Barbie Almalbis to launch new album; limits her kids' use of gadgets

MANILA, Philippines- Barbie Almalbis says parenthood somehow changed her taste in music.

As a singer-songwriter, Barbie loves to write songs “about what's happening with my life, environment, there are songs about my husband, my kids and things like that,” she said in an interview Tuesday afternoon, March 4.

What's best with the changes in her life now is that she gets to balance her family life and career well, since she stays at home most of the time.

“I'm doing a new album and we'll launch it maybe next month,” she announced. “I feel blessed that I still was able to do it.

“It was difficult to balance it, but with technology, I recorded my last two albums at home. So I'm happy that I was able to do both because I can spend time with them and do music at the same time.”

Barbie said that the difference of her new, all-original album from her previous albums is that it  reflected with the changes in the music scene as well as in her life.

Less gadgets, more outdoor games

Meanwhile, whenever she's not busy with her music, Barbie makes sure that she bonds with her two kids, Stina and Liam.

Both kids, she said, are musically inclined like her. But aside from music, her kids also play puzzles, building blocks, and outdoor sports like basketball and ping pong.

Unlike other kids, Barbie's children are fond to play outdoor sports.

But then she relates that instilling this attitude to her kids is a “day by day learning.” She also relates how she started to introduce her kids to outdoor activities.

“Before when we got an iPad, kasi it starts with the parents then eventually we pass it on to our kids,” she narrates. “Naging part nga siya ng routine nila, and what happened was the iPad broke.

“Tapos nang mawala ang iPad, we had more time together, we would go out, walk around the village. So nang maayos na siya, I limited it na, na they can use it but for only 30 minutes, gano'n. Kasi napansin ko nga na we had more time to play with each other when it was gone.”