The author, a mother of three boys, writes in a simple and very candid manner. She writes with her whole heart, mind and soul and with an openness that is truly generous. The examples are real, clear and concrete. Any parent can instantly relate to them. Many parts deserve to be highlighted. One is the part where she reminds us that "kids have different blooming stages."

     The chapter on how to handle money is particularly comprehensive, detailed, practical and useful. She recounts how she taught her boys how to value and save money, sowing the seeds for creative entrepreneurship. It is written in a fun and playful way.

     Emphasizing the importance of family rituals is also a very good advice.

     A unique feature of the book is the invitation at the end of each chapter entitled "Let Us Share." She invites the parent-readers to give their own thoughts, comments, and suggestions. It makes the book interactive and dynamic. This can be the start of families gathering together to build communities that can serve as an effective support system.

     A big bonus is the write-up on the actual lives of successful men in our midst who serve as worthy role models.

     Being a proud mother myself, of three wonderful sons who have solid integrity and the passion to contribute productively and creatively to society, I personally and truly appreciate this book.

     I agree with the author when she says that "raising our sons well is one of the best things that we can do for our country."

	INTRODUCTION	i
CHAPTER 1:	MEET MY BOYS
	My Showcase Son	1
	My Gentle Second Boy	4
	My Third and Great Challenge (Our Bundle of Joy and Passion)	6
CHAPTER 2:	CELEBRATE THEIR DIFFERENCES
	Personality types	9
	Birth Order Affects Personality	13
CHAPTER 3:	Pre-school	19
	"Big School" (Grade School and High School)	24
	College	31
CHAPTER 4:	STUDY HABITS AND OTHER SCHOOL MATTERS
	First Day Blues	34
	Introduction to Study Habits	35
	Same Time Same Spot	36
	Patience	37
	The Goal is Independence	38
	Keep it Fun	39
	Quarterly / Periodical Exams	40
	Tutors: To Hire or Not to Hire	42
	Television	44
	Computers	46
	Grades and Honors	48
	Final Word on Grades and Honors	51
CHAPTER 5:	SPORTS
	Boys are Wired for Sports	53
	Sports is Beyond Physical	54
	Our Sports Experiences	55
	Life Lessons	57
CHAPTER 6:	MONEY MATTERS (Our Sons' FQ)	60
	Know your Money Values	61
	Down Memory Lane	62
	When Do You Start	65
	French Fries	65
	How Much?	66
	The Load	68
	Investment Lessons	69
	I Want More Stocks	72
	Extra Income	72
	Balance Sheet	73
	Graduation Gift	74
	Games You Can Play	75
	Positive Effect on Self-Esteem	75
	Freedom to Follow Their Passion	78
	The Value of Money	78
CHAPTER 7:	BOYS ARE "EMO" TOO (The Emotional Life of Our Boys)	81
	Our Early Years	82
	You Are Safe with Papa and Mama	82
	The Value of Family Dinner in Our Emotional Life	83
	Expressions of Love and Anger	83
	Bullying	85
	Ways of Communicating	87
	The Relationships of our Sons	89
	With Mother	89
	With Father	90
	With Brothers	91
	With Grandparents	92
	With Cousins, Friends and Neighbors	93
	With Household Keepers	93
	With God	94
	The "Con"	94
CHAPTER 8:	FAMILY TRADITIONS	97
	Christmas Specials	98
	Holy Week Specials	100
	Coming of Age Rituals	100
	Other Annual Specials	104
	Everyday and Other Regular Rituals	107
CHAPTER 9:	A MOTHER'S DILEMMA: TO WORK OR NOT TO WORK
	My Journey to My Decision	112
	First Taste of "Housewifery"	115
	Middle Ground Manna from Heaven	116
	Second Thoughts and Second Wind	116
	The Decision Should be Yours	118
	Be an Exciting Homemaker	118
CHAPTER 10:	LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS	123
	Interviews with Parents of Successful Pinoy Men and Boys
A.	From My List:
	Lance Gokongwei	124
	Tony Meloto	130
	Tony Tan Caktiong	138
	Bo Sanchez	144
	Nestor, Raul and Lorenzo Tan	150
	Chris Tiu	156
B.	From My Sons' List:
	Evan Chen	163
	Jasper Tan	166
	Rafa Antonio	168
C.	My Family and Friends	171
CHAPTER 11:	FINAL THOUGHTS	176
	THANK YOU NOTE	181
	SOURCES	182

     Raising my boys, with the help of my husband, has been the most enjoyable, challenging and profound experience for me. I have put my 100% effort and passion in it. I have also come to realize that raising our children well is the greatest contribution we parents can make to society. And raising our sons, our Pinoy boys, well is indeed very important because they are the future heads of Pinoy families.

     I like sharing some of my thoughts and stories about raising my boys. I do this with my friends and even new acquaintances. You know how it is with mothers. Put them together in a room and they will always talk about their children. They usually start with "How old are your children?" "Where do they study?" Before you know it, they are swapping stories about their labor and end up sharing tips on how to raise their children. I usually find myself in this situation. It is always a delight when a parent tells me, "Wow I learned something from you, let me try that with my son."

     Over the years, I wrote about my parenting experiences in my notebook and later on, my laptop. It was my way of expressing and savoring the joys and processing the frustrations I encountered. I also attended a lot of seminars and workshops and read a lot of books on parenting. Most of all, I learned a lot from the parenting experiences shared by my family and friends. Then I realized that I had with me a wealth of materials worth sharing with other parents.

     I thought of compiling all these into a book about raising Filipino boys. I have in my library a few books about parenting boys but they were written by foreign authors about raising boys in their country (mostly the United States). This book project lingered with me for quite some time because of some hesitations. Foremost was my concern of putting undue pressure on my sons as I will be sharing a lot of their stories. So should I wait for all of them to become respectable adults? What if I won’t be around anymore? Besides, what time frame do I give myself before I can say yes, I have raised my boys well? When they have all reached adulthood? Have become good fathers themselves? Have become good grandfathers?

     So what the heck (a favorite expression of my youngest son these days), I will just do it. Not later, but now while I am still in the heat of it. If I wait too long, I might be too old to remember, or I might be talking a language different from the language of the parents reading the book.

     I believe that there is no one single formula in raising our children. I always say, "to each his own", "different strokes for different folks." But when we share experiences with others, we definitely enrich each other’s parenting. I was very fortunate to have been granted interviews with parents of successful Pinoy men and boys. I am also sharing their parenting stories with you in this book. This book is also accompanied by an interactive web site. After each chapter, I invite you to log on to www.RaisingPinoyBoys.com and share with me and the other readers your insights and experiences about the topic. I look forward to hearing and learning from you too.

     We all wish that one day our country will finally become a great nation with talented honest citizens all working for the common good. We also lament how hard it is to be honest when we deal with bureaucracy. When we try to pay the right taxes, some tax collectors even see to it that we don't, so they can pocket the rest. We sometimes end up in a vicious situation of "If you can't beat them, join them."

     Allow me to share with you my lofty dream which is the main reason why I wrote this book:

     I dream that all Filipino parents will raise their children so well that in the future we will have an abundance of talented, honest and competent Filipino children who will grow up to be talented, honest and competent Filipino adults who will always do the right thing whether someone is looking or not. Their number will reach a critical mass that they will be the norm and not the exception. This will be the time when “If you can’t beat them, join them” will be applied on the dishonest and incompetent citizens so that they too will acquire the honesty and competence of the majority. Wow! This will be our tipping point to finally become the great nation we are destined to be. I hope that this book will be my humble contribution to this dream.