After spending a lot of time being a high school adviser, I’ve come to realize that sexual urges and natural sexual curiosity start very early. You see, before teaching, I used to think that sexual attraction begins during college years. The freedom from curfews, own rides, the drinks, the willingness and reciprocation make the late teen years and early twenties the most conducive time for such things. Now  I start to wonder.

During the last seven years that I’ve taught in high school, I’ve encountered several disciplinary cases of sexual nature in high school. Is this merely a coincidence or am I just refusing to accept statistics? Perhaps I’m just hesitating because I too have a child now.

I don’t want to think that my child or children is/are gonna grow up in a world where teenagers casually engage in sex, where herpes simplex is treated as nothing more than a common cold virus, or where virginity is a taboo. I am not a conservative person, nor am I claiming to be a saint. But I don’t think that sex is something that young (or more appropriately hormonal) people should be engaging in. I mean, even the smartest person can be reduced to a drooling idiot by a rush of hormones.

I don’t want mateo to make rush decisions later on, nor do I want him to regret the decisions he makes for the rest of his life. There is a reason why sexual maturity doesn’t happen early. It has to come with wisdom and the ability to discern. I do hope the next generations realize that before it’s too late.

What is the essence of exercise?

I would have no hesitation in answering this if I was asked that question a few years ago. Because for a biologist like me, the primary reason and goal for such a routine is to improve or maintain health. However, after seeing kids, nowadays, straining themselves so much in exercise just to attain the abdominal muscles that they often see in movies, hesitation would be the kindest word that I could think of.

Sad, but true. Stomach weight loss is secondary to abdominal showing. Health is becoming a fortunate coincidence or side effect to getting buffed abs. How sick is that? I’m dreading the world that mateo will be growing up in. I just hope we build steady enough morals for him to make him strong enough to resist such vanity and pressure from friends and people around him. With media leading the charge to promote aesthetics standards, the new generation is in for a real morality struggle.

Please grow up to be wise, my son. People will love you for your goodness, your skills, your personality, with or without abs. We will always love you no matter what.

I guess andrea has basically made it public in Facebook so I won’t hide it anymore. We’re expecting another baby. We’re pregnant and looking forward to seeing our second by August.

Because of what happened the last time, we kept this pregnancy to ourselves. The first trimester was the crucial stage for the previous pregnancy which is why we wanted to keep this secret till we got through the first trim. Last week, we just did, and we’re hoping to cruise along the next two trimesters without much worry…

Everything seems to be going well because we’re seeing the same symptoms that we saw when we were pregnant with mateo. Even andrea has gone back to worrying whether she’s starting to look pregnant or just simply fat. Her vision has also become affected just like before.

I, on the other hand, could only look at and pamper her. As much as I’d want to share the burden of carrying this next baby, the only thing I can do is to make her comfortable, both physically and emotionally. Heck, I’m even browsing through the net for diet pill reviews just to see if there are any diet pills out there that are safe for pregnant women to take – anything to ease her worrying about anything and everything especially about this pregnancy. She couldn’t exactly exercise because her delicate condition prevents her from doing so and food deprivation isn’t exactly very healthy.

I keep on telling her that she’s beautiful and there’s nothing repulsive about being pregnant. I love her and that’s not gonna change – pregnant or not pregnant.

As far as I could recall, I’ve always been a computer game enthusiast. I remember my dad getting us an ATARI at first, and then a family computer before I graduated from elementary. However that was the last gaming console I would ever get.

When I got to high school, my parents bought me my first desktop – a 486 (for those who are still familiar with the early PC models). Then, before I graduated from college I got my second PC, a Pentium 4 (which at that time was one of the fastest), both of which I don’t consider to be gaming units, although the latter I loaded with Warcraft. But I never had another game console.

I do, however, try to keep myself updated with the latest happenings in the gaming world. Sometimes I would catch myself drooling over the latest ps3 games, or the latest psp craze. I would browse the most popular game titles and watch clips or screenshots of the top so and so games. But I would never again get a gaming console. I can’t afford one and mateo is still too young to play one… at least for now.

So at the moment, I do the only thing I can do. Watch, wait, and be patient. Sometimes I still play with my laptop, but I still miss the real thing. Mateo’s already turned three so we’re he’s only a few years short of a PS. Just a little bit longer… I hope… Hehehe!

Our quest for a home has a taken a backseat once again. With andrea and I expecting someone by August, we’ve changed priorities yet again from saving up for a house to saving up for a hospitalization.

In fact, we’re now considering moving into a house for rent somewhere near our workplace to cut back on a few more expenses such as travel and snacks just so we can have enough by the latter half of the year. Heck, I’m even entertaining the thought of going for motorhomes if it would make things a little easier financially, at least.

It’s extremely difficult makings ends meet, especially with a baby on the way. What more if we go for a house of our own now?

Sometimes I can’t help but envy those people who have more than enough money for everyday needs. Seems unfair right? huhuhu!

Whenever andrea and I look back  at our miscarriage, we can’t help but wonder what happened. Were we too careless with our movements? Is there anything we did wrong or did not do? Is there anything we could have done to prevent what happened?

As far as I know, we’ve done nothing different from the time when andrea was still carrying mateo in her womb. As far as rest is concerned, she was even working full time when mateo was still inside. She’s working part time now. In terms of vitamins, she was given practically the same regimen of vitamins as before. Heck, we even consulted sites such as prenatalvitamins.net to check her prescriptions. She did not contract any sicknesses or ailments or meet any accidents. She was healthy and happy.

According to the gynecologist, it was a cord coil accident. The mark on her neck region seems to confirm the doctor’s theory. And it was something that we could not do anything about. Either her umbilical cord was shorter than supposed to, or by some stroke of bad luck, it just happened to coil around her neck.

It was an accident. That’s what we were told but I still can’t help but feel paranoid. How can the next one be spared? How can we make sure that it doesn’t happen again? Because I don’t think I can handle the same thing again. I just can’t.

Mateo has just turned three last Friday, January 15. To celebrate his birthday, we ordered two trays of baked macaroni and some chicken fingers from the canteen, bought a Backyardigans cake from Red Ribbon, and purchased some popsicles from Shopwise. Then, during their recess in school, we went upstairs to distribute food and gifts to his classmates.

It was the first time I saw mateo at work (or more appropriately in play) with his classmates. It was also the first time I saw how small my little big boy is in relation to his preschool friends. He’s barely half the size (and not just height) of the biggest boy in their class Yugi. And even the smallest girl in class is still an inch or two taller than mateo.

I keep telling myself that it’s his age that’s working against him when it comes to size, but I can’t help but worry. I know he’s going to catch up to his friends too, but I’m just not sure when. Let’s face it. Size is an advantage when it comes to so many things – sports, recitation, and even in presentations.

If he does make it to the next level and move on with his classmates, he’ll still be more than half a year younger (and smaller) than them. Should I make him stay in the same level for another year just so he’ll be with kids of the same age and size? Or should I just risk it? Is is time for him to take human growth hormone supplements or do I just wait and see if he catches up in size with his friends? How long will mateo be my little big boy?

What is the best way to lose weight?

That depends on certain restrictions you have and your basic definition of what best means.

For example, for those who equate best with the fastest, the best method to lose pounds would be to undergo surgical procedures such as liposuction. These methods take less than a day to produce results and require very little effort. That is if you have no money problem.

However, for those whose definition of best is healthiest, then the combination of regular exercise and good diet is a common choice. The only problem with this is that results do not show very quickly and tremendous discipline is required.

Others that do not have space in their schedules for regular exercise routines consider dieting (a.k.a. fasting) as the best method for losing weight. They just simply cut down on carbohydrate intake and then go on with their usual thing.  It’s the least disruptive and least expensive technique. I’m just not sure if it’s the healthiest though.

As for me, the best way to lose weight is to play. When I was still in college, I used to play basketball with my friends at least once a week. During my first year of teaching, I used to play soccer at least twice a week. Unfortunately, now, I don’t have time to play any of those games anymore. I do however play with my son. It may not be as physically strenuous as basketball or soccer, but i have to admit. Mateo really makes me sweat a lot. Not to mention, we usually end up out of breath from all the running and wrestling.

Mateo’s is in his most talkative and silliest stage at the moment. He wants to engage in every conversation we have in the house even if he knows nothing about the topic being discussed. Heck, he even talks to us even if we’re not talking.

Here are some of the silliest conversations we’ve had:

I was in the middle of editing a letter, when he came up to me, looked at the screen, and asked.

• Mateo:  What you doing dada?
• me: I’m reading a letter.
• Mateo: Oh wow! (accompanied with a silly smile)
• Mateo: It’s like a numbers.

Lately, he’s gotten hooked into this Glee mash-up number of the boys featuring Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life and Usher’s These are My Confessions. We were goofing around in bed before going to sleep when I started singing the chorus. He was being silly and was replacing the last word of the line.

• me: It’s My ….
• Mateo: quack ….
• me: It’s My ….
• Mateo: nyek ….
• me: It’s My ….
• Mateo: precious… hehehe (with the silliest smile and laugh afterwards)

Hilarious! He may be really irritating sometimes but my little Golum more than makes up for these times by being so funny. I guess it is true. Kids do say the darndest thigns. Hehehe!

Of all the many things that children nowadays get into, one of the worst (if not the worst) is probably computer gaming. In fact, this particular addiction has become so rampant that it has triggered a country-wide explosion of computer shops that cater mostly to gamers. As testament, if you sample the many computer shops along Katipunan avenue, for example, you’re not going to see a single computer shop dedicated to typing or surfing. All of them are network-linked and are ready for playing DOTA or CounterStrike or Warcraft.

I’m not surprised. I know how it feels to be addicted to network gaming because I too, at one point, was addicted to the same thing. And for me to be addicted to one thing is not a common phenomenon.

You see, throughout college, I was able to stay sober, Rocky Patel cigar-free, drug-free, and even gambling-free. True, I would try some of them every once in a while but never did I develop any dependence or desire to have frequent tasting (hence the term free), that is except for network gaming.

I know it may sound relatively less dangerous than alcoholism or gambling, but pc gaming addiction can be as risky as (if not riskier than) these two. I know because I came to the point when I would rather save money for Warcraft than lunch, when instead of doing my assignments I would stare at the monitor replaying strategies in my head about skirmishes with Orcs and Undeads, to the point that I would forget about urinating just so my playing would not be interrupted. And probably the most dangerous thing about this type of addiction is that it happens to children, not even discriminating between primary or secondary or college students.