Parenting Archive

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

Is My Baby Too Clingy or Am I Just Too Busy?

Marius is my 5th child. He’s clingy, even more than his siblings were. I was guessing because he lost his twin, he is extra clingy. When people ask me about Marius, I usually answer, ay he’s extra clingy. Realizing later on that I don’t want him to be known as the clingy baby. He’s a very happy baby actually. At 7 months he already knows how to kiss. He’s also a tall baby and already knows what no means. More than being clingy, he is an adorable baby. Make that SUPER DUPER ADORABLE!

Pero teka nga muna! He’s only 7 months old. He is supposed to be clingy. Let me rephrase that. He is supposed to be with me most of the times! He needs my milk, he needs my warmth, he needs mommy all the time. He is actually not clingy, there’s just so many things I wanna do.

GUILTY!

You know how I can secure deals while breastfeeding and I am thinking, I could do more if I am on my pc. I can do a lot if I just stop and get out of the bed. If only Marius would let my boobs go.. or if only he’d sleep more deeply, I can get up. The thing is, every time I try to move, he’d move! He’s sabotaging my “work” time!

Or like when I need to be there for my other kids? You know when one of them needs me or that when I need to go to school because one or two of them left something behind. You know, moments like that. But Marius won’t let me go.

I rot in our bed breastfeeding while the world goes around without me.

AND I HAVE TO STOP RIGHT THERE.

I realized that right now, my world is him. I mean, yeah, I have 4 other kids but they’re all well enough to be on their own in a way. And the internet, my blog, my social media accounts, it can all wait. In this age where everything is fast pacing, I need to slow down and re-learn how to be a mom! I need to chill and be more kind and forgiving to myself. I know I am great at a lot of things but I am greatest being a mom.

Just so you know, I am writing this with sore boobs since I let Marius fell asleep on my boobs. I did not rush him to sleep and he made me finish this post! Hurray!

Aaaaaand almost a week after, I thought I am done with this post and I am not! A few minutes before putting a featured image, the little boy cried and so I had to stop and put this on hold.

And I am back because he is with his lola which he missed so much since we were the Ariel event the whole day yesterday.

So what am I trying to say? Ah yes, that I am relearning how to be a mother again, in the world where everything is fast. It’s hard di ba?

Obviously, I am just too busy, my mind is too busy. He is not clingy, he’s just being adorable.

10 Practical Travel Tips From A Mom Of 5 Kids

Traveling with kids is fun but it’s a not a walk in the park. What more, traveling with 5 kids and one is an infant. Imagine the extra baggage of diapers and baby essentials. Thank goodness I’m exclusively breastfeeding, that’s a big minus on my bag.

Also must read: Fun Time with Kinder Joy

We love traveling during the summer months (March to May) but we also travel during the rainy season. In fact, our longest drive happened in September. Months before it was declared as one of the New Seven Wonder Cities of the world, we had the chance to see Vigan.

One of the keys to traveling with keys is preparation. This includes packing ahead of time and taking out all the OCness in you. From our travels (accompanied by my OCness), I am sharing with you some practical tips that I guarantee will make traveling less stress and more memorable.

10 Practical Travel Tips From A Mom Of 5 Kids

Practical Travel Tip #1 Create a soundtrack. The idea of creating a soundtrack for a certain is really nice. Make a list of some of your favorite songs (it would be fun to include children’s song!) and make your own travel soundtrack at Spotify. Label it with your destination and year. Listen to your soundtrack every time your family is inside the car.

Practical Travel Tip #2 Make an itinerary. There is beauty in being spontaneous but you can explore more beautiful places if you plan ahead. And let the kids know your plan. Print your itinerary and give each a copy. I know it sounds like organizing a tour, well it actually feels like one and it’s how you can make the most out of your trip. You can also play your soundtrack while making this and even while packing!

Practical Travel Tip #3 Always ask for a corner room when booking. Most hotels listed in Traveloka are already discounted and though it is tempting to get plus more rooms for your kids, ask for a corner room instead. Corner room in hotels are usually bigger. Rooms with 2 queen size beds are great options for family with kids too.If you really need to book a hotel with two rooms, try asking for connecting rooms.

Practical Travel Tip #4 Plan your outfit. It’s not for OOTD post on your instagram. Planning your outfit and the kids outfit makes packing a lot easier. This will test your organizing skills but if you ace this one, you’re set for life. For bigger kids, let them pack their clothes. Give them a list of the clothes they need to bring and give them a bag each.

Practical Travel Tip #5 Pack in small bags. So how do you pack in smalls bags when you have more kids? As mentioned in #4, let them pack their own bag. Collect their bags and put it together in one big bag. Most of the times, my stuff and husband’s goes in one big bag and my kids’ on another 1 big bag.

Practical Travel Tip #6 Include small toiletries. Buy travel sized shampoo, soap etc and bring a set or two for your family. It should depend on the number of rooms you’re planning to book. Hotels provides toiletries but with kids, it will never be enough.

Practical Travel Tip #7 Bring a snack bag. Long travel + hungry kids is a disaster. Prevent it from happening by bringing a snack bag. Put 2 to 3 snacks for each kid. It should be light like crackers or snack bars.

Practical Travel Tip #8 Always bring small bills for tipping. In Philippine hotels, how much to tip the bellman? Most US travel sites I have read suggest bringing a lot of $1 bill. Basing from that, I guess 50 PhP bill is acceptable as minimum for tipping. It doesn’t hurt to give more though, specially if the bellman is very helpful to your family.

Practical Travel Tip #9 Take photos everywhere. When I say everywhere, it literally means everywhere. From the landmarks on the way, historical places you pass by to hotel facade to hotel rooms to all the place you will visit. Take photos of those, take photos with your family on it (bring a selfie stick and tripod always), take photos with only your kids. Take photos of each of the kids too. It eats time but it was worth it.

Practical Travel Tip #10 Print your photos. The experience will be forever in your kids’ heart and the fun times can surely make them laugh for a while. Make that memories last longer by printing some of your travel photos. You can also make an album and a scrapbook of your trip!

Kids+ well planned trip= Happy Family!

Pancake House’s House Specials Set Is A Certified Mom’s Meal

A friend asked me, “How are you?” and I said, “eto, surviving through Pancake House’s House Specials Set.”

Pancake House’s House Special Set is a delicious mix of specialties of Pancake House: Best Taco in Town, Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and garlic bread, 1 pc Pan Chicken and Iced Tea.

Pancake House’s House Specials Set

And you couldn’t go wrong with this set. This is the perfect “pick me up” meal for lalo na for mommies na walang katapusan ang pagod. It has everything you need to make you feel better. There’s the pan chicken and its crispy skin, sobrang tasty ng chicken tapos with gravy pa! The best taco in town is not called as such for nothing. It really is the best Taco in town. The veggies are refreshing, every bite is rejuvenating. Tapos yung spaghetti na meaty, hindi matamis at hindi rin naman maasim. Finish it with Iced Tea, ay nako parang pinalis lahat ng pagod mo. The best part about it, hindi sya masyadong mahal. It’s less than 300 Pesos only at hindi naman masyadong nakaka guilty kainin kase walang rice (wooohooo haha)

This is how I usually eat Pancake House’s House Specials Set: put gravy on garlic bread and set aside. Finish spaghetti and sip iced tea. Finish Taco and drink iced tea. Eat the chicken with bread and gravy and drink all iced tea. Bread+ chicken + gravy is a very good combo for me. Yung roast chicken set ng Pancake House ang favorite ko noon eh, kaso tinanggal nila. OK na rin kase I discovered Pancake House’s House Specials Set. Mas solve!

And you might be wondering why a food related post is filed under parenting…

Eh kase nga, this meal is my “I’m soooo tired I need a fuck!ng break!” meal. Sabi ko nga di ba, it’s the best “pick me up” meal. Sa totoo lang, nakaka dalawa na ako this week. That’s how bad I am at parenting right now. OK, I take that back… I’m just having a rough time handling some mommy woes. I just can’t talk about it right now but in due time I will. I have learned a lot and still learning from my current ordeal and soon I will be able to share my learnings to you. For the mean time, kain na lang muna tayo 🙂

By the way, Pancake House has online delivery!