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Don't Call Me, Please!

The problem with easy phone accessibility is that you also tend to get calls that you would rather not have, including telemarketers. In the US, you can register your phone with the National Do Not Call registry. This way there would be no call list information for your phone. This works with either a landline or a cellphone and is a free service and effectively removes your number from any databases that telemarketers use.

If, however, you find yourself still bothered by repeated, annoying phone calls, you may want to avail of Reverse Cell Phone Lookups so that you would be able to find out the source of those phone calls.
Reverse Cell Phone Lookups

Melamine in Milk

I've found another reason to be grateful that I breastfed my son. The recent controversy regarding melamine found in milk from China has had worldwide implications. It seems that cheap milk in China have been used in everything that requires milk, including ice cream, candies, etc.

Around 50 thousand Chinese infants got sick and 4 have already died.

This is a great embarrassment and a great blow to the image of China, who have been striving for years for a better PR and is positioning itself for a better economic position.

I feel for the children who are affected, the parents of the children who are affected, and the Chinese people too. It has more lasting effects than the perpetuators ever realize. This, to my mind, is even worse than the toy scandal. At least, with toys, these are not meant to be put in the mouth. With infant formula and milk, these are supposed to be part of the diet, more especially for infants whose only sustenance is the milk.

Need hosting?

Plenty of moms I know dream of being able to work from home. The advent of the internet actually made that dream a reality, as moms can now look for a variety of money making activities online, including hosting an online store, getting freelance work as a writer, being an online consultant, or even get hired and telecommute.

Whatever you decide to do, it is imperative to have an online presence to make yourself visible to the net world. You can either do this by setting up a blog or a website on free sites. That is the easiest and cheapest way to do it. However, free sites just do not look as professional as you want them to. You also lack flexibility in how you want your site to look. It's good to start because it's cheap (free actually) but once you get your online groove, you should really start to check on the different webhosts and try to find the best that will fit your needs. I've found a site that lists the best web hosting plans available so that you can try to have a more professional sounding name plus lots of flexibility in your own site.

U.S. Presidential Politics ... OMG!

McCain and Obama clashed over taxes, war and the economy in the first of three debates. The financial crisis shifted the initial focus from foreign to domestic issues.

Even if I am not a US citizen and won't vote for any of these guys, I do know that whether I like it or not, the results of the next leadership would have a global impact, and that includes out little country and of course me and my family.

I am also aware that nothing I say or do can really affect the outcome of this election, but I hope that whoever wins become a true leader of the world.

Lessons in Hospital Administration

Everybody knows I'm a multitasker -- or at least I try to be. My job -- and my passion -- is my main occupation, which is being an ophthalmologist. I am also trying to be a good mom to my 3 year old and a good wife, daughter and friend. In addition to that, I have a small online business on the side and I blog. Last but not least, I am a student, taking up a Distance Learning Course at UP Open University, hoping to get my Master's in Hospital Administration.

I love this course since it shows me the more practical side of health care management. You know, we never had subjects that deal with how to manage our practice when we were in Medical school. We mostly dealt with the science and art of the human body and trying to maintain good health and trying to heal. But until I actually set up practice, I never knew how expensive it is to have a good health care system. I used to be one of those people who criticized the hospitals for "overpricing" and trying to earn from the "unfortunate patients".

The truth of the matter is -- it IS expensive to run a hospital. All those nurses, all those medical, office, and maintenance personnel in all the departments, both medical and non-medical -- the hospital has to pay them salaries. Even if it were minimum wage (which it sometimes is not), multiply that by the number of employees -- that's the amount that the hospital has to shell out -- and which it has to pass on to its customers, the patients. They also have to deal with utilities like electricity, water etc. Look at your utility bills at home, multiply that by the size of the hospital, and maybe you can get a rough estimate of how much the hospital has to shell out.

Of course, the hospital has to obtain important medical equipment and to keep up with the times. These equipment are expensive, especially if they are brand new, some of them running into the millions of pesos. Sure, if there were enough patients, the machines would eventually earn, but if there are not enough patients, there is a possibility that it won't be able to pay for itself in the long run. Some hospitals, especially the smaller ones, try to save some money by buying used medical equipment instead of brand new ones. As long as they are still in good working condition, refurbished medical equipment may still be used for the basic procedures that are needed in the hospital. Some hospitals who need duplicate equipments, i.e., more of the same equipment, for example, EKG machines, buy one brand new unit and maybe several more used EKG machines so that they can be used simultaneously on several patients.

About hospitals being money makers? What most people don't realize is that privately owned hospitals DO have to earn some money because they also have a responsibility to their stockholders. Even government hospitals have to earn money in order to survive, since government subsidy does not cover all the hospitals' needs. A hospital which does not earn will not survive at all, and in the end, nobody benefits. Unfortunately for the hospitals, they do have to earn from sick people, but then that's what they're there for anyway.

Just some food for thought the next time you complain about the hospital. We NEED hospitals, and the money you pay for services would ensure that the hospital has a greater chance of surviving.

I'm Closer to Family than Friends




You Are Somewhat Closer to Your Family



Your family isn't perfect, but you wouldn't trade them for another family.

And when it matters, your family is there for you.



You have great friends, and your friends do play an important role in your life.

But with your family, your connection is deeper and stronger than it could ever be with friends.

Who Was It?

Somebody call me on my cell phone but I was in the operating room at the time. The caller ID couldn't identify the caller since the number was not stored in my phone book. But it's obvious that the caller was using a landline. I wonder if it's a patient? I wish there was a Nationwide Phone Lookup here in the Philippines that I can utilize so that I can track who it was. It may have been a very important message I've missed.

Abangan!

My little boy had very simple birthday party celebration x 3 last week! Too bad he was a little under the weather, but the little trooper blew out the candles (for the first time in his life)! More details to follow :).

Ants In Season!

Lately, there's been so many ants invading our house! I don't know where they're coming from, but even if I do not see food lying around, I'd see them! My mother in law says that it's because of the rainy season, but that they'll lessen once the rainy season passes.

I don't really mind the black, non biting ones. I don't usually see them around anyway, unless there's food around. What I mind are the red ones, and most especially the fire ants! If I start seeing any around the house, I'd probably have to resort to fire ant spray since I do not want any of the family, especially my little boy, to be bitten by one of them!

Your Eyes, Your Mind ... Primetime TV - Fall 2008

For TV addicts and followers of American TV series, a new season is just about to begin. What will you be watching? Or are you going to record shows? Settle in, fire it up, enjoy Primetime TV (8 -10PM). It's Primetime because advertisers not only want our eyeballs, but they want our minds ... our minds are there for them to imprint their messages upon ... our minds guide our purchases ... do you feel used, or is it OK for them to pay us by giving us the TV show?

She'll Be Home For Christmas

A friend of mine has been living in Melbourne, Australia ever since she got married. Even though the place is beautiful and she loves it there, once in a while, she does get a little homesick, especially around Christmas time. Last Christmas, her family wanted to come home to celebrate Pasko here, but they had difficulty booking a ticket because international flights, including those to the Philippines were full around the time of the holidays. I'm not sure what airline they eventually picked, I believe it was Qantas, but they were only able to book for November and they were back in Australia before Christmas Day itself.

This year, they made sure that they would be able to stick around for Christmas. They told us that they booked their flights earlier. I think you can actually do that online through travel.com.au (the oldest travel website in Australia), maybe that's what they did in order to ensure their seats.

It's Starting To Look A Little Bit Like Christmas

Mom and I had to go to Ace Hardware to buy a light bulb. Christmas trees and Christmas lights are already on sale and Christmas songs are in the air. What's stopping people from going full blast is the fact that the next upcoming holiday is All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day. But, you see don't really see a lot of Halloween decors, OR you'll see some ghouly decors next to the more gaudy Christmas things. What can I say, Filipinos love Christmas!



Hospital Gowns

Have you ever been admitted in a hospital or taken cared of somebody who had to be hospitalized? Being sick is not the easiest feeling in the world, to say the least. Hospital gowns, while they do make patients a little more comfortable also makes the patient a little too exposed. Sure, it's easy to access certain body parts because it's easy to open, but then you have to more or less expose more area than the patient is willing to and more than what is needed to be exposed.

For example, I wore the hospital gown after I gave birth and I tried breastfeeding my little boy wearing the gown. I couldn't really figure out how to expose one of my breasts without actually exposing my whole chest. And I believe breastfeeding is a lot easier than having to undergo breast surgery or radiation! The Original Healing Threads Wrap solves that problem beautifully. Instead of the usual plain shapeless robe with closure ties at either the back (which sometimes shows a little too much from the back) or wraps around and ties at the front, this is s a tailored, close-fitting hospital robe that ties around the waist and wraps around the body to define the patient’s shape. The garment unwraps as needed to expose as little or as much of the person’s back as necessary.

Also, unlike the hospital gowns available here which make use of thin, almost see-through cotton fabric which does not protect the patient from the cold air conditioning, the healing threads wrap's fabric is an extremely soft, skin-sensitive micro-fiber with adjustable sleeves. From the picture, it does not look as see-through as the conventional hospital gown.

I wish the hospitals had these types of gown, but being in the hospitals myself, I know how tight budget can be. I guess if you can afford it, you might want to order a few of these gowns especially if you know that you'll be going to need a lot of medical care. It does somehow preserve a bit of the patient's dignity. Being sick is no walk in the park, and patients need all the help they can in order to feel just a little bit better.

I Love Your Blog Award

Thank you so much, Daddy Angel, for this award. I am truly flattered by this. You are one of those bloggers that I really admire. In fact, I'll be nominating you here as one of the 7 blogs I admire, even if you already have this award.

Bloggers I admire:
Angel Cuala - His blogs are all very informative! He has a lot of words of wisdom, which he generously shares to everybody.

Maver - The reason why her blog is so well visited? Her refreshing Taglish humor! You'll go "oo nga noh?" over her funny observations. You'll want to visit her again and again!

Mec - Serial blogger (like me!) All of her blogs are engaging reads, whether it's about being a mom, being a wife, being a student... She has the gift of words and expresses herself very well.

Megamom - Mom to triplets! She's also a pianist, a painter and of course, a good writer who expresses herself very well in both English and Filipino. Her blog entries are all very well commented on, attesting to how interesting it is, and how many friends she has on the net.

Merry Cherry - A Doctor to the Barrio. I love that she still truly has the idealism and the fortitude in performing service to the far flung barrios, far from family and the comforts of home. She truly is someone I can probably never be...a truly selfless individual.

Jan - Her blog is a light, interesting read. She's also the originator of the coffee break, a series of interesting questions which I try to answer as often as I can. Also makes pretty digiscraps. More creative than I can ever hope to be.

Leah - Another serial blogger. I admire her most for starting pinaybloggers.com and maintaining several blogs despite having no help with raising her toddler daughter in Australia. How do you do it?

Thank you all for making the blogosphere so much more interesting for me.


Review a Site!

Know a cool website? Or want to promote a friend's website? Write a Website Review! Talkreviews feature websites from all over the world, arranged according to their categories and ranked not only according to statistics, but also according to the comments and reviews sent in by the site's visitors.

You can also hang around to check for good sites. Or you can enter your site in order to check on its stats.

The Umbrella Test




What Your Red Umbrella Says About You



When faced with adversity, you respond aggressively. A part of you enjoys being challenged.

You don't back down easily. You have the confidence and character to lead.



You are outrageously brazen with you ideas, opinions, and statements.

You'll say what you think, and no one will silence you!



On a rainy day: you should continue your plan to rule the world... while everyone stays home and naps

Baby Slings

There is now a trend on going-back-to-basics in parenting, wherein practices of babywearing, breastfeeding and co-sleeping are retaught as being part of attachment parenting. With this, the awareness of using Baby Slings, like what our great grandmothers used to do, are again on the rise. Now, it's hip to be a mom who actually takes care of her kids, breastfeeds them and actually wears them! Not only are today's designs better looking, they are also made of comfortable fabric and durable rings, to make babywearing safer than before.

I actually bought a ring sling back when my son was still a baby, but was too afraid to try it. But, now that I've learned so much about it, I'm determined to use it on my next baby, whenever he/she may decide to make an entrance!

What Your Handbag Says About You




What Your Handbag Says About You



You tend to be relaxed throughout the day. You are naturally at peace.



You are a high maintenance person. You feel lost outside of your normal environment.



Your motto is : "Be prepared." You don't like to be surprised by anything.



You are an outgoing and expressive person. You always speak your mind, and you're very approachable.

Own Domain & Hosting?

We were oftentimes told that one of the things we have to do if we want to be serious about our blogging is to get our own domain name and pay for website hosting. This way, your blog looks more professional. You gotta admit, http://theworkingmom.com would have looked a lot better than http://the-working-mom.blogspot.com . But since this blog is still very much a "fun" blog, I've decided to just let it stay under blogspot and not buy a domain and hosting for it just yet. Also, somebody beat me to my top choice of name. :(

Choosing your web hosting solution is something you have to research first on beforehand. You see, the different service providers don't have the same level of service nor the same prices. That is why you do have to check them out to be able to see which one seems to be better for your needs. Price may be a factor, but it's best if you can gauge whether or not a particular company will actually deliver.

Busy, Exciting and Fun!

The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity for our little family. Nevertheless, it was fun! We went to the Book Fair. We had our Mooncake Festival Celebration. And finally, we celebrated our little boy's 3rd birthday!

I'll give more details later... (hope I'll find the time)

The Credit Card Trap

One of the traps of a high credit card spending limit is not knowing when to stop with the purchasing. I know of several people who have racked up a huge debt with their credit cards. What you should remember is that things you charge to your credit card are loans on money you do not have yet. You loan, you have to pay sometime.

Unfortunately, some people don't really think of it that way. They use their credit cards to extend their buying power, maxing their cards and falling into the trap of huge loans and huge interests, which compound over time.

They also do not know that having a bad credit card record would affect their future loans if they are later going to buy a house, a car, finance a business etc. People with bad credit records would have a hard time having these loan applications approved.

What do they need to do in order to improve credit score? First of all, they do have to admit that they have a spending problem. Stop using credit cards, better yet cut them up, so that they won't be able to spend further and add to the burgeoning debt. Try to talk with the credit card company for a compromise agreement so that they may be able to gradually pay off their debts. Hopefully, this would help a bit to improve credit standing.

In cases where there may be credit dispute, enlist the help of companies or individuals who may be able to help.

Even if not paying credit card debt is not going to get you in jail, at least here in the Philippines, as far as I know, the banks could send a sheriff to seize your properties to pay it off. And, of course, your bad credit record would remain for a few years, preventing you from getting loans and such.

I Was A Nerd!




You Would Be Voted Biggest Nerd



When you were in school, you did your thing so much that you were an outsider.

You didn't follow trends, kiss up to popular people, or try to fit in.

And while it may have been tough for you to survive, you came out stronger for it.

Being independent might not help you much in school, but it helps you a ton in the real world!

What is Megan's Law?

Parents like us can't help worrying about the bad elements in society. Too many children end up victimized. How can we somehow avoid it? I just recently learned about Megan's Law, which was implemented in the US in 1995. This law requires that the exact location of any sex offender should be made a matter of public record. Now there's an online tool to check the records of these Sex Offenders. I hope they would also do require that here in the Philippines so that we can be better informed and better able to defend our children.

It's TV Time 2008!

The new TV season is about to start in the US. Knowing how a lot of us are hooked on US TV shows and series, I believe this survey applies to a lot of us Pinoys.

There are new shows this season. Which ones are you most likely to watch?

Steel House?

I've often mentioned that my small family have always dreamt of having a place we could truly call our own. We were wondering if prefabricated homes with steel shells would be a cheaper alternative, not to mention stronger and hopefully, faster to complete.

I'm currently still doing my research for that but I've encountered Future Steel, a company which actually made different facilities out of steel, including sheds, garages, sheds, storage facilities, hangars and an educational facility which could accomodate around 200 people. It's also supposed to be simple enough for people to DIY (do-it-yourself) some simple projects. I've never really been a DIY person, even with small stuff, and I don't intend to do so with my house so scratch that.

But knowing how strong steel is, maybe our future home would be mostly a steel structure. Why not?

PG-13

Lets101 - Online Dating



Hmmm, I wonder why? :) I always thought this was suitable for all audiences, but I guess I must have been "too mature" a few times. Well, at least it's not an R! LOL

Goth Chat

It's always nice to chat with persons who share the same interests and maybe the same background. There are just some things that only a segment of the population could understand and comprehend. It's interesting to note that there's actually Goth Chat room online. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to understand what they are discussing about, but at least, they can find people from all over the world who can relate with them.

Top Five Music

I just realized how little I know about the music industry nowadays. I've always thought of myself as a music lover and have been "inis" whenever my mom or dad would comment that the music I listen to are load and/or nonsense.

Now I catch myself thinking that. LOL. Must be getting old.

You might want to try this survey to see if you have more music knowledge than I do.

Next Time I Go To Florida....

The first and only time I've even been to Florida was in 1998 (!). I was going to New Orleans for the convention of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. On the way to New Orleans, we stopped by Orlando, Florida for 2 days of vacation. We stayed in a motel operated by the Best Western Chain. The 2 days was not enough to explore Florida. We had fun touring Epcot Center despite rains during the time that we were there.

I'm sure it would be great place to bring my family. The next time I go, however, I'd look up some Florida rentals instead of staying in a hotel. I've recently learned that there are actually some vacation rentals by owner. I think these would be better options for a family on a vacation. In fact, I think I'd look up vacation rentals instead of hotels whenever I would be traveling with my family. It's more economical especially for longer stays, and the family have more space and more rooms! There's also a lot more privacy than the usual hotel.

There are actually so many things to do in Florida. There's the world famous Disney World, which is not just one park, but 4! You'd need at least 4 days for that. There's also Sea World and Universal Studios. I've been to Universal Studios in California but not in Florida so I'd love to see it too. I'm sure my family would enjoy it too. Now, when to go is the question.

PPBC 7 Call For Articles Is Up!

The topic for this edition of the Pinoy Parenting Blog Carnival:

What values or lessons in life do you want to instill in your children, and why? Please name only 3.


Details on Mommy Leah's blog. She's the host for September 2008.

Oh, and here's the guidelines and archives for the Pinoy Parenting Blog Carnival!

Prince Charming Turns Out To Be Married

Many local women have dreams of marrying their Prince Charming. In the modern age, their dashing prince is often based in USA and will bring them to "Amerika" to live the "life of luxury". Of course, not all of these men are rich, nor are they handsome and dashing, but that's all ok. What is not is if the man is still spoken for. It would be wise for a woman (or for a man for that matter) to check on her prospective spouses' Marriage and Divorce Records. It's now quite easy to do that online. So that you can ditch Prince Charming if he turns out to be still married.

Coffee Break ver. 1.35

Jan shared a personal experience of being healed by prayer. Her father got better and her family believes it is all through the Lord's power. She then wants to know:


Being a doctor, I sometimes feel that I've seen it all. I've seen patients die. I've seen families lose hope. My own father died of cancer 8 years ago (yesterday was his anniversary).

I know that we doctors can only do our best, that the final outcome is still not up to us. There are times when we have had to tell the family that there is really nothing more that we can do.

My father lived for almost 2 years after being diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. Looking back, I feel that it was really the Lord's will that he died when he did, because cancer and chemotherapy had already taken its toll on his body. He was constantly have aches and pains that we could only imagine.

My mother rediscovered prayer after my father died. She's a Buddhist but she was not really very actively practicing before. Her close friends urged her to join the prayers and ceremonies for the dead. I saw her emerge from her depression via prayers.

She was again plunged into a series of deaths after that, and each time, prayers saved her.

The last time was back in December 2004, when her brother and his family vacationed in Thailand. The shocking after-Christmas news was that they were there when the tsunami struck. Prayers didn't save the lives of my uncle and my cousins, but they did help us put things into perspective and helped mom through her extreme grief.

I'm so sorry, Jan, that this may not be what you expected, but I'd like to say that sometimes it's really not up to us. Things happen, and though they may seem like God has forsaken us, in truth, he has not. We don't know what his plans are, but we do know that God knows best.

Married?

A person very close to me once had a girlfriend who's US based. When they broke up, the girl kept harassing his family and friends, even so far as to tell everybody that they had already gotten married. She even specified where. A check on the California Marriage Records, though, does not show any record of such a marriage. The girl was lying! Good thing www.nationwidemarriagerecords.org is already available on the internet!

Coffee break ver. 1.33

I just can't resist this coffee break question by Jan:



I just love how people seem to become so much nicer when it's Christmas time! Really, the Christmas spirit is alive and well for most people. It's not just about the gifts, the Christmas songs, the decors...It's not about Santa Claus.

Lest we forget, Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth. The whole world is rejoicing. The whole world celebrates. And people seem to smile more. People seem to be more forgiving...and giving!

Thanks, Jan! You've just reminded me to start my Christmas list already :)

I'm Not Burying Myself In Debt

I love using credit cards since I don't have to bring around a large amount of cash. Whenever I get my bill, I pay the whole amount on the due date. That ensures that I do not get a lot of credit card debt. I think that if you do decide to use credit cards, you should be able to control your spending.

Most people feel that since they have credit cards, they have more spending power, hence they maximize that power, not knowing how much that would cost them, since they do not realize that they will soon be dealing with a compounding type of interest on their debt, especially since we do not have any low interest credit card around. Interest rate is at approximately 3.5% PER MONTH! That's a whopping amount!

If you're the type of person who loves to swipe a card while shopping without keeping track of your spending, it may be better for you to get pre-paid debit cards instead. That way, you only spend what you have loaded in your card, thus keeping within your budget.

Random Questions

Better, More Economical and Proven

If you have a business relying heavily on information technology but do not have the budget to set up your own IT department, you might want to consider team foundation server hosting.

Tfs hosting may well end up to be a more affordable choice, since you practically let an outside team of IT experts do all your IT and software jobs at a fixed fee. You no longer have to worry about employees' salaries and benefits. You no longer have to worry about personnel problems like absenteeism and unprofessionalism. You do not have to worry that your small office cannot allot space for an IT department. You don't have to interview applicants for work at the IT department and choose the one who seems to fit your needs, then turn out to be a lemon. That's because there's now software as a service tfs. The bonus is that this is even more economical in the long run, compared to setting up infrastructure for IT that may become obsolete in a few years, whether or not you use it.

Living (Small) Space

My husband and I took the heart the lessons from Robert Kiyosaki. We decided to make a reservation on a small condo unit in order to hopefully have a future source of recurring income. Our plans to have our own place is pushed a bit into the future because as of the moment, what we can afford is a space too small for our growing family. But it's not to small to rent out and earn a living from.

We are pondering on whether we should put in some living room furniture since the space is so small (20 square meters only). We do know that we could rent it out for a higher price if we furnish the place. Hence, we are currently browsing through the displays at the living room furniture store for possible double-duty furnitures. We're thinking of placing sofa beds for its obvious double use as sofa by day and bed at night, maybe a few leatherette ottomans which could also serve as a substitute for coffee tables or extra seating if there are a lot of guests.

Trying to furnish a small space is definitely turning out to be a challenge, but it's a pretty exciting challenge!

Guns?

Watching the evening news is often depressing, as there seems to be a rise in the incidence of armed robberies, holdups, kidnappings and rape. Would gun ownership increase or decrease the crime rate? There's an ongoing gun control debate which I'm checking out. I think it's also a bone of contention between the Republicans and the Democrats, one of the issues addressed for the upcoming US election. What do YOU think about this?

PPBC 7th edition: Discipline

Beyond the responsibilities of giving the basic needs of our offspring, we, as parents, are charged with the responsibility of molding them into good, decent, law-abiding people with respect for other people and their rights. In short, we have to discipline our kids. But how?

The word discipline comes from the Latin word "disciplina" which means "to teach." It involves teaching the child right from wrong, respecting other people's rights and the behaviors which are acceptable and which are not. As there are many forms of teaching, there also are many forms of disciplining. (from Mommy Jeng's post)
When do you start disciplining your child? Is there even a "right" age to start discipline?
When our son turned 6-months old we learned that he can already distinguish the difference in our voice pattern. So naturally I have learned to shout "No!" when I need for him to know that he shouldn't do a particular thing. I was able to observe how he would still try to do it again but stops whenever I call out his name in a louder, deeper, I-told-you-not-to-do-that voice. That means he is ready to be disciplined already.
-- Mommy Jown
I am just a neophyte in the art of parenting. My son is only turning 11 months old. That isn't to say that discipline is not yet an issue for us because it is. However, it's not yet time really for us to be practicing on our child because we're still in the process of disciplining each other and ourselves.
-- Mommy Mec

For us, we really started discpiplining our son when he was about 10 months, as this was the time he started to talk and communicate with us through his words and actions. Even though sometimes he would just stare at me, wondering what I was talking about, I would talk to him about how to properly do things. I do not think that there is really a right age to start on disciplining children. It is an ongoing process and as our children grow, we also learn about their behaviors.
-- Mommy Jeng

I believe that the first seven years of a child is important in teaching them the right attitude and discipline. This formative years of their life is essential because they will carry them in their growing up years.
-- Daddy Mon

I'm a first-time mother to an 18-month baby girl and I really have not paid so much attention to ways to discipline your kid since i thought that my daughter had to be at the "right" age before we can implement discipline on her. Until she threw her first tantrum that we knew that there is no such thing as too early to discipline a kid.
-- Mommy Jacque

For us, disciplining our child started before she was born. Actually, the discipline started several years before she was even conceived. Each of us knew from the examples in our lives that we had to be in the right positive mind and self-disciplined to be the proper role model for her before she was born. To try and figure it out after the child is here means you are playing a game of catch up. They start learning from you immediately.
-- Mommy Anah

How do you teach your kids right from wrong? How do you instill your rules?
What do you do if your child breaks the rules? How do you feel about spanking?

Not all the parents would agree on spanking. Those who think that under no circumstances would they resort to spanking, at least for their kids, are Mommy Aileen, Mommy KCee, Mommy Jeng, Mommy Anah

Those who believe that in certain circumstances, it may be justifiable to spank are Mommy Jown, Mommy Mec, Mommy Jacque, Daddy Angel and myself.

All of the parents who participated feel that the best way to teach children is to talk to them about their actions and consequences and to lead by example AND there are other ways to "punish" children aside from spanking.

Who is the disciplinarian in the family?

Daddy - Mommy Jeng, Mommy Jacque
Mommy - Girl for all Seasons
Equal Roles - Mommy Jown, Mommy Aileen, Mommy Mec, Daddy Mon, Daddy Angel, Mommy Anah, Mommy Joey

All parents agree that there is no definite right or wrong in disciplining a child. It really depends on a lot of factors. What works for one family may not work for another. Sometimes, what works on one sibling may not work on another.

With this I conclude the 7th edition of the Pinoy Parenting Blog Carnival. It is a tough but interesting topic. I hope you all enjoy all the entries as much as I did. I loved doing this because I definitely learned a lot from this. Thank you very much to all the participants for submitting your entries despite the late invitation. For those who weren't able to submit your entries, there's always next edition! I hope to see you all in the next edition (to be hosted by Mommy Leah). Watch this blog for more announcements. See you soon!

On TV

Much as we want to avoid overexposing our kids to the television, the truth is that most information as well as entertainment nowadays are from the boob tube. We don't read the papers anymore but watch the news on TV. It's a very effective form of information dissemination. However, traditional free TV has a lot of limitations. You only have a few channels to choose from, and the programs may not be the ones that you would enjoy. There are also some moments that you wish you could have more children's shows which your kids could watch. Cable TV, on the other hand, is quite expensive.

An alternative to both free and cable TV is Direct TV. The difference is that Direct TV utilizes a satellite receiver. It is supposed to deliver better images and more choices of channels. And for frugal moms like me, Direct TV is supposed to be cheaper than cable TV, even if it offers more. I'm still researching on it. You may want to check it out.