Parenting Archive

My thoughts on parenthood, and what it's like to be a mom in the Philippines.

La Mesa Ecopark

In between Christmas and New Year there were 6 days of nothingness. We already spend two spending the kid’s aguinaldos (*wink) and going back home. That leaves us 4 more, and so aside from watching movies, we think it is best to take the kids out. The choices were: La Mesa Ecopark, Manila Ocean Park, Museo Pambata or Enchanted Kingdom. This outing is on the kid’s best interest and so we asked them where they want to. Their unanimous answer was Ecopark (they like the word park and they know they can do bike riding there). Good choice kids! It was the cheapest of them all..

La Mesa Ecopark is located in Quezon City, somewhere in Commonwealth Avenue. We drove down there utilizing the C5 road. Ortigas Extension, exits to C5 in IPI, then to Commonwealth.. We were lost as I thought the entrance to the Ecopark was along the road. We have to go back and thought of entering the La Mesa compound the other way. It turns out that the road we are planning to take is the part where they house the water treatment facility. Opps! We have to go back (bad thing before the good thing) and pay attention on the road, while my eyes were fixed on the map (how did I do that? I don’t know, but I end up with my head throbbing hard). Finally we reached our destination!

The park was all green, right to be called an Ecopark. The entrance to the park was not free, but it was very cheap. We paid a dollar each, free of charge for kids less than 3 feet. Bike rentals were cheap too (see their site for the rates). The food was cheap too, a meal which consist of rice and grilled fish or pork with a salted egg side dish was priced more or less 1 dollar and fifty. And it was tasty. Tables and chairs were open for rentals.. At 3 dollar a set (good fro 4), not bad for a day use.

Kayil and Mico enjoyed the day with their rented bikes, in the playgorund in between. Mommy and Chico found some shed and watch them and play with the camera. Daddy watching over the two (praning mode..)

The trip was fun, only we did not stay long..

Another bad thing about it, some idiot slammed their car door on ours, leaving one of our doors with scratches and vent. The car color was red judging from the scratch.. Moronic people are everywhere.. even on parks.

The Disadvantage of Baby Wearing

I don’t get it or is it just the places I go through, but people seems to have a great interest on me when ever I wear my Chico. Is it because they are not used to it? Often times people would stare at me and when caught, takes their eyes off immediately, pretending they are not staring. Sometimes people are kind enough not to just stare. They ask questions (and stupid ones most of the times) if my baby is comfortable with it.. I mean, guys.. HELLO! If he is not, he cries a lot, which is not the case always! (he is asleep peacefully inside the sling) Hubby never likes it too (and that’s the only disadvantage hehe), and because of it, often times he would ask me not to wear Chico.. he never likes the attention… hehe but I always answer him EYELOVEIT! yes in a way the attention I got from nasty stares makes me feel like a celebrity, or just a plain roving tourist attraction.. whatever. So what do you think?

The Four Way Test of Buying Toys

We have seen this Four Way Test poster everywhere. When I was a kid (and until just now) I wonder what this test is all about. I have to search for it in the net to know what this test is all about. Taken straight from The Four Way Test

Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”

“One of the world’s most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The Four-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.”

And since I am devising a toy test for future reference, I consider incorporating this test to my toy way test.. (and hope that the kids can learn something from it)

Is it the TRUTH?
I was thinking how a truth can be related to toys? We know for a fact that truth is very relative. A truth to you maybe not to your kids. Sometimes we insist on buying toys that we want for them. When buying a toy, in our case, it is always asked first if it was agreed that we are going to buy a toy. In a way we are stressing the fact that indeed we are planning to buy a toy for the kids. Is it the truth? Is it agreed upon that today is a toy day? Those are the first question that I ask my kids when they insist on buying a new toy.

Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Is it fair to all concerned? When we are buying toys for the kids there are only two main things that we put into mind. The price and the quality. Is it really fair? Now I talk about quality, is the quality of the toy measures up to its price? With this question comes a longer chain of reaction.. When the TRUTH question was answered, the next one would be, is it FAIR? or to a more appropriate term for the kids.. Is it CHEAP? followed by is it DURABLE? when a toy is cheap and durable, there is always no need to go on with the GOODWILL and BENEFICIAL question. No need to stress out yourself, just buy it! but if a toy is expensive and not durable, again there is no need for the last two questions to be answered, a flashing (red) NO is always the way to go.

Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Now when a toy they want is somewhat expensive (but can last a long time), we always have to consider if the toy can be played by different ages, my kids as I have said are ages 5, 3 and 6 months (as of writing). We always take into consideration the aging of the kids. Can they still enjoy the toy even after a year or two? We also take into consideration their age gap.. Are the toys enjoyable for kids ages 5 and 3?

Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Lastly, this is the time when we are already on the cashier, or on the way home. Actually this last one is an assurance that you got the right value for the money you spend. Most likely a smile on your kid’s face is the most assuring way to know if it has been beneficial. Beneficial for both parents and kids, for parents, rest assured that your kids will not bother you for a time. Beneficial for the kids because they have learned (again) the value of money
and your love for them.