The D Spot

Expo Mom 2009 will be held on 9-10 May 2009 at Rockwell Tent. It is a “discovery expo for moms and their families”. Complete Program of Activities is found at the end of this article.

As part of their activities, ExpoMom 2009 carried out a writing contest, with the title, What’s a Day in your Life Like?

I joined the writing contest not to win, but to share my life story to those who do not know me yet. Yes–to touch their lives, and somehow welcome them to the joy of parenting. Parenting does not need to be stressful nor does it need to be a set of rules. Parenting though is a lifetime commitment, which means that early on in parenting, one needs to strike a balance–work, play, loving and taking care of self, making decisions, and so on and so forth.

Here is my (unedited) entry to the contest, which incidentally, was chosen as one of the 5 winners, along with:

* Bettina del Rosario, a differently-abled, single mom working hard for her son;
* Bunny, a working mom balancing night shifts in her call center job with her life as an active mother;
* Ria, a stay at home mom “living life to the fullest”;
* Sexymom, a mom in her 50s raising 7 kids, striving for balance (this is my entry);
* Elle Tan, a nursing mom dealing with challenges most of us face or have faced, whose poem about her day caught our attention;

Full text of most of the entries are found here:

What’s a Day (and Night) in the Life of a Mom of 7?

Raising 7 children is no joke–one has to be a supermom to have the tenacity and strength to lead them through each day. But I am no supermom. I am just a simple mom–one, who 2-1/2 years ago decided to give up a luxurious career that not only paid well but had a lot of perks that anyone will envy (jet setting 1/3 of the time for 15 years, living in 5-star hotels for 6 months at most, rubbing elbows with high government officials all over Asia, as part of the work in an international development bank headquartered in Manila). I wanted to “be home” and to shift from a part time virtual parent to a full time face-to-face real life parent. Not that being a virtual parent, like our very dear OFWs, is not a good thing. We all know that a lot of parents have to sacrifice, all for the sake of their dear ones.

I am lucky I have the choice; not all parents have this option. So what’s a day (and night) is in the life of a mom of 7?

Six children stay with me at home, 3 in college, 1 in high school, 1 in grade school, and 1 reviewing for the bar, plus a mother, a hubby, 3 dogs and 3 kittens to look after. 24/7 (almost) I am in charge of the home, both as a mother and as a co-breadwinner. Awake, almost 24/7, with power naps in between (at this age, okay, I am 51, one can cope with 5-6 hours sleep combined), I see the children come and go.

When they wake up in the morning, they see me up and about–plant sometimes wet kisses on my face, on my hair, wherever they fancy, share breakfast, sign school memos, share stories (yes, we still manage, as long as they do not talk together) then we say good-bye. The bigger ones, have different class schedules. Hubby also leaves for work. When everyone is off, I have the house all to myself (and yes, my mom).

And I go on with my work–what is satisfying with my work is that I am able to fulfill my wish of being able to help as many people as possible to have meaningful work and income. I have writers and virtual assistants all over the country–they, too, are my children. The older ones, I call my colleagues and friends.

In between come the text messages from the kids (and YM/GTalk from those who have their own laptops). Not everyday is as smooth as can be. Of course, there are challenges along the way–raising a large family has its equivalent in terms of money–bills to pay, tuition fees, the basic necessities, food, entertainment, socials, etc., etc.

When they all start coming home, everyone settles in comfortably–in their rooms, in the living room, then they start going online. In this time of the “Internet and computer age”, I don’t think I can stop them. Yes, we chat (YM, Skype, GTalk) in between, play online games against each other, etc.

At 6pm, I rush to the church in our village and hear Mass, and thank the good Lord for the wonderful blessings of family and friends. Then dinner.

What’s more, many of them work for me and their eldest brother (who is my partner at work, and who lives 5 houses away from us). I pay them P100/hour for real work–some do administrative work, transcriptioning, writing, uploading/downloading, etc. We watch TV together, we have our favorite telenovela, currently Tayong Dalawa.

At the end of the day–we have our most favorite time of the day together. Right before the evening family prayers is the time for family bonding. It’s the favorite time of all the kids, they share their tidbits, joke with each other, even tickle each other. That takes 15-30 minutes before hubby says, let’s pray. This is the real secret in raising family. There is a feeling of fulfillment here compared to the gimmicks the family is into time and again, the movies, dinners outside, staying in 5-star hotels, malling, and the many things that all Filipino families go into.

How do I maintain a balance? It’s all a matter of strategy, the most important of which is keeping communications open, and of course, making Christ the center of our lives. I was able to raise 7 kids an continue to raise them, as good upright citizens, and loving children of God. Truth is, it seems like raising them is easy compared to my counterparts who have only 1 or 2 kids.

I also always say, “A happy home is better than a clean house.”

Soon, down the lane, I will be able to fully realize my Mission Statement:

mommy, mama, mom, ma—any which way
mother to 7 wonderful blessings
a lifetime commitment
parent, friend, companion, mentor, support
to mold each child from infancy to adulthood
to guide and lead each child to become
an upright citizen and worthy child of God
to love with utter selflessness
in all understanding, sympathy, forgiveness
amidst the challenges of this changing world
each moment, a pleasure, what joy!
my cup overflows and I am thankful
I am but their custodian
time will come when I will face my Creator
to humbly say, “mission accomplished!”

PLEASE COME AND JOIN THE FUN.  Incidentally, a group of mom bloggers (I will be there, too) will be manning a booth to show those who are interested the 101 of Blogging.

Here is the Program of Activities

May 9, Saturday
10:00 am- EXPO MOM OPENS
11:30 am- FORMAL OPENING & WELCOME
1:00 pm – Sponsor’s Portion
1:30 pm- What every woman needs to know about cervical cancer
2:00 pm- Kindermusik for Toddlers & Kids by Teacher Jeannie Castillo
2:30 pm- Baby Sign Language by Jaymie Pizarro
3:00 pm- Sponsor’s Talk: Baby Ready with J&J
3:30 pm- Attachment Parenting & Baby Wearing by Jen Tan
4:00 pm- Yoga Kids by Michelle Aventajado
4:30 pm- Musical Number by My Masterpiece Multi-Arts school
5:30 pm- Onstage Games
6:00 pm- Mom Massage Demo by Vier Tajonera

Raffle Draw

8:00 pm CLOSING

May 10, Sunday
10:00 am- EXPO MOM DAY 2 OPENS
10:30 am- Musical Number by My Masterpiece Multi-arts School
11:30 am Onstage Games
12:30 pm Gymboree Portion
1:30 pm Healthy Meals by Dona Elena Olive Oil
2:00 pm Belly Dancing for Expectant Moms by Dr. Faye Cagayan

Onstage Games

2:30 pm Your Baby Can Read! Talk
3:00 pm Happy Belly Health & Fitness by Rome Kanapi
3:30 pm A Mom’s Life Talk Show (tentative)
4:30 pm Mommy Fashion by Contour Fashion/D&A Fashion
5:00 pm Expo Mom Get Together with Live Acoustic music by Paolo Santos

Raffle Draw

8:00 pm Closing

*Schedules may change without notice.

Related Posts

• Nicanor Perlas--Championing alternative politics for a better Philippines
• My Top 10 Viral Videos in 2009
• Blog Action Day '09 Climate Change: There is HOPE...if only
• A(H1N1) flu virus--will it make us less physical and intimate with those that we love?
• Blogging 101 (a basic introduction)
• iBlog 5--the Fifth Philippine Blogging Summit
• Expo Mom 2009--What’s a Day (and Night) Like in the Life of a Mom of 7? (a winning entry)