MRSVERGIEM

They say it takes a village to raise a child. And nothing could be more real than that statement.

When I became a mom, a first-time mom, my focus is on my child. I make sure he is well-fed, comfortable, and sure that he has a small towel or a white cloth on his back when he gets sweaty due to his unlimited energy.

“New Normal”. This is where we are all right now, and us, working moms are not exempted from this. We are not allowed to go to the office, which sometimes for some moms is their time to be away for a while, a pause from motherhood even for just a few hours (yes! you are allowed that, no need to feel guilty about it). Nor are we allowed to be outside without proper protection and guidelines because of what is happening in our surroundings right now. With that, we are confined in our homes to do our work as an employee and as a mommy or parent to our dear kid(s).

How do you deal with the pressure from work? And the weight of being a mom or a parent?

We all go through it differently. We all have our own hacks that we discovered as we went on with this new normal thing. For me, Here are my five tips that I did to help me survive my work-from-home-mommy-life, and I am sharing it with my fellow working mommies or working parent.

First is we need to Create a routine and stick to it. I created a schedule that worked around my baby, a practice that we both follow, and the people around us do as well, to not disrupt our day.

My baby gets up with a smile on his face, ruffled hair, and talks random language at around 6 or 7 in the morning. His daddy sits him on his white high chair for his breakfast while I lie down for a few minutes to check on my phone for email or read a chapter from the book I am reading. Then I get up, fix the bed, and open my work laptop to login.

Nap times are at 9AM and 2PM, which is 2 hours each (given that no distractions occur like when the building’s alarm turns on because of smoke from one unit). I work and squeeze all I can finish in those little time.

Second on the list is to Welcome all the help you can get. I thank the Lord for my mom, who decided to stay with us when I got pregnant. I wouldn’t be able to survive motherhood without my own mother. She is the reason why all things became possible. 

She helped prepare our meals and helped with Achan while we were away to work.

My sister, who visits us during the weekend plays with our little one, that gives me free time to work on my writing or other stuff that I want to accomplish.

It takes a village of great and caring people who will have your back, who will support you, to raise your child into a happy and loving person. Embrace all the help you could get.

Third, Make use of technology. There is a point where you don’t even want to go to the kitchen, or ideas on meal preps evades you. Many apps could help you, and here are a few of those that I personally use.

• Grab food, which now also offers grocery
• Panda express
• Pick-a-roo – grocery delivered on your doorstep
• Beauty MNL – for your kikay and healthy food needs
• Session groceries – where you can order fruits and vegetables
• Bukid fresh – another online shop that has fresh fruits and vegetables

Fourth is to Prepare food in bulk. If you are to prepare meals for the family, do it in a big batch. I personally love to cook adobo. Besides being easy to prepare and a Filipino food staple, it could also last a long time. You could re-heat it multiple times, and it would still taste good, even better than when it was freshly cooked. There are many recipes online that you could follow. One site I visit is from panlasang pinoy. He makes Filipino food in an easy to follow steps with simple recipes.

And lastly, let us not forget to Set a me time for sanity. I set aside me-time before my baby wakes up or after he goes down at night. I browse through social media, check my emails, or watch videos I like during this time. This is also my time to reflect on things I want to do, a journal for the day, or plan for the next day. This helped me cope up with my busy life. Helped me reset my mind to think back on what I did and prepare for what is ahead. 

Have a Me-time. You deserve it.

A glimpse of my weekly schedule – this is my blogging schedule actually – but you can picture basically how my week goes.

It takes a village to raise a child, but an organized, resourceful, and loving mom or parent can do a magnificent job.

Cheers to all types of mom or parent out there! You are doing a great job!