The Ice Cream Personality Test

Originally created for dates – to see whether the guy sitting across you on the first date actually a potential match, I thought this can apply to mother-child relationship. 

My Favorite is Cotton Candy

Why not? I go on a date a lot with my son, and ice cream is part of our routine. Neurologist Dr Alan Hirsch on his book “What Flavor is Your Personality?” reveals how our taste buds affect our personality. Here’s what he shares:

• Chocolate Chip: Competitive, competent and ambitious. Choco chip is for the life of the party. The good side is you can be generous.
• Coffee: Coffee-lovers are dramatic, flirtatious and always seeking for new adventures. Even though you get bored easily, you give the best in what you do… while you’re on it.
• Butter Pecan: If this flavor is your favorite, then you’re an introvert who’s sensitive to the feelings of others. On the other side, you’re a devoted person who also cares about how much you spend. 
• Mint Chocolate Chip: This flavor gives out the confidence you have in life. Despite being skeptical about how life goes, you plan for the future. Honesty and family are two things you treasure the most.
• Rocky Road: Goal-oriented, outgoing and aggressive. Whoa! You like being pampered and appreciates the finer things in life. Bossy is your middle name, but more often than not, people are convinced to follow what you say.
• Vanilla: Surprise! Instead of being plain and boring, Vanilla people are emotionally expressive, aims high, and determined to get what they want. You’re not afraid to take risk although that doesn’t mean you go jump off the cliff when the rest of your friends are jumping off.
• Strawberry: You love strawberry means you are logical, loyal and supportive. You don’t mind working behind the scene as you’re very tolerant about things.
• Chocolate: You’re very passionate with what you do that people find that charming. You are also easygoing and young at heart. But Choco lovers are also dramatic, flirtatious and gullible. Whoops!
• Rainbow Sherbet: Identical with diet, the sherbet/sorbet family is about being pessimistic. Despite its bright colors, life for sherbet’s fans are dull as they tend to analyze too much and taking not enough decision.

Of course, my favorite flavor: THE cotton candy isn’t here. 

When It Comes To Milk...

Now the question remains: can you apply this to formula/UHT milk flavor? Here’s what I came up with: Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate stay the same with what’s stated above. Honey can go for Butter Pecan and other adventurous flavors (like that honey dew or banana milk) can go for Mint Choco Chip or Rainbow Sherbet.

My Vanilla son is always on the go and says what he has to say. He sets high goal for himself and stays focus to get what he wants. As for me, I was often criticized as being too relax and too easygoing when it comes to being a parent. Some even says I’m more of my son’s friend instead of his mom.

So what? I’m a chocolate milk person.

For The First Time...

Masih ingat saat anak Anda pertama kali jalan?
Saya masih.

Saat itu saya sedang di acara kampus, mengerjakan prakarya dengan anak saya duduk di lantai sambil mainan kertas. Tahu-tahu dia berdiri dan berjalan menghampiri saya. Atau mungkin, masih ingat momen pertama anak Anda bisa baca? Makan sendiri? Pakai baju sendiri? Bisa sholat sendiri? Ngaji sendiri? Pasti ingat dong.

Dudu Pertama makan pake pisau-garpu sendiri nih!

Tapi ternyata di zaman modern ini, yang penting adalah… masih ingat kapan anak anda pertama kali eksis? Pertama kali nongol di TV? Pertama kali jadi artis?

Saya ngga ingat. Bukannya saya pikir hal tersebut ngga penting, tapi kalau dibandingkan buku pertama yang diselesaikan anak saya, iklan pertama anak saya jadi ngga terlihat significant. Tapi apa yang buat saya ngga penting ternyata penting buat beberapa Mama lain. Lolos casting pertama, catwalk pertama, pemotretan pertama… 

Hal ini seakan diamini beberapa produk ibu-anak yang menyelenggarakan lomba. Sebagai seorang pengamat lomba anak, saya sering browsing. Beberapa kali tema lomba seperti "momen pertama si kecil" atau "cerita tentang si kecil" diisi dengan cerita dan foto yang menceritakan tentang “impian” si anak menjadi artis, menjadi bintang sinetron terkenal atau jadi model terkenal. Pokoknya si anak mimpi jadi eksis. Makanya momen pertama eksis ini jadi momen pertama paling berkesan bagi orang tuanya. 

Saya sejujurnya kecewa.

Kemudian saya jadi makin kecewa ketika momen-momen ini mengalahkan momen yang menceritakan lucunya anak-anak dan saat pertama kali mereka berhasil melakukan sesuatu yang anak-anak banget. Okelah itu kebijakan panitia penyelenggara lomba.

Saya bukannya mendiskreditkan para Mama yang anaknya sudah main puluhan iklan, membintangi ratusan sinetron dan jadi juara ribuan lomba fashion show. Saya juga sering kok mengikutkan anak saya casting dan lomba. Sekali dua kali dia pasti menang atau dapat job. Hanya saja satu hal yang harus kita ingat adalah anak-anak tetaplah anak-anak. Spotlight dapat menghilangkan kepolosan anak-anak dan membuatnya tumbuh dewasa lebih cepat dan kita akan kehilangan momen-momen pertama itu karena anak-anak akan melewatinya sebagai bagian dari ke-eksis-an mereka, bukan sebagai momen pertama mereka yang special untuk disaksikan hanya oleh orang tuanya.

Atau mungkin saya yang terlalu idealis.

#ThrowbackThursday: Yishun

While searching for ideas of what to post, I was browsing what's inside my laptop and find this screen capture for #DateWithDudu. Let's revisit Yishun.

#DateWithDudu at Yishun

One day we're stranded in Singapore, thanks to an early morning affordable flight the next morning. We have less than 24 hours and no hotel to stay. After dropping off our bags at the airport, we’re set to wait for my younger brother to get off work. His apartment is in Yishun area – or at least that’s the closest bus station from his place. We arrived at Yishun Northpoint Shopping Mall after lunch. Off the MRT station, we walked to Golden Village and ordered ticket for that afternoon show of The Lone Ranger. We bought books, toys, and some exam paper exercises (yes, Andrew goes to a Singaporean school in Jakarta so those papers worth it) and killed time at Starbucks. It’s our fourth Starbucks stops in four days.

That's how close we are with coffee.

What's in Yishun?
Mainly residential area. There are a lot of apartments, condos and high-rise buildings around the area. The mall is actually small (if you compared to the ones in Jakarta. But apparently it's the largest one in Northern Singapore. It has endless dining option and tons of toys stores. Andrew couldn't really complain. But aside from the mall, and the regional library inside the mall, you can walk 15 minutes to Yishun Park. Well-known for its tropical fruit tree collection, visiting this park can be a good chance to let your kids know what Durian tree is like. There's also a playground in the area. it sounds so nice.
One day we’ll return.