Job Description

More on being a mom, this was sent to me by a dear friend:

MOM - JOB DESCRIPTION

This is hysterical. If it had been presented this way, no one would have done it!!!!

POSITION :
Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Ma

JOB DESCRIPTION:
Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT &PROMOTION:
Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:
Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

Mother's Day

Our phone company’s internet service crashed. Just when I was about to e-mail Mother’s Day greetings to my friends and relatives for Sunday-what a bummer! My cousin became a "club member" last April and she’s recovering from a set back that really kept us vigil with prayers and made me check my e-mail- more often for news. Alas, it’s already Monday and it’s kind of frustrating not to do what a girl needs to do.

I never got the chance to greet them, and a belated greeting is not really my thing. Anyway, for me, everyday is Mother’s Day, contrary to what others and commercialism perceived this “holiday” would be it’s not really a day off of sorts (since I always end up doing the dishes anyways).

Mother’s day for me is when:

· I hollered for the _nth time for my son to practice his math, brush his teeth, and fix his bag for his summer class, yet he manages to clean up his toys- on his own

· He “forgets” his bottle inside his backpack and constantly bugs his baby sister while the latter quietly plays alone-yet he manages to keep an eye on her when it’s mommy’s time to cook

· He suffered allergies and constantly sneezes at an ungodly hour, or had an asthma attack right before a family event, yet he independently gets his inhaler and reminds me that it’s time to take his Seretide.

· My baby daughter’s crankiness due to teething provokes her to pull anybody’s hair within her arms reach, and penchant for biting my nipple to the fullest before and after feeding. But after getting what she needs she would smile and say “mymy” her term for mommy.

· Her interest in whatever “mommy does” or wherever “mommy goes to” that prevents me to cook or clean the house as scheduled- which brings me to the question- Is there such a thing as “schedule”?

· At the end of a busy day, my kids miraculously sleep an hour earlier than their usual sleep.

Someone said that being a mother is a thankless job, I agree, but… It is often the little things that count- and that is gratitude enough for me.

Of Baby Carriers and Slings

My family loves going to malls, sometimes in just a spur of the moment; we are on our way to Pampanga (which is an hour and a half bus ride from our place) and just plain window shop, or if we want to splurge a bit- to Manila.

Malling (as we call it here in the Philippines) is the new term for going for a walk in a mall. Malls are considered modern-day parks -- after all, with temperatures rising from 35-37 ° C outside- families would prefer to stay inside the mall to enjoy the air conditioning and do a bit of window shopping, enjoy an afternoon snack in the confines of a safe and cool place, at the fast food or restaurant of your choice; and, it’s also a welcome break for such a ho-hum life that we have here in the province.

Which brings us to the question- How on earth will we be able to do that if you only commute and have a six month old – breastfed baby in tow?

Simple, a sling or a soft carrier would do the trick.

I find baby wearing practical, we can do lots of things such as going to malls, accompanying my 8 year old son to his swimming class, running errands or just doing regular stuff inside the house--together. My little Addi is less fuzzy and more attached because of this. What I’m currently using is Snugli by Gerry baby products; my mom- in law gave it to me when my son was just 5 months old. We actually never used it for our Jaygee because – frankly at that time, we don’t know how to use the cradle position- and he doesn’t like the sitting position since it didn’t fit him well (he’s a big baby).

So when our daughter came, I chanced upon an article in the internet regarding baby wearing and how it soothes a fuzzy baby. Tried it with my daughter and used the cradle position at first. My tea cup princess opted to use it while sitting. I carried her around the house and she liked it, she even fed and slept inside the carrier while I was doing my usual sweeping, I even sewed a few pillow cases while wearing her.

After that, I’ve been “wearing” her ever since. It’s also practical since I can lift the front flap when I’m feeding her, for privacy; would you believe that I went about my errands with her feeding discreetly? It’s also suitable for the tropical weather since air ventilation is achieved because of the opening on both ends, it can also double as a changing pad.

My Snugli has yet to be further tested though- others might find the clasps too unstable since it’s only made of hard plastic- so I’m not really recommending it to be used on heavier and bigger babies. Slings do that, according to an avid baby sling user, even a six year old kid can be carried on a sling when he/she’s too tired of walking.

I still have to buy a real sling-but for now, this carrier would do…

Till my next foray …

Citizen Bored

I once e-mailed this to a friend when I was 7 months pregnant with my little girl, probably out of sheer exasperation that no one in our town even mind what was happening. (They were about to demolish our old municipal town hall to give way to the new) Imagine! Instead of converting it to a museum and public library, the geniuses of our town council opted to demolish it to widen our town plaza?! No wonder our town is going to the dogs! As a bored citizen educated in a Franciscan Institution, I stepped forward and did what I was taught to be right. Here it goes:

Hi girl! Sorry if I haven't e-mailed you this picture agad- I have a pretty interesting and hectic week kasi:

Tues- Follow up check -up with my Pulmonologist and OB GYN
I also went to SSS for my maternity and my mom's death benefit

Wed- I conducted a signature campaign to several barangays in our town, asking the Municipal counselors to go for the preservation of our old Municipal hall and convert it into a museum and public library.

Thurs- Gathered some signatures and went to our municipal hall for my unscheduled--As the counselors put it-“privileged speech”

Even I am surprised that everything happened within this week. I am not sure if I have convinced the Municipal Counselors to consider our voice, but I am hopeful- considering the number of counselors who are listening intently to what this “bored” pregnant woman was saying in front of them yesterday.

I am also surprised that I am capable of doing such things...But to think that they are demolishing a 70 year old building which served as our town's landmark and quasi evacuation center without having a clear plan as to what will replace the structure? Pretty stupid huh? Well, I still have to gather signatures next Monday, hopefully our town Mayor will change his mind and opt for public service instead of other interests- after Monday, Pahinga na ako, I'll just update the signatories and show them what kind of counselors they have elected.

That's the problem when I'm “bored” I tend to do stuff. My mom thought I have plans to run for public office since it’s near election time- but I don't have any- I'd rather be this ordinary citizen doing ordinary stuff, and making sure that every hard-earned peso my husband “contributes” to this freakin’ country will go to the right hands and serve them- citizens of this country well…

Till my next “boredom”

Don’t get me wrong about my “boredom”. I am basically bored seeing people do nothing, I am simply bored because only a few EVEN CARED what our present public officials are doing, I am bored that the same literacy problem had been existing for decades and made even worse every year. I am bored at the present state of our education system-- that only the First Two Sections are the ones prioritized and the ones in the lower section sadly have been constantly left behind. I am bored that the present states of cultural and historical knowledge of our generation have fizzled-- nor they even cared to do something about it. I am bored of the common sight that public official this and that had acquired a new car, SUV, or property in so in so; or have a new dealership business of this and that beverage, or a big house worth millions in so and so.

-The signature campaign proved to be futile since I was informed by a reliable source that the decision had been made already –even before speaking in front of them. But heck, it felt good to voice out what we felt about the demolition thing-even by my lonesome. Now the town hall is reduced to rubbish, we still don’t know what the mayor and his counselors would do about it- probably the biggest plaza in Bataan?

I know that in this country of ours-elected officials become kings who are to be served than to serve by the very own people who feed their families- I wouldn’t blame scores of people immigrating to other countries since the people whom they expect and entrust their votes only squander and forget the responsibilities entrusted to them post election time. Given the chance, my family and I would rather look for a country that deserves our taxes too, so that it wouldn’t be too painful to work and see our pay slips- being robbed by the real enemies of the state.

Till my next foray…