Parenting Archive

My thoughts on parenthood, and what it's like to be a mom in the Philippines.

Last Post…

This will be my last emotional post about Ondoy. I don’t want you to experience flash floods like we did (Ondoy related articles flood..). I just need to let this out and hopeful after this, I am done.

And though I am already making fun of what happened to us, I cannot deny the fact that I am still traumatized by it. There are times when paranoia hit me. OCD is to blame. There are so many what ifs in my mind and sometimes I cannot bear to think of it. People suffering from OCD are like that, images would suddenly pops in their head and they can’t do anything to stop it.. So instead of suppressing it, I am letting it out.

What if #1
What if we were out that day. We were to go to the drugstore to buy some meds for the kids. Good thing that heavy rains stopped us. If we went ahead as planned, we would be trapped in Ever Gotesco for three days. I cannot imagine three days without the kids. More so, I cannot imagine my kids without me and without food fro three days. It is plain unthinkable but I could not stop my mind from thinking the scenario.

What if #2
What if hubby is not at home. I am not afraid for our safety but for the hubby. I knew that he would try everything to reach us. I would have died worrying about his safety and whereabouts.

What if #3
What if the water rise up to the second floor? What if we had to be on the roof and wait to be rescued. That would be the hardest thing. Thinking about it makes me feel nauseated and yet the image of us on the roof keeps popping out in my head.

whew! what a post.. oh well at least I am done unloading..

and please don’t tell the kids, mommy is still afraid.

Parentin.TV Talk Series

I got to experience my first ever parenting talk/seminar courtesy of ParentinTV. The parenting talk was held yesterday, around 4 PM (not quite sure because I was a bit late) at The Podium. Topics included int he talk series were, baby hygiene, managing finance, disciplining the kids and some brain booster tips. There were four guest speakers who shared their expertise and knowledge on the fields mentioned.

In the coming days (every Mondays and Wednesdays) I will give an elaborate and long (but not boring) and detailed explanations (and some side comments) on the topics covered in the seminar. For now, I give you a teaser of what you can expect from here.

Dr. Mayla dela Crux, a pediatrician (and a member of Health Dynamics Group) and an advocate of respect for children talks about ways to clean a baby. She also taught us proper ways of holding the baby when taking a bath and a lot more about baby’s hygiene.

Prof. Bessie Rios, the author of the parenting book, Memo ni Mommy, talks about implementing proper discipline on our kids. You can catch her on DZAS and listen to her Memos (parenting advice) and also wait on January for the release of her second book.

Ambi Buloz of Iluvlearning.com shares with us valuable perspective about retirement and saving up. She shares her knowledge on finances and also invites everyone to attend on their finance management seminars (visit their site for more info).

Dr Felix Dimalanta of St. Luke’s discussed with us some points about brainy boosting activities for the babies. He mentioned the importance of communication and interaction with baby as early as a day old.

All in all, it was a fun filled and very informative activity. I never thought I could still learn a lot from them. I got to take home Memo ni Mommy by Bessie Rios and when I am done reading it, I will give you a head’s up about the book. Also got some freebies courtesy of Anion Baby products. I hope they would come up another activity and I hope more mommy bloggers will join me on it.

If you are not a member yet of the first Philippine online parenting show, join now! CLICK!CLICK!CLICK!

How Do You Define Gay?

One time my second son was asking my permission to let him play his DS lite. Our running policy is I would only let them play at a certain time. It was not their “play time” yet and so I say NO. He says ” Bad Boy Mommy!” and goes on with his tantrums. I was shocked when my first born utter that his brother say Mommy is gay. Mommy is what? Yes you heard it right. Gay. Gay as in bisexual. It was nothing to me because I love gay and I love being one. I may not be biologically gay but I know I am gay. What shocked me is how he came up to that conclusion. So, I inquired, explained to him that Mico (the second son) did not say gay, he said bad boy mommy, not gay. Kayil (first born) replied (in an almost ready to eat me manner), that indeed Mico called me gay.Mico said, bad boy Mommy, when in fact Mommy is a girl! Get it?

After some time, I asked Kayil what gay means. According to him, gay is a mixture of boy and girl. Quite.

Those instances made me think (and think hard) how can I explain what gay is, without giving them the perception that gay is bad (because I know it is not). How can I give them a definition that would explain that beyond the abnormal perception of our society, gay is perfectly normal. How can I tell them about gay without giving too much encouragement to be one. Yes, I know there is nothing wrong with being one but as much as possible I don’t want them to be one. As a mother I cannot face the trials and the hard ships they have toe endure just to prove their worth. I cannot share to them my struggle as a woman. I do not wish for them a life of forever proving yourself.

To end this, I once again asked my first born what gay means and if it is a bad thing. According to him, if you are not gay and somebody told you, you are, it’s a bad thing. Asked what if it’s a gay and somebody told him he is, he says, it’s perfectly fine, he is gay anyway. So I guess I don’t have to worry yet, to them being one is perfectly normal. I hope it stays that way.