These are some of the ad jingles that run through my head as I try to sleep every night. For some reason my two boys have caught the tune and have been jumping to the music of these TV commercials every chance they get.

My family and I rarely tune in to local TV channels and if we do, its only to watch the early morning Unang Hirit or the evening news. In addition, we often watch those investigative or feature programs that are shown on Saturday night. Fortunately the channels that we frequently tune in to show commercials that I do not find offensive. And these are what my kids have come to mimic.

Now I don’t know who is smarter, the creators of those catchy jingles or my kids who upon hearing them once are able to memorize the words and sing the lyrics. I watch them fondly as they play but each night find it difficult to chase away the words that remind me of ice cream with three flavors and an iced dessert made with ube (a.k.a purple yam).

I just said ok and opened the remote battery cover. I figured I understood him correctly because he walked away happy.

A few hours later, as we were watching Dora the Explorer, I finally understood what my son was trying to say. Apparently, abre means open in Spanish. I studied Spanish for over 13 years and I cannot even recall the meaning of the word – sheesh!

Now I was hesitant at first to let my two sons watch Dora the Explorer because of the rumors that I had heard that were similar to what was said about Barney the purple dinosaur. But in the end I disregarded the rumors and now I am reaping the benefits.. well my sons are at least. They have learned more from Dora in less time than anywhere else. My youngest has learned to answer when Dora and Butch asks – "Where’s the witch?" – he would say – "Over there!". So cute, and am so dumbfounded with how smart my son appears to be (and super proud of course).

So let me enumerate. My kids learned the ABC from Sesame Street, learned to count from Dora, learned to sing from Barney, and learned to dance from the Streetboys.

The commercial starts with this young girl (about 8 – I think) with her head inside the refrigerator screaming at the top of her lungs “Nasaan ang Boston Creme Ko!!??!!!” (“Where is my Boston Creme?!!??!!”). She called to her older sister who was on the phone and screamed at her the same line. She called to her older brother who was on the couch and screamed the same line. She then moved to close the refrigerator door and saw her mom eating the donut. She screamed at her mom the same line. And it ended like that.

I mean really. It might appear funny but to impressionable minds, it is dangerous. I can imagine my kids emulating such behavior. I quickly told them that the behavior they had just seen was not the right behavior. I also explained that it was not right to scream or shout at someone who was older than they are. I asked them if they think it was right to scream at your mommy and they both shook their heads.

Sheesh… what kind of material are advertisers coming up with these days??!? Really!

As I watch it now, I can’t help but recall how similar my life (and I am sure yours as well) and relationship was with my own mother. Watching from the sidelines suddenly gives me that insight into how my mom felt during those times when we were at war with each other.

And I guess that is why this movie touches me so much. So what movie is your life like?

The book to me was dragging in the early pages but I think that is because I have been used to the fast paced storytelling of crime and suspense authors. Towards the end however, I had a difficult time putting it down. Since I read just before I sleep, I stayed up late a lot just to get another page in.

The story takes place in Tuscany, Italy where an American woman, Eliana, is unhappily married to a wealthy Italian businessman, Maurizio. They have a son who has severe asthma attacks and often has to be watched over in any kind of activity. The husband was no help as he was always away from home on business or cavorting with his other women.

Ross, is an American who ran away to Italy to forget a painful past. He finds his way into Eliana’s life by becoming a tenant at the family’s villa. He becomes attracted to Eliana and eventually falls in love with her. They were able to spend a lot of time together as the husband is rarely home. As expected Eliana falls in love with Ross. She finds it hard to imagine how someone could be so good to her when her own husband is not.

The plot becomes more complex when Maurizio discovers the truth. Although nothing has really happened between Eliana and Ross, their intimacy was apparent and Maurizio threatens to take their son away from Eliana.

The story ends with making Maurizio more human and Eliana and Ross making a future together back in America.

I was crying as I read the last chapters. I totally felt for Eliana and her son… and of course Ross. The romantic in me imagined myself in Eliana’s shoes. I hated the fact that there exists such double standards even in today’s world. And that is what I remained thinking about long after I had put the book down. I thought about how Eliana could not be faulted for being human and started thinking of things that would make me vulnerable as she had been.

• If the time comes that I feel neglected and unappreciated by my husband
• If the time comes that I feel like I was taking care of everything in the family and for the family
• If the time comes that I find no one taking care of me when I am sick
• If the time comes that I feel I can no longer talk to my husband
• If the time comes that I feel all of the above and then someone comes and takes care of me… treats me like a princess… haha… what a fantasy that is.

Good thing I am enveloped in my husband’s love… at least I think so…

Do you watch Brothers and Sisters? I do. Every week I try to catch it on Star World. When the teaser was first aired, I thought the series was too heavy and mushy for my taste. However, for lack of a better show on a tuesday night, I allowed myself to watch it.

Brothers and Sisters is a tv drama about an ordinary American family dealing with everyday family conflicts. These conflicts include a gay brother, a controversial sister, sibling rivalry, dealing with mom, a mistress, sterility, and competition between husbands and wives.

Last week’s episode was one of the heaviest. It tackled these issues all at once. I am sure any one of us can truly relate to at least one of the problems featured in the show.

The episode was about the family finding out about their father’s child with his mistress. They not only find out about her, but some of them actually get to meet her. This revelation threatened to tear their family apart as the siblings scrambled to keep the secret from their mother. In the end, it was Saul (their mother’s brother and the new mistress’s boyfriend) – whew what a twist! – who was forced to tell the truth.

When everyone was blaming Saul for spilling the beans, he stopped them by words that touched my heart to the core:

“I did not want to tell her. But I had no choice. She was in front of me telling me about Holly…. and I could see her opening her heart to forgiveness. I will not allow her to be vulnerable like that only to be devastated when the truth eventually becomes known.” (** not verbatim)

That moment showed clearly how strong the bond between siblings or brothers and sisters is. It is so strong that not even the brother’s relationship with Holly can break the protective barrier that the family has woven around themselves with.

And I think about my own family, and my brothers and sisters. And then I become thankful that like the Walker family – we are very much protective of each other. And I am filled with love….

I applaud the writer of Brothers and Sisters. Unlike most dramas that grace our screens, the writer has managed to depict real life relationships and relevant family issues. I encourage you to watch it. Trust me, even my hubby who is wary of drama does not cringe when watching it (and that is a good thing).

Anyone who has taken cared of a child would have come across Barney, the purple dinosaur. You will have seen him in various audio and video cds. I receive many of those cds during my own two kids birthdays. They seem harmless enough. The songs are very catchy and kids find it easy to follow the tunes. In fact, my 1-year old’s favorite morning exercise is dancing to Barney and Friends.

Sometime ago, someone told me that Barney was not good for my son. I was told that Barney was gay and somehow was promoting being gay through his tv shows. My immediate reaction was alarm (that someone is a friend after all). Alarm that such a show would be used to promote something that could be confusing to a 2 year old. But then, I said really? I wasn’t sure because a lot of other parents I knew had Barney in their homes and on their tv and I never heard them say they knew him to be gay.

So I surfed the net and discovered how Barney has come to be tagged as gay.

In a new video to be distributed to 61,000 schools across the nation, homosexual activists are using popular children’s TV characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Barney the dinosaur to surreptitiously indoctrinate young children into their lifestyle, a pro-family activist group charges. Based on the 1970s hit song “We Are Family,” the video will be distributed to public and private elementary schools nationwide March 11, along with lesson plans for teachers. American Family Association researcher Ed Vitagliano sees the project as an “open door” to a secondary discussion of homosexuality, noting the the foundation has a “tolerance pledge” on its website that children and others are encouraged to sign, which includes sexual orientation.

Source: www.worldnetdaily.com

I looked at the website and could not find anything specific that pertains to homosexuality or anything similar. The site indicates that the foundation aims to educate people to appreciate cultural diversity. And I guess that is where the buzz about the promotion of homosexuality came from.

The buzz was started 2 years ago. What is left is some sort of conclusion that Barney is gay (the color purple doesn’t help).

Regardless, my kids love Barney and Friends. I watch the show with my kids and as long as I do not see anything wrong with the content and material – the cds will remain my kids’ favorite.