Oh yes, the wisdom of kids. Happy 4th year wedding anniversary to me and BDW! Thank you BDW for loving me and for allowing me to love you. As our wedding song went “this is our fate, I’m yours”.

poster is from here

UPDATE: Please also see the comments section below to learn where else you may send help. For donations in kind, bottled water is the priority.

Typhoon Sendong has left a trail of destruction and devastation that, as of writing, has left 436 dead and a number of our fellow Filipinos without food, shelter, clothing and clean water. It has been reported that 50mm of rain per hour was dumped by Sendong in the early  morning of Dec. 17 when everybody was asleep. People in Mindanao and a part of Visayas woke up to rising floodwaters with little time to evacuate. As of writing, 440 have been declared dead and 200 are still missing. The numbers are still expected to rise. (Read more about Sendong from Red Cross’ page here).

I know that a lot of people want to help so I did the list below. Should you have any other information on how we can all ease the burden of our fellow Pinoys please do leave a comment. The information found in the table below all came  from Twitter and Facebook from trusted and verified sources but you can always double-check the sources on your own.

Please feel free to add and correct the information listed herein in the comments section below. Let’s also remember those affected by Sendong  in our prayers that they may we they all find strength, comfort and relief amidst the tragedy. May our leaders also find the will to reach out and use their energies wisely (translation: huwag na muna magsisihan pwede ba?!).

poster sourced from here

Hey there good lookin’ I’m sorry that I’ve been remiss with my posts. Well as you can see from what I wrote below, I’m trying to deal with issues. I’ve talked to friends and BDW about this and now I turn to you for your sage advice.  Thanks in advance dear friends and hope the long weekend allows you all to recharge and be with family and good friends.

I’ve been in Corporate for 12 years. 10 years in the same company where I found and eventually married the wonderful father of my kid.  I couldn’t believe I lasted 10 years but looking back it was all because I found a team and a family here. Things have changed quite a bit in the last 3 years as  now I have my own family to take care of. My day job entails intense, pressure-filled work in the 2^nd  and 4^th quarter of the year. By intense I mean, “wiwi lang ang pahinga”, 12-16 hour days, weekend work and the absence of long holidays. It used to be manageable then because I was younger, I had the stamina and the energy. But now, it’s all different because when I come home, I put on my mom hat and my mom hat does not really do much if the kid I’m supposed to be a mom to is asleep. My mom hat  is useless when all I could tell my little kid who wants Mama to stay behind  and eat breakfast with him is “I need to go to the office”  My kid has dropped words like “dito ka na lang mama” or “mama wag ka nag mag-office” and they have stabbed my heart and I couldn’t  concentrate on my work any longer because I just want to be home.

Some would say that those words would motivate them to do their best and be the best. Some would see this as a signal to reassess things.  The past few months have just been a challenge for me work wise and it’s not just because of the actual work but because of the issues that I’ve had to deal with.  I think at some point every parent, not just moms, has to deal with these cross roads.

I have a co-manager at the office that has moved on to another team. Her main reason, she didn’t want to do the same mistake she did with her first son with her second son. She didn’t see her first kid grow up because she was stuck in the office, doing the same work I am doing now.  It broke her heart when her kid got a star on his hand but he had to wash it because it was bed time and Mommy wasn’t home yet.  It drove her to tears when her kid asked why she wanted to spend more time at work than with him. Her kid is just 5 years old.

Of course, let’s not get into the nitty-gritty of the other details that make corporate life uhm exciting but yes, those too add to the pressure and sometimes become more unbearable than the workload itself.  And to be honest, it is this last thing that’s making me reassess my options. Yes I am truly sad because certain events are beyond my control now and it all happened in the span of one month.

I’m sorry to be a bit cryptic, it’s just that I don’t want to give away too much as it involves my day job

I want to ask you moms out there who have quit the Corporate Life, what is that moment when you made that big leap? What was your exit strategy?

 To fellow working moms, how do you deal with issues like this??