What do you do...

...when you see a mother hit her child in public?

I was in a children's clothes store last week and within arm's length was a mother seated on a chair rummaging through some items on sale, with her little daughter in front of her. The mother seemed to be busy checking out some clothes, while her daughter was probably talking. I was nearby sifting through dresses from a rack.

Out of the blue was a loud smacking sound. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the mother's hand swing and slap the little girl on her arm. But it came so unexpectedly because there wasn't crying, whining or any kind of ruckus from the child that could have indicated something like that slap coming around.

I looked at the two--the mom had her back to me; the girl, on the other hand, looked back at me, with that sad, embarrassed look. I sure pitied her but I didn't know what to do. She didn't even cry as a result of the slap, but her face was a picture of sadness.

Meanwhile, the mother continued surveying clothes while muttering things like "sinabi ko sa 'yo huwag kang pasaway..."

I lingered a bit, not really interested in the clothes anymore, then walked out of the store. I was sad that I had witnessed what just happened, but I was even more sad that I didn't do anything -- and didn't know what to do -- to help the kid or the mother.

Dancing penguins

Here's another cute video I stumbled upon. It's not a laughing baby but a bunch of penguins singing and dancing. And it's in French! It's called "Le Ragga des Pingouins" (I'm guessing that's "The Reggae of the Penguins"). One commenter in one of the versions I played was a grandmother who said that she and her little granddaughter got a kick out of the video -- they had a grand time dancing along! Great bonding activity here!

The curly baby

"Ang cuuuuute!"

That's the common response elicited by this month's cover. And after that, a shocked and somewhat amused reaction when I tell them, "...and he's a boy ha?" "Boy 'yan??!!" they all retort.

His name is Kiian Huey Tolentino and he and his parents plus a few other relatives flew all the way from Iloilo for the photo shoot. Kiian is the Visayas-Mindanao winner of SM's Star Baby Contest--a quarterly competition for which three winners are picked.

The April issue is a bit different from the others as it is somewhat light. It's summer, after all, so we shall go with the season's leisurely flavor. Hence, there's a lot of summer-related articles this month -- sun-proofing your kids, helping toddlers get used to the water so they don't end up being traumatized by the experience, yummy easy-to-make fruit shakes you can concoct with your little ones, the basics about chickenpox as well as playtime fashion from labels such as Peppermint, Big & Small Co., Spin, Girls Edition, Mothercare, Billy & Elli, and Gingersnaps.

Other articles are "The adoption option" (the basics on the process of properly adopting a child), "Sleep in heavenly peace" (ways for pregnant women to get more adequate sleep), "Tiny babbles" (speech development on the baby's first year), and "Gizmos, Doodads, and Good Dads," which is this month's Fatherspeak piece. Columnist Manny Escasa writes an entertaining and thought-provoking piece about effective parenting in this age of gadgetry.


There's lots more to read so do grab a copy. Baby magazine is available at:

SM department stores (look in the baby section)
All major National Bookstore outlets
Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant mall)
Bufini
Big & Small Co. (the Shangri-la mall branch)
Selected Powerbooks branches
Selected Mio Magazine shops

For subscription and other inquiries, call Lourdes at 728-3655/56.

Nothing like a baby's laughter

Saw the following video on Yahoo! and I must have played it six times, one after the other-- and laughed delightedly each time! It shows a baby and his incessant laughter over the simplest thing: tearing a piece of paper.

This is my first time to put a video on a blog. Hope it works out.

Praise, image and hard work

BRIGHTEST GIRLS PIN TOO MUCH ON SUCCESS

Bright girls whose self-image depends on success and praise are not well equipped for life, says a British education specialist. Professor Guy Claxton told a teachers' conference that girls are always hearing they are smarter than boys, but this makes many of the brighter ones "brittle", afraid to try anything new in case they fail, and unable to cope with failure when it comes. The problem is aggravated by parents who regard praise as essential to a child's self-esteem and who may be tempted, if they are working full-time, to pile on the praise to make up for not spending enough time with their children.

Professor Claxton said research was showing that telling children they are smart may be doing them a disservice; the need to maintain this image becomes a prime concern. This is true of both boys and girls, but it hits girls the hardest, he added. The solution was ensure that praise is specific and relates to the effort the student has put into their work. A girls' school principal agreed: "We have to teach all young people how to lose and how to fail, not just how to succeed. The best girls' school are doing this."

Source: Family Edge (March 13 issue), the weekly newsletter of MercatorNet