Wednesday, August 20, 2014

It takes a village...

I've never been one for grandiose statements or philosophies, but to raise a child, they say "it takes a village". I can definitely say its a team effort - a rather large team if possible.

A few learnings as I reflect on my 2 months of parenthood:
- seek and accept as much help as available. At one point, we had four adults helping to watch Benjamin (my mom, husband, helper and me). As mom would say, "many hands make light work". Its not light, but certainly more manageable. Although I'm proud to say that I enjoy the alone days with Benny albeit very tiring by end of them

- do what you can to ensure your child is growing healthily. There's a lot of recent societal pressure towards breastfeeding (total opposite apparently in the 70's towards formula). I am "combination feeding" (breast milk + formula) and Benjamin is growing nicely. Maybe its because I am in my late 30's that I don't have enough milk?! Anyway, i'm still trying but don't like the turned up noses of some parents who think that formula is poison or something

- learn to power nap. Thankfully from my engineering days at McMaster, I have mastered the 20-30 min daytime nap. It does wonders. Sadly though, I can't power nap at night and have some bouts of insomnia

- exercise whenever you can. We try to squeeze in a 20 min swim or run whenever Benjamin naps

- going out is not so bad. Benjamin loves to go out and enjoys looking around and naps nicely when we shop or eat lunch. Fingers crossed this continues, and there is no bathroom episode (as HK its sometimes difficult to locate clean and available changing tables!)

- stay in touch with family by photos and social media. We are finally getting regular use out of our tripod and DSLR camera since the baby grows so fast. I realize my smart phone camera could be improved too (too slow). Also everybody has their own lives, so living abroad, we have to be the ones to make an effort to keep them posted on Benjamin's growth (or we'll feel lonely given not many visits)

- go easy on the birthday cakes. We don't like cakes that much but want to celebrate the key milestones like one month, two months, 100 days, and each of our own birthdays. But it takes us over a week to finish (or toss) each cake! Next month: Pie with 2 candles instead of cake.

All in all, parenthood is quite a trip. 

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

World at War?!

Sorry for my blog hiatus as having a newborn precludes me from blogging as often as before.

Is the world at war? There was MH17 tragedy where yet another Malaysian Airlines plane was destroyed. This time, instead of going missing, it was shot down in eastern Ukrainian territory. Beyond comprehensible is that still weeks later, the crash site and all human remains have yet to be found due to ongoing fighting (and political posturing and finger pointing, no doubt). I admire the Dutch treatment of the bodies that were retrieved so far, and do NOT wonder if Malaysian Airlines will survive (unlike many). I mean - come on - national carriers can always get bailed out by their governments. That said, MAS was hardly ever a well-run airline. I distinctly remember their massive 'oversupply' of 747's, such that we flew one from KL to Ipoh (2 hours drive away only)... and the Ipoh airport (since closed) had a too-short runway... we made a sharp 90 degree turn to avoid backyards (no joke, this was only in 1999!). Nonetheless a real tragic year for MAS with MH370 still vanished without a trace :(

Further the ongoing air and ground attacks in Gaza are very tragic. Its difficult to pick sides, not that it matters much when civilians are most affected.

On a timely note, the FX series "Tyrant" and "The Honourable Woman" are just underway, pretty interesting and do ring a similar bell ... ironically Tyrant is about a fictitious middle eastern country (many key actors are Israeli though... hmm?!) ... and The Honourable Woman is about a UK born Jewish businesswoman trying to partner with Gaza-based Palestinian firms to develop infrastructure. That said, there is some poor acting in each.

So I ask... is the world at war? It seems the never ending strife in Middle East may implode sooner than later, and the Russian aggression on its former territories... well, we shall see. I pray not though.