Help for Habagat and Typhoon Maring Victims

Days after Habagat and Typhoon Maring ravaged the country, people are still sick, homeless and stuck in evacuation centers. They need clothes, sleeping mats, blankets, slippers, socks, food, clean drinking water and medicines. I watch families cramped in evacuation centers and I am deeply saddened. Those babies and children! =(

For those who want to help with donations and relief operations for those affected by Habagat and Typhoon Maring:

DSWD needs volunteers to re-pack relief goods. Please go to National Resource Operations Center (NROC) NAIA Chapel Road, Pasay City. Call 851-2681 or 511-1259.

Call the Red Cross chapter nearest you to find out how you can help.

Drop off your donations in kind at the Sagip Kapamilya Headquarters at 13 Examiner St., West Triangle, Quezon City.

Drop off your donations at LBC branches. They will be turned over to Red Cross.

Air21 accepts donations in all Mail and More branches nationwide and will distribute to areas affected by the flood.

There are many more ways to help, just visit your local parish church and ask what you can do to help. Every little bit will go a long way.

The Good and The Bad of Being Nanny-less

We got our nanny from an agency. We paid for the agency fee and everything. And she is supposed to work with us for 6 months, complete with signed contract. Truth be told, our nanny’s salary is higher than the usual pay given to nannies. Even though her pay is really hard on the budget, we decided to take her services because we just couldn’t find any help! Many reacted negatively when we told them that we got the services of an agency, but what are we to do? We were desperate.

Yes, she is the same nanny who gave Bea the chickenpox. Read about it here. Last week, our nanny went out for her day off, she was supposed to return at 5pm. Her deadline came and went, no nanny. At around 9pm, we texted her asking if she will come home because if not, we’re locking the doors and calling it a night. No reply. The next day, we got a call from the OSP agency in Holy Spirit, QC asking innocently if we needed a new nanny. This infuriated us because they knew fully well that we still had a nanny and her contract is still good for a few more months. When we said no, we still had a nanny, that’s when they came clean and said that our nanny went to their office that morning wielding a medical certificate saying that she has a heart ailment and that she is not fit to work.  She will not be coming back to work with us. Really? That was fast! She got the certificate in just a day? She got checked up and got the results in a day? I want to know where her hospital is because their service is UNBELIEVABLY fast!

Long story short, we have no nanny. The agency refuses to replace her, with 4 more months in her contract. (Will do a separate post about the agency matter).  Thankfully, hubby and I are now working from home, in our photography business, with more flexible hours. We are not as panicked as we would’ve been if this happened back when we were still working our 9-5 jobs in Makati.

Thankfully too, we have a reliable cleaning lady whom we called last weekend to look after Bea while we were out covering an event.

Our family

I am trying to look at the bright side of things. Sure our present nanny-less situation will call for more time management skills, but it will also mean more bonding time for our family. The past days, we’ve had to drag our sleepy butts off the bed to prepare Bea for school, which means more time looking into her school affairs, her baon,her bag, her assignments, her projects, her hairdo for the day etc.

Laundry time

I also took care of our laundry for the week. Two weeks ago, in an attempt to cut costs, I decided to stop sending out our clothes to the laundry place. Now, I have no choice but to take care of it. OK, call it pride but I assured hubby that it’s not going to be a problem, so wash and iron clothes I did. I don’t really mind the washing, it’s the folding and putting away of clothes that I hate. Hehe. Anyway, my efforts paid off when I got a compliment from hubby, saying our clothes smell and feel the best when I wash them. *music to my ears* I am thinking about permanently taking on the laundry assignment, even though we already talked to the cleaning lady and she said she’d include the laundry to her weekly tasks. I just like to be more in control of our clothes and our laundry supplies. Our past nannies used detergent and fabric conditioner excessively, not to mention the water consumption. Hmp.

So now, Ariel Detergent soap and Downy Fabric Conditioner are my friends, and we intend to meet once a week. That is the plan. I hope I can stick to it. =)

Fishy Surprise

No nanny for a week. Yes, hubby and I are on nanny duties. Today was my turn to prepare my daughter for school and to walk her there. Actually I try to take on the task everyday but there are just days when I can't get up and hubby thankfully steps up.

Bea was really good this morning, she finished her oatmeal and milk in record time, made no fuss while taking a bath and brushed her teeth with no complaints at all! Simple joys indeed!

 Last week, Bea's teacher wrote in her diary that she has been chosen to play a fish in a presentation, that we should prepare her costume. The teacher didn't put the date of the presentation. I assumed it would be in a few weeks. I didn't prepare anything during the long weekend. As I said, we didn't have a nanny plus hubby and I covered a debut for our photography business.

After I brought Bea to school and I was walking back to the house, I saw her classmate who is also our neighbor. She was carrying a lot of things. When she got nearer, I saw that she was actually carrying her costume! When I asked her about it, she said that she brought it because Teacher said to be ready by August 13, today. TODAY?? What?! I immediately felt panic… and guilt. Oh no! Bea will be the only student there with no costume, she'll feel left out and she'll hate me forever! Waaah!

I rushed in the house, furious with myself. I started rummaging through our stuff, looking for something we might fashion into something that might pass off as a fish costume. Nothing.

Then I remembered that I had her teacher's number. I texted her and asked when the costume is needed, making mental note that I can still rush off to our local dry market, purchase a costume and bring it to Bea's school. I was holding my breath, quietly praying that she replies fast to I can still go out and buy. After a few minutes, she thankfully replied. I felt all my blood rushing back to my blood stream, air filling my lungs and relief soaking my being. "Good morning po. Aug 30 po yung costume." Hay Diyos ko! Panic much!

Note to self: save your sanity, be ready with fish costume by the weekend!

Picture of cute clown fish costume from halloweencostumes.com

Bea at the WPPP Photo Congress 2013

June was a very busy month for the hubby. It is birth month, his wedding photography group, the WPPP,  launched their annual Photo Congress in Megamall, they also had their (post) summer outing in Baler and lastly he attended the Advanced Wedding Seminar by master photographer Lito Sy. Imagine his frustration when our nanny had to go on leave because of an illness. (read about it here)

Hubby had a lot of important assigments in the photo congress, and I was a delegate, which meant I paid a significant fee to be able to attend the seminars given by known people in the photography and video industry. We just couldn't miss this 3 day event, nanny or no nanny.

On the first day, we had no other choice but to bring Bea along to Megamall. She had lots of fun, seeing daddy at work, and seeing his photograph exhibited. I lent her my camera and let her take pictures, just so she can feel she belongs. =)

It was a very tiring day, but we enjoyed it. We hope to share this passion with her. Hopefully she develops her eye for composing good photographs and develop her own skills. =) Who knows, she may join us in our photography gigs soon! =)

Accelerated Because of K-12 Educational System

Last summer, Bea graduated from kindergarten from her school. Last June, she started going to school as a grade two student. Yes, she skipped grade one. Thanks, or no thanks to the K-12 educational system. Apparently, in the new system the child's age is critical. Grade one students should now be six years old unlike before when they should be seven years old. Since Bea celebrated her 7th birthday early this year, technically she should already be in grade two.

This school year, her school implemented a one time acceleration for their students. Bea and her classmates who are already seven or will turn seven within the year were accelerated to grade two, while those who are just six will go on as grade one students.

When we heard this announcement, we weren't quite sure if we like it or not. Sure, we'd be saving one year's worth of tuition fee but we are concerned about whether our daughter's skills are enough to tackle advanced lessons. We weren't alone in this concern, in fact a lot of parents decided to transfer their children to other schools where they will not be forced to skip a grade. Just before enrollment, the school called on the parents to inform us that we are not actually forced to skip a grade, we can choose to enroll our daughter as grade one or grade two. It's entirely up to us.  Obviously its a last ditch effort to prevent even more students from transferring.

We chose to let Bea stay on. She went through assessments set by the government and the school. She passed. She attended summer classes. Her guidance counselor assured us that she will do just fine. We chose to trust her.

It has been almost a month since Bea started 2nd grade. So far so good. =)

Chickenpox Despite Vaccine

While waiting for the pedia

Three weeks ago, our nanny went on leave. She has been with us for only a little over a month. She initially said that she's allergic to chicken and it seems like she's getting some rashes on her back. We didn't mind it much. However, she said it was becoming more and more painful. It came to a point when she couldn't sleep lying down anymore. She'd She'd sleep sitting down. When we had her checked by the nearby clinic,  it was found out that she was suffering from herpes zoster, or a second bout of chickenpox. Too bad. Bea really liked this nanny. We liked her too, but we had no other choice but to let her go on leave. Berto, Bea and I have never had chickenpox before so we were all susceptible.

After a week, we noticed Bea developed some spots on her skin. I immediately thought it was chickenpox but she didn't have any fever and the spots didn't have liquid in them. Just to be sure we decided to go to St. Luke's to bring Bea to her pediatrician . Too bad daddy was out attending a workshop so it was just us girls. We took a cab to the hospital. Thankfully the driver knew the way thru Commonwealth. 

The doctor looked her over but even she was baffled. Apparently, Bea didn't manifest the typical symptoms of chickenpox and this was probably because of the vaccine she got when she was a baby. The doctor said that vaccines don't provide 100% protection. There is still a chance that she will be infected but the symptoms will be slightly different than the usual symptoms. If I didn't mention that Bea got exposed to her sick nanny, she wouldn't have even considered chickenpox.

I asked for the possibility of adult chickenpox vaccines for hubby and me, but the doctor said that if we were already infected by the virus, the vaccine will be useless. And since we all sleep on one bed, there is a very strong possibility that we already caught it. (Thankfully though we didn't manifest any symptoms.)

The pediatrician gave us a prescription for an antiviral medicine. Good thing, the spots that came out weren't that many. It was just less than 20 spots all over and Bea was able to go back to school after just 2 days.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Happy father's day Daddy Berns!  Thanks for being such a caring daddy to our Bea.  You have always wanted only the best for Bea and someday when she gets older and more mature I hope she appreciates that.  Kahit ngayon ay galit bati kayong dalawa...  Hahaha.  

We love you!