She did it again !!!

 Just a few of modelling shoot she did recently. Will add Indy's previous work here too!

XOXO
S.R

Their latest works

My girls just joined the children modeling agency for the last 2 months. So far they are enjoying it!

Maya did a few catalogue shoots and Indy did one for a online store. They are just enjoying the moments and be a children at the same time.

Indy, also did a TV ad when she was barely 3 months old, funny thing is, it was also for an air conditioner brand J And Maya first TV ad is for TV brand ( HISENSE) and her second’s TV ad is again for a Air Con brand but this time with a “star” twist J

Maya’s second TV advertisement is a quite impressive one actually. Not because she is the main” person “ on the ad ( she is not! LOL), but because Jackie Chan is!! Yes the one and only Mr. Jackie Chan.  We are so excited about this. Not because of the pay nor the opportunity of Maya to be  a  “ star” or “famous” or whatever.  But just a chance for her to meet JC in person J . Maya’s role , with 14 other kids are just to be the background , they just need to run around on the field.

Jackie Chan I think , is one of the only Asian Super star that is known both in West and East. If the advert is with Andy Lau for example, perhaps my In Laws in Italy won’t even know him. But , they sure know who is Jackie Chan!

My whole family and my dh’s family of course are all thrilled about this!  But how about Maya?

Is she affected? Nope….

She is still the old silly Maya, who , perhaps , heard about Jackie Chan last week! ^_^ And for her JC is the guy she saw in the TV ad sometimes, and on the banner at Carrefour promoting shampoo that our part time helper used.  Actually, she is confused , between JC and Jet Lee.  J . A few days ago , there was a poster of Jet Lee, she said  “ Look ma, Jackie Chan!” I said “ that is actually Jet Lee!”

During the commercial shoots , JC gave her candies. So , I am pretty sure , for her JC is just the guy who gave her candies. J But she does understand, that JC is kinda important, more than her father, apparently, because, people started to told her”  WOW you will do TV ad with Jackie Chan or WOW you met Jackie Chan? You are so lucky!” And she will response “ Ya Jackie Chan wants me!” So  in her opinion, she is much  better than Jackie Chan I guess!! J She is a very confident girl indeed.

What is the reason I allowed my girls to be part of this modeling world? Is it money? Fame? Am I a ambitious mom who wants to make money out of my children? Do I want them to be famous?

I just see that they got the opportunity right now, they are having a blast doing it. They made new friends, they can save some money ( well Indy spent all of hers buying clothes and shoes  :P). And they know that to earn money is NOT easy at all!

Beside , I think, it created a FUN childhood memory ( hey Maya, you did a TV ad with Jackie Chan, when you was 5 back in Shanghai! )

Indy, my 8 going to be 9 y.o girl, now she knows very well about that. She told me the other day “ When someone look at the ads on tv, it  looks so nice ! But now I know , it’s hard to make them , and it involved a lot of people, the people who prepared the setting, the cameraman, the lighting, the director, and then the people who need to fix it ( post production and graphic design )” And when she saw an ad for a shampoo brand, which the girl with long hair flicks her head so her hair will spread out nicely… the thing that came to Indy’s mind was “ Can you imagine, how many times , that poor model needs to flick her hair to do that move? I bet her neck is sore after the shooting!”

And I am happy, that so far their modeling experience  is giving them an opportunity to see thing from a different angle . I do hope that it will enrich their life and I do pray that they can prioritize to what is really important in their lives.

XOXO

S.R

 Pictures  if Indy's catalog work

 Maya's TV ad 

Maya's first fashion show

From last shoots that she did, someone suggested to put Maya and Indy to children modeling agency. So I did.
Then  I got a call last week , Maya was picked to be a fashion show model . When I asked to the agent, what is the fashion show all about, the timing, location etc, she answered me : oh the fashion show is from a local shoes brand, they will present the new collections for this year to their distributor and wholesalers. What came up in my mind is that the show will be done in a warehouse, dusty place, full of workers ( I worked part time before in Guang Zhou for shoes factories , so  the memories are there with me :D ) .

I asked Maya , if she wants to do it. She said , of course: I WANT! So I tried to explain it to her in a simple way that she could understand : she gonna walk in the stage, maybe with some other children too, and she needs to be there from morning, then she will need to wait for many hours before the show.

So we arrived on time on the location that I was given. I saw a big SKECHERS signs outside the building. There were a lot of people setting up the place, I saw skechers signs every were ( FYI : I LOVE SKECHERS  SHOES, the boots, the shape ups etc) . I was thinking that we are absolutely in a wrong location. So I asked around is this the building. They said correct. And one guy approached us and said : are you here for the children model?  I said yes , my daughter is. He then pointed me to another lady, and she asked me : Hi ! are you Maya's Mom? Come right in..
And we saw the stage, the light. the people, the music... I was like " the show that suppose to be from a local shoes brand is for SKECHERS???" WOW ... I didn't expect it at all.

So then Maya did the practice , rehearsal, outfit fitting and all... She went back stage and stay there on her own. And she was doing great. She played with the adult models, and called them her new friends. She is friendly , cheeky, talk active , everybody seems to like her .

Then we had a long break , like  3 hours, and we just had lunch and wandered around the location, I did some homeschooling with Indy  ( she is following) and let Maya's do some coloring and writing. Then go back to the location, she then went backstage on her own from 2.30 pm. and her turn was on 6.10 pm. She stay alone without me backstage, playing, stay with the models, and crew all by her self. She was tired, I was worry she will be cranky by the time she is on, and I worry she needs to go toilet. But she was just fine. She inform her"friends" when she needed to go to the bathroom, grab some cookies when she was hungry ( from her bag) and she didn't throw a fit because she is so tired. ( Even me I was tired !)

So when her turn is on. She walked like a total pro, moving to the music, smile, strike a pose and all!
People literally cheers when she was on stage! Clapping and took her pics. When the show over, some people still asked her to stay and took picture with  her.

Beside all of the fun experience  for her. Just a side note for everyone : she is enjoying to "model" , her fave game before doing the real thing is to take blankets, pegs, crown, heels, she and Indy "designed" her outfits and she needs to walk on the "stage" with music. So the real fashion show yesterday just like a "playground" for her in grander scale with "more" audience. :P

Despite what people say and think about children modeling. I am very aware the pros and cons.I won't let anything take my girls' childhood away too fast. I won't let the superficial stuffs took control.
My parenting style won't be affected by the amount of money she has earned or will earn. Characters is still the number one, Academic too.To model or not to model is just  not on our priority list . I am still let the option open. If that is what she loves and want to do, I will let her do it .

I know the limit and the cons to expose my girls to modeling world. This is just for fun and to let her"energy" out . I'm not sure if she gonna have more offers but the most important is to build up her characters to be a strong, confident ..., kind, creative girl. I don't want to focus on the superficial stuffs. And that is what I told her yesterday when she asked me " Ma why everybody like me so much? they said im cute" i said yes u are cute, but if u are rude, and not polite and not kind, no matter how cute u are, people wont like u anymore. and trust me she will hear that a LOT more from her mamma!! :D

Some more of the pictures

XOXO
S.R


PS: on the world's news. My heart sink for Japan. And my prayer is with all the victims and family in Japan.

Balance Bike

I seldom bought toys for my kids lately, and I avoid the small many pieces of toys ( like ice cream toys set, sushi set, etc) I have enough of that scattered around my living room. And I like to have my kids play outdoor  in our apartment compound( because we do not have our own yard now).

A few months back I saw this type of bike at Indy's friend house. It is wooden ( lovely!! ) and the bike has no pedal.And a 3 years old can "run" with it and balance. So that is " balance bike" or "run bike" or pedal less bike!
It will teach the kids to learn how to balance the bike naturaly. While Maya already has a small bike with training wheels, and she is good at pedaling, she  , like many kids on her age, still depends on the training wheels.
Indy just mastered the bike a few months back, and it was a pain for me to taught her. Thanks God it was just a short process but still .......^_^

So I decided to buy this balance bike for Maya.

 

This is the description of the bike :

Using its own legs for balance and movement your child will have instant success without the falls, scrapes and frustration common to learning how to ride a conventional bike. Later on the transfer to a bike will be extremely easy for each kid because of the skills it learned before.

We learn to crawl before we can walk, and run before we can bike. So why do kids have to leap from tricycles to bicycles without learning how to balance a bike on their own?

Bicycles with training wheels are one way, but these can give a child a false confidence when those training wheels come off. Teaching your child to ride a bike with a pedal free wooden bicycle or metal bike introduces balance, steering, and speed control before they push the pedals of their first two-wheeler.

She is 4 !

Our baby is 4! And what a handful of characters she has! Of course.. a combo of me and my husband..what do you expect? LOL. She decided to have a soccer ball as her bday cake! So Soccer ball cake it is!


We didn't do any party this year. I asked her , does she want to invite any friends? She said no, I just want to have birthday at school. So that was it ! :) .We had a family lunch in our favorite restaurant and we order a whole pigeon for the b'day girl ( her favorite!)

And these are some for the pics, and some were from her school's party.

Maya's daily activities at school (edited )

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Maya is now in pre-school about 20 mins drive from our home. The school mini bus picks her every morning at 9 am and send her back at 4 pm. 

The school is not International school , but just a private local school with one class taught in bilingual ( English and Mandarin) for daily basis. The other class just have English for 2 hours per week. I think this is a great opportunity for her to learn Mandarin. Her classmates are mostly overseas Chinese, that happens to return to China for various reason, or some from mix parental families. Or foreigner who stays long time in Shanghai. 

Maya is the only one who come from the non Mandarin speaking family. For first week I think it was a bit hard for her. But never underestimate the children's ability to adapt.

Her class is huge. With many  parts . One part is the main learning center. Where it has the touch screen that the student can touch when they use the CD ROM program to do some learning. Yup the books are much more high tech , they use CD ROM, and a hard cover books and stickers to learn. I don't mind to have something more simpler, but then here, looks  like the school like to use the more " sophisticated" books and program to teach.

The daily routine is almost same like any school , I guess, eat breakfast, learning, story telling, lunch, nap, sometimes they have gym class.Tea break and another class in the afternoon.

On the top is the main class room. And Maya is doing the daily drill for new Chinese character ( nope she can't recognize yet :P )

 

And this is the art corner, which is so tidy and neat with the art supplies suitable for young kids












Montessori corner for Math which is a plus and I am please that they do that


The role play room. With babies cradles and kitchen .


The other play area with small games

This is the sleep area. The blanket and mattress is from school but we paid for it. There are 2 sets of bedding for hot months and cold months. The uniforms also come in seasonal style.

The tiny cute sink and toilet :)

Dining area

This was on the open day. Where the parents can see the activities. This is the indoor gym class. Very impressive ,it looks like fun place to do gym for kids.

And this is my lil gal who is growing up so fast. :)

Her English teacher is from the Philippines and told me that Maya's vocabularies level is the same like those 5 years old . Not surprising since her environment at home is English speaking and she listen to many of Indy's homeschool subject . She even can mentioned almost all of the South East Asian countries :) . Her Chinese teacher said that Maya is catching up wonderfully in her Mandarin class.

Many  other teachers and admin staffs told me in person, that Maya is a very delightful girl. She comes to school with her cheerful happy personality. Always polite to all the teachers, and they commented : but she is not a typical girl., she is fierce and can protect her self ( meaning she push back whoever pushed her :D ). And pretty mischievous too, on the school bus, the lady in the admin asked her : how do you stay bird in English ( Speaking in Mandarin). Maya replied : Wo Bu Gao Su Ni ( I will not tell you!!) and grinned....

Just a note : Yesterday Maya told me she got the blood test from school. I know the schools need the blood test and urine test prior entering the school. And now is the additional blood test she had. It is to check her hemoglobin level. To see the students is malnourished and the school can plan the meal. ( those who has lower level they will serve quail eggs and those who are fine they will serve tomatoes as afternoon snacks )

I think it is indeed a good move for any school!
Until then....
XOXO
S.R