I have a 6-year old and a 3-year old in the house. What do you expect when you have 2 active boys staying at home?

A BIG MESS!

No matter how obedient they are during clean-up time (and most of the time they aren’t…lol), the house still ends up having so much clutter. These days, my 3-year old likes using scissors. In fairness to him, he always asks permission and ask me for papers he is allowed to cut. So far, he has not sneaked out on me and cut something he was not allowed to do. Pray that day will not come!

One day last week, it got me into thinking, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! And so, I gave him scratch papers to tear. This time without scissors… and he complained that it was hard for him to cut without scissors… hahahaha:

In between complaints, he managed to tear the papers and realized he was actually having fun doing it while complaining at the same time. Does it make sense? Hahahaha… that’s my adorable 3-year old.

He was intrigued when I got a glue and an empty container. When he knew what he was about to do, he enthusiastically glued each torn scrap paper to the empty container:

He was quite pleased with himself. He knew that he made something out of his mess and he will have a present for his Daddy when he comes home from his business trip:-):

Simple things + simple joys make a Happy Child.

Have a wonderful week ahead.

I don’t know if he learned about mountains in school or he got to know about them from playing or from reading, but his fascination for mountains is reflected in his writing. Here’s another unedited “guest post” – I steal his writings, with credits given to him, of couse –  from my son (corrections of his writings are treated like playing time as he does not bother to listen…lol):

Their were three friends who lived in an old house. thier names are John paul who is friends with LeNaum. LeNaum he is a movie actor and he is very playfull. And the last one is the little one. his name is Xian. He lived in Europe before. And he was a very very very cute child. Then he transferred to the Fillipines. He made friends with lots and lots of Fillipinos. Those three boys went to Mount Kilimanjaro And it was very very tiring trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro. And they also went to Mt Everest. And they went to Mount Fuji and it was also tiring. And they lived happily ever after.

My son wrote a simple story last night. Here it goes, unedited:

Their were two men and those were Daddy’s friends. Those where LeRuof’s Daddy’s friends and their name is zee and will. They were very busy and LeRuof’s family went to a very exciting trip on Mt. Everest and to Mt. Kilimanjaro. They were very tired but happy.

Of course, it needs some editing but I’m a proud Mom of a 6-year old♥

Good morning…

Firstborn is turning 6 in a few days. We had a talk about bullying and hitting last night. I laid down my rules and checked if he remembers well:

ME: So, what’s the first rule about hitting?

Firstborn: I will not hit first.

ME: What do you do if a girl hits you?

Firstborn: Tell her I don’t hit girls and go away from her?

ME: What do you do when a boy hits you?

Firstborn: Tell him that hitting is not good.

ME: What if he hits you again?

Firstborn: Tell him don’t hit me or i’ll hit you back.

ME: And if he hits you for the third time?

Firstborn: I will hit him real hard so he will never hit me again.

ME: Great!

Firstborn: But Mommy, what if he hits me again several times?

ME: Then I will hit you real hard so you’ll know how to hit hard.

That simply shows that you were not effective enough to scare bullies away!

Tough talk,yes! But I am a Mom of two boys and bullying is an ever-present threat these days. I will never allow my kiddos to be bullies but I will not allow them to be bullied, too.

I ended it with:

ME: But you’re both likable boys, babe. You’ll do just fine!

Firstborn got 2 bronze medals from Kumon. Yey!

It wasn’t easy for him. He sometimes had to cry. He sometimes had to bear his tiredness, or sleepiness. Or he simply sometimes just wanted to play. But he knew that he had to work on his worksheets… and he always did.

All Kumon moms could relate to this situation. But we just had to keep on. Not for us. But for the kids.

We may grin with pride when we hear people congratulating us for the achievement of our kids but we know that more than the credits (for us, parents, and for our kids), the discipline that they get from diligently working on their worksheets is something that they could carry on even in other aspects of their life.

The recognition that my kiddo got is a badge of honor that is permanently etched in his self-esteem.

The medals are prominently displayed because he deserves to feel good about his achievement. To think that he is just 5 years old.

Way to go, kiddo!

He is 5 going on 6…

He is still into Berenstian Bears, Curious George and Dr. Seuss… even Mother Goose rhymes:-)…

but yesterday, he started reading his very first novel, the first book of the Geronimo Stilton series…

Way to go, Firstborn!

Firstborn had his first taste of what a contest is like.He joined “SM LIttle Stars 2012“.

It all started with his curiousity about what the lady kept on annoucing during the Spiderman Meet and Greet in SM City Iloilo. After I explained to him that it was for “charming and talented” kids, he said that he wanted to sing and perform. Alright!

We went to the scheduled audition. Among the boys, he was the only one who went on stage to sing acapella. We didn’t prepare any minus one for him (sorry kiddo!). But he was chosen as one of the eight boys to compete in the elimination round. Yahoo!

The thing is, I didn’t emphasize the audition as a “contest”. I told him, if he wanted to perform he should perform the best way he can. And he did. After hearing me congratulate him for doing his best, he happily told his second cousin “Mommy said I did my best”. And he was proud of himself. That in itself was a reward for him already plus he got to play in Kevin’s right after his performance. He had no idea that 8 boys and 8 girls were to be selected from among the many auditionees.

I was asked to get him immediately from Kevin’s during the announcement of the winners. I knew then that he made it to the elimination round. He didn’t know why he had to hurriedly get out of his fave playhouse and he was carried to the stage for picture taking with the other winhers:-).

It was emphasized during the orientation that the 2 boys and 2 girls who will be chosen will go to Cebu. The word Cebu was magic to his ears. You see, he enjoyed his shooting in Cebu during the filming of “The Taste of Money”, a Cannes Film Festvial entry last May by acclaimed director Mr. Im Sang-soo. Cebu was what matters to him. The thing is, we were billeted in a suite room in The Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort and Spa. Cebu for him is the whole grounds of that fun place. And that is where he thinks the 2 boys and 2 girls who will be chosen will be going. He has no idea that there will be more contests to come.

He was not chosen last Sunday but I was immediately there to carry him. He asked me “What does this mean, Mommy?” He was carrying the Certificate of Participation that time and seeing other kids crying over their disappointment, I immediately told him “We are going to Cebu, Babe”. That made him happy and that made him smile.

I couldn’t allow his 5-year olf self to wallow in disappointment. His idea of winning is going to Cebu and so Cebu it shall be! The boy did his best!

I allowed him to join only because he was excited to perform and performing in a big crowd increases his self-confidence. It should not be a venue for lessons in humility, sportsmanship, dealing with disappointment, etc… He is just 5 years old. He is in a sensitive age of building his self-confidence. Why shatter his self-confidence when he had done his best?

And so, he feels like a winner! And he is a winner!

Way to go… my Firstborn!

My Firstborn has settled down with our daily English Kumon schedule. I feel that he is ready to add another undertaking so I asked hubby if we could add Math Kumon to his daily schedule.

So, here we are:

The same Kumon teacher will be supervising him every Tuesdays for English and Math. The rest of the week, we will be doing the two subjects together. Each time I say, it’s Kumon time, our Second-born would be looking for his own pencil and paper and sit in his own chair, too.

Way to go, babies!

It’s Little Dynamo’s 2 weeks spring vacation.

Our house is a mess of toys and books. Some days we go out with friends. Some days we are at a friend’s house or at the building’s playroom. Some days friends are in the house. But all the mornings, we spend inside the house.

It’s a battle between me picking up books and toys and the boys scattering them around until I give up. Sometimes it’s a battle between the two of them.

To whom will mommy read? 

Which book will I read?

Little Dynamo’s dinosaur book or Baby Dynamo’s toy story book?

Mommies of two, what do you do?

It’s amazing to see milestones after milestones of babies.

I was particularly amazed at my Little Dynamo’s development. He was a very active baby with very fast physical, emotional and intellectual development. When I became pregnant with my Baby Dynamo, I promised myself never to make his older brother’s development a benchmark for his development. I’m glad I readied myself with that state of mind.

Hubby and I rejoice with each milestone our new baby reaches. He is now ready to practice walking… little by little, we encourage him to use his legs for walking. Last weekend was a good time to gift him with his first pair of shoes: