Forty Winks and a Good Night's Sleep

As a newly stay-at-home mom, spending your day taking care of your child and managing your household can be a challenge. It seems so easy but I realized that it' not. You cannot reason with a 4-year old boy like you do with a colleague; you will never win. You cannot ignore the toys on the floor like you do with the pieces of office supplies on your office floor; no one will clean it but you. You also cannot count the remainder of your 8-hour work day like you do at work since your work is 24 hours. It's only been more than a week since I've resigned and I'm already missing my routine as a regular employee. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty much loving every moment I get to spend with my son (including his tantrums) but my body I still not used to "taking it easy." I've worked for more than 13 consecutive years so forgive me if I still haven't get rid of my work routine yet.

The only positive side to this new career is I get to sleep a lot of hours now. I love sleeping for more than 8 hours a day! When I became a working mom, this is the only thing I was deprived of. On a good day, 5 hours of sleep was already a luxury. Make it 4 interrupted hours on a regular basis and you can just imagine how cranky I could get. I long for the days that I will sleep for more than 8 hours like when I was single and without responsibilities. I'm so happy that I get to do it now! One time, I get to sleep for 9 hours at night with a 3-hour siesta in the afternoon! I was soo happy and recharged the next day! Pure bliss!

I went to the office the other day to have my exit interview and do my clearance. As I was preparing myself, I noticed that I don't need a concealer anymore to hide my dark under eyes. It's not that noticeable anymore. Yes! One beauty problem solved! Just search online the different benefits of sleeping and you'll now what I mean. I'm so happy that I get to catch up on my z's after 4 years of being a mom, if you know what I mean.

I'm also taking advantage of this opportunity because I know that when we finally have the business we're planning as well as possible online jobs I'm eyeing, I may not be able to enjoy this again for a long time. So for now, I try to find ways to rest and sleep. I also checked online and found this article a nice read for sleep deprived mom that used to be me. It's not about the physical benefit, a lot have to do about the mental health and general well-being of us moms who are working for more than 16 hours a day.

2015 Year-End Review

2015 had been a great year for me and family. For starters, we became debt-free and got a life insurance/investment. But then again, we got a new car that we're paying monthly for it, so there goes being debt-free. Nevertheless, I'm proud to say that we became wiser (read: thriftier) with our finances. The main reason is we want to send our son to a better school. As we know, better school may SOMETIMES mean more expensive. We had to give up some of our simple luho like out of town trips and weekly spending at the malls. I guess it helps that my husband and I now have different schedules and restdays. A simple out of town trip would take months of planning and adjusting. Frankly, the stress just wont justify the 3 or 4 days of relaxation, so scratch that. We had just one out of town trip this year and that was to Puerto Prinsesa, Palawan with my parents. That was good enough for me.

This year, my husband resigned from his job due to various reasons. I was glad because I know the stress was killing him. He wasn't happy like he was before. Good thing he found another job that is much closer from home. The work is still stressful but atleast it doesn't take a 2-hour travel time from our house to the office.

The little boy super loves his new school. He gets upset every time classes are suspended or during vacations. He enjoys school and is excited everytime I wake him up to change to his uniform. Too much excitement that his teachers recommend that we have him assessed for Attention Deficit and Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). They said Quino couldn't finish his activities, always full of energy to the point of being rough and hurting his classmates/teachers a long the way. As I mentioned in my previous post, part of my reason for resigning from work, is to spend time for my little boy.

We also celebrated our son's 4th birthday party at Don Henrico's Pizza with our family and close friends. It was a dinosaur themed party and I loved it so much because I know my son was so happy. I specially loved the part when he was opening his presents at home - that boy was so excited and overwhelmed, he didn't know which toy to pick and play with first!

As for me, I got myself my first designer bag! It may sound as shallow for some but I've been fantasizing about it for a long time now so getting one is like a dream come true for a regular mom who has modest earnings. Not to sound repetitive, I decided to resign from my 11-year work in a call center industry. I'm still technically employed but rendering my terminal leave now. I love the simple things of waking up and sleeping with my son by my side.

This new year, I hope I'll have a rewarding career as a work-at-home mom. I wish my husband finds a better fulfilling job and for my son to outgrow ADHD and have a better social skills. I also hope we'll be able to set up a small franchise business this year. Oh and it would also be much better if we'll have an addition to our family too.