PARENTING
Say Hello to Beijing's Smallest
Sirio Della Ragione
Italian/Chinese. Born to Pan Yanrui and Jacopo Della Ragione on Mar 10 at Beijing Union Hospital.
A Time to Get Pregnant
When I studied Chinese formally for a year at Beijing Language and Culture University back in the halcyon, pre-fatherhood days of 2003-2004, I was one of three swotty types who sat at the front. We had the unfair advantage of having native Chinese speaker spouses (by the way, I always think the plural of "spouse" should be "spice", don't you?), and the dubious qualification of being "maturer" than the rest of the class. After we had done battle with the language for a while and discovered that the more Chinese characters we learned, the less we remembered. I recall a conversation in which a fellow square and I asked ourselves whether we would still have set out to climb the mountain that is Chinese if we had known what we were letting ourselves in for. "No," we concluded.
Pregnant at 39
Moms can spend hours browsing stores picking out the perfect pair of pajamas, the perfect bottle and the perfect mobile to hang above the crib. But ask them to name the perfect age to have a child, and they probably couldn't give you an answer.
The Golden Age
Doctors and psychologists have an equally hard time pinpointing the best time for women to have children. Some say it's as early as the late teen years, when the body is physically prepared to deal with the tolls of pregnancy, while others will claim that the late 20s are the golden period to ensure emotional stamina. Statistically, the age of first-time moms is on the rise. According to the US National Center for Health Statistics, the average age of first-time mothers in the US has jumped from 21 in 1970 to 25 in 2005. The UK Office of National Statistics reports a similar increase in the average age of first-timers, rising from 26 in 1971 to 29 in 2005.
Haunted House
The packers came last week to cart away all of our earthly belongings. It took almost two days for them to box everything up and stash it all in containers on the back of their truck.
And now, we wait. There's still a week to go before the plane takes off with us on it. That's just one short week to say goodbye to the people and places that we've come to know so well.
Our house is full of ghosts, so full I can't stand to be in it for long. Here's the office where I wrote these articles, Skyped my sister and changed countless diapers. Here's the kitchen, with containers of frozen soup still stacked in the freezer as dishes dry on the counter. That empty space over there? That's where I liked to sit and read when I had a few, rare, quiet minutes to myself.
Follow the Leader
Kathryn Tonges is everything you'd expect from a parenting expert and dedicated primary school teacher. Though relaxed and friendly, her attention to the intricacies of communication is flawless. Constant eye contact and a persistently calm tone of voice let you know exactly where she stands. No wonder her skills are in high demand. Tonges has spent the past three decades studying the Parent Effectiveness Training (PET) method of communication, using it to not only to advise others but also to raise her own children. We sat down with Tonges to find out why the onus is on parents to change and how listening to your kids is the first step to better behavior.
The Littlest Brother
Just over five years ago, my littlest brother came into the world. I must say, I was not prepared in the slightest. I watched my stepmother plod around the house, her weight steadily increasing along with her belly. I watched as she brewed batch after batch of foul-smelling Chinese herbs - designed to cure everything from nausea to back pain. I got so used to her being pregnant that I began to consider it a permanent state. Then Edward was born.
My father already had two adult children: me and my brother Huw. A baby sibling put us more in the position of aunt and uncle than elder brother and sister. Huw took to his new role like a fish to water. He was in the hospital when Edward was born; he was there when Edward was safely delivered home; he was the first to show the baby what a car radiator was (whether or not that sunk into little Edward's brain is another issue).
The Right Fit
How fondly I remember that day one year ago when I cavalierly said to my wife Savvy, "I'll do it." How hard could it be to figure out Reina's education options and choose a school? We're talking about kindergartens. It's not like picking a university, right? Foolish, foolish Baba.
A Click Away
With the 2008 melamine milk powder scandal still fresh in our minds, many Beijing residents prefer to purchase foreign-brand products. The trouble is they're often hard to find and come with sizeable price tags. Unfortunately, we're left to choose between skimping on quality to save a buck or paying large sums for imported goods. Luckily the ease of online shopping means your favorite brands can be delivered straight to your door at prices that won't break the bank.
Diary of an Expectant Mother
The idea of having another child had been on the cards for sometime, so last summer, while on holiday in Europe, my husband and I decided to expand our family. I have survived two relatively easy pregnancies in Australia. How different could it be in China?
Football for Life
What happens when an NGO collaborates with a community sports organization? You get Football for Life, a soccer program that trains, educates and inspires some of Beijing's poorest students. CAI has a long history of providing educational services to migrant children in schools across the capital - courses focuse primarily on the arts, including photography, drama and music, as well as basic physical education. What they were lacking was exactly what ClubFootball (CF) specializes in: professional coaching that teaches children more than just a sport. In the autumn of 2009, the two organizations came together to establish Football for Life (FFL), now a thriving soccer program that has already touched the lives of hundreds of children.beijingkids spoke with Judy Shen, the founder of CAI, and Keith Bradbury, the general manager of CF, to find out more about the "beautiful game" and why it's more than just a sport.
