Mommy Realizations

One great thing about meeting up with friends is that you ealize that your child isn't the only driving his parent crazy. I rant and rant about my son's demands but in truth, he's just really like the rest of other kids out there. My friends' girls are all dynamos as well.

Great thing though that Yakee didn't throw tantrums much last Sunday at Festival Mall in Alabang. At one point, he was really overstimulated and sleepy and kept hurting me, and I know my friends were looking at me how i'd handle him. But generally, I know we passed with flying colors. I got many slaps but still nothing major that I'd have lost my good mood.

As a bad reward though, we let him have his way with Pappie's drink, which was Dark Cherry Mocha. Hehe.

Rising to the Challenge

Last night, I attended a Christmas party with my counselor friends from way, way back. Anyway, I was able to discuss more fully an income opportunity with a friend who's going into the party planning business. She will attend a seminar on balloon designs while her brother has already mastered the art of face painting (because he used to also do tattoos).

I will have to master Photoshop more to really be her invitation designer contact. But at least I can make decent layouts already and there are a lot of commercial use freebie kits already out there I can start working with. In time, I may have to pay for more kits that are commercial use, but at least that would be business investment anyway. Who knows, I may even be able to really moonlight and design wedding invitations.

And then, one of our friends make chocolate treats (I even bought one designed to be a house, complete with chocolate Christmas tree). This is it. We're moms now and need to expand our horizons.

Feeling Helpless

We really can't afford Outer Banks vacations, or even a trip abroad just right now. But we're blessed enough to have roof over our head, cloths on our back, some money in the bank, etc.

My cousin found two families at the Plaza de Dilao with two infants exposed to the elements. One is just 3 weeks old, the other 4 months old. She was affected by their plight and was asking me if I haven't kept some of my son's socks.

Good thing I actually still had 4 pairs of infant socks. But I'm at a loss because I really gave away my son's stuff already for Typhoon Ondoy victims.



The only things I have saved for myself were two newborn onesies (one I gave to my cousin to give away to the baby) and the other things that are still here, I have promised already to a Mom. My son's past two years old... I really have no more newborn stuff to give.

Sigh.

Now, I should really seek them out and try to convince the Mom of the 3-week old to nurse the 4-month old, whose Mom is working as a maid somewhere. And I should see what we can give to those families.

I can't save every child... but that doesn't mean I don't wish I could.

*~*

A friend is also enlisting my help to help her get her future niece/nephew adopted. See, her brother (and his wife) are drug addicts and they already have a one year old. The wife is pregnant again and they usually vanish for several days and are unemployed because of their addiction so my friend and her Mom wants to have the new baby adopted. They even want to just sneak the newborn away and bring it to me so that her brother couldn't go after it anymore.

I didn't want that though because I know it's kidnapping. Plus, my heart always go out to adoptive parents whose hopes get high one minute and get dashed the next. So i'd rather adoptive parents pick the baby up from the hospital... give their names to be placed on the birth certificate instead.

Yes, I am a little ashamed to say that there are cases where I also don't like how the DSWD system works.

*~*

All these babies needing to be saved...

Guilty Working Mom

the funny thing is, I am working from home. And I worked mostly very early this morning while son was asleep. And I woke up with him, nurse him, play with him, policed him and his cousin, put him down for a nap and he is playing near me. But I already miss him. And I already feel I am neglecting him. To think there have been many times before when am actually just Plurking the day away so me in front of the computer isn't anything new.

But now I feel guilty.

Now I feel he's being deprived, neglected, shortchanged.

To think he's also clearly proven that he could actually play by himself... that it only seemed he couldn't before because he really could engage me to stop whatever I was doing for him. I still stopped today but I guess he could also sense that I was seriously at work this afternoon.

Sigh. I don't know how working moms can do it. Eventhough my child isn't complaining, I look at him and feel like i've been bad to him all day.

Sigh.

But Mommy really loves him.

Homeschooling Thoughts

At the World Bazaar yesterday, we almost bought a bedroom and accessories set because I wanted the toy rack. But I knew that was being impractical but hubby also said that we could use the table and chairs for our homeschooling days soon. Two years can fly so fast after all.

Maybe next year, I will start browsing curriculum online to see what is being offered and weigh what will also seem as a perfect fit. I also intend to attend next year's homeschooling conference and continue attending the seminars being aranged by The Masters Academy. Right now, however, I am still really torn between three homeschooling institutions.

The Masters Academy is a school I am already sort of at home with, because they initiate the homeschooling conference and I've attended one Learning Styles seminar with them. Being affiliated with CCF, I also know that they're really intent on values formation and that their parents are a warm lot.

School of Tomorrow, on the other hand, is where a friend's son is enrolled. Supposedly also, it has the best curriculum of all the homeschoolings institutions here. It's also Christian-based and there is a regular school in Las Piñas should I ever want to enrol my child in a regular school already.

Catholic Filipino Academy seems to be the only Catholic-based one and is actually the most affordable. It's being run by Bo Sanchez.

I still don't know which homeschooling curriculum best fits our family and which one will offer the best support system to homeschooling parents. It's great, however, that the pinoyhomeschool yahoogroups is also able to provide support, information and resources to parents who are feeling lost or overwhelmed.

Still on a Homeschooling Road

SIL asked me when I'm going to enrol Yakee in a homeschooling program. I explained to her that homeschooling orgs believe in "better later than sooner" and are usually strict about not enrolling a child in a program before the child is four years old.

I still have 1.5 years before I enrol Yakee into anything (apart from swimming lessons again next summer). But oh, how time really passes. Soon, I will be making first communion invitations for him and getting anxious because I will be sending him to a regular school already the following year. First communion is given at Grade 6, right? I really only plan to homeschool my kids till Grade 6 and want them to go through adolescents in the company of other adolescents. Hopefully, 12 years in my company has fortified them enough to face peer pressure with grace and wisdom.

But anyway, that's looking way ahead. Right now, I am just buying my son books and reading to him and letting him lead me to what interests him.

Spanked The Son

Spanked Yakee last night. Gave him three calculated thumps on his bottom for running up and down the stairs. Granted, I was already annoyed that he kept plucking the Christmas tree decor and has broken several (and I can't help but calculate the cost of what's broken already) but I have also told myself that we put up a tree for him, so he should be allowed to enjoy it the way he pleases. I thought of dismantling the tree and just putting it up when he can appreciate it... but what is appreciation really? When he's around 7, I doubt he'll look at the tree and delight in it as he does now.

But I lost my cool when he went running up and down the stairs, sometimes even turning, with the trimmings in his arms. Plus, he really refuses to listen most of the time!!!

*~*

I need to find more ways to parent him. I try my best not to spank but even talking him through before and during something sometimes doesn't cut it anymore. Even removal of privileges and awarding of some don't get noticed.

Sigh.