algebra, probability, etc etc. The later part and the more advance levels – this is where I'm not sure how the syllabus differ between Kumon and E.nopi. After all, I was only assessing for my 4+ year old son.

• The franchisees in both E.nopi and Kumon respectively explained that it’s all about practice makes perfect. The child will go to the class to do the worksheets (with some assessment) and they will go back with homework which they have to complete before the next class. They are taught NOT to use fingers to count. Besides obtaining the skill set, the programs would cultivate discipline, self learning and independence in children.

• E.nopi has an additional area which is called Critical Thinking Math which concentrates on problem solving, pattern/relationship recognition, geometry, reasoning, etc -- another area leading to math. This is where Kumon does not have. But since Kumon is concentrating on basic math, a child under Kumon will progress 'faster' in basic math than a child under E.nopi. At the end of the day, it really depends on what you want for your child.

• For my son, I have chosen E.nopi because:
  a) The worksheets are more colourful and interesting - for kids - which I think is good because it is not chicken feet to engage the attention of a young active child. Fun and colourful worksheets help.
  b) Critical Thinking Math – I thought my son was not able to do, but surprising ok – and in fact, he loves it
  c) Use of apparatus to teach concepts – visual aid
  
  


• The fees are more expensive for E.nopi RM160 whereas Kumon is RM120-130. No regrets! My son was initially very weak in numbers - last Dec he couldn't count 1-10. Now he is able to count, and just by looking, able to know how many the qty is and progressing into math - different combination making up to 10. As for UCMAS, I didn't do much check simply because the teacher told me that the child, at the very minimum, must be familiar with 1-100. My son then was still struggling with 1-10. What I do told is that UCMAS Mental Arithmetic uses abacus and the one quality that they are building in a child is photographic memory – I don’t know how so but I have heard amazing things about what a child can do.
  


• A final note. Go and see for yourself. Go through free trial sessions. See which one your child finds it more interesting. Figure out what you want for your child. Assess your confidence in the owner/franchisee. And good luck to you!

60 Earth Hour 28Mar09 8:30pm-9:30pm

I was with my family at Sunway Pyramid tonight. Quite happening really. Some sort of event happening around 60 Earth Hour. And they actually switched off the lights outside the mall. Loads of Earth Hour participants were in attendant. Didn’t get to see much unfortunately as I was with my so very active sons. Some shops eg Samsonite actually showed support to the Earth Hour by switching off some lights – or so it seemed as I found the shop pretty dark. Well done!

Anyway we left just after 9:30pm. The participants were already making their way back to their buses. The music was blaring and young ones were taking pictures with their loved ones around the setup outside the mall. Hmm… seemed like incurring more electricity after??

Just my opinion about how to hire an Indonesian Maid

Recently at the pediatrician – you see, my son was not well and I juuuust had to drag my maid along to take care of my very active son to keep my sanity :). Well, at the pediatrician, a mom said to me that my maid looked efficient and seemed to love my son very much. How did I choose my maids and which agency did I go to? Ah! This is one question that I have been asked over and over again - especially now that I have TWO maids to take care of 3 very young children.

At the end of the day, it is all about luck really. Just how much can you tell by looking at the bio-datas that your agent sends you? The bio-data essentially just tell how the maids look like (believe me! When they appear before you, they do not resemble the photos AT ALL!), height, weight, family members, etc. To me, what is REALLY important is the character.

Here are some of the things I look out for when I talk to my agent – and not fully dependent on the 4 letter word, LUCK :) Please don’t take this as the hard and fast rule – it is definitely NOT fool-proof. Just little old me expressing an opinion :) Feel free to discuss :)

1. Age must be at least 28yrs. Bearing in mind that the reported age in the bio-data may not be correct – some would over or under declare. Then ideally I would go for age between 28-33 years. Maturity is important. Once my mum had an 18-yr old Indon maid and all she worried about was boy friends, getting lazy, etc. At last, she ran away after incurring loads on my phone bills!
2. Preferably Muslim. Nah! Nothing to do with religion really! Just that the Christian Indonesians were generally located at the kampong kampong area, according to my agent – I heard from some that they can be so kampong that they have not seen electric kettles, remote control and such, much less operating them. The Muslims are generally located more towards the ‘more developed areas’, more exposed, less ‘pantang’, hopefully.
3. Coupled with requirement 2 above, it is important to know where they are from and under which clan – Javanese, and so on. Sorry this is the part that I forgot. But it goes kind of in tandem with requirement no 2.
4. Must be married with children. Why? I do not want them to come to Malaysia looking for a mate!!! Married women with family have specific purposes when they come here to work – to get money to – to improve the standard of living of their family, to open business and for their children’s education, etc. They are more stable and reliable AND hopefully LOVES CHILDREN! At least, MY maids are! They said that my kids are their ‘anak angkat’
5. Never work in Malaysia before. They can have working experience elsewhere which is good but not in Malaysia. I do not want to have her friends knocking on my door! And generally, maids who came to Malaysia before know how to get away with things and know how to ‘’handle’’ their ‘majikan’, if you know what I mean. The fresh ones are better.
6. If they have working experience but other than Malaysia, it will be good too. Reason? You don’t need to train too much! Believe me, a fresh maid needs a lot, a lot, a lot of time to train – and especially if you have children. You will finds lots of things in your house breaking :) :)
7. Education level – preferably at secondary level. But this is not that important. If they have higher learnings (majority drop out at primary level), they can at least help out your toddlers a bit. My 2 maids are secondary drop outs and they are teaching my 5 yr old son and guiding his homework.
8. Lastly and most importantly, if I cannot meet or talk to the maid (some agencies have video conferencing), I would ask my agent which maid is better from character perspective. They must have already met her and interviewed her. To me, reading bio data is not very useful. I have a set of requirements for my agents – such that the maid will independently care for my children and easy character – no tough nuts and rebellious kinds. They must be independent and stable.

So, I laid down my requirements very clearly and explained to my agent under what environment would the maid be in, before he/she went hunting. This however does not prevent bad maids as bad habits can still be developed when they are here in Malaysia. Hence, a new discussion – how to manage Indonesian maids :) - next time :) :)

Just wanna show you some Chinese New Year dishes that my sis in law cooked

I have been browsing thru my photo collections and found some yummy photos of what my sister in law cooked for our Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner. Hmmm... yummy...

Nice big prawns in dun-know-wat sauce and lap cheong fried rice... (stomach growling already)

Some of my mum in law's specialty - tau yew bak, satay sauce with belimbing and Chicken Rendang. And btw she's fantastic at nyonya food!

Working mum and 3 kids

Just today, I was at Guardian Pharmacy buying Vitamin C for my 2 boys. A lady at the Q asked me what brand I was buying and if it has Lysine. I got the Appleton ones. And NO Lysine, thank you very much – I don’t want to make their appetite any better than it already is. They just can’t stop eating. Why, just yesterday, we participated in Fernleaf Milk Powder assessment of my 2 boys’ weight and height (part of their sales drive) and guess what – no surprise here … They are in obesity state. Buttt then again, what is ‘obesity’ … that is up for debate. But take it from me, my 2 boys do not look like the real real obese-obese type, you know. Just normal super active kids with firm baby fats and bigger tummies only – and still have to go on diet and exercise. Here’s a pix of them.




Anyway, anyway, back to this hot looking mom with a son at Guardian Pharmacy was telling me about the Vit C and then asking me the age of my kids. I said ‘5 2 and 4mths’. ‘Huh? What do you mean by 5 2 and 4mths?’ she said. Must be thinking of a new measurement J. I have 3 kids, I said – one 5yrs, one 2 years and youngest only 4+ months. She was kind of surprised and asked me how I manage them, working and all. Actually being a bit of a vain pot, I was hoping that she would tell me that I don’t look like a mom with 3 kids – Dream! No such luck! L I told her that I have 2 maids, running high on costs now but hopefully when my 2yr old son goes to school, l may not need 2 maids blah blah gossip...

Well! After this episode and lots more before, I got to thinking that perhaps I should lay down some plans and decide whether (or rather ‘when’) I should quit my day job and concentrate on my kids. Perhaps a little business that gives me time flexibility and $$$ of course!

Yoo hoo, out there! Anyone has any idea for me? Love to hear your views.

Blogging the block

FINALLY!!! I'M BACK!

Time has passed - now I'm a mother 3 times over. I have finally sat down once again to get to my once-upon-a-time favourite pastime - blogging :)

Why not write about what I sooo love to talk about ... bring up children, struggling working mum, just anything and everything -- HMMM.. yes! Why not indeed!