When Your Child Gets Sick

Johan's temperature this morning

Johan's been under the weather since Thursday. His fever has been on and off since and today he's been having loose stools. Even though there's been no drastic change to his hyperactive self, I decided to file for consecutive leaves from work since yesterday until today.

I caught the bug yesterday and was feeling down as well, as I too had a slight fever, but I have to forget about myself and care for my sick child. I was deathly worried that he'd catch the notorious Dengue Virus and I've been on the look out for the usual signs. Thankfully, it's just a sore throat according to Johan's pedia which we saw yesterday and he was only prescribed an antibiotic and a cough medicine. Thank you, Lord!

I've been absent from work for two days straight and for an employee that still has no vacation leaves, two days can mean a big deduction come payroll. I actually lost more than those two days' worth of pay as I'm a performer at work and I'm consistently one of those getting the weekly awards. Since I've been absent, I am no longer qualified to this week's incentive program, neither am I on the list for the perfect attendance bonus come month-end and I can no longer run for our company's monthly valedictorian award. :(

But, if you're a mom and your child gets sick, you'd drop everything in an instant. Nothing means more than the needs of your child and during this time, my son needs me more than anything.

Struggling but still,

Quack vs MD

source

Are you a believer of Albularyo or Quack Doctor or Faith Healer? Honestly, I am not a believer. I am one of those people who does not believe on anything without scientific basis. I am aware, though, that there are some cases which medical science could not explain but until I witness a limp person was made to walk again by a Quack Doctor, then me believing in this alternative is impossible.

I don't have any firsthand experience with any Faith healers. I am not even sure if this is the same as Manghihilot, which I allow my son to be brought to. Hilot for me is the same as reflexology so there is still scientific explanation how some sickness can be treated by this method. 

What I find weird about the Faith healers are the ones who whisper prayers because I am not sure if we are praying to the same God or not. Also, I cannot see the images they "see" when they do the tawas. Maybe that's because I am not gifted like them. 

Johan has been having on and off fevers since Thursday and I've been receiving comments that I should bring him to an albularyo. But, I've been firm on my decision on bringing him to his pedia today. A decision that was welcomed with raised eyebrows and cold shoulders. :)

If I were to bring Johan to a non-medical professional, I would bring him to Father Suarez instead of the albularyo. No offense meant to those who believe, to each his own.

Before the Trick or Treat

Being a mother demands a lot of patience and I think more so if you are a mother to a boy. Boys are naturally hardheaded and naughty. My little boy included.

However, there are times when attitude is never a problem, it's just that the world seems to work against your favor. Like last weekend when we went to Johan's first Trick or Treat activity. His outfit has been planned days before, I crammed finishing his Russell, the Wilderness Explorer, uniform up to the day itself.

We left the house early so we arrive early as well, which will give me enough time to prepare Johan. He's been his usual bubbly self while in the car - dancing to music, saying "Stop" and "Go" whenever we pass by traffic lights and pointing to things asking, "As dat?", his own version of "What's that?".

Then we finally arrived at Nuvali where the Trick or Treat will take place, we made a left turn and proceeded to park the car when all of a sudden, the unexpected happened. Johan puked and it was a lot! He's soaked to his underwear and I too had puke in my pants. Johan's been wearing the pair of shorts of his Russell uniform and it's soaked as well! The carefully planned costume was ruined though I was so thankful that I made the right decision of not making Johan wear the shirt (with the neckerchief and the badges) until the last minute before the activity starts. But, his shorts?! And my pants?!

Hubby immediately parked the car on the side of the road so we could clean up. The passenger side of the car has puke all over, Johan has puke all over his face, his shirt and his shorts, I have puke at the back of my pants and people are really staring. I was thisclose to exploding because that's what happens when an OC mom's plans don't push through. I hate my smell, I hate the smell of the car and I hate that Johan's shorts were ruined.

Then I saw my little boy, standing on the side of the road (with puke all over him) looking at me with eyes wondering what's happening. I was so ashamed of myself for even thinking about the car, my soaked pants and his ruined outfit, I forgot to consider how my son might have been feeling at that moment. I immediately cleaned him up, continuously whispering, "Don't worry, it's okay." and dressed him up in a different pair of shorts and his Russell top.

And it did turn out okay, despite me and Johan smelling of puke that entire afternoon. Sometimes, I must learn how to let small things like those from affecting me too much. It isn't worth it and it definitely didn't stop us from having fun that day.

Busy Super Nanay

I am so sorry for the lack of posts. The past week until today was hectic. We had to render overtime at the office before and after the long weekend to make up for all those days that we were on holiday. We went to the cemetery on the 2nd of November. I crammed finishing Johan's Russel costume on Friday night as soon as we got home from the cemetery. That's what he wore the next day, Saturday, on his first Trick or Treat at my sister's office. And to top it all off, on Sunday, which was supposed to be everybody's rest day, I had to wash a week's worth of laundry. Yep, I am Super Nanay and I'm actually living up to my blog's name.

More on what went on during our long weekend can be found on my other blog: Lifetime of Togetherness, so please visit that as well. For now, I am going to tuck myself in beside my already sleeping little prince and have that much needed beauty sleep.

Goodnight, Mommies!

Bad Nanny

I was so shocked and terribly saddened this morning when I came across this news. A nanny in New York, apparently stabbed to death the two kids that she was paid to look after and tried to commit suicide herself. I can't imagine the horror that Maria Krim, the mother of the kids, had when she arrived home from the swimming lessons of her other child only to find that her two other kids are dead. 
This only made me even firm on not hiring a yaya. This is just one of mine and hubby's worst fears on hiring one. I know most of the yayas here in the Philippines love the children they are taking care of, I was even raised by a number of yayas given that both of my parents were working when I was young. But, times are different now. Before, it was easy to find a good-hearted yaya who who'd love your kids as if they're her own. Now, even the yayas from the agencies cannot be trusted.
We are lucky that we have my mother-in-law living with us to take care of Johan while hubby and I go to work and we have my parents as back-up caretakers should my mother-in-law had to go somewhere.
Maria Krim is a stay-at-home mom who just had to be with her other child that fateful day when tragedy happened. It is best not to judge because we all do not want nor expect bad things to happen to our children when they're out of our sight. I just read more than a few negative comments about Maria Krim and how she's a bad mother for leaving her kids with a nanny. These negative comments doesn't help in any way nor does they ease the grief that the Krim's are going through right now. Let's offer prayers instead of judgement, please.
I am a mom. Though I don't know how it feels how to lose a child, I still get chills in my bones with just the thought of it and I, in all honesty, am not sure how I would cope. I don't even know if I could move on, I'll probably go crazy. I don't really know. That's why I'm praying for Maria and Kevin Krim - I pray that they both be blessed with strength in this time of mourning and hopefully, may justice be served.

The Imperfect Super Nanay

What's the meaning of perfect anyway?

per·fect/ˈpərfikt/
Adjective: Having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.
Verb: Make (something) completely free from faults or defects, or as close to such a condition as possible.

Even though I know I excel on some things, there will always be other things that I'm sure I'll struggle at. Like parenting. One can only be good at it up to some point but there are no perfect parents. Including myself. So, here is the Super Nanay's own list of imperfections. I know you can relate. :)

1. I breastfed my son for only three months. I'm sure most moms can relate to this. I have been judged for not breastfeeding my son longer than I did and I have been tagged a bad mother because of that. If given the choice, I would have breastfed Johan for at least two years because I am aware of the benefits of breastfeeding. But, my milk dwindled on the third month until it eventually stopped flowing.

2. I allow my kid to watch TV. Our TV time at home is most probably longer than yours in your own homes.  Though, I control what programs my son watches, there are more than a few times that I allow him unlimited TV time.

3. I let my son eat french fries... and hotdog and cake and doughnut and ice cream and chocolates, just because. Yeah, you can go tsk tsking  now because I find myself tsk tsking too when I had to give in to my son's choices of food.

4. I allow him to have my drinks - from Frappe to Milk Teas to the not-so-freshly squeezed pineapple juice that you can buy at any fast food restaurants. Again, just because.

5. I scold my son. Not too loudly though, but I feel bad every time I had to and for me, that's me being imperfect.


As I've said, nobody's perfect. I am not a perfect mother and I know I never will. What I am aiming for is not to be one, but to be a good role model that my son can look up to, to be the best mother I can possibly be for him and to just love him unconditionally with all my heart.

How does a domain work?

I've been thinking about purchasing my own domain but then I realized I know nothing about it actually. Can somebody help me please? I would really, really love to be part of the .com community but I don't know what to consider in getting my own domain. Here are a few questions that I came up with:

1. Where to purchase and how much? I am gearing towards purchasing the cheapest possible.
2. How would it affect this blog on blogger.com? Will everything I've written be imported to the .com?
3. What's the guarantee that I'll get more traffic with a .com?
4. How do I design a .com? Any leads on good web designers that don't charge so much?
5. How long does a domain registration last? Is it a year?

All comments will be highly appreciated. Thank you!