Weekend Morning with a Toddler

Before my son was born, weekends meant that I get to wake up past 8 AM in the morning. Well, I don’t really wake up late. I think the latest would be around 9 AM. But at least would be able to stretch a bit while lying in bed. My husband and I can have a slow start to our weekend mornings. We can spend a few more minutes chatting in bed before somebody volunteers to start making some coffee.

Now that my son is here, he gets to dictate our schedule. We are awake when he is awake, which is around 7 AM (if we are lucky!). He is our alarm clock, and he can go off at random times each day. There is no telling what time he will wake up for a certain day. We are lucky if he wakes up consistently at the same time for a week; only to change it the week after. 

Sometimes, it feels surreal that we have been sleeping for less than 8 hours for more than 19 months now. It is just amazing to see how time flies by so quickly, we hardly notice that we have been into this parenting thing for so long.

My son's version of "Good Morning Mom!"

Fast forward to today, I still don’t get to stretch idly in bed during the weekend mornings. We wake up the moment he wakes up. Am I complaining? A bit maybe. But the moment my son wakes up, is a start of a happy day for me. It means that I get to hug my little rascal good morning and start a new day with him. It meant that I can expect a hand or foot in my face as he tries his best to wake me and his dad. It meant I can hear his contagious giggles as he tries to poke my nose, ears, mouth, and eyes just so I will stop pretending to sleep.

Parenting is not always full of roses. There were bad days that I wish would just quickly pass by. But I can’t exchange simple, happy moments like waking up each day with my son for anything in the world. I still miss my slow and lazy weekend mornings. But for now, I will savor each moment while my son is still this cute little fella. Time flies by so quickly, I am pretty sure the day will come when I wish my son is a baby again. I know other moms out there do, and I am certain that I will feel the same way soon enough.

What I Really Think About Daycare

For months now, my husband and I are constantly plagued with never-ending questions when to put our son into daycare. I am pretty sure that the question meant well, to give us an option that we probably didn’t think of. And for the past months now, we are always consistently answering the same answer: We will take him when we feel it is the right time to do so.

Our son is growing up. He is a very active little boy who loves to run and climb around the house. This is probably the reason why we are constantly asked when we will bring him to a certain facility so he can “learn” to interact with other kids. Don’t get me wrong, my husband and I never thought that by putting one’s child into a daycare facility is evil. To be honest, it was one of the options we had in mind when my son turned one. We even went as far as to call a nearby daycare facility and pay for a full amount of deposit (yes, we already paid for it). It is just that after carefully thinking of our own situation, we decided against it. So the result was to delay his start for a whole year, without refunding the deposit (ouch!).

Here is the thing: parents put their kids to daycare because this is the setup that works best for them. I am not here to question anybody’s parenting style or preference, but would like to stress that the decision whether to put one’s child in a daycare facility comes from the parent’s child. Parents are the one who knows best of their unique situation. Parenting and child-rearing is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach. I am not here to say that we have turned deaf ears for friendly advice and opinions. I actually welcome them since it allows me to have more options to choose from. But to be constantly nagged about the same topic over and over can get quite overbearing.

I hope that as I have said my piece, the topic on daycare, playgroup, or any form of social interaction that I MUST bestow upon my child should end. I am not sure where this idea that it is a MUST to put one’s child into daycare so they can achieve better social skills came from. Are there any hard and fast rules about parenting that I haven’t heard of? The only one that I know of is that we send our kids to school by the age of 4 (or 5 for some countries). By this age, experts agree that a child’s social skills are quite matured making them ready to interact.

I am not to say that I will NEVER let go of my son to be independent. It is actually the opposite. I wish and hope for him to grow up to be an independent man; one that loves to travel and explore the world around him. It is just that for me, a child spending 40 hours per week in a day care facility with enough time to go home just tired to sleep without interaction with family is sad. If I were the child, I will be. And since my husband and I have a choice not to go to that direction, we won’t.

Post Travel Rant: Flying with Baby

We recently went to a long flight back home in Asia with my little one. While I love going back home to see family, I admit that the flight was something I dreaded. My little boy is now 18 months old and is a very active baby. People would commend how he seems to have that never-ending energy. At home, he constantly runs, jumps, or climbs at anything to spend this energy. His nannies would bring him at our apartment’s courtyard so he can spend some of his energies while getting a dose of fresh air.

Traveling from Europe to Asia was not easy. It was a long 16-hour flight. While we took the best route we could get (splitting the travel time to 8-hour each), it was still a difficult task for any parent to make sure that the trip will be fuss-free!

If you are one of those families taking a long trip like this with an active little toddler, here are some of the tips that my husband and I did to survive the long flight:

• Make sure to bring small toys to entertain. My son loves the McDonald’s minions and toy cars. We decided to bring a couple of those to make sure that he would stay seated for even just a few minutes/seconds. Be thankful for each moment where your little one is content just being in his/her chair. It could get worse.
• Bring lots of snacks/homemade food. We requested baby food/kid’s meal for my little one for the duration of the flight. But on the first leg of our trip, we discovered that our son was not included in the headcount for the meals. It was really disappointing and while it was something that the airline company should be apprehended for, parents should make sure that little kids will not go hungry on the trip. It was a good thing I packed lots of snacks/homemade meals for my son and brought empty small containers. The reason why I did this is to make sure that when my son goes hungry, he gets fed. Little kids can go cranky if they are hungry and we can’t expect that his mealtimes will go on schedule as the cabin crew’s schedule for meals. If the crew served his meals and he is done eating or he is taking a nap, I pack it away so he can eat later. 
• Pack a couple of extra change of clothes. My son never liked changing nappies in tightly closed spaces like the plane’s toilets. He would cry and scream on the entire nappy change process. This would lead to some spills or sometimes he would end up peeing on himself. So to make sure your kid will not stink on the remaining hours on the flight, make sure to pack a couple of change of clothes.
• Choose flights with reasonable stopover time. My son loved it the moment we step out of the aircraft. Who wouldn’t be? Even I and my husband loved it when it is time to disembark! If you have connecting flights, make sure to allocate enough time for everybody to enjoy the change of surroundings. I would personally recommend to make sure that the flights in between have at least 3-hours stopover.
• Ignore other passengers. When I was a solo traveler, there were times I was really annoyed when little kids would go screaming their heads off on the entire flight. I think it is pretty common reaction for other passengers who wanted to catch some sleep, but can’t due to the noise. Now that I have my son and we experienced the difficulty, I felt sorry for how I felt towards the parents who were struggling to keep up with a screaming baby on the entire flight. I experienced how difficult it was for those equally sleepless parents to try to keep the baby calm while being equally tired and sleepy. I admit, I think I noticed some passengers close to us giving us “the look” when my son screams, kicks, or basically put his “I am pissed” emotion out on display. Believe me, we really tried our best to contain him and make him wear that seat belt or stop him from hitting the tray table but he really thought it was funny. So since it was a lose-lose situation, we decided to ignore those looks. It was not like we were not doing anything anyway.
  
  
  How about you, do you have tips that can help tired and worn out parents traveling with active little toddlers?