Parenting Blog Award: The Positive Parental Participation Blog Award

The Positive Parental

Participation Blog Award

Ages ago (yes, that's exaggeration), lovely Vivian has tagged me with this parenting award she herself has started.  I've had been given some blogging awards but this one is yet to be the most important and most appreciated one for me.  Vivian has started this award to give recognition to bloggers who, she believes exemplifies the tenants of Positive Parental Participation (words borrowed from her).

See, being a parent is for me, above any other role that I have right now.  I am really dedicated (sometimes obsessed) to be not just a good parent to our daughter but also one that is gentle and one that provides positive participation.  I deeply believe on positive and gentle disciplining and being really there, present and fully participating with her, whenever given the opportunity.

Of course, there's always a struggle.  At the time that Vivian has told me she got this award for me, I was in that moment when I was feeling insufficient as a parent, as a mom.  We were in that phase that meltdowns and tantrums and less sleep is very common at home and so I'd often find myself always on the edge and snapping every minute.

So when Vivian told me about the award, it nearly broke me into tears. It was just so timely.  I felt guilty at first as I thought I didn't deserve this but then I took it as a challenge... a gentle reminder of what I have told myself the kind of parent I want to be.

Again, I'd like to really thank Vivian for thinkking of me!  You always continue to serve as an inspiration to me.

I've been meaning to write about this post but couldn't find time as usual. But finally, I was able to do it :) and of course I'm going to pass this award along to other parents who I believe exemplifies the tenants of Positive Parental Participation.

Please feel free visit Vivan's article about it.  You can also continue to browse her other articles as you will surely pick a lot of things about activities, picture books and other things you can share with your children to have some quality bonding for positive parental participation :)

In reality, I have a very long list of bloggers to pass this award but I will start off with a short list as otherwise, I'd be making the longest blog entry of my life  :)  I do know that these wonderful bloggers below will be passing this award to other deserving mom/dad bloggers.

1. Kristeta of Kalokang Pinay sa Ukay -  She's one sweet mama and girl friend.  We haven't met in person but I do feel like I've known her personally for a long time now.  We do have so much in common in terms of parenting views and life situation in general.  I can almost see myself in her as a mother for her cute Jace... not to mention that Jace is also very similar to our Little Spanish Pinay. Jace is one lucky little fellow for having this uber sweet-thoughtful-baking-goddess mom.  It's always a pleasure to viber with her :)

2. Em of Akira and Everything Nice - She's my idol in breastfeeding. More than 3yrs now and still breastfeeding! If that is not one of the tenants of positive parental participation, then I don't know what it is :)  It always make me smile when she talks about her lovely daughter as it would always picture how she adores her and that she's all for her. 

3. Annmarie of Mom to 8 Blog - She's a mom to 8 children! All raised so well.  She has such a positive and simple outlook in life that is simply an inspiration to me.  Her entries are most of the time short, funny and full of good insight.  It's always a pleasure to read her articles.  My favorites are about her conversations with her children!

4.  Mamas TodoTerreno - Behind this blog are two equally dashing mamas, Rebecca and Ava. This is one of the few blogs in spanish that I regularly check and read.  I love how they both create a positive and loving environment for their children.  I love the activities and the crafts they both do with their children. Many times, I'd steal their ideas ;-)

5. Madi of Entre Apuntes y Pañales - Another one of the few spanish blogs I read. What can I say, this young and dedicated mom is all giving.  She has a toddler just like me and I can always relate with her experiences on the terrible two phase.  I love the way she handles this difficult situation gently.  And now that she has been gifted with another adorable baby girl, I really don't know how she's doing all what she's doing now.  She's doing it so wonderfully... a total pro ;-)  Oh, let's not forget that she's a babywearer!

6.  Faye of Fighting For Maia and Turning Dreams to Reality - I have just recently met this mom through her blogs and I was already captured by her story.  As she puts it: I am alive because I became a mom. And for that I will fight to live so Maia can have a mother.  Those are such beautiful words.  She's a survivor, a doting mama who would overcome anything and everything for her little one... even cancer.

 7. Pepper of Days In aWagon - This artsy mom is also a heartsy.  Her gentleness and love for her little A is pasted all over her blog.  Her little family is adorable and her positive parenting participation is evident with how her little A is growing to be a really nice, sweet and well rounded little girl.  They have such a sweet, sweet bond and I'm looking forward to having the same kind of bond with my own daughter as she grows.

I could add more on this list but I'll keep it short and let the award roll from one mom/dad to another.

Surefire Cold Remedy - All Natural!

 

Ever since the cold weather started, colds and cough has been in and out of our household.  We have tried a lot of natural remedies both homemade and over-the-counter type as we really want to avoid taking medicines as much as we can.  While some would give good results, the effects are nothing really dramatic nor consistent... except for one. 

 

And that is the reason why I decided to wake up my sleeping blog. 

 

I'd like to share this to mommas out there because it has been really effective for all of us. I KNOW how hard it is to take care of a sniffling and coughing toddler especially at night, so here is something for all you mommas (and everyone else) out there hoping that it may help you as well.

 

This natural remedy has helped the Little Spanish Pinay combat cough, colds and even throat infections.  Ever since we started giving this to her, around January, she has never fallen to serious illness relating to cold weather (and viruses as such).  Never missed daycare as well and has a better fighting chance against falling sick.

 

The best part is that this is all natural and thus, no side-effect nor limit as to when and how much to take.  Ok, maybe one side-effect could be stomach acidity.  This is almost undiluted lemon juice so just make sure stomach is not empty when this is taken.

 

Ok, without further ado, here's the recipe.  Special thanks to hubby by the way, because he was the one who was able to find this recipe somewhere in the internet. Unfortunately, we can't find the link anymore to give due credit.  I will definitely update this entry if we finally get to find the source.

 

 

Ingredients:
     half of a medium sized onion - chopped
     a small piece of ginger - grated
     2 lemons - squeezed (we need the juice only)
     honey - as pleased

 

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in one recipient and let them sit for a minimum of 10 minutes.  This will let the onion "sweat" and release its powerful substance.

2. Strain the mixture so it is left with the syrup part.

3. Store the syrup in an airtight container.  It is also best to store this in the refrigerator.  Take it out from the refrigerator a few minutes before giving it to your child just so it won't be too cold.

 

My husband tells me that the syrup is best taken within 2 days.  After that, it loses its power or effectiveness.  It does make sense because vitamin C content of lemon or orange drops or "evaporate" when it comes into contact with air.  Then again, storing it in the refrigerator can slow this down and besides, this powerful syrup does not only count on vitamin C for combatting cold and cough but a lot other medicinal substance.

 

And since the recipe above results to a good amount of liquid, it is most probable that there will be a lot of left-over even after two days, and this mami just don't throw away good stuff.

 

So I continue to give the syrup to her as long as it is hasn't perished... I tell you it can last up a to a week in the fridge.

 

Some more notes:
 You can add as much honey as you like.  This reduces the acidity of the lemon so it helps the syrup to taste a little better.  It also has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties so it's all good.

 Onion is all wonderful.  I adore onion because of its so many medicinal qualities.  It really helps the relieve cough and fight bacteria, fungi and anything that is eww.

 

 Ginger  is another oh so marvelous herb on earth.  In the Philippines, it is popular for treating throat problems.  Singers are known to take hot ginger tea or "salabat" because it is said that this tea "sweetens and smoothens" one's voice.  So, you want to sing like Barbara Streisand? Then you know what to do ;-)

 

Lemon is the mega source of Vitamin C and is so good with throat infection as well as it is also has anti bacterial properties.

Given all these facts, I tell you that this WORKS. 

 

Now, the challenge is for you to get your child to drink this as it has quite a strong taste. I normally administer it to the little one using a teaspoon or syringe.  It would take me a lot of persuading but she drinks it.  Over the time, I have learned an important trick on making her drink her medicine too.  Key note? Do not lie and do not sugarcoat.

 

I'll talk about this trick next time.

 

For now, ta-tah!

 

Our breastfeeding journey coming to an end and sharing another mom's must-read breastfeeding success story

2 yrs and almost 5 months and we are still breastfeeding.  I've been really on and off about weaning.  Some difficult days, I'd stick a middle finger about "child-led-weaning" and some days where unicorns fly around us, I'd wish the moment that she'd ask to be nursed won't end.   I am seeing the near-end of our breastfeeding moment, though.  My supply is very low already.  Little Spanish Pinay herself would even tell me ya no hay leche, mami (no more milk, mami) like as if she's complaining and demanding for more.  So I guess, sooner or later, she'd get tired of sucking and would move on to her life without Las Boobies.  

How do I feel about that?

I am already nostalgic about it.

I am looking forward to it at the same time.

I feel triumphant as we really had a tough start on breastfeeding and that I have told myself 2yrs is the minimum time I'd breastfeed LSP.

If this is a novel, we are indeed nearing the denouement.

Speaking of a novel, I'd like to share another success story of a friend on breastfeeding.  Because novel = story.  I know, I'm good on segues. 

It is a really touching and beautiful story of courage, dedication and pure mommy love!  I do feel compelled to share this because I know that it may help other moms or mom-to-bes who want to really succeed on breastfeeding.  Please click the whole quote below to read the whole story.

"I set out with the benefits for the baby in mind, but I never thought that it could also be the best for me, in ways I didn’t intend. " -- Chichi Sotomil

Photo grabbed from Chichi Sotomil's fb page

p.s. Last month is Breastfeeding Awareness Month.  But I am extending it to this month and to all the months of the year. Because breastfeeding is that awesome!

Diaper-less, yaya-less, bra-less

3 protagonists on this post: diaper, yaya and bra - er, the lack of them actually.  They're like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Let me start with the good.  Diaper-less.  We are diaper-less for the entire day! The only time Little Spanish Pinay wears diaper is at night.  A couple of weeks ago, I have embraced the fear of not putting on her diaper even when we are going out.  We've had a couple of accidents here and there but these past few days, we are accident-free the whole day.  There are even mornings that she'd wake up to a clean diaper.  She's starting to hold her pee during the night pretty well, ladies and gents!

So there goes the good part.

Yaya-less.  LSP's yaya left us.  She has found another job by the south of Spain and she was really happy about it.  I too am honestly happy for her and since hubby and I already planned for LSP to go to the daycare soon, this has saved us from giving her the "bad news" that we'll not need her service anymore... BUT not this soon.  She told me the news Monday of the past week and her last day would be Friday of the same week.  Hubby and I immediately had to revisit our plan.  We decided to ask the daycare if LSP can start by July instead of September.  The daycare gladly accommodated our request.  Now, the only problem was the last 3 weeks of June without yaya.  Hubby took a 2-week vacation so he can take care of LSP while I work and then I took the last week of June (plus 1st and 2nd of July) so I can take care of her while hubby goes back to work.

Not really that bad as I believe it's also a good timing. I've been getting worked up with how yaya's been a bit lazy around the house and was actually looking forward to becoming yaya-less but I've had dilemmas as I feel bad letting her go... knowing that it'll be (and it has been) difficult for her to find a job where we live.  This was his only source of income.  But fate fixed my dilemma and even gave a better opportunity for LSP's now-ex-yaya.

Bra-less.  With all the ruckus and changes going on, lately my head does not start to kick even until late afternoon.  One time, I forgot to put my bra on upon leaving the house.  I'm not used to going out the house without wearing my bra, ok?  Now, I know am not blessed (at all) in that area so they're not really an attention grabber but... I am quite blessed in the "tip of the iceberg" area so without my bra on, they are always looking like I am cold, if you get the drift.  When I realized I this, I felt so uncomfortable I started walking like I hunchback with my arms crossed like a mummy and eyeballs going from left to right.  But later on, I realized people could just care less. In a country where topless and nudists are quite a common scenarios in the beach,  seeing nipples behind a bra-less shirt is as normal as seeing a bus in the street.  So I straightened my back, relaxed my arms, put my chin up high and strut me self.  Man, that was liberating!   The ugly part in here is the part where I seem to be running around like a headless chicken lately... see, I barely have time for blogging not even to remember to put everything I need to put on befoer going out the house.  Anyhoo... what is going out bra-less compared to going out with chocolate in my crotch? 

ta-tah for now!

Wordless Wednesday: It never gets done

After cleaning the living room, I proceeded to the messier kitchen... A few minutes after, I went back to the living room to take a peak on what the Little Spanish Pinay is busy with.... I'm back to zero.

Next phase: Daycare?

So we have decided to send Little Spanish Pinay to daycare.  Not for her to learn how to socialize but because she's such an active, happy, eager to learn toddler.  My idea of homeschooling her for at least her 3rd yr is unfortunately really hard to do.  Honestly? I feel defeated that I simply can't do it all.  I've been trying but, the hard truth is?  I am not a supermom.  But I'm over that.  I've come to accept that there can be other people who can share and help her learn new things, explore, discover and just play around with and enjoy things with. 

So, with a bit of a heavy heart and a growing knot in my stomach, hubby and I started looking around for a good daycare.  We have visited 3 so far and the last one we have visited, has been my favorite. It did seem like it's LSP's favorite too.  She liked the place at once, moved around and played with the toys.  She talked to the director of the daycare with enthusiasm (she is usually shy at the beginning and wouldn't talk), she ran around the center, went up the slide, slid down her own, squeealed and yelled with excitement.

The daycare has a blog as well  where parents can see the activities the kids have been doing.  As I was reading the blog and looking at the picture, my stomach started getting knotty again and my throat, lumpy.  I'm such a wuss.  It's like all of a sudden my baby has become a real full-time grown child - and it feels like this has just happened overnight. I know I've been talking about LSP as a toddler, etc but because technically she's already a toddler ever since she entered 1 - it's just how toddlers are called when they enter one and start toddling.  BUT this time? it's like she's really developed her wings and would start to fly away from her nest and will just come back whenever.  Ok, it's not whenever, whenever coz she's coming back on schedule but you know what I mean.

She won't start till September coz that's the start of the school year here so I still have about 3 months to enjoy more time in a day with her.  I've already asked for a week's vacation on the first week of September so I can also adjust well but it seems like it is going to be a little bit complicated with work.  We'll see.  Maybe heaven will pity me and make my bosses agree on giving me a week vacation leave.  But I am not putting my hopes too high.

I just have too many what-ifs and worries (hello! what's new?).  I'm not really used to having her away from me for more than 2 hours in a day.  Whenever she feels uncomfortable, mami comes to the rescue with a hug, a kiss and the power of boobies.  She has never, ever taken her nap without nursing first.  How is she going to take her nap in the daycare?

I know, she's going to adjust and will enjoy her time with other kids playing and learning with her. 

Maybe she will adjust better than I would. 

Tell me I am over-dramatizing things?

The one where she wants me to be far from her

A couple of weeks ago (or maybe that's 3 weeks ago already), we have celebrated Little Spanish Pinay's second year birthday. It is only now, it sinked to me that my baby is not a baby anymore.  She's in her halfway towards leaving toddlerhood.  Although she's still afflicted with mamtis, she's showing interest on independence more and more. 

Yesterday, when we were in the park, she wanted to go to the slide alone.  While this is not the first time, it's quite different this time though.  She wanted us to be far away from the slide.

The picture above is how far she asked us to stay away from the slide.  She kept pushing us and telling us LSP sola! LSP sola! (LSP on her own! LSP on her own!).  If we ever move one step closer, she'd scream and would run towards us to push us even farther.  She was asking me, her mami whom she has been sooooo clingy with, to step back and just let her be.  I've my mouth agape.

While my heart was thumpity-thumping nervously watching her go up and down the slide, it swells with pride at the same time

Now, we are eyeing for her to join a daycare.  Originally, I wanted her to stay with me till about 3yrs old and just go straight to pre-school.  In a perfect world of mine even, I was imagining her to stay with me at home till about 7yrs then she'll go straight to grade school.  But with my full-time day job, I can't focus on her and spend more time with her. 

She's a child with big appetite for learning and discovering.  She has a huge reserve of energy that needs to be channeled to different activities otherwise it just gets wasted then she gets bored then she gets fuzzy.

I cannot say I am ready for this.  About 4 months ago,  out Little Spanish Pinay felt for the first time how is it to be in a daycare.  She entered the area, without looking back, followed the care giver everywhere she went, went to the explore the toys by herself, observed the different kids in the daycare, etc.  She didn't show any sign of anxiety - just pure curiosity.  She did have a serious face all through out though.  She was very attentive with everything around her.  She seemed to be ready for a real daycare.  But not me.  She's growing and I must too... so we'll see how the search for a daycare will be and how will I adapt to the new schedule.  This will mean I'd have to organize myself in the morning so my work and schedule may fit to the hours that she'll have to be in the daycare. 

We'll see, we'll see.  I hope everything works out well.

We Now Conjugate Verbs!

A little Spanish lesson, here we go:

Saber means to know in english.  In Spanish, verb conjugation is a bit more complicated than English as each subject has a different verb conjugation.  Let's see below:

Yo (I)  se (know)

Tu (You) sabes (know)

El/Ella (He/she/it) sabe (knows)

Nosotros (We) sabemos (know)

Ellos/Ellas (They) saben (know)

Vosotros/Vosotras (You-all) sabeis (know)

See what I mean? That's 6 (Spanish) vs 2 (English).  But wait, the complication doesn't just end there. The ver saber is an irregular verb because it doesn't completely follow the general rule for verb conjugation.  What general rule?  I won't discuss all the rule but only for the verbs that end in -er (e.g. comer) since this is the one that plays important rule in this particular story of ours :)

The verbs(regular) ending in -er are conjugated for each subject by changing the -er part to the following:

Yo como (I eat) - here the -er was taken and exchanged with o. i.e. comer =  comer  = com + o = como

Tu comes (You eat) - here the -er exchanged with -es. i.e. comer = comer = com + es = comes

get the gist? So we move along to the rest of the subjects:

El/Ella come (He/She/It eats) - er changed to e

Nosotros comemos (We eat) - er changed to emos

Ellos/Ellas comen (They) - er changed to en

Vosotros/Vosotras comeis (You-all) - er changed to

I tell you, verb conjugation is my weakness in Spanish.  So what do you do with the irregular verb? Memorize them! So, you just have to remember that saber for the subject  Yo (I) is se and that you should not apply the rule for the verb that ends in -er even if the verb saber ends with -er.  Capiche?

So yesterday, Little Spanish Pinay and I were playing dress up.  She was rummaging through her drawer, picking up things like socks, shirts, dress and telling me if I like each of it and if I say yes, she'd try to put it on me or just throw it up in the air. Yes, the room ended up like a jungle after.

She saw one of her clown socks I made for her past 2nd year birthday celebration and asked me if I like it.  I answered with a resounding YES! but then this time she said she wants to put it on her foot.  She told me to put it on her.  I told her she should put it on herself because she can.  The conversation goes like this:

Mami: Ikaw na magsuot, kaya mo yan.  Ponlo tu, que ya sabes. (Put it on by yourself, you already know how to.)

LSP:  nooooo! mami!

Mami: Sige na anak, kaya mo yan.  Venga, ponlo tu que ya sabes. (Come on, put it on by yourself as you already know how to)

LSP: noooooo! no sabo!

Mami: *blank face* (after a few seconds) *eyes wide, mouth open* (after another couple of seconds) *shrieks with excitement*

Ok, before spanish philologists out there would condemn me, I KNOW that sabo is incorrect. But what actually excites me is the fact that our LSP has just shown that she conjugated a verb deliberately!

She does say No lo se (I don't know it) or simply no se (I don't know) but because surely she has heard someone said it this way.  At this point, we can say that she has learned her verbs by just repeating what other people around her say.  BUT yesterday, she has clearly shown that her mind tried to consciously conjugate the verb based on the pattern that her mind is learning (see the rule above on the verb comer)

Of course I had to correct her because the right verb would be se and not sabo.  But I was nonetheless ecstatic about it.  It's just sooo amazing and sometimes mind-boggling how a mind of a child develops and much more if the development thrives right before your very eyes.

.... the joy of parenthood :)

Behind the Scenes of Terrible Two

I wrote about us officially going through the terrible-two phase about three months ago.  When parents would say Oh, we are on the terrible phase now - the normal reaction is an empathetic with a sorry-feeling "uffff, let's hope she'll go past that soon..."
Terrible two phase has such a negative conotation like it's a hurricane one need to be prepared for.  The tantrums, the fits, the meltdowns are thought to be the protagonists of this phase but I'd say they are actually the antagonists.  These antagonists often overshadow the other milestones and wonderful changes in this phase.  When we normally here the phrase terrible-two, we hiss and grit our teeth and do the empathetic bending of head sideways followed by a non-verbal-poor-parents pout.

It seems that every emotion of a 2-yr old toddler is hightened to a ten-fold level - not only the anger and the frustrations but also the happiness, the excitement, the empathy, the sadness, the admiration, the surprise, the anticipation... every.single.emotion. And that is not exactly an unfortunate thing.

I, for one, have been wishing that this "terrible two" phase would be over soon... I was getting clouded by the frustrations and pressure of her meltdowns and for many parts, failed to see pass this behavior.  All I was seeing was her tantrums and meltdowns especially upon waking up from her naps and I just couldn't understand where are these coming from. I was feeling helpless and finding myself defeated.  I am really thankful that I have a husband who knows when to step in and help me see beyond what is just obvious.

At 2 yrs old (or maybe a little earlier), children are discovering tons of great new abilities, interests and a whole new exciting stimulants around them.  This is what is exactly happening to our Little Spanish Pinay.  She's been learning new abilities and independence that most often than not, she doesn't know where to start and at the same time she feels like she can even do more when she's still limited with some of her physical abilities.  She wants to explore everything and do everything at the same time because y'all? These are all new and in the eyes of a 2-yr old, eager to absorb everything the world can teach her, she.must.try.everything.because.she.can.  So, imagine the frustration and disappointment if met with sudden limitations... can be too much for a 2-yr old to handle.

But on the other side of the coin, where her needs to discover, to explore and to express herself are met, it's a whole new world ala Jasmin and Aladin in their flying carpet.  Even for us parents.  Seeing her squeal and open her mouth in such awe and excitement upon arriving at her favorite park is beyond joy.  Receiving an unexpected hug and brute kiss from her (even if it means she'd step on my foot and head-butt on my nose) is a reward to keep for life.  When she tells different stories on her words with ultra cute and funny expressions, our hearts are filled with laughter filled with admiration.  These moments would then make me wish she'd be in this phase forever or she'd carry over this characteristics on to different phases of her development.

One time, she was eating her sandwich and suddenly she wrapped it around her dress smudging it with tuna and cheese. With my hand on my head, first in my brewing tempter was the dress! the stain! the work needed to remove the stain! As I tell her that this is not right to do, she defensively tried to tell me El tawiks tiene frio! (The sandwich is feeling cold!)  She was definitely playing one of her make-believes games.  She then told me that it's a baby tawiks (sandwish) and therefore it's cold.

I couldn't get mad with this 2-yr old just trying to explore on her imagination (tender andcompassionate if I may add).  The ruined dress? I can just exhale a big sigh.  I told her that the baby sandwich is now fine and prefers to be eaten by her because it will never feel cold inside her tummy.  It took her a few seconds to digest what I just said and told me no and a a lot of thumping and crying.  Yeah, I know another sigh.  I figured she's not hungry anymore so I took the sandwich and told her that the baby sandwich needs her mommy sandwich so we have to bring her to the mommy.  It took a bit while to convince her but in the end, she agreed. I gave her her doll so she can continue to play-mommy.  This hasn´t been the first time this happened and by the looks of it, it wouldn't be the last.  Yesterday, she wrapped a lollipop with her trench coat.... with the same story.

It wouldn't be easy and I am sure that there will be times(many) that I will lose my composure and just see the mess that's been made but knowing and understanding what's behind her different behaviors, it'll help me see passed the tantrums and the meltdowns and the messing around the house.  It's not that she misbehaves rather, she's just a 2-yr old filled with life and emotions and hunger to learn and explore her environments, her abilities and her own limitations. And my role? Participate and help foment his development through discovering, experimenting and playing.

Quest Post re Attachment Parenting

It's been a difficult week for all of us three mainly because we were sick.  This crazy weather has been really a pain in the bottom.  The day after Little Spanish Pinay's 2nd year birthday celebration, she got sick with colds and fever and then the next day, both hubby and I fell for the same virus.  Thankfully, the little one was able to recover fast... not hubby and I though.  It's been more than a week and hubby and I are still as bad (or worse) as the first day we got the colds.  So that explains the scarcity of my posts and blog visits.

But if you do miss me, I have a guest post on Anne's blogsite at Green Eggs and Mom's regarding Attachment Parenting.  It's currently getting interesting comments so if you'd like to join in, please hop on over to Anne's site.  While there, you can also browse around her other articles.  They are all very informative and give a lot of take-aways especially for moms.

I'll see you there!

Product Review and Give Away: Copy-Kids

Little Spanish Pinay's nanny made an interesting comment before they went out for a walk this morning.  She said: "I can never understand those moms I see in the park." She said this with a strong ridicule in her voice. Surprised, I asked why.  She said: "Those moms that follow their kids everywhere carrying spoon with food and pleading for them to eat.  They tick me off. Can't they just leave their child alone and let them play?"  I kind of hesitated whether to respond something or not but I felt that I should in defense of moms.  I gues it is easy for other people to judge what moms do for their kids but if they only know how to widen their understanding about different situations, then there'll be no room for a bit harsh comments like this.

If I am a mom of a picky-eater or a no-eater, I know for sure I'd do ANYTHING just for my child to eat something except push or force them to eat.  If  following them everywhere she goes in a playground with the food in my hand would make them eat even just a little bit, I'd do it.  If cutting vegetables into interesting shapes would make her eat them, I'd do it.  If singing and dancing in front of her while she eats will make her eat her portion, I'd do it.  ANYTHING.  That is, any trick I can get my hands on.  No forcing as I don't want her to relate eating as a negative experience - that'll just make things all the worse. Eating should always be fun!  I've heard of advices on just letting the kid and have them just come to you when they feel hungry because they would anyways.  While this is true, there are still cases of kids that can even pass hunger by just drinking water or juice.   With a little more effort, we as parents can do certain things to encourage our kids not just to eat but to eat healthy and if there is something I can do, I'll do it. 

Fortunately, I don't really catergorize Little Spanish Pinay as a picky-eater - she does eat a good variety of food.  But I still would love her to learn to eat more varieties of vegetables and fruits. Most especially, I'd like her to learn to eat fresh apples, grapes, oranges, baby carrots (she eats cooked carrots), etc.   No matter how we tried, she never liked apples.  It would also make me a happy mom is she eats a little bit bigger of a portion.  Right now, I do not worry much (like my level of worry is about 6 out of 10 being 10 as the highest) because she still nurses and I know that the breastmilk gives a very good compliment for her current diet.  But the moment she stops nursing though and the amount of food she takes daily would still be like how it is now, I definitely would start to worry more.

One day though, while we are in a play date, my friend's daughter D (4months younger than LSP) started to eat her snack.  She was eating grapes.  I was amazed because she eats it like them alone (peeled and seedless) without fuss.  LSP was never really fond of grapes but when she saw D eating grapes, she started telling me she wants grapes too.  My friend gave her grapes from D's plate.  LSP put one in her mouth, made a face but chewed and swallowed and asked for more!  I was ecstatic (but enbarrassed at the same time because LSP is robbing some snacks from her playmate).  My friend gave some more grapes to LSP and she happily ate more!   I realized that kids seeing other kids eat healthy food is contagious because kids love to copy!  Especially toddlers.   I thought back then that if I can only borrow my friend's daughter every meal time, it would be really great.  But of course, that can't happen.

Until I've discovered Copy-Kids Eat Fruit and Vegetables DVD.  So, all you moms (and dads) out there especially those with picky eaters, read on! It is a compilation of videos of kids eating different fruits and vegetables.  It is a genious idea, really.  When I got a copy, I immediately watched it and was so engrosed with the cute toddlers in each video catergory.  The videos are unscripted.  They're just like normal home-videos of kids taken by parents but with high quality.  It's like that part of Modern Family where each member is interviewed minus the script.  I love the spontaneity and quirkiness of the kids, they literally made me laugh out loud everytime.  Side note:  I definitely love kids and watching the video, made me dream all the more of having my own daycare. 

 Additional bonus is an interview with renowned pediatrician Dr. Jay Goron, MD, FAAP, author of Good Food Today, Great Kids Tomorrow.  He answered each interview question with short but very informative statements.  Nothing boring.  I popped in the DVD, watched it for myself and finished the whole 115 minutes in one sitting! The Outtakes (spoofs) video will also make you laugh and want to pro-create again because of these kids' cuteness LOL.  I did! Made me want to eat those kids in the video. My husband kept asking me what was I laughing about.  I made him keep guessing :-D He couldn't come over to see because he was working haha! (Of course later on I told him what was I laughing about.. I am not super evil).

The following day I tried it on Little Spanish Pinay.  To be honest? I was kind of hesitant about it.  I have a fierce child and when she says she doesn't like something?  There is no way in the world you can convince her to say otherwise.  So ok, we started the "trial" video watching.  I peeled carrots, cut them in small portions (I didn't have baby carrots so I just used the normal ones... next time I promise to buy baby carrots). and put them in a small plastic bowl.  When she saw the kids, her face lit up (she loves kids).  The DVD menu is composed of different fuits and vegetables.  I clicked on carrots. With a super animated voice, I started telling her look how Mattea is eating carrots. She loves to repeat the names of teach kid being shown in the video.  Then I told her, oh wow, LSP has carrots too... look!  She smiled, picked one carrot, the continued watching with an amused smile on her face.

OK, so the result?  She started eating the raw carrots!  Not just once, but she repeated when she was done with the first one.  I was ecstatic.  Later on in the evening, I tried another fruit.  I only have plum in my ref (as well as pear and bananas but she does eat both so I had to try plum without pealing them), so I washed one, and put it in a small bowl.  Plum is not included in the list of fruits in the video but I figured if she sees the kids eating, she'll want to eat too so whatever she'd have in hands might do.  I was right.  She ate the whole thing.  Peel included!

Funny thing is that she not only copied the "eating" but also some cuteness that the kids in the video do.  This Kid Audrey is too darn cute.  In one of the videos, she was covering both of her eyes and then counting silently like as if she's playing hide and seek.  Later at night, when I was putting LSP down to sleep, she started doing what Audrey was doing.  It is amazing how kids copy!
Copy-Kids has given me a sample of their DVD for review but the opinion and review in this article are all mine and very honest and from real experience ;-)

Wait, Copy-Kids has been kind enough to give another copy of their DVD to one of you! Enter to win!!!

Wordless Wednesday: As Big As I am!

Our Little Sevillana

Little Spanish Pinay is a fusion of different cultures.  Being Spanish, she's half Galician and half Andalucian.  Hubby's mom is from Galicia (where we currently live now - north of Spain) while hubby's dad is from Andalucia which is in the south of Spain.   Andalucia is divided into 8 provinces: Almeria, Cadiz, Cordoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaen, Malaga and Sevilla.  Sevillana is how women from Sevilla are called as well as a typical dance that is similar to Flamenco.

Having said all these, our Little Spanish Pinay seems to have inherited a good amount of Sevillan blood from her abuelo.  Look at her moves below:

Check out up to 05 seconds.  After that, I just ruined her concentration so you can stop the video :-D .  I was so ecstatic about how she danced that I couldn't help but yelled in excitement.  Obviously, she thought mami is crazy and lost her concentration so she started doing something else.  All my pleading for her to dance again were in vain!  I really can't get enough of this vidceo and can just play it all day long. Yeah, call that pride of a doting mami.

She got the modern moves too - which is how she dances most of the times.  Check out her video below:

this always cracks me up everytime I watch this video

Both videos were taken when LSP was just a bit more than 1 yr old.  I was trying to clean up some files on my mobile phone and saw these videos.

Weekend was quiet for us except for me working a little bit on some database maintenance.  LSP was also a little bit sick so we missed the swimmming lesson.  But we all got a nice rest so, yay! :)

How did weekend treat you?

Friday Fun Food: Sneaky Veggie Part 2

Yesterday is another one of those many days where I couldn't think of anything to prepare for hubby's pack lunch for today.  I'd like to share this recipe I did that unexpectedly, was commended by both hubby and the little rascal in the house.

I also took the chance to sneak in carrots in the recipe.  Little Spanish Pinay eats some leafy vegetables but carrots is not one of her faves.  So, for picky eaters, this can be a good trick to get them eat some healthy veggies.

Without further ado, here's my winner recipe for yesterday.  The pictures from below is from a repeat performance I did today for lunch... you know what they say about one good turn deserving another one?

Fresh parsley chopped, garlic chopped and grated carrots.  The carrots is our secondary star ingredient.  It gives nice orangey color to the rice plus it's packed with vitamins and all other goodness like giving you that skin glow because carrots is rich in melanin!

Be careful not to grate your fingers... if your carrot is this small already, stop grating and just eat it, it's good for you! ;-)

Of course we need some rice.  It's our star ingredient.  This is a left over rice.  I sprinkle is with a little water and then mash it a bit with my hands (that's the secret!) so it's kinda loose.  I also added a little bit of iodized salt just to give it a little more taste.

We proceed on heating the olive oil in the pan... I used a little butter together with the olive oil to give it some more yummy taste but the butter can be omitted for the health conscious :)  Then sautee the garlic until you can already smell its goodness or until it starts to brown.

Then sautee the grated carrots and the green peas.  I forgot to mention the grean peas at the beginning but it's actually optional. 

After a few minutes, add the rice and mix until everything is beautifully even.



When you feel like the veggies are almost done, sprinkle the parsely in the most artistic way you can.

Let's see all that goodness up close and personal.  Yum? YUM!

We got some left over fish from last night so I placed it on top of the rice to heat it up.



The rice can be eaten as is or accompanied by your other favorite comfort food.

Try it it's good! :)



The one where she kept denying she did some serious business...

This is sort of a potty update.  I regre to say that I haven't been religious with our potty training.  She started getting used to sitting down on the toilet bowl or on potty but I really don't know well how to teach her to tell us when she needs to go.  What's been going on is that she got used to the routine every morning upon waking up to sit down on the toilet bowl and do her thing.  During the day,  I got used to reading her signs and would sit her on the potty whenever I see her showing these signs.

Lately, she has already learned to tell us when she needs to poo.  Almost always, she does this but not for peeing.  For some reason, she doesn't mind having this kind of accident.  Around 11 months, I let her go around the house without diaper so she'll get more aware of the feeling of peeing then getting wet or getting dirty.  So to this date, she doesn't have problem sitting down on the potty when we tell her to and she has the need to go.  She would also do this on her own from time to time... not most of the time though.

Having reflected on all these, I guess she's not doing so bad... but she can definitely still improve and by golly, I hope soon!

Anyways, funny thing the other day is that she had been soooo active and wouldn't want to take even a few seconds of her precious time playing and discovering to go and sit down on her potty.  One time she told me she need to poo so I sat her down but after a couple of minutes trying to concentrate, she decided she doesn't need this and want to continue playing.  So off she went.

At night, before dinner, she again told me she needs to poo so I sat her again on her potty and patiently "help" her concentrate.  After a good while, she decided again to stand up and play with her toy push cart and scatter her toys around the house instead of doing her needful business.  I don't like forcing anything to anyone so I let her be while I prepare dinner. 

Just before dinner is served, I heard hubby ask the little one if by any chance she pooed and didn't notice. LSP started yelling no-no-no-NO! In a quick defense.  Hubby asked her again if she was sure... or perhaps it was just gases because it sure smell like it.  LSP answered with the same defensive tone no-no-no-NO!

I was laughing on my own hearing hubby and LSP's conversation.

Mother's instinct said there's some monkey business going on so I put down the wooden spoon and went to see LSP and just by a quick look from a far, I already see something protruding her behind.  I chuckled.  I asked her if she want to sit down the potty or the toilet bowl.  As expected, I got a resounding no-no-no-NO! Then I said to come with me so we can clean her up.  She ran for her dear life.  I caught her and naturally, she tried to wiggle away from mami.  It suddenly occurred to me to tell her that if we don't clean her behind, ants will surely go up there and eat the nasty thing between her behind and her leggings. 

I know.  What a thought.  Sometimes a mother can get desperate and think and say things like this.  But this sure caught LSP's attention and kept her quiet with a thoughtful-look in her face and definitely made her cooperate and confess that she DID the serious business.

Why do we call it serious business by the way?  Because...

It's each one's business, y'all and when ya hafta do this, you gotta be serious!

I hope I didn't cause her trauma because of what  I told her about the ants?

On Tantrums and Throwing Fits

It's here definitely.  We are on the terrible two phase.  It has started a little early actually... the intensity gradually levels up and right now we are at the peak level of the phase.

She easily gets so frustrated whenever she can't verbalize what she wants or what she feels or if she can have something her way.  One second she's this very sweet little happy angel and the next second, she's like a little angry monster throwing fits.

She has learned the word no for as early as I can't remember but at this moment, her no is a big NO! with the index finger pointing upward in a very snappy way.  Eyebrows crossing.  Eyes stern.  Yeah, she got the attitude.  Don't ask where she got that.

She has also started the twisting and back-arching and diving on the floor and punching and kicking and yelling and sometimes nail scratching when you try to force her to calm down.  She'd want everything on her sight to go away.  Go away, chair! Go away boots! Go away, jacket!  Go away, doll!  Just go away all!

What's even more frustrating is that sometimes we can't understand what has caused her to suddenly throw into some big fits.  She'd try to tell us but she still lack words for all the big emotions she's going through so all the more that she'd get frustrated. 

It is a difficult moment but what I have learned and still trying to learn is to accept the situation and not get frustrated myself.   I've tried different ways to help her calm down but most often than not, it'll be just in vein.  One day, when she had one of these moments at my in-law's house, my inlaw tried to help in calming her down.  She tried to "correct" LSP's attitude by telling her that LSP is being bad and that good kids don't throw themselves on the floor and cry out loud.  She was also telling her that she doesn't like bad kids.  Of course she's saying all these in all her good intentions to help and somehow to "discipline".

While I understand how people can tag this kind of behavior as "bad" behavior, I do not share this connotation.   I am not an expert on child psychology so I will just speak for our LSP being her mom.  At barely 2 years old,  our Little Spanish Pinay is growing up so fast.  Her mind makes her want to explore on so many things; learn; express emotions and ideas and yes, opinions too, why not.  But her words and ways are still too limited and it frustrates her.  Whenever she experiences a lot of excitements learning new things, wanting things,  she gets overwhelmed and couldn't process the tons of emotions she's feeling.  And when she can't get through to adults, she falls into fits.  At this age, I don't think she is doing this because she just wants to get her way. It's not bad behavior. It's the only way she can vent out whatever frustrations she is having because of incapacity to communicate well and/or incapacity to understand the amount of emotions she's dealing with.

What she needs is not discipline.  During this sensitive moments, what she needs is help.  Help in sorting out her feelings.  Find the words to express her frustrations, understand what has caused this and understand that she's not alone in dealing with all these.

I am neither saying that she'd be let alone when she's having the fits or give in to what she wants even if it's something dangerous or is not good for her.  This one, will just eventually (especially when she's already in an older age) help her develop the bad habit of throwing herself into fits if something is not going her way and that is not what we are going for.  There are things that no matter how much she'd cry for, we can't just give in to her but it's also not just about saying NO and that's it.

What I have learned to help her somehow slow down on her tantrums and eventually overcome it is by trying to help her verbalize what she's feeling or going through by telling her things such as:  "You are upset, aren't you?".  "That socket looks really interesting but it's dangerous and you can get hurt.  You don't want to get hurt, do you?".  "It's been a long day, isn't it? You've played a lot, you ran around, you've met a lot of children and now, you are tired. It's normal you get so tired and sleepy after all those activities!"

Normaly when we start to "re-live" all the activities that she has done for the day especially the ones that were really interesting for her, she'd start to calm down and would join in on remembering the fun things that happened.  It's not an easy road though, and it's really a challenge not to get frustrated nor raise my voice while I try to calm her down by talking to her and then she'd fight back with an even louder cry.  But it pays off.  The storm would calm down.  Then it's time for even more hugs and kisses again.

This is also a difficult time for her as much as for hubby and I and  we'd really like to let her know that inspite of this ugly phase she's going through, we'll still be here for her and we love her just the same.   There will be no "I don't like you anymore because you've been bad or you're acting bad!".   Instead, "We're here and we'll help you go through this rough road."

Best of the Breast: The best alliance on a looong air travel with a toddler

 Anxieties struck me before our planned travel to the Philippines back in December last year.  As it was our first time to travel with a toddler (a high-demand toddler, not to mention), I really didn't know what to expect.  Actually, I have been expecting it to be daunting and nerve breaking because I thought our little one would get bored or scared or would be too uncomfortable, etc. But I was wrong (thank God).  The whole trip was smooth in general especially while we are in the aircraft.  The longest flight we had was a 15-hour flight from Paris to Hongkong and during that whole time, Little Spanish Pinay was sleeping if not walking around or playing or reading or singing with us.  She rarely fuzzed.  

 

That's right... at one time, she preferred the cart over her stroller or the baby sling

I tried to pack enough entertainment for her as well as fun food.  But what really helped us a lot, is that fact that she is still breastfeeding.  I didn't have to bring bottles and formula and water.  That's a big convenience because we already have heavy carry-ons so being able to omit things to bring is a big help.  Plus, there's no need to prepare the bottle every time she wants to be fed.  Milk is ready and fresh and warm just the perfect way every time she asks for it.  The most important of all? It really helped her not to suffer from ear popping because of the pressure during landings and take off. 

Learning the cabin's safety instruction

zonked

Thinking about all these, confirms my thoughts that we shouldn't consider weaning yet.  Consider, I say? Yes weaning is knocking in my door of thoughts these days.  Getting persistent even.  But that's requires a whole different entry as it's a long  and winding road.

I'm not a part-time mom

I don't like labeling. But let's admit it, in this world, things or events or occupations and just about anything has to have their names, otherwise, it'll be a complete chaos or texting would really be tiring. 

Imagine everytime you need to mention your job, you'd have to say,  I take care of  keeping and inspecting the financial accounts of a company.  Instead of just saying I am an accountant. 

You get the jist.

But when it comes to motherhood or being a mom, I am uncomfortable about the terms full-time mom for moms having the privilege of being able to spend their 24x7 with their kids to mother them. If they are full-time moms, what does that make someone who has an 8-hour job? A part-time mom? 

No, ma'am.

I work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (and sometimes a few hours on a weekend) but while I work, that doesn't mean I stop being a mom. Jobs can be full-time or part-time. Full-time if you work at least 40 hours a week. 40 hours because that is what's (theortically) just necessary for someone to do his work duties according to their job description and according to (in general) labor's law (at least to most countries I know). Part-time if it is anywhere less than that because someone else (another part-timer) would replace you in order to fill up with the remaining time in a week or in a day necessary for the same job to be done.

But what is the schedule needed to be completed for a mom to be considered full-time? When I am at work, I don't cease to be a mom. Being a mom is not a role for me that can be removed and set aside while I sweat my forehead to bring home bread. When I am not with my child, I am still her mom. Even when she gets married and move out our house, I'll be her mom. When I am not with her, she is still my responsibility even if someone else is caring for her in my absence.  My day job? I am only responsible with the databases when I am on duty... otherwise, if there's any problem that would occur, I'm not required to do anything or work, so to speak.  Being a mom is not like a job or profession where you can forget about being so when work schedule has ended.  So no, I beg to disagree that one is a full-time mom and then others would fall into the part-time mom category just because we leave the house to earn a living.

I'm not criticizing moms that use the term full-time moms being when they are stay-at-home moms as this term is not something they invented.  The term has just been there and I am 100% for sure it's not being used to mock working moms like me.  But nonetheless, it does make me reflect on what does that imply about moms who work.  Call it being guilty?  Maybe I am guilty that I spend time working isntead of being with my child every minute she needs me - just like how I'd imagine myself doing in my perfect world - and so hearing another mom declaring she's a full-time mom gives me that defensive feeling? I don't know but I just strongly believe it isn't fair.   More than a profession or a vocacion, motherhood IS relationship with your child and that relationship is not and cannot be "temporarily stopped" while one is not with her child to do her way of helping with the house bills.  So it can never be part-time.

I am a mother. Full-time and for a lifetime.  Period.



Facts of me from A-Z

image source is voiceboks

I'm generally a shy person and more of the listener rather than the talk-about-one's-self kind of friend.  But Lexie of voiceboks has created this ABC's of me event and I thought I just have to participate as everyone's having fun.  Voiceboks is really a wonderful and helpful site for moms (and everyone else) to build network and traffic.  If you haven´t joined voiceboks I really suggest you join.  It´s a fun site and everyone´s just friendly and supportive.

I am actually enjoying reading everyone's ABCs than creating mine :) but a girl's gotta participate too and not just stalk ;-)  So here goes mine.

Artist.  Escape artist, that is.  Having a little one that only sleeps with the boobies and holding on to THE mami, I learned to become a very good escape artist freeing myself from her clutch and not wake her up in the process.

Breastfeeding enthusiast.  We've been breastfeeding for 16months and 2 weeks now!

Contortionist.  See letter A.

Devoted to my family.  My family is my life.

Environmentalist.  At least, I try to be.  We cloth diaper for instance :)

Filipina and a very proud one at that! 

Green.  No, not green as in dirty mind! Green as in earth-friendly.

Homesick most of the time.  I do have a new home now as I have formed my own famiy with a doting husband and a perfect daughter but I still miss my first home all the time.  It's really hard to be oceans away from the people you love.

Introvert in general.  I love mingling with people, I love making friends but I was never a big fan of having night-outs though I enjoy them once in a while.  Most of the time, I just love spending the weekend at home cuddled to hubby while watching our fave movie or tv shows. 

Jolly.  I am generally a jolly person... but yeah, sometimes I do have my dramas too.

 Keen on smells. I am very sensitive on smell inspite of having a very small flat nose.  I consider it a blessing.  But when I got pregnant?  Doomsday for me.  Or rather doomsdays. Everything smells sooooo strong and irritates me to no end.  The coffee smell that I am so inlove with?  It was unbearable for me. 

LOL.  I love to laugh out loud and I do laugh out loud.  Even in public.  Sometimes, I scare people.

Married to the man God has chosen for me. 

No sense of direction. Gosh I swear, I am terrible with directions and I just wish I am the other way around.  I get lost ALL time. 

Oceans away from my parents, siblings, relatives and friends.  But they are always and will always be close to my heart.

Passionate about motherhood.  It's a dream that has now come true.

Queer.  I can be odd sometimes like I love to sleep with a pillow on top of my head (especially in the eye area).

Reserved most of the time.  I'm gnerally a shy person (anyone would like to disagree?). Except when I laugh.  I love a good laugh. 

Second to the eldest in the family.  I have 4 sisters and a brother who's the youngest.

Tearjerky.  I'm quite the emotional type and normally would have a hard time controlling my tears.  I would cry when I get really, really angry.

Unavailable. Sorry, boys!

Verdant when it comes to baking (and maybe to so many other things in life heh!).  But I am really enjoying baking especially when hubby loves  what I bake. 

Wide-eyed, which was often the cause of me getting teased a lot by kids when I was young.  I was called by different names because of having big and wide eyes.  Kids can be really mean, you know.

eXuberant when it comes to showing and giving my love to my daughter.

Yummy to my husband. No one can dispute that!

ZzzZZZzzzZZ'ng is my favorite past time.  I can practically sleep anywhere.  In a bus, in a jeepney, in tricycles, in a metro, in airplanes,in taxis, in cars, and any moving vehicle I guess :).  The movement lulls me to sleep!

Wow, that was tough!