C5's Mind » Motherhood

Gifting Your Preggy Friends

C5 — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:23:05 +0000

by Cecile Cinco

There are many ways to help pregnant friends or relatives. You can be there for moral support, help-around-the-house support, emotional support and material/financial support.

One idea is by holding a baby shower party! You can then invite your common friends to join the party. Of course it is best to use baby shower invitations for the enhancement of the party.

What can you give? If she’s rich and can buy anything, make your gift more personal like embroidered towels or booties, scrapbooks for her to fill with those captured moments, babysitting gift card (you do the babysitting yourself when she needs it). Let your imagination flow.

If she is not financially loose, this is easier. You can give all the needs of the baby and mother. Cloth and disposable diapers, clothes, flannels, toys, crib, petroleum jelly…just go to the department store and you’ll find lots.

It may not be normal but if you ask the mother what she would like to have, then you will have an idea what to buy. If you can talk among yourselves (the gifters), and tell each other what you plan to buy, then you will prevent having more than enough or none at all. Besides, the shower is for the baby, not for among yourselves.

What’s Wrong With Practicality?

C5 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:11:28 +0000

by Cecile Cinco

You probably have heard the saying, “If you failed to plan, you planned to fail.”

With the economic crisis the whole world is experiencing, more jobs are sought than what is available. More are overworked for lesser pay. Both parents need to work to provide for the family, especially the children.

What if you still have a baby? How can you work? Leaving it to a nanny may be a solution but if you ask me, I’ll never leave my growing kids to a nanny. When I had my first baby, my mom offered to watch over her while I was at work as an employee. I’d bring her over to my mom’s house at 6am and come back at around 9pm.

On her third month, my mom gave up. If I had a Bob stroller, things would run differently. My mom gave up because she felt very tired. Since I didn’t like to have a stranger touch my family, I resigned on her 4th month and did what a mother should do: take care of her own child.

My hubby then was earning lesser than what I earned. But it’s not all about the money. The future of that little baby will be shaped by what she is during her developmental stage. Sure, I care for the money. We were considered poor. But we could eke out on the meager income that was cut more than half so we managed to live under God’s daily miracles. Besides, He promised to supply our needs daily.

Many would sort out to go out of the country, leaving the family behind, leaving a gap. Children with either or both parents out of the country, usually end up with emotional disorder. More often than not, the morality goes down the drain too.

There’s nothing wrong with being practical, nor it is wrong to plan for the future. I guess it’s just a matter of importance. What is weightier? Financial stability or moral stability?

Toilet Training Tots

C5 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:14:23 +0000

by Cecile Cinco

I have 3 children. Three opportunities to toilet-train tots. My mom had 6 opportunities of her own and 5 to learn from her directly.

As early as my children learns to walk (9 months), I started sitting them on the toilet. Yes, the adult one. I never used any of those tot versions. It would be guess-work at first as I’d never know the schedule. When I sit them I’d make the shwi-shwi-shwi-shwi sound to induce them to pee. If after 2 minutes there’s nothing, I’ll stop and get back after an hour. When it’s successful, I praise them with ‘very good!’ and from then on get them back every 3-5 hours, depending on the amount of liquid they have taken. As for the stool, I make the u-uuuuu….u-uuuuu sound to induce them. This way, I get less wet and soiled diapers.

Every year, the children get to travel at least 6-8 hours straight during the Feast of Tabernacles. No toilet. If there is, I don’t want to use any public toilet for my babies. That’s the time I’d use disposable diapers.

My Mother’s Day Share

C5 — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:20:18 +0000

by Cecile Cinco

Yesterday (Philippine time) was Mother’s Day. I headed to our monthly Women’s Club monthly meeting so I left home at 8am to catch the 9:30am meeting. While in the bus, I got my mobile phone out and started composing a new message to send to all the mothers in my phonebook. I know I missed some (ran out of load) so I just greeted them personally.

I received several greetings as well but I did not want to forward any of them. I didn’t want to merely greet the common ‘Happy Mother’s Day” either so I made my own. Though the same message was sent to several, it is surely original.

Have
A
Peaceful,
Prosperous,
Yearly,

Motherful,
Overflowing,
Treasures in
Heaven
Every
Reigning
Second

Divinely
Arranged for
You!

To all the mothers out there, I greet you the same!

One of the Mothers’ Days in the future, I’ll treat myself to enroll in one of the cosmetology colleges available to add to my skills.