A Boy Mom's World

We just got back from a 15-day travel to Europe and here are the list of my top 10 Essentials when traveling with your kids.  1. Stroller and Baby Carrier . You will need a stroller until when they are around 8-9 years old. Traveling means walking a lot and it will be very helpful for your kids, they can get to rest without interrupting your itinerary. They can have their naps while you go shopping and sightseeing. Carrier for when your small child doesn't want to walk and doesn't want to ride the stroller as well, this will make carrying a big heavy baby 😅 easier and you can have your hands free.    2. Kids Medicine Kit . In my list are Paracetamol, Rash Creams and Ointment & Bandaids for minor cuts and bruises. You do not know when the kids will catch a fever or get cuts while playing, walking, or running. It is better to have it and not need it than don't have and need it. <this is my reminder to myself whenever we are traveling.  3. Laundry Soap . You may...

Every family is different and every parenting journey has another story to tell, but some things are the same, here are my take on things that no one told us about parenting.   1. You will finally get that phrase from your parents - You will understand when you become a parent . It is hard to understand this phrase when you are young, but once you are in their shoes you instantly get it. It is hard being a parent and it is as hard to explain this to your child - we do not have any idea how hard it is.  2. You will accidentally hurt your child and the guilt will be unbearable . Kids are unpredictable, you turn your back for one second and there they are, already crying because they fell down to their face or they get so uncontrollable that you spanked them with a stick or a hanger or a slipper. I opened this up to my psychiatrist and he said that it is ok that the kids get hurt sometimes, or you spank them sometimes, this will make them stronger. And as parents, we get tired an...

Dylan's last of Face to face class was today, he still have to attend online classes next week for their exams. But!!! I cannot believe he is already done with one year of classes, in a big school no less! And will be in Kindergarten next school year!  1st Day of School (Online Class) To tell the truth, we (parents) were not yet ready to let Dylan attend school this school year, but he was the one who kept on asking us when is he going to go, we planned on making him start his school when he is 5 turning 6, para hindi na siya sana mag-nursery. Pero sobrang insistent niya that everyday he is asking me if it's time for school na. So we decided that it is time. We looked for school around our village, Dylan had 2 interviews and passed both of them. We chose the one nearer to our house, mga around 10 minutes away pag walang traffic in BF, mga around 30-45 if traffic in the entrance, but that doesn't happen naman often.  He is always excited to go to class and much excited if it...

  A few weeks back, Dylan asked us if until what age will he reach or will he be. He recently got fascinated with age because of birthdays. So we answered he would be able reach until age 100. He got all excited because 100 is his favorite number and we really want him to live a long life. Then he also asked if mommy and daddy will also be 100. We said yes, of course and he went on his way back to what he is doing, we moved on as well. But earlier today while having our lunch, he asked me, "Mommy, are you still going to be with me when I am 100 years old?" I was shocked and it took me a moment to respond to him. I said, I may not be here anymore when you are 100. Then he asked me another question, "Where are you going to be when I'm 100?" I just said I am going somewhere. Being inquisitive that he is, he was never satisfied with my answer. He asked again where, then I just said I will be going to be with Papa Jesus.  His next question almost broke me to tears. H...

  Our son Mason is a very picky eater, he doesn't eat anything aside from bread. That's it, Bread. He likes all kinds of bread. He does not eat rice, vegetables, the only fruit that he eats are bananas.  You might be asking, how is he getting his nutrition when he eats like that? Ok, hear me out, he still breastfeeds and his pedia gave him vitamins to take everyday. So far, he's never been sick aside from the usual cough and colds and fever that goes away after a few days.  I have listed here some of the stories that was told to us to not do if when don't want to have a picky eater. 1. Do not feed them Cerelac or any processed baby food - We never fed both our kids this, but Mason still turned out to be a picky eater.  2. Having a picky eater is the parents' fault - Yeah no, turns out there are no single explanation for having a picky eater. Expert says that it is a combination of genetics and environment. Picky eaters are typically not willing to try food which can...

  I have been a mom for almost 5 years now. Dylan will be turning 5 this February while Mason is turning 3 in June.  As I journey through this path called motherhood, here are the things that I have learned having to take care a 4 year old and a 2 year old. 1. At this age, they are very explorative and wants to test their abilities, so they will always go up anywhere they can climb and try if they will be able to jump from there. At first they always give me mini heart attacks, I try to stop them from doing it, but they just can't be stopped. I just let them try and I just make sure they are safe and remind them to just be careful with what they are doing. We already had one trip to the ER, nothing serious though, just wanted to make sure that everything is ok the time - will make another entry for what made us go to the ER. 😅 2. 2 year olds are super cute. Everything that they do are cute - I cannot seem to be mad at 2 years old even though they ruin everything, throw food, ...

 I have two very active boys and sometimes I don't even know what to do with their energy. 😅 They love to run, climb, jump, sing, dance, play pretend, run, jump and jump again. The house never seems to stay quiet because if it is not them who are shouting, it will be mom shouting at them not to climb on the window or the table. Most of the time I cannot even hear myself think. So what do we do with all these energy? We sometimes take them outside. Aside from going to the park or the playground, we take them for a little ride and bring them to: 1. Kidzoona - Here they get to play whatever they want without any need for mom to shout because it is very safe for them.  2. Kindercity - I haven't been inside this one but their daddy said that it is a lot bigger than kidzoona and very tiring for adults. 😂 This is Dylan's current favorite indoor play area, ideal for bigger kids, at least 4 yo, I guess.  3. Theme Park (Enchanted Kingdom) - Last year we purchased a 2-year pass an...

  Traveling has always been our favorite bonding as a family. Both me and my husband's family loves to travel (local), So when we got back together in 2015 and already have the means to do it, we packed our bags and just went anywhere we could think of.  Our eldest son's first travel was when he was only 3 months old. We applied for his passport the time we got his PSA Birth Certificate - he was one month old. From there, he was able to travel locally and abroad.  Traveling with a baby is never a walk in a park, so why are we doing this?  Here are some of the reasons why we travel with our kids and why you should too.  1. Traveling is good for our Mental and Physical Health. Traveling reduces stress, improves our moods, and it generally enhance our physical strengths and makes us more mentally agile as we both use our minds and bodies to figure out how to navigate a new town or city. 2. Traveling improves our communication skills. When we travel to a different c...

We did not completely remove screen time in our house, we still let them watch sometimes, but is now very controlled. They are no longer allowed to watch on their own. Before they have access to youtube kids and they can watch whatever they feel like watching. They learned a lot by watching, but it is not worth it (for me). All of the things that they see on the screen, we can do with them. I only let them watch 1 movie a week - in Disney+. We sometimes watch together, we choose a family movie.  Here are the Top 7 Activities I let my boys do everyday.  1. Pretend Restaurant - My boys love to pretend that they have a restaurant and ask me to order food from them and they will prepare it for me. They use play doh to make food such as fries, burger, ice cream, fried chicken, etc. I have to pretend to order, eat, and pay and then do it a hundred more times. 😆 2. Pretend Hospital - Sometimes I am the doctor, but most of the time, I am the patient that always needs vaccine. 😅 3. S...

 My kids stopped having screen time since November 2022. It started when we lost our internet connection for a day (read the whole story here ). Here are some notable changes or improvements that happened when they stopped watching TV and using ipads. 1. They are more active. Instead of just sitting down, eyes glued to the TV or tablet, they ran more and I think they got more athletic. 😅 They can climb anywhere and jump from there, sometimes I get surprised on how they can jump so high! 2. They get to play with all their toys. Our kids have lots of toys, mostly gifts from relatives and grandparents. Those toys were rarely being played, but now they have time to enjoy their toys. 3. When they get to play with their toys, they get to be more creative. Their games and pretend plays get more and more fun and elaborate. Their imagination gets wider everyday. Sometimes our floor is lava, sometimes they are doctors and nurses, policemen, race car driver, and many more. The house is a mes...

  Our sons rarely ask for screen time anymore. They usually ask to watch TV every morning and afternoon after they take a nap. I let them watch at 10am up to lunch time cause they like it and I can do the things that I need to do while they are watching, the same in the afternoon, I let them watch from 5pm until bedtime, I know, I know, that is a lot of screen time, but it is what makes them behave - or so I thought.  It is only until the time we lost our internet connection for a day, they cannot watch and didn't have a choice, because we do not have cable TV. For a whole day they didn't have screen time. They kept on asking and I just told them there's no internet connection and they went on to play together.  By the end of the day, I was surprised that they  survived without screen time, as in really surprised. I thought they will get bored and give me hard time the whole day but they didn't. They just played with their toys together, they played with their ...