Getting through a rough road and traveling for two hours with kiddos is all worth it when you reach this one-of-a-kind hot spring from Maco Compostela Valley. This is a sulfuric hot spring where folks there claimed to have natural healing properties. The mist in the background is coming from the streaming water. When you first dipped your feet, you would feel the burning sensation but you would get used to the temperature by and by.



Tips in Going to Mainit Hot Spring

1. You must come early so you can avail their cottages. We arrived there before 7am but the area was already crowded. We were not able to get a cottage and we got disappointed because we just had to eat in the car.

2. Some parts of the road were uncemented and imagine traveling for almost an hour with a bumpy and rough road. Though the road can be maneuvered by a small car, it's best if you travel by a big car for safer and more convenient purposes.

3. Bring your own foods and water. Though there are vendors selling foods on the sidewalk but we can't assure whether they are clean or not.

4. If possible do not bring along your kids. My kids did not really enjoy because the water is really hot.

5. It's best if you come when the weather is cold or come at dawn. Otherwise, the hotter the weather is, the hotter the water it will be.

6. Many people are flocking on the weekends so I advise you to come during weekdays.

I almost canceled Psalm's birthday party reservation with Mc Donalds Toril as the assigned crew (whose name I won't mention) messed up the schedule. They were supposed to host Psalm's birthday at the party venue but then another crew accepted another reservation from a big event on the same day. I only availed the mini-birthday-party package (minimum of 10 guests) which is maybe one of the reasons why they prioritized that event over me.  I was hurt knowing how important that day was for my daughter. In spite of that, Psalm's birthday was pushed through.

Cake from Goldilocks

This is what I meant of the mini-birthday-party package. For a minimum of 10 guests, you can avail 10 balloons, 10 hats, 10 loot bags, 10 activity mats plus a party host and candle blowing. For foods, they have four food mixes to choose from depending on your budget.

via: mcdonalds.com.ph

We occupied the play area exclusive for us where Psalm's guests (mostly children) were having fun playing. The area is small and just enough for guests of 10-15.

McDonald's Loot Bags

My experience with McDonald's was not a total blast, but if you are on a tight budget and wanting a simple party, then I would recommend this mini package from McDonald's.

I used to teach in a private school for over five years. In fact, teaching had been my bread and butter so I devoted my time and energy to this profession. In a span of five years working, I slowly realized that I was no longer happy with it.  It not only drains me physically and mentally, it also takes away much of my time that I'm no longer able to enjoy my weekends and holidays as they are already scheduled for making lesson plans and checking papers.

When I got married, I decided to quit teaching. My husband, who is a web developer, introduced me to online job. He first trained me to create a website from the scratch using only css and html.  I became eager learner my first time. It suddenly occurred to me that this is the kind of work I am passionate about. After two months of training, I bought a domain and built my first website through the WordPress platform, thinking that having a portfolio increases my chance of getting hired. True enough, my portfolio landed me on my first online job which is my job for almost seven years now.  If you would ask me what made me inspire to stay in this job, here they are.

1. Salary is Better than Teaching

For five years in the teaching profession, the highest salary I received was only P11, 000 minus the tax and benefits (SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-Ibig, etc.). But when I got my first online job, I was right away compensated P10, 000, which inspires me to cling on my job. I won't mention now how much the raise after 6 years but I assure you it's higher than a teacher working in the government.

3. I Can Spend Quality Time with My Family

Working from home allows me to be part of my family's routines. I can play with my 2-year old,  help my older daughter answer her assignments when she gets home from school, and cook my husband's favorite lunch. The amount of time I spent with my family was indeed quality.

4. I Enjoy My Weekends and Holidays

After I left the teaching profession, I have more time blogging, reading books, cooking meals for my family, and traveling. Yay!

Hello, momshies! It's been a month now since my last post, which is an evidence how super dooper busy I am. I wish I had more time so I could share a lot of stories with you guys apart from what I am going to share today.

Anyways, let me start this one.

If you have noticed, most of my blogs this year are about family travel. It's because one of my family goals this year is to create happy memories with my family. Some of the parents today seem to ignore the importance of family bonding as they are too busy with their works. But with us, no matter how busy we are, we make sure to spend quality time with our children. For me, happy memories are more valuable than any material in this world because they last a lifetime.

Husband and I are so lucky to have worked at home because we are able to keep our eyes on with our children. After work,  we can right away bond with them by watching TV together, taking a walk around our subdivision, or simply eating a snack together with good laughs and chats.

Or during the weekend, we take the days off by going to resorts to swim or get in touch with nature to unwind from a stressful week. Here are some of the pictures of our bonding moments with our children in one of the resorts here in Davao.

Some years ago, I wrote down about interesting personalities of Chesska and I also decided today to write about Psalm to be fair. I love writing my kids personalities because as a parent it will guide me how to attend their needs based on their unique personalities. Also when they are already grown-up, they will appreciate the things I write about them. I hope so!



Allow me to share some Psalm's cute personalities. Here they are:

1. She Has Nice Eyebrows

My older brother and I used to fight when we were younger, maybe, because we differed in many things. Our age gap and gender could have been some of the factors of our constant squabble. We didn't agree on many things that often turned into siblings' fight.

When I see my two girls, 6 and 2, fight each other,  it reminds me of my childhood memories. While Chesska was quite excited when Psalm arrived in the family, she sometimes got jealous when our attention was focused on her younger sibling. Well, it is understandable because she'd been our first-born for four years and was used to be the center of attraction.
But when Psalm is a little older and has a personality on her own, the fight started. They are both competing for our attention and love. For instance, when I sat Chesska on my lap, the younger one would cry, wanting to be included too.  Aside from that, they keep fighting over toys. Since Chesska owns most of the toys, she will get angry when Psalm snatches the toys from her. The tendency is the younger one would cry and beg us to borrow the toys from her.  Yes, we constantly remind Chesska that it's important to share but she's just a kid, too, whose emotion is out of control.

Hearing them fight is so upsetting so here are some tips on how I deal with siblings' fight.

1. Pay Equal Attention 

2. Avoid Favoritism

3. Have Fun Together as a Family

4. Never Compare

Chesska will be officially grade one next week. It's been three years now since she attended school. And yes, we are surviving! I remember during her first year when she went home crying and refused to attend school anymore. As a parent, I got disappointed. So I wrote a letter to the teacher to clarify the issue and eventually found out that Chesska had been dealing with separation anxiety. Which was no longer a surprise because Chesska was an introvert type of a kid. In other words, she is clingy and shy with many people. If your child is like Chesska,  here are some helpful tips how I get her to go to school.

1. Prepare Your Child For School Before Her First Day to Reduce Anxiety

2. Accompany Her in School in The First Week Or As Needed

Saying goodbye without tears and letting them go inside the classroom on their own takes time for the children. In Chesska's case, I accompanied her in the classroom for three weeks until she became comfortable with her new peers. I made an effort to introduce her to the teacher and I even approached Chesska's classmates one by one, telling them to befriend her.

Preschool First Day of School

3. Be Generous with Rewards 

When she was on the verge of giving up the school, we tried everything just to coax her to go to school. Since she loved swimming so much, we always promised her that we would go swimming if she finished the five school days straight in a week. To be honest, we almost round all the resorts here in Davao just to grant her request. Week after week, we prepared different rewards like toys, candies, trip to the mall, or simply a compliment. Our efforts were not put into waste because Chesska always ended the school with flying colors. In fact, when she was in preschool, she received two awards: 3rd Honors and Most Behaved and just recently, in Kindergarten,  she received two awards, too, With Honors and Most Diligent. See, what positive results reward can bring!

4. Be Patient 

The secret weapon here is patience. Children having separation anxiety cannot be dealt with overnight.  It must be addressed in a gentle process until they will get used to the new environment which involves socialization. I had had difficulty dealing Chesska's anxiety but as a parent, I refused to give up. For example, just two months ago, Chesska was always asking me until when she would go to school daw.  However, I always diverted her attention into something different such as I promised her to buy a new pony school bag (since she's a huge fan of Pony), school things, and a lunch bag with the Pony characters imprinted on it. Her interest in school was thankfully rekindled and she got excited, too,  to attend school next week. I wish it goes on and on.



Has your child experienced separation anxiety? What are the steps you take to address this issue? Feel free to share your story in the comments section below.