The Christmas tree still needs to be taken out of its hiding place and decorated.

What do add to the list? leather backpacks? new shoes? wait we got those for the kids two weeks ago when we braved traffic to go to a sale. Do these count as gifts?

I think not.

My thought on gifting? As I have written in this post, “…expect me to wish you happiness and joy, without a gift tag”

Now, please excuse me while I help one of my children finish a book report and polish a poem with lots of rhyming words at the end of the lines for another one.

Anyway…

Now this all changed because we now have a Cisco LinkSys E1000 Wireless-N Router with Parental Control settings, thanks to Mommy Mundo and Cisco.

What is Linksys E1000 Wireless-N Router with Parental Control all about?

The LinkSys E1000 Wireless-N router package consists of:

1. Power cable

2. Quick installation guide

3. CD for installing the router and its settings

4. LAN/Ethernet cable

5. LinkSys E1000 Wireless-N Router

The LinkSys E1000 Wireless-N Router work can be easily installed and here’s a step-by-step instruction (please click on the photo to see a bigger resolution):

After inserting the CD, you need to

Set the parental control with the different gadgets you have in your home. You can set the time for the internet access to be made unnavigable to the gadgets you choose. Keywords can also be set for more parental control.

Personalize the settings according to what you feel should be for your family/home use:

Set the password and if you plan to stick to your settings, do not share the passwords with the children

This is what the page will look like when your internet is blocked:

More Photos here.

You can win a Cisco LinkSys E4200 Wireless-N Router with Parental Control by answering the survey questions below.

Specifications:

• Simultaneous Dual-Band N (2.4 & 5 GHz)
• Gigabit Ethernet 4-port switch
• Maximum speed up to 300 + 450 Mbps
• USB port for shared storage
• Built-In UPnP AV media server

If you want to win the Cisco Linksys E4200 Wireless Router worth almost P9,000 by just answering these questions:

• Just answer the survey questions in the comment section below from October 17 – October 24 and you get a chance to win that wonderful router.
• Write your full name and email address so I can contact you just in case I get the most number of respondents and get the chance to raffle off this device (please see below)
• You should have an NCR address (a relative’s or a friend’s NCR home address would do!) where the Cisco Linksys E4200 will be delivered by Mommy Mundo if you win

Please help spread this contest because if I get the most number of respondents to the survey,  I get the chance to raffle this off to the lucky respondent* and I also win a gadget! Woohoo! Come on, let’s help each other

*There are 10 9 other mommy bloggers hosting this giveaway.

Let’s all help each other by spreading this good news.

Thank you all!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

I got an email from Mommy Mundo yesterday and there is good news and bad news:

Bad news: if you posted response in any of the 10 participating mommy bloggers, you don’t increase your chances of winning because they will count the first comment as the valid one. So, if you answered my survey questions after you answered another blog’s, that comment counts as the other participating blog’s point. Buhuhuhu for me.

a) Readers may post only once and only in ONE (1) participating blog. Duplicate responses are not allowed. Only the survey response posted earlier will be counted.

but wait there’s more from Mommy Mundo:

Now to make things even more exciting, Mommy Mundo is also giving away a Linkys E4200 Router (worth P8,995)! So if you want to double your chances of winning, simply:

1) Join the CISCO LINKSYS Router BLOG CONTEST by following the mechanics above.
2) Leave a comment on this post along with your name and email address.
The winner of Mommy Mundo’s own Cisco giveaway will be announced on Oct. 28 as well!

Reminder: Only those who have commented/answered the survey in any of the 10 participating mom blogs can win in this Mommy Mundo giveaway so make sure to read the instructions very well! If the same winner is drawn for Mommy Mundo’s giveaway as for the Blog Contest, another name will be drawn for the prize.

“What? You are JUST a stay-at-home mom?”

We often hear other people say this to moms who decided to leave the corporate world and be a stay-at-home mom. In fact, to the stay-at-home moms I know, they often had to defend the main reason why they have decided to be stay-at-home moms: be able to personally take care of their children.

How noble. I mean it. They are noble enough to be with their children 24/7, well not really 24/7 especially if the children go to school the whole day, but almost practically “a mom on call”.

I don’t see anything wrong with putting the children first, above all corporate financial rewards, against leaving the children under the care of the nannies. Not that I see anything wrong with leaving the children under the care of nannies, especially if these nannies are (almost) heaven sent. What if she is a nanny from “hell”? *shudders at the thought*

Not all stay-at-home moms become couch potatoes and watch tv series all day long.

Some are full time (school bus) drivers like iMom (who is the R&D personnel of her husband’s company) and PresidentMama (who also manages a family business). Cessna is an occasional (school bus) driver who sells real estate. WifelySteps is learning the art of organizing toys and clutter and while her little one naps, she writes articles for online publication too. Rachel also chose to be a stay-at-home mom and writes during her spare time. In fact all five write articles for online publications. Woot!!!

There are stay-at-home moms who hover but that is another story post.

Some stay-at-home moms, especially if their children are school-age, earn incomes too. Some sell personal merchandise like make-up and personal care products, scott kay jewelry, home-cooked and home-baked goodies, hand-made customized accessories and knick-knacks of all sorts.

No idle time is lost with stay-at-home moms who are also cooks, drivers, counselors, tutors, first-aid worker, plumber and carpenter on the side and warm hug givers, above all else.

What I saved will be used next school year. The kids are used to this practice, why even my eldest daughter “rotates” her school bags. I think the one she used this school year was her sixth grade bag. Or maybe fifth grade?

There were crayons, slightly used pencils, several notebooks as well as textbooks that I put in a big plastic container to be given to the DIY guy with 7 kids. I hope he gets to send them back to school but that would probably be wishful thinking.

The downside of having the children around is an increase in food budget. They chomp, chomp and chomp endlessly. I also don’t get to write the posts and articles I need to finish because I can’t concentrate. Reading up on cirrhosis, hgh supplements and some additional info for teaching program I am collating is taking a long time to accomplish. It’s as if my brain took a summer vacation too.

What to do to keep the children busy this summer:

• Enroll them in a summer program, not necessarily academics but something that they will enjoy: swimming, sports, arts among others.
• Give the children a schedule of the things they can do at home, not exactly like the one they have in school, for them to not just keep track of time but to keep themselves busy.
• Have them start a hobby: gardening, collecting things that interest them or blogging.
• Limit the time they spend online and encourage them to enagage in physical activities (see the first suggestion)
• Have them make a goal of what they want to be able to master this summer, be it baking cupcakes or playing the guitar.

How?

• “Clean as you go” policy by cleaning up little messes as I go along like picking up small pieces of trash on the dining table, on the floor, on the glass table where we study and where I do my online work.
• Try to clean daily, early in the morning, if need be by sweeping the floor, wiping dust off furniture, cord covers, behind desks, the TV and computers and (sometimes) under the tables and couch.
• Have designated places for knick-knacks though I plan to do away with these that are gathering dusts.

It is important to practice time saving tips to avoid a major cleanup which takes a lot of time and energy.

My main problem is DUST. I think even if I just dusted a while ago, everything is dusty again! Our home is not as squeaky clean as I want it to be but I take comfort in the saying: “A house becomes a home when you write ‘I love you’ on the furniture” Author Unknown from Dust If You Must. LOL