Parenting is NOW my Main Thing

I heard it said again and again, parenting is no joke. Now that our kids are 2- and 4-years old, I agree absolutely.

Gone are the days when they are all a bundle of joy. I now have little people who have their own preferences and willing to battle with me over them. Yes, they still are sweet and clingy - as if I, and my husband, are their world - but slowly they have been becoming their own persons. So the journey gets trickier.

No quitting
Late at night, laying sweetly in bed, a little voice whimpers, "Dede please, no. 2." I turn to my resting husband and lovingly whispers, "Ok, quiet now. I will prepare your milk."

I stand up and go to the table where I have brought baby bottles and milk formula for mixing, anticipating this moment. I hand the bottle to the hungry sleeper and lay down myself. Deep in sleep, I feel a thug. "Mommy, dede please." If I let it go, the request will just grow louder which could end to the whole neighborhood waking up to crying babies.

No, I am not complaining. This job, parenting, has no end - even at the wee hours of the evening. There's no quitting either. It's tough because it's inconvenient at times.

Required improvement
"It's packing away time," I tell my kids who have moved on from playing toys to tinkering with their iPod games.

"I'm just checking my plants. Mabubulok na kase," my kid argues.

Aargh! That is my original line when excusing myself for extended minutes of playing computer games. How can I argue against the same legit reasons I gave? So I ended up cleaning up, with the lesson to grow up myself.

My kids can never be energetic if I am sluggish, or friendly if I were a snob. They model the behavior they sees, most of the time, and very embarrassing, they choose the negative ones to mimic.

Unless they are successful
During one conversation with Daddy Paul, he said, "I'm more willing to take the back seat just so they could shine." Not that I agree with it completely, I still want him to soar as he attempt great things. I am with him absolutely that we would like our kids to be better than us, and so on. I would like our family to be improving down the line, and that would depend largely on how we would spend our days now.

Appreciated past
That's why I look up to parents who have produced great children. Almost like collating a best practices book of raising kids. I know my parents couldn't have done it without the assistance and influence of our Lola Ine. Even to this day, I look back at the probinsya-way of disciplined, simple and uncomplicated way of life.

My husband and I are set to be the best parents we can be to our kids. Good luck to us.