Femme Power

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What’s with weddings that they make you cry however hard you try to fight back the tears?

I’m finally back from Mindanao after attending my big brother’s wedding.   Unlike my own wedding nine years ago which was full of bloopers, my kuya’s wedding was awesome, well-budgeted, well-planned, and well-prepared.  I and my cousin Rouan had our hands full in hosting the program at the wedding reception so we barely enjoyed the food.

The event was instrumental in gathering our immediate family and relatives after a long time.  We had the chance to catch up with each other even as we lost our way to a resort in Bukidnon and blew up our planned adventure after the wedding.  I had a serious talk with my younger brothers and my daughter had a short but quality bonding time with her cousins.

But looking back at kuya’s wedding, I failed to stop myself from weeping while looking at him who was then waiting for the ceremonies to start.  He was finally having a family of his own.  I felt like I was being dethroned as his little princess, me being his only sister.  Even during the reception, I failed to hold back my tears in front of the guests when I gave the acceptance speech on behalf of my parents.  My kuya… Did I just lose my kuya?  Did the marriage mean that he abandoned me and our family for his new family?   No, of course not.  I should know better, I married nine years ahead of him.  But why was I crying?  I was happy to see him happy.  I was happy that he finally met his woman, and a woman of good character at that.  But still, I was crying. Maybe for the possibility that he wouldn’t have as much time and attention for me anymore like when he was single.  If that’s so, then it’s so selfish of me.

Like I said in my acceptance speech, I wouldn’t be like Kris Aquino to her brother Noynoy when it comes to this.  I wouldn’t rob my brother of his happiness.  I’m still my kuya’s princess.  Only now, he has a queen.

I was flipping over the pages of the Philippine Daily Inquirer today and this business headline caught my attention - “RP kids’ spending power now at P47B.”   Wow.  We hardly realize it but the kids are becoming a strong force in driving the local economy.   Not only are they influential in the family’s purchasing decisions but they also have spending powers themselves out of their pocket money and gift money.

According to the article written by Daxim Lucas, Filipino children from age seven to 14 have increased their economic power over the last two years, from P37 billion in 2007 to P42 billion in 2008 and 2009.   The figures, taken from a Cartoon Network survey results, revealed that “3.7 million kids in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao - the country’s three largest and most economically powerful cities - will hold a combined stash of pocket amounting to P34.7 billion for the entire year.”  The report further says that Filipino children “hold an estimated P47 billion in spending power.”

With all this money, what do these kids spend on?

My 8-year-old daughter, just like any other kids, receives cash gifts too as well as pocket money to school but we closely monitor her expenses.  As much as possible, we don’t let her touch her savings unless necessary. She keeps a Savings Account in Banco de Oro (BDO) and a few days ago, she was happy (but I was happier) that she received a BDO Rewards Card. *BDO individual clients with a Savings or Checking Account with a required minimum month-to-date average daily balance of P50,000 are automatically enrolled in the BDO Rewards Program.  With this, we can earn points on our purchases and online transactions, even when paying bills using Bianca’s BDO cards.  How’s that for both convenience and perks?

How do you teach your kids to save and spend wisely?

This is my Fun Friday post for our Blogging For Fun group.   Today’s theme is centered on the letter G.  I chose the word “GIVING” to represent this letter and here’s why:

I’ve written a few posts about the devastation of Marikina due to Typhoon Ondoy but I haven’t given a worthy blogspace for the generosity of those who sent help to our community.  Friends and strangers alike from local and international communities poured in relief goods and other services to the typhoon victims.

The United States has reportedly donated $100,000 to the Philippines, plus they deployed a military helicopter and five rubber boats manned by about 20 American soldiers who were pulled out from their troops in Mindanao where they have been providing counter-terrorism training.   They also had soldier-doctors who gave immediate medical assistance to the typhoon victims during their rescue operations.  I chanced upon this US Marine who had fun playing with our neighbors’ kids after surveying the area.

The United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Food Program have also donated food and other aid, according to media reports.  Local organizations and individuals also poured in help like canned goods, rice, bread, bottled water, and used clothing.  Among those who gave donations were Knights of Columbus, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate (to which I belong), and GMA Kapuso Foundation.

I wish I was able to identify the organization behind the relief goods distribution in the photos I’ve taken right within our neighborhood.   They deserve some humble credit for their good hearts.

Bianca (holding a pink bag) and her classmate, Princess.

Since the typhoon brought a month’s amount of rain in only 12 hours, it caused tremendous flooding and a lot of my daughter’s classmates failed to save their schoolbags, shoes and uniforms.   I specially took pity on Princess whose shoes drifted to nowhere during the flood, hence for many days she was only wearing slippers to school.  So I bought her a new pair of shoes and she’s wearing them since.

Weird but whenever I give, I get to receive something back too (material or not).   See, my father-in-law survived a crucial brain operation just recently.  Plus, this Nov. 21 my daughter will be one of the recipients of a gift bag package from a Canadian charity institution called Sleeping Child Around The World (SCAW) Foundation. That’s more than enough good karma, don’t you think?

Giving does not necessarily involve material things.   Emotional and spiritual support sometimes weigh more than any material thing on earth.  Even just your physical presence lightens a loved one’s emotional burden.  You give quality time to your family and you make them happy.  Give love to a street kid and he’s happy.   Give honor to your parents and they’re happy.  Give respect to your workmates, laughter to your friends, moral support to your partner and they’re happy.   When my family and friends in the province as well as my Blogging For Fun friends and other friendly visitors of this blog gave their thoughts and prayers during and after the flood, my heart was filled with glee.  When my friend, Carol, gave us temporary shelter, we were more than thankful.

Giving is indeed one big source of happiness.  It rewards not only the recipients but also (and I think more intensely) the giver.   He who gives is rewarded with a joyful heart, a peaceful mind, good karma, and lots of good friends.   May we all have the heart to give.

Three weeks after the devastation of Ondoy, the people of Marikina are still trying to get up. Basic services like water and power supplies are slowly going back to normal although there are still areas without electricity until now. Businesses are gradually coming around again after what seemed like a bad dream.

The clean-up drive done by the MMDA with the help of the flooded residents ourselves, helped a lot in ridding the city of the piles of garbage. Cleaning our respective homes, meanwhile, was a challenge because it was only last week that we had clean water supply again. With the mess that Typhoon Ondoy left in our humble abode, I had to buy new cleaning materials like pails, rags and rugs, disinfectants, brushes, and a highly efficient mop, among others. We also needed to buy other items like bedsheets and pillows, and some hardware stuff to repair our cabinets and chairs. Yes, it’s that costly when you’ve been flooded. If I only have discount coupons for all these, it would be a lot of help to ease the budget. One of the stores that people went to after the flood was ACE Hardware in SM Marikina. I noticed that most people flocked there to buy airbeds, mops, flashlights and emergency lights. And I was one of them.

I woke up to a rainy yet wonderful day. It’s our 9th wedding anniversary today.  Time flies so fast, I hardly even noticed.  No big plans but a simple dinner tonight.  My hubby and I are not used to hosting parties but we celebrate important occasions together as a family in a more personal and inexpensive way.

I’ll update this post with a few pictures later.  For now, let me greet you all a good day.

Update:

As promised, here are pics from last night’s dinner (Forgive me for the poor resolution).  The food was good and the ambiance was cozy.  We had stuffed crabs, beef with broccoli, and a famous Filipino dish called Bulalo in a nice restaurant in Glorietta 5, Makati.  Nothing fancy, nothing extravagant. Just a warm, cozy night full of fun conversations.

Thanks for all your greetings, I  truly appreciate them!  We had a fun chat with my soon-to-be sister-in-law who joined us to celebrate last night. She’s my older brother’s fiancee. It’s our first time to meet last night and yet we talked like we’ve been friends for a long time.  After the dinner, we had a quick trip to the department store to give in to Bianca’s request - a new pair of sandals.  Kuya’s fiancee let Bianca choose her own pair of sandals and bought it for her plus she gave Bianca P500 (around $11) for her to keep.   She’s a wonderful, generous woman (and a dedicated community doctor).   At the end of the night, Bianca was clinging to her new tita (aunt) instead of me and her dad.  Talking about a sudden shift of loyalty, lol!

Mention 3-Day-Sale and you got my attention. These are the magic words that alert a bargain-hunter like me. So when I learned that SM Marikina was having a big sale on their first anniversary from Friday to Sunday, I didn’t have second thoughts of going. Last Friday, I only had less than two hours to shop around to avail of the additional perks for those with SM Advantage Card, the mall’s loyalty card.   Within 10 am-12 noon, all SM Advantage card holders were entitled to an additional 10% discount on top of the regular discounts.  For one,  I was able to buy a new set of queen-size bedsheets at 70% discount (60% less plus another 10% discount on top because of my Advantage Card).  I was able to buy the much-needed items in my list but nothing at all for me (Why do we, moms, tend to shop for everyone else in the family except for ourselves?). But no regrets, I wouldn’t have felt fulfilled if I only shopped for myself.  The other items I bought had 20%-50% less on their tag prices.

The queues at the counters were long especially when it was nearing 12 noon. Evidently, a lot of card holders wanted to avail of the 2-hour promotion which would save them a lot of money while earning points. There was this woman ahead of me who was scouring her wallet for something. Turned out that she lost her SM Advantage Card so she was bound to miss the additional 10% discount.  Looking at her items, the additional discount would save her hundreds of pesos.  Realizing this, she almost begged asked me to lend her my card.  Since the card is transferable and that she was a nice woman, I obliged.  She thanked me profusely several times, I was getting green.

But the best part of that day was probably the McDonalds event which my daughter and I had the chance to attend after I bought a ticket for P150 (a little over $3).  If I didn’t pass by on that part of the mall, I wouldn’t have known about it.  There were food, freebies, games, lots of prizes, singing, and dancing.  The kids also got the chance to have their pictures taken with their favorite mascots - Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie, and Ronald Mc Donald.   I was surprised to see that Bianca has grown almost as tall as Grimace, the violet mascot we got for her birthday party when she turned one year old, seven years ago.  Now, you can hardly see Grimace behind her in one of the pictures below.

I learned later that McDonalds gave away free Big Macs to their first 100 customers that morning.  Had I known earlier, I would have rushed to McDo first before heading to the Department Store, lol!

We all have sweet tooth in the family that’s why there’s not a single month that we don’t have anything sweet either a cake, some fruit salad, pastries, or ice cream in the fridge. This month, my hubby brought home two boxes of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.   It’s more costly than Mister Donut and Dunkin’ Donuts but the taste is, no doubt, par excellence! Happy days are here again, teehee! Come, take a bite.