I Want To Be Like Superwoman

Today, I failed miserably at meeting the standards of the "Proverbs 31 woman" (my version of Superwoman). I hope that one day, my children would still "arise up and call [me] blessed", and so would my husband (v. 28).

Being a mother is tough--it doesn't matter if you're a working mom, a stay-at-home mom, or even a single mom. I've been all three. It is a very special title to hold, and with such a title comes great responsibility.

And then...there are just some days that you lose your cool.

Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who helped me get my cool back. He surprised me with an ice cream sundae upon arriving home from a long day at work--you know, one of those Mondays.

In contrast, I also have an ex-husband who has consistently been behind on his child support this year. Perhaps, it is time to call the Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA).

Here, I have one man who brings out the best in me, and there's another, who brings out the worst. The latter takes advantage of my kindness and does not take action until I am burning angry.

Pests and Stars from Madagascar Make Their Way to Honolulu

This weekend, we went to the Honolulu Zoo with the entire family for a Ohana Field Trip!

How to Create Your Very Own "Pa Kamali'i" or Children's Courtyard

We live in a simple house. We do not have any fancy artwork or decorations. Aside from practical purposes (our children are very active boys who can turn any place into a football field), we decided to turn our home into a children's courtyard--a safe place where their energy and creativity can shine through. It's our mini-version of the Hawaii Convention Center's Pa Kamali'i, or Children's Courtyard.

At the entrance of the courtyard was a sign that read,

Pa Kamali'i: Children's Couryard

A Hawaiian proverb states, "He lei poina 'ole ke kamali'i," [which means] "A lei never forgotten is the beloved child." Though few children may be heard or seen here, they are not forgotten. This courtyard with its art work is dedicated not only to the children of Hawai'i but to the child within each of us--that part of us which is ultimately alive, energetic, creative and fulfilled--who we truly are.

How to Stop Raising a Generation of Consumers

Epcot - Walt Disney World, Florida

It appears that we have been creating a society that has become dependent on others to teach them how to do something (old or new). This tends to hamper innovation and continuous process improvement. Sometimes, this can even promote laziness and/or complacency.

Hence, I don't completely agree with the quote,

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." 

Contingency Planning: What happens if they run out of fish?

Learning How to Read and Spell with Shaka

Aloha! We spent some quality time with Shaka the Tutor, again, yesterday. I thought of creating yet another PowerPoint presentation (where our virtual pet, Shaka, "lives") to check if my older son really is learning how to spell words correctly and construct sentences properly. I wanted it to be a family activity, so I took his list of spelling words and made one slide per word, along with an example of how to use the word in a sentence.

The big letters allowed me to follow along by looking at the computer screen from a distance (while tending to a newborn baby) and nodding in approval as each child did their part correctly.

Introducing Our Newest Pet, "Shaka"

Meet Shaka, our newest pet! When he is hard at work, we call him "Shaka the Tutor". 

Shaka is not a real dog. In fact, he hails from Microsoft PowerPoint! He does not live in a fancy neighborhood, either; I got him from ClipArt! Despite his humble origin, he turned out to be the main character of our homemade tutorials, "Learning with Shaka".

We "adopted" our virtual pet yesterday and trained him to be our children's math tutor. Picture him as the scholastic version of Microsoft Office's "Clippy", the defunct paperclip character that had served as the "Office Assistant" for many years.