J and I still haven’t quite agreed on how we will break THE news to our kids.

Of course, “THE news” I am referring to is the fact that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father.

But after watching this 4-year-old boy’s epic reaction, we can now agree on one thing: we will definitely be recording that moment!

How do you plan on revealing the ending to The Empire Strikes Back to your children?

Via Geekologie.

One of my biggest fears about becoming a parent to more than one kid is that I will, one day, find myself loving one child more.

Is it possible to love all your children equally? Absolutely. But as today’s Motherlode article, titled “Do ALL Parents Love One Child More?” states, MOST parents end up preferring one child over the others.

This week’s Time magazine which discusses the science of favoritism

And I think that I have a valid reason to be concerned, because I have a predilection for — subconsciously or not — personally favoring the generally less favored.

Case in point: a friend used to be the proud owner of two Yorkies. And while both were adorable in their own ways, it was clear that one was more (for lack of better words) aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. Not only that, she was more friendly and obedient than her sister, who, when she was not being her moody self, tended to keep to herself.

And whenever I found myself in the presence of these dogs, I always gravitated toward the less-cute, surly sister. I would give her more attention, try harder to win over her affection, and gave her the treats first.

My friend was perplexed by my behavior. “It’s so funny how you interact with my dogs, because everyone else prefers the other one! It’s like you’re compensating for the lack of attention that the unfriendly one receives.”

Thinking back to my interactions with other children when I was young, as well as my relationships with my former students (I used to give piano and violin lessons, tutor students for the SATs, and was a youth group teacher at my former church), I have found that this has always been the case. I work harder with those who are generally less favored by society. With those who are obviously struggling more than others, and with those who tend to be more neglected or ignored.

Again, I do not seek to do these things. I guess it’s just the way that I am.

With all this in mind, I can’t help but wonder if I will be the same with my own children. Will I favor the one who is less popular among her peers? Will I give special treatment to the one who is less talented? Will I love this this child more?

And, my biggest fear of them all: will I end up neglecting the other child in an effort to build up the other one?

I guess that like practically all parenting ‘what-if’s, only time will tell, and that I will just have to do the best that I can to make sure that all my children feel equally loved and attended to.

But I do know one thing: I will never tell a child that I love him/her the most. I actually know some people whose parents have confided in them this admission, and I just don’t see how this could be beneficial to the child.

Do you share with me the fear that you will end up preferring — and loving — one child over the rest? How do you plan on handling it if it happens?

1. 7 Little Words

This little app has got me losing sleep and seeing word combos everywhere! (Similar to when you play Tetris for too long, you start seeing Tetris shapes in your head. ) I’ve gotten a bunch of my friends hooked on it too, including J, who usually hates word games.

I’m going to let the following screenshots do the explaining for you:

I highly, highly recommend this game for all my readers…even if you normally don’t like word games!

Get the Android version here.

Get the iOS version here.

2. Divergent

Last month, I fell on The Hunger Games bandwagon…and I fell hard. So much so that when I finished the trilogy — literally within days — I began to exhibit symptoms of withdrawal. So when I posted on my Facebook page, asking for books that are similar to The Hunger Games, I received a bunch of great suggestions.

The best so far — and the book I am currently reading — is Divergent by Veronica Roth. I’m only a few chapters in, but I already love it for its fast-paced, action-packed storyline that draws the reader right into Roth’s dystopian Chicago.

I will be out of new books to read after I am done with Divergent — does anyone have any other suggestions for fast-paced, adventure books?

3. Up All Night

I just caught this new NBC series on Hulu and I couldn’t help but fall in love. And I won’t lie — there were moments when I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘Ohmigawd…THIS is my life!’

I knew that the show couldn’t be horrible by just looking at the cast (I *heart* Will Arnett…I want to be his and Amy Poehler’s child!), and I am guessing that it will get better and better as the season progresses.

Maybe then might I finally forgive NBC for canceling Outsourced.

Claire loves books. This bibliophile of a mother couldn’t be more proud, as our 11-month-old’s favorite “toys” are books…she “reads” in her stroller, she “reads” in the car, and she even “reads” during bathtime (we have some bath-safe, rubber books).

In fact, I think it’s safe to say that Claire already has more books than her dad! (I am so glad that she got this trait from me, because J really isn’t much of a reader.)

But do you see the problem here? That’s right — Claire can’t read yet. She loves to flip through her books, point things out, babble to herself and wrinkle/rip the pages, but she’s still far to young to read and probably will not be able to read, comprehend, and enjoy books for their actual purpose for another couple of years.

Hence, her favorite books at the moment are the interactive sort.

I’ve decided to compile a short list of Claire’s favorite books, because I strongly believe that instilling the love of books at a young age will help lead to a love of reading. Books have always played such an important role in my life, and I want to help youngsters learn to love to read too.

First up is Dinosaurs: A Mini Magic Color Book:

At 5.4″ x 5.5″, this mini book is the perfect size for Claire’s little hands. But the best part is what’s inside. Every spread features a “Pull” tab, like so:

 And when you pull out the tab, the black-and-white image turns into full color!

So not only does this book help learn colors, it also helps Claire practice her pincher grips. The “Pull” tab is pretty small — about 3/4″ long — and it takes a bit of tugging to get the colored tab out, so her hand-eye coordination as well as her dexterity and finger strength come into play.

As soon as Claire understood that pulling out the tabs would reveal the dinosaurs in color, she started to try to pull it out herself…and within just a few days she became successful. Because it is an interactive book, and because she becomes so proud of herself for pulling out each tab (well, that may have to do more with the fact that we praise her whenever she successfully does it ), she never seems to get sick of this book.

Now, we’re working on pushing the tabs back in.

I have recently discovered that the Mini Magic Color Book is actually a series of books, which includes: Sea Creatures, Cars, Baby Animals, Pets, as well as a sub-series that revolve around holidays like Santa’s Special Day, Halloween Party, Witch’s Night Out, and The Christmas Story. I am soooo tempted to get all the books, but J says that Claire already has enough books. Perhaps I will set aside some extra money from ads and gift them to her for Christmas.

The next book on the list isn’t exactly interactive, per se, but we make it so! It is You Are My Sunshine, a board book by Jimmie Davis and illustrated by Caroline Church:

If you immediately thought of the popular song of the same name, you’re on the right track! Each spread of this book features a cute illustration of a child with his/her stuffed animal, along with exactly one line from the song.

So instead of reading the book to Claire, J and I sing the book to her, turning the pages accordingly, and soon she began to associate the song with the book.

“You Are My Sunshine” is one of Claire’s favorite songs. So whenever she wants to hear the song, she will grab the book and hand it over to one of us. It’s the cutest thing to see her face light up as we begin to sing, and she always claps when the song is done. Then, she will grab the book back and flip through the pages, trying her best to sing the song too. (Yes, I know that I must get this on video!)

Next up: What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Ann Schwartz.

Each spread of this book features a different color of the rainbow, with another color being added to the mix with each turn of the page. But the best part of the book is that a ribbon of the corresponding color threads through the pages, with another ribbon getting added until the rainbow is complete! (I know —even adults get amazed when they first see this book!)

To see what I mean, here is what the “blue” spread looks like:

And, with the rainbow is complete, the last spread features a beautiful pop-up rainbow (one side is a bit bent because Claire was trying to figure out how the pop-up worked):

The last on the list is not a single book but a set of books. It is called 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로 ㄱㄴㄷ 팝업북 (which loosely translates to “Pororo’s ABC Pop-Up Books”) and it was a gift from my mother.

Pororo the Little Penguin is Korea’s most popular kids’ show. Exported to over 110 countries, it is being touted as being part of the “second Korean wave” and some are even pushing for Pororo to be the official mascot for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. In fact, there have even been nationwide concerns that children’s affection for their fathers have been getting replaced by Pororo!

Claire is still too young to fully enjoy Pororo the television show (too much dialogue for her age), but she loves the Pororo music videos I downloaded for her. She dances along when a familiar song comes on, and will point out her favorite characters. As such, the 14-book set — one for each of the vowels in the Korean alphabet — featuring Pororo and his friends was a bit hit from the start.

Each book features different words that begin with the corresponding letter, uses them in a sentence (complete with beautiful illustrations), and as you can see above, the last page of each book is pop-up!

The boxed set was quite expensive at about $45 (we bought it at a local Korean bookstore), but I think it was well worth it. She loves to flip through each book, looking for her favorite characters and favorite illustrations, pointing them out to me while smiling and babbling. Additionally, I know that the books will definitely come in handy when it comes time to teach Claire how to read and write Korean.

I hope this list comes in useful to at least one of my readers! Are there any interactive books for babies you would recommend?

Isn’t it funny how you resist and even resent your parents growing up, and only when you become an adult — and more so, when you become a parent yourself — that you realize how wonderful they are?

Many of my readers may already be aware that Korea has deep roots in Buddhism. When I was still living in my native country in the early 1980s, it was not unusual for Buddhist monks to go around to neighboring houses to chant prayers, and ask for donations — in the form of money or rice — in return.

(image source)

My mother raised my sister and I in the Christian Church, so I have been a Christian for as long as I can remember. Because Christianity was all I knew — because Christianity was what I felt the most comfortable with — whenever the Buddhist monks would stop by our house, I would look at them in disdain, scornfully turning my back on them.

Sometimes, my sister and I would take it a step further by loudly insulting them.

Then one day, our mother caught us throwing insults at the monks. After hushing us, she went to the kitchen, returned with a large bag of rice, and presented it to the monks.

In fact, this wasn’t the first time she gave the monks rice. My mother donated rice every time they stopped by, despite the fact that our family was pretty poor back then, nevermind her not even being Buddhist.

My mother turned to us after the monks left that day, and told us that she was disappointed. She said that just because someone is a different religion from us does not give us the right to look down on them — if anything, they should be treated with greater respect and love so that they could see the love of Jesus through our actions.

I was only 4 or 5 years old at the time, but I will never forget those words.

My mother was also the one who taught me about the importance of love. When I was younger and couldn’t quite grasp the concept of love — ‘Isn’t it just a stronger form of like?’ I believed — I asked her for clarification, and she answered:

Love is something you give away. When you give one love away, you get back two. When you give two loves away, you get back four. You can never give too much love away, because the more you give, the more you will receive in return.

Granted, only now I can see the flaw in this theory…but this is only because as humans, we are only capable of imperfect love. Real, perfect love conforms completely to this message, no?

I have stated before that I do not have many mommy friends, as most of my girlfriends are not yet married and still enjoying the single life. But ever since I became a mother myself, I have grown close to my own mom…and despite the disagreements all mothers and daughters are bound to run into, I am eternally grateful to have her in my life, and to have the opportunity to thank her for everything she’s done for me.