when household chores get in the way of parenting

Are your household chores preventing you from spending more time with family? As for us, there are indeed times when they do and it can sometimes send a bad feeling of guilt from within. As parents, we want to be able to give more of our time on weekends with our kid. We feel like we owe it to our child to spend quality time with her whenever we are not at work. Because of our busy schedule, though, our time off from work is sometimes spent doing household chores. In fact, the way things are going right now (and if you have read my previous post about the unattended laundry), it looks like a brand new washing machine is already a practical and a long overdue expense  since doing the laundry by hand can eat up most of our time. Someone we know actually convinced us to buy their 4-year old laundry machine at a price 40% cheaper than what it would normally cost us if we bought it brand new. However, husband said that if we buy the used appliance, the likelihood of needing washer repair service earlier is obviously greater than we would normally do when we would acquire a new one. We figured it's going to cost us more in the long run if we didn't invest in a brand new appliance.

a lesson well learned

father and daughter outside the church

I know how important it is for us parents to model the right kind of behavior/attitude to our children. After all, kids will often copy what we do. This is what I and husband are most careful about. We want to make sure that we are setting a good example for our daughter to emulate one day. At her age of almost 4 now, we needed to be careful since she is quite observant of our actions.

There are times though when we would slip and show the opposite of what we are trying to teach her. Let me give you an example. I can't help but laugh at yesterday's little fiasco with husband while we were inside the church hearing mass with our daughter. At the start of the mass, the daughter can't help but be her talkative self - talking almost non-stop about anything she could think of. Naturally, I had to make her keep quiet since we are inside the church. I gestured to hush her up immediately. And she did keep her quiet and tried her best to pay attention to the mass.

During the homily, the priest said something that made me want to talk to husband and clarify it with him at once. Without really meaning to, we ended up talking while the priest was also talking. Naturally, our daughter noticed and also felt the need to make us keep quiet! She gestured her small index finger and placed it standing horizontally next to her mouth. Shhhhhhh!!!! It was a little embarrassing on our part but we just smiled and apologized to her. We realized our discussion could have waited outside the church or until the mass was over. Thanks to our daughter, we learned our lesson. :-)

the story behind a sad face

One day, we ran out of dishwashing liquid already; so I asked the nanny to bring the little girl along to buy one from the neighborhood's mini-store since this could no longer wait until the next day's scheduled grocery shopping at the big store. The little girl actually thought they are going to buy Coke. Coca Cola is one of her favorite drinks (sorry), aside from Tang which she calls "Handa, Inom Gawa" (words she copied from a jingle of the brand's TV commercial) and her milk, of course.

So, when she learned that they are going to buy only the dishwashing liquid, she was so disappointed and insisted that they buy Coke as well. The nanny wouldn't yield to her request. Besides, she didn't have extra money for that, anyway. And so, the nanny went back home with the dishwashing liquid and a broken-hearted little girl. The little girl then went upstairs to let me know they already bought what I asked them to buy. She also went to her father who was reading a book to ask money so she can go back to the store with the nanny to buy softdrinks. To her dismay, the father said No and told her that it's not good for her small tummy and she didn't even take her lunch yet. [We actually didn't want her to drink carbonated drinks; although, occasionally, we would allow her to drink but would remember to mix some water to it. LOL!] She was crying and felt so bad that her father said NO. She grabbed me along so we can go downstairs together with the intention of leaving her father behind, and blurted "Ma, ayaw na i-friend si Papa!" (Translation: Mama, do not be-friend Papa) :-) After that, she then turned to me and asked if I can give her money for the drink. When I also said No and explained to her why, she was a huge picture of sadness after that.

She really felt so bad but when I told her I'll take a picture of her so she can see how she looks like when she's not happy, she managed to compose herself - crossed her legs and faced the camera! Oh, my poor girl! :-)

We must have broken her heart at that time but we know it is for her own good.

on watching live band performances

I must admit that I was once the type who goes to concerts to watch my favorite local bands and to buy their albums. I would even find the time before to follow blogs with interviews about my favorite performers. I would also usually update myself with their latest hits by listening to the radio on weekends. That's how I love music and I can't wait to be able to tell my little girl about how much fun I had with my friends when we go to concerts and cookouts. I also have friends and family members who play musical instruments in their respective bands before and I have always loved to be part of the audience when they perform. Generally, I would love to be able to watch them onstage whenever they have gigs and performances. I realized that I am always drawn to watch and to listen to them and this is also partly because of the wise use of elation lighting controllers that would somehow make them look more charming and attractive onstage. Indeed, aside from showing off your musicality, sometimes you gotta play with the lights to be more appealing to the audience. Anyhow, this huge craziness to watch live band performances has gradually died down when I became a wife and a parent. I simply just don't have that luxury of time anymore for such an escapade. :-)

smiled at this story today

Nanay Thelma, the nanny, just told me today that my little girl complained about why I need to work. She doesn't do that all the time, though. According to her, my daughter said I shouldn't be working so I can be with her all the time. However, when she told her that Mama has to work so there is rice to cook and some clothes for her to wear, she quickly smiled, changed her mind and said (in our own dialect), "All right, Mama has to work!" I can't help but smile at this story as well. As young as she is right now, I was glad she already understood our situation. I know I am raising a good daughter.

amazed again at daughter's musicality

with my little girl, when we were younger :-)

Last night, I couldn't help but be amazed again at our daughter's fondness for music. While she was writing at her kiddie table, she was also singing. Although she's still not getting some of the lyrics perfectly right just yet, she seemed to be hitting the right notes. Even with the instrumental part of a song, she would also hum along. I guess she got this musicality from the genes of my relatives and from my mother-in-law. The little girl never gets tired of singing any time of the day and even during bedtime. Speaking of musicality, I also remembered that she was still a few months old when she started showing an interest in playing the piano. This was during the time when we visited the house of a relative. We thought it would be great if we can support her if she wants to be a singer and/or a musician. But how can we ever afford a real piano? We have been seeing a lot of well-known brands lately that have already lowered their prices. Perhaps they'll become even more affordable in the future. Crossing my fingers here. :-)

her birthday is coming

A couple of weeks from now, it is going to be my little girl's birthday. I think I am just as excited as my daughter who is already aware that her birthday is fast approaching - only that she doesn't know the exact date. All she knows is that her birthday is going to happen anytime soon. I've always wanted to celebrate birthdays the simple way. We are just not the type who throw big parties. Besides, we can't afford it. LOL. So hopefully, on her birthday, it's going to be a simple celebration still - going to church for thanksgiving and have dinner with family. What's important for us is to be able to grant our little girl's childish wish/birthday gift. I will have to confirm with her, though, if her wish is already final. It is actually not hard to please her. Sometimes (I think it would be safe to add that disclaimer here)! :-)

to keep or give it away

Ever wondered what a digital hygrometer is? Without looking up for these words using a search engine, somehow, it would give us an idea that it is an instrument or a gadget of some sort used to measure something. Why I brought this up on my blog is because we didn't realize what it was when a husband's relative mentioned that he is going to send one for him, along with other gifts he is also sending for the whole family. We only realized later that husband, being a proud non-smoker, had no use for it. Anyway, it is impolite to say no to a gift. Besides, he can always keep it without using it and not offend the giver. He can also give it away to anyone who will have some use for it. Anyway, what we were really excited about are the rest of the stuff (other than that digital piece of gadget) we would receive by then. Makes me wonder, though, why didn't this relative know he has no use for it? On second thought, maybe this digital instrument can be used for other things other than keeping a cigar's flavor/taste. We'll have to check it out again once it is already in his hands. :-)