How to Survive without a Yaya

mommy, no yaya?

We’ve been officially yaya-less for close to 2 months now. It has not been a walk in the park, mind you, but it can be done.

Here are my realizations. We've been so tired that I'm surprised I have time to "realize" some things. =)

Okay, the minor setbacks first.
can you do it mommy?

Prepare to give up some snooze time. With a yaya: we’re mostly asleep by 9.30 pm. Now, the scenario is we get home around 8 pm. Eat dinner, then play with our son. We wait for him to sleep and now that his sleeping pattern has changed (why now????), he only gets to sleep at 10.30-11.30 pm. So, I can only wash his bottles, and do some minor cleaning when he’s asleep. His dad washes the dishes and hand washes his clothes while I wash his bottles. We sometimes get to sleep only for 5 hours.

House work is no easy task. This I know way before but things I’ve taken for granted, mahirap pala. I like to cook, but cleaning up afterwards is so tiring and it takes the fun out of cooking.

sorry mommy, i've been a naughty boy

Be ready to take the tot everywhere. With a yaya, we can eat while the yaya plays with him or holds him. We can sneak out a couple of times, too. We bring him along everywhere now. To errands, of course to the mall, and to the other house to clean. Come to think of it, this one isn't so bad.


The blessings in disguise.
As a parents, our time management skills are honed to the max. More so without a yaya. For minute things like getting a haircut or doing the grocery, we have to zip in and out of the aisles as fast as we can and for visits to the salon, which is close to nil, I sometimes have to ask the hairdresser for just the basic blow dry because it takes too long.

This is an opportunity to get to know my son better. At 2, he’s still not so terrible but he’s becoming a bit more difficult. Strong headed, and very, very playful. Before, I can hand over my son to his yaya when I can’t seem to take his antics anymore.

Energies renewed. No matter how tired we were at work, our energies have to be renewed/restored once we open the gate to the house because a little boy has been patiently waiting for our return home the whole day.

Respect for SAHMs. Ideally, I want to be a stay at home mom. Without a yaya now, I’ve gained a lot more respect for WAHMs and SAHMs. Sometimes, it’s easier and less tiring to be at the office than to stay at home.

We’ve learned to let go of the small things. Like we just need a clean house not a spotless one. And we’ve accepted toys will be around the house, on where we’ll sit, or even lie down, all-the-time.

i'll behave,mommy

In closing, I realized, after all the previous realizations above (hahaha), that we need an all round helper to keep us all sane, and to unload the housework from our shoulders. This way, we can focus our energy on watching, playing, running and talking with the toddler.

p.s.
Our prayers have just been answered. Our new helper will start on Friday.