Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.

We know that moms serve as the light of the family, the roar that keep everyone on their toes (hello, Tiger Moms), the gentle hands that touch lives and hearts, the hugger who makes everyone feel loved and secure, the kisser who takes away all the pains and boo-boos and the wind beneath the wings.

Being a mom does not limit itself to having biological children. Moms can take different forms and shapes: the aunt who takes care of the young ones, the teacher who treats her students as her own, the doctors and nurses in medical uniforms who take care of our sick children, the nanny who leaves her family behind to take care of other people’s children and the humans who give unconditional love to their furry pets.

Everyday is a Mother’s Day, according to some, and yes, in our hopes and dreams, we say that prayer to all the moms who go through different ordeals and life hardships. They truly are the ones who bear the burden of the family’s hurdles.

My wish for all the moms out there: fortitude, understanding, infinite love and positive energy.

My posts re Mother’s Day: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.

Teaching your children about saving is not just about saving money. It could also mean a lot of things:

• turning off electrical appliances that are not in use to save on electric bill
• turning off the faucet when not in use, wise use of water, reuse is possible to save on water, a very precious commodity
• home-cooked food is not only cheaper than dining out, it could be healthier
• being healthy to avoid getting sick
• buying only the things one needs, and not the things one wants
• work harder ( like get better grades, help in house chores) in exchange for something you want your parents to buy for you
• planning chores/errands to save time

It helps too that they know about financial planning (budgeting, balancing maybe even about investing, fidelity bond insurance and insurance benefits later on), foresight on future financial capabilities or lack of it and other skills that they would definitely need in the future to avoid filing for Chapter 7.

When I decluttered our home library a few weeks ago, I found this “classic” LP or long-playing album. This, according to one of my children, was the CD back in the day.

We used to have a lot of these LP on my father’s stereo stand. I even remember sets that my mom ordered from Reader’s Digest. Just this week, Twitter conversation with friends was about stereos and LPs.

I distinctly remember that unique sound that stereos and their needles make before the music is played. How wonderful it was back then to enjoy music being played. (maybe because you paid for the LPs (and cassettes too)

Last week, my students and I did something different. For one session, my two young guys and I baked banana bread. We did it the easy way because it was their first time to bake something with a non-HE teacher so I used a ready mix-just add bananas, egg, oil, and water type of mix.

Here was the finished product (with watermark of my food blog, Tummy Fillers):

We had three of those mini loaves and ate two. The third one, we cut in half and they brought home for a taste test with their moms.

One of them even joked that if he is able to bake well, he will probably put up a bakeshop complete with high-tech baking equipment and even POS systems.

For another student, we did origami of a basic boat and a cat, which turned out to be a bit difficult for her. And me too, lol.

Here is a video of the origami cat that we did:

This week, we will do more origami for Mother’s Day.

It is hard for me to see unread emails in my inbox. Some of these were sent as far back as 2009. Because of a glitch, I was not able to access these unread emails for a long time. Some I am just reading today. The others I was able to read before but the glitch included me not being able to send a reply to the questions.

To those who have asked me questions about their children whose emails remained unanswered, please accept my apologies.

I hope you will not be surprised if you receive an email from me after all these years. Gah.

Here in the Philippines, we are halfway through the summer vacation. A sign that school days are just a few weeks ahead was that we got a new school bag for the son and a new lunch bag for the youngest daughter.

How did you children spend summer vacation?

Did they enrol in enrichment programs like visual and performing arts and sports? Did they enrol in academic achievement programs to prepare them better for next school year?

No matter what the children did or still do for this summer vacation, we make these days memorable for the whole family to look back to in the future.