EllemenThoughts About Gadgets On Kids

A few more days to go and its the day that most kids are excited about because of the gifts that they will be receiving. For some mommies they will give whatever their child wishes to receive on Christmas, gadgets, mobile phones, laptop, etc. just to let their kids feel their love and care.
But before we hit the mall and buy those electronic gadgets for our kids let's consider first the advantages and disadvantages of these products to our children.

Advantages are:
- gadgets that can connect to the worldwide web can help our kids with their research works in school. Google, Bing and Yahoo can answer some questions that we cannot provide.
- kids that have direct access with the latest electronic gadgets doesn't have any difficulties with identifying or working with the latest technology.
- boosts their self confidence because they know that they have whatever their playmates or classmates have, we know the feeling of wishing to have the things that other kids have, we've been at the same situation at some point of our lives.
- kids that are exposed to the internet learns a lot of things compared to those that are not.
- effective way of communication especially for parents that needs to check on their kids every now and then.

Disadvantages:
- kids that are exposed to electronic gadgets spends more time playing video games and watching online instead of studying their lessons at home.
- prefers to play alone in their room instead of going out to play and socialize with other kids.
- studies already proved that kids that are often accessing the internet has a lot of tendency to be more violent than kids that are not.
- the bad side of kids learns a lot of information through the worldwide web is that they also learn things that are not meant for their age especially those that are not guided by their parents.
- social media like Facebook, instagram, twitter exposes them to not just the people that they personally know but also to strangers. Kids instinct when it comes to people with bad intentions are not that strong compared to adults.

Its not bad to always give our kids everything that can make them happy and feel loved, our role as parents is to make sure that they will grow up to be someone with values and to make them safe from any forms of danger. We sometimes need to weight things between what makes our kids happy and what can keep them away from harm or what will be the best for them. If there are things that we know that we cannot give them, let them understand the reason and try to give some option and compromise. I as a mother would rather see my kid cry the whole night because he/she wasn't able to watch the violent cartoons than to see him/her spank his/her younger siblings just because he/she thought it was cool.
I have four adorable kids, eldest is 12 y/o and my youngest is 2 y/o and I didn't regret that I didn't help them sign up on Facebook and with online video games. I'm happy and contented with the result, this is how I was raised, going to the library to read books and do researches. Playing outside with my brothers and sisters and play mates. The best thing about it? I have good childhood memories and was proud to be able to survive my younger years without the help of the gadgets that young generation cannot live without today.

 

Christmas Shopping EllemenTips

A few days to go and its Christmas! Let's admit that despite of the fact that kids are the most excited about this season we still can feel overwhelmed whenever we see families that are celebrating together.
Another thing that's special about this holiday season is the gift giving. It has always been a Filipino practice to give "pamasko" or "aginaldo" to their "inaanaks" (godchildren) every year. And if you are an "in-demand" godparent then you might find Christmas shopping not that easy.
It's been a while now since I started to give gifts to family and friends during Christmas. And every year I'm trying my best to make it hassle-free as possible. Here are some tips.

1. Alot an amount that you can or willing to spend to buy Christmas gifts so that we already have an idea on how many gifts we can buy and how many people we can give them to.

2. Create a list of people that you want to send the gifts. One important tip: prioritize the kids, seeing them happy and grateful to recieve a gift is priceless.

3. Research for places where you can buy gifts at a much lower price. Divisoria, Baclaran and Greenhills should always be on the list.

4. Save more if you are going to buy at a wholesale price, instead of buying a couple of piece at the retail price. Anyway it feels good to know that you can make more people happy.

5. Shop as early as you can to avoid the Christmas rush. You can start as early as September especially if you have a lot of folks on your Christmas list.

6. You can be creative by researching online about unique gift ideas. If you have time you can actually create things to give to the people that are special for you, this can add more thought because you spent more effort, time and creativity to the gift.

7. Online shopping will be convenient for people on the go. If you can't squeeze in shopping to your busy schedule, check out the items on sale online. Just be careful on choosing the shopping site and giving out cc #'s. Check out the recommended sites first. 

8. Don't do your shopping if you're tired or stressed, there's a big chance for you to spend more or will not be able to concentrate and will not be able to buy all the things that you need. Schedule a date when you will do the shopping and make sure that you are well rested before that day to have the energy and the positive mood. 

9. Don't try to impress by sending expensive gifts, remember that giving something that are useful and beneficial will be more appreciated because the receiver will think that you know exactly what they need. Receiving gifts during this season means that you are being remembered. 

10. Lastly, avoid buying gifts that are very common, picture frames, pillows, stuff toys, dinnerwares, etc. are already outdated, this is your chance to show how creative and thoughtful you are.