Parenting Archive

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

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.

Ways To Be A Fun SAHM

As I have said before, being a Stay At Home Mom is not a blissful ride. It was bumpy and sometimes you go through downfalls and depressing state. I was able to pass those phase by having fun along the way. I have some doubtful moments with my motherhood but it was the laughter that brings back my trust on myself.

Here are some of the things that you can do to take that wrinkles away from you and be a fun stay at home mom:

Play with the kids. Yes, play with your kids. It’s childish and it’s fun. It takes the barrier between parent and offspring and yet it build a greater kind of bonding. It can make you younger too and laughter can keep that frown wrinkles away. The best time to play with them is before they go to bed. Bedroom is cozy and very inducive for a tickle party.

Make bath time, fun time. Don’t stress yourself too much when it takes them forever to sit so you can shampoo their hair. Don’t bicker at them when they accidentally pour some water on you. Instead of stressing your self too much, why don’t you join their childish way of taking a bath.

Let them baby you. We love this. I would lay down at the sofa while the kids take care of me. We would pretend that Mommy is the baby and one of them is Daddy and the other is the doctor. It was so much fun speaking like a baby. And they enjoy it too, specially the part where I feed on bottle (yes I do that at times for the sake of our play pretend).

Dance with them. I am not a good dancer but I use dancing to sweat out some carbs. When I dance reggae, they do reggae with me. When I do swing they are my partner. Have you seen three people doing the swing?

And when all else fails, the very minute they close their eyes (to sleep), take their PSP or DS lite and play your favorite game (mine is Mario)

How about you? What are your ways to be a happy stay at home mom?