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Showing posts from June, 2016

A Mom's Resume

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Name:  Mom, Mumma, Mummy, Amma, Ma but mostly Mumma, Mumma, Mumma (all the time). Mobile: Xxx-Xxx-Xxxx Not the best way to contact me. Sometimes unreachable, mostly on silent mode, forgotten under some living or non-living thing, and on days when I have it: battery fully drained. But I promise to return your call. Email:  momiam@andlovingit.com My Skills Communication:  an expert communicator with the ability to effectively decode signals (hunger, sleep, mood etc), gestures, sounds (mostly screams), and actions.  Planning:  a master of the back-up plan, my planning skills cover all situations that involve: emotions (tantrums, meltdowns or an illness), finances (saving for the future) or physical factors (hairpulling, biting etc. mostly done in public and requires an instant escape plan). I always plan and prepare for the unexpected. Multitasking:  at an almost superfast pace and my own rhythm, I'd like to claim that I can have my cake and eat it (too) because n

To the Mother's who lost their kids that day!

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On Tuesday, I received a news alert about a horrific accident in my husband's hometown. Accidents unfortunately happen every day but I could not get this one out of my mind. It was a crash in which eight children, on their way to school were killed after a bus rammed into the omni they were travelling. Eight tiny little angels who had bright and promising futures ahead of them snuffed out in an instant. In a short while, the Internet was abuzz with messages of condolence and then there were those who did not waste time in the all too familiar blame game: the driver of the omni, the bus driver, the weather, the police and some unconsiderate people went as far as blaming the parents. Yes, never mind the trauma they had just been dealt with, now they were even being blamed for it. I could not relate to any of that. No matter how many people typed RIP that day, or gave their opinions on what should or should not have happened, nothing was going to change the inevitable and tragic

To the Mother's who lost their kids that day!

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On Tuesday, I received a news alert about a horrific accident in my husband's hometown. Accidents unfortunately happen every day but I could not get this one out of my mind. It was a crash in which eight children, on their way to school were killed after a bus rammed into the omni they were travelling. Eight tiny little angels who had bright and promising futures ahead of them snuffed out in an instant. In a short while, the Internet was abuzz with messages of condolence and then there were those who did not waste time in the all too familiar blame game: the driver of the omni, the bus driver, the weather, the police and some unconsiderate people went as far as blaming the parents. Yes, never mind the trauma they had just been dealt with, now they were even being blamed for it. I could not relate to any of that. No matter how many people typed RIP that day, or gave their opinions on what should or should not have happened, nothing was going to change the inevitable and tragic

To the Mother's who lost their kids that day!

Image
On Tuesday, I received a news alert about a horrific accident in my husband's hometown. Accidents unfortunately happen every day but I could not get this one out of my mind. It was a crash in which eight children, on their way to school were killed after a bus rammed into the omni they were travelling. Eight tiny little angels who had bright and fulfilling futures ahead of them snuffed out in an instant. In a short while, the Internet was abuzz with messages of condolence and then there were those who did not waste time in the all too familiar blame game: the driver of the omni, the bus driver, the weather, the police and some unconsiderate people went as far as blaming the parents. Yes, never mind the trauma they had just been dealt with, now they were even being blamed for it. I could not relate to any of that. No matter how many people typed RIP that day, or gave their opinions on what should or should not have happened, nothing was going to change the inevitable and tragi

Become a Master of "Diaper Changes" with these Tips

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One of the funniest things for me, as a first time mom was changing a diaper. The night diaper change that is. You're half asleep but it absolutely has to be done and those first few days bring plenty of (watery) surprises that are sure to wake the hell out of you. My friends told me about that one accessory I SHOULD have if it's a baby boy - it's called a "teepee" and as the name suggests its like a little tent that acts as a cover and prevents those watery surprises I was referring to above. I never bought it and no surprise, I forgot all about it until I experienced the little pee pee accidents at 1 am! Whew! I was so diaper- challenged. If I had to do it now, I'd be a "master". The tips and tricks you will learn are phenomenal. The tricks will also need to change every few months (I'm in the middle of a transition where my baby, actually toddler now will NOT sit still!) Before you get started, you need to ensure you have all supplies

Son...No expectations!

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I have often thought of writing a letter to my son but I've never really made up my mind. Not because I don't want to but I fear that 18 something years down the line, I might chance upon the letter again and find that I have broken most promises I made in the letter (just like when I was pregnant). Or worse, that he will never see the time and energy I spent writing to him and the point I try to convey might be forever lost. I envision all sorts of things and that's why I will never have the nerve to begin one. There's nothing wrong about having dreams for a child (in fact, everyday I dream of what he will accomplish in his life) or envision the future our kids will live (and with the speed the world is moving, who knows how that's going to be). But as we all know, parenting does involve mistakes and some promises will be broken, so with that in mind, I do not want to set any expectations on what advice I think (or assume) he will need. For a start, what if I

We 2 Ours..how.many?

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Growing up in the 90's, I must have seen too many of those movies where they lived happily after and had babies because I wanted three. In the years that followed and after a bit more realisation, I imagined two to be the ideal figure. Still unsure, I was finally convinced when the Mr. had the same magical number in mind. With the number 2 firmly etched in mind, I never hesitated to irritate friends and family who had one child - always enquiring when the next was on the way (almost like a joke) and then a more serious reminder that their child needed a playmate. Thankfully no one attempted to kill me. Fast forward 2015 and almost a year and some months later I feel like I'm done....with one! Don't get me wrong here but I absolutely love being a mother. Hopefully you won't judge me as selfish or anything else of what people usually think of mothers who decide to stop at one. What prompted this drastic decision (and I really can't say this is set in stone) is r

Pregnancy vs. Motherhood. My Experience

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Two different sides of the same coin, two life changing experiences that make and sometimes break you. Both frightfully similar and yet completely opposite. If you've just found out you're pregnant. Congratulations! Your journey has thus begun. But before you go off to read every parenting book or scour through thousands of 'what next' websites, remember this is YOUR story. There will be tons of unsolicited advice (mostly annoying), several confusing and senseless moments, a little angel you desperately want to understand and smother with love, arguments and tears..... but you own the script of this wonderful story in your life. Every moment counts and well that's how mine began. I will forever remember that day. The day those two faint pink lines showed up on one of those home pregnency tests. Was this IT!!! we were skeptical (like all newbies) and hastened to google this and a trillion other questions. Well, it WAS the start of our little baby bump journey,

Does sleep training really work?

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When I was pregnant, I quizzed my mom on my sleeping habits as a baby. She assured me that I was an awesome sleeper and gave no trouble whatsoever in the sleep department. My mother-in-law validated the same on my hubby's sleep pattern and of course I already knew he could sleep through anything! So I sat back in contentment and assured myself (mostly that our baby would be just like us and love to sleep). If only I knew how silly I was. Our little trooper (sadly) never inherited our sleep genes. As I held him in my arms, I could almost hear the smirks and echoes of all those voices telling me that "babies never sleep". After an extremely long and tiring first week, I did what I do best, googled new born sleep and what to expect. I think it was at that moment I realised that baby sleep patterns will forever remain unsloved and that they just get into the groove (if that's a nice term) of sleeping when you least expect it (hopefully by the time they're two or