Today, I am sharing a video made by my sister for my daughter Rica. It consists of Rica’s pictures when they were playing dress up last summer with perfectly matching background music entitled Fashion by Lady Gaga. This is part one only for there are still more pictures yet to be posted. Apparently, they collected so many photos because Tita Tin and Rica love playing dress up and had a number of bonding moments doing it. People who know me can tell that I am not keen to fashion. For me, the simpler the better and I doll myself up elegantly only when necessity calls for it. What I’m   read more

With the recent declaration of Dengue epidemic in Davao del Sur and possibly in other provinces in the Philippines as well, we would like to disseminate information about a practical but effective way to manage thrombocytopenia or low platelet count that often become fatal if not addressed immediately. Please click the link below or the tawa-tawa photo to read Mama Sez's article. Practical and Effective Ways to Treat Thrombocytopenia and to Prevent Dengue Hemorrhagic FeverAlways remember that immediate action is critical so if there is suspicion of dengue fever based on symptoms, go to the nearest   read more

“Mama, had Papa told you that you are beautiful? How did you feel? Was it good” That was my 8-year-old son’s query while we were having dinner one night. “Huh?! Why do you ask?” was my surprised response. But before he can explain, I answered his question truthfully so he can continue to be open about the topic. “Well, there is this girl in class who is so beautiful and I want to tell her that. I was wondering if she’ll feel good about it.” “Of course, but consider befriending her first before you tell her that, talk about other things with her, know her likes and dislikes” was Papa Sez’s   read more

Consistency in following a weekly exercise program is always a challenge to most people, and we are not an exception. In order to fulfill a minimum of 30-minute workout to elevate our heart rates in 3-4 days per week, we imagined ourselves to be doing walking, jogging or occasionally swimming. However, as parents, lots of surprises crop up that throw well-laid out plans out the door. Setting expectations too high could lead to frustrations and therefore not helpful to happiness and well-being. We recently found what could be a good way to go around the many limitations in our current situation   read more

Today, hopes are high as Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III takes his oath of office as the new President of the Republic of the Philippines. I have no illusions of a dramatic turnaround of the country's status over the next six years, but I am hoping that a new path towards a better Philippines would be established paving the way for future administrations to reach the illusive dream of becoming a developed country. One that is able to protect its citizens and provide them with the essentials so each can reach his/her own highest potential (as parents we want this for our children and their children   read more

Our 10-year old daughter came home upset late Thursday afternoon. She found out that day that the auditions for the school’s Dance Club is set the next day and she hasn’t made any preparations for it. Moreover, she also has homework – more than the usual, she claimed. The breaking point perhaps is that her uniform was sprinkled with ink from a ball pen of someone who was messing around in the school service on the way home. Noticing her troubled face, I inquired when she got to the door, “Hi Rica, is there anything wrong?” With tears coming down her cheeks, she pointed to the black ink peppered   read more

It’s been two weeks since our two older kids started school. They are in a new school, new environment, new policies and lots of other things new to them. Some of the changes were immediately accepted like wearing of school uniform. With their former Montessori school, for four years, they enjoyed the freedom of deciding what to wearno uniform, except for P.E. Surprisingly, they enthusiastically welcomed wearing one now. They are always excited to wear them and even thought of it as “cool.” Rica even complemented her younger brother with "Ang pogi ni Leon" when the latter wore his uniform   read more

When certain concepts and trends in animal behavior is used to explain human behavior, the writer regardless of the background (whether biology or journalism) has to be careful about treading a dangerous line between being misunderstood by the general public or misrepresenting the knowledge in the effort to make it understandable. Allow me to try this one out about fatherhood in honor of all fathers as the world celebrates Father’s Day on June 20. As a biologist and behaviorist, I studied proximate (how) and ultimate (why) causes of animal behavior. In this blog, I just want to articulate   read more

by Rica Emmanuele June 5, 2010 - My summer vacation was so fun because we went to a lot of places in the Philippines. We did not ride a plane but we road our car and two ferry boats. When we reached Luzon, we even had more fun. We saw Butanding (whale shark) and fireflies in Sorsogon. When we were on the boat going to look at the Butanding, I was so excited! We were going to see a real live whale shark at last! I jumped out of the boat two times because I wanted to see it again. We also rode a boat along a river going to the fireflies. When we saw them, they were on a tree. They looked   read more

Today, I rode the school service with our eight-year-old son. It was not what I had in mind when Mama Sez informed me yesterday that only primary school pupils are scheduled today to have their two-hour orientation for the new school year, and so one of us can take our eldest daughter’s spot in the school service. It’s good that Mama Sez convinced me to go with our son. It was a chance to show him that he is important and deserves my undivided attention. Besides it’s also his first day in a new, bigger school, and also his first time to ride a school service. We’ve been psyching our   read more