Speaking the Love Language of Receiving Gifts

Receiving Gifts. What a very conspicuous love language. It is also the most readily misunderstood. I have realized that now.

You see, receiving Gifts is not my love language. Nor is it my son's. But it is the love language of my wife, whom I love very much.

Receiving Gifts as a love language requires something material. That's the "bad" news. But that material thing does not have to be expensive. That's the "good" news. But then make no mistake about it: it must be sincerely given the way love ought to be expressed.

Emotionally, Men and Boys Are Like Electric Submarines

Electric submarines run on batteries. They need to surface to recharge. Men are like that. Deal with it.

Men keep their emotions private, by design of nature. It's the way we're made. We're like electric submarines that surface from time to time to recharge, and dive again to the deep for months.

My son didn't want me to leave home one day and just sat beside me as shown. Actually, he didn't let go of Daddy for a few minutes. My wife saw what was happening and took this shot.

Is Fatherhood About Reason? or Intimidation?

Do Filipino fathers uphold reason or intimidation at home? Filipino (or "Pinoy") fathers raising boys may find this question a bit confrontational. Pinoy fathers usually demand obedience. Questions from kids are most unwelcome.

What if this path of Pinoy fatherhood leads to mediocrity? What if our sons grow up not asking questions because they KNOW something bad happens. Then we have a country that's easily intimidated by warlords, exactly what we're seeing nowadays. Not good.

My son has brains (as I believe every boy has). Moreover I think my son has street-type brains. He has the precious gift of expressing himself when he missses us, and he has developed the knack of developing his cases about why he should sleep on our bed with us tonight, why he should come with us to community gatherings, etc.

Why Sun Duo Helps Me Be a Better Father

Thanks to Sun Duo, my six-year old son now has a way of calling me anytime through our landline. These calls are mostly heart-warming. Yes, the calls sometimes make me feel awkward in front of business colleagues, but that's nothing compared to hearing your loved ones at the other end.

The whole great thing about Sun Duo is that I don't have to worry about additional phone bills for these calls. None. Zero. Believe it or not.

I subscribed to Sun Duo primarily to save costs in starting up a business and to allow business contacts with landlines to call me anytime, as if I'm in an office. It also allows me to call my partner who uses a different network for FREE. I did that by dialing the landline number of his Duo subscription in his network. Sun Duo to me was (and is) a great deal!

Speaking the Love Language of Quality Time

Quality Time is simply the love language of spending time solely for the other person. To spend such time with a loved one can really get through the hearts of people who speak this language, my wife and son included.

To people speaking other love languages, the funny thing about Quality Time is it's intangible. If it's intangible, how can we give it? That guestion have driven many people mad.

Someone whose love language is Words of Affirmation will find Quality Time people absolutely difficult to spell. While poems and songs can make world class singers envious, these won't mean much to the Quality Time person unless these are recited or sung by the loved one himself, and with no one else around to distract that magic moment.

A Slice of Life of a Filipino Father

One Friday, the call for fatherhood really caught me. After several days of leaving early and coming home late at night, I saw my hands putting the following in my To-Do List: bond with family, be a father to my son

Father and Son at SM IMAX ready for the 3D movie ahead.

Next to that in the List were:

• prepare powerpoint presentation, do flipchart version (just in case)
• do analysis of ROI, review pricing scheme, factor in seasonality
• get two more sales people, repost vacant position in JobStreet
• etc etc etc

Speaking the Love Language of Physical Touch

Among Asians, I think Filipinos are most expressive in terms of physical touch. That can be debatable, depending on whose perspective you take.

Anyhow, take a look!

Physical Touch is about hugging and kissing family and friends. Among women, that usually means a lot of "beso beso." Among men, that can mean a lot of high fives, low fives, round-house fives, etc. We see this all the time, with slight variations depending on the region of origin.