some thoughts about the organics

a couple months ago we bumped into two students from harvard business school who carried out a research about marketing in some of south east asia countries. we met them when we were about to spend our saturday in klcc mall. the students asked us some questions about children diaper rash products. they asked about the brand, how did we get to know the product, did i do the research about it, did it work well, etc. one of the questions they asked was whether the product i used organic or not. at the moment, i was too shy to answer. i needed a couple of minutes first until i answer, "no, it's not organic."

in the ride back home, i started thinking, why did i feel so bad to answer that i did not provide the organic products for my kids? was it a must? then i started to trace back my experience with organic stuffs since i became a mom.

as i remember, as a new mom for mikal, i tried my best to provide him organic foods. i tried to give him all the best i could get for him since his first food. i still remember how i always looked for time to find some organics fruit, vegetables,and even snacks for him. whether in break hours or after office hours i always searched and tried a new local supermarket that sells organic foods.

although i was not so familiar with the concept of organic clothes or toys back at that time, i also provided my baby with the best stuff i could afford. for examples, the clothes with softest fabrics and toys with non-toxic materials.

now, with two children, getting all the organic products for their needs seems too pricy for me. even our financial condition is getting better, i think organic products are just not worth. it of course makes me feel bad sometimes.  for some stuff, the more expensive it is the better the quality. i do believe that and i do support the organics. however, to me, giving the best for the children is not only about giving the organics. it's more about the time and the attention i give to them. it's about dedicating my life to do the best i can as they grow. it's a study of a life time. interestingly, i found a good article that support my view about this. this article says that food (in this case vegetables or fruits) those are grown by conventional way is perfectly safe to consume by the children. moreover they are full of nutrition and very healthy. these kinds of fruits are also way more healthy than snack bars from the supermarket. so, don't worry to give your children fruits or vegetables from conventional farm because of the pesticides or whatsoever and otherwise providing them with the snacks you get from the supermarket. fruits and vegetables are still the best for human body, whether it grows in conventional or organic way.

as the healthy lifestyle is getting more popular now i see those advertisements about clothes and soft toys with 100 % organic cotton, organic baby toiletries, and so on. what came first in my mind when i saw them was, "okay, i can't afford this. even if i could, i won't force myself to provide my children with this whole thing." the thing is we have two children and i think it is much better to invest some money for the future. let say for their education, the health insurance, or investing the properties for their future. some says providing the organics means large investment for your kids future, yet to me it is just not my thing. if i give my children the organics, it is just because i believe that it is worth it. it is not to follow any lifestyle or because i do not want to be judged as a bad mom from the others. 

bits from our weekend

last weekend we went to our hometown medan to attend a cousin's wedding. mikal and mizan were very happy to see our big family, both from my husband's side and my side. especially for mikal, the time spent in medan was always amazing. he loves to play and laugh  together with his cousins. i took some photos from our weekend and glad to share them in this post.

with cousins!! (from left to right: ica, sisy, mikal,aisyah)

it's always hard to take family picture, but we did it finally!!

this always happens when i try to have the children pose

yeayyy!!

and there they started to escape

giggling!!

oma and opa wanted to pose too

look how my baby pose!!

finally, me and hubby

My five years old baby

my dear  mikal, 5 years ago you came to this world and my life has changed forever. i still remember the night i went into laboring and it will still be here in my mind forever. you teach me to to be a mother. you teach me how to be kind and speak tenderly. you rock my world.

when i see you sleep i see how tall you are,and i remember by the day you are a very loving and caring person. you love your little brother, always try to protect him, though often you have a fight with him over something. sometimes you push him when he tried to take the toy you play with but sometimes you just give up anythig you hold for him.

you love transformers and hotwheels. if you can make it your way you want to buy toys everyday. but mama always tells you that you already have a bunch of toys. you love fruits, ice cream, and noodles. you love to play at the beach and park. you love reading books. your favorite book is the jolly pirate. you love blue. you love paw patrol. you love angry birds.

one night, out of the blue you just told me the story of ghost and vampire. i didn't know where you got those from, but it just made me realize how big you are now.

this year we don't have a chance to celebrate your birthday with family. however mama did her best effort to make a small celebration in your classroom at school during snack time. you got lots of presents from your friends!!

five years old is delicious i wish i could keep you forever in this age. but more than anyting, i always pray for all best things for you.wish you become a smart and responsible human being. wishing you healthy, wealthy, and happiness for your life. i love you, my little hippo. i love you i love you i love you. you may be five now, but you are forever my baby.

birthday celebration with pirate theme at school

crazy kid at the restaurant

as parents of two children, my husband and i are always looking for family entertainments. we especially look for them on weekends. we go out to the parks, zoo, beaches, indoor and outdoor playgrounds, swimming pools, and shopping malls. as we go out, we usually eat at the place nearby. to be honest, my husband and i love to eat (actually, we are obsessed to food!). we love to try a new restaurant or cafe.

however, restaurants and kids are not perfect to combine each other. when we eat at a restaurant, usually it only takes five minutes to have mizan sitting still in his chair.at the age of two, he started refusing to sit in the highchair and chose to sit in the same chair as us. after five minutes of sitting while waiting for the food (and while playing the utensils, bottles of salt and pepper, make noises -which of course is a shame- and so on) he will ask me or my husband to release him. otherwise he will release himself and start standing on the chair. if he can't, he starts to cry and even scream. after being free from his chair, he usually starts to walk and wander around the restaurant. he will come to one table to another. the worst thing happened when he tried to reach the drinks from someone sitting on our next table. 

as the food comes, he rarely eats well (i mean, a lot) in the restaurant, unless he is very very hungry. it only takes very little time for him to do his meal, and he starts being crazy again, wandering around the restaurant. the next thing we do after this is to quickly finish our meal.

we for sure felt a huge embarassment. some people might smile or just laugh to see that kind of children's behaviour, while some made bad judgement about this. however what we felt was people making judgement that our son was naughty, had bad behaviour, and far from cute. others might feel that us as the parents did not teach our children about manners. 

we have been through that for more than a year, and we are still going to eat out. because we just love to do so. we still feel the embarassment, yes. we still finish our own meal quick, yes. yet we still enjoy it. we can never have some time to chat or just enjoy the restaurant atmosphere with these two kids. however we are getting better with this whole thing. we always try to minimize the 'damage' happens while eating out. for example,

1. we try to go to the child-friendly restaurant. there are some restaurants those child-friendly enough. these restaurants provide some coloring papers and pencils. Kuala Lumpur has chili's, TGI Friday, and bubba gumps and co (but the restaurant is quit packed). however in jakarta so far i only found marche (it also has mini-playground), but i believe there are others that i might not know.

2. opt for restaurant that is not so packed and has wider space between one table to another. this is to minimize accident when my children walk (or run!) around the restaurant.

3. bring our own tools to keep them entertain,such as our own pencil and papers, story books,or ipad. it was a success for mikal. however in mizan case, these are not a long-term fix, but still.

4. try not to care about what others opinionate about our children and ourselves. people who raise their eyebrow may not have any kids, or they just have little girls, those who (i always think girls are much sweeter in behaviour) don't have this problem. but kids will be kids. and boys will be boys. being crazy at the restaurant is a natural thing.

5. minimizing the stress by minimizing eating out. sometimes if we were just too tired and it was just too hectic we just chose to have the take out food.

otherwise, for those who do not so much into eating out, i think it is best to wait to have the restaurant thing until your child is ready to understand about how he should behave in a restaurant while always try your best to teach him about manner and how to act in public. Let say, until they are 4 to 5 years old.