Technology brings so much ease in running the household in this day and age but modernity has its downside. Both parents usually work to support the family’s needs and they are left with two choices in dealing with kids: leave them with a relative or yaya. With the latter option, it is tough enough to leave their dear offsprings to a total stranger but even harder to make sure Yaya is honest. How do parents detect a major fib?
ARE THE KIDS EATING PROPERLY? Responsible parents can almost ensure their children eat right by leaving healthy foods in the fridge and cupboard and instructing Yaya which to chow for meals and snacks. Question is, are they actually being fed? Children have different eating styles. Some easily take whatever is spoon-fed but the more independent ones flatly refuse and need more coaxing. Nannies are different characters, too. Some are very patient in feeding youngsters and some just give up easily.
A doctor-friend Doc Don was alarmed when he noticed his daughter getting thin. She was not exhibiting any signs of sickness and Yaya assured him the baby had a good appetite. The weight loss remained a puzzle until a neighbor tipped that Yaya had the habit of chatting away with the subdivision security guards. Since his wife could not take a leave of absence, he sacrificed a great chunk of his professional life to make sure his youngest recovered from malnourishment. He discovered that his little girl ate so little and hardly finished four ounces of formula milk. The tot was more than a year old and should be consuming at least 6 ounces per feeding. After confirming the neighbor’s report of the nanny’s neglect, he fired the negligent Yaya.
ARE THE KIDS SAFE AT HOME? Parents cannot help but be paranoid with all the news about children being kidnapped. It is one thing for a stranger to abduct a minor but it is scarier if Yaya exposes your child to this kind of danger.
Little Mickey is a usually messy eater and an active toddler so Mommy Mia got wary when her son’s clothes piled up in the hamper without much smudge and dust. Yaya happily reported how her charge is handling the spoon better now. Yaya even boasted about her extra care to keep Little Mickey from getting dirty. Mia was not convinced so she decided to spot-check. She usually sent text messages to Yaya to know how Little Mickey is doing. Once, she decided to make a random call. Voila! Mia caught the ambient sounds of cars speeding by from her cell phone. It turned out Yaya was a regular window shopper of the nearby town center mall tagging along Little Mickey. Yaya was given ample warning. Thankfully, she tried to stay indoors afterwards and just contented herself with the family’s weekend visits to the mall.
ARE THE KIDS WELL TAKEN CARE OF? Mark is a contractor and stays home most of the time unless there were client calls. He and his wife Lily just needed some assistance in caring for the kids so they hired a nanny on-call.
The children were old enough to tell their parents if there was something wrong so Mark and Lily were quite at ease when they were both away. But the clever yaya sneaked out during naptime to do her own laundry and chores at her place. The kids were totally unaware of her trips.
Yaya reasoned that she makes sure the kids were fed well and their needs were taken care of when they are awake so it is okay to steal some of her paid working hours for her own family’s needs.
Good thing, a concerned neighbor who runs a store sees yaya leave every afternoon and quietly return after a few hours. The old lady lectured yaya on the need to be around even as the kids doze off. It was her responsibility to keep guard. Yaya would not hear any of it so the kindly granny opted to tell Mark and Lily about it. The couple did not have second thoughts parting with the yaya and took an old relative to take over.
ARE THE KIDS HURT? Kathy and Gilbert had the scare of their lives when their 3-year old started running a fever and throwing up. Pushed to confess, Yaya admitted that her ward fell off the third step of the stairs the night before and hit her head on the cemented landing. The husband-and-wife lost no time in rushing their unica hija to the hospital. Much to their relief, the cause of their little girl’s vomits was not brain damage. She over-ate popcorn. It was too much for her tiny tummy to process.
Janine just gave birth to their second baby when her husband Rudy got an alarming call from his sister-in-law. It turned out their toddler was in her walker when Yaya rushed outside to get the laundry as it started to rain. She made sure the door was shut but the baby somehow managed to pry it open and tumbled on to the front lawn head first. The in-laws live in the nearby house and rushed to the rescue when they heard their niece’s painful cries. Her face was full of scratches after landing on the gravel walkway. Although scared, Yaya spewed out the whole story and profusely apologized. Janine warned Rudy beforehand not to lose his temper despite the unnerving incident. She knew how dependable Yaya was and it could have been equally unsettling for her. Upon the doctor’s advice, the tiny tyke was observed for symptoms of a head injury. Thankfully, she did not vomit, run a fever or become weak and was active as ever.
ARE THE KIDS “OVER-DISCIPLINED”? There are numerous horror stories of caregivers getting too physical when kids get rowdy. It is easier if the kids are a bit older since they could always tell Mommy and Daddy if Yaya is abusing her authority but newborns and toddlers are totally helpless. Parents have no choice but to be vigilant of telltale signs like unexplained bruises or scratches and the child’s sudden loss of appetite, inactiveness or changes in behavior.
LESSEN THE LIES. Three common denominators arise from the cases cited to promote honesty among nannies. (1) Be good to your neighbors and their genuine concern will naturally crop up especially in looking after your children. (2) Be observant of your kids’ well-being. There are always detectable physical traces of abuse. (3) Fear of being scolded or fired are major reasons for a cover-up. Learn to deal with them gently in small faults to encourage nannies to tell the truth when it really matters.
Did you know that starting 40 years old, adults start losing muscle mass? I wished I knew that.
Research shows that 9 out of 10 aging adults aren’t meeting the daily recommended amounts of key nutrients for a healthy and active life. From the ages of 40 to 70+ years of age, adults can lose up to 33% of muscle mass. Muscle loss may not always be visible, but it can manifest through symptoms such as weakness, slower walking speed, unintentional weight loss, exhaustion, low physical activity, body pain and cramps.
I had my strength tested with the free hand grip strength and my strength is till within normal range.
I have heard of Ensure Gold from my parents-in-law because they drink it so I always associate this brand with elderly adults. Not anymore.
The new Ensure Gold® is an adult nutrition supplement, scientifically formulated with high quality protein, calcium, vitamin D and 28 vitamins and minerals to help build muscle mass and help adults Stay Strong®. A unique nutritional ingredient in Ensure Gold® is HMB, a metabolite of the essential amino acid leucine. HMB is naturally found in small amounts in some foods and in your body, but levels may decline with age. HMB has been shown to support muscle health.
Dr. Jun Dimaano, medical director for Abbott Nutrition Asia Pacific said, “Abbott helps people live their best life by providing nutritional support for Filipinos’ ageing loved ones. We believe nutrition is the foundation of good health and we are excited to bring the new Ensure Gold ® with HMB as a gift of strength to adults in the Philippines, so they can continue doing the things they love.
Remember that we need 600 muscles to stand up, 200 muscles to take a single step down the stairs and 133 muscles to dance?
The death of someone we know always reminds us that we are still alive – perhaps for some purpose which we ought to re-examine. Mignon McLaughlin
I am saddened that Juned Sonido, a fellow blogger and one of the co-founders of BlogWatch passed away on July 7, 2019. I didn’t get to read the sad news until Monday morning when I checked my phone. Our friendship dates back 13 years ago when I was still new in blogging. “A celebration of life” is probably the best phrase to describe what I am writing here. Remembering his life through my blog posts and photos is like looking back at history in Philippine blogging when bloggers met up for the first time. Bloggers were referred to as “new media publishers” then “emerging media” and today, “influencers”, “content creators” . I searched for my old blog posts with mentions of “Juned” and found these. Some of the photos are from Facebook and friends. I am more detailed in the years before BlogWatch because most of the activities can be read at his articles at https://blogwatch.tv/author/juned-sonido/ and his blog at http://baratillo.net . Perhaps I will write a separate post on his advocacy and musings.
This marked the first time I met Juned Sonido. Bloggers in Metro Manila met up at the 1st Philippine BlogCon (Meet the Bloggers) . I was pretty excited about this meet up. No formal program was planned, just meet and greet fellow bloggers. I don’t have a photo with Juned but I was struck by the name of his blog, baratillo.net. I talked on “Content is Still King”. Abe Olandres talked on “History of Blogging in the Philippines & Professional Blogging” while Jayvee Fernandez on Blogging as New Media vis-a-vis MSM. Marc Macalua talked of “SEO and Blog Make-Over”. How exciting it was to meet fellow bloggers.
December 23, 2006 – Christmas Blogger Meetup
Abe Olandres organized the longest EB I have ever attended. I went home midnight. I thought I was only going to stay for 1 hour. Quite a number of bloggers were present including Juned and my daughter, Lauren. The 20 bloggers present in this meetup must have enjoyed the conversation so much.
June 24, 2007- Dinner and Conversation with the Band of Bloggers
It was Juned’s idea that we meet up in our homes. He once said
I still remember the dinner parties at our house. They were fun and less costly. But, now it seems to be a thing of the past.
It doesn’t have to be that way, Juned. I told him. Though technology and urbanization indeed has made things so much more convenient for us, dinners and great conversation should never be a thing of the past. I had just moved to our new home and I used it as an excuse for a party. Together with my daughter, we hosted a housewarming party for the Band of Bloggers like Jayvee, Abe, Gail, Marc, Sasha, Aileen, Rico, Marc , Sharms and Juned. At the same time, it served as one of the small intimate gatherings for my 50th birthday celebration. Perhaps we had such a great time, that we ended at 2:00 PM
Three B bloggers?
July 4, 2007- Taste Asia Food Fest at the SM Hypermarket
This is probably the first time bloggers met in one big place. Brands and companies now tapped bloggers to their events. The Taste Asia Food Fest laid out laptops as well as food.
By this time, PR started to invite us to their clients‘ product launches. The benefits of blogging not only spread the word on my advocacy but brought friendships and adventure in this “new media publishing”. One time, Juned and I attended an anti-dandruff shampoo event. He muttered, “I don’t need this”. The question that went through my mind that time was, “Why is there a need to launch another anti-dandruff shampoo?” Because inviting bloggers were so new back then, we often stayed together. Sometimes Juned and I would ask ourselves, “what are we doing here?”.
September 9, 2007 – Helping my daughter in a group’s focused group discussion
For the love of my daughter, I gathered five bloggers for a focused group discussion for her Psychology 118 study over at my house for a Friday night dinner. It was such a short notice and knowing young bloggers, their friday night often gets fully booked. Am I glad that Dine, Shari, Juned, Rico and Sasha took time off from their busy schedules for a round table discussion on why bloggers blog.
At that time, Juned and I have the same reasons on why we blogged.
1. I blog to point things out. Anything worth pointing both tho beautiful and not-so-beautiful, the exciting and the mundane; A perfect ice crystal or the drip-drop and sloosh of the monsoon as it makes its way to the house.
2. To chronicle events. To record things for posterity and probably more i importantly to record events from your own perspective.
3. To move people or a group a desired way. It could be political and then again it could be not. The important thing to remember is the personal need to motivate, convince and a maybe even inspire.
4. To satisfy the Ego.
Blog and Soul Movement
Photo via Aileen Apolo
The Blog and Soul Movement initiated by Jayvee brought us together again. I remember this was such a busy week. Bloggers were in demand to talk in a bloggers kapihan and then this new movement. The goals of the Blog and Soul Movement : (i) Blogcentric; (ii) Skills enhancing; (iii) Fun and (iv) altruistic.
October 7, 2007 – Nintendo Wii Games are Fun
If I didn’t know what the Nintendo Wii Games Console was all about, I would have thought my daughter together with Juned, Jayvee were loonies waving their “wands” about in front of my TV set.
Those were the days, when bloggers would hang out at our house and I allowed them to sleep over. The podcast taping materialized at 12 midnight after they played Wii. For the first time in a long time, I slept at 4:00 am
October 21, 2007 Thank You Day Concert
I took this photo when Geiser Maclang called bloggers onstage during the “Thank you day concert” . It was thoughtful of them to acknowledge the bloggers and even called us on stage to stand beside the hosts for a countdown of the Sweet Shower. I guess it was their way of saying “Thank You” for the online viral campaign of the National Thank You Day.
March 9, 2008- Butch Dalisay and Writing Tips
Photo via Jane Uymatiao
For the month of March, I invited Butch Dalisay to talk on Creative Non-Fiction for bloggers at the Kape Isla in Serendra. This was also an activity of the Blog & Soul Movement.
Here were the tips that I gathered from the two hour conversation with Butch and the 22 bloggers in attendance.
1. You are your first audience. You have to please yourself. If you are not happy with your blog, then who else will read it?
2. When you think of your readers, you write for a reasonably intelligent reader. Your reader is just smart as you are. That’s the reader worth going forth.
3. When you write about yourself, it’s never just yourself. It can’t be. Who the hell are you anyway? Why should your life be so interesting to people? It could be interesting only up to a certain point. There’s got to be a point when you are no longer talking about yourself. Or even when you are, there are points others can relate to .
4. Educate , enlighten and entertain. Have a way to make them accessible and funny. Using self-deprecating humor makes your reader feel relaxed and that’s what creates a bond.
5. Find the image that will capture the idea rather than express the idea itself.
6. Move towards one syllable words. The simpler the word the better. It is not the fancy word that carries the story.
7. Read authors you want to emulate. Stop reading authors that don’t write as well as you. You won’t grow.
He added that “Blogs are here to stay. Standards will emerge. People and readers will develop a sense of good and bad. Someone will not set these standards. People will be discerning of the writer and the reader.”
It’s been eleven years since we talked Butch Dalisay. Is his prediction of blogging still relevant today?
2008 Philippine Blog Awards
The Philippine Blog Awards started in 2007 but it was only incorporated in 2008. I was the first President & CEO of the Philippine Blogging Inc. and Juned took over in 2009. The other officers are Gail Villanueva and Jayvee Fernandez. It wasn’t easy getting sponsors that time since bloggers were still so new. At that time, the awarding was open to all Filipino bloggers who have full ownership of their blogs. This implied that blogs belonging to blog networks or corporate blogs couldn’t be included because of ownership rights. The awards paid homage to “grassroots bloggers” who built up their blogs from their own efforts.
August 8, 2009 – Meeting Secretary Mar Roxas
The buzz at that time was that Senator Mar Roxas was likely to run for the 2010 Presidential Elections. He saw the potential of bloggers and new media to promote his advocacies. I was really hesitant about the whole meeting idea because first of all, I don’t like politics. Second, I felt uncomfortable having to “chikka” with a senator. But I was with fellow bloggers like Juned, Sonnie. Abe and others
December 10, 2008 – Orbit Event at Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino
December 18, 2008-Department of Tourism/MTV 2009 Plans
Secretary Ace Durano and MTV present to bloggers a sneak peek into DOT and MTV Plans for 2009. Happy Slip (Christine Gambito) was also present during the dinner
January 9, 2009 – Another meet up with Mar Roxas
I found myself once again with Mar Roxas and other political bloggers last f at the Balai Ni Mar in Cubao’s Araneta Center
April 19, 2009- Blogging & Blog Marketing: Conversations that can lead to Conversions
I thought we were supposed to be an observer/participant of the Bloggers’ round table discussion on Blogging & Blog Marketing: Conversations that can lead to Conversions at the Internet Marketing Course specifically called Winning Internet Marketing Strategies & Tactics at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) . We ended up seated as panelists on blogging, blog advertising and blog events. It was during this panel, that we laid out what bloggers are:
Bloggers are diverse: We come in all shapes & sizes, and different backgrounds, interests & motivations
Despite the diversity, bloggers have one big thing in common: passion
Bloggers follow a personal code of ethics (e.g. advertising, blogger events, etc.)
For most bloggers, online reputation matters
When working with bloggers, authenticity of the advocacy & commitment of the company/proponent is important (i.e. “one shot advocacy events,” hard sell to bloggers)
Money is generally looked down upon as a reward/incentive
When working with bloggers, companies should strive to make an impression and make sure the blogger has a story to tell after the event
October 10, 2009 – 3rd Philippine Blog Awards
Juned took over as the President of the Philippine Blog Awards.
September 4, 2010 Embassy of the United States in Manila invites bloggers
The government inviting bloggers was slowly catching on. It was a matter of time that the embassies in the Philippines would invite bloggers to their reception or events.
August 2011- Tatt Awards
Photo via Globe Tatto Tatt Awards page. Blog Watch members who are Tatt Awards Finalists Dean Jorge Bocobo, Jane Uymatiao, Noemi Dado, Dine Racoma, and Juned Sonido
We didn’t often see each other that often in media events of brands
We were at the Samsung 5 launch
ASEAN social media coverage
In January 2017, Juned, Sonnie and I were hired as consultants for the Committee on Media Affairs and Strategic Communications, led by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) for the the ASEAN 30th Summit and Related Meetings . 2017 was a busy year for us and we saw each every week for work.
February 2017- BlogWatch Core group meeting
#AllMediaPH
Juned was part of a public consultation held by the Presidential Communication Operations Office . It was a town hall themed event and had participation from attendees on-site and online — via Facebook and Twitter. Around twelve of us were resource persons given five minutes to give our comment on the draft policy.
It wasn’t all work.
2018- Democracy and Disinformation Conference
It saddens me that after our busy year, we barely met up in 2018 and 2019. This was the last time Juned and I were together. I gave up my slot as a panelist for the “Disinformation and Social Media: The Global Experience” because I thought he would give another perspective.
Though we communicated online, I did not want to disturb him after I found out he was hospitalized late last year. Knowing Juned , he avoids talking about himself but I should have followed my instincts. A few days before I left for the farm this weekend, he was always on my thoughts. Perhaps , this is why I wrote this post.
I am filled with regrets, with questions of “why? If only? I should have” , “why God? ” but I am also aware that all these are part of my grief talking . He also leaves behind the people who loved and cared for him, for truly, it is in us that Juned will live on. How? Because we – the ones who were touched by his grace – will share with the world, the parts of us he was able to influence. This is what a man truly leaves behind when he passes.
And though these memories may bring back pain, they bring back memories of joy. All these because pain is the price I pay for someone who touched my life.
Yes, I am comforted with the knowledge that Juned will be forever alive in my heart and in my memories.
Juned, you know, I love you. Every life you have touched will forever live on. Until we meet again my friend, I will carry your precious legacies within my heart..
Below is the last photo I took of Juned. I want to remember him this way: thoughtful, kind and insightful. You will be missed, Juned.
I would like to end with a quote from Thomas Campbell.
To live in hearts we leave behind Is not to die. ~Thomas Campbell
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. ~Norman Cousins~
