Keep Kids Safe Online with KidsEmail

When I was six years old, my daughter's age, I wasn't aware of another world - the online world. Now, my daughter is slowly immersing herself in that world via YouTube. She's even leaving comments on her favorite videos! She watches mostly My Little Pony toy reviews, other toy reviews, toy crafts and funny skits acted out using toys. She also wants to make a video of her own, but I have no idea how to edit a video.

Pretty soon, Ella's going to have friends and they will probably communicate through email when at home after school or during weekends. The worlds now - both real and online are more dangerous than before, so I will totally delay her making an account on Facebook. In my opinion, email is safer. 

The good news is that there's KidsEmail.org, a fun & safe place to send and receive emails. Getting started is as easy as 1 - register a parent account, 2 - add children, 3 - set the safety settings. Setting the safety settings could be a bit intimidating at first, but when I realize it's for my child's protection, it's quite understandable. These settings include receiving emails only from the contact list, mailing a copy of incoming & outgoing messages to the parent, filter out bad words, remove images & links, etc. I could even control the type of attachments my daughter would receive. I love that KidsEmail allows everyone to try it for free without asking for a credit card number.

After setting up Ella's email, I asked her to choose a design as the background of her very own email. She chose the rainbow one, which was not pictured in the sample designs in the image below. The fairy princess design was one option she considered.

Other very cool features include:

• a GPS tracker that gets the historical location where children have been, if they're using their KidsEmail in an Android device
• the mail queue that intercepts emails which didn't pass the parents' safety rules, these emails can then be approved & sent, or denied & removed
• time restrictions that set the time of the day and the days of the week when the kids can log in, they could also be grounded and a custom message could be displayed when they attempt to sign in
• no ads displayed so children would not see anything inappropriate
• a custom blacklist to block specific people

In this day and age, it's hard not to let children keep up with the technology, but it is more important to keep kids safe online. I am glad there are companies out there that are concerned with children's safety online.

Have questions and want to know more? Connect with KidsEmail:

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● BLOG blog.kidsemail.org/

Summer So Far

At the beginning of summer, during Holy Week to be exact, my family of five trooped to Jeju Island with extended family and friends. After preparation for a much colder weather, we were set to enjoy our first international travel together. We were part of a group tour and visited lots of places, including the very pink Hello Kitty Island.

And then, we enrolled the three kids in swimming school. For ten days I prepared their things, we waited for their scheduled time, I hanged out for an hour watching them through clear glass, they showered after, we went home and they had snacks. Swimming makes them hungry.

My birthday also rolled around during this time. I celebrated it with my side of the family with a filling dinner, and this cake...

On my birthday more than a week ago, I penned a poem on the blog. Thanks to my family for this cake! http://www.cymplified.com/2016/today-is-my-day/

A photo posted by Cym M (@ceemee) on Apr 23, 2016 at 3:24am PDT

So, that's our summer so far. These days, we just stay at home, with me cleaning up some clutter. 

I hope we could go to on a local trip soon, one that is accessible from Manila. Do you have any suggestion?

Guide to Children's Fever

I always pray to God to keep my children healthy. My heart rate speeds up when the kids are sick, especially when they are feverish. I'm reblogging this guide from manilamommy.com to inform and help other parents.

So, what do you think of this? Would it be helpful to moms?

Barbie and the Secret Door... with a Secret Workout!

source

I get excited for my children (I'm not sure if they themselves do!) when there are new animated movies that are coming out soon. Now that they are bigger, we could all watch in the cinema as a family. Or just watch at home on our TV when we didn't get the chance to go out to the mall.

Barbie and the Secret Door, and other previous Barbie movies, were no exceptions. My youngest, Cayla, who's three years old, likes Barbie the best. 

This movie is about Princess Alexa, a princess who prefers to stay in her room and read stories, all day and all night, if she could! She doesn't like to speak in public or attend functions where there are other people, as part of her duty as a princess. I think she's shirking away from her responsibility, but she was described as shy. Alexa then discovers a secret door to a magical world, where she needs to face her insecurities and be the hero.

I could relate a bit to Alexa since I am very shy, I like to read, and I hope to be whisked away to a magical world. The pretty dresses are a big plus! Could a Barbie movie be without a change of outfits? Of course not!

The songs in the movie (yes, it's a musical!) are like pop music, very upbeat. Whenever Cayla watches Barbie and the Secret Door, she always forces asks me to dance with her. No one's watching so I give it my all, haha! So it has become my secret workout! ;-)

Do your kids like Barbie? Have they watched Barbie and the Secret Door?

Guardians of the Galaxy and my kids

Sunday is family day. So one Sunday, my hubby, the kids and I trooped to a mall in Makati to watch Guardians of the Galaxy. I am not into sci-fi or space adventure kinds of flicks, so I had no idea what to expect. I saw a trailer of the movie once, but I understood nothing. I don't even know it's derived from Marvel comics.

On the screen, I saw a boy sitting on a chair and listening to his walkman using earphones. I thought it was another trailer. Turns out, the movie has already started. 

Although it's obvious that there's a bad guy who wants something the good guy has, and that this something is a weapon that could eradicate a whole planet, which the good guy has to keep away from the bad guy to save the galaxy, the reason why was a little deep since it's about politics, not honoring the treaty, unlikely friendship and personal tragedies. And I don't think my kids could fully comprehend the full story. 

"I AM GROOT!!!"

All they see could be a cute raccoon, a funny moving tree and men & women in skittles-colored skins. Although these could provide a good entertainment, the movie was rated PG for reasons: the script, and of course the violent scenes. The actors say words that I don't want to hear from my innocent children's mouths, for example, st*pid, idi*t, and more. Did someone say b*tch? And there was blood!

I had to say, Nebula was pretty even if she's blue, bald and a villain.

It was good while it lasted, but I wouldn't want my little ones watch Guardians of the Galaxy again. Even the sequel? Yes!

The UNICEF Tap Project

I haven't tried this yet but I will very soon. I would like to help children in any way I can. I guess that's how women's hearts grow big when they become mothers.

This UNICEF Tap Project could help us not be addicted to our smart phones, but what's better is that it could help children have access to clean water, something more vital than our cellphones!

Here's the deal, for every 10 minutes you don't touch your phone, generous donors can fund one day of clean water for a child in need. Great, right? Go to uniceftapproject.org on your phones and it will detect your cellphones' movement. 

If you really cannot not touch your phones, you can always donate.

I want to do this because I want to limit my cellphone usage, join the hands free revolution and help children to a super important and basic need: WATER!

Are you ready?

My Daughter Discovers YouTube

Ever since my eldest discovered YouTube, Ella has been in front of the PC when she comes home from school and after she does her homework. My hubby now has competition in desktop computer usage.

It all started when she wanted to buy My Little Pony toys for her birthday and she wants to know what is the best. I helped her take a look at toy review videos. After that, she got hooked!

Some channels that she watch on YouTube include:

Bin's Toy Bin - a husband and wife tandem reviewing toys, usually My Little Pony




Disney Car Toys - mom who has a son and they present funny and creative ways of playing with toys, usually Disney cars and Cookie Monster




My Froggy Stuff - creative crafting of accessories for toys and customization of dolls




The Toy Mom - a lucky mom who gets to review lots of toys!



Now that she knows how to read and spell, she enjoys searching for and watching videos about toys. I had to limit her computer time, though.

Do your children watch YouTube?

Workshop For First Time Parents

If you are like me who was clueless about babies when I was pregnant with my firstborn, then you'd be happy to know that there's a workshop for first time parents. It's called Delivery And Newborn Care.

Join Manila Workshops on February 22 at Medela House and learn about:

• Baby Milestones
• Newborn baby care
• Breastfeeding and 
• Safe sleep

Sign up if you or your friends are interested!

Family Road Trip Destinations And Activities

I dream of traveling with my children to interesting places in the future. I read somewhere that travel is a good education, and I would love the little ones to experience different places. Here's a guest post by John Gower on great destinations where the family would enjoy. During the road trip, I am sure the kids would get bored, included are fun activities for them to while away the time on the road.

Top Road Trip Ideas 

Whether during summer break or winter holidays, traveling is one of the top activities that families do together year-round. Whether you’re going to a popular tourist place or an in-the-whole treasure trove, most likely, you’ll be driving from your home to your family vacation destination. If you have small and young children, it can be a bit challenging to entertain them for hours. In this list, you'll find example road trip places and travel destination suggestions plus activities kids will love while on the road.

1) Disney World Road Trip
Disney World is the number one place in the world for a family’s vacation. What better way to spend it than to revisit classic Disney movies on the way to the most magical place on Earth? Present your kids’ favorite Disney movies on portable DVD players or DVD players installed in your car. Here’s a compilation of great Disney classics in special edition 2-disc DVD sets at Amazon:

• The Jungle Book = $37.11
• Bambi = $20.17
• Pocahontas & Pocahontas II = $19.99
• Alice in Wonderland = $14.30

Another way to let your kids have fun on the way to Disney is by creating their own Disney Characters autograph books to get their favorite. Give them a blank, small, and hardcover journal, Disney stickers and embellishments, permanent markers, regular markers, crayons, and other crafting tools to create their own autograph book. They can make frames for the blank pages and personalize them for each Disney character they want an autograph from. Here are a few Disney stickers you can purchase for your children’s autograph books:

• Joann’s -- Disney Stickers/Borders = $2.14 (sale price) from $4.29
• Zazzle -- Disney Round Stickers = $5.25
• Walmart -- 4 Disney Sticker Sets = $12.00

discover more destinations and activities...

Sharing: Infographics on Bullying

Have you been bullied? Or have you bullied someone? Sadly, bullying is a reality that our children could face. Some bullies even take it to the Internet, hence, cyberbullying. Bullying is one of the subjects that us parents need to talk about with our children. I want to share these infographics on bullying and cyberbullying. It helps for parents to be aware of these issues that could significantly affect all children.

Protect Wood Flooring With Fun Rugs

Everyone who has wood or Pergo flooring knows how hard it is to keep the floors protected. It's not just from spills and dirt, it's also the crayon marks and dents from falling objects. There are probably a lot more things that can go wrong with your floors, the point is that they should be protected so that they last as long as possible and keep looking as new as possible. A great way to protect your beautiful floors is to find the perfect area rug and cover most of you floors to protect them. Let the rug take the spills, dirt, crayons, and other messes.

Finding the perfect area rug can take some time. It can make a bold statement or blend in with the decor. The rug can also be fun for your kids and family. No matter the case, it will protect your floors, and should the rug get ruined, you can throw it out and get a new one. A new area rug will most likely cost less than 50% of the cost of replacing the flooring, and it won't be a problem like having to refinish the floors. If the biggest problem with your floors is the kids knocking things over or marking up the floor, they will be so excited to have a fun new rug to play on. Find childrens rugs at AnnaBean.com.

Sharing: Infographic On Media Affecting Kids

Source: Early Childhood Education Degrees

Are you one of those moms who are worried about how media, video games and usage of tablets affect their children? I know I am. So, what could we do to alleviate the negative effects?

Draw For Fun... Again!

When I was younger, I was really very fond of drawing. I copied cartoon characters, drew people from my photo albums, made-up comic strips and drew girls in clothes I designed myself. That interest faded in college when I was drawing just for my course. That interest got lost when I started working.

Now, that I'm a mother and I have a child who likes to draw and likes to ask me to draw, I am being forced to revisit my old hobby. My skill is super rusty and I sometimes feel ashamed to draw for Elle. Well, I decided I want to polish my drawing skills, but this time, using the computer. I need to be technologically updated too, right? Or maybe I'm just too lazy to get a sketchpad, sharpen pencils and take out the eraser. And I think it's more practical since I'm on the computer during my free time. Maybe I'll use the pencils and paper when I'm out waiting and bored.

Here is something I tried using the tablet. pardon my very child-like drawing, I badly need practice. Just so you know, the background is provided by the program. I wish I could draw like that.

This is perfect for this very hot summer season. Enjoy!

Who would you rather be?

Have you watched Wreck-It Ralph? It's a super cute movie that I'm sure parents will also like. Parents who are familiar with the arcade and retro games, that is.



I want to ask you this: Do you like yourself? Would you be friends with yourself?

I am still pondering my answer to that question. :-D

But, Ralph, he was tired of being an outcast just because he was programmed to be a bad guy. The other characters were scared of him. He was dirty and has bad breath and lives in the dump. I actually pity him. I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted change.

You know how certain events had to happen to us. You know the people we had to meet to make us realise things. And that's how Ralph understood the meaning of The Bad-Anon creed.

"I'm bad, and that's good.
I will never be good, and that's not bad.
There's no one I'd rather be than me."

I only like the last line, though.

Change is good, if we are to be better. But to change into someone entirely different, is not in God's plans. There's a uniqueness in each of us, ours is a role that only us can fill.

When Ralph went away, the Nicelanders saw that having Ralph was vital to their game. That brought about the change that Ralph desired, with him still doing what he's programmed to do.

Wreck-It Ralph is a movie that reminds us that "There's no one I'd rather be than me."

What To Do When Bored?

Play pretend!

This was at the Medela House. The Camera Diary set up a background with props for the photoshoot of moms who bought the Swing Maxi breast pump. I brought Elle with me and she had fun doing pretend play with the props.

For pictures of the details of the studio-type set-up, please click this link.

LED light bulbs are helpful to moms, too!

Do you plan to use LED light bulbs? Do you have LED light bulbs as replacement light bulbs? These are the advantages of LED light bulbs, according to my husband, Rix:

• Environment-friendly since they don't heat up easily
• Takes a long time for them to be busted, compared with a CFL
• Energy-efficient since just a few amperes are consumed
• The luminosity of LED light bulbs is higher than the usual CFL

Of course, the cost of LED lights are still high since they are not the "mainstream" lights, and the technology used is still fairly new.

You may be wondering why I said that they are helpful to moms.

Since LED lights do not have filaments that heat up, it is okay to keep them turned on for longer periods of time. We use LED bulbs for the lights on the perimeter outside our house in the evening and all throughout the night. This is for safety purposes.

Since my daughter is scared of the dark, she would wake me up or her dad (if her little sister is still breastfeeding while sleeping), just to turn on the light in the bathroom. Sometimes, daddy Rix would be in a bad mood and get angry at her for waking him from his slumber. We have tried the censor light thingy from a hardware store, but I guess the light was too small and it's colored blue, Elle was convinced it's still too dark. The solution is that, as suggested, we decided to keep the light in the bathroom turned on until dawn or until one o-clock in the morning. And so, we changed the CFL's in the bathroom to LED light bulbs. Yay! Problem solved!

Now, I just have to remember to keep it on for her. :-)

Guest Post: Advice From Mark Hansen To Kidpreneurs

Moms, one way to welcome the new year is to learn of new ideas and to tap into our children's potentials. If you have a child who shows signs of being a kidpreneur, or is business-minded, this message from Mark Hansen could be helpful. 

Mark Victor Hansen gives advice to kids directly.

Hi there all you amazing Kidpreneurs! I’m Mark Hansen, your friend and supporter, and I’m going to tell you the secrets to turn your business idea into a business. These tips will help you kids become rich business people at a young age and that will only be the beginning. Have you read my book – Chicken soup for the kids soul? It’s a great read. It’s got tons of stories about kids like you who have had some amazing experiences. It shows you what you guys are really capable of. That is the exact purpose with which I started the website www.gorichkids.com – to help you become great business people.

I’m going to tell you a story that’ll help you realize the importance of something as small as a business idea. There was a young man who began walking from the northeast part of U.S.A. He ate only apples on his journey from the point that he started to way past the Mississippi river. He planted the seeds of the apples he ate, and the apples he gave to others on his journey, all along the way. That man was Johnny Appleseed and the trees he planted became the Johnny Appleseed Hiking Trail. His story has been made into a book and even a movie by Disney. I always thought that Johnny was a fictional character but when I saw the trail, I realized that not only was he very real, but the trail is also amazing. It’s not much of a wonder that it’s ranked in the top three hiking trails of the U.S.A.

The point I’m trying to make here is that one of the most beautiful hiking trails in the world started as a seed. That could be your business. It will start as an idea – a seed – and grow into a large business empire like an orchard. To help this become a reality, you need to take the following three steps:

a. Go through some of the videos on my website

b. Write down, in complete detail, what you love doing and what you’re good at. Take the help of any adult that you trust on this.

c. Find a role model or mentor whose success story is similar to what you would like to achieve. This should be someone you can trust and someone who will take time out of their schedule to help you set up your business.

With these three steps, you kids will become rich business people. That’s how rich kids become rich adults – by building your ideas. These businesses will bring you success and will also help others in its wake. So, get started now to create a business that’ll make the world a little better.

Please check out: http://www.gorichkids.com/

Every mom wants to hear a 'yes' from her child/ren.

And this parenting seminar can help! 

I have decided to go since I am lacking in the patience department of parenting. I need to learn different approaches so I could parent positively. I don't want to turn into a monster mom anymore. Even my hubby is complaining. He even set the condition that we will start going to church when the children are disciplined and behaved. I think moms need all the help they can get providing it's in line with their belief system, and this is one of them, for me. 

New Home Visit

My family and I spent time at our friends Lau and Beth's new home. The photographer husbands styled and shot Beth's products, the kids were curious about the surroundings, the moms talked, and we all had a nice dinner of steak, French beans, mashed potato, a salad of lettuce, cucumber & crabsticks topped with a very yummy dressing of toasted sesame.

Elle was excited to go that when we went out to visit her lola's grave in the morning, she thought we're already heading there. I guess, like me, she likes new things, too. Who doesn't anyway? It makes us so giddy and happy. Even if that new thing isn't ours. And here came Elle's wish, to have a new home.

That was my wish, too. But, it wasn't in our concrete plans yet. There are so many things to consider when we're going to do a déménagement longue distance or move to the neighboring city.
Points like these need to be thought thoroughly since it's a big change:

• Where to? It should be a good neighborhood with accessibility to fresh air. Oh, and the place should not be flooded when it rains.
• How much? It might break the bank with the value of houses now.
• How about hubby's workplace? Because right now, it's just walking distance.
• If we're going to move, I want it to be into our dream house already (I don't know if it's feasible).
• Will there be good Christian schools around with Chinese education?
• Finding good and trustworthy movers. I don't know how many trucks our stuff could fit into.

Well, as of now, I think I should collect pegs of how I want our dream house to look like. For example, I want the Master Bathroom to have two separate sinks with a really nice counter-top. Like this:

I Wouldn't Use These As Children's Room Decor

Remember I want to redecorate our children's bedroom? Well, while I was swirling kids' room looks in my head, I thought of the idea to paint the walls with nursery rhymes or songs characters. Wouldn't that be cute? Hand-drawn and hand-painted Mary and her little lamb, little stars twinkling near the ceiling, and London bridge falling down. WAIT! That doesn't look right. In fact, it seems to be a negative thing to draw. And my children could be forever asking me why that bridge is falling.

My kids have a CD of children songs that we listen to in the car and there were ones whose lyrics seem a bit disturbing. Like this particular song:

Throw someone down the stairs?

Oh, such unfortunate events!

I used to wonder why songs that are supposedly for children, would  be violent or depressing in nature. The reason for that is explained in this post.

Lately, my 5-year-old daughter kept singing the song Oh My Darling, Clementine. She probably learned it in school. Upon researching (read: googling) the words to the song, we discovered that it's a super sad song! The lyrics below are from this source:

“Oh my darling, oh my darling,

My darling Clementine,

You are lost for me forever,

Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

Drove she ducklings to the water

Ev’ry morning just at nine,

Hit her foot against a splinter,

Fell into the foaming brine.

Ruby lips above the water,

Blowing bubbles soft and fine,

But alas, I was no swimmer,

Neither was my Clementine.

In a churchyard near the canyon,

Where the myrtle doth entwine,

There grow rosies and some posies,

Fertilized by Clementine.”

I don't know if I would let my children sing these songs still. But, even with seemingly harmless songs like these, I think parental discretion is needed. I am not sure if there's some research on that, but exposing the kids too much to these nursery rhymes might have a negative psychological impact. Who knows? I am glad I could sing wonderful Christian songs to them instead.