Bullying is probably one of the worst things that can happen to children. Most vulnerable to bullying are children with special needs.

No matter how much we brief our children on what to do just in case they get bullied, it is another story when they are on their own.

Young children are not exempted from bullying.

Online bullying happens and is probably just as scary as being bullied at the back of the school building because more people read and see what is happening. It is important to teach children about being careful when they do online activities.

For the teens, with the many issues they are going through, there are some things happening that make them vulnerable to being bullied or becoming bullies themselves. Coping with the challenges they face may make them unsure of what they should do and there are cases when they act out unexpectedly. continue reading this entry »

I have been listening to the radio a while ago and the guest, a doctor, was talking about “Serotonin as the Happy Hormone” and setting limits on happiness. (Post was started on October 12. The rest of the article below this written only today)

Serotonin is said to be the happy hormone that helps to regulate moods, relieve depression and anxiety. It also helps you have a regular sleep pattern, among other things.

Food rich in trytophan help increase serotonin production in the body. Some of these food are: different kinds of cheeses (Swiss, cottage, provolone), bananas, yogurt, soybeans and soy products and seafood like tuna, clams and oysters.

Egg white, cheddar cheese, pork chops, lamb and potatoes on the other hand help you increase trytophan intake.

Anyway, back to the subject of happiness and setting limits, I agree and disagree with the speaker about setting limits on happiness.

When we set limits on happiness, we tend to be more comfortable with what we have and have no real nor immediate desire to have “things” just so we can be happy. There’s more to living a simple life than working too hard and too much to get that expensive bag or a car that’s not within the budget and not necessarily a need at the moment, are two examples I can give for this.

Sure, we may feel complacent if we don’t work harder to be able to afford little comforts (like those ann gish bed linens for your home’s beds) and luxuries (a cuppa of your favorite coffee) but if these wants are the end-all and be-all of what we work for, I don’t think we would be happy nor content at all.

On the other hand, why would we set limits on happiness based on these worldly things? There are so many things we can get our happiness pills from: being with family (of course, this is a source of great stress too), doing a stop-and-smell-the-roses actions, doing random acts of kindness and just being content and not wanting for more than you can bite are just a few suggestions.

One more thing, alcohol and excess caffeine interferes with your body’s ability to produce serotonin. So, there goes your “Happy Hour”

September has a been a very busy month in terms of activities in the children’s school as well as with my teaching load.

September was also a month that I missed a lot of deadlines and I know my ever patient editor must be clenching her teeth and slowly losing her patience with me (huwag naman please, ).

I even promised a dear friend an article about sun showers but I failed to deliver. I just visited one of the  blogs I own and saw that for last month, I only got 6 entries because the posts are still in the drafts. IN the drafts for several weeks already.

I still have the passion to write but after all these weeks, the writing muse is still nowhere to be found as of this moment. Or maybe there is hope because I was able to sit down to write this piece because the article before this was in the drafts for almost three weeks. Egad!

For the month of September( please don’t ask what happened to the daily gratitude journal, let’s not get into that, haha), I am grateful for:

• my family’s love, support, hugs and kisses

• mini-struggles that keep me on my toes day in and day out

• friends who make me smile and who give encouraging words whenever I feel the need to share my “load” of emo moments (if only I can afford to give you gold necklaces with pendants engraved: “I am a Patient Friend” I will do so)

• I am grateful to moms/readers of this blog who sent me emails about their children, trusting that I will help them in any way I can. I am deeply sorry for not answering your inquiries because it was only the other night that I got to read emails as far back as 2009. With that, thank you hubby for finally figuring out what was wrong why I can open these web mails: our ISP servers.

• I am forever grateful to my Papa’s cousin, Auntie Angie, for giving my parents a place to stay because our home’s roof has damage from previous typhoons. The roof is now completely damaged after Pedring came and went. I worry about how to help them financially but I know we will be able to find a solution to this.

There are so many things to be grateful for and I know just counting my blessings make me feel even more blessed. Now excuse me while I wipe away my tears first.

In retrospect, I am thankful for…

1. Today, September 1,  I am thankful for… the keen observation of that little girl Caitlin who saw me waving my arms at the school bus so I can get my two little children home earlier than usual (hah! long story but that was an epic moment for me).
2. September 2: Today I’m thankful for being able to spend time with my mommy blogger friends as we learned new ways to prepare healthy food for the children, all courtesy of Active Fun. The kids got to play for free too!
3. September 3: Today I am thankful to a student, G, for the life lessons he learns from which I learn big time too. Taking a “sneak peek” into what he thinks makes me more conscious about how I am as a teacher and as a mom.
4. September 4: I am thankful for the time I get to spend with the family, yes, crunch time for review or not.
5. September 5: I am thankful for the “gift” of technology as I am able to do pages upon pages of reviewers without having to write these on papers.
6. September 6: Today I am thankful for my friend Ronald and his wife Gennell for dropping by our (chaotic home) and giving me a brand new pink and silver Hoopnotica hula hoop. Yes, I’m super happy! Wheee!
7. September 7: I am thankful for the chance to get to know my children through their notes, even if I have to stay till the wee hours of the morning to finish their reviewers. They appreciated the efforts and I hope they will do well in the tests.

I was inspired by my friend Ria‘s daily gratitude journal on Facebook and I decided to do this too.Since today is the first day of September, I figured why not start now?

I plan to write the little things I am thankful for each day and collate these as a weekly entry.

if I can’t go online, of course there are days I can’t go online, I’ll use that little notepad in my bag to write my “I’m thankful for…” thoughts. If not, my good old mobile phone can be my wee digital notepad.

Have you counted your blessings lately? Is your cup half-empty or half-full?

I know I will not just keep tabs what the people, happenings and things I am thankful for, but I will be able to learn to appreciate the “details of the fabric” woven as a canvass called “My Life”.

I’ve recently re-read a bookmark entitled 25 Manners Every Child Kid should Know By Age 9. These seems easy to do, the ones in the list, because children are more likely to do what is asked of them, especially when they know their parents will be pleased.

I’ve made some mental observations about how some of these relate to us, adults.

Among these are the top three consisting of the “magic” words: Please, Thank you, Excuse Me.

As adults, we beam when we hear our children say these words. Ironically though, as adults, we seldom use these words unless we feel we have been unjustly and unfairly treated, when we want to stress a point or simply we use these words when we want to drive a point home.

“Please naman…” we plead when all else fails and we don’t get what we want from others or what we want others to do for us.

“Thank you ha!” we tell those we did favors to but has forgotten to acknowledge what we did. There’s no cherry on top of that thank you but it is doubled with sarcasm and there’s much stress at the word “you”.

“Excuse me?!” is said with conviction when others interrupt us as we explain our side or clear the air up. This is also what we say when people contradict our ideas or even say that we did and said something that we know we didn’t do or said so.

Anyway, teaching manners is more effective when adults/parents “walk the talk”. You know, when answering that phone call from the title loans Massachusetts person rather than asking your child to tell him you’re not home can be equated to teaching honesty.

With so many things children need to learn, we have to be the ones to show them how to do these things and eventually, we get to send the message across without giving them reason to not like us because we nag them to say “please”, “thank you” and “excuse me”.