A Happy Childhood

this is a picture totally unrelated to the post. hahaha.

Because we’re products of happy homes, not privileged certainly, but happy nevertheless, we wanted to give our son the same, or an even better one.
As parents, we are still trying to learn the ropes. With 3 years experience, we have a long, long way to go. Our hope is that we’ll be able to raise a smart, happy, productive and a kind-hearted child who’ll be ready to face the world when the right time comes.

Without bias, I can say that so far, we’re in the right track in raising a happy kid. As with most children, he takes delight in simple things such as sticks and wires for toys. But unlike some, he is openly affectionate, far from shy, and seeks other kids out to play.

Here's our thoughts on a few things which we think affects our child's upbringing.

Establish routines. It says routines ground a child, give him an idea of order. We’ve included in our family budget (more on this in a separate post) a certain amount for our Saturday and Sunday activities. It’s not much and our activities can just be a simple as going to the park or mall—but we want to take our child out on a “date” on weekends. We (more of I) feel he’s cooped up inside the house on weekends and Friday night is the start of being with mommy and daddy. We let him enjoy his favorite things like running, playing at the park, Sundays at Mcdo, and pasgeti (spaghetti) at Jollibee. I sometimes can’t tolerate the smell of Jollibee anymore but all for the sake of the little boy.

Balance. He can’t have all the trains in the Thomas and Friends series, he can’t play with electronic games yet, he can’t have all the chocolates and ice cream. Even if we want to actually give him more than what we know is good for him.

Share. This is a concept we practice at home. Often, he’ll even shove a toy under a baby’s nose to “share” his toy. But he’s still a kid and just this weekend, refused to share his spaghetti with mommy...even if he’s done eating. So, we just repeat. Share.


Hitting. I think most kids go through the hitting part. I consider ours a lighter than normal problem. He’ll hit his daddy in the face when he’s excited. But not me. And for me, it’s more of waving his arms in utter joy (and hitting your face in the process)than really hitting to hurt someone. In the presence of younger kids, my son is more careful, more gentle in fact than when he's with us.

Set examples. Children this age are mirrors. What they see, they'll copy. He's affectionate because four people shower him with kisses every day. He has learned to hug and gather us in a big embrace to say "family" because that is what we do. He doesn't shout in anger (but shrieks in glee)because he doesn't hear that at home, he says thank you, please and welcome, even to total strangers (food delivery guys, even the cable guys).

I could go on and on but let me reserve that when I have gotten to know more about parenting and its many challenges.

A Second Kid?

With our son now 2 years old, we get asked--a lot, on when we plan to have another child.

We always say that we're not ready. And that's an honest (and not just a cliche) answer.

1. We still have a lot of things to pay!- Now we know that bringing child into this world, and the expenses that goes with it, does not stop after giving birth. There are vaccines, diapers, meds and the list goes on and on. It's good we were able to save on milk, because he was purely breastfed from birth to almost a year old. We have to think about our house mortgage, car payments etc, etc. We'll see where se stand financially next year.

2. We're enjoying this stage in our son's life- we want to focus on him at this time when he's growing a lot, in all aspects, right before our eyes. There's always the guilt factor that we get home late a lot of days, and not really being the first to see his developmental milestones. So, for now, our son remains the star.

3. Physically, I'm just starting my exercise regimen. I'm getting older and my first pregnancy was not at all easy so I have to prepare my body for carrying another child.

4. I'm enjoying some "me" and "couple" time. The first few months as parents, we were a wreck. Sleepless nights, trying to get home early, panicking over a splinter (with matching rush to the ER and xrays of the hand to boot), and mostly I was stressed over pumping milk. After more than a year, we can now go out sometimes with friends without calling the house to check on our son every 5 minutes, I can go to the gym, and can do the grocery without feeling like it's a marathon. Selfish as it may sound, I'm not ready to give that up... yet.

To be really, really honest? We're perfectly happy with our son and if we'll be gifted with only one child, then that's a-OK with us. I know people say being an only child is lonely but from the start, we already thought about this and well, for now, that's our stand as a couple. That's probably why we got 10 pairs of godparents for our son when he was baptized-- we wanted our friends to be part of our child/children's lives and so we crammed them all as sponsors for our first born-- because what if we only have one?

Give us a few more months, or maybe a couple of years, and we might just change our minds.

But for now, we will remain a family of three.