38,000 Millionaires (US$) in the Philippines by 2015

Over the weekend, Z mentioned that Php50million in the bank is the bare 

minimum for a Pinoy to be considered rich these days. 

I wondered, How many people actually have this much assets??? 

Well according to Julius Baer - "The Philippines will have 38,000 millionaires 

(in US$) by 2015". Hence, the Php50million number.

I'm not quite sure when Php50million became the gold standard but I must

admit I wasn't paying attention when this figure was pegged. I mean is this

really an exact science? And if it is, what should it mean to me?

If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there. - Yogi Berra, 

American Baseball Player and Team Manager

The short conversation that I had made me realize how much I've changed 

through the years. You see, 10 years ago, I was like other people; listening 

and believing others who had a definition for rich and successful. This brought

me some heartache because I was apparently chasing after things that were 

unimportant to me. 

At some point, I woke up and realized, "Hey, wait a minute, this isn't what 

I want." I then started making life choices based on what I assessed would 

work best for me.  I'm happy to say that at this point, I'm quite happy with 

the decisions I've made.

Some people will scoff at what I said and write me off as naive. But you 

know, the thought of that doesn't really bother me. C'est la vie. We all have 

our own reasons for being. Others have the right to be them, I have the right 

to be me, and you have the right to be you. 

Image courtesy of areasauburnphotos


p.s. So what about the state of our economy? Don't get me wrong, the more
financially stable we are as a people, the better. But I'm less hung up on
the ultra rich. What I'm hoping for is for the Philippines to have a stronger
middle class.

You don't need Php50Million to be middle class. But you do need enough
money to have a home, provide for your children, retire comfortably and then
give some to those still trying to get there.

Be Gentle

Image courtesy of lrargerich

Discipline

- "In the field of child development, discipline refers to methods of modeling 

character and of teaching self-control and acceptable behavior." - Wikipedia

Since day one, we've encouraged M to be gentle with people. M is allowed

to rough up his toys as much as he pleases but with people, he knows  

enough to be gentle. 

Our small successes:

- When M was a newborn, I would tell him while BF, "Be gentle." I'm proud
to say that M has only bit me twice.

- When M was a few months old, I would allow him to touch my face. I
would always say, "Be gentle." I'm happy to say M never got into the 

habit of hitting people.

- When M was more than a year old and hitting could have turned into 

a way of venting out frustration, M remembered that he should be gentle

with his cousins.

- Just this weekend, at 1 year 3 mo.s, M sat beside Lola C, his 90+ yr 

old great-great-grand ma, and gently caressed her arm. Yup, 1 chalk up

for being gentle.

"Be Gentle" is a simple, loving and age appropriate way for us to teach M
discipline. We're starting young because good habits don't just happen overnight;
good habits need to be developed over time. I hope this encourages you to
discover simple, loving and age appropriate ways to teach discipline to your
child.

How to Praise a Child

Image courtesy of Kneff Photography

Did you know that when it comes to praising --- you can have too much of 

a good thing? 

I'm sure you've heard parents and teachers say this one too many times, 

"Great job!" Heck, I do this too! However, if not done properly, adults
could be producing "praise addict" children. A praise addict child is one
that needs constant praise. This can turn into an insecurity when pleasing
others becomes the child's main motivation. The need for praise can become
a hindrance for learning when the child avoids challenging activities because
he/she feels the outcome will not be praised.

Let me emphasize that nobody is contesting the need to praise a child. 

Instead, we're being asked to reconsider the way we praise a child. Aha!

Back then, we were told that a child should be affirmed of his/her innate 

goodness. The child is praised for a job well done --- "Great job!" This is
to emphasize that being a good person and accomplishing a task well are
two independent things.

Nowadays, parents and adults are encouraged to help a child appreciate
what he/she has accomplished. "Start by focusing on what a child is doing 
rather than how you you feel about what the child is doing." - Teach Preschool

Here are some examples:
- When a child asks, "Do you like my painting?" turn it back to the child 
and ask him/her, "What do you like about your painting? or ask him/her 
to describe what they like about their painting to other children

- When a child asks, "Do you like my tower?" get the child to discuss the 
process of making it, "How did you make that tower?"

- Describe by stating the details you observed, for example,"You decided 
to use green paint", "You started at the top of the paper"

- Focus on the process rather than the end result, for example letter grade, 
"What did you have to do to get that grade?" "How does getting that grade 
make you feel?"

- Acknowledge a child by stating what they have done, "Look how you are 
climbing up the ladder?" "I remember when you could not kick, now you 
can kick. Kick this box". - Dan Hodgins

Hmmm, I know it sounds a bit like extra work. However, it's nothing more
than just paying attention to the child and what he/she is doing. Aha! That
is something we really should be doing. 

Baby M at 4months

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog

My, how time flies! Baby M is now 4 months old!

M now sleeps on his tummy all the time. He used to have a slight
reflux problem. To remedy this, we let him sleep on his tummy
during the daytime. It was here that we were able to observe that
M already had neck control.

However, by his 3 months check-up, we were worried that his head
was getting flat. So, with the pedia's thumbs up, we let him sleep
on his tummy all through the night. I think there has been some
improvement in that area.

Before you react... Yes, we too were worried about SIDS! But we
were confident that by this time, he could already move his head
when he wanted. And, the pedia said, so long as there is nothing
on M's bed that could cause suffocation (pillows, blankets, toys,
etc), M would be okay.

2 days ago, M had an "AHA!" moment. Okay, call me crazy but it
was this look that he had. A realization that this is what it means
to roll over! See, he's done it before -> 2x on his first two weeks
and 1x in April. But, it's only now that he's understood that it's
a "skill". Now, he seems to want to do it every time he has tummy
time!

And today, he "shouted" when I was not paying attention.

Sorry if Im gushing all over. I guess I'm just being a proud mama!