Most Challenging Job in the World

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Not many may agree but I say… The most challenging job in the world is:

MOTHER

It is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. Pay is low and not a priority in taking on this career. It takes an on-call 24-hours per day job. Work peaks when “client” is sick or is cramming for exams, or when “client” is traveling out of town. The job does not allow you privacy — your bags are checked, drawers are checked and even your bathroom time is being checked. Applicant must be flexible to clean, cook, nurse, teach, be a pillow, a cheerleader, a disciplinarian, a travel agent, a porter, a driver, a day care teacher, a psychologist, and extra careers develop in due time. 
Sometimes client/s forget to say “thank you” or say “you are the best in the world”. But what keeps an applicant in that job are priceless hugs and kisses, those howling calls with a huge “Mooom or Maaa”. It’s those eyes locking without fear but filled with joy and lots of love. And the thought, “wow, I never thought I can love this much”. It’s amazing. 

❤️❤️❤️—————————-❤️❤️❤️

I remember years ago when I cried and prayed to God to make me a mother.  God knows me more than I know myself! It took 7 years before that happened.  Perhaps, God knew I was most ready when I turned 35. 

Being a mom is one of the most exciting and most self-revealing careers. I am knowing myself better and also seeing my areas of strengths and weaknesses. It’s a lot of hard work and commitment. It is a character building role. It grows patience, generosity, love, forgiveness, and grace. 

It’s definitely not easy but probably most fulfilling role for women. That’s why I cherish moms for all their love and soulful work in raising children. For God called us for this higher calling and privilege.

  
 

My Baby Led Weaning Child

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Until I had Joshua, I never heard of this BLW term. Baby Led Weaning is introducing supplementary food to babies starting 6 months. The key here is to not mash the food.  It is giving your baby the control to try and eat the food. As their slogan says “the mush stops here!”

 When Joshua turned 6 months, I prepared mashed squash for him to eat. I used a small plastic spoon to feed him, and boy did he enjoy it! I loved preparing food for him. But it always required making them into a thick stew or some thick smoothie. This worked well for Joshua. 

However, for my little girl Anna, it’s a different experience. She did not like mashed food. In fact, she gave us that weird face everytime we gave her mashed food! She did not like squash, she did not really enjoy other mashed food too. I got a bit worried because she turned 6 months and was not interested with food.

  
However, I was wrong! She was interested with food. She just wants to hold it herself, and put in her mouth to suck and nibble. I only discovered that when I gave her a piece of jack fruit and she went crazy nibbling and chewing it on her toothless gums.

  
Oh, then I tried to give her a chicken wing and she loved it! She seemed like a champ biting that wing and nibbling on it. She did not get a lot of food in her tummy, but she surely enjoyed taking some small bites out of that wing! At this point, I understand that she still gets most of her nutrition from breast milk but she too is qexploring other options with her own hands and chewing it on those little jaws! 

Come to think of it, with Josh he did not chew much at 6 months. He swallowed food more than chewed. With Anna, I notice her chewing, swallowing, or spitting out food. She seems more in control about her food! So we continued to explore!  

 
The principle on Baby Led Weaning or BLW is allowing the child to eat the same food as what the family is eating. Of course they have to be to monitored and also be given in slices or sizes that they can hold and control. So far she has not choked and many (including myself) worry about that.

I enjoy watching her eat like a little pro. It seems messy too when she eats for now, but I am more hopeful that this method will help her be less picky with food and become an independent eater too! 

Home made and Edible finger paint!

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I love activities that are home made! First you know the ingredients and make sure they are safe for kids. Second, home-made activities can be a bonding time for you and your child. Third, when it’s made at home… It’s made with extra effort and lots of love!!! 

Here is how to make home-made and edible finger paint. You will need these:

  • Flour
  • Filtered water
  • Food coloring
  • Bowls and plastic cups
  • Optional: flavoring (e.g. Vanilla, banana etc)

So the ratio is 1 cup flour to 2 cups water. If you add or lessen the recipe just follow the ratio –1 flour : 2 water.

  
It will look like a bowl of soup. I let Josh help me mix all the ingredients together and let him make this batter. From here we will now need a saucepan and spoon to mix this over heat. 

  
This batter will thicken in a few minutes so pay attention because you cannot over cook this one. When it starts to lump, put off the stove and mix it as it cools.

  
Now we start coloring. I would place in smaller bowls and decide to teach Joshua how colors are made. You really just need yellow, red and blue. From there you can make orange (yellow+red), green (blue+yellow), and purple (red+blue). My son enjoys mixing the colors! You can add drops of flavoring here too — in case they eat it. Hahahha! Then we put them in separate plastic cup containers.

  
Once the friends came over, each one had to bring their own Cartolina paper to work on. It was time to explore this paint with their hands and even their feet! It was sooo fun! 

  

Baking fun! 

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Having children brings me back to days when I was a child baking. My grand mother, Lola Baby, taught me how to bake her coconut macaroons. That ignited my entrepreneurial spirit early on. When I was grade 6, she made me consign these macaroons at a favorite palabok restaurant in Iloilo. From there, I got my allowance. I was taught early to bake, earn, and save. 

Joshua has interest in cooking. As early as 1 year old we would play cooking and pretend to eat his imaginary dish. But now at 2 and a half, he is more excited to do the real thing! 

I am baking in the simplest form with my toddler. So I just bought a box of White King ultimate brownie mix. You just add egg and vegetable oil and mix.

   

Joshua helps in mixing the ingredients and also sees that there are changes in the composition from powder to a chocolate batter. It makes him realize that it takes a bit of work and some time to bake his goodies. It makes him patient and excited to try his hard work. After about 30 minutes in the turbo oven (yup, you can use a turbo oven),  Joshua gets to see and eat the baked brownie he worked hard for!  

 

On another occasion,  Joshua was throwing a bit of a tantrum.  I did not know what to do to distract him from his foul mood. So I started to cut bananas and mash them. It was not long, he asked if he could be the one to mash the bananas. I of course said “yes”. Soon I had a bowl with 2 cups of oatmeal, a bit of oil, honey, and chocolate bits. We started to mix them all and made teaspoonful balls of this batter. Placing them in a baking pans and putting them in the turbo oven for 15-20 minutes.

Oh did I tell you, that this changed the entire mood of Joshua? He was no longer crying but was superbly excited to see his cookie snack. Yes! It was a successful distraction and one healthy snack! 

   
 
  
I am so happy that there are lots of options today for children to do activities at home!  Baking is a great bonding experience and a good source of learning, and a great distraction activity for tantrums!!! 
 

Together Forever Couples Retreat

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For the first time in 9 years of marriage, Steve and I joined a marriage retreat.

We entered feeling like we have such a great marriage. We love each other and we really don’t have any problems. But as we listened to the topics and listen to our “classmates”, we both felt that we can still grow in several areas in our relationship.

 
The retreat did not make you knit pick at each other’s short comings but it brought to life the roles that each spouse plays in a marriage and in our family legacy. It reminded me how I can be great wife (not just better). I also when each of us responsibly take on our God-given roles, we can bless not only each other, but also our children too. 

  For women, our main role is to submit to our husband’s leadership, respect them, and to be their helpmate. The bible says: 

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

I personally am still a work in progress here! I can sometimes be stubborn. But I am learning that when I submit, it pleases God. When I submit to my husband, I ultimately submit to God. 

In the retreat, I met women who never seemed to struggle with their husbands. It was there I realized that it can be possible! Also, I learned that we are a more refined version of Adam, having been made from his rib… You can say women are like a version 2.0 while Adam is first-generation made. So in many ways God made women with special features such as good home makers, multi taskers, administrative assistants, teachers and mothers… They usually can do what men can’t do.  All because women are the greatest complimentary creation for men! And since we are strong in many aspects, God reminds women to submit to the leadership of their husband.

But wait, husbands have a much larger role – to be the Lover, Leader, and Provider. The bible also states this:

“As for husbands, love your wives just like Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. That’s how husbands ought to love their wives—in the same way as they do their own bodies. Anyone who loves his wife loves himself.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:25, 28‬ ‭CEB‬‬

 
It is very healthy for couples to go through retreats so they can get a time out from the busy routine of everyday life and nurture the marriage. It is also a time to reassess what is important and that is loving each other in a deeper and more meaningful way.

I highly recommend it to anyone who is married whether you are a few months in the club or even more than 50 years! It’s fun and also a great way to bond and date your spouse with God at the center of the experience!

 
 

Math concepts for 2 year olds

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I have been contemplating about teaching the concept of Math to Josh. He can already tell numbers 1-10 and he is exploring 11-20.  Looking at numbers helps memorizing the look and shape of the number. But how about the concept of the number?  He sort of understands because we count the picture items on number books. 

 
I am praying I will be able to teach him addition and subtraction soon. But first, I must establish his understanding of what the number means.  We try to count things like his cheese and pomelo.

So I decided to do a game with Josh. I will put a number card and an empty container beside the number and a bucket filled with blue bead balls. The game works like this… I must put a number card and then he must put the corresponding balls by counting. Then if he correctly gets it, he gets pieces of his favorite snack. (Ok, it’s chips and I know some moms will debate how bad this is for my son. I agree with you… But for example sake, please bear with the illustration).

 
When he answers correctly he gets a reward! 

  

Of course, in the beginning I needed to coach him how to do it.  I did it about twice until he did it himself. The trick here was to just let him do it himself.  When he holds the balls and gets to count them, it helps in grasping the concept. We have to keep practicing so that he would get better and better. If we keep at it we can start doing math concepts such as addition and subtraction soon. I am looking forward to that day! 

  

Playgroup – Cloud Clay

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I have mommy friends who share the same sentiment about teaching our own child and then getting them to a play group on a weekly basis. So we meet up weekly and do activities that each mom takes turn to prepare. The idea is, Mommy is the teacher. What we do in playdates is to prepare fun, educational activities and sit with our own child and guide them as they explore.

Cloud Clay Play date

Mommy Cris prepared cloud clay. It is made of flour, water, and food coloring. All these she made at home. It is safe and edible for our kids. With measuring cups, spoons, and shape molders kids went crazy on this activity! 

  
Each Mommy then guides her own child to doing much more with the clay! It was fun and enjoyable! Putting in themes like animals unto the cloud just added ideas to our kids imaginations too.

  
You would not believe how much fun the kids had with their mom as teacher and exploring with playmates too! They just wanted to go on for more than 2 hours. 

   

My favorite part about our play dates is having mommy time. These are moments for us to bond among moms and talk about our journey into motherhood. These are conversations that refuel and reenergizes us from all the busyness of raising kids and running a career. 

Truly, I am thanking God for these mothers who want to dedicate themselves as the first and best teacher to their kids. It’s really the original design of God anyway. I pray that we will continue doing more of these and through God’s grace be encouraged to keep teaching our children! 

 

Story! Story! 

Books are just as important as play. I’m so glad my son loves that I read to him. He would ask me to drop everything I am doing when he says “Mommy, I want story! Story!”

He has a few favorites – when he was months old my sister bought him board books for animals, colors, first words, fruits and vegetables. We went through it at least 4 times a week. He was interested with the photos. When he turned 2 years old his favorite books are the Toddlers bible, Baby Einstein series, & God’s Big promises for kids. But just recently we found such interesting books in National Bookstore and it retails at P499.00. It’s called My Busy Books.


What I love about these books are the following:

  1. Board Book with about 8-10 pages
  2. Relatable cartoon themes
  3. 12 Plastic character toys of the story
  4. Floor mat  for different scenes of the cartoon

The great thing about these books because it allows my son’s imagination grow. He continues with his own stories using the different characters. It’s fun to watch him play on his own.

They have so many themes, we just got the story of “In and Out” and “Avengers”. I also saw Frozen and there were more titles.



These have become a good past time and bonding time. My son’s love language is TIME. So to fill his love tank, story time is a one good way to accomplish that.

Teaching the alphabets at home

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Did you know I was totally clueless when I decided not to put Josh into a day care and to just teach him at home! I did not know what to do and where to start. Good thing, I was able to observe a class done by home school moms. There I saw them have kids get familiar with the alphabet one letter a week.  Also they made sure the child would do an activity that would be sensory for better memory work.

So here in the province, I go to National Bookstore and Daiso to look for “stuff” to use for my lessons. I try to make Joshua’s learning experience be an interesting and fun one.

I found some really cute push pins/pop sticks in Daiso and it was 24 pieces for P88.00. It has different colors and it will make a good tool for motor skill.


Also buy paper plates because there are so much you can do with paper plates. Since Joshua knows A-E, I want to teach him the letter F. So I drew an F on the center of the plate and the drew items that started with F.

Then I got an old box (of juice) and stuck the paper plate on the box. I bore holes on the letter F using the pushpins and made it in a way that you can push and pull out the pins. This way, Joshua would have a sensory activity that helps him draw the letter F.


What Joshua did was push the pins in as I teach him the letter and the sound. We keep repeating and makes him push the pins on the letter.

A week later, I made him do the letter G using the same method. It has made learning F and G fun and creative.

The great thing about this home made letter tool is seeing my little boy play with the push pins and the letters throughout the day. His little fingers get stronger and he also discovered that he can sort the colors of the push pins! He feels great when he accomplishes these fun challenges.

These are so fun, easy, and not really that expensive. You can reuse the push pins or pop sticks for other things later too!

It is my heart’s desire to give mothers ideas on how to teach their own child at home. I hope you can try this or make something creative inspired from my blog. So here is the video of how Joshua learned his letter F.

 Mommy drama! 

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Being a mom is a super tough job! Joshua my toddler, who is more expressive nowadays, tests my patience on so many levels. We have arguments everyday and I get soooo tired from all the daily dramas. In a week we would probably complete a drama series for eating, for bathing, for sleeping, for waking, and for playing. 
He is a kid and tantrums come along with 2 year olds… However, Joshua is also processing his feelings of jealousy over his sister. I am seeing some regression on some milestones. Like his desire for eating has lessened and he prefers drinking milk in the bottle. He also demands for my full attention and time especially when he sees me nursing Anna. 

   
He has fully articulated his jealousy by saying “I don’t like Anna”, ” I want mommy and Anna go to Ate Kim (Anna’s nanny)”, and one of his worst crying episodes he said, “mommy, I want Joshua patay (dead) so mommy would cry.” I cried with that remark. 
 I tell him “Anna is your sister, she loves you and Mommy loves you so much. We are a family and this is God’s blessing.”  Because Joshua feels jealous, I spend most of my time with him. I only leave him shortly just to feed Anna. Every move I make he calls to check if I am still around. He calls my name almost crying and then he would smile and laugh in relief that I have not left him!

I figured this boy’s love language is time. And I do spend a lot of time with him. We are inseparable. But when he gets his tantrums and he starts screaming and crying because he wants mommy, (even if I am around)… I ask him kindly to stop crying. But his crying escalates further into screams and irritation that soon, I start losing my own patience. 

I try not to discipline him about his crying. But I realized that he was using it as a tool to communicate with almost anything. When he dislikes something he would cry. When he wants something he would cry. When he sees me walk out the door he would cry and give an all out tantrum. I try to not get angry, but I must confess seeing a crying face with screams and occasional arm slaps just gets me frustrated and angry.  This just went on for a week… 
  
I started to cry out of frustration because nothing worked. Explaining nicely and reassuring Josh by hugs and talks just does not cut it!  So I tried yelling and screaming for him to stop. I tried threatening him that if he does not stop, I would leave. None of it worked. 😦  For one week it was this non stop cycle of crying and we end up fighting because Josh would fall into a tantrum even when I am giving him full attention (except during feedings). 
I asked friends to pray for me. I cried to the Lord and asked “how can I be a better mom to my son?”  I was so discouraged that even when Steve says, “you are doing a good job”, I still feel I am failing.
Then I remembered excerpts from a parenting seminar I attended. It was discussed when a child who deliberately disobeys or disrespects his or her parent they should be disciplined. I must admit, I get lazy to do this because it requires so much to get into a room with a defiant 2 yr old who will not submit to be disciplined. 

The bible says: 
Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom,but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.


I knew I had to correct Joshua’s behavior and work on his attitude. I had to teach him that he can’t always cry his way. I also had to reassure him that he must respect his parents because we love him.  I disciplined him and took time to explain. Joshua immediately stopped crying. In fact when we got out of the room, his mood changed and started playing.
  
I learned that I really should exercise discipline when the need arises and teach my son.  Otherwise, I will develop a bad habit in his character. It’s almost a week since his last tantrum after the discipline.  Joshua has been speaking instead of crying. 

How do I know that he understood what we did in the discipline room? He plays with his avenger toys and then he would pretend one would be crying. Later he will have the other toy say – “stop crying… If you don’t stop, you get a spank”. 
To learn more about biblical discipline I am suggesting you this link. Read more:

http://www.gotquestions.org/disciplining-children.html