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.

Summer vacation is in full swing and once again, our house is like an empty nest with the children spending Holy Week at the grandparents’ homes.

This is that time of the year when we parents think about the tuition fee payment schedule for our children. With three children in school, this is a very big financial responsibility for me and my husband. If only schools have structured settlement payments maybe, a lot of parents will go for that.

I have teased the children that if we can’t afford private school fees anymore, I’d bring them to the nearby public school where students excel and their teachers’ salary grade is high. This means the quality of the school is better than other public schools, I guess. I’d then be free from paying their TF and they can have the school supplies they want. “No can do” is their reply because they love their school so much they didn’t even complain that they just started their summer vacation this week whereas other schools had theirs as early as the second week of March.

It is no joke that some parents would tell their children that their education is perhaps the only legacy they can pass on to them. With sky-high tuition fees, there really is no way the working class/middle class parents can save for something they can give to their children once they pass away. Unlike some super rich families.

My youngest daughter got so sick last week she had to stay home for a week. I’ve had several sleepless nights monitoring her and helping her blow her nose, wipe her with wet cloth among others. Apparently, she suffered tonsilitis and she was given antibiotics. She also had her ears cleared because of it.

I probably was so tired I was a bit sick during the weekend. We were still able to go to to church though I preferred to stay outside than sit on church chairs just in case I feel sick again.

This week, our son was down with fever for two days but he was able to take the third trimester exams. He need not take two major subjects, Math and Social Studies because he got exempted.

It was now my turn to be officially sick: fever, chills, headache that seemed like it was splitting my head in two, dizzy spells, dry and parch throat and general lethargic. continue reading this entry »

Children are drawn to horses and they would love to try riding on one or even riding in a calesa being pulled by a horse. There is something about horses and children that just click and it is not just a phase they go through because if this phase was encouraged, I’m sure these children will even grow to love the sports connected with horses.

According to Franklin Levinson, an authority in natural horsemanship training:

Horses, being naturally social and inclined to appropriate interaction with whoever is with them, are a perfect manifestation of nature for children to interact with, become empowered by and have an experience that expands their world immensely.

My children are no exception. When the nearby city park still had horses for horseback riding, we used to bring my then only child eldest daughter to experience riding on horses. We seriously considered enrolling her in horseback riding lessons but we didn’t have horse equipment.

I got some photos of them on a horse (but I think it’s in the EHD already) and they said they can’t wait to be on one soon. I hope we can grant their wish to ride on a horse again soon.

My son is required to email our family photo to his drama club coach for their play “The Cat Painter“.

He told me he had an idea about how we can do the photo shoot: we sit all together on the sofa with him in the middle holding the guitar we got them for them last Christmas. It’s not ibanez acoustic guitars yet but maybe when they can play better…

Last night the hubby had them listen to Trios Los Panchos, which was a group my late FIL listened to.

“La Cucaracha… La Cucaracha…”

We will be doing this photo shoot later using his idea.

Summer vacation is just a few weeks from now. The children are already planning what they want to do during vacation. Alas, the eldest child can’t possibly go anywhere because she has summer activities that will not make it possible. She told us she already told her grandmother, my MIL, that she won’t be going to her home this summer.

The two younger children are looking forward to spending time with her too but with the recent notice that there will be an increase in tuition fee and another payment for “development program” for next school year, I don’t think that would be possible with these two increase fees times three. Sigh.They would surely miss summer fun where they get to spend a lot of time in this garden with Bamboo shades.

Oh the woes of parents who want the best in the education of their children. Private education is really expensive but we all have to make do with what we have for our children, even if it means tightening the already tight belt.