Nicquee's Nook

On PNoy’s SONA

Er, actually it is about the reaction of regular Filipino like me that I want to write about.

So as expected, the SONA was all over the news last night. I did not watch it because I was busy looking aftr my girls as they sleep plus I already knew that PNoy still has a lot to accomplish and a year is not enough to judge his capabilities.

As I watched the evening news, I cannot stop myself from getting irritated to those who said they are still poor just like in the previous administration. Haller! Even if we change presidents a million times, if we do not work to have better lives, if we do not make wise decisions, NOTHING will happen! So please stop blaming other people, like the president, for your life’s state. And stop judging the person as incompetent and incapable because he cannot bring this country to the map alone!

There, end of rant. Back to work for a better life.

Bedtime Woes

Do you have a hard time putting your children to bed? I do.

You see, I have two girls and more often than not, I put both of them to sleep all by myself. Both of them have bedtime routines and no matter how tired I am, I do my best to follow through so they can get used to it.

I have no problem with Max as she has her schedule. Would you believe that even if she just woke up, if it is already her nap time, put her to bed and she will sleep again? That happens even when she just woke up two hours ago. At night, by 9 PM, she is already fussy, which means she is ready for bed time. After cleaning up, she will fall asleep in as fast as ten minutes while breastfeeding.

Ayex is the complete opposite. I clean her up after Maxyn. Since I cannot put them to sleep at the same time because I am breastfeeding Max, I listen to her stories first. When Max is asleep, I will start tapping her bottom. In between taps, she would still tell stories or ask questions until an hour of tapping has passed. In between those interruptions, I would ask her to go to sleep. There would be times when she would ask for so many things like say good night to people first, drink water, pee, and so on. She has many alibis and I cannot think where she gets them. When I get really tired, which happens a lot, I would end up raising my voice and plead her to go to sleep. Normally, it takes her two hours before finally dosing off.

School will start in a week’s time and I am very worried that Ayex’s bad sleeping habits will give me tons of headaches, wrinkles and fine lines. I want her to have complete sleep when she goes to school to make her energetic and generally happy. The thing is, I do not how can she be so good in holding back her sleepiness.

Wanted: Helper

When I was about to give birth last year, I pleaded to Ate Meriam to come back to us to take care of Maxyn. She agreed provided she can bring with her her youngest daughter, Em. That is not a problem with us so they came back to Manila April of 2010.

When Maxyn was born, Em took care of her while I was at work. Ate Meriam on the other hand took care of the household chores. Later on, we paid Em for taking care of Maxyn. When she is not doing anything, she helps her mom with the household chores. December last year, she went home to Dipolog for a short vacation and to fix her school papers as she plans to study here in Manila. While there, she had an accident. She fell off a motorcycle which caused her a broken arm. Since then, I have asked my brother to stay with us so someone can help in the household chores as Maxyn only lets Ate Meriam or me take care of her.

To cut the story short, I knew Ate Meriam cannot do the household chores and take care of the kids at the same time. For everyone’s convenience, we hired someone who will do wash our laundry and iron them. This person is a good family friend of my husband’s family for a long time now. When she services us, they always give her extra beyond what is due. One time, I told them not to give her much as she might get used to it.

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