Dancing Princesses

KPOP is really popular these days.  i get to hear a lot about it from my students.  i never really understood why they dressed up like the way they do, nor sang songs with lyrics they don't understand.  

last march, like we always do in school, we had this culminating activity.  i never thought i would enjoy the genre my students love.  i would normally sit on one corner and watch each group practiced for their performance day.  then, one day, i just realized, i was actually humming the tune of the songs they were singing, i was starting to feel the beat of each dance they were practicing.  before i knew it, i already asked one of them to send to me via bluetooth the video of the dance track. 

i had the video saved on my laptop.  i played it every morning with my daughters (one of our bonding activities is dancing).  they started to learn the steps by just watching the video.  next thing i knew, they were ready to dance it in front of our family.  to my delight, my daughter Tam, asked me to record their performance.  i was more than willing to do so (i'm always a proud mother).  

and now, i'm sharing this to all of you.  ENJOY!

I'M A MOM

Since June, i hardly have a good night sleep.  i always have about 4 to 5 hours to enjoy the comfort of our bed.  reason: i arrive home around 9 in the evening, have to check on the notebooks of my kids if they've done their home works, eat my dinner while browsing the net (checking emails, facebook messages and notifications, searching google for my lessons the following day), sleep at around 12 mn, wake at 4 am to cook food, set the table for breakfast, prepare three lunch bags (each has pack lunch, snacks, soup bowls, etc.), wake the kids at around 5 am (which i find really difficult especially with Kohbe), force them to eat breakfast, then assist them in bathing.  they are all set for school at around 6 am, their service arrives at around 6:10 am.  just then will i have time to face what i have to prepare for my class.  this has been my routine and even if i complain, there's no use.  

i really find this so tiring, but this is motherhood.  every mother's experience won't be complete without undergoing all these.  i would jokingly tell my colleagues, NANAY NA AKO NGAYON (I'M NOW A MOTHER).  some would ask, "why? haven't you realized that before?"
i only say so because i was not able to do all these before.  we had a house help ever since we had Tamarra.  i seldom washed dishes nor did i do the laundry.  i only cooked for my family if i felt like it.  now, whether i have to compute grades or just want to take a nap, i can't afford to do so. no one's gonna do these chores for me.  but guess what? i'm happy.  i was never this happy.  that's why i keep on telling everyone, nanay na ako ngayon.  it's a feeling you can never exchange for anything else.  yes! i get mad, i scold my kids for their wrong-doings, i get easily irritated, i don't want to hear them make noise at times, but at the end of the day, a kiss and a hug from them would melt my heart and make me forget what i just told them to do or not to do.

oh! how i love all my children!

while i am alone

hahaha,,,nice title.  I just couldn't think of a better one.  Sounds like while you were sleeping, a movie of Sandra Bullock back in the 90's.  Anyway, Sandra's not the topic I have in mind.  As the title suggests, I am alone at the moment.  Where is everybody?  Well, I haven't seen Alyanna for almost three weeks now, and Kohbe for more than a week already.  They are spending some time with my in-laws.  Tamarra, who was with them last week, is now with my mother, out there somewhere.  My sweet little ate Tamtam, who now prefers to be called Errah, cannot stand being away from me for a long time.   Dy, on the other hand, just left for work (night shift).  But even if he was here the whole day, he's as good as not around for he was asleep.

How do I spend a day without everybody?  If it's not summer, definitely, I won't really have time to think about them, because for sure, I'll be in school.  But since it's school break, I have to keep myself busy so as not to miss everyone of them.  I woke up around six, drank  a mug of coffee, did a 15-minute aerobics, then attended with the laundry.  (Oh!  We have more than a basket of soiled-clothes.)  Around 8, dy arrived.  We ate breakfast together, he went to bed and I went back to washing the clothes.

At noon, I couldn't find anything else to do.  I've finished a thousand pieces puzzle, a gift I received from a colleague, Mrs. Gloria Madlansacay. (which I promised to frame before summer ends).  I've read almost all the pocketbooks I have on the shelf but one.  A book entitled Tuesdays with Morrie, a gift from Jonathan Diesta, another colleague.  I thought it's a boring book, that's why I keep on ignoring it.  (My apologies, Jonathan.)  But since I have nothing left to do, I started browsing on it, scanning the reviews about it, and then reading it.  It's not boring after all.  In about a few minutes, I was hooked by it, especially when I read the part about Morrie's living funeral.  Oh! If not for my husband who was about to leave, I wouldn't have stopped reading it.  I promise to finish reading it until tomorrow.  And when I'm done, I'll share those greatest lessons in life the book promised to give.

Oh!  I can't wait to share it with you guys.

Just an Update

Wow!  It's been what, around 2 years since the last time I wrote for blogspot.  I don't know.  Maybe I just lost my drive, or I had been busy with other matters.  Now that it's summertime and I don't have work, I decided I should try writing again.

The last post I did was about Tam, my eldest, being always away from home.  Guess what!  She no longer stays with my parents, we all stay together now under one roof,,,our own house.

Yes!  Finally, we don't rent anymore.  Last year, April 2012, we started building a 6m x 7m house in Amadeo, right at the back of my parents house.  It's a one-bedroom house and it's not really finished yet.  But does it matter?  No, it doesn't (at least right now).  What truly matters to us is the fact that we are not spending P2500 monthly for the rent.  And that all of us, Dy (my hubby), and my three kids, live together.  .

We have so many plans for this abode.  By next month, Dy promised me that we'll have it rough-finished at least.  It's in preparation for the coming rainy season.  We don't want rainwater coming in through the hollow blocks (just like what we experienced last year, the house was always wet during storms).  

I should be posting pictures of our wonderful house but the pics are not available on my laptop right now.  I'll have it posted next time...

Some Kind of a Sacrifice

        Tamarra's not around on weekdays because of school ( Sweet Little Child ).  Alyanna ( Bouncing Second Baby Girl ) stays with my mother-in-law and comes to our house once in a while.  She's with Nanay since she's just 6 months old.  That is because I got pregnant with Kohbe ( The Emperor of my Heart ) at that time.  I couldn't continue breastfeeding her because of the baby in my womb.  Since then, she never left Nanay.  We just let her for we lived across my in-laws house.  But now that we moved to this house, we began seeing the problem.  We can't let Alyanna stay with us for long.  She would stay for about three days then would ask daddy to bring her back to Nanay for she (Alyanna) misses her already.  We're getting used to the situation.  

        The other night, I felt different.  I arrived home around 9:30 without noisy kids to welcome me with their hugs and kisses.  Prior to that, I already received a text message from my sister-in-law telling that my baby boy forced himself to go with her when she fetched Alyanna.  I said it was fine.  But when I got home, I felt really empty.  The house was cold, my husband's out on duty, no one's home except his cousin who looks after the kids while we're out.  I realized parenting is really equivalent to sacrifice.  My husband and I work hard to earn a living, to give the needs of our children.  But because we have to work, we seldom see our kids.  We seldom spend some quality time with them.  Though, whenever we can, we really make sure no matter how short the time we can spend with them, they would very much enjoy our company.  I try to cook often, daddy would buy dvd's for the whole family to watch.  Once in a while, we also see to it that we go out with them: malling, picnicking, and doing other fun activities.  

        How I wish one day I could just stay home and just attend to their needs, prepare their food, make them ready for school and the likes.  A day when they don't need to stay with our parents because their own parents are available for them. 

Feeding The Babies

         Being a mother is one happy job.  But just like other regular jobs, we encounter certain difficulties.  If there's one thing I found difficult in this task, it's feeding my babies.  They love to eat a lot...as in a whole lot.  I think all three of them have sweet teeth.  They love chocolates, candies, ice cream and cake.  Typical for children like them.  It's all right with me, as long as they brush their teeth regularly.  They also love bread.  They'd start their day eating pan de sal.  An hour later, they'll eat their breakfast which is usually rice.  They love hotdogs.  They are not much into eggs.  I am always delighted when they finish their food up to the last grain on their plate.  It seldom happens though.  Only when they are served with fried chicken.  What I find difficult is making them eat vegetables.  They wouldn't eat green leaves or any other kind of veggies..  I tried everything I thought would possibly make them eat veggies but they wouldn't.  Til I learned to experiment.  They are all into patties.  So, I tried making home-made patties without the pork or the beef.  Instead of meat, I replaced them with vegetables like carrots, cauliflower, and mongo sprouts.  So that they won't realize they were eating veggies, I cut them into small pieces, even grind them at times, before mixing with other ingredients.  I also use flavorings for them to taste the meat that is supposed to be there.  Since they love patties, I serve them any time of the day, be it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  At times, I buy buns and make burger for my kids.  With ketchup and mayo, they don't have to know that what they are eating is actually what they abhor. 

the other side

        Being a mother is not always fun especially when the mother is also a career woman.

        In my case, I'm not really after the career.  Work is a must for me.  If I don't work, we won't be able to sustain the needs of our family.  (My husband's a security guard, so I really need to help him.  You see, here in our country, guards are getting only the minimum wage.  Lucky, in their agency, they're giving above minimum.)

       Teachers have tons of work on days like these (nearing the closing of classes).  I bring home most of my paper works for I won't be able to finish them with just an hour break at school.  And because I feel so stressed out, I can't afford to hear much noise in the house.  I get easily irritated hearing my children whether they're just having fun or they're already having a fight over simple things like toys or the dvd they would watch.  After I yell at them, I'd feel so guilty but would not tell them so.  I'd keep it to myself.  Then I would go back to work.  I feel guilty also on times that I wasn't able to put them to sleep.  I would ask their tita Jen to stay with them til they're asleep.  Most of the time, I'd visit them in their room and would give them pecks on the cheek so as to lessen the guilt I have inside. 

      

       This is the other side of motherhood.  It's not all fun and exciting memories with the kids.  Sometimes it's also heartbreaking.