Hoping to Raise Moneywise Toddlers

Most people are scared to let their toddlers handle money.

I'm happy daughter is the type who knows she shouldn't put anything shiny in her mouth. At an early age, I told her "most of the time when it's shiny, it's usually not fit to put in your mouth." That includes uncooked fish, shiny shoes, glitter polish, colorful balls, decorative stones & small coins. My mom-in-law used to babysit her all the time & she allowed her to play with coins at four months (under close supervision and a ton of wipes & hand sanitizer!)

Flower Girl Tips

It's challenging being the first grandchild.  As a kid I served as a flower girl in eleven weddings.  Ma didn't want to trouble with so many dresses so there came point wherein I had a basic itchy flouncy white gown. We just changed its trimming several times to fit the next wedding theme.  I hated most of my photos though; the heavy 80s makeup & stiff hairdos didn't suit me.

Transition Period

It's official. I now have a preschooler at home. On her 40th month, she declared that she's already a big girl.  She consistently refuses to latch & orders me to feed her brother when he wants milk.  "He needs you more, Mom. He's always hungry!"  We don't adhere to a strict lesson plan but she can now write her nickname and her favorite letters (A, C, E, H, I, J, O, X) and numbers. She adds & subtracts single digit numbers (when she feels like it) and sings songs in her spare time.  English is her first language but she understands a bit of Tagalog, Mandarin, Spanish, German, French & Korean. Thank you, Netflix and Youtube.  When we're abroad, she's confident to play even with non-English speaking kids and attempts to communicate with them by gesturing more. Hopefully she gets to acquire other Filipino dialects too as she grows older.

Can't Get over Oberammergau

My kids are inseparable; I'm happy they're best friends.  It's cute that they always have fun with each other and toys are just optional.  They hug, jump, and tumble around in bed or sometimes bite each other & wrestle.  Sometimes I leave them by themselves in the playroom when Leji wants to play teacher and I'm surprised how the little guy can tolerate her bossiness.

Parenting on the Mooove

When I was in grade school,  I had a vision of the kind of family I want to have when I grow up.  I want to have kids who will grow up as best friends and I want a husband that would be hands-on with them just like me.  I prayed for a career that allowed a flexible schedule so I could prioritize my family.  When I had suitors in HS, it's funny that I screened them based on their ability to handle kids and extreme pressure.  I even checked their grades (:/).  I took my grandmother's advice "improve the race" quite seriously.  I didn't attend the HS prom because I couldn't find a Brad Pitt my age who could get along well with my sister who was at that time 2years old.  My mindset was, if I don't see a future for us never mind.  I thought even friendly dates should be serious ones.

Miss Tourism International 2018 : Promo Video

So excited for this! Good luck with your preparations Aya Fernandez! May God be with you every step of the way

Haha Praha

Miss International 2008 4th Runner-up Zuzana Putnářová of Czech Republic was one of my favorite bus buddies.  I can't find her on Facebook so I can't really say we've managed to maintain the friendship through the years but she was an awesome representative of her country.  In less than three weeks at the time when there were only a handful of tourists in her city, she managed to pique my interest about Prague and how the European Union has affected her people and their economy.