Thursday, August 02, 2018

The 10 toilet-training tools you need

Congratulate me, mamas. I am finally done with the baby stage! With my youngest boy, Piero, finally out of diapers, we are now truly in the kid stage. That means I'm dealing with tons of sweat, a life that revolves around school, my kids making their own friends, and lots of briefs in the laundry basket. A new life indeed!


People tell me all the time, "Aww don't you miss having a baby?" Nope. I loved having babies, of course. I loved the toddler stage. What I love most? I love that it's done! Having gone through it three times and over 8 years (EIGHT YEARS), I am so happy to move on! Just thinking of full diapers, dealing with poop every single morning, toilet-training and I know I'm done with babies. If I could, I'd throw a massive party saying good-bye to that phase in my life!

After three kids successfully out of diapers, I think I'm qualified to give tips on toilet-training. So I will! For today, let me share the tools you'll need when you're in this oh-so messy stage in your child's life. Here's what you need:

1. Training pants
I can't tell you enough how surprised I was at how training pants really work! I only tried training pants with my third little boy. I honestly didn't think they were necessary because we didn't use them with my first two boys.

But I discovered BabyLove Premium Gold Pants (because Piero liked the baby on the packaging) and so we gave training pants a try and—my goodness!—it worked! It worked because it made Piero get used to the pulling down and pulling up action whenever he needed to use the toilet. He also liked that the BabyLove "diapants" made him feel secure, that he could have accidents a little. It wasn't traumatizing at all. So he didn't feel panicky when he had to go because if he leaked a little, the diapants will catch it, and yet because he knew the diapants were easy to pull down, he was willing to run to the toilet.

If you want to try BabyLove Premium Gold Pants, there's a sale on Shopee right now till Sunday. Click here to shop!

2. Wipes
Ah yes, a mother's best friend! You're going to need this near you at all times in case of accidents and to wipe the toilet seat clean.

3. Target
This is for little boys learning to pee. It's hard for them to control the angle of their pee and they also get surprised at how it comes out. Remember, they've always peed in a diaper so they've never actually seen their pee coming out of their penis. So expect them to watch their pee coming out instead of focusing on keeping their pee in the toilet!

What can help is putting a colorful target in the bowl. You can use one Fruit Loop floating on the water. Other moms put a sticker just above the water line. It's easily peeled off after a few flushes.

4. Paper towels
Rags will do, too. You'll need to wipe pee and poo off the floor or the toilet seat or chubby thighs in case of accidents.

The last few days when Piero was still wearing diapers announced on Facebook!

5. Antibacterial soap and alcohol
Potty training is a messy business. When I potty-trained my second boy, Iñigo, I got bad diarrhea for 6 weeks and had to see a gastroenterologist for relief. I'm afraid I was careless with washing and disinfecting my hands. I'm glad it happened to me instead of one or all of the kids!

6. Spray bottle with diluted bleach
This is for quick clean-ups so you won't get overwhelmed with the messiness that potty training brings. Just dilute some bathroom cleaner or bleach with some water, put in a spray bottle, spray all surfaces on and around the toilet after your child uses the bathroom, then wipe with a tissue.

7. Pads
These are for your child's bed. I put one under the fitted sheet so that in case my little boy pees in his sleep, the mattress is protected.

8. Pail
This is for rags and briefs and other clothing that need to be washed. Just throw them in so you can attend to them later.

9. Rewards
Toys always work! Especially with my first son, Vito. He got a Lego minifig after each pee and poo appointment haha Toys get the kids excited, knowing a little toy is waiting for them when they successfully use the toilet.

10. Lots of patience!
Every child is different. My kids were toilet-trained "late." Vito at 4 and 2 months, Iñigo at 3 years old exactly, and Piero at 4 years old exactly. Many parents think a child should be toilet-trained before a year old. I think some things should be determined by the child's readiness. Weaning, starting on solid food, walking, potty training. If you wait until the child's ready, potty training is done in 3 days and it's so painless and not so messy because the child is excited to become a big boy. If you force a child, potty training can take a loooooong time, and be full of frustration and accidents and misunderstandings.

So be patient for your child to be ready and be patient when you're going through potty training. Your patience will be rewarded with a happy and accomplished child!

Okay, I hope my list of essential toilet-training tools helped you, mamas! Do try BabyLove Premium Gold Pants. Take advantage of the Shopee sale happening right now till Sunday. Click here to shop!


*This post was brought to you by BabyLove.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Special birthday gifts


My littlest boy isn't so little anymore. Suddenly, this July, when he turned 4, he decided he was ready for school and he was going to use the toilet "like a big boy." All throughout summer, he insisted he wasn't going to do any of that because "I am still a baby, Mama. I'll always be your baby, right?"

So we thought, okay, no pressure, he can stay our baby for one year more. But we don't know what happened. Maybe the birthday triggered it but Piero changed his mind and we're so happily surprised this whole of July! What a gift to us that he made us so proud!


My darling Piero. This is his tiny birthday party at 6 o'clock in the morning. It was a weekday so his older brothers had school and had to go.

I wanted to celebrate properly after school—with all of us dressed for the pictures, the table set, the gifts out, more time. But the boys woke up shouting, "Happy birthday, Piero!" "Is my birthday, Mama!" "Where's the cake?" "Where my gifts?" "What's your wish?" "I'm 4! I'm FOH!!!"


Sooooo... We just had to do the tiniest party we've ever done as the sun was rising on a most wonderful day!


That blurry image to the right is my hand trying to get him away from his candle. That boy. He always gives me a heart attack. But that's his gift to me: the gift of endless surprise and humility.

We had Piero because we thought ourselves so amazing at this parenting gig. But Piero—a surprising combination of Vince and myself in temperament and wilfulness—showed us that every child is different, and what we may think we can't handle just requires a change of thinking, a firmer resolve to try again, and that humility before your own children is always best if you want to have a good relationship with them.


Piero's also given his brothers the gift of patience and understanding. And though he is always annoying them, they are protective of him, always thinking of him, always adoring him. And also always annoying him! They bicker like an old married couple, day in, day out. I don't even know if they actually enjoy fighting each other since they do it a lot.


But they love him, that they do. They always wanted a baby and so we gave them Piero and they always dote on him. They think he's their baby.

For his birthday, they told me and their Papa what Piero wanted. They shopped for his gifts. They counted down the days. They chose and bought the cake. They made him so excited for his birthday! They are the best kuyas. They are a gift to Piero, too.


Happy birthday, dearest darling baby boy! You are what our family needed. You are the happiest baby we've ever known. You are thunder and sunshine and kaiju and jaeger and passion and tenderness  and a gift. We love you so very much! May you grow in wisdom and love, may you always have that fire in you, that stubborn will, that quick laugh, that sharp wit, and that fierce love for me.

Happy birthday, dearest bunchokoykoy! God bless you for always and always!

* * * * * * *

Every birthday of my children, I donate a gift to World Vision in their name. This is one of the children that World Vision sends to school. I hope you can join this little birthday cause of mine. Please donate to World Vision, too, when your child celebrates his birthday and make another child happy, too! 


Friday, July 27, 2018

Take a look at the cute bento baon we made with Gold Seas Tuna Chunks

I'm a silent follower of baonserye and bento box groups on Facebook and Instagram, but I'm just an observer. I'm inspired and I like noting down baon ideas and combos but actually putting together a bento box for my kids? Not really into that.

So when I made this last week at the bento box making workshop by Gold Seas Tuna and Bento By Kat, I was honestly so surprised that I enjoyed making the baon! Behold: My first ever bento box baon!


Gold Seas Tuna Chunks, which I discovered last year and got forever hooked, has the best canned tuna. Meaty, chunky, masarap, fresh. Gold Seas Tuna Chunks also throws the best parties! Intimate, fun, educational, and laging masarap and plentiful ang pagkain. I love this tuna!

Tuna is rich in Omega 3 and protein so it's a healthy and light meat for families to enjoy. What makes me like Gold Seas Tuna Chunks specifically? Here are my reasons:

1. It's just tuna meat. Real tuna meat—no extenders!

2. It's made even healthier because it's canned in healthy olive oil. Olive Oil is rich in good fats that helps protect your heart from disease.

3. It comes in many flavors na masarap talaga. My favorites are the Mild Indian Curry and Lemon and Pepper.

4. I love the easy-open can and that the tab is found at the bottom. My Tita Fe who has a sari-sari store said this reduces exposure of the lid to dirt and pollutants. That said, hinuhugasan ko pa rin yung lid because I'm OC like that!

5. Gold Seas Tuna Chunks uses responsible fishing. They catch the tuna using the Purse Seine Technique. They avoid over-fishing. They don't harm young tuna fish, and dolphins and sharks which are usually found around tuna (because tune is yum!). They also make sure they comply with local, national, and international fishery management regulations.

As a mommy, I really try to make choices that will ensure that my kids will still have a world to grow up in. This is not easy! For example, reducing our use of plastic is my goal this year pero mahirap pala talaga siya kasi halos lahat ng binibili ko is packaged in plastic! But I still try to make more environment-friendly choices (like walking and commuting, choosing brands that have sustainable efforts, etc).

Anyway, let me show you a few photos of the moms who were at the bento baon workshop...

Denise Rayala of the original #BaonSerye fame and the mom behind Royal Domesticity lovingly prepares food for her daughter.
Michelle Lim, the blogger behind My Mom Friday, fixes the food in the new personalized Yumbox we all got at the workshop.
Shari Poquiz of The Misty Mom, a blog on beauty, style and motherhood, arranges her food for maximum impact on IG.
Businesswoman Ginger Arboleda of Mommy Ginger trying to get the perfect photo of her bento baon.

I know I said it was a super fun event but all the photos above show super serious mommies. Akala mo naman may contest at ang pinakamagandang bento box ay may prize haha

Kasi naman when it comes to making baon for our kids, it truly is serious business! I wake up at dawn just to make their baon and ang sarap ng feeling kapag uwi ng mga bata at simot lahat ng food nila. Diba, mga mamas?


Our baon for the workshop consisted of rice shaped into a snail, its eyes and bowtie were cheese. It rested on a bed of broccoli. We sliced grapes and skewered them to make heart shapes. Our ulam was tuna patties. The chocolate sandwich was cut into a cute pig head shape.



Here's my son Iñigo enjoying the bento box baon I made for him:


And that smile made it worth it! While at the workshop, the other moms and I were talking about how nice this all was but we just can't invest the time to make these intricate lunches. But after I saw Iñigo's happiness, I resolved to put effort into making my kids' baon more fun.

Happy weekend, mamas! I hope you try Gold Seas Tuna for your kids' baon. For more information and recipes, like their Facebook page, or follow them on Instagram.

*This post is brought to you by Gold Seas Tuna Chunks.