Category Archives: Tips and Tricks

Keeping kids safe (Bubble wrap not included)

When you become a Mom, you begin looking at the world through a magnifying glass. What ingredients are in this jar of baby food? Has this toy been disinfected? Does my baby’s laundry soap leave residue on his clothes? I’m pretty much relaxed when I take care of myself, but when it comes to my son I become super picky, super careful. When Timmy was an infant, I recall thinking that if I could just wrap him in bubble wrap I would.

(Image by Jamie h)

Instead of protecting him with bubble wrap, I protected him by reading up on the best things I can nurture him with. The most nurturing kind of safety was the name of the game. I devoured books like What to Expect: The First Year, I subscribed to newsletters from various baby sites, looking forward to weekly news and tips. I wrote to my Mommy friends and asked for advice, reading their replies over and over once they hit my inbox. I read up on Mommy blogs and noted their product recommendations. There was no such thing as information overload. Reading was one of the best ways for me to understand which products and activities I would progress with for my son. Reading was my way of bubble-wrapping.

What I’m realizing now is that I’m becoming less picky as Timmy grows up, enabling him to explore more minus the super tight Mommy reins. However, there are a couple of items I don’t compromise on. One of them is his drinking water. I’m still very careful that way, and I’m glad that there are brands like Wilkins Distilled that are committed to providing the safest drinking water. Safe drinking water is one of my non-negotiables. It’s bubble wrap.

What are your non-negotiables as a Mother? What are the things you don’t compromise on for your kids? Tell fellow Moms your story and it could become the inspiration for a short film.

Here are some guidelines for submission: (a) Story should be 400 words or less, (b) Topic is on how you give your family the best love and care (e.g. the challenges, sacrifices and choices you’ve made), (c) Can be written in English, Tagalog or Taglish, (d) Only mothers aged 18 and above can submit their stories, (e) Submit your story at www.smartparenting.com.ph/wilkins (or click on the image above). 5 stories will be chosen for publication in Smart Parenting magazine and 1 story will be turned into a 10-minute short film aired on TV.

Sharing your story with the world isn’t your only prize! Writers of the 5 selected stories for publishing will each receive Php5,000 cash and Php5,000 gift certificates for Wilkins products. The grand winner will receive Php10,000 cash and P5,000 gift certificates for Wilkins products.

Let’s learn from one another. We can’t keep our kids in bubble wrap, but learning from fellow Moms can also help protect them. You know my story. I’d love to hear yours!

*Some talking points suggested by sponsors but story and opinions written are mine.

How to fold a fitted sheet

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Folding a fitted sheet is so dang hard. Pinterest shows you how it’s done, though not without much trial and error! Still, it was a success to convert a huge crumpled ball into a flat square of a sheet.

Continue reading →

Have Yourself a Bookish Little Christmas Tree

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Every Christmas we go for themed decorations at home. They’ve mostly centered around colors, and once we went Victorian. We wanted something different this year though without having to spend on new decorations. One thing our family enjoys doing (individually and together) is read. And so the theme “Bookish Christmas” was born! Here’s our Christmas tree decorated by our family of bibliophiles.

What’s so bookworm-y about it you ask? The crafts on this tree are made from recycled book pages. We house a lot of really old books, the type whose pages have foxing. What better way to give them a new life than to be the first generation of DIY family decorations?

These birds were the first decorations. They’re pretty easy to make! I’ll post instructions on how to do these bookish separately. Or you can head over to the blog that served as our inspiration: Under The Table and Dreaming. (Thank you Stephanie Lynn for these super friendly DIY instructions!)

We also have some pretty cranes nestled in the tree branches made by my other sister, the expert cranes maker.

The following flowers also created from book pages. Each family member has his/her initial up on the tree. We also put up flowers that have the initials of our relatives who are coming over for Noche Buena. They can take home their own personalized flowers after the party.

We had a bunch of extra book flowers, so my sister thought of putting pictures of our favorite reader. Here’s Timmy with a bunch of his reading pictures at the center of all the bookish flowers.

You can find instructions on how to make these paper star ornaments (or flowers as we call them) over at That’s My Letter. (Thank you Jamie, for this awesome tutorial!)

But where are the books, you may ask. Continue reading →

Use toy bins to organize children’s books

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This shelf of toy bins was a present from Timmy’s grandparents, and we originally used it to organize his toys. After a few weeks though, we found it was an even better way to organize his books.

Each bin can hold up to a dozen books depending on size. The bins hold his small- to medium-sized books. We used to have Timmy’s books stacked (and scattered) on a table, but this works better because he can easily reach for a couple of books at once. The shelf is at his eye level so he can easily look into the organized bins before selecting books he wants to read. Timmy’s a bookworm, so getting him to spend time with books is no problem. I find that he gets to read more though when his books are within his own reach.

He usually plops down on the floor to read. This is why as soon as he sits down with one book, I immediately take out the little cubs and place them by his side. Doesn’t it look neater this way instead of having dozens of books scattered directly on the floor? The toy bins cluster the books even when on the floor so it looks more organized.

We’ve also taken a bin of books from room to room. Carrying a single bin of books is a safer way for me to transport the books instead of holding a dozen books in my arms.

Use toy bins to organize your kids’ books. They’re just as accessible as having books on a kid-sized bookshelf, but I like how the bins cluster books together and make a room look neater.

New year’s resolutions of a work-at-home Mom

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It’s been a year since I stopped working corporate and embraced work-at-home motherhood. Has it been everything I ever dreamed of? Almost. Has it been more difficult than I thought it would be? Definitely. My career path for 2012 still has WAHM written all over it, but to make it is more productive and efficient, there are some guidelines I need to set. Here’s a list of New Year’s resolutions I hope I get to follow through. Perhaps these tips can help you fellow WAHMs too!

Create a better workspace. Right now I write my articles on a sturdy folding table. There’s a camera behind my laptop, a bottle of children’s medicine beside it, and the gang from Toy Story peppering my workspace. There’s also a clutter of DVDs I meant to watch this year while the baby napped, a Spiderman figurine and a scrapbook I meant to complete. Holy clutter, Batman. This WAHM needs a better place to work! Some of my fellow WAHMs have their own rooms at home. Good for you, ladies! I don’t have that luxury, so I will need to make what I have better. Right now it’s comfortable and has some inspiring touches, but it needs to see better days!

Find a healthier schedule. Time management is hell for a WAHM. I can only work while I’m at my workspace – that’s a rule I set for myself. With a toddler running around the house, being tied to my workspace is a very unlikely scenario. My work schedule currently consists of researching while the toddler naps, and writing or doing consulting work when he goes to bed at night. So far it’s been working, but I’ve been terribly lacking on sleep. With lack of sleep comes weight gain and crankiness. With those two can come a lack of productivity and energy to chase the toddler. There must be a healthier way to do this! So far the solution I have come up with is to stagger my deadlines. DUH, right? Girl, it’s harder than it sounds.

Disable distractions. My biggest distraction is Facebook, followed by sites like 9GAG and Daily Candy. Don’t even get me started on Psychology Today or the folks I follow on Tumblr. BLACK HOLES, I WARN YA! I promise I will try not just minimizing tabs but completely not having any of those sites open while I work. It’s very hard though when you’re researching a topic and your research trail takes you to awesome sites. Before you know it you’ve signed up for a Polyvore account and creating a wardrobe you wish you had. Must. Disable. Distractions.

Dress for success. I’ve learned that working in pyjamas can be an advantage or a disadvantage. On the plus side, it’s more comfortable. No need to put on fancy clothes for a meeting! The down side is that dressing sloppily makes me feel sloppy too. Even if I’m working from home, I have to dress presentable enough. A little lipstick, perhaps. No more bedroom hair all day. That will be a challenge, especially when you get all frazzled after dealing with tantrums from someone going through the terrible twos.

These sound pretty simple, but they sure are hard to implement! Hopefully next year it will be smoother sailing for this WAHM. I hope these tips help you too! Happy new year!

21st Century Child” by « м Ħ ж », c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved

Sound effects for your New Year from the DOH

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Firecrackers scare the hell out of me. I think it goes back to seeing an uncle almost getting burned by a fireworks fountain that wouldn’t light. The cone kept toppling over, and he would keep reaching forward to make it stand. On his last attempt to make the cone stable, the fountain shot fireworks into the sky and he was able to withdraw his hand at the last second. It was a close call. I don’t think he was shaken up about it but I sure was, that memory emblazoned in my head. I’ve been wary about fireworks since. You can’t even let me hold a sparkler. They’re fun to look at and a blast to listen to (pun intended), but no way Jose would you let me come near one.

This New Year campaign by the Department of Health makes a lot of sense to me: SFX: The Safest Firecracker Experience. It’s a track of nine sound effects made by the most common firecrackers lit up during New Year’s Eve: 5 star. Super Lolo. Judas’ Belt. Watusi. Whistle bomb. Kwitis. Luces. Trompillo. There’s even a countdown with a Fireworks Symphony (my favorite of the bunch).

All the loud sounds firecrackers make were used (are being used?) to drive away bad spirits, right? Play up these sound files on your computer. There’s no smell of gunpowder to accompany the experience, but I say that’s a good thing.

Click the image above to get to the site and start listening to the fireworks.

Have a safe and happy New Year’s celebration everyone!

Loving Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Waterlight Facial Sunblock

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I am not a huge sunblock fan. When some colleagues and I were talking about facial care, they told me I needed to start using sunblock. Key word: NEEDED. Here’s why I hate sunblock: It is greasy, heavy and its scent is too strong. Well, at least the ones I’ve tried. One colleague convinced me though. He is in his 40s and has AMAZING skin. So, fine. I know sunblock is important. Maybe I was just using terrible ones. He recommended the brand he currently uses — “Neutrogena Ultra Sheer” he said.

The next time I went to the drugstore, I looked for it. Voila! A tube cost around P450.00. Hmm. Okay, I have to invest in my skin anyway, right? My apprehension to use it was tamed by the fact that it was highly recommended, so the next day I decided to try it.

I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now. I love it!

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Waterlight SPF 50+ facial sunblock

What I love about it:
It’s so light on the skin. My fear of sunblock being greasy? Not present here. I could spread the lotion easily over my face and neck without looking shiny afterwards. It has a clean finish which I really liked because I abhor feeling anything on my face (ergo my dislike for make-up). Because it feels light on the skin, it makes me feel fresher. Naks. I really hate anything make-up! I don’t like mascara, blush, eyeshadow, etc. I feel like they weigh my skin down. It’s the same with sunblock, but thank goodness this particular brand was awesome for me. Apparently it’s oil-free. Perfect.

It’s still effective with its SPF 50+ factor. Protected and still looking fresh? I love it. You can apply it several times during the day (particularly after staying out in the sun for some time or after a workout) and it’s fine. No greasy look or stinky sunblocky smell.

You can get Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Waterlight SPF 50+ in beauty and personal care stores, department stores or supermarkets. I got mine from Mercury Drug.

Nothing like a solid recommendation from a reliable colleague with convincingly good-looking skin. THAT was the clincher, not a magazine article or even just seeing the product in-store. My colleague’s skin did all the convincing. He is like a walking billboard for awesome skin care. I hope my skin stays as fresh as his when I’m his age!

Mama’s Household Bag

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My Mom carries a bag with her whenever she goes around the house. The bag is on her arm when she goes room to room, just so she doesn’t have to go back to the previous room if she left one of her things.

What does she carry in her bag? Take a peek:

Her Kindle. Reading glasses. iPhone. Charger. Pens. Glue stick (for stray pages on her piano pieces and other crafty stuff). Not in the picture: A notebook.

I think it’s a good idea, especially if you live in a home with two floors. It’s a hassle having to run all the way back to your room if you left your cell phone there. It’s even more of a hassle especially if you’re a senior citizen (Exhibit A: My Mom), who may not have the spryness of a kid. So here’s a solution — the house bag! Just don’t forget to put the cell phone in the bag before leaving your room.

Five Sanity Savers for Mommy

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If you stay at home too long, you can go cuckoo. Cabin fever, it’s called. If you also do a lot of things repeatedly such as watching Kung Fu Panda or washing poop, you can go a little crazy. Then there’s Elmo everyday. What do you call that? Mommy Madness? Mommy Mania? Whatever it’s called, Mommy needs to save her sanity. Take her out to dinner! Give her some time to recharge! Please take out Elmo’s voice from her head!!! Here are five sanity-savers for this Mommy. Read on and let me know if any of these have saved you from joining the crazy house too.

Sanity saver #1: Playing video games
“You have time for video games?,” my friend asked in disbelief, knowing how packed my day usually is. “Oh honey, I make time for video games,” I replied. Since the day is all about the baby, my personal time comes in during his naps or when he’s finally gone to bed at night. If I don’t use that free time to work at home, I use it to play The Sims 3. It’s a form of escape.

In the Sims world, everything is perfect! Weeeee!

Sanity saver #2: Being stuck in heavy traffic
“How on earth can you enjoy being sandwiched by so many cars and being glued to your car seat for hours?,” my good friend asked.

Here’s why it’s good for my sanity: During those hours, there are no chores to run. There’s no chasing to be done. There’s no poop to wash. The baby is home safe with his grandparents, and I’m in the car alone with my thoughts (and sometimes a bag of M&M’s). Peace and quiet = recharging my sanity batteries. Never mind if there’s a jam of cars and trucks outside. In that little cove of a cab, I have achieved inner peace. Master Shifu would be proud of me. (I told you I watch too much Kung Fu Panda.)

Sanity saver #3: A loooooooooooooooong shower
A typical day’s shower can be accomplished in three steps: (1) Shampoo (2) Soap (3) Rinse. It can take place within 3 minutes max. I’ve done it. A 3-minute shower is just the right length of shower time. See here:

Minute 1: Baby is left with Grandma to play and begins choosing his toys to play with or books to read.
Minute 2: Baby is engaged in whatever activity he’s decided on.
Minute 3: Baby’s attention begins wandering, then realizes I’m not beside him.

Before he can scream WHERE’S MY MOMMY?!?!?! in baby babble, I’m out the bathroom, dry and fully-clothed. Mommy’s here! Do that everyday and it can drive you crazy bit by bit. That’s why a loooooooong shower is a major sanity saver. Finallly, I’d be able to use that creamy body wash! That body brush! That body puff! Heck, maybe I’d even have time to moisturize! Oh, to have a long shower, perchance to dream.

Sanity saver #4: A walk in the neighbourhood with the boy
Duh, you might think. Walking can bring down anyone’s cuckoo level. True, but try walking with a hyper toddler in tow. I could just leave the little spark plug at home with good company and go on a solo walk, right? Right! But I like taking him on walks with me. The fresh air invigorates me. The warm sun relaxes me. Most of all, seeing my kid explore the outdoors with such wonder recharges me. Never mind if I’m chasing him almost every step of the way.

Sanity saver #5: Reading anything that does not have topics on cleaning, parenting, marriage, poop, snot, picky eating, toddler troubles, household management, and motherhood
Thank you, Archie Comics.

These five things keep me from joining the Mommy crazy house. What are your sanity savers? Do share and let’s learn more ways of turning down the craziness!

Credit: Image by origami potato c/o Flickr

Halloween Costumes on Etsy

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It’s never too early to plan for Halloween costumes! Here are some great ones from Etsy. Adult or kids, Etsy is just brimming with wonderful costume ideas. The following are some of my favorites. Read on and be inspired.

Little Red Riding Hood cape – tulle and satin
RRH never looked this stylish.

Etsy shop: KarolinfelixDream

Coque feather collar
Reminds me of stories written about fallen angels. If you’re familiar with Becca Fitzpatrick’s book “Hush, Hush”, you might like this one!

Etsy shop: Kathycoleman

Upcycled girl’s fox costume tail and hat / handmade for halloween
So cute for the clever little girl.

Etsy shop: Sewnatural

Want to see more Etsy Halloween costumes? Continue reading →

My Ensogo Experience

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I’ve been seeing a lot of advertising for online discount coupon sites. Frankly, I was a bit intimidated by them. Are they easy to use? Can they be trusted? My friends have been huge fans of the service for ages, but I didn’t try it till this weekend. Ensogo was the first site I signed up for, so when I had the chance to finally try their service I went, “Hey, why not?”

If you’re a newbie to online discount coupon sites like I am, I’ll help you out. I had a very pleasant experience with Ensogo. Here’s what I learned, step by step:

Head on over to http://www.ensogo.com.ph. Ensogo offers a lot of daily deals including food discounts and restaurant vouchers. Scroll down the site to check out the day’s special deals. My eye went straight to this deal from Soy Yummy. Only P150 for 5 regular-sized smoothies? I’m game!

If you want to avail of Ensogo’s restaurants deals and others, you DON’T need to sign up for an account first. Just proceed to BUYing your desired deal. It’s no hassle at all.

Once you find the deal you want to go for, in this case I wanted to avail of food savings on Soy Yummy, click on the BUY button. Choose your mode of payment. You can pay by credit card, Paypal, Bancnet, Bank Transfer, pay at the Ensogo office, or use Ensogo credits. Ensogo credits can be earned through the referral program. An added feature which is no burden to any buyer is that 3% of each Ensogo sale is donated to Children’s Hour.

You’re done! Really, you are. After I closed the deal on my voucher, I got a note saying they’re processing my order.

Shortly after, I got an e-mail with a link to the voucher for printing. So off to the printer I went.

Easy peasy, right? I liked that I didn’t have to use the voucher right away. Short expiry dates on vouchers are a real pain. In this case, I could use my Ensogo voucher for Soy Yummy till October. But why wait? I wanted to see if using the voucher “live” was just as easy as the online experience. The coupon lists down the branches where you can avail of the promo. A few days later, I went to SM Megamall to use my food voucher.

Soy yummy! Fresh soymilk, taho and soymoothies galore. Mmm!

Ah, there it is!

I presented the coupon to the salesgirl, who neatly folded out my crumpled coupon. (Whoops, sorry!) She then asked me to choose which Soy Yummy smoothie flavours I wanted. I was in soy smoothie discount heaven! After giving her my choices, she proceeded to prepare my orders. After a few minutes of waiting, I was done! I had just completed my first Ensogo experience and was a happy smoothie-toting lady.

Let’s drink to that!

My family was surprised when I met them for lunch at HK Choi carrying three bags of smoothies. Yum, one for each of us! Hmmm, come to think of it, maybe I should have checked if Ensogo had restaurant discounts for HK Choi.

In a nutshell: I was relieved everything turned out fine. Yes, relieved because I was scared I was going to mess up the process. I’m very happy that using Ensogo was super easy — from online buying to using the coupon. Will I do it again? You betcha. I want to try out their hotel deals next!

If you want to learn more about the best restaurant deals and yummy food deals, head on over to Ensogo’s Facebook Page or follow them on Twitter. I hope your experience will be as pleasant as mine!

Playing with Plastic Balloons

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Do you play games during your holiday gatherings? Our family does — we’re big on games. One of the fun ones we played this year was very simple — the plastic balloon challenge.

The mechanics are easy to follow. Grab on to your own tube and straw. At the game master’s signal, create the biggest plastic balloon you can with only that tube. Whoever has the biggest plastic balloon wins.

The last time I probably played with plastic balloon was in gradeschool. Eons and eons and eons ago. I had so much fun trying to create the biggest balloon I could from this little blob. Good thing I had fun because I failed miserably! Here are the winners of our challenge:

Once the winners were awarded, we all put out plastic balloons together and created a snowman!

There were still some tubes left over, so I went for my second attempt. HA! I should have won. Competitive!!!

The plastic balloon challenge is quick to mount. It’s also cheap. Each tube costs only P1.00. Grown-ups and children will enjoy the game. Just don’t forget to clean up afterwards!

Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

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Are you in a bind because your office Halloween party is in a few hours and you don’t have a costume yet? You probably (a) forgot about the party, (b) were too busy to put a costume together, or (c) were dreading the party and were wishing you could get out of it but sorry, no luck, you really have to go. Whether it’s a, b, or c, the fact is you don’t have a costume. Here are some ideas to help you out with your costume dilemma.

Minimal Effort Required: The following costumes take very few props to create. You probably have some of the props lying around at home or in the office anyway.

Continue reading →

Happiness is Bubble Wrap

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This morning has been a particularly stressful one. What I wouldn’t give to go pop some bubble wrap. So seeing Happy Slip’s video on Twitter made me smile. Bubble wrap is happiness indeed.

Slip into Bubble Wrap!

Did you know that the last Monday of January is annual Bubble Wrap Day? I missed it by eight hours, but it’s not too late to celebrate by sharing this video with you guys! Happy Slip’s tips are funny and practical. I particularly like the line your crisper with bubble wrap tip. I just don’t know if the bubble wrap will make it to the refrigerator intact. Must. pop. bubbles.

So thanks for making my morning better, Happy Slip, even if I didn’t have any bubble wrap with me right now. Must. search. for. bubble. wrap.

And, uh, Christine? Where’d you get all the bubble wrap you used for your shoot? That’s enough to make anyone go bubble wrap crazeh!