A Couple’s Journey

I can almost recite verbatim the lines in the movie Peter Pan, especially those of Captain Hook, my favorite villain. I’ve been watching this movie for a fairly long time.

Hmmm. I was a kid then. In Never Never Land, I can easily be one of the lost boys, who never grow up.

Now, right in front of the movie, I a kid once again, with another kid right beside me…my son, of course.

Perhaps, Never Never Land is true to life after all, and some fathers live in it. There is a part in us that does not grow up. In my case, it’s my fondness for cartoon movies, even the old ones like Peter Pan.

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November 20th, 2008 | Tags: Peter Pan | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

For almost three months now, I’ve been using the title “A Father’s Journey.”

It doesn’t sound right.

Truth is, my Fatherhood is inseparable from the Motherhood of my wife; and our Parenthood is inseparable from our God-ordained Marriage.

I would like at least our own children to know that.

Our friends too.

So from here on, this blog is to be entitled…

A Couple’s Journey

Bits of Wisdom Loving Parents Can’t Live Without

I’m more of a talker.

My wife’s a doer.

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November 17th, 2008 | Tags: afternoon, evening, Fatherhood, marriage, morning, motherhood, parenthood | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I am happy to be back in the blog after skipping it for two days. Two days ago I simply slept til 630am. But yesterday, I was up at 5am, and someone was calling, “Dada! Dada! Dada!”

My daughter is growing up. She wakes up early and says, “Dada! Dada!” relentlessly. Can’t blog when a baby calls you “Dada!” and be sane at the same time ☺ you know. To my eyes, she’s a very beautiful baby girl and I’ll be crazy not to leave everything else for her early in the morning.

So, yesterday morning I closed the laptop and carried her.

I used to carry her for just a few minutes and she was fine. But recently, a good half hour got spent carrying her, playing with her…all that before the sun rises. By the time I lay her down again, somehow my wife and my son were already awake too, the day begins, and bye bye blogging.

It’s quite touching that she has been calling for “Dada!” for perhaps three weeks now. Last night, my wife wanted her to sleep at 730pm, but she kept on calling “Dada! Dada! Dada!” So my wife sent SMS to me, saying so. So, when I got home around 8pm, there she was waiting for her Daddy.

After a while, she slept.

Back to my morning blogs, it looks like a change in blogging strategy is in order.

November 13th, 2008 | Tags: my daughter | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I woke up this morning with nagging thoughts about Trust and Respect.

Definition of TRUST …

a: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something
b: one in which confidence is placed

Definition of RESPECT …

a: high or special regard : esteem
b: the quality or state of being esteemed

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November 10th, 2008 | Tags: definition, quotes, respect, trust | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Fortune Magazine. A very credible source, right?

A book review in its October 27, 2008 issue shocked me to the core. It’s an “Exclusive Book Excerpt” about “Why Talent Is Overrated” by the book’s author himself, Geoff Colvin.

Browsing that particular part, I congratulate the copywriter for really catching my attention at the first page of the excerpt. It says…

THE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM ABOUT “THE NATURAL” IS A MYTH. THE REAL PATH TO GREAT PERFORMANCE IS A MATTER OF CHOICE. THE QUESTION IS HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

Then, reading further, Geoff talked about research done on the talent gene.

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November 9th, 2008 | Tags: Fortune Magazine, Geoff Colvin, Talent | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I like the number thirteen.

Come on, what’s in a number? It’s our attitude towards it that sucks our souls.

I have always been living with the number 13 in my entire life. I belong to a brood of 11 siblings. Add my two parents and there are 13 of us. My first name and family name both start with the 13th letter.

It is the people who are afraid of the number 13 that makes me uncomfortable.

In the presentation today, I like this quote from Jeffrey Gitomer…

“When Vince Lombardi said, ‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,’ he should have substituted the word attitude for winning to get closer to the truth.”

It is your attitude towards the number 13 that makes you a loser.

I have my own share of loses. It’s part of the path. Were the failures due to the number 13? Oh no way. It was my attitude that sucked it all up.

So, to really rub this thing in, here are the 13 tips to change our attitude (to the number 13, to whatever it is you’re doing, and to life in general) for the better…

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November 8th, 2008 | Tags: attitude, thirteen | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

It has been over a year when the person I consider my life coach told me, “Hey Marvin, you’re short in the ‘Fun and Recreation’ area; and your action plan does not address it.”

It has been over a year.

My action plan still does not address it.

$%#&@(*)@#@$

Am I out of my mind? or plain stu__d?

So, help me out here. First, help me define what “fun” is, coz the word is a stranger to me…

According to yourdictionary.com fun is…

1. a. lively, joyous play or playfulness; amusement, sport, recreation, etc.
b. enjoyment or pleasure

1. 2. a source or cause of amusement or merriment, as an amusing person or thing

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November 7th, 2008 | Tags: Fun | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Have you ever heard of home school?

It is exactly what it says…a school at home, with the parents as the teachers.

You may say, “Weird. How in the world does that happen?”

Don’t think too fast. If I were in your place now, with what I knew, I would think so too. What in the world is a home school? But with what I know now, gosh, let me tell you a little bit in your face: Homeschooling is the way to go, Bro!

Fact #1. My son is homeschooling. My wife is his teacher. He’s in kindergarten this school year.

I read enough about homeschooling to make me jump with two feet into the idea of homeschooling. I did my research. By the time we underwent orientation, my wife and I were already 100% convinced that that was what we wanted for our kids. The conviction was so intense that it was one of the reasons why my wife quit her job in mid-2007.

We are homeschooling our son under the umbrella of the Catholic Filipino Academy.

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November 6th, 2008 | Tags: Catholic Filipino Academy, homeschool | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Rhythm. A “cool” definition of “Rhythm” from the internet … if you can stomach it:

a periodic occurrence in living organisms of specific physiological changes, as the menstrual cycle, or a seasonal or daily variation in some activity, as sleep or feeding, in response to geophysical factors

What a “clear” definition! I am inspired!

I am thinking out loud here you would actually hear me muttering things as I type. When something goes awry (as in not getting the kind of definition that fits my blog topic), I have the tendency to do things on my own and in my own way, so let me define body rhythm here for you, straight from my own gray matter..

Rhythm is cadence or beat, as in a dance. It is about natural change from one state to another on a regular cyclic manner.

Body Rhythm. The word “Body Rhythm” therefore is about natural changes in the body from one state to another on a regular cyclic manner.

I hope that sounds better than defining “Body Rhythm” as the “rhythm of the body.”

Why do I talk about “Body Rhythm”?

Because this has been the culprit behind my delayed blogs.

This can also be the culprit behind our “below par” performance in our daily lives: work, play, party, date, bla, bla, bla.

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November 5th, 2008 | Tags: body rhythm | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment