I'm a full-time mummy

Whenever we go out in hubby's car, Ben will immediately said out which items he wanted to hold while sitting in his car seat. The following are our MUST have items for Ben whenever we go out in hubby's car:

He started with 2 mini toy cars. The red colored sporty one always on his right hand, while the yellow antique looking car always on his left hand.

And then Ben added a new travel MUST have, which is a sunglasses, all thanks to hubby. He always wore this travel sunglasses over his spectacles whenever it's too bright outside during driving and Ben always ask for daddy's spectacles whenever he saw daddy wearing it. Hubby got so frustrated as there are lots of times he had to suffer the bright and glaring sunlight while his son sits happily enjoying daddy's sunglasses. So we got Ben this green colored sunglasses which he wears when he's in the car.

Now we have another item added into the list, which is this small pillow which we always put on Ben's lap. Aside from the above items, Ben also occassionally wears this cap (used to be daddy's)

So what about your child? What are his/her travel MUST have items?

It was my turn to bring Ben to his Sunday school recently (hubby and I took turns so that at least one of us get to hear the sermon) as the Sunday schools are conducted in a separate building from the main church hall.

Anyway, when it was time for snacks, I brought Ben to wash his hands and when we came back to the room, I let Ben played with this particular alphabet caterpillar toy while waiting for the other toddlers to come back from their hand washing routine.

After a while, this mother and her son (younger than Ben) came and sat next to us and her son immediately grabbed the toy that Ben was playing with. At first Ben was quiet about it as his hands were still holding onto the string attached to the toy. Suddenly the younger boy yanked it off Ben's hands and decided to play with the toy himself.

And that's when Ben started crying.

I immediately tried to console Ben to share the toy (I read in an article that children under the age of 3 do not understand the concept of sharing) but I  still tried that, well anything I can think of to divert his attention from the toy.

Ben actually paused his crying for a while when he heard me saying the word 'share' and then he tried to touch the toy (he really just wanted to touch the toy) but the younger boy pulled the toy further away from Ben.

And all this happened while the younger boy's mother just looked on and did NOTHING.

I thought of taking back the toy from the younger boy but I don't want to have a younger boy wailing over my actions.  I don't want to take Ben away to a new spot as I feel we have done nothing wrong and we should be the one staying put! Ben's cries got louder as the younger boy continued playing with the toy and suddenly the younger boy's mother rudely pushes back the toy to us (as if we're the one trying to hog the toy!).

Ben ignored the toy that was now in front of us (maybe because he sensed it was not returned sincerely or without any apology? Who knows huh?) and continued crying.

I kept on telling Ben 'It's OK, let the younger boy have the toy. Mummy get you other toys or books OK?' And that's when Ben stop his crying.

Personally, I am not the person who likes to fight back over something. You might think I'm weak for allowing myself (or in this case, my son) to be bullied. Read: 1 Peter 3:14 (NIV), Romans 12:19 (NIV)

I don't want to raise my son to fight over everything and worse, to be a bully. But then, I also don't want my son to grow up being bullied or being walked over by others for the rest of his life.

Now, my question is:

If you are in my shoes, will you accept the situation (let the younger boy play with the toy) or retaliate (taking back the toy or talk to the younger boy's mother about her son's action)?

What do you suggest I should do?

Wondering what my 2 year old does every single day when we're at home?

Following are pictures taken on what Ben does on daily basis, although of course not all on the same day! There are some days when I'm too tired to be doing drawing and coloring activities with him or some days when I could even play in the water pool with him... but nevertheless, pictures below  (in no particular order) for you to enjoy and have a brief glimpse on what my boy does on daily basis...

Color painting at our balcony (click on the link for more pictures!)

(oh well, basically Ben just holds the brushes, wet it with water and color on the pages)

Playing in his water pool at our balcony... (click on the link for more pictures!)

Ben has lately developed a new hobby to 'cook' and 'boil' food and drinks for himself and me!

Jamming with his guitar...

Normally with John Mayer songs or when he hears Rascal Flatt's 'Life is a Highway' (one of the soundtrack in Cars movie)

His new activity which is playing with daddy's DIY playmat! (click on the link for more pictures!)

Scribbling on his art book... (click on the link for more pictures!)

Every now and then, I teach him to draw certain shapes and at the same time teach him about colors...

Chasing him around the room to bath him - normally after his water pool time...

Stickers time! My balcony door is taking the biggest hit now... but it's OK, it's Ben's 'artwork' heheheh...

We currently have 2 sticker books which I bought from the night market near my house - Toy Story and Cars, both are Ben's favorites!

I just started playing this fruit toys today with Ben. Trying to get him to familiar with the types of fruits and also the colors of it as well.

He kept sniffing (we always get him to sniff the real ones when we go grocery shopping) and biting the toys!

Reading his books... (click on the link for more pictures!)

Ever since Ben saw how his 2nd uncle fixes car (he's a mechanic), Ben is always trying to emulate the same thing.

Watching Sesame Street videos on Youtube...

Picture below of Ben holding this DIY 'binocular' I made out of an empty toilet roll which I cut half and masking tape all over to make the 'binoculars'

Watching and dancing along to bible action songs... (click on the link for more pictures!)

Other than the above, Ben also occassionally play with his Mega Bloks though definitely not with me nowadays, I really can't bear to scoop out each and every blocks and put them back into the storage box, though yes, everytime Ben plays them with his daddy, I end up most of the time cleaning up the mess afterwards... but oh well, at least I don't need to crack my head to build a sword, a jeep, a tractor, a robot and etc etc from those Mega Bloks! You can see more pictures from this post of mine: Ben the Engineer?

Of course, with all the above activities, Ben has to eat to keep up at all times! So pictures below are those I managed to take of him eating during lunch and snack times... and he watches his favorite movies such as Cars and Toy Story (1, 2 & 3) during his meal times. I had to watch them with him so much that I can tell you the errors and mistakes I discovered in those movies! So anyway, pictures time!

Ben munching on a VERY sour strawberry, and not even batting an eye over it! Weird...

Other than strawberry, I normally feed Ben grapes or mangoes we get them more often during our grocery shopping.

Ben breastfeeding - this photo is taken very recently, about a few days back,

and yes, I'm still breastfeeding him during my pregnancy now.

Ben munching on his 2nd slice of cheese, other than the fish crackers and a piece of banana on his plate.

Ben drinking his yogurt drink while having his lunch of a slice of bread, a cracker, some jelly and mangoes slices.

So there you go... pictures above are what Ben does during his daytime activities most of the days...

What about your child? What did they do on daily basis?