family

For the past two years, we have been making personalized gift tags for Christmas. Two years ago, the gift tags were simple computer printed affairs but especially designed by the girls. Last year, it was something more. We cut figures from colored paper and glued glitters on the gift tags. I love doing projects like [...]

Continue reading 'Holiday paper crafts' →

THE DAY came and went, not as smoothly as we would have wanted, but we’re just too happy to entertain thoughts of blaming and whining. What went wrong? Well, we thought we did the packing thoroughly but it turned out that little things got overlooked. But all’s well that ends well. The old house is [...]

Continue reading 'We survived moving day and never went offline' →

Every time we pass by a shop window displaying girls’ dresses in pretty floral pastels, I reminisce about the days when I chose all of Sam’s and Alex’s clothes. That was a long time ago. Thing is, as children grow older, they form their own preferences and sense of style. That’s why there was a [...]

Continue reading 'The difference between girls and teenage girls' →

The online version of The Australian recently published a report about a growing movement of parents to ban junk food ads especially on television. The reason? Because “the advertising was undermining their efforts to teach children good eating habits.” Heaven knows I’d like to see something similar in the Philippines, but the question is who [...]

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As the schoolyear comes to a close, there are projects to submit and requirements to complete. For the past few weeks, my daughters have been staying up late at night to meet deadlines. The school’s science expo opens tomorrow today (it is after midnight of Tuesday, so it’s today). Alex and her groupmates finished their [...]

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It’s happening tonight. Sam’s first prom. Crazy as it sounds, Alex is going too although she is only a sophomore. So that meant we had to buy clothes and shoes for both girls.
No, Sam isn’t going in blue jeans. She drove me crazy taking so much time in choosing what to wear. By her [...]

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The politics of global warming — that’s the title of Alex’s school report which she’s probably delivering — with a Powerpoint presentation — right at this very minute. I don’t know why she chose that topic. When she asked me to help her, I made a few suggestions but she kept saying, “No, no… that [...]

Continue reading 'A school report and the Science Expo' →

The blueberry streusel cake is in the oven and, in two hours, Alex’s classmates will be arriving to kill two birds with one stone — do an ecology project and celebrate her birthday. The chicken had been marinated and the pasta just needs a cheesy topping before going into the oven when the cake is [...]

Continue reading 'For Alex on her 14th birthday' →

It isn’t normal for Sam to sleep for more than six or seven hours a day. She’s the kind of person who thinks she’s missing out on so much by sleeping. It isn’t normal for her not to eat heartily either. Sam has a healthy appetite and when she skips meals, I always know there’s [...]

Continue reading 'She hates needles' →

If you’re the mother of toddlers, you’re probably at that photo-crazy stage. Toddlers must be the most cooperative photography subjects. When Sam and Alex were at that age, when I said “Smile”, they obliged. They would dress up for me, they would parade their toys and pose with them, they would pose this way and [...]

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