Skip to content

Parents & Children

Miracle Baby

feet.jpg
The world’s most premature baby is quite a fighter.

Her minuscule feet poking pathetically through a doctor’s fingers, few believed that she could possibly live. Born only 21 weeks and six days after conception, [tag]Amillia Taylor[/tag] weighed just under 10oz and was only 91/2 inches long.

Medical staff, however, were given a clue to her fighting spirit when the tiny scrap tried to cry and breathe on her own .

And now, four months later and weighing 4lb, she has been allowed home – the world’s most [tag]premature baby[/tag] to have survived.

Source: Born at less than 22 weeks – and baby Amillia survived

Read More »Miracle Baby

Instant Messaging from 4 computers

google talkThank God it’s Friday but it’s a lonely night for us. We miss the two girls. Usually they are home for the weekend but they have exams tomorrow. It is more convenient for them to be near their school. It’s funny how [tag]Google Talk[/tag] can make the distance so near. I discovered that the kids prefer communication via instant messaging as it can be less intrusive than communication via phone. It’s so funny . Butch is a door away busy chatting with the two girls. I’m at my cozy nook busy reading some blogs in my Google Reader. We’re in four different computers happily chatting and catching up with their lives. Usually we talk about the antics of their pet cats who are without their masters. Sometimes, they gripe about their schoolwork. We exchange photos , youtube videos like Nora , the piano playing cat or even links. I love how the kids can still reach out to me using Google Talk. I am fascinated at how technology can bridge communication lines even closer.

I use the [tag]Adium[/tag], a pretty Mac free instant messaging application for Mac OS X that can connect to [tag]AIM[/tag], MSN, Yahoo, and ICQ. The [tag]ICQ[/tag] was the first messaging application I used. I think it was 1997. In fact my ICQ number (641900) is still around . One time, it was stolen by some Russian dude. I begged him to return it. Surprisingly, he sent it back to me with a note that if he can hack the password again, he won’t return it. Next was the AOL Instant Messenger then MSN and finally Yahoo Messenger. I love how I can chat via webcam to my siblings in the US.

Today , I still have all those messaging applications but prefer Google Talk.

And so a typical message from Butch ends this way…
Read More »Instant Messaging from 4 computers

The Right Dog Breed for Our Family

dals1.jpgThe last time we had a pure bred dog was over seven years ago. The children grew up with frisky dalmatians. My two girls screamed with joy when their Uncle Raul gave them Sindy, the female dal who in turn gave birth to adorable puppies. This was at the height of Disney’s 101 Dalmatians in the early nineties. Can you imagine their delight when 6 puppies scampered about our living room? My maternal instinct yearned for another baby as I helped them take care of the dalmatians. Little did I know that Luijoe was already growing in my womb. Many years later, when we moved to Makati, the village security guards kept giving us a fine of 1,000 pesos ($20) everytime one of the dalmatians broke out of the gate and caused a nuisance to the neighbors. Exasperated, we brought them over to Baguio where they would be free to romp around to their heart’s delight.

Moving to our new home has its risks. Security in the village is not as tight as it is in here. Outsiders are just free to enter in and out of the gate. So my husband thought it’d be best to get a dog for added security measures. I remember how the utility people freaked out whenever our dals came barking at them by the gate. But we didn’t want dalamatians anymore. We didn’t want a guard [tag]dog breed[/tag] like the Doberman because they could be mean. We just wanted a dog that could be a family pet, yet intimidating to strangers and hopefully an intelligent watchdog. Another criteria involved the two precocious kitties who are part of the family. How we love our cats! We don’t want our dog to harm them . They don’t have to be buddies but the cats and the dog need to be civil towards each other.

M took upon the task of researching for the right dog breed for the family. Her first choice was the Siberian Husky
husky.jpg
We found out the Siberain Husky is not quite friendly to small animals. Instinctively they ran after them. The next choice was the Akita
akita.jpg
Then again, M discovered that Akita’s were like the Huskies who ran after small animals. No, that won’t do. M thought that herding dogs or non-sporting dogs would be the better breed. She suggested the Collie but I thought long haired dogs might be difficult to take care in our tropical weather.

I asked “what about the Belgian Malinois?
BelgianMalinios.jpg
The Belgian Malinois , a herding dog closely resembles “the German Shepherd Dog, but upon closer inspection, many differences may be seen including size, bone structure, color, and head and ear shape.” He looks intimidating yet probably kind to cats since the breed is a herding dog. Everyone agreed and the search for the Belgian Malinois began…

Then M showed me an adorable photo of this cat cuddled up with a dog….

Read More »The Right Dog Breed for Our Family

Help us reach a Thousand Teddy bears

It’s ten days before Christmas eve and four days until Cathy completes the first leg of our Thousand Bears for Bicol (TBB) project . Read Cathy’s update at 442 bears to make a thousand bears for Bicol.

Today, we are 442 bears away from our target! We have five days to complete the targeted 1000 bears. Please help us complete this mission so to speak and help bring joy to 1000 children on Christmas day. We will be taking in bears (and other friendly looking stuffed toys) until Monday, December 18. Please refer to my entry here to find out how you can donate. We have also received reports from the field that the children are in dire need of clothes, so we are now including this as well, if you have any to spare. Below in an excerpt from my friend Andrea who arrived from Legazpi yesterday. Andrea is a long-time news journalist and a colleague of mine from the Inquirer. —

“I have not seen this kind of devastation ever in my life. There are thousands of children in the evacuation centers and they continue to be in a daze. The mothers tell me that whenever it starts to rain, the children begin to panic and ask “Tatakbo na naman ba tayo?” (Are we going to run again?)

These are the 10 teddy bears I sent for the Thousand Bears for Bicol Project. I placed these cutesy bears at M’s room since she loves plushies. She hugged the bears to send her love to the children who will receive them.
teddy bears

How to [tag]donate teddy bears[/tag]– Deadline is December 18 (Philippine time)

1. Cash

Cash is also welcome since Cathy can buy the bears.

If you’re in the Philippines, just email Cathy directly at cathybabao @ gmail.com

Read More »Help us reach a Thousand Teddy bears

Grant a Christmas Gift Wish

christmas giftWhat a coincidence to bump in to two of my fellow Ateneo parents from ASPAC (Ateneo School Parents Council) at our favorite desktop publishing shop in the UP shopping center! All of us were there for desktop publishing request. Somehow, we all were involved with Christmas projects. Mine was a tarpulin job order request for the Compassionate Friends’ 10th Worldwide Candle Light Project this coming December 10. My other friend had a feeding program. Rose showed me a wad of brochures for her latest project from Rotary Club, “Grant a Christmas Gift Wish” project. “Maybe you want to grant a wish of a less fortunate child?” I told her “you know I support projects like this.”

“Just choose and sponsor a child for 200 pesos and the child’s Christmas Gift wish will be granted”

There were so many children to choose. During my brief shadow grief moments ,when I miss my Luijoe, I tend to search for a 6 year old or 13 year old boy (Luijoe would have been 13 years old this year) . I feel that Luijoe lives in little boys too, protecting or guiding them. Maybe I imagine things or overreact to a situation. One time I was at the grocery with my husband. A bouncy 6 year old boy wearing white sando was all over the place. “Hmm gosh, he acts just like Luijoe”. The cute boy who was running from the other end, suddenly stopped in front of me and gave me an impish smile. Looking at the adorable boy, I smiled at him but off he went romping around the next aisle. “sigh” I thought…maybe my angel lives in him. I shrugged it off.

My husband caught up with me a few minutes later. “A little boy just tugged at my shirt and handed me the car keys I dropped. I wasn’t even aware that my keys fell off my pockets”. I asked “was it a hyperactive boy with the white sando ?” My husband looked surprised “How did you know?” Holding my husband’s hand, I told him the same boy stopped me on my tracks. Signs like these are very uplifting.

When Rose handed me the list, I took it as a sign from heaven, a sign from my son. As I looked over the photos and names of the children, I finally chose a 6 year old boy . His Christmas gift wish was a pair of rubber shoes. I told my friend that the boy might need a new set of clothes aside from the rubber shoes.

Rose added “I know this boy . Poor boy, he sleeps inside the cemetery. He’s part of my feeding program.”

Read More »Grant a Christmas Gift Wish

Top 500 World’s Best Universities


Michael Tan’s Opinion column on the “World’s Best Universities” which he based on the Times Higher Education Supplement-Quacquarelli Symonds (THES-QS) World University Rankings provided so many insights on the state of Philippine Education . I’m glad to see that the universities of my two girls made it to the top 500 , including two other universities. We can’t compare the Philippines to America, Australia or the UK. Harvard is the number 1 school followed by Cambridge. But take look at Indonesia, a country less developed than the Philippines. It had three universities, all state-run, beating us in rankings

Let’s look at how the Philippines did. The University of the Philippines (UP) came in 299th globally and 47th among Asian universities. I have to say that’s not too bad, considering how UP has had to plod along with shrinking budgets and with the flight of so many good professors. Trailing behind UP were three private universities: De La Salle (392nd), Ateneo de Manila (484th) and, talk about a photo finish, the University of Santo Tomas at 500th.

With slashed budget from our government, it’s surprising that the state university is still alive and kicking. When I brought M around the UP campus as an incoming freshman, I was appalled at Palma Hall’s old chairs, broken windows, and dirty walls. It was as if they had not done any cosmetic renovation since I graduated over 30 years ago. I was confident that UP had dedicated professors inspite of the decrepit state of some classrooms. In the beginning, M’s heart was really not into the state university. She wanted to join her eldest sister at Ateneo. I insisted that UP is the better school and for economic reasons, it was the better option than Ateneo. I convinced her that her maternal grandmother was one of the pioneer students of the UP Diliman Campus. It was my mother’s legacy to pass on the values and great education that UP had to offer. After much tears and several arguments, she relented. Today , M is full of gratitude that she chose UP.


Read More »Top 500 World’s Best Universities

Computer Game and Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder

bluskies.jpgA few days ago, I was at my aunt’s neighborhood to check for possible houses for sale. One of the most important considerations for moving in a new neighborhood is a fast internet connection. I visited an internet cafe inside the neighborhood, just a few meters from the vilage church. It was 8:00 PM and the internet cafe brimmed with high school and even grade school students playing some kind of war game, possibly Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) , an expanded version of Warcraft. I was horrified to see these kids. Shouldn’t they be studying? It upset me that the parents are not monitoring their children’s whereabouts.

Then I read today’s article in Manila Bulletin . “Computer ‘Addicts’ Rise in Defense of their hobby”

Better Games than drugs. Who would disagree with this reasoning esecially when cited by teenagers hooked on computer games? This is the reason why computer game afionados should not be restricted in pursuing their hobby, said Gladys, a self-confessed computer game addict

Read More »Computer Game and Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder

Child Abuse Advocacy

shoemart59mini.jpgI am not surprised that after the mashing incident in Greenbelt 3, a smiliar incident will happen again. A friend in her mid twenties emailed me about a child abuse incident in Shoemart (SM) Baguio. The father, Angelico Mercader is the Head of Communications at the Office of the Secretary in the Department of Education and a father of three young children. He is advocating against child abuse after that incident:

I’d like to share an incident which happened last Saturday, April 29, 2006 in Baguio City where my two sons, age 6 and 8, were sexually harassed at SM Baguio.

FRISKING MY KIDS’ PRIVATE PARTS – NOT FUNNY!

I went to SM Baguio with my two sons and 4 year-old daughter on Saturday afternoon. At the entrance, there was this routine baggage inspection – one line for males and another for females. Upon our entrance, the guard inspected my bag and frisked me. As I was holding
my little girl, my two sons were following right behind me.

After I was inspected, I saw the guard frisking my sons from the waist down to their private parts, one after the other. I freaked out when I saw what the guard did, as I also saw him smiling while my two sons were looking at me helplessly. I reprimanded him and said that he had
just sexually harassed my children. Instead of apologizing, he argued that he was only joking and that he wasn’t gay and that my children were boys anyway.

The complete email can also be found here and here. Incidentally, the owners of SM and the security agency, Star Force Security, are one and the same.

The incident angers me because of a similar attitude I got from a fellow mother-chaperone in one of my girls’ choir tour in Canada. Another mom whispered to me that one of our kids, a 6 year old girl (let’s call her Leila) fondled the private parts of her Filipino-Canadian host’ 8 year old child. I was appalled and immediately reported it to the mother-chaperone of Leila. I was even more shocked at her reply:

Read More »Child Abuse Advocacy

Shopping for off-campus student housing

katipunanI glanced at the mirror , smiling and quite satisfied with my latest transaction for an off-campus housing accomodation for my 2 girls. As I inspected my makeup, I was horrified to see my right ear had white dangling earrings while my left had red earrings. Driving at 6:00 am is hazardous to one’s fashion sense. The landlady must have thought I was a nut case. Oh well. Hehehe.

Read More »Shopping for off-campus student housing

About

a mom blogger who advocates constructive engagement in issues on family & society.
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Spotify Podcast

Touch By An Angel © All Rights Reserved.