In December 2017, Yzay was born and at that time her siblings Franz and Azah were already 12 and 10 years old respectively. So, it felt like we were new parents again and we were undecided for a lot of things including what kind of milk and brand to give her. The search for the right milk started when she was 3 months old and not until 3 days ago, I took the #TestitTasteit Challenge. I was not hesitant to do the challenge since my two kids have tried Promil ® when they were still a baby and during their pre-school years.
The Test it, Taste it Challenge Promil® Four Kit is already complete. You just have to drink at least a glass of Promil® Four a day for 3 days and in the first day, baby and I tried it together. Since it is not as sweet as her previous milk, at first, she was hesitant to drink it. But surprisingly she finished the glass of Promil® Four that day, so I gave it to her again during bedtime. I can’t believe that she actually liked it and she was the one who requested for another glass the next day.
As a mom, we all know that too much sugar is not healthy for our child. That is why I concur with the 9/10 moms of the Home Tester’s Club who can attest that Promil® Four tastes milkier even with no added sugar. Plus, it contains nutrients to help support our child’s proper growth and mental development.
As a researcher, I run a quick check on Promil® Four’s nutrition information and I found out that Promil® Four is expertly formulated with Nutrissentials®, a combination of key essential and important nutrients such as DHA, Lutein, Choline, Vitamin B12, Iron, Iodine, Zinc, Folic Acid, Oligofructose, Selenium, Vitamin K, Manganese, Calcium, Vitamin D and other Vitamins and Minerals. These nutrition contents and its role in the growth and mental development of my child definitely passed my standards in finding the right milk for my daughter.
Day 2 of the Test It, Taste It Challenge.
Choosing the right milk for our children is not easy but as a mom we only want the best for them. With #TestItTasteIt Challenge, I realized that it is really not impossible to switch to Promil® Four. With Promil®, just like Yzay’s brother and sister I want to nurture her gift so that she can achieve her dreams of becoming a scientist and a ballerina someday.
I have restricted my daughter’s access to mobile phones mainly because it is addictive. But in this time of pandemic where she can’t go anywhere or just step outside, giving her screen time is inevitable. So, I have revised her screen time schedule, one day she will watch the television, the next day she can use her gadget.
I suggest that if you want them to watch only, allow them to watch in your smart tv or computer. You can set a timer so that it automatically sleeps after some time. If you want them to use e-learning resources, find a mobile app that has child lock or security features.
I know that there are many parents who are getting bad reputation when they allow their child to have a screen time. But choosing the right application and as long as we have control over its use can do more benefit than harm.
That is why, I would like to share with you my recently discovered educational app, Kidloland. It is an interactive learning app which is packed with educational activities that are personalized by children’s age group from 1-8 years old. Kidloland has various downloadable contents ranging from nursery rhymes, stories, games, and even coding for kids. Once downloaded they can be played offline and without internet connection. Kidloland is an amazing app that will surely help enhance your child’s learning and development.
What my child and I love about Kidloland is that it has so much content to choose from. I am confident to give her screen time especially that I am also currently working from home and has little time to attend to her because there are no annoying ads that can distract her learning. I can see that my child is having fun while learning the ABCs and numbers, singing and dancing with songs, coloring and listening to stories. One of her favorites are stories, I even heard her responding to it. I am also surprised that she enjoys coding, but with a little help from me or her siblings of course since she’s still 3 years old. Indeed, Kidloland makes screen time meaningful and educational.
I am sure that with the help of Kidloland, my child will be better equipped to enter pre-school by next year. That is why, as a parent I recommend the Kidloland app because not only will it help enhance learning, it will also make learning fun for your child.
Ready to try it? Kidloland app is available for download in AppStore and GooglePlay.
You can also join our mini giveaway as Kidloland will be giving 3 winners, a month subscription each. How? Go to my IG post and follow the three simple steps.
If you have to choose between family or career, what will you choose?
Hi, I am a mom of 3, ages 14, 12 and 3 years old and I have been working for almost 17 years now since I got married. Before my husband and I decided to get married, we made an arrangement that since I earn more and I have a more stable job than him I will be the one to work and he will take care of our soon to be children.
Ten months after our marriage, I had my first born. Of course, as a first-time mom and full-time employee it was very hard for me. By the time I returned to work after my maternity leave, I have to constantly check if my baby already took his vitamins, did he take a bath or did he drink his milk. In short, my body was in my workplace but my mind was at home. And one thing I made sure was that if my baby or my husband is sick, I have to file a leave to take care of them.
After 5 months I was pregnant again with my second child, and this was the hardest part of our parenting journey. I know many parents will relate how hard it is to take care of a baby while pregnant and that of having a day job. I have to wake up at 4am and since I am commuting, I should leave the house at 5am to be at the office at around 7am. That is every day!
When my second child was born, there are months that I have to skip work for about 4 to 5 times because my husband can’t do it alone. Since that should not happen for long, we decided to find a helper. At the start it was smooth sailing but our helper decided to go home after one of her family got sick. It was not our luck to find a very good helper so we decided again to just go with the flow and back to normal. On the other hand, we are fortunate because we are either living with relatives or next door so my husband can quickly go to the supermarket and leave the kids to them. But there are also times that there was no one available to take care of them so I will have to buy cooked food for dinner.
Part of my job is going places to train people and conduct awareness seminars so I have to leave my kids with my husband. There are times, my husband will call me because my 2nd child was sick and he don’t know what to do. In the middle of a talk, I have to excuse myself and tell him not to panic and the medicines were in the medicine cabinet and its nothing serious because its just a fever. The worst that happened was when I went abroad to study for 4 months. My second child accidentally inserted a cotton bud in her ears and blood came out. Of course, my husband went nervous and had to call me at 2 am Europe time. I was agitated as well, at an instant I told him that I should go home. But it was too far away and I only went there through scholarship, the fare was very expensive. The only thing I could do that time was to cry.
As they grow older and my first born went to schooling, the parenting becomes manageable. I am proud to say that, I have attended all my kids school activity no matter how small it was. I always choose not to go to work if they’re sick. I always say to my boss that family first before work. Fortunately, my boss is also a working mom and she understands how important it is to be available as a parent to growing kids.
Aside from the expenses of course, I think growing almost of the same age children was an advantage rather than a disadvantage. My husband and I can easily set rules for them. There are times allotted for studying, playing, watching tv or doing household works. We gave them schedules to follow. If they need my assistance especially with their math and science subjects, I always give them a helping hand. They are not shy to ask for it because they knew I will respond. Actually, even when I went abroad, they would send me a picture of their assignment and will ask me to help them answer it and eventually explain to them.
Now that we have a 3-year-old and it’s been almost a year that I am working from home full time. I am still a hands-on mom. I still wake up early but this time to prepare for their food before I start my work. During my 15-minute break I will sit in the living room and have a talk with my younger child. I will be the one to bath her during lunch break. While waiting for her siblings to finish their online classes, she will just watch YouTube in the TV. I let her watch at least 3 to 4 hours a day but she’s not watching the TV all the time, its just in the background while she is playing. Sometimes she will come to me and ask me to go with her but sometimes I really can’t. So, I will bring her table beside me and she will play or shoot a video (yes, she knows how to say, welcome to my channel! 😊).
Most of the time, I work late. I am also a student. But I make sure to assist the children first with their assignments and accompany the younger one to bed before going back to work or do my assignments too. I am also thankful that my husband is in charge of the kitchen and other household works. He’s our support system.
During weekends, I promised not to do paper works and have a conversation with them. I am also a mommy influencer so I let them review my endorsements or I will ask them should I accept the project or not. Sometimes they also work with me so during weekends we will do photoshoot. I solicit ideas to them and since they are tech savvies, they will look in Pinterest for inspiration. We discuss even this matter with our kids.
We are lucky parents because my children understands that I have to work for them. In return, they are doing good in school and they are always excited to show us their achievements. So, I believe that being there with them no matter how busy we are at work is all that matters to them. I believe that time is the best gift we can give to our children. No excuses but its just a matter of priority. It is also a must to show support with each other, to listen to what they say before giving them feedback and trust me it works.
As a parent, I know I am not perfect but I am doing my best. I don’t want to choose between career and parenthood because I love them both. And because as early as my children can understand, we explained the situation to them which made us built a strong support system.
Hopefully, you will learn something from my experiences as a wife and a mom.
One perk of being a mom is that you also get the time to learn. A time to refresh yourself with the topics that you seemed to have forgotten because it was a long time since you last encountered them.
I came to write this note because I keep on thinking about my sister’s question last night. Hindi ka pumasok? (You didn’t go to work?)
The previous night my daughter asked me, “Papasok ka ba bukas?” (Are you going to go to work tomorrow?) I said it depends on her if she wants me to then I will not go to work. Without her knowledge, I already filed my leave of absence for the next day.
A Special Day
Yes, I didn’t go to work because it’s my daughter’s special day. I know she was excited for her birthday, she woke up as soon as I got up from bed (we were bed mates for the meantime because her brother has a chicken pox). I didn’t greet her. I headed to the kitchen to look for something that I could use as a cake. She just stayed in bed and didn’t follow me. Then my husband woke up and I asked him if he already greeted her daughter. He said not yet because he didn’t know that she’s already awake. So he helped me find a candle for the cake, which is a pack of Hansel biscuit placed in a plate with a candle written in it is the number 5. It was actually the candle we used when she was 5.
We pretended not to notice her when she went to the toilet to pee and as soon as she was finished we were outside the door with the cake. Oh! My baby started to cry and hugged Mama and Papa. That was so priceless and yes I captured it in a video.
She said she’s so happy that I didn’t go to work. I felt that I have granted her first wish, my presence of course!
The next thing we did was to go to church, the four of us. And it was not in our plan to have breakfast because of tight budget. Her brother started to complain, she started to look disappointed. Eventually, we ended up at McDonalds.
We bought ingredients for pancit. Papa wants to cook pancit, it’s his specialty though. I already bought the other night the ingredients for spaghetti, her favorite spaghetti.
All her wishes were granted, me on her side, thank God for her life, breakfast together, and her favorite food. It was simple, yet she was so happy.
Time is Love
It was a sacrifice for a career woman to take the time off from work, but those times are the most precious to our little ones. Our mere presence on their special day means love for them.
Believe me you’ll get that same love in return. Unknowingly, you have taught them how to produce a lot of oxytocin. And that oxytocin they’ll give it to you when yours are low. That’s why I called them my stress relievers.
The moment I gave birth to them, I already committed myself to be a mother first before anything else. If they’re sick, I tried to take a few days off from work to take care of them. In every first day of school, I am there to accompany them. Every recognition or graduation days, I never skipped any of them. Even during card days, I tried to personally go to school and checked on them. Sometimes, they simply want me to take the day off to be just with them.
I always ask them what happened during the day I was not around or what they did in school. I hear their stories even if I already knew what it was. I listen to their complaints with each other, I listen to their every story even if they are not interesting.
I have been very thankful to my superior because she was very supportive, maybe because she’s also a working mother like me. She always tells me that it’s always a good thing to make our kids the main concern while they’re still young. And with this support and my kids’ constant need of time and attention, I will keep on prioritizing them as long as I can.
Looking at the future, we parents will not be their priority. Mom, Dad you’re not their best friends anymore. They will not say to you, I miss the mall let’s go out. Instead they will ask you money and permission to go out with friends. They will not tell you their secrets anymore or if they already have a crush or probably a suitor. They will not say I love you out of the blue or give you a hug for no reason. They will not say the littlest thing because they will realize it’s not your concern.
But it all depends on us, parents. If we let their Oxytocin fade, if we will not continue to nourish them, then our greatest fear will have a higher percentage of becoming real. Take a little sacrifice because it means a lot to them. Your time is precious to them. It’s never too late.
And yes, I will not go to work if they requested for it. I will not go to work if they need me. I will take a little sacrifice to show and make them feel how much I love them.
I am a mother of two kids namely Franz Larrie and Azah Margaret. When they came into our life, I felt the joy and the excitement my parents did when I was born. At first, I don’t know what to do but eventually, I learned the dont’s and do’s of raising them. I think it just came out naturally of me and in every mother I guess.
They make me laugh, they make me cry and even get me mad. But what’s more important was we learned the lessons in every joy, disappointments and anger. We forgive and understand each other. Eventhough there are times I can’t give them all they want, they never failed to show me their love. I remember the day before my daughters 4th birthday, I told her that we will not going to celebrate her birthday because we have no money. I told her Happy Birthday Azah, and then she replied, “Sabi mo Happy Birthday e bakit wala tayong handa, e di hindi masaya sabi mo happy? Paano pag nagutom ako?” I know she didn’t understand and I can’t explain to her well that we can have a happy birthday even without something in the table to celebrate. Parang kinurot ang puso ko, she has her point. Because by nature, hindi matitiis ng magulang ang mga anak so it turned out na may handa kami kinabukasan – cake at pansit! I saw the happiness in her eyes and I really felt overjoyed because my effort was appreciated. Little things they seems but it made me happy.
My children finds a way to make me proud. When my son started his schooling in the nursery level, he told me that he will give me five medals. He was a consistent first honor in his class but not in the overall so we did not expected that he will be the overall first honor when recognition day came. He just got three medals, but he told me, “May kulang pa yan mama, pagbubutihin ko pa sa susunod para matupad ko mga pangarap ko.” I felt like crying, kasi hindi ko naman sya sinisingil. Sabi naman ng bunso ko, ako din mama five din medal ko! Hehehe ang yabang, but who knows she can. Times like this, you will really feel proud and love your children more.
They are my life and I cannot imagine a life without them. I am doing my best to be a good mom because I know they will eventually return the goodness I shared to them. I love being a mom, simply because they brings out the best in me, There may be low moments in our life, but our children give us the strength to move on… to move forward! I will never regret being blessed with two beautiful children. I love you Franz and Azah!
I attended a seminar where our resource speaker asked us to create a press release and here it goes, my first ever news article.
UP Prof Trains IPOPHL Employees on Technical Writing and Press Release
August 30, 2013
“Keep it short and simple.”
Danilo Arao, an assistant professor at the Department of Journalism, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, said that an effective technical writing and press release must be short and simple.
Arao said that “writers are made, not born.” He stressed the need to use short and simple words and to read the draft aloud to identify grammar errors. Avoid the use of “legalese” words, he said. He also added that consistency in writing must be properly observed.
Twenty employees attended the seminar-workshop on Technical Writing and Press Release Writing held from August 27 to 29 at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).
He discussed the basic concepts of technical writing, the organization of various technical writing outputs, and the principles and standards of an effective technical writing.
During the workshop, participants were given exercises on writing a memorandum, letter, minutes of a meeting and a press release. Arao, analysed each work and suggested improvements.
For more details, please contact Mr. Allan Yorro of the HR Department, IPOPHL at (02)-238-6300.
The Career Womom 