Youngest daughter was supposed to come with me to go to the National Statistics Office to get the marriage certificate that was missing when I tried to get it the first time two days ago. Since the eldest came home last night she now has company at home. After learning her possible boring plight she finally decided to stay.

She was hoping that we will go to a fun house after my tasks are done so she can play and get to enjoy finally but learning that my tasks may take longer than she expects, she decided to stay and asked me to come home early so we can go to the nearby fun house. That way she can use the computer at home while waiting.

My hair is quite long again. At least, shoulder length. I can now tie it at the back for a pony tail. With the current heat and humidity I have been tempted to cut short my hair as short as possible that if I just brush up with my hands, I’m done.

I don’t like taking much time in front of the mirror. Rather than being stylish, I’ll just tie up my hair. I look older, though, with long hair, so I’m leaning towards having a haircut!

One thing is stopping me, though. With my long hair, my kids get to play “beauty parlor” and do all sorts of stuff. That, I love. I don’t look better but I get them to play with me while I doze off as the “game” is so relaxing.

So I guess I’ll leave my hair uncut.

Next to one’s biological parents, teachers are considered the people who are the second mother or father of a child. Because of that general notion, most parents leave their responsibility of discipline to their kids’ teachers, whether realized or not. Teachers are complaining not because of the low academic reception of many students but because of the moral decline of these students which usually lead them to academic decline as well.

I say parents should be the first teacher especially during the formative years of the child which is from age 2-7. Not only should the child be taught all sorts of tricks but all the more the moral lessons that will shape the child’s future. It will not only be good at home but also while the child is in class. It will give the child more attention to what the teacher is academically teaching. Being poor is no reason not to teach kids moral lessons but sad to say those bad habits show in school! I know because I see them. I talk to my kids’ teachers and they seem to have all the same problem with their students which, if not given attention right away will go on and on until the child reaches the age of beyond repair.

Should that stop the teachers from improving themselves? No! Teachers usually encounter a specific student only for a maximum of 1 school year for primary students and just a semester for trimester students so why should those students be the reason of the teachers’ further development?

With MS Curriculum, new instructional techniques will be learned through exploration of topics not only in literacy but also diversity, integrating technology and interdisciplinary perspective in education.

I have 3 children. Three opportunities to toilet-train tots. My mom had 6 opportunities of her own and 5 to learn from her directly.

As early as my children learns to walk (9 months), I started sitting them on the toilet. Yes, the adult one. I never used any of those tot versions. It would be guess-work at first as I’d never know the schedule. When I sit them I’d make the shwi-shwi-shwi-shwi sound to induce them to pee. If after 2 minutes there’s nothing, I’ll stop and get back after an hour. When it’s successful, I praise them with ‘very good!’ and from then on get them back every 3-5 hours, depending on the amount of liquid they have taken. As for the stool, I make the u-uuuuu….u-uuuuu sound to induce them. This way, I get less wet and soiled diapers.

Every year, the children get to travel at least 6-8 hours straight during the Feast of Tabernacles. No toilet. If there is, I don’t want to use any public toilet for my babies. That’s the time I’d use disposable diapers.

Yesterday I went to a client. As I was riding one of the jeepneys, sleepy, I was suddenly perked up by some kids who played along the busy road, running, trying to catch the jeepney!

It was a smooth travel at first, but when traffic got somewhat heavy, the fun for these kids began…

I was seated at the end of the jeepney so I was able to get a closeup picture of two of the kids who were able to catch their sit by the entrance…Holding my ASUS V80 and a blogging post in mind, I took all the opportunities I can get hold of. (That’s my foot you can see at the bottom right corner.)

When they got down (driver was mad), I moved to the other side…and here is another kid trying to get a ride…

…and he successfully sat…

…the other kid trying to catch up…

…and when they were down, played with the rain…lying down…

Can you do that? They may be used to it and apt to do such but accidents can and do happen. A miscalculation can take their lives. Rainwater from the streets is also hazardous. We can’t deny it, though, it’s fun!

In my own family, we have started a habit. After dinner, around 6pm, when we are all watching news and some programs after that, my 2nd daughter will pull out our favorite boardgame with tiles of letters that scores variedly from 1 to 10, and depending where you place them, letters or words can score as is, double, or triple. Perhaps you know what I’m referring to: SCRABBLE.

I bought a scrabble set a month ago when I found a cheap set. I wanted to buy long before but couldn’t afford it. The set I found was real cheap even materialwise but that’s ok. What’s important is it can do what it’s supposed to do: develop one’s brain to build vocabulary.

Our kids are aged 8, 11, and 14. All girls. Our youngest pair with my hubby so we still make 4 players. At first I thought to be easy on them. Just a little. As days went by they’ve learned how to strategize. They may still be limited to the words they know but they learn new ones. With the strategies they learned, last night I had the lowest score!

It was and is a fun way to learn and teach your kids and everyone else as well, English vocabulary. Scrabble helps you think doubleway: words and where to place them to maximize the score.

Last night was something interesting: one started with ooze, that became oozer, then snoozer, then snoozers, and that’s towards the end of the game when you have a few tiles left and supposedly a few to score but last night the letter Z was used many times over. And I wasn’t even one of those who played any of those words.