Need ideas how to spend Valentines with your spouse even if you have to bring the kids along?

Image borrowed from www.zazzle.com

It took years before my husband and I could go on a Valentine’s date by ourselves again. With four kids and no maid, we would often end up going out with the whole family or not at all.

Thankfully, my two older boys are now in their teens and can already be trusted to look after their younger brothers for a few hours while mom and dad watch a movie or have a fancy meal.

Other couples don't have that privilege. But hey, you can still have a romantic Valentine's date even with kids in tow. It just takes some creativity.

Read the rest of my article entitled Valentine Dates with Kids which came out yesterday in Manila Bulletin's Moms&Babies' section.

We're entering a new year tomorrow and, for most people, it's a great time to think about all those goals we'd like to achieve for the next 12 months. If you have kids, you may also want to encourage them to set achievable targets so they'd also learn more about self-discipline and the joys of earning well-deserved rewards.

You can read my latest Manila Bulletin article Going for the Goal to get started :)

I believe that being web-savvy does not equate to being web-wise. There's a difference.

I know several people, including my teens, who easily navigate the World Wide Web and find information they need in seconds. Unfortunately, many of them still get lured to downloading programs or trying out applications that may harm their computers or, worse, compromise their identities, and their families'.


Just look at the dozens of Facebook applications that send out unauthorized posts on the walls of everyone in your contacts list. That is, if you are gullible enough to be tempted to view a supposedly very interesting video, photo, etc.

A couple of weeks ago, I announced a free seminar for teens in an earlier post. Last Saturday, my two teenage sons attended the said seminar. Later, they acknowledged learning a lot of new things about online safety.

Incidentally, my article about the things I also learned during an earlier Web Safety seminar for parents came out that day in Manila Bulletin's Moms & Babies section. You can read the online version of Web Wise here.


*Photo borrowed from the Calgary Public Library blog

Did you know that every person has 8 kinds of intelligences and that the dominant intelligences play a role in our individual book selections? Read my article entitled Book Smart which came out in yesterday's issue of Manila Bulletin. There, you'll be able to check what are the foremost intelligences your child has and how these can help you better choose books that would get him/her to read more.

Last week, another article I wrote came out. If you are a parent of a baby or very young child, you may want to know more about the do's and don'ts in preventing Shaken Baby Syndrome.

BTW, in case you're curious, here's the video I was talking about in the article. WARNING, don't watch if you have a queasy stomach. When I chanced upon this video on Facebook, (I hope people who shared this with others had given some kind of warning, I thought it was just a cute clip! Argh!) I wanted to stop looking a minute or so after the video started but I found myself forced to watch until the very end to see if the baby would still be alive after the end of the song :( I only watched this once and will never watch it again.