Child's growth, like weather, can be hard to predict. But you know it when you see it.

All I need is seeing how Jasmine is determined to prepare gifts for her mum's birthday and Mother's Day this week. Never mind her grammar mistake. Not that she writes perfect sentences. Far from it. But she rehearsed before writing the birthday card. And yes, for the tote bag she designed and painted, my wife loves it with every inch of her soul.

But perhaps

I picked a Japanese restaurant to celebrate the fifteenth wedding anniversary this year. That's a restaurant with open kitchen, by itself a good place to keep my daughter amused. Jasmine spent more time watching the chefs than having her dinner. Within five minutes, or ten minutes, no more than that, the chef made a new dish from the teppan, the way a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat. I stayed with her in front of the kitchen, delighted. That may seem hard to believe,

The upsides of the blush or guilt have long been observed. Imagine the following question chosen by Dacher Keltner, a psychologist with special interest in positive emotions, when he had to choose his mate by asking a single question at a speed-dating event.

"What was your last embarrassing experience?"

It turned out that Keltner chose this question to watch for blushing, lip-presses, and averted eyes - all of them being surrogates of his mate's respect of others. Embarrassment reveals how much the individual cares

Mention Osaka and most people think of Osaka Castle. For most of us, Kyoto means the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Oh, and gracious geisha. But that's another story when we travel with kids.

This isn't to say I don't fancy those feudal castles and colourful shrines. Soon after my first few trips with my daughter (before the age of three), I simply discovered that there is no all-purpose definition of must-sees with children. It's worth taking a

One of the thorniest questions that intrigued my daughter, when I borrowed the picture book Die neue Omi by Elisabeth Steinkellner, is the book's title.

My daughter didn't expect the title, which is translated as "my new grandma." That's a bit tricky - that grandma in her 80s is getting dementia. She forgets the way to take bath, not to mention the know-how of cooking. The theme is among a growing number of children books trying to guide the kids

What do we mean when we call something a "Cinderella story"?

The short answer is a metaphorical expression of rags-to-riches, especially if there is an against-the-odds miracle - but there are plenty variants (as I recently learned from a blog). Origins of Cinderella go all the way back to 1967 (French version) and as early as the 9th century (Chinese version). For now, a Cinderella story refers to a good thing happening to someone nice

When I was asked to teach pharmacy students in the medical ward this weekend, I took them to see patients and talked about the way we used drugs. So we started looking at the drug chart of one patient after another. It wasn't surprising that the vast majority of us teach in this way.

A medley of case examples, in essence.

The method notwithstanding, seeing a few cases can be misleading. The plural of anecdote, as many scientists can tell us, is not data. An anecdote is

Not every child is interested in the game of Simon Says or Duck Duck Goose, headstand or cartwheel, hopscotch or thumb war. But nearly every child is born with a preference to play rock-paper-scissors.

A typical kindergarten kid should be able to follow the simple rules of "rock crutches scissors, scissors cut paper, paper covers rock." Of course, when your kid is small, be sure she has enough chances to win. Wait until she's mastered the game (and you have congratulated

Carrying a heavy backpack is very much like yoga. It can - and, in fact, it is supposed to - give you shoulder ache unless you have the know-how to gain control of your mind and body.

My backpack was pretty overloaded today. That's my daughter's school field trip, and I went too. I brought with me the camera, a box of puzzle game, a picture book about all of our 206 bones (and about 450 bones for babies,

Bullying is common.

I knew bully guys existed. I had heard about their dirty tricks from my school peers, I had to run away from them in the playground when I was young - if only I could know how to kill them when they bullied my younger sister.

It just happen. Everywhere. School peers, siblings, athletic coaches, doctors and even consultants. I've met them all. And yes, that's terrible.

Will bullying shape our health? Yes, even in monozygotic identical twins