Mommy's Hobby

My life as a woman usually revolves around my role as a mom, wife and a worker. As a working mom wherein I only have little time in my hands for myself, it is important for me to have a hobby to provide an outlet for my innate need. I take some time out everyday to pursue what I enjoy for me to unwind and recharge to lessen the stress from work pressure and other responsibilities. These are the hobbies that make me feel relaxed and positive:

Reading. Reading allows me to have my own world, it allows me to explore to different worlds and gain knowledge from it. Reading gives me different views about life, teaches me how to be a better person, helps me to understand other people’s life, and guides me how to be a better wife and mom.

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Manual for couples with biblical principles towards a happy marriage

Music.  Music helps me release my innermost feelings. It helps me get back into mood whenever I have those bad times. A way of engaging into music is listening and videoke trips with my hubby. I am not born diva, but whenever I sing I make the people around me happy-maybe because I sing with my heart.

Videoke trip with hubby (Taken when we were still friends)

Blogging. It started in October 2010 when I became interested in blogging. It all began when I became a mom and I google whatever information I want to know about parenting. Since then, I was inspired to blog whatever achievements, tips and experience I have in my life as a wife and mom. Blogging widens also my network of friends and helps me to understand more about life. I am looking forward that my blogging hobby will earn money for extra income aside from the fun I have from it.

My Blog: A Story of a Wife and Mom

Watching Movies. Whenever there is too much stress from work (usually every week), I and hubby would go to cinemahouses and watch the movies we both like. I really enjoy this hobby especially when I can relate with the flow of the stories. I love it whenever I and hubby talks about the plot and characters of the movies we watched.

At the moviehouse..

I am looking forward to spending more time for my hobbies so when I return to my real world I will be facing challenges with more confidence and positively!

This is my share to Mommy Moments: Mommy's Hobby.

Almost Christmas

September 1, 2011

This is a late post. I had this picture taken on the first day of September. This coming Christmas makes me excited coz it is the first Christmas we’re gonna celebrating in our own “new” home. I am looking forward that my daughter would enjoy the holiday season with us. Hope it will be a merry Christmas.

Elder Care

One of the issues raised in most families is who will take good care of their parents when they get old. Nursing homes in the Philippines is not popular due to the cultural value of close-family-ties. Elders usually stay at home and taken good care by their children. There are exceptional cases wherein children are too busy with their work and they cannot attend with their parents needs. In this scenario, their children just hire some caretakers, usually one of their relatives, to feed them, dress them, and take good care of them while they are not present. It is just like parents hiring nannies for their little one. Caring elders is just like caring babies. They have to be nourished emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Emotional nourishment.  They need attention, patience, someone who will listen to their old stories, affection and understanding. They need to feel that inspite of their old physical appearance they are still loved. They want to feel that their children still need them inspite of being helpless. They still need communication inspite of their weak hearing. They need to be understood whenever they have those poor memory, repetitive stories, sensitivities on almost things and tantrums. They need to be guided to live their life normally just like they used to.

Physical Nourishment. Since their bodies became fragile, due care is necessary. They have to be maintained clean and fresh. Their dry skin should be kept moisturized. For the bed-ridden elders, their lying position should be change every hour to prevent them from having bed sores. Nutritious food should be given to them. Since their body could not absorb nutrient that much, food supplements and nutritional milk should be feed to them to have strong resistance against sickness. We must encourage them to still do simple exercises to have strong body and proper blood circulation.

Spiritual Nourishment. Reading the bible with them or other spiritual articles will build their faith in God and lessen their fear of being old. It will help them grow more with God inspite of getting old. Going to church with them is also a way of bonding with them and a way of letting them feel valued.

Caring elders is not a responsibility. It is a privilege to bring back the care and love they had given us-it is an act of gratitude. They once gave us the attention, patience, and time in order for us to reach what we are now. Now is the time to return the love and let them live their remaining life to the fullest.

Art of Shaving For My Hubby

As a wife, I am concern of my husband’s grooming just as I take good care of my little one. If a child is a reflection of her parents, husband’s grooming is a reflection of how his wife takes good care of him. Husbands love to be pampered by their wives. And being a wife of a man who works as an appraiser, I should be aware on how to take good care of his skin and how to maintain his face with a clean-shaven fresh and flawless look.

I used to worry when I see those cuts, razor burn or irritation on my husbands face after his shaving. Since I want my husband to have that clean look without hurting himself, I took an effort to learn on how to apply the art of shaving to him and I am glad that now I don’t see anymore those cuts and burns.

Warm Water helps open pores so it is vital to wash his face with warm water to detoxify and remove oil and dirt in his skin at the same time opening the pores.

Next is applying the shaving cream over the area to be shaved. But since some shaving creams contains chemicals that irritates my husband’s sensitive skin, applying pre-shaved oil is necessary before the cream.

Shave in the direction of the hair growth gently. My husband uses electric shaver coz it allows him to shave fast and prevent razor cuts. It is best to clean the shaver cutter after every shave for sanitation purposes and for longer use.

After shaving, he rinses his face with cold water to close the pores and applies natural moisturizing ointment. Two times a week he exfoliates his skin using a natural facial scrub to maintain his fresh look.

Hope these tips will help your husbands too to prevent razor burns and cuts and maintain that fresh clean look. As they always say, it takes a woman to get the job done properly. Hope you enjoy the art of shaving with your hubby!

Toddler Parenting

Being a mom is the greatest privilege I love. Time flies so fast. The little one I used to cuddle one is now a very active toddler. I know it’s exhausting since she enjoys exploring the world, but her hugs, kisses and not so clear words of love inspires me to give her the best parenting. I admit I am not yet an expert in giving parenting tips since I am a first time mom to a toddler, but I hope these simple parenting tips I learned through time and shared by other moms I know will help you too.

1. Show Her Your Love By Giving Her Time

As a working mom, it is very important for me to spend quality time with my toddler. Whether I have rush reports or I have to meet deadlines, I make sure that I will go home early to let my daughter know that she still has a mom who love her so much. I used to be a career woman, but when I became a mom, everything changed. I know more than anything else, it is my family that I should prioritize.

Giving her the time does not mean I am physically present but not attached to her. Giving her the time means I have to take care of her, read her books, play with her, cuddle her and feed her.

2. Action Speaks Louder Than Words

Parents need to set a good example since their kids always watch his parents closely and learn from them. Doing it yourself is the best way of showing your toddler the correct way to behave. For my little toddler, I am overwhelmed whenever she repeats the word “opo” when I say it to my mom. I and her dad shows her how we love each other so she will know how to love also. Through simple things such as sharing, giving kindness and respect, our little ones will learn from us.

3. Positive Reinforcement

I witness some parents who successfully raised their children as disciplined individuals. I have observed that positive reinforcement works far better than punishment. My father is a disciplinarian but that made me to follow him because I am afraid. For my little girl I want her to follow what is right not because she is afraid of the punishment, but because she know what is right. I want to reward and praise her for doing something right rather than focusing on those things that irritate me.

Of course in disciplining my little toddler, I have to ensure also that I will set rules that are simple, easy to understand and consistent.

4. Toddler Tantrums

I have noticed that my little toddler is starting to throw tantrums whenever she wants something or when she can’t do what she wants to do. Since my heart melts whenever she cries, what I do is divert her from her original intention to another alternative. Since she is on her stage of exploring and learning, the easiest way to stop her tantrums is giving her something she can play with and learn on.

5. Child-Proofing Home

Since my little toddler started to walk, she began exploring the world and never stops running around the house, climbing on furniture and putting on her mouth everything. To prevent her from being hurt, I make sure that we childproof our home by blocking off stairs so she can’t climb and fall down, bought safety plug covers for electrical outlets, keeping sharp objects, medicines, poisons and household cleaners out of reach and keeping away toys that might cause her choking hazards.

6. Stimulate Toddler’s Development

As parent, I want my little one to grow at her best. I want her to develop self-esteem and self-confidence even at her young age by developing and discovering her special skills. To be able to do this, I guide and support her in everything that she does. I read to her daily, have her practice naming body parts, give her educational toys and encourage her to pretend play or dress-up. It is important at this age to give her the right toys that will help her stimulate her mental, social and motor skills.

This is my share to Mommy Moments Parenting Tips

My Toddler Artist

My almost two-year old daughter started to become interested in pencils and markers. I bought her a box of crayons and let her imitate my drawings. I am glad that now she can draw lines and swirls with her not so steady little hands. Although she started scribbling her work of art all over our walls, it makes me proud that my little one is now a toddler artist. (^^)

Mini Fashionista

People say that they see parents on how they see their kids-that is why when it comes to my baby's fashion I have been very conscious. There's so much fun in dressing my little girl and it makes me proud whenever they love her fashion.When it comes to fashion I usually consider the comfortableness, size, functionality and color of the clothes I buy for my little girl.

my baby fashionista

my little cowgirl

love her summer outfit

purple is cool!

 Aside from the style of clothes, kids would enjoy wearing comfy clothes. Since my little girl easily gets sweat, I always buy sleeveless or spaghetti strapped dresses and see to it that the quality of the cloth will not irritate her skin. I always consider also that when buying clothes, it can be used for a longer period of time. My little girl is growing so fast so I don't buy clothes which just fit exactly to her. The fashion should always be relevant to the occasion or season. The color of clothes also matters, and I love buying her dresses with variety of colors. I'm just thankful that whatever color she wears she still looks adorable.!

This is my share to Mommy Moments Fashion Tips