Photo of the author and her then 5-month old son
I won’t go into the old news that is Time’s controversial “mom enough” mid-May issue. We all know they sold enough copies on that matter.
Instead, I wanted to share some views on attachment parenting and breastfeeding expressed by fellow Filipino moms.
To begin, let me say that I am a babywearing, formerly nursing mom (my son recently weaned after being breastfed for two years and six months). In fact, here’s a photo of me a year and a half ago, when my son was just five months old.
Here in the Philippines, we are not new to the concept of babywearing and breastfeeding.
Velvet Escario‐Roxas, a breastfeeding counselor and representative of Arugaan (ah-roo-ga-an), a non-governmental, WHO-funded organization that conducts breastfeeding training for the Philippine Department of Health, gave a good picture of this when she posted a recent Facebook status update on the fan page of the popular breastfeeding blog, Chronicles of a Nursing Mom:
“Our Pinoy [colloquialism for "Filipino] ancestors have been doing these things since the beginning of time. We call it the Filipino way of living or raising of children. They on the other hand modernized it and called it attachment parenting. Look at the indigenous folks of the mountain provinces. Read more…
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When we moved into our home in Switzerland, we were told there was a river close by. I had no concept of how close it was and my focus was entirely on getting us settled. It took me a few days before I ventured out on a walk with our small boys. We walked down a hill, following signs to a camping site. As we came down the hill and there was a break in the trees, I was able to get my first glance at the crystal blue of our rushing river. It turns out we live 5 minutes from the Aare river that rushes with fresh water from the Alps. It is truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and it’s in our backyard. Read more…
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Today I sat in my baby’s room, nursing him, while I looked over my eldest son’s math homework (and pretended to remember how to add fractions and prayed I was making sense). My daughter was busy changing into her 6th outfit for a birthday she was going to and coming to show me, while my other son lay on the floor, face down and whaling like the world was ending.
I was resisting the urge to pierce my ear drums when it hit me. I have a two-year old again! I seem to have blocked the other 2 times I had two-year olds (as people block out traumatic times in their lives), but I found solace in the fact that this, too, shall pass.
They won’t be stubborn, screaming, irrational, dramatic little people for ever.
B is 2 years and 4 months old and in the last 3 weeks (surprisingly coinciding with the birth of my fourth son and the travel of his nanny) he has turned into a little opinionated, loud (VERY loud) stubborn, and I’m afraid to say, sometimes rude, little child.
I did well to get my 2 eldest through this phase, but I cannot for the life of me remember how! Granted I didn’t have a new-born when they decided to have their “terrible twos.” Read more…
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A rite of passage for American children is a sleepover. A sleepover is where a guest or guests are invited to stay overnight at the home of a friend. My six-year-old daughter will have her first sleepover this month.
Few words strike more fear into the heart of a parent than these: “Can I have a sleepover?” Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, wrote about her strict rules which included denying her children the experience of attending a sleepover. Her viewpoint was that nothing good could come from attending a sleepover.
So what’s the big deal about sleepovers, anyhow? Sleepovers are big events for children – a time to feel grown up, to delight in special alone time with a friend, to joke around and share laughs with friends until they cry! Read more…
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I had really hoped this year would be the year.
The year I could put the Hina Matsuri (Girls’ Day) dolls out in the living room where we could enjoy them. It’s such a nice tradition: displaying beautifully intricate (and sickeningly expensive) dolls in traditional seven-layered kimonos for the weeks leading up to Girls’ Day on March 3rd, when the whole family pauses to pray for the health and well-being of daughters before feasting on feminine, cutesy foods, like tiny sushi and soup with delicate candy colored balls, followed by pink and green omochi (sticky, sweet rice cakes) for desert. Ladies magazines are full of hina (imperial princess) themed recipes. This year I think we’ll try the “parfait sushi,” which is sushi rice layered with eggs and other colorful ingredients in a glass so it looks like a parfait. I’m also thinking of ordering a Hina Matsuri themed ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins (known here as 31 Ice.)
Of course, the best laid plans of mice and moms often go awry. Or something like that. Read more…
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