Come Home

I really hope this is it! Hubby has finally agreed to go home. Next month!! Yipee!! After 3 long years! (4 years for hubby).

There are so many reasons why I am even more excited for this trip home than the last (eons ago):

> Little girl will be 4 years old - She can now appreciate family time. She would have a B-L-A-S-T with her cousins (as they are all nearly the same age!).

>Quality time with grandparents/our parents. Our Parents are getting older and they long to spend time with us, as much as us with them. Little B is the most excited of all! We have been Skype-ing with my family very often lately. And this is as requested by my daughter. The bubbly up and down jumping when video of grandparents load -- is absolutely priceless!!!! (My heart melts).

>It's been too long since our small family has had a proper vacation. I don't even remember the last one. Must have been 4 years ago. That. Long. Ago. Although we are on a tighter budget this time around, I am still thankful for the opportunity. Surely the best things in life are still free - or cheap, maybe?

>Food trip!! Family escapades. Memory lane!! Hubby and I have been reminiscing about the stuff we love and miss about home. The last time all three of us were in Manila, it was a very short 7 days with hubby. and about 15 days for me and little girl. We were back in Sydney in a blink. Tagaytay overnight is number one on our agenda. Chill.

>For me, I am wanting some sister time. I miss my little sister so much. She's taken my throne as the big sister, and has been through a lot of pressure the past years. I just want to hang out at the roof top, with our coffees and endless stories. But of course that might not happen - since we both have kids now. Her with 2 toddlers in tow. We might move our usual venue.. to the play room! Much looking forward to it nonetheless!

>I can write a million reasons to go home, be excited. The past 1.5 years has been really hectic, tiring, crazy, highly pressurised. I am sure this will be a highlight for the year 2014. I am even wanting to skip Christmas and New Year's eve.... just so we can hop on a plane and jet off!!!!!!

Photo Credit: http://en.paperblog.com/jump-for-joy-426838/

Life as Parents - Stage one

Silent movies exist - Yes, they still exist. A lot of them. Avatar. Wolverine. Superman 2. The Vow. Dear John. The Lucky One. Green Hornet. Avengers. Fast and Furious. Skyfall. Life of Pi. And the list goes on. Sneaking a movie or two after lights are out can be tricky, especially if it is a LOUD film or a crude one, or.... Either way it must be subtitled! These are hubby and wifey movie dates now. Silent mode!

Spelling game - When you want something... c-h-o-c-o-l-a-t-e I have to spell them out or else the little one will want to have one too. (Trying to be good parents avoiding sugar - yah right!). Or, when we want to keep the story amongst adults about the c-r-a-p-p-y item we bought.. It's easier to spell it out than explain what it means to a 3 year old. We know sooner than later we are not able to use this method - as the little one is learning to spell and read. Give or take six more months?!

Privacy is non-existent / Endless questioning - Going to the toilet alone? I am dreaming. One minute out of her (little one) sight she is looking for me and asking where I am and what I am doing. And if I choose to keep quiet, I know she will come running looking for me. And all I wanted was five minutes of peace and silence.

Conjugal what?? - The owner of the masters bed is... the little girl. Daddy is kicked out, to squat in the other bedroom or the couch. While the little senyorita dominates the masters bedroom. If it's not enough that the "big" bed is hers --her little bed is adjacent to the big bed. And she gets to keep both. No space for mum and dad here. Right! (Ok, mum is commissioned to sleep with the little girl - poor daddy!)

House is a big play area - Toys everywhere. Books everywhere. Tiny and big crafts everywhere. Lounge room, bedroom, dining, kitchen.. it doesn't matter how many times a day the house gets cleaned. Somehow the toys belong to Toy Story and they all magically come alive and head back to where they don't belong.

Busy social life is theirs - Pre-school party on Sunday, ballet class on Saturday morning, park playdate on Saturday afternoon, Thursday is library storytime, oh and of course, Monday and Tuesday are pre-school days .. seems like a lot of activities involve the little one. They are too little to bring themselves to their activities and as parents obviously we 'signed them up' for these classes and activities. We would like for our kids' social circle to grow - and this is all part of that bigger plan.

I am not complaining (not now! hehe).The whole world revolves around the little commander, but as parents we are quite happy to take a back seat and watch her grow, hear her express herself, realise her dreams, develop skills and learn about the world. Obviously we are still there to guide her and make sure she learns her manners and blossom into a polite and obedient child. There are some adjustments though that we have made (temporarily - until we are past this pre-school stage, I'd say.) in order to accommodate the little one growing into our family lives. Soon, all this 'new excitement' and 'bending over' will end. The little girl will transform into a little adult, and surely hubby and I will adjust to 'being a couple' again and our parenting skills will evolve to accommodate a teenager, and eventually a mature adult child. Exciting stages we go through and will continue to grow through as parents. For now, this is where we are as parents at Stage One. Soon, we will enter Stage Two and it will be a different ballgame altogether. I don't know when that will be or what I have signed up for. Hopefully it will be a breeze.

I am now thinking of ordering this book Loaded Questions! I'm sure it will be an interesting read. I should read it with hubby of course!

Also, I've just subscribed to this mummy site. I must get useful parenting tips!