The youngest daughter got her guitar last December. We are currently scouting music schools nearby where she can have her summer lessons. The brother also showed interest in playing guitar so we might get him one too.

Why is it that having extra-curricular activities like learning how to play the guitar is important in the development of children?

First, they learn discipline. One can’t be a good gymnast without spending hundreds of hours practicing. The same discipline goes with playing musical instruments as well as learning how to paint.They don’t need to know everything at one time, just go slowly step by step until they master what they’re really good at.

The passion for music does not just mean playing musical instrument, it could also mean learning about tracktion 3 or even composing new songs.

Second is that learning new skill boosts the children’s self-confidence because they know they have talents and skills to show.

Third would be knowing that because they were able to master a skill, they will understand that whatever they want to achieve in the future, with the right dedication and hard work plus support from their family, they can be what they want to be.

Encourage your children to do what they like best and what they are good at. This is what we parents hear from other parents who’ve “been there and done that”.

Encouraging your children and giving them the much-needed support to be able to reach their goals and make their dreams a reality. There are no definite steps or ways to make these happen. More often than not, parents do not merely lead what they think is best for their children but they feel and know what it is their children like.

There are of course those parents who insist on making their children do things without regard if the children are liking the experiences but that is another story.

So, how can parents encourage their children?

• Develop their self-esteem.
• Be able to provide for avenues to let them have experiences and develop skills that will further hone their talents. These need not be expensive, with the right creative approach, parents can give their children the support they need.
• Encourage them to love learning new things like making best friend gift ideas rather than buying or by trying out new things to see what they really want to pursue.
• Encourage them to be creative because being creative can open avenues for them to explore further.
• Let them know that mistakes don’t mean that they failed, but these are chances for them to stand up and do better.
• Love them unconditionally.
• Set limits. As a parent, you’ll know when is the right time for setting limit

The MIL wants to set up a gift shop in the small store she has in her home down south. We have been looking for ideas that will help her conceptualize what she really wants to do.

Gift shops are wonderful, especially those that have hard-to-find items. Personally, I like browsing items in gifts shops, especially those that are daintily designed.

Shopping is slowly getting revolutionized due to the presence of online sites. The comforts of doing your shopping through online means is not something everyone can do though.

I think the ladies do this online shopping more than the guys. Not all guys can get their love ones gifts and buy her valentines gifts online though the number of them are starting to get the hang of it. For guys who are not really fond of going to the malls to shop, this is definitely welcome.

Meanwhile, I hope the MIL will decide on what she wants so I can go with her, if she asks me to, when she shops for what she wants to sell

Are you done with your Christmas shopping list? I’m not done yet. I have some gifts that need wrapping but I am still uninspired to start maybe because the second trimester exams are coming up next week and I know I will be swamped with reviewers to make.

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.

We didn’t have a router before but the techie hubby tinkered with my laptop and made it the “router” where everyone can connect to the internet. This gave me a bit of a headache because there are times when I myself can’t connect whereas they are still connected through me. So I had to wait for them (all other three of them) to logout just so I can restart my laptop. Argh! isn’t it?

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.

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.