MommyPatch to the Rescue!

My daughter has extremely sensitive skin that seems to be prone to all kinds of insect bites. The worst part is that the bites get really red and huge due to her allergies. Unfortunately, most people in our family (including my little girl) are also sensitive to strong smells so Citronella wasn't our answer.

Or so I thought. Enter MommyPatch Anti Mosquito patches, an effective mosquito repellent crafted through Citronella oil. Although a tad pricier than its counterparts, it's subtle scent more than makes up for the added cost - saving both our irritable noses and my daughter's skin! No more mosquito bites and oddly enough, we noticed that the ants, bed bugs, roaches, and whatever else had been triggering her allergies have been successfully kept at bay as well. The patches are effective for 12 hours and because it uses 3M adhesive, we're able to reuse them throughout the day before one last application on my tot's pajamas at night.

You can find the patches at SESOU Nature Source in Alabang, Glorietta, Trinoma, or Market! Market! or at any of the MommyPatch local and international distributors listed on its website.

Look before you Leap

Do NOT buy Leadpad 2 or any related product without asking the sales representative for full disclosure on how to install, set up, and download content for the system. My husband and I have spent a sleepless night trying to install their App Center (which failed on 2 out of 3 computers) only to discover that Asia is not included in the list of countries in the App Center. If you are from "other countries" (e.g., Asia), you will not have access to download the quality, branded apps that feature Disney and Nickelodeon characters. And this after waiting nearly a month for the release of the Leappad 2, which is sold at near double the price here in the Philippines (to say nothing of the additional charge to buy the rechargeable batteries). Now I will have to face a disappointed little girl on the morning of her birthday who was expecting a Leappad with a Dora or Disney Princess app. This is not at all what I expected from a renowned developer of children's toys and educational applications. I will do my best to resolve within the next two days - if I don't, I must say the company should not have bothered to sell their products internationally.

******UPDATE******

Below is the response from Leappad Support, which basically just says that "App Center content may vary by country" and that I can purchase cartridges instead. Unfortunately, the cartridges here in the Philippines are limited and a lot of the ebooks and applications on the App Center are not available in cartridge format. Also, the downloadable content doesn't just "vary." It's extremely limited and does not allow "other countries" to download ANY content related to Disney or Nickelodeon characters. This lackluster response does not resolve the issue and substantially brings down the product's value for money in Asian countries. Kudos to Rustan's Makati for processing our return without much fuss after we explained the situation and for allowing us to exchange for another toy of similar value.

"We apologize for the inconvenience.
There are 3 ways you can purchase items from the App Center:

1. Redeem an App Center or Leaplet Download Card or Code to fund your account balance

2. Redeem a bonus code

3. Use a credit card (credit cards may not be accepted in all countries) 

Important: All App Center sales are final. Your account is charged when you click the Place Order button. App Center Download Cards are valid only for purchases in the LeapFrog App Center for the country in which the card was purchased. **App Center content may vary by country."

You can purchase the cartridge games for the device. You can contact your local distributor."

Seeking Board Games for Preschoolers? (No, It's Not Hi Ho Cherry-O)

My husband and I love board games! Naturally, we thought it would be a good family bonding activity with our little girl also and started to look into games that she could play.

We started with the typical Snakes and Ladders. It's easy and has a lot of variations (Mickey Mouse, Princess, etc.) at the toy store so it's easy to find a set that your child will appreciate. The game teaches kids the basics of counting, taking turns, and winning/losing graciously.

The next step was a bit harder. We wanted something more challenging, but still apt for our preschooler's level. I chanced upon Monopoly Junior Party at the toy store and this proved to be the answer for us (at least, for now). Instead of properties, players buy parties that cost 1-5 money. The denomination of the money is all 1's. With uber-simplified game rules, cupcake tokens, and a party box in place of railroads - this game is just right for preschoolers. It taught my daughter to count faster and further ingrained the concepts of taking turns. The chance cards encouraged her to read and already she's starting to show interest in the original version of the Monopoly game.

Dominoes was another sure hit with our little girl. We got it when she just turned 3. At the time, she was more interested in building houses with it. We tried again now that she's about to turn four. She finally understands the concept of the game and it's become one of our favorite (and fun!) family activities. There are a lot of versions available, we bought the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse one that features the faces of the characters (instead of just the dots). There is a Do-It-Yourself Dora version available online at the NickJr website.

Top (and free!) 5 iPad Apps for My Preschooler

Wow...it's been a little over two months since my last post - a testament that the life of a SAHM and/or WAHM can get very hectic! Let's see if I can make up for lost time... ;-)

My husband and I got an iPad for our anniversary and despite our noble intentions to try to limit the time our curious little girl spends with it (we still believe in active play, or at least, that's what we try to tell ourselves as we attempt to pry her little fingers from it so we can collect coins at the Snoopy Fair!), we can't help but give in to her at least a couple of hours a day. If nothing else, it's a sure-fire way to get her up in time for her morning classes!

As much as I'd like to stick to the educational apps, I have to admit that they're not very appealing - especially if they're free. Despite being on numerous "Top 10" lists out there, a lot these are repetitive, with bad graphics, and let's face it - downright boring for our kids. Here are a few gems I've discovered that I find to be appropriate edutainment for my tot's age (and best of all, you don't need to pay a cent!):

(1) Colormixer - this is one of the first ones we got and we love it! Kids are only given buckets of primary colors to work with that they have to mix to get new colors (e.g., red and blue make purple) for the app's coloring page. It's a great way for preschoolers to learn about color combinations.

(2) Mickey Mouse Road Rally - this free app from Disney features the full-length film in interactive format. Your tot will help Mickey Mouse and his friends solve puzzles to reach the finish line - a must have for any die-hard Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan! If your child is leaning more towards Jake and the Neverland Pirates, there's a free educational app featuring this show's characters too!

(3) My Little Pony by Ruckus Reader - this app comes with a free eBook featuring the adorable Twilight Sparkle and all her friends from the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic generation. The app reads out the words to your emerging reader and includes a "sticker page" at the end for free play.

(4) Barbie I Can Be - does your little girl want to be a baker, veterinarian, or pizza maker? This simple app will give her a dose of what it's like to be all three!

(5) Barbie Fashionista - if your daughter loves dress up games, there are numerous Hello Kitty and Princess Dress Up games out there, but Barbie Fashionista by far surpasses all. Skip the part about needing a ring/accessory - you don't need it to use the basic dress up app, which gives you a choice of more than a dozen barbie dolls and hundreds of combinations for clothes, shoes, hair, and accessories. I was planning to buy my girl the actual Barbie doll with the closet, but with this app, I may no longer need to. This is just the thing for all little girls who want to play dress up - and for moms who still wish they had their Barbie collection!

Learning How to Read Next Steps: Disney's Adventures in Reading

In my April 15 post, Learning How to Read First Books, I listed websites that featured simple 1-page stories that my daughter could follow. While she was happy to finally read on her own, the novelty of these simple, repetitive tales soon wore off and she started looking for real books with real stories. Unfortunately, a lot of the Level 1 learn-to-read type books were still too complicated for her and frustrated her to no end.

Disney came to our rescue with their new Reading Adventures Pre-Level 1 set. Each boxed set contains 10 illustrated books, stickers, achievement certificate, and parent letter. The stories, while simple, are engaging to the little ones due to their familiar characters and themes like friendship, feelings, seasons, etc. I bought the Mickey Mouse set to start with. My daughter read through the whole set in two days and loves the books! It also gave her the confidence to try reading other, more complicated books using similar sight words. I'm looking forward to trying the Winnie the Pooh version next.

Both boxed sets are available locally, at National Bookstore.

Haircut Disappointment

When getting your child's first haircut at a kiddie salon, I would recommend first observing how the hairdresser works with other customers. My family and I had a terrible experience in one of the more popular kiddie salons in Makati:

My 3-year-old daughter's hair ended up too short and obviously uneven. As soon as my daughter was seated, I stepped out and left my mother in charge as I needed to go to the restroom. The moment I came back, most of the hair on her back had been chopped off (really, I cannot think of a better term for it!), but that's how FAST the process was. I would think that a hairdresser should be more careful in handling a 3-year-old. The hairdresser blamed my mom, saying that she did ask if the length would be okay. Granted, my mom may have misjudged the length, and I would have let it slide except for 3 things:

(1) In cutting the bangs, she did not bother to hold it up with her fingers the way most hairdressers do and instead used the scissors directly on the forehead. When we requested for her to hold the hair away, she insisted that she had perfect control of the scissors! She eventually relented, so I did not press the issue. She may have control of the scissors, but not of the child! This is a safety hazard as one wrong move could injure the eyes!

(2) She was too fast and rough in all things - cutting the hair, wiping my child's face with a paper towel, brushing away the hair, etc. I could see how my mom could not have properly assessed the length. Also, she's a hairdresser. She should have realized that the length was too short for a girl - the length is just above my daughter's earlobe and she needed to apply a razor at the back.

(3) This is my child's second visit to a hair salon. The first was in Rustan's Makati. That was a much calmer experience for us and the hairdresser took his time. This is my basis for saying that this second experience was a huge disappointment and could have been handled much better.

I have replied to the feedback form on their website and hope the management will look into it.  I regret not observing them first. There was another little girl having a haircut and she did extremely well with the hairdresser assigned to her. I should have taken the time to see which hairdresser would work well with my child.

Paper Dolls and Worksheets

Just want to share a couple of great finds:

(1) WORKSHEETS and REVIEWERS

Visit school.ph for worksheets for both preschool and elementary kids. Covering all major subjects, these worksheets are made by moms for moms "to help their children do well in school." Registration is FREE (though premium membership is available for full access to worksheets and the answer keys) so you have nothing to lose by trying it out. The worksheets are in PDF format so all you need is an Adobe Reader and a printer and you're good to go!

(2) PAPER DOLLS

My daughter has just hit the paper doll mania stage. If you've gone through this with your kid, you've probably also experiences that one, teensy weensy annoying thing about paper dolls in general - as cute as they are, the clothes just don't stay on with those flimsy paper tabs! WS Pacific Publications (also known as Learning is Fun) solves this with paper dolls that have small lots for the tabs to go through, which prevents the clothes from sliding off. Their Princess Sticker and Activity Book comes with two such paper dolls. Although they only have a couple of dolls, clothes, and accessories, you can also pick up a copy of the mermaid, fairy, and ballerina editions in order to mix and match. At less than ~P80 each, you can buy the whole set at SM Department Store and still get more for your money than the flimsy Disney Princess counterpart. Each book also comes with stickers and activities (including puppets, connect-the-dots, etc.). I bought one to keep my daughter busy during our 1-hour flight to Cebu. It worked like a charm and all the dresses and accessories stayed on for the duration of the trip.

Shangri-La Mactan: Slice of Paradise

I highly recommend Shangri-La Mactan when planning a summer vacation with small children. My daughter is still iffy about swimming in the beach. Thankfully, this resort provided lots of alternatives to keep her entertained and allow us parents to relax!

(1) Adventure Zone - there's a two-storey play area for the big kids. Directly across from it is a small room called the "Toddler Zone" -  a miniature, quieter version where my daughter could play without fear of being trampled by the older crowd. The staff also holds daily arts and crafts sessions for FREE.

(2) Aqua Play - outdoor play area by the main pool rife with slides and showers. The showers still freaked out my daughter, but she did enjoy running around it.

(3) Miniature Golf and Putting Area - we weren't able to try this out though it was tempting - maybe next time? ;)

(4) Fish Feeding - get some fish food pellets from the counter and wade in the water. Pretty soon you'll be surrounded by colorful (and friendly!) fish.

(5) Water Sports - parasail at 150, 250, or 350 feet! There's also snorkeling, scuba diving, jet skis, banana boats, and glass bottom rides.

(6) E-zone - there is an actual Timezone inside the hotel! I would say enough said, but there's also a Wii station, air hockey, Internet, and pinball.

(7) Daily Breakfast Buffet - if you're traveling with kids, be sure to eat at Tides instead of Acqua. Tides has a mini buffet set up for children!

(8) Sand Castle Station - a small covered portion of the beach is dedicated to the artistic tots. It's well stocked with molds, pails, shovels, rakes and whatever else you need to create your masterpiece.

(9) Chi The Spa - the resort also has its own spa. At ~$100 for a "traditional Filipino hilot" though, we decided to pass on this one.

(10) SWIM!!! - there's at least 3 swimming pools and did I mention that there's a beach too? ;)

We stayed at the ground floor of the  Ocean Wing, which was well worth it. Every morning you can literally step out into a huge expanse of grassy walkways leading to the restaurants, pools, and beach. The Ocean Wing has its own pool, which is smaller, but just the thing when you want to kick back and relax and shy away from the boisterous crowd at the main pools.

Some tips: pass by a convenience store on your way to the hotel. The price of bottled water in their shops and restaurants is staggering! Also, set expectations with your tot - their cable TV does NOT have Disney Junior.

Summer Fun School @CIE + 50% Off Promo

The Summer Fun School is back in action at the CIE Preschool. The first wave starts tomorrow and there's a 50% discount for the first 30 enrolees! Enrol your pre-schooler for SY 2012-2013 by tomorrow, April 18, 2012, and your tot gets to attend their summer school for FREE. See flyer below for more information and school's contact details:

Catch the SpongeBob Party on May 5, 2012

Is your tot fond of the little guy who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Mine's not, unfortunately. But I do know that there a lot of little kids who are fond of SpongeBob SquarePants and thought it best to share the flyer I received in my inbox today.

So if you do have a kid who's mad about SpongeBob, then drop by Bonifacio Global City Open Field on May 5, 2012 for some fun in the sun at the SpongeBob Yellow Party! Games, activities, and prizes await! Best of all, entrance is FREE. Note that the party is from 3PM to 6PM so be sure your kids are protected from the summer heat.

Toddler Teachers (formerly Toddlers Unlimited)

To all mommies and daddies desperately seeking a preschool in Makati - have you dropped by Toddler Teachers yet? Be sure to stop by their new address at 120 Tordesillas Street, cor HV Dela Costa & Soliman St., Salcedo Village, Makati City (the official website still has the old address). I was very impressed by this school and wish I learned about it sooner.

The first thing to catch my eye were the facilities. The classrooms, toilets, and common areas  are spacious, bright, cheery, and well-equipped. The library alone is impressive! It's rare to see a preschool with it a separate room set up as a library (most would just have reading areas inside the classrooms). Rarer still to find one with a huge collection of well-organized books (I saw labels upon labels such as "Animals", "Counting", "Filipino", "Silly Stories", "Transportation", and many more). The cozy atmosphere and presence of couches makes it really inviting to the kids.

The staff is equally impressive. There are teachers, assistants, and helpers per class, making sure that the needs of each and every child is seen to. I was relieved that all the teachers had good diction!

Did I mention the preschool is recognized by DepEd? It also offers the Galileo Enrichment Program, which teaches English and Singapore math. If you're hunting for a preschool in Makati - this is definitely worth looking into! They are currently offering a summer program, with an option for 2x, 3x, or 5x a week.

Learning How to Read: First Books

So when my 3-year-old came up to me and said "Mommy, I want to learn how to read!" I eagerly started our lessons. She learned her letters and sounds already, so I figured some phonetics lessons and will be on our way to early reader books.

I could not have been more wrong. Most of the common words used in stories don't always follow the simple sound rules. "Me" is "M-ee" not "M-eh". "You" is "Y-oo" not "Y-oh-uh". And so on.

A preschool teacher brought me in the direction of "sight words" - the most frequently used words in the English language that kids should memorize. Sounded easy enough, but going through the words was boring and tedious for both me and my child. I could tell she was fast losing interest and knew I had to involve her more in the reading process.

I was also advised to find books with rhyming words. I browsed through the large selection in both National Bookstore and Power Books, but all the shelves of Pre-Level and Level 1 reader books still seemed to complicated for my daughter. The closest ones I found that were easy for her to grasp were Dora's So Many Bananas and Mickey Mouse's Are We There Yet? Where were the simple "See Jack run" and "See Jill play" books from my day?

Finally, I stumbled upon two great resources for free books for first time readers:

http://www.clarkness.com/Single%20Page%20Stories%20page%201.htm

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/printable_booklets.html

While my daughter is disappointed that they're not real books, I finally saw progress (and by the way her eyes sparkled, she did too!) as she read through the 1-page stories all on her own. It's slow going, but so were the lowercase letters, writing, and cutting in the beginning...so I'm still confident that we'll get the reading down pat too!

Incidentally, another great find for me is Disney School Skills: Sight Words which so far, has successfully taught her to recognize the words for the days of the week and colors.

Tot Can't Cut It?

Is your child having a hard time handling scissors? Is your child holding the scissors incorrectly, with the thumb pointing downwards? Is he or she cutting for all its worth, but still unable to make any kind of cut on the paper? Join the club! After trying out some cutting exercises with my 3-year-old daughter - who was near tears when she realized she just couldn't cut the paper on her own - I turned to Google for help. Thankfully, the ever-faithful search engine did not disappoint. Here's how my child learned to cut on her own within 1 week:

(1) Have your child hold the scissors the proper way. The thumb should go in one of the holes. The other hole should have the middle and ring fingers. The pointer or index finger should be outside, helping the middle and ring fingers push the lower part of the handle. The thumb should always be on the top side. Sometimes it helps to put a sticker on the lower part of your child's thumb as a guide - he/she would know she's holding it right side up if he/she could see the sticker.

(2) Use thin cardboard paper first. Calling card paper sold in National Bookstore or any Office Supplies store would do. Because the paper is firm, it will be easier for the child to cut through (i.e., most of the time ordinary paper would crumple easily or follow the scissors if the child does not yet have the proper grip or control). Because it's thicker than ordinary paper, it's also good for strengthening your child's grip and control of the scissors.

(3) Draw lines on the board paper for your child to follow. Start with simple straight lines, then slanted, then curved. Practice everyday, but stop when your child says he or she is tired.

After a week of practicing on at least one board paper a day, my daughter gained confidence. Her face simply lit up when she cut her first board paper! On the fifth day, I gave her the paper exercises again and this time, she finally had the proper hand grip and was able to cut through the lines without any problems.

Another good tip I found was in teaching the proper way to hold the scissors. Teach your child to grasp the blades (when closed) within their fist. Do a simple march after the cutting exercises to help them remember the proper way of holding scissors while walking.

Lastly, make sure you are using scissors appropriate for your child's size and age!

Get a Dash of Fun

Dash of Fun is a novelty toy store for "kids and kids at heart." It's branches are located at Eastwood Mall and Greenbelt 5. I didn't think we'd need more toy stores what with Hobbes, Toys R Us, Toy Kingdom, and Rustan's...but this novelty shop proved me wrong! They have an interesting selection of educational toys, a lot of which can't be found anywhere else. One of my recent finds in their shop was a set of magnetic letters.

My 3-year-old daughter enjoys playing with the letters on the fridge and using them to create words. Unfortunately, her current set only had one of each letter. After reading how much damage swallowing a magnet could do, I have not been a big fan of the cheaper plastic letters with the really small magnets at the back that tend to fall off over time. The really expensive magnetic, wooden alphabet sets at Hobbes and Rustans did not work for my pocket either! Dash gave me a solution I could work with - packs of magnetic letters (available in both upper and lower case) with the duplicates of common letters. The front end of each letter is a thick and colorful with a foam-like texture - easy for little hands to handle! The back part is fully covered with a magnet so it's not likely to come loose and even if it does it's not likely to be swallowed. The best part was that each pack of full 26 letters + additional common letters comes to just around ~P500. Half the price of its wooden counterparts! Sold!

oDesk - Is It For You?

What is oDesk?

oDesk is a website (https://www.odesk.com/) that allows freelancers (potentially you) to create profiles/resumes and apply for jobs posted by employers. Here's an FB page for Filipino oDesk freelancers (http://www.facebook.com/thefreelancepinoy)

 

Is it a scam?

No, it's free to join/register and once you've been contracted you will get paid based on your agreed price or hourly rate. Of course, there might be unscrupulous employers out there, but every job posting includes an employer rating. If you're careful about only applying for those with good ratings and verified payment schemes you should be okay. I have not yet gotten a job where I wasn't paid.oDesk earns by getting 10% off your rate once you are hired and paid.

 

How do I get paid?

You either apply for a fixed-rate or hourly job. You propose your rate when you apply and if you get hired that would be the basis for payment. Payment is in USD. There's about a week or two to process each weekly payment. Once done, the $ are put in your oDeskaccount. From there, you can either withdraw to a local bank account (I haven't tried this yet) or withdraw to PayPal and from there, withdraw to a local bank account. Note that the bank may charge for every withdrawal - for BPI it is P150.

 

What kind of jobs are available?

Main categories are Web Development, Software Development, Networking & Information Systems, Writing & Translation, Administrative Support, Design & Multimedia,  Customer Service,  Sales & Marketing, Business Services. If you're computer savvy (especially with Microsoft Office) and have good English communication skills, one of the higher paying jobs is that of a Virtual Assistant (similar to being a secretary for someone in US, UK, or Australia). To learn more about this kind of work, you can research "virtual assistant" via Google or drop by this website http://www.filipinova.com/ which offers VA training for Filipinos (I haven't tried this myself).

 

What are the benefits?

You get to work from home and at your own pace/time. Pay is good once you get a regular job.
 

What are the drawbacks?

In the beginning, it will be hard to get a job because there are so many people applying. Be sure to complete your resume and portfolio, take the oDesk exams, and apply for as many jobs as you can. It might also help to lower your rate for the first few jobs and then make it higher as you gain more feedback.

Unlike in an office, there are no benefits (medical, leaves, etc.) and jobs aren't stable. If an employer chooses to end your contract, you'll have to find another job.