Over Documenting | X'MAS Party

over documenting. 

I came across this article about finding a balance between under documenting and over documenting about your kids life. They simply do not have any say or control over what is shared about them over the social media at their tender age. That's where boundaries comes into place.

We grew up in an environment with a film camera with no iphone no videos. But yet it didn't bothered us (at least to me) that there are gaps in our childhood where there are zero photos taken nor video taken.

But when I look back at the collection of photos from my own childhood, it seemed enough to me.

Fast forward to 2017, many children are documented in photos and videos every SINGLE day of their lives. We live in a different world today. It's not just childhoods...it's everything. People basically just have to watch it through theirs phones as they share it to their IG stories.

I feel so torn about this because it's fun to watch other people's lives through their stories, but it's also sad to be at a concert in a sea of cell phones or whenever whatever things that are happening, the first thing they whipped out is their phone.

Is over documenting our struggle as compared to past generations? I love taking photos and video, honestly iPhone is a miracle in our lifetime, it totally changes how we function in today's world.

I am worried that LX will remember me as someone who is chasing after her with my phone. And that in every special moment in her life, every milestones, every cute little thing that she says for the first time, I'll be pointing the phone at her. This is something that I don't want to see it happening.

It's a frustrating reality as much as I want to record literally everything thing about her. Yet at the same time, I want to know how it felt to be like my mom where no phone exist.

How exactly does it feel likes to raise kids without documenting every aspect of it. To have the ability to have fun afternoon and special moments without taking any photos or video. And most of all, I want LX to feel seen, watched and listened to by us.

It is a lot of trial and error, steep learning curve in finding a balance between these but well I guess is worth to find a happy balance for all of us.

I am leaning toward using a camera to take lots of photo and then put it away. LX is still going to grow up with a camera/photos way more than we did, it is what it is. Acknowledging this is probably the first step toward finding balance but I must admit that I'm also one of those mum who keeps chasing after the kid with phone. #dayremummies

Just some random thoughts 💭

x'mas party

hosted our very first x'mas party over the weekend.

this time is a little special because I invited my mum and aunt plus cousin over for dinner. this is probably the second time that my mum have been to my place over the span of four years but is as thou she haven never been here before as commented by my aunt. she asked me a lot about the home like where did I get my sink, ceiling fan etc.

my mum place will be going through a mini reno and I think she is quite excited about it!

🎄menu

- mushroom soup
- roasted chicken
- lasagna (both spicy/non spicy version)
- olive pasta
- lemon drizzle cake with rose tea for dessert

#dayrecooks #dayrehomes #dayrebakes

I made the mushroom soup from scratch and here are the ingredients required - onions, celery, thickened cream and swiss mushrooms.

my little cousin thought I would have just open a can of mushroom campbell soup. lol

grocery shopping at a wet market is so much fun then shopping in NTUC. aunties there offer many tips in choosing mushrooms and they are so much cheaper too. I'm allowed to buy two stalks of celery and some parsley instead of the whole pack.

Sauté the onions, celery in butter till transparent then add mushrooms.

once all cooked, put them into the blender and blend it. super easy!

I added lots and lots of mushrooms so it is really thick with real mushroom.

Transfer back to the pot, add in thickened cream and stirred till combine. Add in remaining sliced mushroom. Add in salt and grounded black pepper according to taste.

add in parsley for decoration and they are ready to be served. my super "gao" real mushroom soup.

lemon drizzle cake 🍋

this time round i made the lemon glaze. poke holes and pour it over the cake. leave it for a while to allow it to infuse into the cake. It was very well received, they cleared the plate and said is so good. my younger brother who crashed the party asked if I bought this from outside and claiming that i actually baked it. 😅

mama asked me to bake and bring to her place for next year during CNY. lol

a group photo to end the day.

the gold hats and Christmas tree clocked the most mileage ever since we moved in. had been using them almost every year except last year where we celebrated Christmas in Taiwan with in laws.

little LX is learning how to make twist with her fingers and we kept having to retake the photos because her eyes was glued to her fingers trying to make twist. lol

Lemon Drizzle Loaf Recipe 🍋

1. Mix 200g of unsalted butter with 200g of caster sugar in a mixer till white and creamy.
2. Add in 4 eggs (1 at a time)
3. Add a bit of vanilla essence
4. Add lemon zest (recommended 1 lemon but I added 3-4 lemon cause i find it more flavourful than adding 1)
5. Sift 255g of self raising flour into the mix.
6. Preheat over to 180 degrees.
7. Mixed till combined. (Do not overmix)
8. Pour mixed into a lined loaf tin and smoothen the surface with a spoon.

9. Bake for 45 minutes and at 30 minutes mark cover it with aluminium foil.
10. Use a toothpick to check that it comes out clean after poking.
11. Mix juice from one lemon with 80g caster sugar.
12. Make tiny holes by poking all over the cake
13. Drizzle the juice all over the freshly baked cake and leave it to allow the juice to infuse into the cake.

Lemon Glaze - Mix 225g icing sugar by adding a bit of lemon juice gradually till you get the consistency you want by stirring.