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How do you keep your children productive in this time of the pandemic?

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When we’re not busy baking in the kitchen, we play board games like Quoridor or Uno Flip, or I challenge them to solve division problems mentally. I give away cash prizes to the winners, which they use as their “allowance” to pay for their food/snack deliveries. — Joanne Gomez, homemaker

My 10-year-old daughter has always been exposed to sports (she swims, bikes and runs). But since CoViD, nor more sporting activities. It’s good we have a lawn where she can continue to run/bike around, and play with our dogs. We also set up a portable pool where she can dip. I also ask her to do some simple house chores like watering the plants. It’s not really a routine, but just to keep her moving. — Paultom Paras, running coach

Since the time of CoViD, my kids used to be always infront of their gadgets; it would take a long time before they move to do what I ask of them. So I told them I would pay some amount whenever they would do housechores or some activities at home, like P50 to wash the dishes, P100 to do some physical exercices. And because they earn some, they pay for snacks or food that I don’t serve in our regular meals, like P5 for noodles, P10 for ice cream for a maximum of two cups…So far, it has been effective. In fact, they tend not to eat between meals anymore becuase they don’t want to spend their earnings. And now, they would even race each other to do the dishes because each of them wants to earn. — Dr. Sheila Marie Loo-Flores, pediatric hematologist

I keep my kids busy with worksheets from Kumon. We also do football home training (like drills and joggling) by all three boys, with their 14-year-old manong (who travels a lot for international football competitions) as coach. Productivity-wise, I don’t think I can count on the boys to do housechores or art. — Maitet Base-Yoldi, OIC, 2nd District Congressional office

Our household routine is for the boys to keep their bed and clean the room in the morning. The older brother cooks rice and sets the table for lunch; while the younger brother cooks rice and sets the table for dinner. The older brother waters the plants; the younger brother walks the dog twice a day.The younger brother reports for an hour at my husband’s office to review the reports; the older brother repacks 50 bags of half kilo sugar for the store. The rest of the day, they are on the Internet. When I start to complain, they read their books. At the start, I had to make constant follow-ups so they will learn to stick to their schedules. Maybe they got tired hearing my constant follow-ups so now they just do it on their own, without my prodding. I grew up doing chores myself and I strongly believe on its value in building character. I hope to sustain this routine with my kids even after the quarantine. — Judge Dinah Tabada-Chu

Chloe has learned to ride the longboard. She has also learned to ride my mountain bike. I’m proud of her physical achievements. — Dr. Vivian Sy, faculty, SU Medical School

I keep my children occupied these days by making them help with household chores. Everyone takes turns doing the laundry, cleaning the house, dishwashing, cooking, and watching over Ashton, my four-year-old apo. About two weeks ago, my family and my sister Cherrie’s family and our father started a humble charity work of giving out relief packs to our less fortunate in some communities. To date, that small endeavor has sparked interest from kind-hearted people, strangers mostly, to continue doing this project we now call Touch a Life. So now, my kids are in full force, preparing and distributing relief foods, actively participating in this cause. We have made it a nightly ritual to repack goods together as a family. During the way, we attend to calls for help from the needy, or we search for areas to go to. I remind them everyday that sharing what we have makes people feel useful; the more you pour out blessings, the more life will be able to pour back in. I can see how it warms the hearts of my children to be sharing with strangers. — Anale Aves-Dancel, food stylist, Antonelli’s Cuisine

Because of our access to the Internet, my three boys have fortunately continued to be productive in their own fields during this time of CoViD. My eldest Doods works online. The company where my second son Polo works has shifted to work-from-home status, while my youngest Lee continues his last semester in law school through online classes at San Beda. This would not have been possible if this CoViD happened before the Internet age. — Albert Tecson, proprietor, Derm Corner

We are fortunate that we live in a subdivision with only four other households so the kids can go out and bike, job, play badminton, or fly a kite. My youngest daughter is now learning to play the ukulele, while my eldest is preparing for summer online classes. Together, we bake cakes and cookies, play board games, and watch movies. — Atty. Pristine Martinez-Raymond, Edlaw Office

We have regular study time. We do arts and crafts, and I let them help me out with my 1,000-piece puzzle. — Sasa del Carmen-Lim, pre-school teacher, The Play Company

We’ve been encouraging them to do arts and crafts, teaching or honing life skills like cooking, baking, sewing. They are discovering their musical inclinations, and learning to play new instruments. We just continue to encourage them to practice on the ukeleke, piano, drums. They are also doing little projects at home like gardening, sewing throw pillow cases, cutting and grooming our pet dog’s hair, making an outdoor shower and disinfection area for us coming in from doing errands, or as Dennis and I come home from hospital work. To be more self-sufficient, we’re also starting a vegetable garden with our children. — Dr. Rachael Marie Rosario-Yunque, head, Supportive, Palliative & Hospice unit, Department of Family & Community Medicine, UP Philippine General Hospital

Since the boys just finished their take-home activties from school last week, we now make sure they devote time to make their own bed, take care of their French bulldog, sweep the floor, set the table before meals and tidy it up after meals. In the afternoons, they ride their bikes and scooter. — Genevieve Tolcidas, proprietor, Woof-Woof K9 Supplies

Maxine keeps herself busy on her drawing book, using a pencil or brush pens which luckily arrived from the online store before the ECQ. She’s also interested in trying out recipes like Dalgona coffee (which we adjusted for her age…more milk and sugar), chocolate truffle, strawberry cheesecake. And she sets the table. Marco continues being serious with social distancing, even while he has to report for work. Maika, meanwhile, is on forced leave from her airline, and is stranded in her flat in Doha where she keeps herself busy baking cookies and cupcakes, and delivering them to her neighbors (keeping about four pieces for herself). Just yesterday she enrolled in a one-month online course at Harvard University, otherwise she would gain weight if she were baking all the time. — Joyce Catacutan-Solomon, businesswoman

My Mico just finished school work on April 8 from the PATTS College of Aeronautics, so he’s no longer excused from doing household chores. My girl Eanne does her own laundry, and they both take turns washing the dishes. I’m thankful though that I don’t have a hard time making them drop their phones and do something productive. So far, they’ve made ice cream, choco chip cookies, brownies, and lately, bath soap. Mico waters the lawn and the garden plants everyday; Eanne sometimes cooks lunch or dinner. And boy, at the end of every chore, they would always tease me in unison, “Mom, child labor!” Ah, labor of love, I would remind them — the silver lining during this ECQ. — Rosalind “Joy” Gravador-Quiamco, manager, Maybank

Our two girls have a defined daily schedule that includes household chores, reading a book, art/creative time, baking, gadget time, afternoon exercises, and board games with the parents at night. — Dr. Nadia Abesamis, marine biologist

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