My boy just turned 4 years old. At age 4 he has already has lots of accomplishments . He's turning out to be a real fine boy. Here are some facts about my boy:

1. at 11 months old, he got his first ever trophy for being the most energetic baby when I joined him in "The Cutest Baby Competition" organized by Sunway Lagoon club.
2. he has been to 4 other countries aside from Malaysia - Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and Cambodia.
3. at 2.5 years of age, he told us he wanted to be a doctor because he wanted to check doctor mommy. (after all the exposure he got in taking him with us for my antenatal check ups). it hasn't changed ever since. he still wants to be a doctor now. he hasn't thought of any other profession like Mesothelioma lawyer.
4. he started school at 3 years of age. That's why at age 3, he could read already. He's now reading his Book 9 in class. They're supposed to read until Book 8... but since he finished reading 8 books, he has started reading Book 9 already.
5. he got his 2nd trophy for joining the Sports Day in school at 3 years old.
6. he became the most charming ring bearer at 3.5 years of age, on his uncle ramesh wedding.
   
7. before turning 4 years old, he had his first ever performance (speech and dance) in front of more than 1,000 people. the teacher said he could sweet talk the teachers. he would tell his teacher if the teacher looks nice on that day and if the teacher is wearing nice clothes. That's why he was tasked to do the speech. Hehehe. (It's a pity I only took half of his speech... but I was supposed to take photos only and his daddy the video. But since I thought it would be hard for me to upload videos to youtube from the video cam, i decided to just take video from my digital camera myself.)

Anyways, there are more things about my boy... Just wanna toot the the best ones he has accomplished now.

I have finally started doing some stuff for my son's 4th Birthday Celebration on Monday, 27th October. We did some grocery shopping last Sunday a Cold Storage in Ikano. Yeah, I know it's to far to be groceries shopping there. But we were at Ikea last Sunday to buy some things and since there was a supermarket nearby, we just decided to buy our groceries there. It wouldn't be ideal to come back to Subang Jaya to go to Carrefour just to buy groceries. We found almost everything we needed for his birthday there. Birthday planning is fun... but I get a bit nervy. I don't know why. I always feel like this everytime I organize parties. Is it called party jitters? LOL. Anyways, just want to check off my list from my previous post about my son's 4th birthday planning:

1. work on the guest list with my boy. he already has a list of his own which includes his classmates, his cousins, and his grandparents.- check
   
2. work on my dishes. i'm planning on a mixed dishes. and asking my mother-in-law to cook indian dishes, I cook some western dishes and some finger food for the kids. - check
   
3. work on the decoration. - check. i mean we bought what we want to put up on that day already.
   
4. work on the loot bags. my gosh. i can't believe I haven't done a thing for this one yet. - check. done already.
   
5. search the internet some cup cake recipes and cup cake designs.- check.
6. order birthday cake. check. ordered from grace. she does really awesome cakes. I thought of baking the cake myself since I did his birthday cake for his 2nd birthday. But thought I'll have no time to bake his cake and do decorations because I don't have a helper this time to help me with the preparation. Ordering is the best option for now.
7. book a clown. check. this is probably the highlight of the party.
8. buy his birthday gift. check. did this during the Lego sale last August. Hehehe. I'm getting clever, hey?
   

His theme for his party is Thomas and Friends theme. So I bought some Thomas and Friends stuff for the decorations. I asked him to choose actually (along with Barney and Pooh Bear)... but he chose Thomas and Friends. I keep forgetting he's too old for Barney and Pooh Bear already. Hehehe. Well, there's much more things to do like:

1. do a bit of house spring cleaning
   
2. wash the curtains
3. wash the couch covers
   
4. buy a jug for drinks - i've been wanting to buy this one for a long time now. need to buy really soon so we can use for the party.

Planning a birthday for kids is fun. I am enjoying myself (just a bit nervy - have I told you this before?). Anyways, hope everything works well on that day. I just want this one to be memorable for my son. He's already 4 years old and he's capable of enjoying his party already. So I pray that it will be a blast.

Now that Christmas is just around the corner, it's time to think of Christmas gift ideas. It's better to prepare them early on than to crumble what to buy for Christmas gift for the family. My list would go on and one, but let me start with my parents first. My mom and dad had been wearing prescription eyeglasses for some time now. And from what I saw last year when I visited them in the Philippines, their eyeglasses looked really old but I never gave it a second thought. But now, when I was browsing the net for some cool gifts to buy for Christmas, I stumbled, again, upon Zenni Optical. I said again, because I remember seeing it the last time I was looking for stylish prescription eyeglasses. And besides, Zenni optical prescription glasses was featured in Chicago Tribune.
Zenni Optical eyeglasses have indeed become popular because of its good quality and cheap price. They are cheap because when you order, they will send it to you straight from the factory. There's no middlemen involved so you can get it for its net price. Isn't that cool. Nowadays, there's nowhere you can find eyeglasses that are of good quality and yet cheap. So I'll probably get one of Zenni's prescription eyeglasses for my mom as one of my Christmas gifts for her. What do you think? I'm sure she'd like this design. It is so stylish. My mom is more stylish than I am. So I'm sure she'll appreciate this one.

I can't wait for Christmas. I have so much in mind what to do and I'm glad I'm starting off now with my Christmas gift list. I know it's too early. But I think it's better to be early than be late.

It was truly a success for a first time meeting. Thanks to Steph for organizing it. I've been in Malaysia for almost 6 years now and yet I haven't really mixed around with Filipino expats in Malaysia. One factor is the distance and I don't drive. Not that confident enough to drive on Malaysia road. But since Steph contacted me (thanks to the blogosphere she found few Pinoy bloggers who are now residing in Malaysia), I knew that I have to meet her and meet Josiet again and a few others whom I have not met before. Glad I joined. It's cool to meet new people with the same originality. I had fun... so did my hubby. The food was awesome. It's nice to be eating pinakbet, relyenong bangus, adobong baboy, etc... again. Cannot remember all the food there. Grace's desserts were to die for. Looking forward to meeting them again and hoping they all could come for Schenker's Birthday party.

Proverbs 31:30 says, "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain but the woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." With so many definition of beauty nowadays, it's just so hard to tell which is the real definition of beauty. You watch the television, you read the magazines or books, and they would tell you being beautiful is skin deep. You have to wear this and that to be beautiful. You have to have this and that to be beautiful. A lot of us are misguided on the true meaning of beauty, thus we define beauty in a wrong way. But you know what, the best definition of being beautiful is when we fear the Lord. We see the true beauty in a person when she has a good heart. When she offers help to those in need and considers this as doing it for the Lord; when that person has compassion on fatherless, sick and poor; when she extends her hospitality to strangers; when she doesn't think of herself as above others... then she's a real beauty. A role model to look up. This is my motto in life that beauty is vain but the woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

If you want to find out more about how to be beautiful in the Lord, you might want to join a Theatre Church Conference in Silver Spring, MD on October 22 & 23. They are going to discuss on how it is like be beautiful in the Lord... not just a skin-deep type of beauty... but a beauty that's eternal. I actually checked out their website because I also want to find out more about it. Actually, this event will bring together respected thought leaders, pastors and church leaders from the nation’s most innovative growing churches to discuss the future of theatre worship. You know when you worship in a theater like service, it would have a different impact in your life, thus... resulting in us to do more good works that are pleasing to the Lord.

Today. We are going to get together in KL. It's gonna be a lunch meeting. And everybody's gonna bring a dish. And if you know me well, you'd probably know that I'm bringing my signature spaghetti dish. Hehehe. And yeah, my famous roasters too. This is going to be my first time meeting with pinoys in Malaysia. I only know one family there whom I met through blogging, Josiet and her family. I met them once before. I met Steph (our host and organizer for this lunch meet) through blogging as well but haven't met her in person. Leaving soon now. For more information on this lunch meet, drop by Pinoys in KL blog.

Now that my boy's concert is over, it's time to go ahead with his 4th birthday planning. We are having it in the house this time. It's going to be Deepavali holiday also. That means, more invited friends and family this time. So what I'm working on now is:

1. work on the guest list with my boy. he already has a list of his own which includes his classmates, his cousins, and his grandparents.
2. work on my dishes. i'm planning on a mixed dishes. and asking my mother-in-law to cook indian dishes, I cook some western dishes and some finger food for the kids.
3. work on the decoration.
4. work on the loot bags. my gosh. i can't believe I haven't done a thing for this one yet.
5. search the internet some cup cake recipes and cup cake designs. I have found some cute ones that I know I can follow. searching some more options just in case. i want to make cup cakes from scratch so am a bit excited. and hopefully I will do well with it. otherwise, i will have to resort to ready made ones available from the cake shop nearby.
   

wow 10 more days and it's gonna be my boy's 4th birthday party already. and i haven't done a thing! i usually do the birthday planning one month before his birthday time. oh well... just hope everything will be okay. i don't want to be so kalangkabod (panicky and messy, or disorganized) on that day. it's going to be my son's birthday after all. it must be special.

recently, i blogged about us having a car accident. i think my husband is still in a trauma. he was super careful just now when we were driving to send his mother back to his brother's house. last night when we came home i was going to give him a massage. but i wasn't feeling well... usually, i would feel like this when i'm super stressed or when i get too nervous. good thing i vomited. it eased me up a bit. as i reflect on what happened when the other car bumped our car... i realized i could be brave and bold. here's what happened:

when we realized a car bumped into our car, my husband pulled over. and of course, the driver of the car that bumped our rear pulled over in front of us. my husband came out of the car... so did they. there were three young men who came out of the car. i got more nervous and i was shaking all over because they came and looked angry and shouted at my husband. my husband was talking nicely only. but they kept on shouting at him. i couldn't take it anymore. i came down with my two kids in tow and told the guy to stop scolding my husband because even if it was his mistake, he didn't do it purposely. i told them to cool down a bit, call a police and settle everything. and i said those in a firm voice. amazingly they listened. and i went back inside the car because it was starting to drizzle. when we went inside the car, my boy started bombarding me questions... i already forgot them as i'm writing this... but one thing i remembered was... he told me to pray. He said, mommy let's pray. And so we did. It's amazing that my boy was the one who initiated the prayer. I felt there was a hard slap on my face... but glad too because all these teachings about prayer and things Godly truly worked! It is indeed never too young to be taught. As I remember a family member told us that his son was young to be taught about faith.

Well, I have learned my lesson. Never stop praying for protection.

Today while we were driving back from our boy's friend's birthday party, we encountered an accident. There was a car that was running really fast from behind and peter didn't see it coming... He wanted to use the fastest lane so he put his signal on and tried to move to the other lane. Too late. We heard a loud crash from behind. The fast running car hit our behind. Thank God we're driving Volvo. It didn't flinch... not an inch. So we pulled over. I saw the front of the car that bumped us. It was very badly crushed. Good thing nothing happened to everyone. We checked our behind and was totally amazed by Volvo. There was only a slight scratch. The car we were driving was tagged as the safest car in the world. Glad we have this kind of car... regardless of age. Glad we had car insurance. It will take care of everything. Glad nothing happened to our kids. Thank God for protection.

While I was busy weaning my girl off from breast milk... here came Angelina Jolie showing everybody she's breastfeeding her twins. According to omg.yahoo.com, Jolie appears on the cover of the W's November issue in a sleeveless top, which has been opened to reveal part of her left breast and a tiny hand ostensibly belonging to one of her twins, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, who were born in July. The black-and-white photo shows Jolie smiling, her long brown hair cascading over her shoulder. The cover headline promises exclusive "private photos" of the 33-year-old actress by her partner Brad Pitt. La Leche League International, the world's oldest breast-feeding support organization, applauds Jolie's apparent decision to be photographed nursing.

"Breast-feeding in public reveals a whole lot less than what has been revealed on the red carpet. ... I think we do need more role models like Angelina Jolie willing to be photographed and say, 'Hey look, it can be done, it oughta be done,'" said La Leche spokeswoman Jane Crouse.

Glad that Angelina sets a good example of what it takes to be a mother... that as long as you can do it... you do it.

My favorite mall is Sunway Pyramid. I just love its intricate design (which is Egytian inspired). It is a huge mall... well, after they built it's extension, it became so huge your one whole day won't be enough to see everything. But of course, I won't know for sure if it's the biggest mall in Malaysia because there are other malls that are so big like One Utama Mall. Another thing I like about the mall is that it has a very good digital signage. Those were really eye catching you would want to buy whatever it's advertising. Hehehe. But of course, I'm not an impulsive buyer. My husband is. I don't shop just for the sake of shopping. I need to think a lot before buying things. But of course, there are times when the love-at-first-sight hits me. That's when I become impulsive buyer. But those times are occasional. So it doesn't make me a bad shopper, does it? Anyways, it's been a long time since we haven't gone to Sunway Pyramid. Hope to visit the mall soon.

photo courtesy: boonage.pjss2.net

Last week was my son's one week school vacation because of Hari Raya holidays. I was thinking maybe we could drive up to Singapore again for a break. I was disappointed to know that Peter had organized a meeting in the middle of the holiday week! There is already an Air Asia flight direct to Singapore but I was thinking of driving because when we reach Singapore, we can drive around the Country with our own car. The only thing is... our car's ac compressor needs to be changed because when we drive long distance, the aircon freezes the compressor... something like that and it stops giving cool air already. Anyways... to make the long story short, we were not able to go anywhere because of the meeting. Now I am hoping that in the next school holiday, we will have time to go for a long break. I really mean looooong break.

One great thing about being in a digital world nowadays is that it is very easy to create family keepsakes. There are many websites that allow you to store your photos, make slideshows and presentations. I have a lot of photos which I took from my Sony Cybershot and everytime I look at the pictures... it does warm my heart. To see happy faces in an unforgettable places. It does help when we have good quality xd picture card. It can save a lot of pictures. It doesn't run out of memory fast so you can take load of photos. Here are my favorite photos that make me smile everytime I peek on them.

happy smile - because of coke. hehehe.

cutee

pretending to be sleeping

just plain priceless cozy moments.

We were at Subang Parade just now. While my girl was in her playgroup with daddy, I went to a pharmacy to get something. There was a lady who approached me and asked if I wanted a free skin test. It was free so I said yes. They had this machine that they used to screen for health problems. It was like an ultrasound in fact. But was amazed me was... they only checked my nail! There was a tiny dot on my nail that meant I lacked Vitamin C. And there was a small white line I saw and the lady explained that I lacked antioxidant in my body. And of course, while explaining all my vitamin deficiency, there was always this product that could help alleviate my vitamin deficiency. Wee hee. And she made another test. This time, it was on the skin of my hand. And she told me my skin was aging! LOL! I thought of course... I'm getting old err... I mean I'm getting more matured... what do I expect with my skin... stay young? LOL. My mind was a bit sarcastic. But I know there are products that can stop your skin from aging. Now. What? Buy their products? No way. I think there are natural ways to slow down aging, if not stop it. Here are some natural ways to stop/slow down aging that I can think of:

1. drink lots of water
2. eat healthy stuff like fresh fruits and vegetables
3. exercise daily
4. get an ample sleep everyday.

It's a challenge... But if I keep it that way... I would probably slow down aging.

I am a church goer. Usually. But when my husband goes out of town for work, I don't go to church. I go to FGA (Full Gospel Assembly) in Kuala Lumpur. This church is super huge. You know why? It's a theater turned into church. This church started by two elders in one of their houses (house church) with a few people fellowshiping together. 25 years later, they have like 8,000 members! Can you believe how phenominal the church growth was? My husband started going to this church 21 years ago. And he never left this church. I am glad coz I like singing and fellowshiping in a big crowd. During praise and worship time, it feels like we're having a concert everytime. Nowadays, a lot of services happen in a theater, especially in a church where there's a big population. It is so easy to fit everybody.

Our church may not be a theater like service but what I'm going to tell you might be of interest to you. Actually, there is going to be a first-ever inaugural Theatre Church Conference in Silver Spring, MD on October 22 & 23. That's about 11 more days to go. If you happen to be around the area and you want to experience a theater like service, you can Find out more about it in their website at ncm.com. My church is probably not like this one... I mean like theater like service... But I can just imagine the impact it would be if I attend a service which is something like this.

Weaning my girl off breastmilk was indeed a success! It was so successful I feel guilty sometimes. I feel that I weaned her off too soon. I was actually planning to breastfeed her for two years. But it's still months away... and I stopped breastfeeding her already. Sometimes I think I should have waited. Arg! But I also give my self a consolation that before I weaned her off... she became too attached to me. And everytime she saw me, she would only think of milk. For her, mommy = milk. So I just couldn't wait for two more months. Now that I don't breastfeed my girl anymore, it's time to hit those diet programs. I've been too lazy to hit the treadmill so probably this time, I'll just go slow on food. Hmmm.. let's see...

Weaning my girl off from breastmilk was not that hard as I thought it was. The first day was hard but came second day, things were easier. I think what contributed to Samantha's tantrums was the fact that she was teething. I discovered this on the second day of my weaning her off. I check her teeth, and there, all four molars were coming out - all at the same time! No wonder why she was so grumpy these days. I blamed it a lot on "terrible two" stage. When I discovered she was teething, I really pity her because it was such a wrong timing to be starting to wean her off. If I knew she was, I would have delayed the process. But since I have started already, I didn't want to stop. I didn't want to make it harder for the two of us. There were things I want to highlight for this part 2 of journey into freedom.

day 2:

• i'm glad i listened to the doctor and didn't get any lactation suppressant pill. he advised me to wait and see whether it would be so painful. it was indeed very painful on the first night, but i gave samantha a drink... so it eased down a bit.
• i decided to go slow and easy. so on the second night, i gave samantha another drink - which i find very helpful for the both of us.
• carried samantha to sleep since she wasn't used to sleeping on her own. she used to drink milk and fall asleep while doing so.
• gave samantha extra hugs and attention
• tried giving her Pediasure milk because that's her brother's milk until now. She could only drink a little bit and then she'd refuse. So I bought the Pediasure chocolate flavor because I thought she liked chocolates she might wanna go for this one. Same thing, she only drank a little. She liked eating milk powder. So I gave her the chocolate milk powder and water to drink later.

day 3:

• was much much easier. i still put marmite (bovril) on my breasts because she would still ask for milk occassionally. i never tried saying no to her when she asked for milk. i would straight away offer to her... then she'd realize she didn't like it anymore. it's funny because now when she asks for milk, and when I say "sure?" now she would say "no."
• of course, i still smell of a bovril (marmite). have you tried bovril on your toast? LOL. it's actually very very good as long as you put bovril thinly and mix it with butter. awesome. but of course, this time, i didn't do that. bovril is strictly for breast. hehehe.
• when we have to go out, i just make sure i spray a lot of perfume to cover up the beefy smell. i use Banana Republic - classic perfume which is one of my favorites (the other one is clinique - happy).
  

day 4:

• this time, she slept on her own already. i didn't have to carry her to sleep anymore. that's one thing to be grateful about.
• i also didn't give her milk at night. we're progressing here! what do you think?

I just thank God that it's not that hard to wean her off. As I've said, the most challenging part was to make a decision and to implement it. And of course, it was very diffiult on the first day and night... but it got easier on the second day.

day 5:

• success!
• i'm ready to change wardrobes! LOL.
  

Congratulations to me!

What is a short sale? A short sale occurs when the proceeds of a real estate sale fall short of the balance owed on the property. In a short sale, the bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount a loan balance due to an economic or financial hardship on the part of the mortgagor. Source - wikipedia. A short sale is executed to avoid home foreclosure. There are just lots of those that are happening. In Malaysia, we call it Lelong. At www.sellquickforcash.com, they provide solution in stopping foreclosure. An Arizona Short Sale refers to a lender(s) accepting a sales price that is less than what is currently owed plus all related sales expenses. This can truly benefit home owners, especially in Arizona valley. This Arizona Short Sale Company is located in Phoenix, Arizona and Anthem, Arizona. So if you're a homeowner in Arizona and experiencing financial problem and want to avoid home foreclosure, just visit their offices. The procedure is very easy and they can pay cash in as a little as 3 days. They guarantee of no hidden fees or commissions and everything is done in writing. So you can be sure of reliability. Arizona Short Sale Company is the best option as they are more experienced and best Short Sale and Foreclosure Specialists. You can actually visit their website and click on "who we are" page for your comparison shop.

M notebook is back. The memory has been upgraded so it's quite fast now. I can also watch movies without it stopping in the middle of the movie. The computer guy who fixed our notebooks was a very good guy. However, peter's notebook has totally crashed. the problem was with the motherboard. They can fix it but the computer guys suggested to just buy a new one. We asked him for his recommendations and he said Toshiba Satellite notebooks are very good ones. Now I wonder if we could afford this one though. Looks sleek and durable. Will have to ask other friends' opinions.

One of the most important thing to write down in your list if you're preparing for the coming of your baby is the stroller. And you need a very good quality and safe one. There are lots of strollers available and you have to choose carefully which ones you buy. One of the good quality ones is the Chicco stroller because of its light weight and sturdiness. You can travel around conveniently with it. It has handles that could rotate 360 degrees and bend 180 degrees. And it can carry from newborn babies and up to 40 pounds! If you're looking for quality strollers, just visit www.babyearth.com. You can find an array of strollers in different styles, brands and prices.

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Praises and Glory belong to God for:

• I have written an article that won a book entitled "50+1 Malaysia." i don't have the book yet but i'm thrilled to have it. my first winning from joining a writing contest.

• My paid blogging is doing very well. last august had my paypal increased to 500$ and last month was about the same. Thank God for His blessings through paid blogging.
  
• My husband and two kids are recovering from flu and colds. And thank God I didn't get any from them. It's hard to be taking care of family and being sick at the same time.
  
• Thank God for good health.
• Thank God that I have finally have the courage to wean my 1 year 10 month old girl from breastfeeding. I have written about it in: my journey to freedom.
  

What are you thankful for this week?

i joined a contest a couple of months ago about writing what you love about malaysia. i found it at socialspark free opportunity to write. i decided to join since i have learned to love malaysia as well. i don't usually win in a contest where they pick the winners by random. no such luck for me. but when a contest is by strata, there is usually a possibility of winning. i actually won a book entitled 50+1 malaysia by writing this article: malaysia - why do i love thee? i don't have the book yet but i'm looking forward to having it. it's worth 51RM in the market and i'm having it for free! i thank my husband for editing my grammatical errors and for doing a spell check manually. thank you dear. i dedicate this book to you. it's not that big but it makes me happy and more confident in my writing. thank you Lord!

there are just so many ways to have family fun in a budget or even for free. i can point out at least a few ways to have fun with family:

1. watch kiddie movies at home
2. make pizza together
3. play at the park
4. going window shopping in malls
5. fly a kite on the beach (if you happen to live near the beach)

recently, we discovered something new that would add up to my list. you don't spend so much and i am really sure that the whole family will enjoy doing this. play mini basketball! last weekend, we discovered this while waiting for samantha to finish her playgroup. it was so much fun. it's good for exercise and good for losing weight as well. you don't even have to take Leptitrex to lose weight anymore. just go play mini basketball. you only pay 1RM (that's about 30 cents in US currency) for 1 set. it is really fun. well, if you have a family and you want to compete with my family... let's go and see who can shoot more points!

my first child got into his terrible twos only after a few months after he turned two. that's why when i had my second, i didn't expect her to be in her terrible two stage this early. she's been throwing tantrums lately, especially when she is sleepy or hungry. the worst part is when we are in a shopping mall and she's feeling so tired she becomes very fussy. last sunday, i forgot to put her sandals on before getting down the car. i only realized she didn't have her shoes on when we were already inside the mall. i decided to just buy slippers for her. mothercare was just around the corner so we went inside and looked for slippers. but she saw what she liked. the boots! oh my gosh. it's not even a stylish boots. it's a pair of boots for raining time! we didn't want to buy it.. but she insisted. she screamed, she kicked, she cried just so we buy the boots for her. that scene never happened before in her entire life. (well, she's only 1 year and 10 months old.) so we were taken aback. i checked the price of the boots and good thing it was on sale. it's not very expensive. so we gave in. that was really sad, knowing that we let her win because she was throwing tantrums. so tell me... was i wrong in buying her this pair of boots? i was just going to buy a simple pair of slippers. on the other note, i have read somewhere that we let kids decide which ones they like from time to time. arrgghh... parenting is indeed the hardest job one can have. we all need God's wisdom in doing so.

Our friend gave us copies of James Dobson's series of teaching about "Bringing up Boys" on dvd's a few years ago. My husband and I watched most of it. Everything Jame's said about raising boys (can be applied to girls as well) boils down to the presence of a father. A father figure is very important in raising boys. Most of the kids, according to the survey, that end up being juvenile delinquent are those kids that didn't have their father's attention or just plain fatherless. They end up looking for some kind of love outside home, thus, taking drugs to help them feel better and end up being addicted to drugs. Little do they know that to take drugs can make their lives worse. But of course, there are many drug rehabilitation center around that can help these addicts to be free from their addiction. Take for example the drug rehab in sunset malibu. They offer the most gentle and most effective drug addiction treatment. But not all can afford to go for a treatment. That's why it is encouraged that fathers spend more time with their kids, that fathers show love to their kids. There's nothing compared to the father's presence to be in the kids' lives, especially in growing up time.