I know, I know. I haven’t been around for more than a week.

But I had to attend to. I had sick kids due to an undecided weather - which seems to be changing its mind more often a girl deciding what to wear on a first date. Then there’s workload piling up on a busy week. Brain not functioning well due to severe lack of sleep. And so on and so forth.

Now, things pretty much settled down, and hopefully I can run things smoothly again.

How was your past week?

We read and hear everywhere about how great moms are in taking care of their children, but very few acknowledge that dads are awesome too.

I could go on and on about how great dads can be, but here’s the first thing I want to share.

Gregg Mueller of One Dad’s Life came up with these 10 ways dads are like rock stars.

Daddies out there, read on and see how much of a “rock star” you are.

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Sibling rivalry is as natural as eating when you’re hungry.

I grew up with four older brothers and all of us had his own nemesis while growing up. Me and My “mortal enemy”, my fourth brother, used to be at each other’s throat all the time. It even came to a point when we can’t be in the same room, even for a few minutes, or an all-out war would erupt.

There were even times when all five of us are against each other. It was a crazy sight - you really can’t tell who’s hitting who. And being the smallest, I was lucky to be the quickest to avoid punches, or punch one and be fast enough to get away with it in time for my victim to punch another one. We drove my mom crazy.

We all love each other again now that we’re all grown up. The crazy riots have turned into endless laughter and joking over dinner or family gatherings.

Anyway, some parents are just starting to deal with sibling rivalry among their own kids. It can be really tough, and if you went the wrong way in dealing with it, you might end up accused of having favorites and make the situation worse. The affected children might bring their issues to adulthood and might cause problems in their social interaction.

Thankfully, there are ways to manage this inevitable part of our and our children’s lives. I found this article on Capessa and found these ways to manage episodes of sibling rivalry and avoid them causing bigger problems in the future, as shared by Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers.

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Got tagged by Aiza.

- START TAG -

OUR KID’S NAMES: List all of your kids’ names, or even just one. Its up to you. Write down the story or the reason why you chose it. If you’re expecting or planning to have more kids and already have a name for them….list them down too.

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You should be one hell of a bowler to use this one.

Thanks to Mec for this award.

The rules are:

• The winner may put the logo on his or her blog.
• Put a link to the person you got the award from.
• Nominate five blogs.
• Put links to the blogs.
• Leave a message to the nominees.

And now I pass this award to Aiza, Toni, Mai, Jenny, and Con.

Breastpumps are essential to breastfeeding moms, especially those who are working. I, for one, wouldn’t be able to continue breastfeeding my sons if it weren’t for the breastpumps I have used.

With all the kinds of breastpumps available in the market - manual, battery-operated, single electric, double, endless features - one would think that at least of them have everything you need in a pump. That, however, is subjective, as different women have different needs.

I know a lot of pumping moms are happy with their breastpumps. They wish for more features that can make their pumping experience easier and more comfortable, but they are happy with what they have, so far.

But if there is a way that we could send a message to breastpump manufacturers, to tell them what we really want, that would be awesome.

And thankfully, I found a way.

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What parent does not go through the challenge of displining his/her child?

I, for one, have discipline on my priority concerns in raising my boys. I want them to be well-rounded individuals, with the proper values and character. When they grow older, I want us to keep our friendship alive, while keeping their respect to me as their mother.

And that’s not easy, when you have to discipline them in their early years to make sure they grow up to be “good boys”. There are many instance that a parent’s intention of discipline is being misunderstood by their kids that the latter develop ill-feelings towards the former. The kids then turn defiant and rebellious, disobedient and close-minded. The parents misundestand their children as well, resorting to spanking and shouting, and they think that the youngsters are just being foolish and immature. These manners of thinking then breeds deeper and bigger problems in the family.

Thankfully, there are ways to discipline your children without raising your hand or your voice.

Yes, it is possible. And it’s not that hard to understand at all. It turns out that it’s just a matter of implementing diplomacy in your household.

Dr. John Irvine, a very popular and credible Australian child psychologist, came up with these ten rules of effective punishment.

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In the early days of this site, I posted something about discussing “the birds and the bees” with your kids.

Though the video included was rather on the humorous side, I expressed how the husband and I plan to handle “the talk” when time comes that our kids ask the questions.

Of course, when it comes to raising kids, you can never be prepared enough. That’s why I’m so glad I found this guide to talking to kids about sex from Parenting.com.

Many people say that a wedding is a celebration of love between two individuals, so it’s just fitting that the wedding details represent the couple.

Among the many interesting things during our wedding, my favorite is our wedding cakes. As I am not into anything ordinary, especially when it comes to something as important as my wedding, our cakes represented things that the husband and I enjoy doing together. Without further ado, I present to you, if you haven’t seen it yet, the Frost wedding cakes. (Click images to enlarge)

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