Birthdays are overrated. Although it could be argued that simply because I usually don’t celebrate birthdays, it doesn’t mean it’s overrated. As Ted Failon said in jest, why would I spend tons of money to entertain my family and friends during my birthday? Why can’t they make little contributions to give me a treat? It’s my birthday for crying out loud. They say jokes are always half-meant. (more…)
Yesterday, my son was playing games in the laptop and, unknown to me, was tinkering with the files in it. He always had a problem double left-clicking with the laptop’s touch pad, so he sometimes go with the right click. I was wondering, after he used the laptop, why there are multiple copies of files on the desktop. It turned out that was the least of my concerns. (more…)
Men are not known to be the best chronicler of dates, and that I mean calendar dates of events or occasions that matter to their significant others. Anniversaries and birthdates. You name it, we men are guilty as charged. Surely there are exceptions, but they are, well, the exceptions. Chances are, you’re not one of those exceptions. (more…)
Grandparents seem to have this habit of loving grandchildren more than the parents of those grandchildren (apo). That phrase “parents of those grandchildren” means us, of course. For many of us new parents, this is rather strange because our children are twice removed from our respective parents, and so our parents’ love and loyalty should be stronger towards us. Or so we thought. (more…)
There was once a time when it’s acceptable for a parent to impose discipline by hitting the child with a rod or stick. Some might still be using this form of punishment, but I suspect it’s just a figure of speech nowadays (but again, we can never be sure). It basically has this meaning: failure to instill discipline will spoil the child. (more…)
In reviewing the life of a successful person, the usual focus is the personal or inborn traits of that person. This is not the entire story, as discussed in the new thought-provoking book of Malcolm Gladwell, the Outliers: The Story of Success (Little, Brown and Company [2008], 309 pages). (more…)
Striking a balance between career and family is never easy. Even superheroes are confronted with the dilemma of choosing between spending time with a loved one or saving the world. Ask Batman or Spiderman. Or even Superman. They would probably tell you (rather, you’d probably read) not only that with great power comes great responsibility, but also that it’s much difficult for ordinary mortals to balance work and family. (more…)
There’s a growing debate on the proposed “Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008” (House Bill No. 5043). In essence, the propose law mandates the Population Commission (POPCOM) to be the central planning, coordinating, implementing and monitoring body for effective implementation of the law. It provides for the creation of an enabling environment for women and couples to make an informed choice regarding the family planning method that is best suited to their needs and personal convictions, ensuring the availability of hospital-based family planning methods such as tubal ligation, vasectomy and intrauterine device insertion in all national and local government hospitals, except in specialty hospitals. (more…)
The frequency of “no” from the mouth of my son had been increasing for around two months now. Brush your teeth: No. It’s time to go to sleep: No. Let’s continue playing tomorrow: No. The only exception is when we ask him if he wants milk, to which he will nod his head with a smile. (more…)
First off, let’s get things straight — no, I didn’t write this one, and, in my defense, my wife made me post it =). If I sound defensive, you’ll know why when you get to the end of the – how to call it, poem? This is one of those emails currently going around and I’d be more than glad to attribute authorship if someone steps up.) (more…)
