Mommy Pehpot, Author at Mommy Pehpot

Practical Tips For A Hassle Free School Year (Specially Made For SAHM)

If the school year started with last week, ours will only start tomorrow.. uh oh.

Are you prepared mommies?

We need to wake earlier, cook breakfast, prepare the kids, take them to school.. prepare their lunch, fetch them, teach them.. then dinner..and don’t forget to wash the dishes!

just thinking about it, makes you want to go back to sleep and wish vacation isn’t over yet? right?

Oh well, that was me a few years back.. but this year, weeks before the start of school year, I already trained myself to accept the fact that I can no longer sleep until 10 AM teehee

Imagine my situation:

4 kids.. 2 are grade school students, 2 will be home schooled.. and a demanding husband (joke lang pow!) and a few blogs to manage..it’s not easy, it’s NOT! and the school year hasn’t started yet! waahh

but well, I already made a plan for this year and hopefully I can keep up to it. So here are some Practical Parenting Tips For A Hassle Free School Year:

Prepare yourself psychologically. It helps a lot that you, as the main man, err woman of the house knows and understand the position you are in. Oh yes, you’ll be the one to wake up earlier, you’ll be the one to cook breakfast, wash the dishes, etc.. no one else will do it (of course not unless if you have a helper).. My point is, ACCEPT IT! Accept the fact that since this is your home, you will be the home manager.. and will be the one responsible for almost everything. Believe me, it really helps if you will accept that you have no time for yourself.

Make Time For Yourself. Now if you have accepted the fact that you HAVE NO TIME FOR YOURSELF.. make time! The thing is, if you think you deserve a me time but you never had the chance to actually claim it, you will end up feeling sorry for yourself.. trabaho na lang ng trabaho, walis dito walis doon, hugas dito, hugas doon..ni hindi man lang ako makapagsuklay ahuhuh.. got the message? Go make your time even if you think you have no me time. Make time for yourself not because you deserve it but because YOU WANT IT and they can’t do anything about it.

Create a schedule that you can follow, even for weekdays. As a mom, I can imagine how we, mommies love to multitask which most of the time ends with not being able to finish, even just one task. Create your schedule, time for cooking, time for this, time for ME TIME, time for kids. From there, create your routine.

Want to peak on my schedule? Basically, my morning is about exercise, cook, prepare myself, MAKE UP, prepare the kids etc..

Prepare Yourself Physically. And I mean, physically, like as if you’re working, get ready, take a bath, wear make up.. the works. It helps in conditioning yourself that you’re ready.. ready to face the day, ready fro anything that you will encounter during the day. In fact, I read somewhere (oh please forgive my memory.. blame that to childbirth!) it helps if you will not wear you usual house clothes, wear something that’s nice, something that you will wear when going to the mall or to the grocery. It also helps if you will wear a shoes. Remember, you’re a manager! And yes, make up, everyday.

Orient Your Kid/s with the schedule. Let them know what are expected from them. Let them understand their role in keeping the house less chaotic and of course in keeping your sanity intact. Give them responsibility too.

Procrastination is now you ENEMY. What you can do at night, do it.. like preparing what you need for breakfast, ironing uniform, preparing your clothes, cleaning the house. I works for me very well.. that I never go to sleep unless the house is clean, that’s one less household chore for me in the morning.

Establish a Study Habit. I sound like I am all about routine no? but that is really the key! a routine is very helpful to make sure that all things are done and that you don’t miss a thing. It helps to keep you more organized and less chaotic. It’s not as if, one day, you will teach your kid in the morning before going to school then a few days after, you will teach them after school. Establishing a study habit will give you an advantage in managing your time and not only that, it will also be helpful to your kid/s in the long run.

And lastly, keep your laundry clean (full post for this one coming soon). Basically, separate the clothes accordingly, specially the socks, the uniforms and the undies and hankies. It would be a lot easier to find these garments if you wash it separately from the other.. making it easier to prepare it for the coming school week.

The Mommy Bloggers On K-12 Program And Toddler Learning

A busy week! Tomorrow will be the start of School Year 2012-2013 to most moms and students.. some schools, specially public schools already started with the school year last June 4. I heard that this school year, the K-12 program will be implemented. Hmm.. Have you heard about that program? Is it something that we all should worry or something that we should understand first? And why is there a need for such change on our current education system? What is wrong with our current education program?

The adoption of the program is in response to the need to improve the competitiveness of our country’s graduates as the ten-year basic education cycle is seen as inadequate for work and higher education. In fact, overseas Filipino workers are not automatically recognized as professionals in other countries that view the ten-year education program as insufficient. The Philippines is the only country in Asia and is one of only three countries in the world with a ten-year basic education cycle.

Read more about K-12 program, its benefits and the changes it would bring to the current curriculum by visiting the article I wrote last week: What You Should Know About K-12 Program

For those who are not concern on the said program because you think your kid/s are still too young to be in school, Mommy Jem provided us with a very helpful article on Three-year-old Toddler Learning and what you can expect from a three year old:

During this stage, he can now feel a range of emotions such as love, dependency, anger, frustration, rebellion and fear. That is why it is very important for parents to be more loving and caring with their child.

You really can count on mommy bloggers to help you understanding things and give helpful and practical advice!

Spongebob Birthday Party

For a family with 6 kids (4 coming from me and one each from my two sisters) birthdays only mean one thing, PARTY! Our parties would always include, cake, pasta and piñata and a theme!

Most of the times, it’s Spongebob.. specially if it is an impromptu party and unplanned party. For one, Spongebob themed party is very easy to prepare, from Spongebob invitation to DIY Spongebob cakes and of course Spongebob piñata.

The first ever Spongebob party we had was when my nephew turned 4 years old. It was an impromptu one, taking advantage of the fact that the kids are complete (my nephews lives in Nueva Ecija).

Since we had piñata when Chico turned 1, my boys believed that a party is not a party without piñata .. so it was almost a tradition that every birthday, piñata (check our collection) should be present. So when we thought of having a party for my nephew, 2 days before his birthday, Spongebob was the easiest choice. He’s square and he’s so yellow! Spongebob piñata can be done in less than an hour! So here’s our first Spongebob piñata:

And for the birthday cake, our very own Spongebob Birthday Cake:

That’s a Goldilocks chocolate cake decorate with Spongebob sticker characters and gold coins (to give that ocean feel haha)

Expereincing how easy it was to do a Spongebob themed birthday party, it was decided that for Mico’s 5th birthday (the same year) we will be having Spongebob again!

This is Mico’s piñata for his 5th birthday, his cakes was not Spongebob inspired though.. but his birthday invitation is a Spongebob birthday invitation:

And for Chico’s 4th birthday this year (and Dylan’s too! they’re 5 days apart), we had Spongebob Party again!

The cartolina I bought was too yellow for Spongebob haha but it was still a pretty sight.. We had the mocha cake with blue writings on it and to give it an ocean feel, we scattered the blue Happy Birthday greetings then add a few decors (mostly out of drawings), add a few gold coins and jellies and mentos and voila! I also downloaded b for the greetings.

For the loot bags, we made a paper bag out of the yellow cartolina and drew Spongebob face on it.. we also had yellow balloons.. and that completes our Spongebob Party!

Spongebob Birthday Invitation.. check!

Spongebob Birthday Cake.. check!

Spongebob Birthday piñata.. check!

Spongebob Birthday loot bag.. check!

Spongebob Birthday balloons.. check!

What more is missing? hmmm Spongebob guests!

See you on our next Spongebob Party!