A Mother's Love

My mom and I never had a chance to be close. She was almost always abroad for work and my siblings and I were left with relatives. I was bitter growing up because I felt like I never received the support I was entitled to from her. I took pride in the belief that I've always managed to pull myself through difficult situations with very little to no help from her, but it only made the bitterness in my heart greater. At one difficult phase in my life, I even sent her an email questioning why she always helped my siblings more. She responded by telling me that each of us siblings is different and asked if I'd rather be in their shoes to be able to receive the kind of attention and support she was giving them. I didn't take it very well but shrugged it off because that's the kind of person I am.

Lately, I've been running out of funds and knowing that my mom "seems" to be doing well in her clothes business as well as her full-time work, I catch myself borrowing money from her every now and then. Yesterday, our FB conversation goes:

Mom: Magkano mo bibigay sa akin ang bride at mother of the bride hair and make-up. Balak kong i-offer kasama ng package para madagdagan ang pictures mo sa The Face is My Canvas.

Me: Wow. Thanks! Saan ba muna ang wedding? 1k per person ako, so kung bride and mother-of-bride, 2k un sa regular. Ikaw na bahala kung magkano bigay mo sakin.

Then I realized something about the chilli garlic I'm reselling for my brother:

Me: 30 bottles na pala oorderin kay kuya
na chilli. Narealize ko ako pala ang lugi pag madami na ang binili.
Kasi ibig sabihin, ibibigay ko cia ng (distributor price) per bottle (as opposed to my retail price), pero ako ang kukuha kay kuya ng lahat ng 30 bottles na un at ako pa magdedeliver.

Mom: Sige okay lang bawi ka na lang sa iba. 2k na babayaran ko sa iyo. May buffer naman ako sa package price.

Me: Yey! Wag mo nalang ako bayaran. Wala nalang akong utang sayo. (Roughly 1.9K)

Mom: Sige na nga.

Then I finally understood her response to my email years ago. I realized, also because of recent events, how different me and my siblings are: our personalities, our struggles, our thresholds... and that I should NEVER even think about comparing myself to them because our mom is tailor-fitting herself for us but loves each of us just as much.

I realized that the only reason I thought I didn't get the help I needed was because I was too arrogant to ask. That asking her to quit working so she could take care of my kids was a selfish act because not only will it hinder her from pursuing her personal dreams, but it will also prevent her from earning her own money that she'd use for enjoying life and supporting her loved ones.

I guess I'm having this epiphany also because it's the same way I am with my kids and I didn't realize it for the longest time. I leave Isabella to sleep on her own because Serene needs me to nurse. I leave Isabella to play on her own because Isabella and I had our time and it's Serene's turn now. I leave Isabella alone most of the time because Serene needs me more now. I help Serene proactively because she can't usually verbalize what she needs while I'm confident that Isabella can and she should if she really needs something. It's all the same with my mom and siblings, just not the same difficult situations yet but it'll get there someday.

Mi, I'd like to let you know that I understand you completely now and I appreciate you now more than ever. I'm sorry if I've said or done anything that has hurt you or offended your motherhood. I pray that God continue to bless you with good health and provision. Love you.

your every woman,

Read More

Tamang Kain Chronicles: The Seminar

I attended a small group seminar for parents with slow weight gaining or picky eater children. It was a very informative morning! Ms. Velvet & Ms. Noelle who facilitated the seminar did it in a very personal way, asking all 7 of us parents how the feeding problems started and how it was at the moment, resulting to a more tailor-fit recommendation. 

A typical feeding session...

Here are the things I've learned.

• Food that Bulk Up
• Avocado
• Camote
• Plantain (saging na saba)
• Buco Meat
• Beans & Lentils
• Nuts
• Unheated Vegetable Oils (Olive oil, VCO, etc)
• Sugar destroys the mouth sensors, causing kids to prefer sweets over nutritious food such as vegetables.
• Formula contains a lot of sugar so it doesn't help if you'd like your child to eat healthy. Breastmilk is still best for babies and fresh milk for older kids.
• Pediasure was intended for the clinical treatment of severe acute malnutrition and shouldn't be given to healthy, normal kids. It replaces a whole meal making the child feel full as a result.
• According to Ms. Velvet, Food is discipline. Power struggle in food is just the start of the many possible power struggles you'll encounter with your child as they grow. If you can discipline your children with food, you can also discipline them in other areas.
• For older kids, you can encourage them to eat nutritious food by involving them in the process of making the food, from growing the vegetables, to preparing them in the kitchen.
• For younger kids who throw tantrums at feeding time, calm down and show no emotion. Have them sit in Indian position while crying until they're done with it. Then offer food again.
• Did you know that there are healthy alternatives to our usual seasoning? From the seminar, I learned that you can replace soy sauce with Bragg's Liquid Aminos and table salt with Himalayan salt.
• One creative way to kickstart your child's journey to nutrition is to display a food rainbow. Your kid should be able to eat at least 1 healthy food as the colors of the rainbow a week. If they complete the rainbow you can give them a prize. She recommended non-material prizes but more of fun learning experiences.
• Another great way to keep your little ones interested with nutritious food is to use a dinner puzzle/maze. The Dinner Winner shown below is just a fancy tray used for this purpose but you can create your own. Set a rule with your kids that they can't say no to food unless they've already tried it. With a wonderful tool like this, you can encourage your child to finish the whole maze by offering them prizes similar to the food rainbow.

It's great that I haven't done my grocery shopping prior to the seminar because I got to overhaul our pantry very easily. Tomorrow is day 1. 

your every woman,

Read More

Exercise your Faith!

I'm not exemplary when it comes to faith but as Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 "if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain. Nothing will be impossible for you.". So I've been exercising faith like a muscle hoping for it to grow and these little acts of faith are really doing wonders for me.

Every time I head home alone, I go to this spot where jeepneys pass full. If I walk further, around 10-15 minutes from that spot, there's a sort-of terminal where there's a higher likelihood of vacant jeepneys going my route, but for my exercise, no. Each time I wait on my spot, I pray and tell myself "God knows how much I needed to go home as early as I could. If He wants me to get home, He'll give me a ride, no matter where I wait and no matter the time. If He doesn't, it's because He knows I don't need to" and God has indulged me every time!

Recently, I always wake up at around 3am and I'd have shallow sleep from then on. Turns out my mind was worried that my alarm would wake my baby and it'd be difficult for me to leave for work. Shallow sleep would allow me to wake up with the lowest volume of alarm and on first ring. As an added routine to my faith exercise, I depended on God to wake me up without an alarm and I do wake up +/- 10 minutes of 5:30am without fail! Earlier today my sleep was deep but then the AC turned off and woke me up, at 5:35am!

If you have none to little faith like I did, please try this. Find something simple/small in your life and trust God to fulfill your prayers on it. Each time God fulfills your prayers, add another routine. Keep on adding and watch your faith grow. Soon it won't be difficult to trust God with everything big or small.

your every woman,

Read More

The Day I Thought I'd Lose Serene

While at soccer camp yesterday, it was obvious that Ella didn't have enough energy. Apparently, she only ate cereals and milk the whole day prior to camp which ran from 4:30-6:30pm. When the class was over, I brought them to KFC, found them a table, left them there, and lined up to buy them food. When I brought the food to where they were, I was shocked because Serene was not there!

A lot of things didn't turn out the way I expected them yesterday. I've prepared all the things Ella and Sereney would need for Ella's soccer camp and was very confident about it when I left for work. A few hours before the end of my shift, I was receiving messages from Ella & Drew at home asking where things were. I was a bit irritated because I gave them instructions to bring whatever I prepared and everything else was with me. When I met up with them, I found out that they left Serene's director's chair and brought an unnecessary extra bag with unnecessary contents. If you know me, you'd know I'd get mad about it, but I didn't. I was irritated, but not mad (Thank God for that!).

Sereney announced that she pooped before we left the mall beside my workplace so I had to clean her up, causing us to be a little behind schedule that we had to rush going to The Turf. Serene's sippy cup that I filled with water before leaving work spilled all over my bag for some reason. 

Before going to KFC, Ella drank water from her bottle and wasn't able to properly close it, spilling more water in my bag.

So, you can just imagine how I felt when I found out that Serene was not where I left them and Ella had no idea where she was! 

The first place I went to was the grocery which was right across KFC. She was not there! There was nothing to the right of KFC and the grocery, so I went left where there's an EGG (Exciting Gifts & Goodies) booth and right again towards McDonald's where a lot of Kiddie Crews were but Serene was still nowhere to be found! Those were the longest 5-10 minutes of my life!

While I was frantically calling out Serene's name, I was already on the verge of crying. I found a guard and began describing her out loud. Thankfully, the saleslady from EGG heard how I described her and knew that it was her inside National Bookstore. National Bookstore! Why didn't I think of it sooner?! That was the same place she'd go straight to whenever we go to that mall because she loved tinkering at the children's books there! Maybe I was too exhausted and worried that I wasn't thinking clearly. Good thing the children's books section was just right behind the store's glass wall so it was easy for the lady to see her as their store was in front of it.

I was just so grateful for I knew that the Lord was teaching me a lesson. He allowed just enough to make me realize that I CANNOT always be in control but trust that He'd always watch over my kids, my life, my situation. I stopped being pissed about what happened that night and went on to enjoy dinner with my precious kids. 

your every woman,

Read More

Blessed with Isabella

I would like to dedicate this post as a shouts-out to my eldest daughter, Isabella who is the most responsible, understanding ATE in the world.

Our most recent household help unexpectedly left us AGAIN! Well, we're no longer surprised that our household help never came back after her 2-week-long holiday vacation because that's how it is with our helps. It's like most relationships built on nothing - You suddenly realize that it's over and you keep asking yourself if there's anything about you, or anything you did wrong, but at the end of it all, they're just not that into you (errr, your household.). Moooving on...

So we're living away from our parents where it's near Isabella's school and without a help, we cannot depend on anyone else to stay in our house to care for our kids while we're working. It so happened that we just recently moved to a new workplace where we do not have the liberty of choosing schedules. Because of this, there would be at least an hour when the 2 girls would have to be left at home without an adult! Risky, I know, but there was nothing else we could do, so we talked to Isabella about our yaya-less routine plan and she was cool with it. In fact, when I woke up without an alarm and it was time for me to leave, I have heard Isabella rolling on her bed which indicates she was awake. She had expected her time of responsibility and all I had to do was whisper in her hear and she stood up, took her pillows and layed beside her sister! She even had the consciousness to take instructions like where the milk was and all that!

God is really true in His words. Some day, I know that He will give us the perfect setup where we won't have to choose between our means of living and our family, but until then, He blessed us with the Isabella so when times like these comes, we wouldn't have to worry that we won't have household help for the next couple of days... maybe weeks... or months... Thank you, Lord, for daughters like Isabella and thank you Isabella for honoring God and your parents by being the best ATE in the world.

your every woman,

Read More

2015... Best year EVERR!!!

Before I completely close the year that was, let me take this time to remember how 2015 is one of the best years I've had in my entire life. Here are the highlights of this exciting and awesome year.

• January - I found out that tax exemptions don't happen real-time, so I ended up receiving a tax refund because of Serene's addition to our family. On the other hand, our beloved tita Tina died just a few days before her birthday. It was such a sad time for the family.

• February - We were able to successfully carry-out Serene's 1st birthday. I can say that it is one of the best parties we've hosted given a tight budget... Way more affordable than Isabella's 1st birthday.

• March - Serene was hospitalized for the first time but received the grace of healing, thank God. I experienced being a borrowed trainer for a different program within the company I worked for where I met a lot of great people and learned new things.

• April - We were able to send Isabella to swimming school and she actually learned how to swim! Oh I swear the time she spent in the water after her dive into the 10 ft pool for their graduation was the longest 10 seconds of my life! 
• May - This is when I started to feel a hole in my career. I felt unnecessary and started to rethink my career path. 
• June - This is the month when a bittersweet revelation about my paternal origins unfolded. To explain how bittersweet it is would require a really long post and would preferably be private, so I'm not gonna go there. Also, God blessed me and my husband with a new career opportunity, however, that same opportunity closed its doors for me almost as soon as it opened. It was one of the culminating events this year that I didn't expect would turn out to be the start of many blessings that year. 

• July - I completely allowed myself to indulge in the love of new family members and it was really a heartwarming experience. Now I have other homes to visit for the holidays!
• August - I started to take on a new diet and I failed. Turned out I cannot cut on food the way I did because I'm breastfeeding Serene. Oh well, back to my old self. Darn, this is my heaviest self!
• September - Drew and I were water baptized and it felt sooo good! We have a renewed faith and had a lot of realizations. 

• October - I was given apprentices to manage and I learned a lot. Not saying that I was already ok with how my career was going; It was actually the other way around. The emptiness just grows and grows and I was turning into a really ungrateful person. Still, God blessed me with a raise this month but I still sucked at being happy for some reason.

• November - From June to October I have experienced, in my perspective, what it meant when people say that life is unfair but it was only in November when I realized that what God really wanted to do was change me; heal me. I was hired at a new workplace! The same one that I thought closed its doors for me in June. I now have an entry-level, non-voice job in a BPO that serves a VERY prominent global company where my education had nothing to do about. It just amazes me how God can graciously qualify whom he calls and not the other way around.

• December - My 31st year of existence welcomed a new company, new friends, new knowledge, new dreams, new inspirations and a renewed heart. I am looking forward to more breakthroughs now that I am able to pursue what I really love to do in 2016. Here's to more blog posts, more hair and make-up experiences, a healthier figure and a better mom and wife.

your every woman,

Read More

Conceited Heart

photo grabbed from Etsy

During one of my zone out moments, an idea started in me. I thought "What if in the Philippine setting, a guard at the entrance of an establishment casually asks me 'What's your name?' and once I respond with my name, he'll say 'Oh, Bianca, may I check your bag please?' How would I feel?". Being in the customer service industry working for a 1st world country for almost 10 years, I can easily say it's perfectly fine! I ran the same idea with a couple of people and most of the reactions I received were that they would be offended by a guard asking them for their names and not even calling them "mam/sir". When I asked them if there was anything wrong with it, they realized that there wasn't and I continued to explain that we only have this perspective that something is wrong with it because we think that the guard is lesser than us when in fact, he is not. I continued on with my life thinking highly of myself because I know this simple truth when most people don't. 

Recently, I realized that I am no better than anyone else. I practice the opposite of what I preach. Just because I've been blessed with work where I manage people, I felt a sense of entitlement. Just because I held myself accountable for other people's performance, I felt that I should be honored, celebrated. And as years passed by, I've held this bitterness because I never received the honor I thought I deserved... or sometimes, I measure honor based on monetary value. I have realized now that there is more to work than gaining glory for myself... that everything that I do is for the greater glory of the Lord because the work that I do is a channel of His blessing. Thankfully, the Lord blessed with a means to heal my heart and my life will never be the same.

your every woman,

Read More

Teach Your Child Values

Teach your child values instead of rules

Give them life guidelines

And not laws for fools

Your child is not yours,

Someday you’ll let go

So it’s best they have principles

That they keep as they grow

Teach your child Respect for other people

Even though some people will not earn it

It’s your child who will learn it

And it will be beneficial

When she learns to respect others

She will value their time

It will save her from tardiness

And she’ll never be left behind

Teach your child Integrity

It will help her discern

What is right when no one’s watching

There won’t be cause for concern

Integrity will teach her

To be honest and true

It will reflect in her decisions

And she’ll always pull through

Teach your child Industry

Give her tasks around the house

She’ll learn to clean, cook and wash clothes

And it’s not for her spouse

You’ll want her to be independent

As she follows her dream

You’ll be confident she’ll get by

When it’s time for her to wean

Teach your child Hardwork and Passion

And nothing great comes easy

So when faced with challenges

She will never grow weary

Tell her success is sweet

When you’ve poured out your all

Tell her never to give up

Even after a fall

Teach your child Compassion

For anyone she meets

Let her know she’s blessed

And a blessing, she can be

There are little things she can do for other people

That would give them a break

Imagine it being multiplied

And the difference it would make

Your teachings are not for the world to see

How great you are as a parent can be

Do it for your little one to ensure that she

Will be her best self when you set her free

So instead of do’s and don’t’s, let’s try

To teach them things they can apply

They’ll appreciate things they don’t learn in schools

When you teach them values instead of rules

your every woman,

Read More

Long Distance Parenting

Do you remember your child’s first smile? …first steps? …first solid food? …first fall? …first day of school? …first achievement? …first crush? …first love? …first heartache? Oh wait, were you there?

(photo taken from the Internet about an Iraqi orphanage where a little girl who never knew her mother, drew a mom on the ground and fell asleep with her...)

I know that this is a very sensitive topic because some of the most loving, well-meaning parents may still answer “No” to these questions and I can’t blame anyone. Parents make mistakes too. So let me write this post in a child’s perspective as I have experienced. Mom… Dad… you have to be there.

It was not ok for you to go somewhere far and leave us behind to earn a living. You may say that through this means, you provide for our future, but the best future we could ever have can only be created through positive parenting. You could have ensured our future by having a great relationship with us; By being there to observe our personalities and guide our development. It didn't matter if we attended a great school. It didn't matter if we had new and expensive things. Many children of parents who stayed elsewhere have led difficult personal lives even though they had money to spend. They struggle with trust. They have insecurities; I have insecurities...

It’s never going to be a better option to leave us with relatives in a faraway place instead of at home with you and probably a nanny a few hours a day. I agree that finding the perfect nanny is like finding a needle in a haystack. …That is if we can ever find the haystack at all. Still, when we live at home with you, we still get to bond with you when you go home or during weekends. We can tell the difference and it’s better that way as opposed to not knowing the difference between you and the relatives you leave us with. You have a special effect on us. Use that while you still can.

your every woman,

Read More

Why You Should Wait: Exclusive Dating

Ever since I became Christian, I gained a lot of wisdom that could have made things better for my life if I had them when I was younger. Still, I praise the Lord for giving me a wonderful life and family, though not the way I had dreamed it would be, but perfect nonetheless. 

Now that I’m a mother, I would like to pass this wisdom on to my daughters, creating entries that revolve around waiting patiently for God’s time on a practical perspective. For my first entry, let me tell you about why you should wait for the perfect time to exclusively date.

(photo taken from http://archcapeinn.com/blog)

First, let us talk about when is the perfect time to exclusively date? Or in the Filipino perspective, when should you have a boyfriend? By having a boyfriend I mean having plans of eventually getting married and having children. I am not going to say that you should finish College first before having a boyfriend because education is evolving and you don’t have to stick to formal education to be able to follow your dreams. To be more specific, I should say it would be sometime after you’re 25 and you can say to yourself that you and the person courting you have already fulfilled your dreams –individually!

25 really? …you ask, why?

1.       Because by then, we can be certain that everything your special someone uses to surprise you would be coming from his own hard work. It’s not hard work to skip meals just so a boy can buy you gifts from allowance money and it’s a shame to receive gifts knowing that it actually came from a boy’s parents.

2.       Because it’s easier to follow your dreams when you’re on your own. Oh, forget that excuse for an inspiration. God, your biological family and your friends should be enough to see you through. Think of it this way, when you’re running after your dream to a faraway place, you wouldn’t think twice about having to leave someone behind. When you’re running after your dream while being financially challenged, you can always skip meals, sleep in, use public transportation no matter how long it takes, walk to and from home, easy. When running after your dreams without assurance of success, it’s ok, you can still run after it, fail, make as many mistakes as you can and rise up again.

3.       Because you will have the opportunity to indulge in your success after failure. You will earn enough to spend on things that make you happy. You can spend on food, clothes, gifts, travel and recreation without having to think of other people.

4.       Because it will be easier to allocate for savings and investment. Because you are alone, you can decide for yourself whether to spend your money on number 4 or save and invest. You can buy your own car, your own home, your own stocks, etc. You can choose to invest in a business that caters to what you love to do regardless of a possible failure.

5.       Because when you have lived a fulfilled life on your own, you can do away with the what ifs and the what could’ve beens. When you don’t have these loose strings anymore, your judgment for a better half would be better. Men can no longer impress you with just words and gifts. You will be swooned by a person of character, someone who has also lived a fulfilled single life.

6.       Because when both of you have lived fulfilled single lives, you will have a lot of options. You can choose to stay in the dating phase, get married, have kids, quit your job, stay at home with the family, and still have the best time of your life.

There, you wouldn’t be bothered with a “because I said so” kind of reasoning when you ask when you can have a boyfriend. I believe it’s pretty clear how you can get more out of life if you wait. What will you be missing anyway? Emails and texts asking how you are and if you’ve already eaten? Hatid-sundo na de-kotse? Movie dates, malling and eat-outs? Don’t worry, mom and dad will do that for you. Holding hands while walking, pa-sway-sway pa and the kiss that would make your foot pop? You’re not even supposed to be doing that outside of marriage and why is on another entry. See you soon!

your every woman,

Read More

Why We Need Dads

In this day and age, we have accepted the way families can strive without dads. After all, moms can already provide for the family,do household troubleshooting, and provide guidance which is basically what dads are expected to do. However, as I was browsing through family pictures, I realized why having a dad in the family is an absolute necessity and why you should appreciate that man in your household:

1) Because children need someone to show them how dates should be.

2) Because an extra pair of thighs is necessary for a good sleep.

3) Because he's great at capturing priceless family events!

(first family bus ride)

4) Because he's great at carrying the kids... both of them!

5) Because he's great at improvising ways to take care of the children.

6) Because we need to practice applying makeup on a virgin face.

7) Because you need to know that having a mustache when you're a girl isn't so bad after all.

8) Because daughters need a faster way to dry their hair.

9) Because the kids need to look like someone other than their mom.

10) Because our dad is the best dad of all and we can't imagine life without him

Happy Father's Day to the man who is a perfect example of how all men should be. We love you so much!

youreverywoman,

Read More

Start Right on Child Nutrition

I have a theory... that there are no picky eaters and that children who don't eat right are a result of clueless parents. Please, before giving me dagger looks on how self righteous you think my parenting is, let me explain.

I'm 30 and my hubby is about 2 years younger. We have 2 kids, a 7 year old and a 10 month old. By these numbers, you can imagine how young we had our first child and even though I did read several books about how to raise a child then, nothing beats experience.

You see, our first born is a picky eater. When she was born via CS, she was given to me for a taste of my bosom which I am confused whether it were for nourishing purposes or a photo op because it was so quick. After that, she was kept in the nursery drinking formula until I recovered. Breastfeeding failed. I tried until she got ill and I received a lot of ideas about how my daughter was allergic to my milk and was turning yellow and stuff like that that I decided to quit and do what we thought was best for her. 6 months later, when she showed signs that she wanted to eat solid food, we thought that she'd eat more if the food tasted yummy - like adult yummy. So we started with packaged cereals (I'm sure you guys are familiar with this one and probably had your taste of them too!) and juices, which she liked, but when we started to give her real food like rice and mashed vegetables, she gagged. I thought it was just because she didn't have teeth to chew the food yet so I postponed real food feeding until she was more than a year old. Since then, every feeding is a challenge, even until now. If it's not fastfood, she'd stay at the table for more than an hour thinking of a strategy on how to either trick the elders or finish her food.

7+ years later, our 2nd child was born. We were older and a lot more prepared. We've read more books and were more vocal about what we wanted. Hospital rules are different and the help of the Internet and social networking were tremendous. I gave birth to our 2nd child, still via CS, but she was with me from birth to home. Exclusive breastfeeding was successful. When she showed signs of wanting to eat solid food, the first thing that we gave her is unseasoned, steamed mashed green papaya, and she ate it! Our pedia taught us that we should've started with bitter melon which a lot of kids (and even adults) don't like, but the advice came late so 2nd child didn't like bitter melon (alone) anymore, but she eats a wide variety of vegetables. As of writing, here are the vegetables that are part of her mashed food mix:

- Carrot
- Potato
- Moringa (Malunggay)
- Chili leaves (dahon ng Sili)
- Bitter Melon leaves (dahon ng Ampalaya)
- Mustard
- Spinach
- Bell pepper
- Squash
- Tomato
- Chayote (Sayote)
- green Papaya
- Basella Alba (Alugbati)
- Ampalaya
- Corn

She eats them without any seasoning, can you imagine that? I sometimes toss in sauteed onions and garlic to excite her palate but that's it. I taste her food sometimes and the potatoes make the mix taste a bit ok for me but I wouldn't eat a whole meal of it. She eats these food mixes 3 times a day and loves them to bits!

What I have learned is that children don't have innate preferences. They take what you give them, get accustomed to the taste, and develop a preference. It is the caregivers duty to offer and develop a healthier preference. Exclusive breastfeeding is a good start because breastmilk has all the right ingredients for an infant and just enough sugar so she doesn't develop a craving for sweets.

So far, we have 2 kids whom I can tell apart. Once our 2nd child grows and we have a third kid, I may be able to prove if this theory is true, but if you have a kid who's about to eat solid food, or are having kids or are planning to have kids, please give this a try. Maybe years later, you'll be able to tell me in the comments if it were true for you. Until then...

your every woman,

Read More

For the Love of Cloth

I originally wanted to use the traditional lampin with our eldest daughter that I even bought several muslin cloths and nappy clamps. However, being the working mom that I am, I eventually gave up the dream to go completely eco-friendly. A couple of years later, after giving birth to our youngest daughter and engaging in a breastfeeding support group, I was introduced to modern cloth diapers.  At first, I shied away from its hefty price tag but when I did the math, I realized that my first set of CDs is just equivalent to 2 ½ months’ worth of disposable diapers.

Earthbaby AI2s

 Because of this, it didn’t take too much to convince my husband into buying me another set for the rainy days.

Baby Chic AI2s

I wouldn’t dwell into reviewing cloth diapers because I am no expert and I haven’t tried everything. All I can say based on my research and my purchase is that the AI2 system is the most suitable cloth diapering system for us. It uses a waterproof outer or “shell” and a snap-on soaker that takes all the pee in. The soaker is a combination of a stay-dry top layer and several layers of absorbent natural fiber cloths. Ours uses microfleece and bamboo cotton. What I like most about this system is that it takes reusability to a whole new level! When the soaker is saturated with pee, you can just remove it and snap on a fresh one, although I prefer to use a fresh shell while air-drying the previous one for later use.  If baby poops, that’s a different story. The whole combo would have to be changed.

Now unlike disposable diapers, cloth diapers do not turn liquid to gel which meant it may not last through the night. I had problems with night leaks because I can’t get up promptly to check on my daughter’s nappy and she doesn’t really care if her nappy is saturated while she’s asleep. I was almost about to buy trifold boosters for our cloth diapers until one desperate night, I decided to add a folded muslin cloth under the soaker. Boom! Problem solved!

One time, during a nappy change, I thought to myself that it would also be a lovely idea if the cotton I use for wipes were reusable. Then it hit me, “Why not use cloth wipes?”.  I scoured the Internet for cloth wipes and I got a lot of suggestions on how to create my own. I ended up buying 2 meters of Yellow cotton flannel, cutting it into 5” diameter circles. My mother-in-law volunteered to sew two layers of the flannel together using her edging machine and the results were amazing! Matched with a bum spray recipe that I got from Earth Baby, it did a great job in cleaning my daughter’s nappy area. And when it’s laundry time for the cloth diapers, I just throw in the cloth wipes with the CDs in the washer!

I am so happy with our entirely cloth diapering system. Armed with breastfeeding, it completely eased us of all additional routine costs of having an addition to the family at least until the next vaccine schedule or until she goes to school. Wonderful isn’t it?!

your every woman,

Read More