cool landline phone

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No, that's not a real skull. That's our landline phone right now. Although more appropriate during halloween month, this is what we currently use. I saw this while browsing the shops in a mall and was about to ignore it until RJ said, "Cool! A skull phone!" The eyes light up when it rings.

I ended up buying it for 650 pesos (from the original price of 800). I am a certified cheapskate mom.

Conference calls and loud speaker phone features are not included though.

B is for Baby

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I can't think of any other important B in my life except for

              my boy, my baby RJ

he's now 9 years old but that doesn't change anything, he'll always be my baby.

i need to talk to your teacher

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RJ's report card was given yesterday. I was very satisfied with all except his social studies grade. I will definitely call his teacher on Monday and schedule a meeting with her. This teacher is so unapproachable. A frown is always plastered on her face.

last year's report card

All his other grades are 90 and above. RJ excels in Social Studies so a grade of 85 is unbelievable. Even if she give me her ugliest frown, I will still demand to check how RJ got a very low grade.

What do you think? Should I talk to her?

mommy moments #5

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One of RJ's favorite, as of this writing, is playing chess. An achievement for him is beating Mama, that's me!, in chess. And yes, he's done that countless of times already.

Chess takes his mind away from facebook and his handheld games. So even if he beats me, he's getting better and better each day, I don't mind at all.

can't live without his gadgets?

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Of course he can. There are days when I don't allow him to go online or play his handheld games. Believe it or not, he can survive without his gadgets and be even more productive.

There was a time when I was also addicted to playing computer games. SIMS is one of my favorite games. The characters can sleep, cook, work, go clubbing, fall in love even! Who doesn't want to create his own destiny or control other people (once in a while?). To get over my addiction to SIMS, I deleted the program installed on my computer. As simple as that.

 RJ's priorities, no matter how many times I've lectured him about using his God-given talents, are plants vs zombies, facebook and nintendo games. To solve that problem, I ban him from using computer and video games during school days.

working mom's sacrifice

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Some mothers choose to work not just to prove their worth in this world. They work for their family's future, particularly that of their childrens future.

                                                                                                babble

I'm a stay-at-home mom. I do work at home so I'm also a work-at-home mom some days. But the money I earn is nothing compared with that of my friends who works in big companies. I put on hold my wants, needs and dreams so I can take care of my son.

I did make a lot of sacrifice. But just like me and other stay-at-home moms, working moms also made a lot of sacrifice. They missed most of their kids' firsts -first step, first word, first smile. And the worry of leaving their kids with people who are not even related to them. That's the sacrifice that working moms have to endure.

And stay-at-home moms, like me, also have sacrifices... that I will write in length on another article.

summer activities

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I can't believe that summer is just around the corner. Last summer, RJ enrolled in drawing class at Museo Pambata. Although the teacher was a very good childrens book illustrator, the class was not appropriate for RJ because it was designed for preschoolers. I want to enroll RJ in various sports, arts and other activities this summer vacation.

                                                                              nhlc

That was actually my plan last summer and I already started calling even before RJ's summer break began. The problem was that the schedule of classes, for the activities that RJ was interested to enroll in, were not prepared yet. When I was able to get the schedule, they all coincide with each other. So RJ ended up enrolling in drawing class only.

This early, I will try to find out all available sports and art schools near our house. I will try to fix RJ's summer activities well. I will have to practice driving because riding a taxi can be very frustrating at times.

mommy moments #4

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Because RJ loves to read all kinds of books, he got lots of it for Christmas. From comic books to almanacs and how-to books, you name it, he has it. But before he can show it to his friends, I made sure I wrap it with plastic first. I am a book-collector, another term for bookworm?, myself. I don't want his I-don't-care-if-I handle-this-book-without-care friends to destroy his new books. I care so much about books, I wrap every single book that enter my house. Yes, even the tiniest books!

And because he's a Ben 10 fan, more Ben 10 toys as well.

But not without this reminder from Santa.

"Santa" left the note 4 days before Christmas. I saw my niece's crayons on her study desk so I used it to make the note. When they saw the note on the christmas tree, my niece asked me, "Did Santa use my crayons and paper?".

squeeky clean teeth

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I found a new dentist for RJ near our house. His previous dentist transferred to another place without informing us. So he didn't have a regular teeth cleaning for 2 years. The dentist said that RJ's teeth is still very clean, not a lot of tartar. My constant reminder of brushing two to three times a day, after every meal, helped.

                                        growingyourbaby

It's very important to find a reliable dentist with a clean clinic that doesn't charge too much. A dentist who doesn't just know the difference between paracetamol and amoxicillin but knows when to give it. Hopefully, this dentist meets all my requirement.

library or sports center

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My son is a certified bookworm. He has a vast collection of books and magazines. I can't say no whenever he wants to buy a new book because I myself love books.

Recently he doesn't go to the library anymore whenever he still has some free time after recess and lunch. He spends the remaining time in the sports center playing tag, basketball or soccer with his friends.

I can't help but tell him, "You're missing out on the new books in the library."

geronimo stilton books; one of RJ's favorite

He assured me that I shouldn't worry that he's losing interest in books. He reads in the house, even in the bathroom! So I should just let him spend more time in the sports center, after school, because he also needs to exercise. Playing soccer, table tennis and running around in the sports center will make up for whatever exercise he's missing from swim training. Hopefully, he can again join the training of the school varsity next year.

picky eater's special request

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My son is a very picky eater. It might have something to do with what I prepare for him to eat. I try not to cook hotdog, corned beef, spam and other canned goods that kids his age loves to eat. Vegetables and fruits are a must in our daily meal. He does eat fruits, but vegetable is synonymous to yucky for him. Ask him how to suppress appetite and he'll surely say "vegetable on the table".

He's been requesting for a Kimbap for two weeks already. So tonight, I am going to prepare that for dinner. I'll make some california maki as well. I'll just put a thin layer of rice because I don't want carbo-overload on my already unwanted love handles!

waking up early during school days

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This is how RJ looks like, while eating breakfast, during school days. He can hardly open his eyes. It doesn't matter if he had 8 hours of sleep. If it's still dark outside, his eyes will still remain closed.





My role, while he's eating breakfast, is to remind him every single second to open his eyes and chew his food well. He spends a good deal of time eating breakfast so I end up feeding him most of the time.

I'm hoping he'll be "more awake", while eating breakfast, next school year. If that indeed happens, I'll surely miss feeding my 9 year old baby in the morning.

2011 checklist

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Here's a checklist of things that, hopefully, I can buy. Most of it are really important and some are just "wants" that can wait for a few more months (or years even).

1. trip to hongkong - This I promised my son, so I really need to start looking for a good deal already.

2. htc desire Z™ android smartphone - Can wait for a few months (to a couple of years) since I just bought a new one.

3. DSLR camera - I want! I really, really want!

4. more educational books for RJ - He bought lots of comic books this christmas break. Good thing my sister gave two kid's almanac as a gift. I will buy more educational books for him because he enjoys reading it. Aside from him learning new things from the books, I also learn something from it.

5. new dress - I have to gift myself with something each month and a dress is on top of my list

6. hmmm. what else? Will add more next time.

monopoly night

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I bought a monopoly board game for RJ. Tonight, instead of the usual him-reading-a-book and me-reading-another-book, we will play monopoly. We still don't know all the rules yet but we will read it as we go along.

Monopoly is a good way to teach kids about money, savings and investments. Hopefully, RJ will really learn something from the game.

fight his own battles

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I easily get mad when someone makes fun or physically hurt my son. I have confronted kids older, and even younger, than my son whenever I see them behaving in any way that will hurt RJ's feelings or physically hurt him. I am one protective Mama.

                                                                     santaclaracountylib

But I now try to let him sort his own problems. Even if I want to throw a punch at the other kid, let him taste his own medicine, I now let my son fight his own battles and solve his 9-year-old-problems. I want him to be more independent and not depend on me with things that he can solve on his own.

spoiled

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Do grandparents really tend to spoil their grandkids? Or is it just my parents, uncles and aunts who are spoiling my son?

We we're in Greenhills once and an action figure caught RJ's eyes. He began to ask me non-stop to buy it for him. His tears didn't make me buy the expensive toy at all. Then I saw him smiling and playing with the toy! Apparently, my aunt bought the toy for him! At one point, he accidentally dropped the toy's hat. He again ran back to the store where he bought the action figure and began asking me to buy another one. Kids are born with compass showing directions to toy stores, I swear!

My mom, aunt and RJ, all at the same time, were harassing me to buy the action figure.It may be funny now, not the part that I shelled-out a few hundreds, but it was really annoying at that time.

Grandparents! Why do they always have to say YES to their grandchildren?

airline seat sale!

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After the half-month vacation that he just had, RJ wants to have another one. Perhaps a beach vacation this time. The first thing I do each morning is go online and browse airline websites for available seat sale.

I've never been lucky in availing a good deal on these airline sale. All available seats on-sale sells like hotcakes! Maybe this time I'll get lucky. I just have to be diligent in checking the airline announcements daily.

RJ's view on politics

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Light's out for RJ is at 9 pm. We usually talk about anything and everything during that time. My dad's brother, together with his family, was visiting during christmas week. RJ asked me if my dad's cousin, who ran for senate on the May 2010 elections, will also come to visit. Then he said, "He didn't win because he's not famous."

Our conversation got diverted to politics after that comment. I got interested, and yes -amazed, with how sure he was with what he was saying. He doesn't watch the news. He has classmates who have parents and grandparents in politics, but he said they don't talk about it. Social Studies class maybe?

"Noynoy won because his mom and dad were famous. People thought that he'll be a good leader because of what his parents did for our country. I wanted him to win. But now that he's President, I don't know anymore."

Hmm. That's a 9-year old boy's view on politics.