My Stay-At-Home Mom Myths Busted

I quit my job last year and decided to be a stay-at-home mom. That last day from work gave me huge relief. I was finally going to spend time at home with the kids. In my mind I was thinking of doing crafts with the kids, baking cakes and muffins, attending PTAs -- the works. The image of this perfect mom with perfect kids, whistling while working, popped into my head. I never thought that being a stay-at-home mom would be one colossal roller coaster ride.

Here are a few lessons that I've learned on being a stay-at-home mom:

I never realized that house work was never ending. There will always be piles of laudry. The dishes will never be clean for too long. No matter how fast I work, there always seems to be, at least, one unfinished project around the house. And this is a huge adjustment from work where I just tick off tasks that are done and get on with the new tasks. Staying at home requires serious paradigm shift.

It is easy to be separated from the outside world when you're staying at home. I'm at home with the kids all day. My adult contact was limted to my husband and to my other relatives during the weekends.

Adjustment takes time. Actually, after 8 months of staying at home, I can honestly say that I'm still getting my groove. It definitely has its ups and downs but it gets easier as time passes.

No one is perfect. No matter how voraciously I go through baby books, know more about parenting than Dr. Spock or cook lasagne in 30 minutes better than Rachel Ray, I could never be the perfect mom. I had willingly given up that myth. And I tell myself that it's okay to make mistakes.

Despite the big lifestyle change that I'm going through, being a stay-at-home mom is wonderful. It is a decision that I do not regret one second. I love being present in my children's lives. And no pile of laundry is too big to deter me from being a stay-at-home mom.

This Is Me Today

Thanks Em.

Rule:

1. List 6 things that describe yourself today.

2. Add your blog to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs.

3. Tag other online friends you know.

Links: Creative In Me Little Peanut Me and Mine Pea in a Pod Sugar Magnolias Doll Me Up Deviously Creative IamDzoi My Happy Place To the Moon and Back Raising Sandy My Colorful World Working It MyParty.Finds.A Home. Em's Detour Stripe & Yellow Something Purple Vanity Kit Mind Bubbles Living the Healthy Life Insights from the Grocery Cart.

Today, I am...

:: Binging out with my sis again. Grrr!

:: Glad that Kowi's forehead is better.

:: Missing Hubby.

:: Worried about the situation in Mindanao.

:: Adding more fiber in my diet.

:: Hoping that Kuya does well in our mock exam this weekend.

Tagging: Pchi and Ritzie.

Blog Award

Thanks Mommy Elvz for giving me this award.

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you’ve nominated.


Now I'm passing this to: Ca tque, Joy, Nanay Belen, Tet, Shimumsy, Katelove's and Michelle.

Kowi's Forehead

Last night before bedtime, the kids were inside Manu's room, playing. I was with my sister, Ceejay, in her room when I heard a loud thump. Mamu screamed, "Give me ice!" Then I heard Kowi's loud cry.

I immediately stood up and ran outside the room to see what happened. I saw Mamu carrying Kowi. There was a BIG violet lump in the middle of her forehead.

I took Kowi and ran to the kitchen to get ice. Ceejay right behind me. I opened the freezer door to get whatever I could find that was cold and put it to Kowi's forehead. It was a pack of green peas. Good thing that my sister was already busy preparing the real cold compress.

Kowi's forehead was so swollen and violet. I knew that she fell hard but I didn't realize that she fell that hard to get a bump that big.

We applied the cold compress to Kowi's forehead for 30 minutes. Thank God that Evan Almighty was on HBO. Kowi loves that movie. It had created the perfect distraction for me to keep applying that cold compress to her forehead.

Here she is after 30 minutes. The swelling had subsided and the color has lightened to a light violet. She is drinking milk and still cranky. Who could blame her?

Two Days Unplugged

For the past two days I have been unplugged. Grrr! My Internet connection was on the fritz, maybe due to the weather, I don't know. Grrr again!

I'm here in my mom's house for the long weekend. Hopefully, their Internet is better than mine. Only problem is that I have to wait in line after they (meaning my siblings and mom) finish their online games before I can surf.

Well, one good thing came out of being unplugged -- I had more time to clean the house. Haha. As in general cleaning. I even mopped the ceiling. =)

Withdrawal symptoms anyone?

A Rainy Day

I woke up at 5am to see that it was raining. Originally, I had planned to cook pancakes for breakfast today but decided to scrap it at the last minute. There is only one fitting breakfast for me and the kids on a rainy day like today--champorado.

Good thing I had some stocked in my pantry. I took it out and cooked it. As expected, it was yummy. There's nothing like steamy, hot champroado to warm your tummy and jumpstart your day.

Too bad I didn't have tuyo (dried fish).

My Alexa Ranking

When I started getting serious about blogging, I placed an Alexa widget on my blog to track my ranking. It was around 8 million ++. I was so embarrased that I removed the widget.

As I was doing my daily blog rounds, I read about a post by Lord Story that Alexa would only track your rankings if you have the Alexa widget installed on your blog. I immediately put it back.

Now the trick is to make it go up. Hmmm... care to share your Alexa tips?

My Fill-Ins Meme

Players: ALPHA / YEN / MICH / EDS / Insights from the Grocery Cart/ Yenzz

My roommate and I once: watched She's the Man from 2am to 4am. (with Hubby, my bunkmate)
Never in my life have I: watched a movie alone in a theatre.
High school was: just okay. College was great.
When I’m nervous: I hear my heartbeat.
My hair: definitely needs some color.
When I was 5: wore my Wonder Woman costume almost every day.
When I turn my head left: I see Kuya's Mickey Mouse drawing from the Animation Academy.
I should be: sleeping instead of answering this meme. But the temptaion is just too much. LOL
By this time next year: I will be able to wear a bikini. HAHAHA. Wishful thinking.
My favorite aunt is: the one who introduced me to Hubby.
I have a hard time understanding: Kowi when she's crying.
You know I like you if: I talk to you. If I don't, I'll just ignore you. Sorry.
My ideal breakfast is: when the whole family is together at the table, whatever food.
If you visit my home town: you will see traffic. And that's a promise, not a threat.
If you spend the night at my house: I'll talk your ear off. So consider yourself warned.
The animal I would like to see flying besides birds: are none. Think about the droppings!
I shouldn’t have been: eating out as much with my sister this weekend. Pants feel a bit snug. Grr!
Last night I: watched House, as usual.
A better name for me would be: my name. It's uber.
I’ve been told I look like: Julie Vega and I cried because she had passed on when they said this.
If I could have any car, it would be: anything that comes with a driver.

Now, it’s your turn Melisse, Cee, Angie and Wheng.

Thanks for thinking of me, Eds.

Bedtime Rituals

Bedtime rituals, as I have discovered, paves the way for better and easier sleep of the kids. Kuya is more likely to get up on his own in the mornings, especially on school days. Kowi is unlikely to wake up cranky.

Over the past months, we’ve somewhat pieced together our bedtime routine. Some were my ideas, but most of them came from the kids. Both kids had a say on how they wanted to be tucked into bed.

Normal bedtime is usually at 8:30pm. I remind the kids at around 20 minutes before that to set the mood. And when I call them to bed, there’ll be less fuss and complaints ( and cross my fingers). Kuya gets into his top bunk, Kowi jumps into the lower bunk.

We read one book aloud before lights off. On MWF, I do the storytelling. Kuya gets to do his share of the reading on TTH. The usual books that we like are by Dr. Seuss, Little Golden Books and Ladybird Favourite Tales. Kowi especially likes “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket” because of the silly monster names.

When the reading is done, I turn off the lights and switch on their little orange night light. Then I sing “Rock-a-bye Baby” five times. Yes, I have to count each one with my finger or else the kids demand that I start from the top.

After my mini concert, I give Kowi a kiss, a big hug and a little nose-to-nose. We say, “I yab you” to each other and I tell her she’s the best. Kuya gets a kiss, an arm rub and we do our not-so-secret handshake. It’s actually a fist bump then wiggling of fingers. We say, “I love you” and then I tell him he’s the best.

And I say good night to both of the kids at the door and then I get to do my personal mom bedtime ritual.

Manic Monday #1

Is there something you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

I've always wanted to scuba dive. Still getting the nerve.

If you could make any fictional character come to life, which one would it be?

Fairy Godmother...I'm sure you know why.

If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be and how long would it take you to spend the $10,000?

I'm running to the nearest home depot. It'll probably take me just a day to spend it.

Name three things you wanted as a child but never got.

Barbie playhouse and roller skates. I never really wanted much as a child.

Watching Wall-E

The kids and I watched Wall-E yesterday. The movie was very entertaining, funny and absolutely charming. It didn't have a lot of conversation in it. And I was a bit apprehensive that the kids would not be able to appreciate the film.

The first 30 minutes of the movie features Wall-E's life on Earth. It was entirely about Wall-E and his pet cockroach cleaning junk and compacting trash into cubes. Apparently, they were the only creatures left on Earth. The funny thing was that Wall-E had the "ability" to decide which is trash and which isn't.

Wall-E has a house full of odds and ends, collected from years of sorting trash. He has an assortment of knick-knacks that he finds useful or interesting. Once he found a diamond ring. He threw away the ring but kept the box. He also found a plant and planted it in an old boot. Another thing that I loved about Wall-E was his appreciation for music and dancing. He watches tapes of old musicals from his VHS player and listens to music from his cassette player. He certainly isn't your typical robot.

But everything changes when Wall-E meets EVE. It had been 700 hundred years since the humans left the planet due to toxicity. Probes were sent periodically to check if it was viable for humans to return to Earth. EVE was one of those probes. She's sleek and dangerous and Wall-E falls for her. This is where the adventure starts.

I highly recommend Wall-E to kids of all ages. The musical score is great. I love La Vie En Rose. My kids definitely got the message: Be resposible for your junk. In the end, how could we not love an adorable, garbage-collecting robot like Wall-E?

Pitcure courtesy of www.firstshowing.net

I Knew He Could Do It!

True to my word, I am doing another post on the Superfish, Michael Phelps.

Michael Phelps smashed records and collected his 8th gold.

He is now, officially, the first individual to collect 8 Olympic gold medals in the same Olympic games.

Go Phelps.

Just as I predicted.

Greetings Around the World

Snagged this from MommyAllehs. Thanks!

Start Copy Here

Memes are a great way to link everyone together. In Cyberspace, many people use English as the Universal Language and say Hi, Hello and more. Have you tried learning other languages of the same meaning?

Let's get to know each other by placing a welcome/hello greeting in your language and spread it over all bloggers in cyberspace.

Rules:
1. Copy the text from Start Copy Here
2. Post it in your blog. Make sure you copy it in compose mode (blogger) or visual mode for the others. This will enable you to copy all your friend's link as well. Have fun doing it.
3. In the next number, add your blog url and link it
4. Add the greetings that you use frequently or one that is in your traditional language.

Konichiwa Meme by AikoAiko

1. All About Kawaii says Konichiwa

2. MommyAllehs Up-Close And Personal says Mabuhay! Hello! Hi!
3. Insights from the Grocery Cart says Mabuhay! Haler! Kamusta?

End Copy Here

I'm tagging all my blogging friends here. I'll just give you a buzz. Thanks!