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January 01st, 2022

1/1/2022

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Empowerment Parenting

11/16/2021

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Such an eye opener when I started reading this book:  The Learning Habit.  We got it during the Big Bad Wolf Sale before the pandemic hit.
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Here are some of the wisdom I got from this book so far:
  1. Teach Them How to FIsh - The early portion of the book sets the ground on establishing Empowerment Parenting.  This means laying the foundation for our kids to be independent learners.  With the pandemic on going, and the need to switch to online school, Empowerment Parenting is much more challenging.  After all, isn't it easier to just make all the corrections in your child's essay and hit submit, rather than explaining to her a better way to construct the sentence and teach her to articulate her feelings through words?
  2. Set Aside Insecurity - It may not be intentional for us parents but we often feel bad when our kids receive low grades or is not included in the honor roll.  We seem to think that it equates to our parenting or even go to the extremes of measuring our love for them.  Low grades equals bad or unloving parents.  NOT TRUE.  But this feeling often unintentionlly forces parents to make our kids' assignments as perfect as possible... to the point that we're the one doing it for them.  Bottomline, a passing grade out of our child's own labor is way better than a perfect score where a mom or dad made the answer.
  3. Character Over Talent - the book teaches instilling discipline in a modern world where gadgets sucks out all of our kids' focus and attention.  Having a regular assignment routine with a fixed schedule and duration would really help even if we're living during this pandemic.  If there's no assignment, our child still needs to do the routine and read some books.  Discipline is a byproduct of the routines we're able to establish.  In life, in order to win, you can get away with some things if you're super bright.  But in the end, those people whose characters were molded by discipline, end up resilient against the challenges in life.
There's a lot more to learn from this book which not only applies on parenting but on leadership as well.  Will post more nuggets of wisdom once I finish it.
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Aubrey is Seven!

10/22/2021

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As a parent, I think I won't get tired of saying, time flies whenever my kids reach milestones in their lives.

Last October 15, Aubrey celebrated her seventh birthday. As much as she wished to have her seventh in a party venue with all of her friends and family, we had an intimate party at home due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, it was more fun than what we've expected.
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My top 3 realizations now that my second is seven.
  1. There is truth in the saying: the days are long and the years are short - I remember the movie Click by Adam Sandler.  Sometimes you wish to fast forward everything when you have a baby because of the endless sleepless nights.  But when your child hits seven, suddenly you want everything to slow down and enjoy this cute stage in their lives.
  2. Empathy is key - Aubrey has the highest empathy among the siblings.  She has a great sense of how the people around her feels.  Sometimes, it becomes too good for her such that she cries when she knows someone in the family is hurt.
  3. True Joy - Aubrey is such a simple person.  And I think much more than the gifts, her greatest wish was for her family to be super happy on her birthday.  That everyone maintains a cool and calm aura.
To our dear Aubrey, we love you so much little Peppa. 


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Pogi

9/23/2017

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While driving:

Out of nowhere
Cassandra: Daddy you're so pogi.
Me: (blushing) wow, thank you.😊
Cassandra: You look like a frog.

​Apparently, my daughter's standards for pogi is Kermit 😕
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Wanted Yaya

8/20/2017

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So this was last August 19 when Ate Amanda suggested she wanted to have another ate yaya friend. Her idea was to post this in our neighborhood so we can get someone to apply.
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I know it's extra hard to hire an employee that can help us out at the house and be best friends with the kids. I know someday we may be able to find the right person but we're maximizing the learnings we had with just us doing everything. Heee are some of them:
  • ​Discipline - we need to ensure we do our hoisehold chores otherwise our house would be a total mess. And with kids around this would pose health risks.
  • Kids Training - some tasks are delegated to them such as fixing the bed and returning things to their proper places.
  • Focus - we need more focus in our daily tasks as we would run out of time if we are not efficient
  • Patience - it's a lot of work and to keep our sanities intact we need a lot of patience to endure missed tasks and opportunities even on business.


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My First PTA

8/16/2017

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Last weekend I had a chance to attend to Ate Amanda's PTA meeting.  The only experience I had with PTA was when my Mommy attended a PTA meeting when I was in elementary and I just tagged along since no one will take care of me.

So for my first PTA, I was late for the general assembly.  But good thing, I was able to join the break out session where parents for each level will have an election for the officers of the PTA. Not that I wanted to be an officer, but I just wanted to see the dynamics of how interactive the parents of the grade one students are. 

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The Grade One President
The activity was started by the AY 2016-2017 President.  Which by the way ended up being volunteered to be the new President as well.
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Teacher Marnie and the rest of the faculty
Then, there was the introduction of the Grade One teachers.
And then, they asked all the parents to do a quick introduction... I was doubtful it would be quick as I think there are more than 50 parents inside the classroom.   I contributed largely on the "quick" introduction and thankful I was an introvert and was proud to be able to do a 30-second introduction.

Then the election... it was a breeze.  Just ask for volunteers OR volunteer someone.

I didn't volunteer as an officer.  But one thing's for sure... me and the Rookie Mom will do our best to help out as much as possible on all the activities that would make our daughter's stay in the school much better.

The POST PTA
So after the meeting, I had a chance to stop by at the Art Exhibit.  First time to deliberately have an art appreciation time.  This is really helpful being a photographer as well to be inspired by other artist's work.  The faces are quite creepy though.
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Amanda's First Day

7/4/2017

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Can't believe our little Ate is now in a big school.  She's both excited and anxious on her first day.  Good thing this song from Elena of Avalor boosted her confidence:

Elena:
A new school can be scary at first 
With unfamiliar faces
New rules, new teachers
And lots of unknown faces
But school's just a new world of problems 
Puzzles for you to solve
So you don't have to worry
There's nothing you can't resolve...

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What's more encouraging is that she has her little sister Cassandra by her side.
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The little Ate Cassandra showing Ate Amanda their Lego figures that they built.  They already have names for each of the characters.
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And of course, the bunso was there to support her big Ate.
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A great shot by Mommy Cali while Ate Amanda goes to the gate.
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Entering the room, she saw her name tag on the table and quietly sat down on her seat.  As a parent, you can observe different personalities of each kids in the room.  Some are restless, some are quiet and some are just observing as everything seem to be new to them.
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Then it was time for parents the go out of the room but before leaving we said "bye Ate and see you later".
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On our way out, little Ate Cassandra requested for a picture with Rapunzel.  This is a rare picture of her smiling.
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It was a great experience for us parents to have one of our kids go to a big school.  Here are some things I realized: 
  1. Facing Fears - In life, we face a lot of challenges where there are a lot of unknowns yet we have to brave through it in order to grow.  Nelson Mandela said "...courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it".  And this was what Amanda did to bring up her life skill a notch higher. 
  2. Lifelong Learning - When I was studying, I was used to cramming and playing the school game in order to get good grades... Hopefully that changes with my children so they would go to school because of learning and not because of grades. 
  3. Changing Times - I was used to OHPs when I was in College, but now Amanda has LED screen in their room.  Well, regardless of the technology, what's important is on how the lessons come across the students.  Even if Augment Reality becomes a basic educational tool in the future, what's vital is that kids learn faster and better.
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Our Artsy Long Weekend

6/30/2017

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Our long weekend started with Ava's vaccine with Doc Yan.  Ate Cassandra was prepping our bunso for her challenge.
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They goofed around and pretended to be minions.
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It seems Ava's all set and relaxed here...
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What could be more comforting than a mother's kiss.
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The two Ate's imagination at work again.
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How about a wacky pose before heading to our next destination.
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So on to our Artsy adventure to Art in Island, an art museum where you could be part of the art, a haven for selfie enthusiast located at 175 15th Ave., Brgy. Socorro, Quezon City, Philippines.
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I heard Ate Amanda said that they might find Lolo Ador and Lola Ludy there at the gates of heaven.
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These ladies are natural :)
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When the kids became bigger than mommy.
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Good job mama!
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...the most beautiful mermaid ever ;)
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The following day, the kids attended Dasha's Royal Princess Tea Party.  They've been so excited to attend and wear their gowns when they got invited two weeks ago.
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It was a tiring long weekend but we're blessed to add beautiful memories in our kids' childhood.
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The best product to sell online

6/20/2017

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Ever wonder what’s the easiest product to sell online?


Electronic books or e-books for short. It’s cheap to create and highly profitable.
Lifestyle Entrepreneur and business coach Jon Orana will hold a free and live online training on Thursday, Jun 22, at 8 P.M.


Register here >> https://effistrat.isrefer.com/go/webinar/airestacio


In this free webinar, you’ll discover...


* The 4-step process that I use to discover what people want for a digital product.
* How to hire freelance writer to write an e-book for you - cheaply and quickly.
* Step-by-step how to create and sell digital products for $20 upto $1,000
* How I sold close to $2 Million of my own products and programs online
* How to turn website visitors into paying customers
* Why NOW is the best time to take advantage of this growing $8 Billion industry
* How to securely receive payments online.


And a whole lot more.


Jon, don’t hold free webinar often. So, don’t miss this golden opportunity to be trained by top online entrepreneur in the country.


Register here >> https://effistrat.isrefer.com/go/webinar/airestacio
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Father's Day 2017

6/20/2017

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This year was different as it's our first time to celebrate Father's Day without Daddy Ador.  So as our first stop, we went to Heritage and visit both Mommy and Daddy.
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Somehow the three months seem to be long as many things happened after he passed away.  Or maybe, all of us were subconsciously immersing ourselves in our daily activities to somehow dilute the sorrow of losing Daddy. But in hindsight, our family has become much closer and stronger.

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My kid's favorite after the Heritage visit was breakfast time and bonding moments with their cousins.  We went to Burger King, just a few kilometers away from Heritage.
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Of course, Camilia showed her killer smiles and awesome cute moves to her Kuya, Ates, Tito and TItas.
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The kids went on to play hide and seek.  Good thing there are only a few customers so most of the dining area became their playground.
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Ate Julianna and Ate Champee posing for the camera.
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 After the simple breakfast celebration, we went home and I got these priceless gifts from my babies.
Nothing melts my heart than seeing my kids taking their time and effort to make these personalized greeting cards as it unleashed their creativity and more importantly, their love for our family.
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    I'm a technology geek, photographer, musician and a rookie dad trying out to speak my mind through writing my daily experiences as a young Pinoy dad.

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