@thebottomsupblog You still have the lists? I never kept mine. Can’t remember what I put on them now. And there’ll be a lot of new stuff available now.

@thebottomsupblog Great idea if you have a kid who likes to read. I have crafted other booklists for my kids when they were school-age (long ago now) for their long vacations - I tried to put in subjects and genres that they would probably like, as well as a few classics or history or whatever for variety. Possible spin-offs they could explore is to draw, write a story, create a puppet show etc. based on something in a story they read.

Other things for the vacation period (though supervision may be needed for some of these, especially when starting):

• arts and crafts of some kind
• music
• sports, walks
• house chores (I’m serious! Learning to do some of these is really valuable to them for independence and self-esteem, even if they grumble)
• cooking/baking
• something related to Christmas/year-end festivities (making cards, gifts, organising a party?)

Enjoy!

@thebottomsupblog What kind of dance? Ballet? Social? Ballroom?
A couple of my friends go to Aure at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre.
https://www.aurestudios.com/

I haven’t joined them (no interest), but they are enjoying themselves learning ballroom, Latin, social dance. They only started in the past couple of years and are on the older side - 60-ish!

@thebottomsupblog My first gynae was male - my uncle! He recommended me to another, also male, for infertility treatment. Later, in the UK, both my pregnancies were managed by a midwife and a GP (both female) under the NHS. I didn’t choose in the sense that the female GP was the one I was registered with when I first arrived in the UK, when getting pregnant wasn’t something I considered. Both deliveries under the NHS were handled by female midwives; I never saw a gynae of either gender!

Personally, I never had an issue with male gynaes. I didn’t even consider the issue!

@motherhoood_love said:

I’ve been suffering from terrible gout lately, and it’s becoming really difficult to manage, especially while taking care of my kids. Has anyone else dealt with gout? Are there any home remedies or lifestyle changes that actually helped? Also, can anyone recommend a good doctor to see for gout?

I notice you’ve had a lot of medical issues lately, and someone always responds with a recommendation of a named specialist. Call me suspicious…

@thebottomsupblog said:

@sharonkhoo Thank you

Btw I came across a video about a sewing studio (in an HDB flat), where they hold classes!

https://www.tiktok.com/@togather_sg/video/7678659884090543367?_r=1&_t=ZS-99KrW6Ljtpq

LinkedIn quite often gives a month-long trial for their premium membership, where I think you will also be able to access their learning courses!

For the next month or two, I’m going to focus on trying out pickleball and dance, for starters!

I saw the add for home tutoring - still thinking about it…

I got the answer from NLB - I was using my library password instead of the default password (birth year!). My mistake. And LinkedIn Learning is free if you log in through NLB.

I’ve started swimming once a week. I can’t play anything that involves hand-eye coordination! And I gave up dance years ago - too uncoordinated.

@thebottomsupblog said:

I have finally completed my course!

Happy to share regarding these programmes and the actual employment leads that came about from them, if anyone is keen:

• Specialist Diploma in Career Counselling (RP) https://www.rp.edu.sg/lifelong-learning/courses/specialist-diploma-in-career-counselling/

• Specialist Diploma in Business Analytics (RP) https://www.rp.edu.sg/lifelong-learning/courses/specialist-diploma-in-business-analytics/

• Generation Singapore Bootcamp: Junior Data Engineer https://singapore.generation.org/sctp-jrdataengineer/

I’ve taken them all; maxed out my SkillsFuture like a good citizen

Congratulations! You’ve really done a lot!

I’ve been a bit busier the past few months with travelling, volunteering etc. I’ll still be rather busy till about late-Oct. I plan to do a couple of EdX courses (Just noted that my annual subscription runs out on 16 Oct!). I was thinking of doing a couple of LinkedIn Learning courses (free and short!) on AI uses through NLB, but then found that I am unable to access even though my login and password are correct. I’ve reported it, and hopefully they’ll get back to me.

@thebottomsupblog said:

@sharonkhoo From a quick read, it seems the younger guy bought the elderly man a drink to apologise (and may have thought the matter was “resolved”).

Not sure about the actual timeline, but if other family members were aware or present during that time of “reconciliation,” I wonder why they didn’t bring up having the older man checked out for possible injuries following the shoving.

Maybe everything happened too fast, and by the time they realised he required medical attention, they also didn’t have contact details + were forced to go to social media, which proved to be very effective!

Thinking about this more, I suppose one takeaway (even for women) is about balancing between guarding our own boundaries/safety and causing hurt to someone who never meant to do anything more than be warm/friendly. It’s frankly hard to tell sometimes, and it does feel like it’s easier to be on edge these days!

Oh, I didn’t follow closely. I do feel that social media, while great to get wide coverage to find the other party, lends itself too easily to people who like to blow things up. More calm and goodwill on all sides is needed!

@thebottomsupblog said:

I’m a bit surprised the conversation around the “patting head” saga is still going strong!

I guess it provided a spark to bring up many issues that people think about, such as boundaries, consent, how we view strangers, and changing attitudes.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/roxy-square-shoving-incident-pat-childs-head-6333196

I’m rather surprised as well. Personally, I think the father over-reacted. Understanding that different generations may see the act differently was all that was needed. However much he may have objected to patting the child on the head (no harm done to the child), I think he used too much force if the elderly man actually fell! He could have simply told the older man that he doesn’t like strangers to touch his children. At worst, the older man may have taken offence, there might have been some angry words spoken, but violence was not warranted. At best, the older man might have begged pardon and learned that attitudes have changed.

@aliciang If it’s plantar fasciitis (and that’s one of the most common causes), stretching, not rest, helps. Look online - there’s lots of advice. I suffered from plantar fasciitis several years ago, and did the stretches every morning and it got a lot better. I rarely have pain now, and when I do (because I don’t do the stretches much now), a couple of days of stretches fixes the pain. I would recommend you try stretching first, and see. If stretching doesn’t help, then see a doctor.