Confused ... that's how I sometimes feel. I'm the kind of person that wouldn't be complete if I didn't bring this or that. That's why my bag feels so heavy. Every week I have to do the 5s (sort, sweep, systematize, standardize and self-discipline. Well well, I remembered something from my classes :)) Aside from the fact that I change bags almost every week depending on my mood. Okay wait I'm far from my point today.

Again, I'm the kind of person who would wanna bring the whole house with me, if possible, wherever I go. And I know some of you feel the same way. That includes books. I've said countless times that I love to read books. I used to have one in my bag all the time. It wasn't until the Fifty Shades of Grey series that I started using ebooks diligently. I used iBooks before only with my medical books. I didn't wanna have to bring those big books around. The iBook made it so convenient. A lot of devices are available actually that offers the same thing. There's the Samsung tablets that are in the market. There's also the Kobo which National Bookstore carries. There's also Kindle. Depending on what you really want, there's a lot of available devices in the market. I'll put that in another post.

But once in a while, a nice book is what you need. Especially for times when you're head is spinning from looking at the devices. That you would want to just enjoy the day with the smell of the books and the sound of the pages flipping. You'd know if that person really loves books or papers if they get into the detail of smelling the books.

The downside of books if the weight. Some books are heavy especially for hard bound books. The advantage is in the learning curve. I've read that using physical books (if I might say so) are better in retaining memory, which means you study better with actual books.

I'm thinking of putting up a lending business for books (wink). We just have so many that we don't know how to dispose them. What do you recommend?

No. 80 of 100 Happy Days

I have my bound thesis. yipee!

After 5 long years

Last week, hubby finally made it. After 5 years of training for general surgery, he finally graduated. Officially though, his duties will end on February. Nevertheless, he walked with Nanay on his graduation rites. I couldn't have more proud. I felt like I graduated as well.

Hubby with fellow resident

Nanay Teresita

While waiting

Dinner is served.

salad with cold cuts

centerpiece

Guest Speaker Dr. Reyes

Name cards

With fellow graduate Dr. Ligue

With hubby, Dr. and Dra. Ligue with Jaira Ligue

Proof

It was a memorable night for the graduates and their families as well.

Encourage and not discourage!

My eldest daughter R is now 3-years-old. From the time she was able to understand, I have encouraged her to look at books, watch pleasant cartoons and teach her baby songs. It has all paid up when she learned to talk. Most of what she says is in English. I could never be more proud.

But last last last week during one regular school days, I was informed by her yaya that one parent told R not to speak in English, because her child do not understand English. She was told to speak in Tagalog or Bisaya. Though there is nothing wrong in speaking in our native tongue, telling a child not to speak in her usual words is a slap on my face.

I have taught my child well, spent many nights teaching her the alphabets and numbers, singing a couple of nursery rhymes from when she was a few months old till now just so she could very well speak in any language. And for 1 parent to tell that to my child is totally unacceptable to me.

It is my opinion that it is a challenge to every parent to teach her kids well. It is not ideal to discourage a child but instead encourage other kids to learn. 

Since I do not know who the parent is, I decided to inform the teacher of the incident. I was assured that they will look into this matter. And I am hoping that something will change.

An incident at SM Davao

There's an ongoing discussion on mommy treats' page about a mother who was reprimanded by the SM guard for breastfeeding in public. You may not believe this but it happened to me as well.

Last Friday, we were at SM Davao. We were doing some grocery shopping and the kids wanted to ride the carousel and the train ride. However the carousel was down so they rode the train instead. By this time, my 3-month-old son was crying 'cuz he was hungry. I always bring a nursing cover with me, whether it's a shawl, a boncho or a nursing cover. There was no chair in this part of the mall. The only thing near the train ride was the stairs so I decided to sit there. If you live in Davao or have been to SM Davao, you know what I'm talking about.

So I was feeding my baby, with cover and all, when a guard came near me and told me not to sit there. I said, "saglit lang po. Nagpatotoy ko." (Just a sec, I'm breastfeeding). Then the guard said, "Bawal man gud maglingkod diha ma'am." "Didto lang ka sa breastfeeding station magpatotoy mam." (Sitting on the stairs is not allowed. You can go to the breastfeeding station to feed your baby.)

At first I felt ashamed. I thought breastfeeding in public (in SM) was not allowed. Only with my son did I have the guts to breastfeed in public and what did I get? I got reprimanded for it. That was what I thought at that time.

Having read of a similar incident stirs again my emotions on that day. It made me realize that breastfeeding in any public places should not make me feel ashamed of myself. I am not alone.

I am a mother. I got ignorant of my rights as a breastfeeding mother. Good thing there are a lot of resources online that tells me of such. One of which is from Chronicles of a Nursing Mom. I hope you read this too. Discrimination with breastfeeding mothers should be stopped. And everyone should be educated about breast milk and breastfeeding. Some mothers may not like it but we should have the right to breastfeed whenever and wherever we want.

Teaching My Kid the Alphabet

There's no easy way on teaching kids the ABC. I've tried writing it on paper, but her attention shifts to other things. I tried printing letters then laminating each one so it's like flash cards. I even bought those flashcards sold at book stores. She knows the objects but she doesn't know how to connect the letters with the objects.

I wish there was a manual on teaching kids how to read and write. A lot of experts have given their thoughts, rules and how-to's but it doesn't always work for everyone.

My daughter was given a set of words to read. There was a note saying she has to be able to read them by Aug. 22. When we started with it, I found that she had difficulty reading each letter. So how can she read the whole word. I don't know what they are teahing my daughter in school but I was desperate to teach her A-Z and how each letter sounds.

She couldn't recall every letter so we started with A-E. And every once in a while we'd glance at the set of words for her to familiarize.

One day when I fetched my daughter from school, the yaya told me that R didn't get an "amazing" stamp because she wasn't able to read the words. I was frustrated. I was a failure.

When evening came I was desperate to finish the set of words. R was having a hard time and so was I. I wish there was an easier way of doing it. If I could just shove it into her brain but I couldn't. My patience was winding down and she was getting frustrated as well.

Good thing hubby had an idea. Recently, he got an Ipad2 as a birthday gift. He dowloaded alphabet apps for R. I never thought of that. Well I thought of that but the apps just became available recently. I kept some of the apps I previously downloaded in my Mac and totally forgot about them. So yeah, my husband is the HERO.

Here they are happily learning the alphabet.

They spent the night reviewing letters and numbers too. Good thing hubby is very patient. Mine was all used up.