{"id":229,"date":"2014-02-09T22:31:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-09T14:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2014\/02\/09\/merrily-merrilylife-is-but-a-dream\/"},"modified":"2015-03-05T14:08:17","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T06:08:17","slug":"merrily-merrilylife-is-but-a-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2014\/02\/merrily-merrilylife-is-but-a-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Merrily merrily\u2026life is but a dream…."},"content":{"rendered":"

Those who are close to me know that I\u2019m a firm believer in the \u2018A Date with Dad<\/a>\u2019 idea championed by “Focus on the Family’<\/a>“.  Ever since Dana was a wee baby, I\u2019ve never turned away a chance to \u2018date\u2019 my daughter Dana, one to one, just me and her out and about, enjoying the bonding.<\/p>\n

Last Friday evening, when the wife had to attend a company function, tired as I was from a hectic week of back to back 12-13 hour work days, I jumped at the chance to bring my daughter on a date again. It was an incentive for me to finally be able to put my own child first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Our choice of date – to go on a sunset Singapore River Cruise…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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with none other than my precious daughter!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

It was to be a \u2018regular\u2019 date\u2026For this occasion, I\u2019ve planned to go cruising down the Singapore river with her \u2013 something we\u2019ve done before in the distant past but unbeknownst to anyone of us, it was to be a date with a difference…<\/p>\n

\u2026she accessorized. Yes\u2026 my baby whom I had ‘dated’ as wee child, had accessorized on her own: she picked out a sweet pink dress, chose her own necklace and her own cute little handbag. Inside was a comb, a few dollar notes and coins (her savings which she subsequently offered to pay for the dinner with but was declined).<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t notice all this until we arrived at our dinner venue for the evening, sat down to catch my breath. I thought something was quite different about my daughter this time\u2026and then I noticed \u2013 the colourful beaded necklace and her handbag jiggling with coins.<\/p>\n

My 6 year-old is growing up\u2026fast…right before my eyes! I didn\u2019t quite notice it till I stopped (or was forced to due to the slow Friday night meal service).<\/p>\n

I felt like a lousy Dad \u2013 I had not noticed. No\u2026not only the accessories but how over the past months, she had taken a keen interest in things we do, trying to help us make decisions and at times exerting and making her preferences known. She had also started to ask \u2018Why\u2019 more than ever and observed more.<\/p>\n

It is true \u2013 I remembered how friends would advise me to cherish each moment, as I was carrying baby Dana in our Ergo, that these moments are precious and fleeting. How true.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always said this and I say it again, to myself no less, parenting is about engaging. Presence and activity is never enough. It\u2019s what the parent does with the child and in my case, to stop, observe and appreciate. <\/p>\n

As our children grow, our engagement with them takes on a deeper level. Today for Dana would be simple accessories, tomorrow, her taste in music, clothes, friends and before we know it, she would be making those life-changing decisions. I want to be there\u2026if not physically, at least in her consciousness. <\/p>\n

Singapore River has seen many many changes\u2026 one of them is my relationship with my daughter. Every moment I can spend with her is a dream come true and I cherish them with each beat of my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Sights that took our breath away – glittering night views…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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alluring city scapes…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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mesmerizing laser shows…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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grandeur buildings restored to its former glory…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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kaleidoscope of lights by the rive bank…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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cultural fervour from the ‘Hua Yi’ performances…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Row row row your boat…life is but a dream…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Linking up with A Juggling Mom<\/a>‘s<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
\"www.ajugglingmom.com\"<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those who are close to me know that I\u2019m a firm believer in the \u2018A Date with Dad\u2019 idea championed by “Focus on the Family’“.  Ever since Dana was a wee baby, I\u2019ve never turned away a chance to \u2018date\u2019 my daughter Dana, one to one, just me and her out and about, enjoying the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,62,82,17,282],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59hHF-3H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13894,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions\/13894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}