Raising Boys

Being makabayan (nationalistic) October 11, 2005

A chaotic sight of mothers, yayas, and students striving to finish their Makabayan (Civics and Culture) assignment within the lunch break greeted me when I arrived at my son’s school today.

Thankfully, Dylan did his assignment–a chart of Philippine symbols like its flag, national costume, national dance, national hero, national bird, national language, etc.–the night before and so he was spared the aggravation of doing it in one hour’s time.
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Tribute to goodness September 12, 2005

Dylan asked me why I would not bring him and his brother to work anymore. He missed those Sundays when I’d bring him and Lennon to the office and we’d pass by SM on our way there to eat or buy stuff.

I told him why and he was gracious and forgiving even in the face of such duplicity.

I told myself I wanted to tell him the truth because I did not want to paint a picture of a beautiful world where he can always expect patience, understanding, and love. I told myself I wanted him to learn there is cruelty here, too, and from the most unexpected of sources.

In reality, my reason for telling him the truth was not so innocent. I wanted an ally, of sorts, against deceitfulness and dishonesty. We could talk about them, laugh about their many failings, dissect their miserable lives that turned them into what they are now.

Thankfully, he’s none of the things I am.
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Oats improve schoolkids’ performance September 5, 2005

Undecided whether to feed your children oatmeal or cereal for breakfast? This LA Times article may make choosing what food to put in your child’s diet easier.

The article quoted results of experiments conducted by a group of psychologists on 60 schoolchildren that suggested they learned more and retained knowledge better when fed with Quaker oatmeal made with milk than when they ate Cap’n Crunch cereal with milk for breakfast. The study was funded by Quaker Oats and used both cereal and oat products of the company.

After eating a bowl of oatmeal, boys and girls ages 9 to 11 showed enhanced spatial memory, a skill that helps with drawing and doing puzzles. Spatial memory can help not only with art, but also with geography as well as some technical skills used in math and science. Girls, but not boys, also displayed improved short-term memory after eating oatmeal.

Children ages 6 to 8 listened better after eating oatmeal than after a breakfast of Cap’n Crunch. And, like their older counterparts, they also scored higher on spatial memory. Younger girls also showed improvements in short-term memory similar to that seen in their older counterparts.

Ovarian cysts and manly traits August 28, 2005

If illnesses behaved the way doctors and medical books said they would, I’d be bald, obese, have acne, and maybe even a beard. It’s a good thing they don’t always do, my gynecologist said when she told me I have polycystic ovaries or simply that I have cysts in my ovaries.

As it is, I’m still all of 100 lbs., my long wavy mane (which I straighten out with a hair iron) is as thick as ever, my eyebrows on the other hand are still as sparse, no growth on my upper lip that could be mistaken for a beard (and I look in the mirror every hour just to be on the safe side), and there is not a single pimple on my face.

My obsessive research on this subject has led me to a forum of near hysterical women seeking a cure to this or that symptom. I guess I’d be hysterical if I were balding, 45 kilograms overweight, and have hair on my upper lip.

I was tempted to join and ask if there was room there for a skinny, beardless female still grappling with the realization that her hormones had gone haywire but stopped myself just in time. I obviously do not fit the stereotypical patient so why add to the confusion.
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English as a second language August 22, 2005

My 7-year-old son and I were watching Dreamcatcher (a screen adaptation of a book by Stephen King with the same title) on cable when, during a really scary scene, his hand clutched at his chest and he exclaimed “Gracious!”

I looked at him and he looked at me and we burst out laughing.

Dylan has been using English in most ordinary conversations now, an offshoot I’m sure of a policy in his first grade class that sets a penalty of a few pesos on anyone using the Cebuano dialect in the classroom.

But I did not realize how pervasive the effect of this policy was in my son’s life until last night, when he preferred to express his surprise in English, in our home, where it won’t cost him anything to speak Cebuano.
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A science school without science August 17, 2005

My seven-year-old son Dylan goes to a science school. I had considered it a special public school (this view seems valid if you consider the reasons given by the school for its existence or its vision-mission) until yesterday when I learned that it does not have a science subject (gasp) for the first and second grades.

That seems incongruous — a science school without a Science subject and at very crucial grades in the elementary level. Shouldn’t this be the time when a foundation for science is developed in pupils? By teaching them about the world they live in, the creatures they share their world with, and their world in relation to other worlds?
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