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Posted by Mommy Woobie on December 3rd, 2007 in Proud Mommy

Christmas is the best time of the year to be a kid again.

This is my third Christmas as a mom. It’s a nice feeling to be able to see my son enjoying Christmas each year as he grows older. His first 2 probably did not register much, and this year is the first time that he will be aware of the spirit of the season. Lights will be everywhere and people will be very nice to each other. Gifts will be given to him by well-wishers.

Back home, they will be having a blast too. ‘Tis the time to be partying and people will flock to our stores to avail of catering services and food packages. It’s the time for the bonus! People will have money to spend.

Amidst the gaiety, I remember the lessons taught to us by our elders. Christmas is the time to love: everyone, yourself, people you know and people you don’t know. Every festivity must come with the prayer for those who have less.

I can’t wait for Christmas.

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Posted by Mommy Woobie on December 2nd, 2007 in Proud Mommy

As we celebrate my son’s second birthday I recollect the changes I experienced with my transformation to a mother.

First of, I’ve learned to appreciate kids. When I was single, I often thought that kids in the malls are annoyingly noisy and boisterous. Now, I see them and I smile as their parents try to restrain them. I pay attention to their clothes and what the present trends are in baby fashion. I frequent the baby stalls more and more looking for nice stuff that my son will like. I have learned to appreciate how the world needs the next generation and just how equally important my role is in shaping the future of the world.

Being a mom is also scary. I’ve been paranoid as a single person, now more so. I have been listing some professions that I have always believed were hazardous to any person, such as:

* soldier - you have no control over the bullets that come your way. No amount of training could prevent the trajectory of that bullet from going to your direction.

* astronaut - where on earth will I look for you if you get lost, when your location is not even on earth?

I laugh at myself as I wrote that. Most parents will probably frown at me for discouraging my kid from dreaming of doing heroic deeds. My only excuse will have to be my new-ness to momhood and my residual selfishness from my single life.

When you become a mom, your life becomes worthless to you, and you will give it in a jiffy if needed when it means your son will live. I remember the complications of my childbirth and how my own mother must have felt when her child is at the brink of death. If it did come down to choosing who to live (if my childbirth eclampsia got out of hand), my mother would have chosen me, but I would have chosen my son.

Right now my only wish is for my son to grow up loving me, despite my weaknesses, my occasional grumpiness and my constant (s)mothering. He may grow up someday and have kids of his own, get a job and find other people to love. But for now, I am the only woman he knows and worships. I will enjoy that for as long as it lasts.

Happy birthday, son.

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Posted by Mommy Woobie on December 2nd, 2007 in Proud Mommy

The world’s most spectacular boy is 2 years old today. Let me take a minute to reflect on how I was 2 years ago.

Part I:

* Stirups hurt my legs but I didn’t mind because the pain inside my body was stronger.
* Nurses are gossiping about the woman in the other delivery room. She and her husband were being pressured to make love right there and then because they refused to take medicines to induce contractions, and sex was the only [natural] way. I would have loved to laugh with them if I didn’t feel so terrible.
* I kept calling the syringes they were using to administer dormicum to me as “icepick”.
* I was so disoriented that I probably wrote a 100-post blog in my head during my 18-hour labor.
* I was praying Our Father in my head but was shouting “Jesus please bless and agi-up me!!!”
* I thought my intern attendant had the cutest scrub suit… frogs! Made me feel like I was in a slumber party.
* People were passing my cubicle saying “hi” and I said “hi” back… completely forgetting that the first thing they see when they look in my direction was my private part that was being shaved by the nurse.

Part II:

* I remember the helpless panic i felt when they told me my labor has gone on too long already, my blood pressure was unstable and my baby could die if they don’t get him out ASAP.
* I remember my doctor describing the Caesarian Operation to me and I was nodding as if I understood. I didn’t.
* I remember the cold sweat on my body and how I trembled on the stretcher as I was being wheeled to the operating room.
* I remember waking up in the recovery room with only my attending intern, initially feeling very empty because for the first time in months, my tummy was flat.

Part III:

* I was with my newborn baby for the first time. I held him in my arms and thought, “thank God he looks like me!”
* I smiled at my mom who came all the way from La Union and saw her in a different light. The first thing she said was, “now you know how that felt, will you be kinder to me?” I laughed and said, “My child’s a boy, I’m not getting nasty-daughter karma anytime soon.”
* I remember looking at my hubby for a long time when he suggested (dictated) the name he wants for our boy. It was the same name he claims to have invented when he was just in high school. He hates the thought of calling our baby Junior, but he named our kid after the alter ego he created.

AJ at birth, fresh from mommy’s tummy.

Motherhood changed me. He is my rock and my treasure. Even at an early age, he already shows promise of being a great person someday.

I thank God for the blessing, and I thank my hubby for the seed.

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Posted by Mommy Woobie on December 2nd, 2007 in Mommy Alert

I and hubby were discussing some christmas goodies to buy our little one when the subject of the R18 rating of the latest Sesame Street DVD featuring the classic episodes was brought up. Yep, you read that right, the Sesame Street show that our generation chewed on daily during our early years has been stamped with the “Adults Only” tag (the warning is actually on the box!).

This article in New York Times states:

According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

Ernie and Bert’s homosexuality and living together turns out to be a non-issue compared to the other social misdemeanors that are subliminally featured on the early episodes. A lot of the scary issues parents are facing in the present day are actual scenes from the early Sesame Street. Among the many that are mentioned in New York Times blog are the following scenes:

* A girl is sitting alone when an older stranger approaches her to make friends. He then invites her over to his house and she gleefully agrees. (pedophilia?)

* Oscar the Grouch lives alone in his bin, deteriorating in his mood swings and depression with nobody to help him. Everybody treads gingerly when passing by as he tends to snap at anyone he feels like being grouchy to. (antisocial/sociopathic behavior?)

* In the first runs, no one was overtly cheerful, except Ernie who seemed a little dumb and slow to learn.

* Cookie Monster blatantly encouraged the concept of addictive behavior (cookies… want cookies… need cookies…)

* Big Bird tried to convince everyone in a creepy, strained tone that his imaginary friend (Snuffleupagus) was a real, living creature. Like he was in a perpetual state of hallucination… like he was high on something….

Overreactions? Exaggerations?

Admittedly, maybe only paranoid adults painted the show’s noble child-friendly stance with lurid pictures of reality. But looking at how this generation (the ones who viewed the episodes in question on a daily basis when they were kids) turned out, I’d say we cannot risk the psychological stability of the next ones by allowing shows with ‘adult’ themes to feed their subliminal messages to our kids.

I wasn’t a Sesame Street kid, I was a Batibot kid. Sesame Street freaked me out, even before. The only thing I liked in that show was the pinball showing different numbers.

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Posted by Mommy Woobie on December 2nd, 2007 in Proud Mommy

I don’t claim to be the most selfish girl in the world (THAT particular title already belongs to one of my bestfriends, Carol… self-proclaimed, haha), but I am selfish enough to grasp the magnitude of how positively selfless Motherhood can be.

I see my baby smiling as he plays alone in his crib. He turns around to see me finally awake. He laughs, and then remembers he’s hungry, so he cries. Humming to myself preparing his milk, it feels funny how this same time around 2 or so years ago, I was already up and about going to the office or to French class. Making myself busy, so I won’t have to stay awake long in my dreary apartment all alone.Nowadays, I can’t wait to get out of bed so I can see my son smile. Every payday, I always think of what special meal i will prepare for my son, as i browse through the baby food section in the grocery. This really is not about me anymore, is it? Strangely enough, I’m happy. Very much so.

Right now he (we all know who this is now, don’t we? hehe) is teething badly and I’m really distraught whenever he looks like he’s in pain. No matter how much reassurance I get from my family, friends, bong’s family, bong and even babycare resource books, I still get a knot in my tummy when my little one is suffering and there’s nothing I can do.

Hallelujah for one erupted tooth!!! This morning we wake up to see a thin white thing on his gum line. He’s laughing like the sleeplessness of the past night did not happen. I feel like breaking open a bottle of champagne and celebrating the FIRST TOOTH!!!

You see, I could go on and on about my daily life as a mom. But now i officially claim the title of “Mother of the Year”. Before anyone that i know of could claim it first. Yeah, that’s me. All Woman. All Mother.

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Posted by Mommy Woobie on December 2nd, 2007 in Mommy Thoughts, Pregnancy, Proud Mommy

It was morning in an ordinary day in my apartment in Pasay… Woke up thinking… “what’s for breakfast?”… i opened up my purse and found a tiny packet i purchased earlier that week … I remember thinking “Sure why not…” Automatically, i put on my glasses on eyes half shut… Half-awake… stumbling through the kitchen towards the bathroom…

Don’t you just think it’s funny how you have this song running through and through in your mind when you’re not really focused on anything? Well, that morning, Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry wafted through my muddled brain and was on auto-repeat …

Drip, Drip, Drip goes the dropper… and 2 lines appeared… Stumbling through the kitchen (forgot to bring up my shorts), I rushed towards my purse for the p-kit box, all the while asking….

“what does 2 lines mean again?!?”…

After the initial shock, I started laughing… dancing and laughing alone in my kitchen … Looking at the ceiling and wordlessly saying … “Hi God… You really DO exist!!! i mean like, wow, you’re really HERE!!!!” It’s funny how we become closer to His divine presence when we experience miracles like this.

My only other thought at that moment was “Oh yeah, i’m soooo ready… weeeeee!!!!”. After which, the life i thought i knew flew out the window… As happiness filled my heart, I realized that all the ideas about the world being my playground was just no-brainer foolishness…

It’s time.

I immediately called the new dad on the cel and said “babe, turn on your YM i have to show you something…” ^_^

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