Saturday 12 October 2013

Teaching kids to be responsible early

Photo from thehappyhousewife.com found on facebook.

I'm proud to say that my kids remember their goals / targets.  I applied what I learned and used in my work at home to set KPIs (Key Performance Metrics) and to achieve them.  We only have 3 so that they won't forget:

1.  Feed your Mind (Soul)  - meaning to do all activities that will enrich the mind and nourish the soul - reading, math exercises, studying, reading the bible, praying, listening to worship songs etc.

2. Feed your Body - eat healthy food, drink plenty of water.  Limit sweets and salty food. No soda pop.

3. Cleanse your Body - taking a bath, brushing and flossing teeth, wearing clean clothes, washing hands, playing clean toys or games.

These activities are in order of priority.  They have to finish all three or complete one before doing another activity.  i.e.  Wash Hands first before eating or brushing teeth before going to bed.  They can play only after all 3 have been completed.

They are asked to do small tasks like setting up the table, tidying up toys and school or art supplies everyday.  Once a week, they help in the laundry by sorting their own clothes and storing them in their respective drawers.  They also water the plants indoors and outdoors during summer.  They also help in mowing the lawn using the manual type.  I remember this last summer, they helped me in the garden by removing all dandelions, raking the leaves and putting them in the bin.  I make it a point that every once in a while they wash the dishes.  Aloysius and Kyle work as a team with one soaping the dishes and the other one rinsing and storing.

Anything that hinders them from achieving these tasks are identified as time-wasters, and they need to stay away from it. Talk about efficiency and achieving the targets in our home.  I hope they will continue to develop good habits of doing something of value at an early age.  Striving for excellence will not be hard if you have started to achieve your set goals, you can outperform or overachieve and be hungry for more.

God will bless those who work with their hands.

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Rajgilc's reunion is finally happening

RAGJILC - These are my high school friends.  Please read my previous blog post about how exciting our teenage lives were. The recent vacation of one of our dabarkads in London where 2 in the group met made most of us envious.  The FB comments included -how come kayo Lang? Or next time sa US naman etc. These prompted us to push through with the plans of having a grand reunion, as in GRAND! So we started reconnecting thru Viber chat and calls, Skype, FB and emails as some of us are not techy (asking help from daughters to install the APP LOL!).

Anyway, it was decided that we will all go to Florida so that everyone will travel by land or air.  There are lots of beaches, theme parks and other attractions in Orlando. If time and budget permits, we can go and try a 2-night cruise to The Bahamas. With our families in tow, we need variety of activities that our children can be busy with while we spend time together in our vacation home.  Yes, we have already made a reservation and the room assignment is completed.  We are all very excited, keeping in touch with each other everyday thru Viber text and calls for updates.  This alone is something that we missed, talking to each other endlessly. You could just imagine how our chat in Skype sounded like when everybody wants to talk at the same time, it was like the old times in our hang out - Masanga, only now global na!

I hope that others will keep in touch and join us in conversations, now the topics are more of value and not just friendly chatter.  Sometimes, we just laugh and exchange silly stickers or icons just to keep us sane from the daily chores and stress from work. Looking forward to spending time with you my dear friends. It's going to be one of a kind gallibonding!