Stackable drawers, an all-in-one organizer

Marty's toys and books have been all around the room and oftentimes, he finds it
hard to locate the toy he wants to play.

So to organize his toys and books, I decided to buy these so-called small-sized
stackable drawers.

It is actually an all-in-one organizer for from kids stuff(toys, books, school
supplies) to mom's closet(jewelries, bags & wallets, undies, toiletries) and to
dad's tools and gadgets.

Its features are:
a. space saver because it maximizes the vertical storage space
b. available in colorful design
c. available in different sizes whichever suit your place
d. made of plastic making it portable to transfer in different parts of your
    house
e. with easy sliding drawer for kids to open and close
f. quite sturdy
g. so easy to clean, wash and wipe
h. stylish in a way

Torn in between...

With blogging,  I was able to share with my friends and relatives the great
experiences and activities of our family especially those of  my son Marty.
I have shared my thoughts and was able to share my great finds. And what
is amazing, I already have a list of the things I will still post to my blog.

In posting, I see to it that my readers can at least get something beneficial
from it.  I just don't blog to put my life diary over the internet. And to avoid
my readers to just imagine on what I am talking about, I put images
whenever possible aside that these enhances my posts.

Lately, when I was reading back my posts on our family experiences
with pictures of my family exposed to the whole world, I felt afraid.
We all know what people can do with the information from internet, right?

Now, I AM TORN IN BETWEEN including or not our pictures in sharing
our experiences through this blog.

Preparing kids for exams

In the school of my son, February is the busiest month in terms of major quizzes
which is conducted almost every week. And aside from the quizzes there are still
the regular seat works and assignments that go with it. 

Although I think this is a good training to develop study habits and adopt my son
to the fast-paced reality of schooling, still, I worry that he can feel an information
overload and might get tired or fed up easily. 

Also, in today's world wherein children are faced with diversified activities, games
and habits, it is sometimes difficult to instill in them a good habit for studying and
most of all reviewing during examination period.

Most kids just want to browse through their past lessons once and my son is no
exemption from them.  He easily gets annoyed if I tell him to review it for the
NTH time.

Curious of what other strategies I can apply in preparing my son for exams, I
have asked some moms and read from researches.  Some of which I am
already doing and some will be tried. 

1. Create the right environment to make studying easier and relaxed.
   -I bought him a study table and positioned it in a secluded part of our house
    where he can concentrate and away from any form of disturbance.
   -Ensure that TV or computer is turned off while studying
   -Healty snacks to feed the brain.
   -Temperature is just enough, not too cold and not too hot.
   -Must wear comfortable shirts

2. Prepare review materials.
   -I download worksheets from the net so as not to focus only on the
    book or what were discussed in their class. In so doing, I can say that
    my son understands their lesson and can apply what he had learned.
   -Use Visual aids to elicit interest esp. to kids.

3. Review ahead
   -Should start weeks before the big exams. Still the best way is to study/review
     everyday.

4. Practice answering questions orally.
   -You can check if he really knows the answer and how fast your child can
     answer esp. if exams are with time limits.

5. Rest the mind by having plenty of sleeping hours before the big day.

Beating the Valentine's Day Rush!!!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Gift ideas in different forms are all
around malls, streets and in the i-net. Men are now busy scouting  for the
perfect gifts for their sweethearts.

Not that I dislike flowers, cakes, chocolates, perfumes, accessories etc. as
gifts, maybe I just want to try something not extra ordinary but not the
usual celebration.

Here are my options and as early as now I am already preparing for it to
avoid the Valentine's Day Rush...
1. A SPA (Ace Water SPA, Massage King,etc) gift certificate for a couple.
2. A gift certificate from dress boutiques so that he can buy what he likes.
3. A lunch date in an authentic and specialty resto (thai/korean/indian/
    chinese food), followed by a coffee date and dinner date at home.
4. A one day get-away from the city and head to Tagaytay or Subic
    with our son.
5. Will still search the net for the newest attractions in town.

It is on how you say it...

Lately, my son had been addicted to watching videos of  his favorite cartoon
characters in my laptop. He does this at bedtime maybe around 1-2 hrs.
Although my facebooking and blogging time were lessened since he's
using it, I was happy seeing him enjoying his watching. Until one day when
I received his quiz folder, results were low. Despite reviewing before his
watching time, I think maybe everything that he reviewed were eaten up by
this cartoon characters playing on his mind.

Knowing my kid's defense mechanism to cry if he doesn't get what he wants
and would not want to worsen his colds by crying, I just lied to him that
the USB inet dongle needed to play the video on You Tube was lost. As
expected, no explanation was able to appease him, which forced me to say
"NO" in a harsh way.  With consistently saying "NO, NO and NO", my son
just turned his back from me and sleep with his eyes full of tears. 

Contemplating on it, saying "NO" already made him sad and saying it with
anger had hurt him very much.

It was time again to reflect on the saying: IT IS NOT WHAT YOU SAY,
IT IS HOW YOU SAY IT...

I knew my son should had been willing to agree with me that time but when I
said NO in an unnicely way, a very negative response came out  of him.  If only
I couched NO in a caring language, great percentage that I should have elicited
a cooperative and better response from him. What do you think?

Now, I'll be sleeping with an aching heart for appearing as the BAD GUY
to my son.

Balancing my work with family life

I am a mother raising a 4-yr old boy who is already on its kinder level, have a
profession which requires me to manage not only people but systems that help
people manage their work, a wife to an IT professional also who is on-call
even at night, have a house to maintain and most of all a home to keep
together. I am not a super mom neither a super wife which I can say that it is
easy for me to balance work and family life at the same time.  Thanks to the
sharing of others and readings from the net which I got ideas and have been
applying them now.

Hope you can find them useful too. 

1. I make time for my family.
   Although quality time is acceptable to my husband, I think quantity matters
   for kids. Now that my son knows the days of the week and activities associated
   with each day, its kinda automatic that I have to be with him on the weekends. 
   To have that time, I always try that all my work tasks are done in the office
   which I render OT sometimes. But in cases which I need to work at home, I do it
   when my son is asleep. Its really difficult to find time, let us make time for
   our families.

2. Have a date with my husband.
   Having kid/s does not mean that after work, all my attention should be on my
   son.  Aside from going out as a family during weekends, we make sure that
   we go out and date once in a while may it be in whatever form (dining,
   watching movie/DVD, malling around, grocery,etc.). This is our time to talk
   of everything under the sun...from future plans to romantic moments and
   talk even trivial things. 
  
3. I treat myself once in a while.
   A SPA, date with a salon expert, date with old friends or families can help
   de-stress our minds. Feeling good make ourselves look better to others.
  
4. I have a life list
   First, I give my self a time to meditate which helps me organize everything
   for myself, in my work and for my family. I list my short and long terms
   plans in a TO-DO list  Notepad app then put a time frame for each item.
   Based on priorities, I commit to make it happen.

Basics of Blogging

I was really surprised when I saw in my blog site that I made 21 posts for January.
Actually, I've never counted them. I just write my thoughts and whats happening
with my family which I know others can benefit from and share my great
finds(promos & freebies) . 

From Notepad application to posting it to my blog site,  it always draws the thirst
within me to blog. I always look forward to ending my day with posting something
of worth not minding if there is a set of rules in blogging which I must follow in
posting. Simply put, it becomes a routine and I am enjoying it very much
regardless of how it should be written.


Curious if there is any set of rules to follow in blogging, I've searched the net and
found these BASICS where I can start with.

Step 1 - The Power of Title
             *No matter how simple and straight forward the contents of the post, if
              the title is catchy, it will surely invite readers to your post.
Step 2 - Blog Posts Must Be Reader Friendly
             *Must be written in a format that it will attract readers rather drive them
              away because the post cannot be easily read or browsed.
Step 3 - Pictures are Worth 1,000 Words
             *It serves as a testimony for what you are writing.  
Step 4 - Use Video From Time to Time
              *Use it if it will add value to the post other than only images.
Step 5 - Keep It Simple Stupid
             *Just write less (not too wordy) because people will not spend all of
               their time reading the entire post.

For further information, see this link  http://www.bloggingtip.net/5-blogging-basics-you-cant-live-without/