How to make your Husband get you Flowers

May 22, 2018 By Leave a Comment

It has been 15 years since I last received flowers from my husband so I was overjoyed when he gave me flowers last Mother’s Day. Yep, after all these years! I finally got one.

Actually, there was a time when he would give me flowers on special occasions, from courtship all the way to our 2nd year of marriage. I guess it stopped when I inadvertently blurted out after receiving a beautiful bouquet of tulips “Nyak! Flowers sayang sa pera! Sana kinain na lang natin yan!” (Flowers what a waste of money! We should have just eaten with that money)

And he did just that, he stopped giving me flowers and instead taken me out on special occasions. And the very practical mom in me liked that, for awhile. Somehow though, in between those 15 years, I suddenly had a longing to be given flowers.

And so I waited for 15 years to be given flowers, [Read more...]

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Diastasis Recti and our PostPartum Mega Belly: Exercise Do’s and Don’ts

September 6, 2017 By Leave a Comment

“Wow! I didn’t know you’re pregnant,” a friend excitedly beamed. Well, I’m not. This has been a constant source of embarrassment for me and a good number of people, from well meaning friends and acquaintances to massage attendants and theme park staff.

You see I am small-medium sized in all parts of my body except for my tummy which is ginormously big. It started after I gave birth to my first child and went down hill from there, increasing in size with every child. I have been trying to lose it for the longest time. I have been diligently going to the gym for 15 years now, doing cardio work, muscle strength and doing hundreds of crunches and planks, and yet the pouch remains bigger than ever!

I finally decided to wave the white flag and visited a cosmetic surgeon to help me. He said I have a condition called “diastasis recti.”

What is Diastasis Recti? [Read more...]

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Road Map to Perfect Moments

March 31, 2017 By Leave a Comment

With all those perfect feeds coming my way I sometimes lose it and start looking for perfection from myself and from my kids. And the more I seek perfection, the farther away it gets. So, when I do remember how heavy the road to perfection is, I just breathe and let moments unfold. And truly there are lots of those perfect moments along the way.  Umaapaw.

Road map to Perfect Moments.  Let go of perfection.

Filed Under: Mommy Tales & Thoughts, Motherhood

Cut the To-Do List and Reduce Mommy Stress

July 25, 2016 By Leave a Comment

John-Newton-QuoteAs I mentioned in my Hello post last week,  I am changing course mid-year, downscaling grand goals for little pockets of peace in my everyday life. I realize that at this point, nothing brings me more joy than finding peace, in one’s home, in one’s relationships, in one’s life and in one’s self.

Which brings me back to a post I did a year ago about Finding Balance.

I had to remind myself that I can’t do everything but I did something. Something I chose to do that day. Whether it be to do office work, tutor my kids, write, hang out with friends or family, tidy up – it is something I chose to do that day. And it doesn’t diminish me as a person if I didn’t do any of the other gazillion things to do that day. Of course there are tasks that cannot be not done for the day like planning the meals of the family lest we die! or if it is salary time, work on the payroll, I do that. I cover that. But for all other to-do’s, if I wasn’t able to write today, it’s ok. If I wasn’t able to go to the office and instead I called and relayed my message through phone, it’s ok. If I wasn’t able to watch my child play soccer for today, it’s ok.
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Hello!

July 12, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Hello

Aaaand I’m back! It feels good to be back writing again. I have been away for almost 2 months with nary a post even in my favorite social media, Instagram.   Last May, kids and I had our summer vacation in Australia and for the most part of June we had balikbayans over for my brother’s wedding and my parent’s Wedding Anniversary.

It was a whirl of one happy event to another and my husband has been pleading me to get back to work. Hehehe. Well, I have been officially back to work July 4. And you can just imagine the looong list of things to do.

In those 2 months off the work mill, I stumbled upon an old book of mine “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff with Your Family” by Richard Carlson. It’s little nuggets of practical ways to minimize stress within the home, with all the work-at-home stuff, household chores, mommy duties, wife duties etc.  I am changing course mid-year downscaling grand goals for little pockets of peace in my everyday life. I hope to share with you these little pockets as I begin dancing again to my very own drum beat.

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Happy International Women’s Day 2016!

March 8, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Strong Woman QuoteA salute to the strong women out there who may be hovering in different worlds from parenting to wife, from worker to great friend and yet maintain a world of her own! Let us celebrate our womanhood! We deserve it mothers! Happy International Women’s Day!

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Married Couples and Valentine’s Day: Should we even celebrate it?

February 15, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Valentine'sBack in my single days, Valentine’s would have my stomach in knots in anticipation of what my then-boyfriend-now-husband has prepared for the day. Which restaurant would he take me to? Do I get tulips or roses? Now, married with 3 kids, Valentine’s is just another regular day save for the man on the street selling those heart shaped balloons and restaurants offering dinner set menus.

Frankly, after the birth of my kids, I haven’t been a great fan of Valentine’s. I mutter about the commercialism and horrible, horrible traffic it brings. My husband and I both agree it’s absurd that we will squeeze in with the crowd and get jacked-up set menus in restaurants. So I shrug it off and won’t mind a bit if my husband treats it as just one regular day, just as I would.

Something tripped in my middle-aged brain though and I turned really melancholy with the absence of the attention I previously wouldn’t have minded. I suddenly ached [Read more...]

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TheGoMom Nominated as Best Parenting Blog at Nuffnang Awards 2016 #NNMatchlessMomLilian #NUFFNANGAWARDS2016 #Blogopolis4D

February 6, 2016 By 2 Comments

 

I am beyond words!   When I received an email from Nuffnang, I felt I already won! 😉 Really, I did. I was beaming from ear to ear and I called my family to let them know of the nomination. And syempre, it wasn’t enough that I tell them, I had to make them read the nomination letter, out loud!:-)   It is a solid validation that all the hard work I put in the blog is of significant value to the parenting community.

thegomom logoWhen I started blogging, my only thought is that I wanted to write. I used to write for the collegiate paper and it is one of my true passions. Blogging has given me the opportunity to write once more within the confines of my home, a topic closest to my heart, parenting.   Blog posts came naturally as the experiences I share came from my everyday life as a mother. It covered my confession as a serial shouter, my hilarious experience with our Quentin Tarantino maid, my insight on the reality of marriage, my tips to avoid petty theft at home, to my desire for my kids to love their Filipino identity. It also covered our family travels laden with information.   And not to be discounted, as it is an integral part of the blog, are the 1,000 plus worksheets I have made for my kids, as I personally tutored them in their early years in school.

I wrote. And, I posted.   And like in the movie Field of Dreams, I built it, and people came.

Readers started dropping by as I see my statistics rise. Readers started commenting how they find the site helpful. And pretty soon, advertisers noticed it too. I have been asked several times how to be noticed by advertisers [Read more...]

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Happy New Year 2016!

January 1, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Happy-New-Year-20162015 has been chaotic for me. To-do lists hounded my days and I was always harassed, stressed and dead tired. Running after finishing one deadline after another. And it is not because I have so many things to do, it was because I was so disorganized and quite frankly, I was as slow as a snail on tranquilizer.

This 2016, the following quotes will guide my year.

Early-to-Bed-and-Early-to-Rise-Makes-a-Man-Healthy-Wealthy-and-WiseSleep is essential to me and when I don’t get enough rest, my whole body feels it and it functions on 1mb.

2015 had me sleeping late and waking up tired and stressed. I trudge through the day, brain half working causing me to produce what should have been a 2 hours worth of work to 5 or 6 hours! And because I lack sleep, I wasn’t a ray of sunshine to my little people. This year, I will try to hit the sack by 10pm and haul the kids to bed by 9:30pm.

Plan.-And-Stick-to-the-Plan2015 went by with to-do’s falling down my lap. In short, my to-do list was controlling me instead of me controlling my to-do-list. It was exhausting and really quite depressing.

This 2016, I’m writing down my goals and chunking it down to realistic, actionable to-do’s with timelines and hours that I need to spend on it.   The clock should be my ally reminding me to stick to my plan. A timer is essential to keep me focused. For instance, when I write a blog post, I have to put a 2 hour cap for writing and a one hour cap for finding photos. Therefore I can’t spend 2 hours finding inspiration on the net!

Finally, I end with my very own quote. I want to be kinder to myself and find balance. Read my full post about Balance here.

Quote about finding balanceWith the swirl of things happening around, it is essential to make a choice and . Did I plan and choose 4pm to be a time for my pre-schooler? If I did then I should not feel bad for the work left behind. Did I plan and choose to spend a few hours catching up with friends in FB? Then I should enjoy it.  Did I plan to work on accounting for the business today? Then I should feel accomplished. I’ll make a choice and find peace and joy in that choice. It’s alright, I made that choice.

New Year.  New Beginnings.

Amidst the busyness of parenthood,  I wish that all of us will find our truest and purest joy this 2016.

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Update from TheGoMom

August 13, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Hi guys! How are you?  I'm sure nerves are wracked because of the quarterly tests.  Tomorrow is the last day of exam for my kids (now grade 9 and 7) and they can't wait for finals to be over.  I have turned them over to a tutor already at Bright Tomorrow* and my life has been stress free.  Hahaha:-)  So, this is the feeling of the kids coming home with homework and review done already.  No regrets tutoring my kids in their early years of grade school though.  It was a good form of bonding, through thick and thin talaga.  Apart from giving birth and the daily reminders to them that is making me crazy, tutoring them is my ultimate form of love.  Although they think it otherwise, haha:-)
First update,  yipeee!  the download issues have been fixed.  I would like to thank you for bearing with me when I was having technical problems with the worksheet menus and downloads.  They are all fixed now, thanks to the help of TheTechieMom, you're life a saver.  (Thanks to Pat of FancyGirl for referring).  Lesson learned there,  if it's not your forte, turn it over to an expert.  She fixed the bugs in an hour!  You should not be having any trouble downloading the worksheets anymore, especially the science worksheets.
Second update, worksheets with answer keys should be available before second quarter QT!  I know 100 years, right?  Worksheets with answer keys will be available for premium members.  But don't you worry, worksheets without answer keys will still be available to everyone for free!
Thirdly,  I would like to ask Instagram parents out there to please, por favor follow TheGoMom on Instagram.  Low tech as I maybe, I have discovered the joys of Instagram.  It's full of beautiful travel and food photos, wonderfully crafted quotes and fantastic finds and tips.     TheGoMom intends to utilize Instagram as another medium to provide you with relevant and mostly localized parenting adventures, family travel recos, useful tips and tons of relatable parenting posts that would hopefully make you say, "What?!? Me too!"  After all, hard yet fulfilling tasks like parenting are best shared with friends.
Hope to see more of you here at the TheGoMom site, TheGoMom Twitter, TheGoMom Facebook, TheGoMom Instagram.
With you in this Happy Chaos called Parenting,
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*Bright Tomorrow is a new tutorial center ran by a good friend together with her fellow co-parents.  They can be reached at 623-4934.  They are located at Unit 201 Samia Tower, 81 Xavier Residences, Xavier Street, Greenhills, San Juan.

Filed Under: Blogging, Random Thoughts

Mommy Friendships

July 6, 2015 By Leave a Comment

friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What? You too? I thought I was the only one!" by CS Lewis

I stumbled upon this quote and thought OMG this is what my mommy friendships are all about.  Sharing those, "what you too?" moments that makes us reach for the oxygen when our kids are not in their sunny best and those "awww" moments that makes up for it.

Over the years since I have become a mom, I have forged new friendships to include my circle of moms from my son's school and daughter's school.  I have also forged friendships with my fellow bloggers, mostly moms as well.

Having a cup of coffee or enjoying brunch that turns into merienda is like going to the doctor for therapy minus the chair and fees. I tell them the truth.  The truth that my kids are not perfect, I'm not perfect but we all try.  And like a pint of my favorite gelato it always makes me feel better.   It tells me that we all have our great moments as well as the shameful ones when we blow our lungs out or cry like the frustrated 3 year old we are taking care of.  And it isn't that awful because they excitedly scream, "OMG!  What? You too? I thought I was the only one."

Read my post on: Shouting is the new Spanking

When parenting seems to be just so hard just remember, maybe 99% of the parent population is having it just as hard:-)

P.S. Guys TheGoMom has an Instagram (@thegomom) account and I hope you can join me there too.  Pleassse:-) I promise to give you guys insightful, informative and relatable posts to look forward to.  Appreciate it!

Trapped Between a Scream and a Hug,

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Olay Miracle Duo: 2 Steps to Younger Looking Skin

May 20, 2015 By 2 Comments

Admit it or not, everyone, moms especially, are concerned about aging.   Whenever my mommy friends and I get together our train of conversation will start with the kids, husband, a little bit of work, hobbies and end with fashion and beauty tips.  As a mom who is over 30 hahaha, bakit over 30 naman talaga ako?:-),  I make an extra effort to keep myself younger looking.  It's not because I'm not comfortable with aging, but it's primarily because it perks my mood when I look pretty (walang kokontra;-)) and youthful.  And God knows we need the energy of youth when we are juggling motherhood and work:-)

According to scientific studies done by Olay, one of the world's most trusted skin care brands, as we age the Skin Cell Energy in our skin declines leading to dullness, fatigue and aging.

Olay Miracle Duo Skin Cell Energy

Skin Cell Energy is the cell responsible for producing and maintaining radiance, firmness and hydration. The decrease of Skin Cell Energy affects skin’s ability to fight signs of skin ageing and its ability to absorb anti-ageing treatments.

It is with this revolutionary finding that Olay proudly announces another product breakthrough - the new Olay Regenerist Miracle Boost Youth Pre-Essence. It is designed to boost the penetration of anti-aging actives of our moisturizer to increase skin cell metabolism and renewal for stunning, youthful skin that looks up to 10 years younger.

Olay Miracle Duo

The Olay Miracle Boost Youth Pre-Essence promises:

  • To boost cell energy by 35% to strengthen skin’s inherent young power
  • To trigger self-collagen production for bouncy, younger looking skin
  • To renew a million surface cells to visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles, pores and firms the skin

And because Olay Miracle Boost Youth Pre-Essence boosts penetration of anti-aging actives of our moisturizer, it is best paired with the award-winning Olay Regenerist Micro-sculpting Cream.

Olay Miracle Duo

Together, the two products form the new #MiracleDuo to give us:

  • 2X key active penetration into epidermis;
  • Skin that looks up to 10 years younger.

Olay recommends using #MiracleDuo after cleansing and toning, twice a day: once in the morning after bath and before bedtime for best results.

How to Use Olay Miracle Duo

My next beauty discovery contribution in my next lunch with my mommy friends - #MiracleDuo.  Can't wait to finish up the bottle and look 10 years younger!  Happiness!

You can get your New Olay Regenerist Miracle Boost Youth Pre-essence (SRP: Php1399) exclusively at Lazada.com.ph/Olay starting May 2015.  Olay Regenerist Microsculpting Cream (SRP: Php1499) is available in Lazada, leading drugstores, department stores, and supermarkets.

Quoting Olay, "I love my age. I just don't want to look it."

Disclosure:  Thanks to Olay Philippines for sponsoring this post and for providing me the #MiracleDuo.  Although this post is sponsored, opinions expressed here remains to be my own.

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Clean is the New Sexy

May 2, 2015 By Leave a Comment

I have mommy flabs.  Lots and lots of it.  But as I grew wiser in years, I have come to accept my body, all its flaws and pluses.   I have learned to work around it.  I think I have nice shoulders,  I wear halters.  I have a big, humongous, gargantuan tummy, I wear clothes that are halters but hide the tummy.  But one thing that makes me feel good about myself is when I'm clean.  And clean, as BETADINE Feminine Wash espouses is the new Sexy!

BETADINE Feminine Wash promotes sexiness, we moms can easily execute and carry.

BETADINE Feminine Wash

What can we do twice a week?  We step up our intimate area cleaning routine beyond our regular feminine wash and include washing with BETADINE Feminine Wash TWICE a week.  BETADINE Feminine Wash is an anti-septic feminine wash with a stronger cleaning agent than regular feminine wash.

Last April 28, bloggers and media people were invited to witness the SEXY CLEAN REVOLUTION BETADINE Feminine Wash is bringing to life.  We had a relaxing afternoon at the poolside of the Intercon Hotel.

Flawless had a mini-golf booth where I got a birdie!:-) And I had a foot massage and pedicure by the poolside by Posh Nails.

Flawless had a mini-golf booth where I got a birdie!:-) And I had a foot massage and pedicure by the poolside by Posh Nails.

The event set-up was posh, with white couch chairs dotting the garden by the pool, pool lounge chairs spread out with Posh Nails attendants giving us foot and back massages and pedicures and manicures.

Betadine Feminine Wash Sexy is clean revolution

After all the pampering, BETADINE Feminine Wash provided a very informative talk on feminine care, that we busy moms sometimes take for granted.

For moms who just gave birth, our intimate area just went through surgery! BETADINE Feminine Wash, contains Povidone-Iodine (same ingredient in the Betadine wound disinfection solution) will help aid in faster healing of our post-pregnancy stitches.

For moms who are in their menstrual period,  blood is flowing out there and we need something stronger to clean that up:-)  BETADINE Feminine Wash will make us ultra-squeaky clean during those red days.

And for those regular days, when we are just out there - climbing the corporate ladder or running a business, running after our kids or sweating it out in the gym in this hot, hot weather of our beloved Philippines,  using BETADINE Feminine Wash TWICE a week can help us stay clean and protected.  It contains PVP-Iodine that kills bacteria, viruses and fungi - the common causes of irritation, itchiness and odor in our intimate area (Please visit BETADINE's official website for more product details).

To further encourage Filipinas to get into the twice a week habit, BETADINE Feminine Wash partners up with Flawless and Posh Nails.  For Flawless, just present the receipt and box of BETADINE Feminine Wash 100ml and get 20% off on Flawless All Natural Ultimate White Facial and Cell Booster Infusion Mask.

Betadine Feminine Wash Promo

For Posh Nails, present box and receipt of BETADINE Feminine Wash 100ml as well and get 10% off on all Posh Nails' services (excluding basic manicure and pedicure services).

BETADINE Feminine Wash wants all of us to stay clean, during and even beyond our red days.  This is the movement that BETADINE Feminine Wash hopes to bring to life.  It's a SEXY CLEAN REVOLUTION!  Do it Twice a week!

Clean is the New Sexy!

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Finding Balance: Can we Moms Achieve it?

February 23, 2015 By 2 Comments

Quote on BalanceHi guys!  I feel so bad I haven't written anything for quite awhile.  It's been super duper busy and crazy for me for quite sometime.

Did I tell you I'm working already?  After 12 years of being a full time mom with just some minor rackets on the side,  I am now back to work.  It is not an 8-5 kind of work though but it takes in a lot of my hours. My husband, brother and I got into business and now I have to contend with HR duties (level of stress: Red Alert), lots of coordination and accounting.  Of course,  I also have my commitment to you my buddies in motherhood here at TheGoMom.   And truth be told,  I would rather write hehe but my husband says we need to eat.

The adjustment is quite tough on me and I guess for my kids too. For my kids,  mommy is less available, always preoccupied and oh so cranky. For myself,  I am constantly wavering in between feelings of guilt that I'm not able to spend more time with the kids (especially my toddler) and trying to get some work done.

Right now,  I'm trying to find the happy balance between all the things in my plate.  Ang dami eh.  Work. Blogging. Social media chika update from Facebook, Instagram. Working out in the gym. Reading. Hanging out with family and friends. Spending time with the kids. Tutoring the kids. Household errands.  Spending time with the husbandry.  And of course, sleep.

In my crazy fanatical way to restore balance, I thought I could do away with removing some things off my plate ...

Like, sleep.  I tried cutting it down to 6 hours a day.  Oh men,  I was cranky and my tongue was biting off my kids every second.  Plus,  I spent more time laboring over a menial brain task because my brain was half dead.   Engk, can't cut back on this.  I need my full 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Gym.  Gym takes an hour for the work-out, not to mention the commute to and fro. But nooo!,   my weight ballooned to epic proportions!  And more than that,  I don't feel good. I feel sluggish and ironically constantly tired.  My body needs that work-out.

And then I stopped checking on the kids homework figuring they are already big.  Sadly,  their grades dipped.  I still have to check on them and monitor their homework and quizzes, especially for my 11 year old.

So I guess my ramblings has led me to deduce that everything in my plate, I do need.  I cannot just remove one or drastically cut another (ok, maybe I can radically cut my social media hours).  Everything there is what I am.  I just have to organize my priorities and give the proper time for each area of my life.   As I said in my New Year 2015 post,  "discipline and order" will be my resounding mantra for the year.

What do I choose to do today, tomorrow or next week?  How many hours should I spend on it? What time should I do it?  How much time should I spend on it?   And stick to it.

In the end, balance is making choices from the things in my plate. And being at peace with the choices I have made.

Finding Balance,

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Happy New Year 2015!

January 4, 2015 By 2 Comments

New Years QuoteHappy 2015 everyone!

The holidays has been packed and busy for me and it is only now that I have time to sit down to recollect on 2014 and plan on 2015.

2014 has been fun and very, very busy for me.

  • TheGoMom joined Nuffnang.  Joining Nuffnang has been monumentally great  for TheGoMom.  For 5 years I was writing posts and doing worksheets and advertisers would nary come by except for a trickle here and there.  Thanks to  Nuffnang,  TheGoMom finally has some sponsors.  Yay!:-)  I grew my circle of friends and met the wonderful people of Nuffnang and a few mommy bloggers. And my daughter and I had more bonding activities thanks to the numerous, mostly "crafty" mommy events.
  • Our family business is going on its second year and I'm finally taking a grasp of its ins and outs - taking care of clients, doing HR and finance work.
  • It was my highschool batch reunion and I had a great time reconnecting with old friends.  Preparing for the dance presentation, planning the reunion party - it was all a blast!
  • On a personal note,  I think I have become more tolerant and more accepting of the differences my kids and I have.  I have been kinder to others and more importantly, to myself.

With that, I can say 2014 has been very good to me.  However, because of the flurry of activities my life was in constant chaos.  Every year I have a banner mantra, my catchword for the year that guides me in my every step.  Last year it was "be present" this year it is "order and discipline."  I have to regain control of my life by creating realistic plans, both general and specific, and having the will and discipline to see through them.

2015. New Year.  New Beginnings.

Amidst the busyness of parenthood,  I wish that all of you will find your truest and purest joy this 2015.

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