Official Earth Day activities in the Philippines were postponed by the government to April 25, Monday, to accord due attention to it as the annual date of April 22 coincided this year with Good Friday, one of the most important religious holidays of the country.

While the move is commendable, I would like to emphasize the need for us parents to go beyond the one-hour Earth Hour or the one-day Earth Day activities and do the right thing every day so that our generation would be able to bequeath to our children a better world than what we inherited from our parents. Such call for action was trumpeted about a year and a half ago in a blog post to highlight the International Day of Climate Action.

logo courtesy of www.teeswater.ca

In the same blog, I listed my top five concrete and practical actions that parents can do to help mitigate climate change.  The following is a quick rundown:

1. Reduce energy consumption.  This is the concrete action that was promoted in the Earth Hour.  It has an immediate positive impact to the wallet on top of contributing to the long-term sustainability of our planet.
2. Eat less meat, more vegetables.  This action had to do with the energy requirements to produce meat as animals are secondary consumers that lose energy as heat, thus inefficient in converting biomass from plants.  We also get the health benefits of eating more vegetables, nuts and fruits, while lowering the risks of certain cancers and lifestyle diseases by reducing meat in our diet.  You might even wanna go for an ecologically sound alternative to eating meat as protein source-- entomophagy.
3. Buy local foods and products.  It's not just getting the freshest food on your table, but also helping the local economy become self-sufficient.  This concrete action minimizes energy expenditure due to transport and packaging.
4. Travel less, travel efficiently.  Working closer to home has the obvious advantages of lowering fuel expenses and pollution.  But more important to parents is the time that can be spent with the family or doing more worthwhile activities rather than commuting to and from office.
5. Educate, communicate.  This concrete action not only plants the seeds to better citizenship in our children and community, but also forces us to spend time talking to them. It's a great topic to discuss during dinner where everyone can contribute his/her own ideas.

To read the full arguments for the above listed concrete actions, click this link to the original article "Concrete actions parents can do to help mitigate climate change".

The benefits of the above recommended concrete actions that anybody, particularly parents, can do is at least two-fold in that the positive impacts are both in the short- and long-term. Moreover, these are actions that can be done every day and not needing any special events, venues, skills, tools, group or expenses to do. In fact, we can do it on our own. But our individual actions have a huge impact if more of us do it every day.

So please share this information to family and friends so they, too, may adopt these practical steps/actions to save our planet. You may do so by clicking on the "like" or "tweet" buttons below, or sharing it via email or reposting it in your Facebook or blog.

Consistency in following a weekly exercise program is always a challenge to most people, and we are not an exception. In order to fulfill a minimum of 30-minute workout to elevate our heart rates in 3-4 days per week, we imagined ourselves to be doing walking, jogging or occasionally swimming. However, as parents, lots of surprises crop up that throw well-laid out plans out the door. Setting expectations too high could lead to frustrations and therefore not helpful to happiness and well-being.

We recently found what could be a good way to go around the many limitations in our current situation. Without leaving the house, we can do our exercise with the help of free fun exercise videos that we found in youtube.com. Exercise need not be too strenuous or fancy. What's important is that one feels the heart pumping and beating faster.

We enjoyed the following exercise routines by Paul Eugene. Why not try them out. The kids might enjoy it as well. The five videos below makes more than 30 minutes of fun easy steps to get you to have a good sweat followed by a cool down routine.











Paul Eugene also has exercise videos catering to those who'd like praise music.

"Have you slept in the market, Papa?" our seven-year old son asked out of the blue yesterday.

Taken aback by the question, I blurted "what?"

So he repeated himself, "When you were young, have you slept in the market?"

"He's always like that, Papa. He imagines that it was better in the past," his elder sister interjected.

"Why are you asking Leon, is it because of Manny Villar's story?" I pretty much knew that it was because he's been talking about Manny Villar on and off in the past weeks.

In fact, both my older kids had been interested with Manny Villar when his campaign jingle about having taken a bath in a river of garbage and spent Christmas in the streets came out.  They say that their schoolmates also likes Manny Villar.

I have always been disgusted with politicians making a spin to gain political mileage, i.e. giving half-truths to improve image or mass appeal. This one is particularly hideous. Why?

1. Tunay na mahirap. It uses children (and the disadvantaged ones at that) to carry the message that Manny Villar is poor himself. 
2. Nakaligo ka na ba sa dagat ng basura? It glorifies poverty, a subliminal message that effectively gets into the impressionable minds of children.  Effective because my kids got infected with the message (often singing the jingle), and they only get to watch television 1-2 hours per week!  How much more for those who are allowed to sit in front of the television a couple of hours or more every day.
3. ...mapag-aaral...mapagtrabaho...magkabahay...Magtatapos ng ating kahirapan!  It appeals to parents' fear about their children's future and promises heaven on earth if Manny Villar gets to be president. Unfortunately, many parents will fall for this bull****.   It's again the easy way out of poverty-- find a savior, a magician or a billionaire.  And with the right propaganda, they're willing to latch on to anyone, even known (or suspected) scumbags who answers to no one.

I have no choice but to dig deeper into this matter and be vocal about it. The issue cannot be ignored anymore and the outcome cannot be left to chance.

As I research about it, I found mannyvillar.com.ph where they unabashedly praised this shameful campaign strategy. They think that it's okay to use children and to make "very directly and brave claim as to eradicate poverty."  Read for yourself through this link and let me know what you think.

Making outrageous claims as to end poverty (Tapusin ang kahirapan is seen in his orange campaign materials all over the place) is again giving Filipinos false hopes, that would further erode credibility of our political institutions, as expectations are set so high that it's short of claiming magical powers.  How can someone make such outrageous claims in the face of so much poverty in the country and get away with it.  Ooops I forgot that if you answer to no one, not to political institutions, not the courts, probably not even to God...then duping Filipinos is as easy as ABC-5 (or ZTE).

Fellow Filipino parents, we should remember the adage...if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

After learning that Manny Villar has spent billions on advertising, which started even before the campaign period, I just wondered if he really intends to serve the Filipino people...why didn't he just do public service directly as he says he doesn't need to get richer anymore.  I can think of at least two ways he could have done it with his own resources:

1. Pay off our country's debt, as debt-servicing is sucking the budget dry, the highest portion of which is supposed to be allocated for education.
2. Build houses, schools and create jobs with the money he's spending in his campaign.  He can even start small in strategic areas (including his own Las Pinas or Tondo) and find broad support when small gains are at hand.

You'd just wonder...instead of celebrity endorsers or the media getting his billions, those that truly need the jobs, housing and education would have benefited directly.  Then, he wouldn't need to make those traditional campaign practices anymore as people and organizations would be raving about his success in uplifting the lives of actual people in actual areas where poverty is widespread (or in the case of paying off the national debt, all Filipinos present and future would benefit!).

But now since he has invested so much in his campaign to be president, do you think he would not recoup his investment?  I am sure he'd be happy with his salary as President of the Philippines.

Note: This is the third in a series of articles on Discipline Methods introduced in Discipline and Parenting Style.  If you missed the first two, I recommend that you read them first- Discipline Methods: Communication and Role Modeling and Discipline Methods: Merits and Demerits. This series on discipline is published every Friday so please check back regularly or subscribe via email or follow us at Twitter or Facebook (buttons are at the bottom right corner as well).
 
This segment of the Discipline Method series is beneficial to both parent and child. Time-out is for a child who is having a difficult time controlling his emotions and behaviors. It is not a punishment but a special time and opportunity to calm oneself, think and regain self control. There are many ways to effectively implement time-outs:

Time-Out or Think-About-It Chair: For toddlers and preschoolers, requiring them to sit in a time-out chair when they disobey instruction, hurt someone, too loud and argumentative, annoy a visitor or for any misbehavior, effectively calms them down and makes them realize that the behavior is unpleasant. If you don’t want to use the term time-out, you can just ask the child to think about what happened and give him time to be alone and reflect. Be sure to discuss the issue with your child when the time is up. You can start implementing time-out time at 1 minute per age. Other children would require longer than this so make the necessary adjustment.

Room Time-Out: The principle is the same as above but this time, the child is required to stay in his or her room. Giving a person time to be alone and chance to reflect in the privacy of his room, calms the emotions down. This is then the time he can come out of the room. The required isolation will also make him realize that the behavior was undesirable and something should be done to correct it. Again, discuss the issue after the time-out. This is applicable to all ages if the child is not violent enough to hurt himself when left alone.

Situation Time-Out: Taking time away from a bad situation calms the child and prevents worse misbehavior. When a child gets mad because a sibling or a playmate broke his toy or crumpled his artwork and would not listen to words, then it is better to pull him out of the situation to prevent him from getting back at and hurting the offender. You can take him for a walk or make him listen to good music to bring his composure back. Give him another activity to work on or read a book with him. Explain the importance of emotion control despite being offended when he is ready to listen.

Peace Corner: Designate a corner in your house where the child can associate peace and tranquility. Peace corners are preferably decorated with plants and flowing water. Put the child in that corner when he is angry to help him re-center himself. Fighting siblings can also reconcile in this corner. Be sure to discuss the issues when emotions are relaxed. Having a peace corner is also beneficial to adults.

Reverse time-out is for parents who feel their emotions are getting out of control. If you are too angry, it is better to ask for a few minutes alone to calm yourself down. Hide in your bedroom or bathroom, freshen up and take a few breathing exercises. Come out when you have a better mood to engage in conversations and ready to deal with your child’s misbehavior rationally. Never deal with a child’s misbehavior when you are in a fighting mode. You might inflict unnecessary pain, physical or emotional, to your child that you will regret later. Reverse time-out is also effective in ignoring attention-seeking behaviors of your child. When the child notices that he is not getting any attention because his mother is currently indisposed, he’ll eventually calm down.

NEXT: Discipline Methods: Prevention and Tolerance

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/rashidasimmons/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Allow us to begin by defining detox or detoxification in the context of diet modification for optimum health. Detoxification is the removal of toxins or the effect of such in the body through a dietary regimen. It is believed that our bodies are inundated with numerous toxins each and every day through bad diet, food additives, pesticides, air pollution, cigarette smoke, alcohol and caffeine. Together with stress and depression, accumulation of these ingested toxins can affect our different body systems and may eventually cause illnesses. Elimination of these toxic elements improves the functioning of many body systems that provide better sleep, energy, mental alertness, healthy skin as well as enhanced immune system function. On the other side of the court are the opposing views stating that there is no evidence that detox diet actually removes toxin from the body and that it has no proven health benefit. Well this statement could be true because more scientific evidence is still needed for it to be generally acceptable.

From the standpoint of someone like us who are seeking health, wellness and long productive life, whatever sounds logical is always worth a try. As mentioned in a previous blog on Natural Body Cleansing Detox Diet Recipes, we wanted to be proactive and try whatever is logical to improve our health and the quality of our life rather than having no option later on but to try everything out there to cure a lifestyle disease that could have been prevented in the first place.

Subgroups in the detoxification diets as categorized in Detoxification Diets include raw food diets, which are based on the premise that uncooked foods prevent the accumulation of toxins in the digestive system; mono diets, in which the dieter consumes only one or two foods (sometimes in liquid form only) for a period of 10-14 days; juice fasting, in which the dieter consumes large quantities of fruit and vegetable juices along with water and herbal teas for one to three days; and vegetarian or semi-vegetarian detox diets, which allow the dieter some variety of cooked whole grains, steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, and small amounts of protein foods as well as several glasses of water and herbal teas each day.

Wanting to be realistic with our goals, we chose to follow the least restrictive…semi-vegetarian detox diet. This will serve as a springboard for us to engage in a healthier lifestyle and hopefully halt the development of any impending lifestyle diseases. After the detoxification regimen, which will last for two weeks, we can continuously adapt some of the healthier ways that are sustainable in the long term and appropriate even to our children. For now let us share with you the guidelines that we will follow in our detoxification or detox adventure. These were formulated by putting together whatever information gathered about the subject that sounded logical to us. This is more like the dos and don’ts in natural body cleansing detox diet.

1. Include only the following foods in the detox diet meal plan:

• Fruits- fresh, frozen, dried or canned in natural fruit juice.
• Fruit juice- make homemade fruit juices or smoothies from fresh fruit, or drink pure and unsweetened ready-made juices.
• Herbal, fruit and green teas (caffeine-free). Take green tea for its antioxidant property and calming effect.
• Vegetables including beans and lentils- fresh, frozen or canned in water (without salt added).
• Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes (minimum)
• Brown rice and rice noodles, rice cake and rye crackers (minimum)
• Fresh fish or canned salmon and tuna in water
• Unsalted nuts and seeds (avoid nuts, especially peanut, if you are allergic or sensitive to it)
• Plain popcorn- without sugar or salt
• Live natural yogurt/probiotics
• Extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Garlic, ginger and fresh herbs
• Naturally brewed soy sauce (minimum)
• Ground black pepper
• Honey, Organic coco-sugar or Muscovado (minimum)

2. Avoid the following foods:

• Red meat like pork and beef, chicken, turkey, and meat products such as sausages, burgers, pate, luncheon meat, meat loaf, etc.
• Milk, cheese, cream and other dairy products
• Eggs, shellfish, shrimps, crabs, lobsters (other detox programs allow these at minimal amounts)
• Butter and margarine
• Any food that contains wheat (bread, croissants, cereals, cakes, pies, pastry, etc.)
• Battered and breadcrumbed foods
• Salted nuts and seeds
• Junk foods (chips and processed snacks loaded with salt and artificial flavors)
• Chocolate, candy, donut, jam, and other preserved fruits- loaded with sugar
• Processed foods, and ready-made meals and sauces
• Alcohol- not to add more pressure to the liver. It has an acidifying effect and contains yeast, both bad for our body.
• Coffee, carbonated drinks and caffeinated tea
• Sauces, pickles, store-bought salad dressing, and mayonnaise
• Salt and processed sugar- to appreciate the natural taste of foods often masked by these condiments, deload the kidneys, minimize water retention and stabilize insulin levels

3. Increase the proportion of fruits and vegetables, get them fresh and eat them raw as much as possible.

4. Source natural and organic foods as much as possible to diminish accumulation of pesticide residues and other synthetic chemicals in the body.

5. Drink at least 8 glasses (equivalent to 64 oz) of water everyday to improve mood, rehydrate skin, boost immune system and increase metabolism. This will also ensure that we don’t get constipated especially with the increase in our fiber intake. Adequate fluid intake will hasten the process of elimination of toxins through urination and defecation.

6. Eat small frequent meals and chew the food thoroughly to increase metabolism and burn unwanted fats efficiently. Avoid feeling hungry, and more so, fasting.

7. Start the day with lemon-water for its antioxidant and good toxin-flushing properties.

8. Take regular gentle to moderate exercise like walking, stretching or even yoga. Go out of the house, breath fresh air and stay away from smoke. Nobody in our family smokes but for those who do, cigarette is prohibited during detox.

9. Everyday, do a few minutes of meditation and read articles on positivity for greater mental clarity. It’s like detoxifying the mind.

10. Take time to wind down and avoid stressful situations that will increase cortisol level leading to low immunity and high blood pressure. Do home-made body scrubs and massage to improve circulation and promote relaxation.

The immediate observable benefits we expect from this endeavor are restored vitality, healthier and younger-looking skin, minimized bloating incidence, better mood and improved immune system function. If we continue to embark on healthy lifestyle with minimized toxic loads even after this detoxification program as well as engage in detoxification twice a year as recommended, then we would expect the following: controlled blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure levels, reduced risk of cancer development and longer active and productive life.

The trade off? We are expecting higher expense in terms of money, time and effort, not to mention the sacrifices of not being able to eat some of the food stuff we have been accustomed to. This is like paying the premium for health now rather than paying it off with interest later on in life. Hope you know what I mean.

photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/lollyknit/ / CC BY 2.0

Note: I will post the actual two-week semi-vegetarian detox diet program that we are going to follow in the next few days.  So please keep coming back, or better yet subscribe via RSS or email using the subscription widgets at lower right hand side of this page.

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Thinking of a unique bonding moment with your children? Try vegetable gardening. Many parents would attest to the numerous benefits consequential to this activity. Now let me share with you our family’s vegetable gardening experiences. 

Even before we got married, my husband and I have dreamed of establishing our own organic vegetable farm. Being both advocates of environment protection and healthy lifestyle and young professionals who wanted to make money for a decent living, we started tilling a small piece of land only to realize that business doesn’t mix with advocacy. We gave up the business part but the advocacy portion lingered in our hearts.

Wherever our family resides, vegetables are grown in the backyard whenever feasible. This is quite difficult especially for working parents, but we always try to give it time and effort because the harvest is more than the vegetables as you can see later in this article.

To guarantee harvest with less effort and minimal input (no pesticide and no synthetic fertilizer), we choose local varieties and low-maintenance vegetables like sweet potato, okra or lady finger, native pechay, native tomatoes, spring onion, radish, eggplant and string beans. We were also successful with an open pollinated variety of sweet corn. We tried cucumber and a cold-loving bean variety...we harvested some but lost many due to insect infestation and poor growth. Still worth the try...we had no regrets because this is how we learn and validate theories.

When our kids were smaller, they only observed us as we work in garden. But the best part of this journey was when they were old enough (4 years old in their case) to join us and also when the garden space got bigger. We usually spend time working together in the garden during weekend mornings, when everybody is available. It is in the process that they learned many things and we parents got to know them better.

For direct seeded crops, like sweet corn, they were asked to put 3 seeds per hole and to cover it thinly afterwards. Looking at the few holes available, they asked why 3 only and not 10 so they can have more corn later…well, good thinking kids! Lessons regarding competition and how plants obtain their nutrients from the soil were given to answer their query. The life cycle of plants, the importance of sunlight and water were also taught while they wait for the seeds to emerge as seedlings.

Asking them to water the plants that have emerged or wet the soil where they placed the seeds was never a big issue. At a very young age, they became aware of the needs of plants and how to provide for those needs. They became more gentle and caring as they realize that even plants have needs, too. Besides, this is a chance to play with water…hmmm, what a nice excuse for them to wet their feet, legs...and oh no their shorts as well! Pretty clever eh!

In the beginning of our every gardening session they are too active and overjoyed because they feel like playing, exercising and getting them dirty (that’s how we put it), yet accomplishing something. Towards the end, they get so sweaty and feel so tired. This is the time they reflect and appreciate the farmers’ hard work to make sure the rest of the people can have food on their tables. I feel so proud having heard that from my own children. 

Patience is observed…of course planting is not like magic that you get to harvest in one flick. They visit the garden from time to time waiting for the fruits of their labor. They observe the insects visiting to pollinate or to get a little share filling their tiny tummies with the veggies or to feed on other insects feeding on the veggies. This is also an opportunity to introduce trophic relations and other ecological concepts. You might think that it is too early for these concepts, but they are actually very receptive.

Harvest time is fun time!!! My children get to pull their veggies from the soil, or remove them from the stalk. They can’t hide the thrill…the proud feeling that they contributed a little something for the plant to grow from seed to an edible vegetable. For us parents, we relish on the peace of mind that what we are going to partake is safe even if eaten raw. This gardening activity also helped encourage healthy food preference in our children. They are always excited to eat vegetables, especially their own harvest.

Why did I say we got to know our children better with this experience? It became clearer that our daughter is more of a conformist or a parent-pleaser and a hardworking fellow. She has consistently been very cooperative and strictly follows our every instruction on how to do things in the garden. Our son on the other hand, spends some time observing us first and how we do things before he decides to work with us. Apparently, he was figuring in his mind how to make the tasks easier for everybody. It was the innovator in him refusing to do things the hard way. At the age of 4, working in a small garden, he was thinking of having machines to plant the seeds and to water the plants so we people don’t get too tired. Was this plain laziness or an amazing gift that my son have? I sure hope it’s the latter =)

The current practice of handling newborns contributes to the high incidence of neonatal death and illnesses in the country. Doctors are introducing a new way of caring for newborns in the first few minutes of life, which could cut by almost half the number of newborn deaths estimated at 40,000 each year according to this report.

Important points in the new program of the Department of Health (DOH) and World Health Organization that should be imposed are as follows: 1) dry the newborn immediately after birth (instead of washing) to prevent hypothermia and the risks related to it, 2) initiate skin contact with the mother by placing the baby on the mother’s chest or abdomen to provide warmth, increase the duration of breastfeeding, and allow the “good bacteria” from the mother’s skin to infiltrate the newborn, and 3) delay the cord clamping by two to three minutes after birth (or wait until the umbilical cord has stopped pulsing) to increase the baby’s iron reserves, reduce the risk of iron-deficiency anemia and improve blood circulation. These are basically in line with the Essential Newborn Care (ENC) protocol.



When I read about this, I had mixed emotions. On one hand, I got disappointed for I know it was not strictly observed when I gave birth to my 4 children. On the other hand, I felt grateful that an effort is being directed towards its strict implementation. There are only three hospitals in the Philippines currently subscribing to the ENC protocol so far—Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, and Fabella Memorial Medical Center and Philippine General Hospital in Manila.

In all of my childbirth experiences, the umbilical cord was immediately cut before the baby is placed on my tummy or my breast. Then my baby was only allowed to ‘kiss’ my nipple because we were not given long enough time for the baby to latch on. They wash the baby and when they bring the baby to the room to be with me (room-in as we always specify), I usually notice red spots are on my baby’s face. They said that it is the result of the cotton rubbed on my baby’s face and will wear away in time. True enough the spots were gone in few days. But with the ENC protocol this should not happen to newborn babies in the future.

Most babies do not experience hypothermia even when washed immediately after birth, but a lot end up staying in the nursery for days just to be heated by lamps. Isn’t it because they were washed even before they get acclimatized in their new environment? I am just wondering. When this happens initiation of breastfeeding is delayed, making the situation worse for both mother and baby. Delaying the start of breastfeeding by one day could make the newborn 2.6 times more prone to infection as also mentioned in that report.

I am posting this to help spread the information about the ENC Protocol. To those who are about to give birth, discuss this with your Obstetrician-Gynecologist (OB). Know the hospital policy on this as suggested in my previous blog on childbirth preparation. If they are not yet implementing the ENC protocol and you want it for your child, ask if they will accommodate your request.

This is also a good chance for me to highlight the various practices beneficial to the health and well-being of the child with less emphasis on cleanliness: (1) passing through the birth canal to get in contact with microorganisms necessary to prime his/her immune system and (2) allowing the child to play and get dirty as explained in my previous blog on natural immunity builders, (3) skin contact with mother for the good bacteria to infiltrate newborn, (4) delaying washing of the new born to prevent hypothermia as washing removes the vernix or baby’s skin protection. Apparently, too much emphasis on cleanliness is also detrimental to your child.

Director Honorata Catibog, head of the DOH task force on the rapid reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality, describes the new program to implement the ENC protocol as “paradigm shift”. I call it going back to basics...our natural survival strategy.

photo courtesy of stockvault.net

It is imperative for people, young and old alike, to have adequate daily fluid intake for proper hydration. This is necessary for normal body functioning and immunity to diseases as discussed in item # 3 of Parenting Journey blog entitled ‘Top 6 Natural Immunity Builders for Kids’.

There are many healthy fluid sources available everywhere, but still you may find that people, especially school children, often do not reach the minimum requirement. Getting so busy and preoccupied with school work, socialization with peers and other extracurricular activities leave them oblivious of this health concern. Here is where parents come in.

Though the consequences of inadequate fluid intake may not be fatal in most circumstances, there are definite short term and long term negative impacts on our children’s health. Some known effects of inadequate hydration in children are frequent headache, constipation and impaired cognitive function. Vulnerability to common diseases like flu, cough and colds are very likely because of weakened immunity.

As promised in the above-mentioned blog, I will be sharing the results of an ‘experiment’ we did on finding ways to improve the daily water intake of our school kids. So much time and effort was spent on this endeavor but so many lessons were learned in the process and lots of gratification in the outcome.

Some Background

Let me begin by specifying the fluid sources of my school children. A glass or mug is at least 180 ml. Our school kids, ages 9 and 7 years old, drink 1 glass of milk in the morning and another one in the evening. Half a mug of lemongrass tea and one glass of water (together with their vitamin C supplement in tablet form) are taken in the morning. In school, 1 glass of choco milk is consumed for snacks but the half liter drinking water goes back home often barely touched. One glass of juice or iced tea and 1 cup of soup are the usual consumption at dinnertime. It looks like a lot but still inadequate because of low water intake while in school.

I feel so upset looking at their water bottles every afternoon when they get home for I know that the minimum daily fluid requirement was not met. Based on their weight they should consume about 1.6L of fluid per day. To know the fluid requirement of your child based on weight, here is the link for your reference.

With the objective of ensuring that our school kids are properly hydrated for better health and immunity, this journey began.

The experiment

I initiated making a water intake chart using post-its so it can be easily attached on our refrigerator door. It is a simple table where we could record the amount of water we drink, a sort of score sheet. Only the intake of pure water is ‘scored’ because that’s where the inadequacy was identified. Our son provided the pencil and was asked to make sure it is always available near the refrigerator (he tends to take it with him and usually gets misplaced). Everything else evolved beautifully from this beginning.


My husband asked my daughter to summarize the data every end of our ‘water week’, which falls on a Wednesday. She was taught the concept of averaging and how it is applied in real situations. She was advised to use long-hand in her computations…no calculator. My husband even made it more difficult for her by recording different fractions of glasses so she can practice mathematical operations with unlike fractions. My daughter survived the challenge and even volunteered to do the next score sheets.

At the end of our first week, we were surprised that even we adults did not meet the minimum daily requirement of 8 glasses. Our children’s quota is 6 glasses a day. The next week saw us falling short again of our target. It was even lower on the third week because everybody got busy that time. I knew it was not easy but I didn’t think it would be this challenging!

Because enough data were already available, my daughter was now asked to make a graph to plot the data for us to clearly see the trend. Very few directives were given to her and hurray her first graph was made! Here is the graph she made:

Looking at the trends, we decided that it’s time to make a change. A meeting was held after one dinner. The importance of water in humans was reiterated, the data were discussed and resolutions were made.

The first strategy was to give a reward (but not specified) for the person(s) who can reach the target. As it became a contest, our quite competitive daughter surely reached her target but didn’t quite care about the performance of the rest, not even to check on our faithfulness to record when we drink. Failure to record was a significant reason in some drops in the averages.

It was obvious that we had to modify the criteria for winning a reward to make sure that everyone would benefit. So I suggested putting emphasis on team effort and changing the reward system to enhance teamwork. That is, all four of us need to meet the target average for the week so that we’ll get rewarded as a team. The first reward is to watch ‘A Christmas Carol’ in the movie house. Because we seldom do this, everybody was thrilled with the thought.

Other resolutions made were as follows:
1) We started to modify our drinking habits. Fruit juice and iced tea were eliminated during meal time in favor of pure water. This is a triple benefit because we also reduced our sugar intake and lessen our expenses with this move.
2) Because we fail to record our consumption at times, we resolved that each one of us will remind one another about it.
3) The children gave their commitment to be conscious about water intake even while in school.

With all the above resolutions, the following week saw a significant rise but still the criterion for the reward to be granted was not met. When the showing date of the movie we want to watch drew closer, the pressure mounted. And just this Wednesday, on the seventh week after we began the experiment, we finally did it-- all points were above the horizontal lines representing the target!

So happily, we declared that on Saturday, all of us will be in the movie house to reap the reward for our success as a team in an endeavor that was started to make us healthier but ended up making us wiser and happier as well. CHEERS!

glass of water photo courtesy of stockvault.net