Another art workshop for children is in the offing! Global Art center is opening in the Katipunan area in Quezon City this summer. They run an international art and creativity program for children 4 years and up. And in their words, "by up, we mean that no one's too old to have fun and learn with us!"
Global Art Katipunan will be at Unit CU-4 Prince David Condominium, Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City (across Ateneo). Interested parties contact 383-6084, 0916-7396237, or globalart.katipunan@gmail.com.
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A friend of mine, Dr. Philip Tan-Gatue, has a unique perspective on medicine. He is a Western-medicine trained physician, but he is also a trained acupuncturist and a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. He teaches Integrative Medicine at the UP-College of Medicine.
On his blog, Dr. Tan-Gatue recently posted a very interesting article on cow's milk and children. "Traditional Chinese Medicine holds that cow’s milk is too rich for the delicate digestive system of children," he argues, and feeding (cow's) milk to children after the age of two years is, from the view of Chinese medicine, unnecessary and can actually be harmful. He adds that "if God had intended for children to drink milk all their formative years, then their mothers should naturally produce milk for more than two years."
So where should children get their calcium, according to traditional Chinese medicine? From fruits and vegetables. The rule of thumb, then, is simple. Make sure your children have enough calcium. From where? From milk, for babies. From veggies, for children.
I wonder, though, how easy this is for Filipinos to do. Many middle-class Filipinos do not like to eat vegetables. And many children, in particular, are averse to vegetables. I often wonder--purely from anecdotal evidence--whether the reason why Filipino physicians prescribe vitamin supplements to children is because they know it's a losing battle to expect most parents to feed their children a well-balanced meal.
At any rate, a few months back, Jenny posted an article that also argued that cow's milk (including formula) can be harmful for young chidren. Jenny, a breastfeeding consultant, advocates breastfeeding and lauds the benefits of extended breastfeeding. However, she also says that based on the data, children from 1-year-old who are not breastfed do not need to drink formula milk. By that age, they are expected to be getting their nutrients from solids. If parents decide to give them milk, they can give them fresh milk and switch to low-fat milk at the age of 2 (unless they are malnourished).
On the whole, I find the milk debate a very interesting one. My son is 16-months-old and he is still breastfed. However, he also occasionally drinks fresh cow's milk. I try to get organic or natural milk for him when I can, but it isn't always easy to find in the grocery.
As someone who grew up drinking milk, I'll probably continue offering milk to my son as he grows up, unless he demonstrates symptoms of lactose intolerance. I will, however, bear the experts' advice in mind and I'll try to be more meticulous in making sure he eats a lot of calcium-rich vegetables.
This article is not meant to replace the medical advice of your child's pediatrician. Share
Looking back I guess there was always an entrepreneur in me. One of the more embarrassing stories my mom likes to tell about my childhood is when I was around seven years old, I put my ballet skills to good use and put on a one-woman ballet performance in my grandmother's compound, charging our relatives 25 cents each to attend. But after that I found more conventional ways to earn a little on the side. During summers, I would make iced candy and sell them to our neighbors. Later on, I began selling other products as well: eggs, breakfast food.
As I became an adolescent, though, my interests shifted, and the extent of my ventures was limited to the annual garage sale I would hold when it was time to clean out my closet.
When I became a mom, though, I realized that a lot of new moms' needs and wants were not being met by the businesses that were out there. And that's how the Pinoybaby Store was born. It started with diaper covers, but since then, we've grown to offer the widest range of cloth diapering products one can find in the Philippines, along with other natural parenting products as well.
Being a mompreneur has been a wonderful journey. It has allowed me to stay at home more so I can be with my son. It has allowed me to meet wonderful people--customers, associates--mostly women who are also going through the wonderful experience of motherhood just as I am. It has pushed me to keep abreast with information relating to motherhood.
It's been a little more than a year since the Pinoybaby Store launched, and since then, we've grown from being an online store to having a brick-and-mortar presence. A few months ago, we started showcasing our cloth diapering products at Spoiled! Store in Ortigas Center.
Expectant moms and new moms will be happy to know that Spoiled! Store is holding its grand opening tomorrow, Saturday, February 6. Activities will be ongoing the whole day: hourly raffles, arts and crafts activities for the kids, pre- and post-natal massages by MomMassage, and a lot more. Raffle prizes will be given hourly. A lot of items will be on sale.
Aside from Pinoybaby products, Spoiled! Store also carries a lot of other must-haves for new moms. As far as I know, they have the widest range of nursing wear, with brands like Plume, Spoiled!, Mamaway, and Mommy Matters. They carry baby clothes from Babinski Baby, Motion Wear, and Funky Feet, and bath and body products from IndigoBaby.
We hope to see you there tomorrow!
Spoiled! Store is on the Mezzanine Floor of Goldland Millenia Suites, Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig. Share
Whether your eco-mindedness is limited to choosing CFL lightbulbs over incandescents, or you're a hardcore vegan who refuses to wear synthetic clothes, you'll find something useful on Pinoy Green Academy, a blog dedicated to living a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
I thought I was relatively knowledgeable about the ecological movement in the Philippines, but I was blown away by how much I have yet to learn, after browsing through the Pinoy Green Academy blog today.
The blog features news bits on eco-friendly events, eco-friendly products, as well as personal reflections on eco-friendly living. One of the most recent posts, for example, is a description of the first eco-house in Cebu, including a video clip about the house from Channel News Asia.
Interspersed among these news bits are helpful tips for those starting out on a green lifestyle: instructions on how to set up a compost pit, suggestions on how to drive in a more eco-friendly manner, etc.
Interesting stuff. Share
I remember in the months before I gave birth to Rafa, I was looking for nursing wear all over the city, and it was so difficult to find anything! I bought a few shirts from Mommy Matters, but other than that, the stores had very very sparse selections.
Fast forward 18 months, and now there are so many choices for Metro Manila-based nursing moms! Earlier today, I dropped by Au Lait, a newly opened maternity and nursing wear store along Wilson St. in Greenhills (across Dita Sandico-Ong's showroom). It's owned by Audrey Uy, a high school batchmate of mine, and I was gushing over the sophisticated tops and dresses that she sells (under the Singaporean brand Mothers En Vogue). I was delighted that many of the outfits work both as maternity wear as well as nursing wear, prompting me to tell Audrey that I wish I were pregnant all over again, just so I could buy some new maternity outfits!
A few weeks ago, I also just bought a few nursing clothes from Spoiled! Store along Escriva Drive. Our Pinoybaby Store cloth diaperig products are now available at Spoiled! Store, so I'm there pretty often to check on inventory. The thing is, my regular trips there have become shopping trips as well; whenever I'm there, I end up spending some time in the dressing room, trying on at least one outfit (or, as with the last time, eight outfits!). The store carries casual wear from Mamaway, Mommy Matters, and Spoiled!, and slightly more dressy wear from Plume.
So if you're expecting or nursing, lucky you! This is a great time to be a fashionista expecting/nursing mom!
Check out Jenny's longer list of nursing wear choices over at her blog.
Picture of Au Lait Maternity & Nursing Store from Au Lait. Share
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