In partnership with noon.com, I am sharing with you a promo code you can use to get a maximum of 10% off on your orders.
By using the promo code ‘BOYDUBAI’ new customers will get 10% of their total bill (maximum of AED50). Existing customers will get 5% of their total bill (maximum of AED25).
The code is valid on select Express items.
We were talking to a group of friends after the church service. I was carrying our 4-month old boy then. Our friends were playing with him when I noticed a lady from afar intensely staring at him. She walked closer to us.
There was sadness in her eyes as she kept looking at Buybuy.
Then with anxiousness, she asked if she could carry him. Without hesitation, I put him into her arms. She hugged him tight – really tight. She’s not saying a word until about half a minute, trying to hold back tears she said…“Kasing laki nya ang baby ko. Na-mi-miss ko lang po siya. Iniwan ko sya sa ‘Pinas 3 weeks ago para bumalik dito.”(Your boy is the same age as my baby. I’m missing him so much. I left him 3 weeks ago in the Philippines to return here.)
Everyone in that huddle suddenly couldn’t say a word after hearing those words.
This is just one of many stories of OFW moms who endure the pain of being away from their children to work in order to give them a bright future.
OFW moms, saludo ako sa inyo! Happy Mothers Day! We’re praying that one day, you and your family will be able to stay together. And that one day would be soon.
After 5 minutes, she returned Buybuy to us, and with relief in her eyes, she said, “Salamat! Salamat. Sobrang napasaya nya ako. Sana makita ko sya lagi.” (Thank you! Thank you! Buybuy made me very happy. I hope to see you often.)
Am I the only dad who doesn’t do many handyman works at home? You know, plumbing, electrical works, carpentry, repairs, etc…
When something needs to be fixed, most of the time, I hire someone to do it. Not that I don’t know how to, it’s just that I’m not doing them too often I’d rather delegate it to someone who knows better. (Fine, I feel lazy… I don’t have that energy just by thinking of it, compared to other things I love doing.)
My wife was even clowning me sometimes for not knowing how to do stuff “every man should know.” I told her, it’s just a matter of preferences and interests. I’m happy she understands. (At least, I know how to assemble Ikea stuff.)
Some men grew up learning DIYs, while I opted to learn the creative and soft skills that I love and I’m now using.
Fathers who know a whole lot of things are admirable. Sometimes I wish I’m like you. But fact is, not everyone knows everything, even if the world says that you should. You can do one thing that I can’t and I can do another that you can’t. Different strokes for different folks.
So fellow dads (and moms, who usually get a lot of this banter), don’t sweat it out if someone tells you “you don’t know nothing.”
If she’s cooking, I’m washing the dishes.
If she’s drying the clothes, I’m taking them off the rack.
If she’s cleaning the house, I’m taking the garbage out.
If she’s washing the poop, I’m changing the diaper.
When I’m working, she’s homeschooling.
When I’m writing, she’s proofreading.
When I’m stressed, she’s my therapy.
When I fall short, she forgives.
And at times I have too much on my plate, she’s there to take them to her already overflowing platter.
While we know our roles, we’re not limiting. It’s not about who the man or the woman; not about who does the bigger tasks. It’s about making ourselves available should the other does not have the capacity.
Today, on our 13th anniversary, among the things we celebrate is how our marriage continues to be the best partnership and collaboration ever between the THREE OF US – God, myself, and my wife.
We often get this question. Well, not every day the house is blemish-free. I think the interior design has given us the motivation to deal with mess as quick as we can. I believe it’s also a matter of perspective and a commitment to always keep it back to its look and feel that we love.
When the kids mess up, they know that they should also clean up. Even our 2-year old learned to develop that habit.
How? First, we tell them, then we show them how. And they grow even better than me. There are times my kids would call me out because I dropped a crumb on the floor, or I did not put my shoes the right way on the rack.
That just says how much they look up to us in doing things.
So I sneaked some snaps below during their play because I wanted to see how messed up the living room could be. So far…
But you see, despite the mess, it still did not ruin the design completely. That’s the beauty when you deal with the mess when it happens.
One of the benefits we’re enjoying with a good interior design is the convenience to maintain orderliness – not because there is always the urgency to tidy up, but because the way the house was designed fits well for easy cleaning. It doesn’t feel like you need to make general cleaning all the time.
And to help us keep it low-maintenance, we make sure they know these 4 things:
If you noticed in the photos above, the kids play with one toy at a time most of the time. I wouldn’t take the credit for that. Aya’s influence on her younger brother is so big that he has quickly adapted her habits.
The only fight that happens between the two is when Buybuy wanted to play with more toys, but Aya doesn’t approve – because, in her words, “he will just mess up.”
To make it a habit, we need to show them the way by modeling – without them realizing they’re being trained. Here are a few small tasks that they can pick up to learn at home, other than with toys:
Another thing I realized, when you do things cheerfully with them, they will develop an instinct to copy what you do because they see happiness in you doing them.
Proverbs 22:6 is very true, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.“
The ‘perspective’ that I mentioned at the top of this article is actually inspired by this message in the bible:
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17
Even in maintaining a clean and orderly house, we commit to doing it with thanksgiving in the name of the Lord. After all, we believe that God is with us at home right? So why not desire to keep it clean and well-maintained, just as how he instructed people in the bible on how to keep his house clean.
Cleanliness at home is biblical and wise, “By wisdom, a house is built, and by understanding, it is established.“
Some people say when you have a toddler and you have a clean house, you must be spending more time cleaning rather than more time with the kids.
And I’ve heard a few people who praise moms for having a messy house because, apparently, they spend all their time with the kids, and they’re just being real.
While I partially disagree with the above statements, I understand that some parents really need to spend more time with the kids and that’s okay. How much more those with more kids. I think a personal commitment to keeping things low maintain could help.
Whatever works best for you and the family, keep at it. It’s okay to be inspired. Pick up the encouragement. BUT, remember, you don’t have to conform to the standard of others. We all have different standards and that’s okay.
Interior design goes beyond just being stylish. It has a huge positive impact on the way we feel and the way we do things.
Here are 7 key benefits of interior design based on our experience:
Interior design is economical in the long term. A professional designer will help you save money by helping you choose the best fittings and furniture that fit your budget without compromising quality. Once the one-time setup is completed, you don’t have to buy more items for the house. Except for plants. EXCEPT FOR PLANTS.
In fact, we realized we were spending more in the past few years because we buy things every now and then when we feel like it.
During the conversation with the designer, we shared our preferences and references. Having kids, we wanted our space to be also suitable for play and a lot of running. The design has transformed every space in the house to be functional, be it empty or not. Simply put, interior design has optimized every space at home.
As a family with a toddler, we wanted to deal with the usual mess they create whenever they eat or play. I thought, whatever beautiful space you have when they mess up, it’s still a mess. While that is true, a good interior designer would advise which style would be best for that.
Mess is unavoidable. But keeping the house orderly after a play is not impossible when you have the motivation always to see the aesthetics that you love.
When we saw the layout, we got more convinced that we had to let go of many things we didn’t need inside the house. So in the end, we moved to the new place with a lighter load and without clutter.
TIP: If you haven’t used a thing for a year, it means you don’t really need it. Let it go. Barter it, or donate it.
We lost the appetite to go out—we feel that what we have inside is better than what we’ll get from the usual hotels we go to. The family’s idea of fun is echoed by the design. We decorated the house so much that we never craved much for a staycation elsewhere. Yung mas gusto mag-stay sa bahay, kesa gumala—another savings on that area.
Since we are the ones approving the design, we know what would suit our preferences and lifestyle, therefore affecting the mood of the house. When you have an ergonomic space, you are motivated to do more of what you love to do. My wife, for instance, has become even better at things she loves doing at home, in the kitchen, and even in her homeschooling sessions.
Whenever we feel the need to relax or unwind by simply sitting back, a good interior design can create that atmosphere.
The good thing about interior design is that you don’t have to copy exactly what others do – because it’s all about your personal style preferences.
If you are someone thinking about it, I want to share with you the value I found in doing it. If you have the means, go for it. It’s a worthy investment, not just for the eye but for the mind, more importantly.
Don’t get me wrong. If the budget is tight, don’t pay for someone to do it. You can always try it yourself. There are a lot of resources online that you can check – especially if you have a creative flair. Join Home Buddies, Scandi Home Enthusiasts, or other interior design groups on Facebook to find inspiration.
One last thing: all the beauty around you won’t make sense if there’s no overflowing love, joy, and peace within. Because, at the end of the day, it’s not about the house on the outside, but about who lives inside. So a beautiful heart before a beautiful house is the true interior that matters.
Like a typical Filipino living abroad, I didn’t care much about our space here in Dubai before, because I was thinking life abroad is just temporary and I’d rather save money for our dream house in the Philippines (or somewhere else). Plus, the fact that we are only renting and we’re moving quite a lot from one place to another, makes us not think of spending so much in designing our space.
“Sa bahay natin in the future, gusto ko ganito, ganyan…”
My wife and I used to look so much into the future (dream house) that we forget to live in the present. It’s not a bad idea until you realized you wanted to stay here for the longer run. And with kids growing too fast, the need for a more conducive space to live, play, and study becomes more obvious.
So when we moved to a new 2-bedroom apartment in Dubai South, people thought we upgraded our lifestyle because it looks high-end. But actually, we are paying 30% less of what we used to pay for rent in the past years. That’s a HUGE cut. We’re just blessed to have found this gem of a place at a lower cost. Thanks to a friend.
We love the community so much that it feels like we wanted to stay here for the rest of our days in Dubai. The kids enjoy the playground where they run, get dirty and simply be kids. So with at least 10 years in mind, we decided to design this place as pretty and convenient as it could be using some of the money we cut from the yearly rent budget.
We believe interior design would be a good investment for our well-being. It’s more than just the look and feel, it’s more about the aesthetics.
We believe that a concept done by someone with a better eye on design would give us direction – something that we may not get well if we decide to do it ourselves.
We inquired at IKEA Dubai Festival City as recommended by a friend. But we were referred to Dubai Festival Plaza as their list of customers waiting in the queue was already too long.
They do have an interior design service, but not a full interior design job. They only create a 3D rendering of their recommended layout with suggestions of furniture from them. When you avail of the service, you won’t be required to buy everything from their store. In fact, you don’t need to buy all their recommended items if you have something else in mind.
Upon payment, a team went to the place before we move in to get the measurements and other needed specs.
We told them what old furniture we are bringing and they considered them in the design. We also bought a number of items from other stores like JYSK and Home Centre, and that’s fine with them – they also included the exact items on the plan. After all, we are paying them for the service.
We only had an hour-long meeting with the designer wherein we shared our preferences, references and give her a glimpse of our lifestyle.
Then she took us around the store to check if we can already choose some items right there.
In a couple of days, she showed us her proposed layout.
The first version was so good it got us so excited. But like any other design jobs, we requested a few revisions. We had to check alternatives to some of the Ikea items she put in there. The designer was very helpful and nice to work with (though you really have to be very specific with your requests). After eventually coming to terms, a delivery schedule was arranged within 6 days.
A team of Ikea contractors came to assemble the furniture and put them in their respective position based on the approved drawing. The designer was not with them.
Since they are contractors and not from Ikea directly, they are very picky in getting requests from us. They would always refer to the drawing on their hand if the request is in scope or not. They just agreed that we pay them extra for them to do our additional requests for wall drilling.
The next day, another team of electrician came to install the lights.
All these happened within 15 days.
Here are some screenshots from the video of the design they provide:
We said we want indoor plants, so you see how she added those lovely plants in the sketch.
“Sana all, It’s been a year since the last fight.” I got this comment from the previous blog I’ve shared on Facebook.
A few people had asked us also how we’re able to keep an enjoyable marriage despite meeting each other only through online chat. So let me share 4 reasons how you can avoid fights in marriage. I’ll use C.H.A.T. acrostic for this. No pun intended
Matakaw kami sa usap. We exchange and process thoughts everyday. When you are each other’s confidant, you won’t need to find someone else to talk to about the most important things. Your spouse should be your best friend, no one else comes close.
When you talk, you also listen attentively. Importante yun! These kind of talks often lead to deeper intimacy.
We struggled with pride in the past. There were times we wouldn’t talk for days because no one wants to make the first move. There were moments where petty things got escalated for no reasons at all.
Humility defeats pride. The Bible says, humility is about looking to the other person as more important than yourself. In marriage, it’s about valuing your spouse above yourself not looking to your own interest but each of you to the interest of the other.
It’s not about who earns more or who does more. It’s about intentionally loving and respecting each other.
This is the main reason why we were able to manage not getting into fights for a long time now.
Parang Pacquiao fights lang – it happens every year
Having accountability in marriage is a game changer. Understanding our roles as husband and wife is the best thing to ever happen in our relationship. When we’re accountable to each other, we are committed to doing what needs to be done to make things work out. In our relationship, we set a time every week to sit and ask each other questions like:
This ensures that we address things before they even get bigger.
We have differences. We had a lot of conflicts in the past and we almost succumbed to them. Apparently, we’re not living our roles as husband and wife accordingly. So when we learned to trust God’s design for marriage, everything started to fall into the right places.
You’ll have no regrets when you trust God.
–
If you feel you’re still far from doing all these, it’s okay. Everyone has to start somewhere. It’s a process. Trust His process.
That was unplanned. An opportunity to buy a huge lot at a lower price just came along.
We loved the idea of owning a property at the earliest possible time. So we bought land just within the first year of being married—way ahead of many other big decisions. It was a foreclosed lot in a really good location back home. A big part of our income went to pay for it. Forty-two thousand pesos (Php42,000) go to it every month – FOR TWO YEARS – not to mention the additional monthly expenses on top of that. Oh boy! That was tough!
We had to live a stiffed controlled lifestyle. We did not buy a car, travel on holidays, or rent a much better place in Dubai. We stayed in Sharjah. We didn’t have too many dining-outs. The mall food court was the bbest placewe could go for those few date nights. Those were the trade-offs of investing the money in a property that we originally planned to just keep in the bank.
While we’re at it, I lost my job. That was seven months of being unemployed. So my wife had to shoulder it all. There was one month we were really short and thought we would incur a hefty penalty for not being able to pay. But thank God my mother-in-law volunteered to pay for that month using almost all her savings.
In exactly two years, we completed the full payment. We did not decide to build a house right after, as we have no plans of coming home yet.
Seven years later, in 2015, Filinvest called us. They wanted to buy a very small part of the lot because of a deep well. At that time, the cost per square meter had doubled up to more than 100% of the price when we bought it. So we got more than double what we paid for it years ago.
We didn’t keep all the money. We put some in mutual funds and bought two pre-sold apartments in Manila. One of which was that we shared the payment with my sister—a gift to our parents when they retired.
Then we put the remaining in our emergency fund.
You see, we didn’t really have formal financial education back then. It was just about understanding the meaning of “PARA SA KINABUKASAN” – which is the battle cry of many OFWs. We took ‘Para sa kinabukasan’ personally. We paid ourselves first. We delay gratification while also making sure we enjoy life. No regrets at all.
Had we not made that investment, there’s a big chance that we would have spent the money on something else. I might find myself asking a lot of “what ifs.”
This story reminds me of how faithful God is to His promises. In the Parable of the Talents, He rewards those who invest. True enough in so many areas of our lives, He wants us to grow in whatever He provides us. It’s not about having more or less, it’s about becoming good stewards of what God entrusts us.
Photo from Elevation Map Finder
I am the kind of dad who would look for something “not very popular” and give them to my kids. Especially if that’s something that would engage them for a longer time that they almost forget about TV.
Here are 5 toys we gave our kids lately. I have an 8-year old and a 2-year old. So the toys on the list below fall within that age range. You can buy these from Amazon by clicking the links below each item.
2kg of Play Sand Toy Set with Accessories. It’s kinetic – so it sticks to itself and not to your kids’ hands. It flows through the fingers like a slow-moving liquid but leaves hands completely dry.
Specially coated natural sand feels like wet beach sand, but it’s easier to shape and sturdier to build with.
This soft and stretchy sand cleans up easily
CLICK HERE TO BUY KINETIC SAND
The sand table in the photo is not included. Click here to see choices for Sand Table
Large aqua magic mat size 100*70CM with images printed on the side, leaving more room for your kids doodle art. Ideal for 3 to 10 year old.
CLICK HERE TO BUY THE MAGIC DOODLE MAT or see other options to buy here.
Children’s kitchens and shops mimic popular everyday scenes, letting your child learn to share and communicate with friends or with you in everyday life and in a fun way.
Ideal for 2-4 years old. Train your baby’s hands, brain, eye coordination, coordination, baby’s muscle activity, and improve fine motor skills such as lifting, grasping, fixing or balancing.
CLICK HERE TO BUY FRUIT CUTTING TOYS Or, check more options here.
The set consists of 300 bunchems, which you can put together to the funniest figures. In addition to this, you will get ten moving accessories that will bring you to life. In order to create big bunchem animals, a ball can be installed. The four different colors fit perfectly together and you can clothe dinos, puppies, birds or your own fantasy animals.
CLICK HERE TO BUY BUNCHEMS or check more options here.
A tangram is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven polygons, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective is to replicate a pattern generally found in a puzzle book using all seven pieces without overlap.
CLICK HERE TO BUY TANGRAM PUZZLE PUSH POP
There you go! In case you buy, let me know how your kids engage on these toys.
