Creative lunchboxes, Lois Billionaire, No toothbrush near the toilet, stressed parent equals stressed kids

My two kids are not great eaters. Our family is not. So it's really a gift for me that their school encourages healthy eating - fruits and vegetables. Sometimes I get reprimanded by my own daughter. "Ayayay, Mommy! This is not healthy food."


Lunchbox staples
So I normally pack cut fruits - apple, mangoes, melon, watermelon. Bananas and grapes are sure winners.


I also serve them raw cashew nuts/peanuts mixed with raisins and cereals. On some days, they get peanut butter sandwiches shaped in triangles, ovals, squares and hearts. They love it!

I want to be a billionaire

To encourage doing things on their own, I started posting chore charts for my two kids. The reward was money. Since they love APPS, they may use their money to buy. I was particularly targeting my little boy to do this.

However, my plan backfired. My son was not at all interested in his chores nor his prizes. Instead, it was his sister who religiously checked and asked for her rewards. She was able to get quite a few, almost halfway her piggy bank, until she told me one day: "Don't give me anymore coins. I'm already a billionaire!"

Secretly giggling to her declaration, I confirmed if she knows what a billionaire is. "My classmate Edward said a billionaire is someone who has lots of money."

Yes, my little girl! You are indeed a billionaire.

Restroom tip

I first heard about this while riding the metro train to a meeting.

Flushing the toilet can cause germs to fly anywhere from 6-10 feet. At the very least, keep your brush as far from the toilet as possible, and protect it in a plastic container or holder.

Since we don't have the luxury of space, I have instructed everyone to pull down the lid before hitting the flush button. Hope that helps?

Child stress

My kids copy me, especially my bad traits. I am working hard on it. Though I haven't gotten very far. Lately though, when I read about the top causes of stress for children, I got a solid punch. I should really pull myself together when the kids are watching.

Parent having problems.
Fight with a friend or a sibling.
Taking a test.
Wondering if someone thinks you're attractive (teens especially).
Not having enough privacy.
Birth of a brother or sister.
Moving to a new school.
Re/marriage of a parent.
Not having enough money.
A teacher who doesn't like you.

Source: Mind/Body Medical Institute

Palitaw Lulubog, Lilitaw

Definition: Filipino kakanin with sugar, sesame seeds and coconut

Ingredients:

1. Malagkit or glutenous rice
2. Dessicated coconut
3. Sesame seeds
4. Sugar

Procedure:

1. Take a handful of galapong or ground glutenous rice. Knead as if dough in order to make compact palitaws.

Tams recollects: Traditionally, we would grind the malagkit rice ourselves using
a stone grinder. As the youngest part of the team, I'd be given the task to put
water into the grinder to lubricate it. My grandma, brothers and sisters would
take turns spinning the improvised stone machine. Once it's all done, the
galapong would be tightly wrapped in a canvass cloth usually coming from
flour containers, then drained of water. This process alone would require an
hour at least. Do you know how we drained the water out of the galapong?
We'd sandwich it between the stone grinder then ask the heaviest member of
the family to stand on top. When no more water is comin out of the galapong
is ready to be prepared.

2. Make small balls out of the galapong dough. I shaped them into quail egg size to make it bite size. You can make it as bigger or smaller as you like.

TIP: If the galapong sticks to your hands already, moisten your hand a bit by dipping the point of your finger in clean water.

3. Flatten the balls you made and press the middle with your thumb.

4. When all the galapong is done, you can start cooking. Heat about 10 cups of water. Allow it to boil for three minutes. Then, start putting in the palitaws. Initially they will sink to the bottom of your cooking pan but no need to worry for after a minute or so, they will start floating.

TIP: I used the pasta scoop to get the floating palitaws sans the water.

5. Cover the palitaws with dessicated cocunut then cover with the sesame seeds-sugar mix. If you can pre-toast the sesame seeds to make it crunchier, better.

Enjoy!