Meanwhile, as much as I would like everyone to win a Johnsons gift pack, I’m afraid only one can be chosen as the winner and it is no other than Miss Gelyn Coronel. Her winning comment which says “Best Bubbly Bath Buddies” is shown in the following screencap:

Miss Coronel may pick up her gift pack at Nuffnang’s office in Unit 2E03-2E05 Bldg. 5, Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. You may reach them at 02 856 3239. Please bring two (2) valid IDs. If you can’t get it yourself you may send a Manila based authorized representative to do so.

To complete this announcement, please note the shortlisted participants for the commenter contest are as follows:

• “The Johnson BB’s (Bath Buddies)” – Alvin Paul Azurin
  
• “J&J Makes a Bubbly Bath” – Christine Magno
  
• “You Don’t Have to Be a Baby to Use J&J” – Eden Rose Galang

Again, thank you very much for your support!

Of course, like any mom who believes in her child’s potential, I hurled my little boys together with their dad to the mall thinking that everything’s going to be a piece of cake. I’ll have my kids dressed in something which we bought at Robinsons, register, and off to the stage for the much-awaited modeling moment. Sounded really easy, until Arvid began to cry! (sob sob)

So how did I really encourage him to go up the stage and like modeling? I used these steps. You may try them, too:

1. Talk to your child and explain the purpose of the activity he’ll take part in.

2. Let your child see for himself how the other participants are enjoying the activity.

3. Go to the place where the activity is happening and show him how things go.

4. Point to your child the steps which he would have to follow.

5. Give your child a pat on the shoulder and tell him how he’ll have his favorite pizza or fried chicken right after the activity. (yehey yehey)

If these fail, you may try modeling yourself! (lol ) Meanwhile it is quite interesting to note that there are also kids like my 19month-old tot who can handle big crowds and perform tasks like modeling clothes without any fuzz.

I love my kids!

Attached to these Korean words are big parts of me. One of these is a treasured friendship with the first Korean lady who gave friendship a true name more than a decade ago. I’m talking about my good friend Seung Min Hong, whom I fondly call on her English name, Carol.

We met at Wesley Dorm, a student’s dormitory at Wesleyan University-Philippines, way back in 1999. There we shared really great times together — praying, teaching and learning Korean and English, singing songs and sharing stories only we could talk about. And like other genuine friends do, we had shared both joys and tears, too.

Eleven years later, after losing each other, I found dear Seung Min at David’s House in Mall of Asia. My husband, my cousin and I were on our way to the theater to watch “No Other Woman” when we passed by the children’s center. Nick said he thought he saw Seung Min and when I turned to look her way, I saw her back, just her back, and realized that it really was her! We hugged more than once, exchanged numbers and promised that we’d get reconnected through Facebook — and so we did! I’m happy to have you back, Seung Min!

Well, they made it! We made it! Thanks everyone for being a part of Arvid and Peebee’s first successful contest. Now did I just say “first”? No wonder Johnson’s Baby is a World of Firsts!

In the movie, Charmaine is a pretty young wife who does nothing but to patiently wait for her husband to come home while she does everything that a traditional wife has to do — cook, finish a crochet, and please her hubby, Derek Ramsey a.k.a. Ram. Well, she’s obviously rich and educated, but she opted to be — as Anne Curtise, a.k.a. Kara said — a pathetic boring wife, all because she loves him so much.

The husband, Ram, tried to make himself believe that no one else could get his attention away from his lovely wife. But as he went about his furniture business, he saw new faces and bumped with the likes of Kara. He struggled to keep his promise to his wife, but fell prey to his own fears of being like his father, whom he hated so much.

Meanwhile, the “other woman”, Kara, is a young and sophisticated lady who certainly knows how to make her presence felt. New York-bred, she is an empowered lass who exercises her right to practice her profession and be of use in nation-building. She accidentally met Ram, whom she thought wasn’t hitched, and fell in love with him.

After careful observation, let me focus on what I deduced from the scenes of the movie. There are Filipina wives who lose their individuality once they get married. They just become their husband’s shadow. In the process of loving their husbands they lose themselves. If this is left unattended, it would lead to a wife’s misery of losing her love for herself.

Well, of course that is if we’d let this happen. If loving someone means forgetting yourself, then I guess there isn’t real love there at all.

Looking like a bigger Tweetie Bird, Iglot must have caught my children’s attention because of its bouncy characteristic and its ability to do some magic when the need arises. In the eyes of little children like Arvid and PeeBee, these are amazing enough. But not everything in the show must be seen by children, thus the PG warning, and so I watch it with them.

In tonight’s episode, Iglot caught not my kids’ attention, but mine. Mariella lost her baby because her husband bit her, but still he blames her for what happened. Mariella on the other hand still thinks from time to time that his husband might be right so she gives in to all this wants and allows him to control her life. She even has to ask permission if she wants to go out of the house, but the man wouldn’t allow her.

That this scenario is depicted in the show tells me that the ugly and unwanted oppression of men over women, specifically husbands over their wives,  is still happening among today’s Filipino families. And that is despite the fact that Republic Act 9710 or Magna Carta of Women, which was signed on August 14, 2009, already took effect on September 15, 2009!

Is it because many Filipino women are still unaware of their rights? If so, then the government must not forget to disseminate the information among its female constituents even in the farthest and smallest communities of our country. To do my share in promoting women empowerment, let me quote here Republic Act 9710 or Magna Carta of Women, Chapter 1, Sec. 2, Declaration of Policy:

Recognizing that the economic, political, and sociocultural realities affect women’s current condition, the State affirms the role of women in nation building and ensures the substantive equality of women and men. It shall promote the empowerment of women and pursue equal opportunities for women and men and ensure equal access to resources and to development results and outcome. Further, the State realizes that the equality of women and men entails the abolition of unequal structures and practices that perpetuate discrimination and inequality. To realize this, the State shall endeavor to develop plans, policies, programs, measures and mechanisms to address discrimination and inequality in the economic, political, social and cultural life of women and men.

Focusing on what happened between Juancho and Mariella in Iglot, it is also but wise for Filipina wives to know that one of their rights as guaranteed under the Magna Carta of Women includes the rights to decide on the number and spacing of their children and enjoy personal rights including the choice of a profession, among others.

Aside from these, the law also supports and protects the rights of women in the marginalized sector as well as the senior citizens.

Going back to Iglot, it is good to know that the media never stop in waking up the people’s awareness on things and issues that beset our society, especially the Filipino family.

Kudos, Iglot! You woke up the sleeping Filipina in me, not that I am oppressed, but because you reminded me of my responsibility to my country and my fellow women, in particular.

1. A child’s seventh birthday is also the time of confirmation among Catholics, therefore the tradition may be religion-based.

2. The seventh year marks a child’s emotional and social growth as he becomes more independent and exposed to others apart from his immediate family.

Meanwhile, why the Tagalogs include The Seven Roses tradition in a girl’s seventh birthday may be patterned after Debutant celebrations.

Well, whatever the reason is, I felt happy for little Arvid Matthew who is now learning to socialize with other kids at age 4. Here are his other photos with his proud and happy dad.

Time flies really fast, but moms like me hardly notice it. It’s only when I catch my sons, Arvid and PeeBee, doing things which adults do when reality sinks in — my babies aren’t babies anymore!

My firstborn, Arvid Matthew, turned 4 last August. Since infancy, he has already exhibited physical, intellectual, emotional and social traits that are beyond his actual age. At day one outside my womb, his fontanel is already completely closed. Before a week old, he can already turn to his sides. At six months, his attention span astonishingly exceeded the norm as he can watch a full Barney, Hi-5 or Psalty’s show without making a fuss. Amazingly, my first bundle of joy also has a photographic memory as he has perfect recollection of events that have happened in the past. A charming little guy, he receives quite attention not only from us, but also from strangers. Who wouldn’t adore a little fellow who reads and scrutinizes the labels of grocery products that he buys?

Meanwhile, Paul Benedict, a.k.a. PeeBee is a witty little chatter at 1-year and 5 months. Literally a ‘hard-headed’ kid like his brother, he has an affinity with people’s names. At his age, he can clearly utter all the names of those he regularly gets in contact with. He can match each of the twenty-plus names he knows with the right face. Far from being a picky-eater, he eats almost any food I give him. He munches boiled cassava, banana, corn and okra! Oh yes, he eats boiled okra with gusto! A photo of him I took a few months ago perhaps explains his good appetite. This gives me a hint of what he might want to be someday.

Together, my kids are a bunch of adorable munchkins who love each other and enjoy each other’s company. They explore, play, travel, draw, eat, sing, watch DVDs, learn, bathe and grow happily together.

My kids are growing up so fast but there's something they can't outgrow -- my touch!

“What can you say about our photo? Please comment and let us know.”

They are changing before my eyes but their skin is still like a baby’s. We still need the gentle care of Johnson’s Baby Milk, with Vitamins A&E and 100% more milk proteins to nourish developing skin. As such, from being Johnson’s Baby Top to Toe babies, they are now Johnson’s Baby Milk and Johnson’s Baby Shampoo kids!Growing up can’t be as fun without  you.

]]> http://munzurin.com/blag/arvid-peebee-at-johnsons-my-kids-growing-up-so-fast-contest/feed/ 29 http://munzurin.com/blag/watch-3-idiots-on-teachers-day/ http://munzurin.com/blag/watch-3-idiots-on-teachers-day/#comments Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:03:26 +0000 armilie76 http://munzurin.com/blag/?p=2080 Today is World Teacher’s Day. This day, students all over the world may be celebrating the fact that they have good teachers.  But it may be possible that they are thinking otherwise. This brings 3 Idiots to mind.

3 Idiots is a comedy movie which was written, directed, produced and starred by Indians. A box office record holder in Bollywood, it revolves around three engineering students Farhan Qureshi, Raju Rastogi, and Rancchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad “Rancho”, who became really good friends; but were tagged as “idiots” by the college dean Professor Viru “Virus” Shahastrabuddhe.

Rancho, who is in school to enjoy what he loves doing, leads the three idiots in showing what real learning is all about. In doing so, he coincidentally instructed the dean how real teaching happens. This is where the story took off, and the remainder of the movie is a mixture of hilarious, romantic and heartbreaking revelations which should be seen by students, teachers, parents and children.

As a teacher, a student, a child and a parent I highly recommend this movie. Let me give it five stars. What are you waiting for? Get a copy now and find out why three became idiots and how they managed to continue their lives despite it!

In the afternoon of September 26, 2011, heavy rains already filled the streets. I had to turn on  the car’s headlight as I drive home from Cabanatuan City – my sick kids and my mom in tow. Although there’s already a weather prediction for the next day, none in my family had an idea that it would be disastrous.

In the morning of September 27, 2011, typhoon signal number 3 is hoisted over Nueva Ecija. Like in the previous typhoon days which my husband had for the past ten years as a telecommunications engineer, that means being at work to make sure that the communication lines are open and uninterrupted. Did that sound so easy? It wasn’t.

So hubby went to work despite the heavy rains and raging winds. He braved the ugly weather for an hour before he reached his office. After several hours of driving to and from cell sites in different towns, the unwanted happened – a flash flood shocked the residents of Cabanatuan City. Because of this, he and his colleagues stayed in the office to try to keep the telecom lines unaffected. Amid their bustling work-load and intent desire to help the populace to have cellphone and internet signals, wives and children like me and my kids were left alone in our houses.

With two toddlers and a 60-year old mom with me, I had but my faith that God would spare us from the calamity as news and pictures about floodwater rising to more and more towns spread on Facebook, Yahoo and Twitter.  Putting good sense at play, I had a ladder ready just in case we’d need to climb to the ceiling. I also had foods, clothes, milk, water, emergency lights, my sons’s life vests and mobile phones ready. I thought it won’t harm anyone to be ready for eventualities especially because we couldn’t expect the local government for much help — they only had a few wooden boats for rescue.

With the weather and the waters getting worse, hubby had to stay at work for three consecutive days. And while my kids, my mom and I were spared from a horrible experience, the family of my husband’s boss had to climb to their attic as the flood rose to their ceiling. Amid his and his team’s busyness in giving the best service they could give to the subscribers, he didn’t have time to get his family out of their house before the flood rose. And weren’t we all thankful to God when he was able to finally get his family out of danger after two days and a night?!!

With these thoughts, I hope those who have complained about not having mobile and internet signals (but were not physically affected by the typhoons) would think twice or thrice the next time they’d make a complaint in the future.

Thanks be to God for keeping us safe and unharmed. Meanwhile, I’m still praying for the many Filipinos who may be on their rooftops and ceilings as of this hour. May God protect them and keep them safe, too. Amen.