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.
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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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| Photo from MB.com, by Rudy Liwanag |
There are three ways to help PGH's milk bank. Apart from donating breastmilk, you can also donate cash which will help with their operations, or you can donate your time by working as a feeding volunteer. If you're interested, you can contact the Lactation Unit and Human Milk Bank at the 4th Floor LCB Philippine General Hospital, telephone (2) 521-8450 local 3418/3409.
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A friend of mine found an interesting article about some new studies on breastfeeding. Researchers at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Australia found a correlation between breastfeeding and children's mental health.
Babies in their study who were nursed longer appeared to cope better with stress. The researchers noted that these effects lasted throughout childhood. The researchers followed their subjects up to the age of 14 years old.
Meanwhile, I just found out that one of the faculty members at our university is advocating local research on breastfeeding among our pre-med students. Only in recent years have I learned how scant the information on breastfeeding is in many parts of our country.
On the one hand, the number of breastfeeding-friendly hospitals is increasing, and more and more mothers as working as breastfeeding consultants.
However, I still hear too many stories of women from all walks of life holding their newborn babies the day after giving birth, trying to breastfeed, but not receiving any support nor correct information from the nurses or midwives. I look forward to the day when it becomes standard in every hospital or birthing clinic to give new mothers the information they need to start breastfeeding, should they so wish. Share
There's an American TV show I watched a lot of during my last trip to the US, called "Adoption Stories." It airs on Discovery Health. The format of the show is the same each week. The TV crew follow a couple as they go through their adoption journey, from the search until the moment they are holding their child in their arms.
It's a very sensitively done documentary, and I've often thought how wonderful it is that there is a show that educates viewers about the adoption process. I imagine that there must be some people who finalized their decision to adopt a child because of the show.
Here in the Philippines, we seem to be less educated about adoption. I'm glad, then, that Smart Parenting recently published a preliminary article on adoption on its website. It's very brief, and it will probably leave the reader with a lot of unanswered questions, but I hope it sparks more interest in the topic. I look forward to seeing more articles about adoption on local websites and in local magazines. Share
I saw a link to this video on Facebook. It's a cute social experiment done in the Philippines on children.
Although my son is much younger than the children in this video, the premise of the video made me pause and reflect on how toddlers demonstrate their own capacity and desire for independence.
My son is one-year-old, and in the past few months, he's been trying to assert his independence. He tries to do everything on his own: drinking from a tumbler, feeding himself with a spoon, putting his slippers on by himself, brushing his own teeth (although of course I need to finish off for him), wiping up his own spills ....
What's fantastic is that when he succeeds at doing something by himself, he has such a sense of accomplishment. He cheers and claps for himself excitedly.
Watching my son at this stage reminds me of what I've read regarding Maria Montessori's philosophy of education. Montessori's pedagogical theory is often summarized in the statement, "Teach me to do it myself." Young children, Montessori reasoned, are competent and capable, and, with the right environment for them to explore and discover, coupled with guidance from elders, they can learn knowledge and skills on their own.
I've definitely seen the truth of Montessori's ideas in my son. It is such a pleasant surprise for me to discover how quickly a toddler can learn new skills if we let them. Share
