Another First: Jeepney Ride

April 13, 2011 by

It was nothing spectacular, really, but this one goes on my toddlers’ long list of firsts – their very first jeepney ride.

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A few days ago, I took my toddlers out sans my husband.  I have no idea how to start a car much less to drive one so we had no other option but to take public transportation.   I have taken the kids out several times already but we always took a cab.  This time, I asked my husband if  we could take the jeepney since we would only be traveling a very short distance.   After reminding us to be careful and vigilant, he said yes.

Being paranoid about the world outside the realm of our home, I dared not venture out with the toddlers without giving our helper a good briefing.  Here are what I reminded her of:

  1. Always keep your eyes on the children.
  2. Never talk to anybody even if it may seem rude to ignore them.  Focus on the children.
  3. Be aware of your surroundings and the people around you.  But always keep an eye on the children.
  4. Don’t stray away from me.  You always have to be within arm’s length of me.
  5. I know you may be curious of the new place we will be going to so it’s fine to glance here and there, but always keep an eye on the children.
  6. Finally, never ever take your eyes off the children even for a second.

After repeating those reminders for a hundred times it seemed, we finally left the house and patiently waited for a jeep.   Good thing there was only a couple of passengers in the one we hailed so I was able to whip out my camera and take some pictures to chronicle my toddlers very first jeepney ride.

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For the first time also, my tots behaved like angels during the commute.  They did not dare stand or walk on the jeepney.  There was nary a wiggle!  I’m not sure if they were just so curious of the people who were also on the jeep or if they were wondering why the vehicle did not have any glass windows or airconditioning.  My daughter though could not be restrained from talking.  She kept saying “Mama, we’re on the jeepney!”, “Mama!  Look we’re in the jeepney.”, “Mama, are we on a jeepney?” and she kept this on until we reached our stop.  And up until we reached our home, she was still exclaiming, “Mama, we rode the jeepney!”

Filed Under: Kids At Work Tagged With: , , ,

Pancake Surprise with Maya ThinkHeart

April 10, 2011 by

My toddlers are moody eaters.  Sometimes, they can devour everything on the table it makes me wonder how all that food can fit in their tiny stomachs.  Other times, they can be so very picky or would barely touch the food I prepared.  As moms like me know,  preparing nutritious food for toddlers needs creativity and a little cunning.

This is not an easy feat especially for me whose only skill in the kitchen prior to getting married and havings kids is frying breakfast fare.   Good thing there are now a lot of products in the market that simplify cooking making it easy for even the most ignorant homemaker to prepare a decent meal for the family.  One of the ready-mix products I patronize are pancake mixes.  I can whip up a batch of pancakes in just minutes with their easy to follow instructions.  If I were to make pancakes from scratch, I would probably spend hours in the kitchen trying to perfect the ratio among  flour, baking powder, salt, milk, and whatever else.

We’ve been using Maya ThinkHeart Whole Wheat Pancake since my husband was diagnosed with fatty liver.  It is made with whole wheat, is rich in fiber, has zero transfat, and is made with muscovado sugar.  Its texture is different from regular pancake mixes but the toddlers love it still.

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To make our pancakes more filling and nutritious, I add fruits, dairy, or vegetables to the mix.  Those that work well with the ThinkHeart mix and that the toddlers love are:

  • grated or cubed cheese (who doesn’t love cheese?!?)
  • grated carrots
  • mashed bananas with cinnamon
  • minced apples with cinnamon
  • strawberry jam

 

When the toddlers are a bit older, I may try to add some nuts or chocolates.  One thing I haven’t tried though is adding pumpkin.  I’ve read that it tastes great but have yet to meet one who has actually made and eaten a pumpkin pancake.  If, by any chance, you have actually tried making pumpkin pancakes, do let me know and give me some tips. 🙂

Filed Under: for DAD & MOM, for the KIDS, Health, Products We Love Tagged With: , ,

Online Resources for Toddler Activities

April 5, 2011 by

The level of boredom and the degree of hyperactivity in toddlers are directly proportional to each other.  The greater the boredom, the more hyperactive toddlers become.  I have two toddlers in my care and hyperactivity is definitely something I dread!  It has happened a couple of times, and believe me, running after them trying to figure out which one is in danger of getting hurt or hurting the other is a pretty nasty sight.

Good thing moms like me are able to get great help from the web.  There are now plenty of sites that we can go to for ideas on how to keep our toddlers entertained while learning at the same time.  Here are four of this mom’s favorite go-to sites:

PreKinders, a site with resources for Pre-K Teachers, has plenty of activity ideas that can be used not just in the classroom but at home also.  There are also free printables available.

Starfall is the toddlers’ most recent favorite site.  The toddlers are still on the first level which is ABC Getting Started to Read.  They have both showed great progress in letter recognition and phonemic awareness since we started using the site a month ago.

Fisher-Price Online Games and Activities has dozens of games and activities for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.  My toddlers’ favorites include Shapes + Colors, Who’s at the Door?, and Learning about Opposites.

For printables, I go to Wholesome Toddler Food.  Aside from providing nutrition facts and recipes, this site also has links to hordes of great printables for introducing letters, numbers, colors, and shapes to toddlers.

 

Filed Under: Kids At Work, PLAYhouse preSCHOOL Tagged With: , , , ,

Beyond Parallel Play

April 4, 2011 by

Toddlers ordinarily engage in what we call parallel play wherein they play in the same area and with the same toys but do not actually interact. If you observe toddlers in a play area, you’d most probably see each one caught up in their own worlds.  Children are normally expected to engage in cooperative play at the age of 4 or 5.

My toddlers defy this norm. Surprisingly, they do love to play with each other.  From the time we brought our son home from the hospital, his eldest sister has been a very doting sibling.  She loves being around him and is very protective of him.

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I don’t recall doing anything purposefully to encourage them to play together. I presume it could have been brought about by my husband and I’s efforts to actively play with the toddlers.  Or, perhaps, it has something to do with my eldest daughter being half of twins and, although not scientifically proven, has been accustomed to interaction even from within my womb.

Whatever the reason,  I am thankful that my children love each other and enjoy spending time together.  Now, I can only pray that they will retain this closeness even as they grow older and discover the world outside the confines of our home.

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Quick Lunch at Brothers Burger

March 19, 2011 by

Brothers Burger has been a favorite burger joint of mine from the time it first opened here in the Manila.  I used to try the different burger add-ons until I found an absolute favorite in cilantro.  Until now, my order remains one Brothers Burger with cilantro, onion rings, and milk shake.

Today, I was able to eat my favorite burger with cilantro again after quite a few months.  The toddlers had appointments for their vaccines this afternoon and my husband decided to treat all of us out for lunch before going to the doctor’s clinic.  It was a weekend, so the branch that we visited was not crowded.  There were only 5 other diners when we came and halfway through our meal, we were the only diners left.  So I was able to take a picture of the toddlers sans the crowd.

ate jade, being the “big” sister that she is, protectively holds jakei’s hand

 

Though we prefer eating at this Brothers Burgers branch particularly because there usually isn’t much of a crowd,  we seldom chose to eat here because they only have one high chair available.  When the toddlers were younger, we would have a hard time dining out without high chairs for both of them.  But now that Jade is a bit more independent and can stay seated in a regular chair, this isn’t a problem anymore.  Alas, we were faced with another dilemma.  The table was much too high for Jade to eat properly by herself.  Good thing, Papa was able to find a solution.

 

chair too low or table too high?

ate jade eating by herself;                                            thanks to Papa’s makeshift high chair

 

With the seating problem addressed, on we went to feed our famished tummies.  Hubby had grilled chicken sandwich and garden salad. I, of course, had my Brothers burger with cilantro and onion rings (I’ve gained a few pounds too many so I shunned the milkshake). Ate Lanie had breaded chicken with rice and the toddlers shared fish fingers with rice.  The rice meals came with half a brownie and iced tea so it was already a complete meal.

 

jakei drinking water after a filling lunch of fish fingers and rice

 Are we going back there?  Definitely yes!

 What did we love most about the place?  the BURGERS, of course

 Our Toddler-friendliness Rating:  9

Filed Under: Kids At Work Tagged With: , ,
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