I cannot do everything.
I work as a college instructor, lead content strategist, and writer/book author. I also conduct trainings and workshops on various topics. I love what I do. Just yesterday, I wrapped up a training-workshop on developing information, education, and communication materials that allowed me to meet social development workers from all over the Visayas. I’m still reeling from the experience. I love my job!
I am my children’s teacher too. There are three of them. It is overwhelming especially that I demand the best from myself. The best means committing to develop topnotch learning plans for them. I can be obsessive in controlling the lessons. I read the living books in advance and I carefully assess and evaluate them. While this has proven to be strategic and efficient, I also learned that it can sometimes leave very little room for spontaneity. I’m in the process of letting go. It really is a process. It’s a daily decision to be conscious about what I think, say, and do. To practice this, there are days that my husband teaches the children. We don’t have any househelp so planning my work commitments and my husband’s responsibilities in his various roles as a working professional involves charts, emails, and synching of calendars.
Learning to let go also means assigning the twins certain tasks that help their younger sibling. Earlier in Literature class today, Nicholas helped JJ in reading “Dr. Dolittle” by Hugh Lofting. A few minutes ago, Antoinette assisted JJ in reading “Good Little Cranes” from the book, “Among the Pond People” by Clara Dillingham Pierson.
I’ve been getting questions from the followers of this blog as to how we ensured that the mutants are wide readers. I know this does not apply to all but one conscious decision we made was to NOT HAVE A TELEVISION AT HOME. My husband and I agreed on this even before we got married. No TV at home does not mean no screen time. They do watch movies and cartoon shows but they are supervised and limited. My husband and I also share the same opinion that children should have access to books. We’ve been doing that since we became parents. In our home in Cebu, Philippines where we currently reside, we decided to convert the entire living room to a library-classroom.
A few years back I shared tips on “How to cultivate a reading culture at home.”
This was written in 2017 but it remains to be true to this day. I hope this helps you in creating an atmosphere of learning in your respective homes.
It’s Wednesday! I hope the week is not too hard on you Mamas.
