Is your child TECH-dependent?
Is your child tech-dependent?
Aside from Good Academics, Socialization skills, High EQ and IQ… there is one more thing we need our kids to have more of, that we often overlook… SWEAT!
Sounds unsanitary but TRUE. More and more kids spend their free time watching TV, playing game consoles like wii, Playstation, PSP, Ninendo DS, listening to their Ipod, Watching youtube videos, playing farmville on facebook and chatting with their virtual friends 
Gone are the days of a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon playing tag, basketball or other activities that are physical. Thanks to the recent Blackout that hit Metro Manila, I realized how important this is. My son is 10 years old, has a “DIY” basketball court, 3 basketballs, a punching bag, a scooter, a dog and a little brother to play with but he kept whining about how “Boring” it was because of the blackout. He was so used to keeping himself busy with these tech stuff. Sadly, I think my son is starting to be TECH-dependent. I said “starting” because in fairness to him, he did play with his little brother for 30 minutes to 1 hour, I think. And also played with his other baby brother for around 1 hour. But after that… he was out of ideas on how to entertain himself.
.
Taekwondo class at Gymplus Starmall
It’s a good thing that my sister in law took the initiative a year ago to enroll him to a Taekwondo class* and it has done him wonders. Now he has a stronger physical body and immune system. He gets less cough or colds. I realized that his Tech-dependency would have been worse if he didn’t have Taekwondo. Now he is a bluebelter and a very confident boy (makes him somewhat “bully-proof”). In each session (2 hours every Saturday and Sunday), he sweats a lot with all the cardio exercises and learns to be alert during sparring time.
.
I think It’s about time to get these kids of their generation to move… play… literally sweat!
This will help them live a healthier lifestyle PLUS it can balance out the tech-dependency, since it is very hard to avoid. Not only will you save on meds for cough/colds, you will also save on absences in school and the trips to school to help your kid deal with the bully.
.
What have you done to keep your kids busy or physically active lately? Please share to help other parents too.
.
*Taekwondo class - GYMPLUS, Starmall EDSA cor. Shaw Blvd. / P1,200 per month / 2 hours every Saturday & Sunday
For more information: Sir Anton – 09194264493
My Toddler wants to be independent
For most parents, teaching their child independence is one of the toughest challenges yet, especially if it’s their first child.
As much as we can we try to pamper, protect and baby our precious baby.
That is fine… until they start to become too clingy and you can’t do anything else but pamper, protect and cuddle and nothing gets done at home.
In my case, however, it is the opposite. My toddler “wigi” just started school last monday. And he didn’t want me to ride the school bus with him. He said he wants to do it himself and that parents, big siblings and nannies are not allowed in school. I’m sure in all schools they say that but nobody listens hehehe but he takes it to heart.
At dinner time when I feed him, he insists to do it himself (even if he gets all messy) because he said he already has a baby brother and that he is big enough.
At Bath time, he goes into the shower area, closes the glass door and showers on his own… he said he will only let me in when it’s soaping time hehehe.
Same goes with brushing his teeth, it has to be him first and then he will give me a chance to check and brush but just for a short time. He even washes his cup after he uses it.
AMAZING.
I’m thankful that he is the way he is. I think it helps that he is the second child and was not used to pampering at all and that he now has a baby brother so that makes him feel like a big boy already.
But even with all this, I still try to baby him from time to time, I don’t want him to grow old too fast
Tell me about your toddler too, share your stories by posting a comment.
Talk to you soon,
Mommy J
Back to school : Back to good sleeping habits
Summer was fun… all play, tv, out of town trips, swimming… but now it’s over and time to get back to reality.
School starts on June 7 (well for my preschooler that is) and luigi’s class starts at 8:30 am. During summer he can stay up late… sometimes even as late as 11pm. How on Earth will he be able to be ready for school at 8:30 am???
For me it’s a challenge to change his pattern/sleeping habit, since I only have a few days to go… but for the other moms who still have at least a week or two…
Here’s a small list of things you can do to help your child get back the good sleeping habits he/she lost during summer:
1. Talk to your child that things will be changing.
Sit down and explain to your child about the fact that your routines are going to be changing and that you’re going to help each other in the family so that all of you will have better sleep. Inject the discussion throughout the week with gentle reminders.
2. Set a schedule for bed time and wake up time… and stick to it!
Regular bedtimes and wake-up times help your child organize his expectations of what is supposed to happen at certain times. Regularity helps them understand when they are supposed to be asleep in bed and when it’s all right for them to jump and play around with their siblings.
3. If he has older siblings… make sure you have them on your side
For the younger ones, falling asleep is easy but with the bigger siblings around they tend to get excited. So if “kuya or ate” is in on your plan, then they can help motivate or remind the little one of the schedule. (this can include your partner as well)
4. Get an alarm clock.
Having an alarm clock with soft music… and not a shocking one will help the child ease into the habit of waking up at a certain time without being startled.
5. Around 30 minutes before bedtime, try to calm the child down with some quiet time. This is best spent, reading a book, or going through old photo albums. This will settle their excitement from all the playing (TIP: please keep the TV off). If you can, put some soft relaxing music. Sometimes, what I do is, I ask my child to sing to me the songs he learned from school… it calms him down and makes him more sleepy.
As for me…I have 2 nights left to help him out of the bad sleeping habits… wish me luck, this can be a rough first week of school for me and luigi.
Talk to you soon.
Mommy J
Happy Mother’s Day
For some they see it very often others once in a blue moon, depending on how you live your life… what matters is that when you catch those magical moments… don’t forget to whisper a “thank you” to God because He has given you the gift of unlimited (absorb-all-you-can) JOY and Happiness, it’s just up to you if you want to see it and cherish it.”
I slept late last night for work and I promised myself I will not wake up early for anything. But how can you not wake up when your son greets you a Happy Mothers day with breakfast in bed . It’s nothing fancy just 2 cheese dogs, rice and glass of cold water. I was soooo touched.
Last night I was telling him to think of what he is going to do for me on Mother’s day and he said he will “surprise” me with a greeting on facebook… (there goes the surprise hehehe) Although I know they are too young to be as creative as we see the kids on tv would do it, but I wanted train them so that these occasions matter, regardless of whether it’s only for commercialism. I want them to get excited to make someone else feel special and that they don’t need money to do it. Just simple gestures of love. He spent hours pondering on how he is going to do it (he is 10 by the way) and he just can’t think of anything creative… (except for a card which he already prepared weeks before and a surprise greeting (hehehe).
So last night I left a note for him thanking him for his effort to come up with great ideas. Then I told him that I’d love it if I wake up with breakfast in bed … Yes I was the one who told him what to do for me on Mother’s day… but that’s fine… I knew that he just needs practice soon he will know what to do on his own. So the next morning I was so happy, and he was all smiles…
He also (on his own) kept asking me the whole day if I had a good day, what will I do for myself … and that alone… even without any creativity and surprises… is the best mother’s day gift ever To care about what will make me happy.
I hope you too had a great mother’s day no matter how simple.
Talk to you again soon ,
Mommy J
Preparing My Child for Preschool
I am a mother of 3, working from home. And I started Preschoolchoices.com because I had a very hard time going through all the preschools in my area for my eldest son. I was working then and I had limited free time to check on each school. I even realized I only know a few schools since I see them on my way to the office. I was clueless and felt helpless 
and so Preschoolchoices.com came to be
So now here I am again. Trying to look for a preschool for my toddler Wigi. Of course where else will I get my list but from preschoolchoices, and I found it really helpful, now I realized how many preschools there were to choose from and different teaching methods.
After much filtering and balancing pros and cons… I decided to give H.E. Montessori Center in Mandaluyong a try. My Wigi is a child who LOVES action, quiet with words but is very good with expressing in actions (from “kutingting” to climbing up the grills on our window). So I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to start him up with a traditional school since he might not be able to express himself and eventually just be frustrated and not want to go to school.
So after browsing through their website which is full of valuable information by the way… I decided to do an ocular inspection (sounds so technical… it just means… i checked it out! hehehe) and was so happy with what I found.
Here’s a list of what I saw that amazed me:
1. SPACE – It is very rare nowadays to find a preschool with a lot of SPACE. Definitely a great thing for Wigi since he loves to explore.
2. EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS – Each classroom is equipped with all sorts of “child-friendly” materials that educate and is fun to do too. Another good activity for Wigi since he loves to tinker with stuff or putting things together.
3. PLAY AREA with Kids in mind – Now this is one of the best features of the school. It is an indoor playground that for some reason you can feel a strong breeze of real air not aircon. It is very colorful with murals on the wall (rubber mat on the lower part to protect the kids). Lots of different activities from slides (made of plastic), basketball courts (mini), lots of balls, bikes, mini-cars, monkey bars and a lot lot more… I also saw a mini badminton court 
4.SAFETY LOCKS - I noticed the doors have safety locks where the kids can’t reach it.
5.MINI-EVERYTHING – there is a mini bathroom just perfect for toddlers, mini sink for washing hands, a light switch they can reach so they can help conserve electricity, mini dining table for their snacks, mini bed if they get sleepy, mini-grocery for pretend day and a lot more hehehe…
It was just amazing how well-thought this place was. You will surely feel that it was done with heart and passion for kids. I just know my son will learn to enhance his being independent and self-reliant.
So to cut the long story short… I decided to prepare my son for June by enrolling him for their summer program which covers 5 weeks and costs only P2,500 !!! not bad! And this includes their snacks everyday, one shirt as uniform on Fridays and one cute bag.
I think there are several ways you can prepare your child for preschool:
1. As early as you can introduce the idea.
2. If he has playmates that go to school already use that kid as an example.
3. Buy him materials to use in school like jumbo crayons, lots of paper and art materials that will make him interested.
4. Involve him in playgroups or play dates where he gets used to having different kids around him.
5. Practice being apart To prepare him for separation anxiety… to prepare you too coz sometimes its the mommy that can’t let go. A little at a time.
6. I think it is a good idea that once you have decided which school you want to enroll your kid into, get them into a summer program (most schools have this) so that they are already familiar with the place, the people and of course the concept of school and away from dear mommy — this will save you a lot of tears and using up your leave from work just to stay in the classroom for several days… for some even weeks.
It’s better to be preventive.
Be prepared.
