Motherhood and Holidays

I’ve always been conscious about not turning my blog into a “tutorial” of some sorts. I will feel embarrassed to do so. Sure, I can share some items that I’m loving, a few recipes here and there but not a “how-to-do-this” blog, especially about motherhood. Never that.

The reason for this is because I am also learning and I will be forever learning. I’ve read something when I was pregnant about that mommy guilt that automatically gets built-in, the moment you give birth and I couldn’t agree more. No matter how hard we try, at the end of the day we always ask ourselves: are we doing it right? Are we giving enough?

I’ve been feeling this way, the past few days months. This year has been a really busy year for my business and although I am so thankful for all the blessings, there’s always this small voice at the back of my head nudging reminding me that I am a wife and mom first. No matter how far we’ve come as women, doing everything, being everything, I guess there will always be that “mommy guilt” when you get too busy and juggle everything and justify that’s its all for your children.

Heh. Anyway, I’ve been reading so many articles about how different it is raising a boy. Hunter is now at that age when his personality is really emerging and he is now a big ball of energy bouncing all over the place.  I’m trying my best to keep up. I know there is no right formula about parenting but it won’t hurt to read as much as we can and just apply whatever works for us.

From all the articles I’ve been reading girls generally follow rules easier, stay put longer and focus on school and excel academically. Sometimes the challenge is not to fall into the trap of comparing our son to the girls in his class/group. Everyone develops at their own pace—and it all evens out in the end.

Personally, I am happy that I have a boy as my first child. Growing up with three sisters, I know how girls develop and mature earlier than boys. I like to think that him being the first child automatically makes him more responsible because he is in-charge. He will have that “first-child” personality.

“You may think you’ve birthed a baby boy, but you just gave the world another man.”

Anyway, my body clock is all messed up right now. I have less than two weeks to finish my big projects and all Christmas orders as well as finalizing all the details of the new store. After all this hoopla, I will slow down and enjoy the rest of the holidays. I promise.

Speaking of holidays. Yes, we celebrated Thanksgiving. I cooked everything! I’m proud to report that this mommy guilt does have its advantages if you wield it properly. After days of being so busy with projects and such, I was able to whip up Pumpkin Soup, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy from scratch together with Roasted Chicken and Apple pie. Nothing too fancy.

It may sound pretentious, celebrating Thanksgiving in the Philippines, I know. But I just want Hunter to grow up being aware about the basics even though he lives here. And really, we don’t need any holiday to be thankful everyday for all the blessings.