Skip to main content

About

 My name is Cindy — affectionately known as Red Dot Mum.

I was born and raised in Singapore, our little red dot. The orchid in my avatar is the Vanda Miss Joaquim, Singapore’s national flower — and quietly, the same flower that has come to represent my professional work. Some things stay with you from the beginning.

This blog started on New Year’s Eve 2012. I wanted to leave behind a digital record for my children — a place where the life skills I was picking up along the way might live on as a legacy. Raising a family, managing a home, making the most of what we have — without a live-in helper, and almost always without a guide.

The articles here are what remain: recipes, meal planning, home organisation, and the everyday rhythms of a household tended with care and some creativity. They were written for Singapore families, grounded in the real constraints of the time.

Looking back, I can see what I could not name then — that building good systems also enables us to empower functionality. I was doing this instinctively. I share it now with that awareness added.

The rest of my journey continues elsewhere. But this archive stays — for my children, and for anyone just starting out.

Some readers may know me professionally as Cindy Soo, where I work as a Narrative Practitioner — supporting caregivers, women in life transition, and older adults in reminiscence and life review. The views here are my own and do not reflect any organisation, client, or platform I work with.

Given the right support and understanding — everyone can.

Warmly,

Cindy (Red Dot Mum)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Maestro and the Orchestra

It has been only a couple of months since the first grandchild was born in the family, but I am sure it has felt like an eternity for the newly minted parents. Even before the inaugural date of conception, the work of raising a human being was already in full gear. Getting through nine months of enabling a healthy foetus to flourish is no walk in the park. It was not just one person’s lifestyle and dietary habits that had to shift - overnight, if you have to be rid of bubble tea and late-night nibbles after an intense day, that is simply another hurdle to jump over. Most significantly, it was about what the bystanders could do. You learn very early on, once your adult children hit their twenties, that they are their own person - and so as a to-be granny, the first thing one does is to seal thy lips and just listen. Listening and observing are both very formidable skills. They make caregivers of any generation emotionally attuned to their recipients of care. Some memories still linger:...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shepherd's Pie Recipe (Life Review)

  Every year, when September rounds the corner, thoughts of Christmas and Chinese New Year preps loom near. Anticipating the coordinated arrangements that will be needed, some preliminary preps begin. I try to prep ahead so that I don’t get all stressed out at year-end. It is a great time after all to sit back in awe and enjoy the festivities all around the world (the Internet is best for this!) Christmas beckons first ~ I have all the usual recipes tucked away in my blog and easily retrieved on the app Pinterest (which also makes it easy for my family to access). The recipe I am ‘reviewing’ is the Shepherd’s Pie. Do you ever wonder why one flinches when another says a particular dish is ‘so easy to do’? I’ve realised that saying a dish “is easy to do” is only ‘so easy to do’ when one has cooked it several times until it becomes ‘automatic’, a bit like preparing for a standard exam when one rehearses the practice of previous years’ exam papers within the given time. Yeah, that sort...
Post a Comment
Read more

Coping With Bedtime Routines

  An article contributed for Calvary Community Care (C3) ‘Read With Me’ Literacy Campaign When the children were preschoolers, I incorporated reading aloud or hearing stories read aloud as part of the children’s bedtime regime which assisted with ‘bedtime challenges’. Routines and schedules always help with a child’s emotional development because when the routine kicks in, the child living in an ‘adult world’ knows what to anticipate in the whirlwind world of adult life. Admittedly, I never liked reading a storybook to my own children more than once – parents will know a child will ask you to read a book again and again because for some reason the content resonates with them and they want to continue learning about themselves and about the world from the book. So I substituted in other ways. During that time, we had a domestic helper who was good with children and would read the whole book in my place. My children liked her and looked forward to her reading with them. Or I put on a...
Post a Comment
Read more