T H E  86th  L E T T E R

March 16, 2011 @ 1:38p.m.

Dear Baby1,

Howdy, my baby?

Ahh, you hardly sleep these days during daytime. Growing years, uh-oh. But you do need to sleep, baby. Eleven days from now, you’ll be turning two! Wow, the terrific twos! I hope that you’d gain more kilos and add more to your height even though it seems that the ‘problem’ is genetic. Tehee. Anyway, you’re a very, very smart baby. Your pickup is so speed – like light. Zoooommm.

How are you during the past week? Ahh, Mommy was the one who took good care of you. Uh-oh. I did hope I was able to take good care of you despite Mommy’s crankiness and mood swings and heavy pregnancy. Glad that lately you’ve been allowing Mommy to brush your teeth. I wished I didn’t let your yaya do the brushing for you for the past months. Anyway, indeed, you were so stubborn when it comes to brushing your teeth. Did you know that your front teeth (upper part) are now starting to decay? Too bad, really bad.

Your learning over the past months have been too fast to measure. Thank God. You remember things so well after hearing or seeing it for the first time. Here are some of the interesting things you did:

You’re skilled at using the Iphone — in sliding it, choosing the apps, and in closing/opening it.

You said the words “sweet dreams” when you saw the pillows in the Iphone flashcards. Where did you hear those words? We don’t use them at home.(March 12, 2011 at McDonald’s)

You saw a cat on our way home, and when it escaped, you pointed your fingers to Mommy, and said, “cat” to my dismay and horror. Haha. Daddy and Mommy were both laughing so hard.

You were awakened one afternoon (weekend), and you went straight to the living room. Mommy joined you in going back to our bedroom. You fell asleep instantly. I went out seconds after you fell asleep. Daddy was already in our bed when you you suddenly shouted, in Filipino, “Mama, san ka????” Huh, how did you learn to say those words? You usually think and speak in English.

Mommy told you about how to call a teacher (when you saw it in the Iphone flashcard) — ‘ma’am’…And last night, maybe two or three nights after first teaching you about that word, you mesmerized me when you uttered ‘ma’am’ upon seeing the picture of the teacher in the flashcard.

Thank God for your vivid memory, baby. Your mind is like sponge. Your learning has been accelerated rapidly not just with the help of Iphone, but also through the many books we bought you – especially, the Total Development Program (Knowledge Volume) that was recently delivered to us by Learning Time. Speaking of those books from Learning Time, I have yet to post the pictures here…

Oh, and lately, too, you have been bored watching Dora, and you preferred to watch Your Baby Can Read DVDs. Great news! But, later, I learned that you were just bored of watching the same episodes of Dora. I learned that when you watched the new episodes of Dora.

Last March 6, on Mommy’ birthday and Daddy’s and Mommy’s wedding anniversary celebration at the TGIF’s near the seaside, we thought that we might be holding your 2nd birthday celebration there with selected friends. We don’t have much friends here overseas who have kids and you aren’t in school yet so there won’t be any kiddie party. Your 1st birthday party was held at McDonald’s and majority of those who played in the games were adults. As soon as you enter school, there will be more kiddie parties for you, baby. We’ll be holding a separate birthday party for you at the seaside (for you to swim and enjoy the sand), and another one will be celebrated at the playground for you to play at the slide and seesaw, your favorites.

Yesterday, while we were in Alghanim, someone, the security there, approached you. You didn’t see me nor Daddy so your face was a bit worried. You just smiled when you saw me. One thing I learned from that scenario was that you have an emotional quotient. You didn’t cry; you kept on looking for Mommy. Oh, I remember last March 5, we were walking at the mall. You thought the lady was Mommy (she had the same clothes as mine) and you went towards her and you were getting her hands. From behind, I told you, “baby, mommy’s here”.

You love to wear Mommy’s sandals at 23 months, or Daddy’s shoes when you were younger.

You love to watch singers in Youtube like Glee, Justin Bieber, Charice, and Miley Cyrus.

This is all for now, baby. I hope that you’d be sleepy after watching Dora. It’s past 2p.m. now.

iloveyou,

mommy

An article by Ashleigh Russell talks about using mom communities to make money.

Women inventors and entrepreneurs are the fastest-growing demographic in the business sector. I believe much of this is due to necessity. Motherhood seems to breed more than children. It also breeds its own community.

Read more here…

Q: Dutdot.com has recently changed from mere natural letter writing blog to blog posts about your life as a work-from-home mom? Why the sudden change?

A: After spending almost two years at home with my baby, and doing my online business for the past 1.5 years, and now I’m pursuing my love for writing and Internet marketing, I opted to transform this blog into something that speaks of me in totality. I am both a startup mom and startup founder. I’ve been living on the Web since 2004, and I have been fascinated with online stuffs – online education, online work, Web and mobile apps, social media, and more. While still working outside home, I used my free time at home in online work such as problogging (2005-2009) but I did not fully maximize the opportunity then. It was more of testing the waters because I was attached to my jobs then.

Q: How did you start at your WAHM Career?

A: In 2009 of January, (I gave birth to my 1st baby in March 2009), I began to consider being a SAHM. It wasn’t me, I thought. I couldn’t just accept the fact that the once-career woman would stay at home. I began to look for more options. The opportunity to conduct business online with the support of my sister/business partner started the momentum for me. Since I work from home and I don’t commute, I use some of my free time in doing my online projects – startup Web sites, and advocacy projects. That time, I wasn’t considering yet that I have a WAHM career. It only occurred to me that what I have is a career-at-home. I realized the perks that working from home is giving me; I decided then to fully venture into this amazing lifestyle that I discovered as a work-from-home mom.

Working on my own as a WAHM has allowed me more discoveries and wonderful realizations and opportunities. It’s time that I share this wisdom with moms out there. The world is evolving. Jobs have evolved, too. Just because we chose to stay at home doesn’t mean our personal career has ended. Our kids would grow up; they would find their own niches. Moms should be prepared for that. By becoming equipped personally and financially on our own, we wouldn’t feel the burden of catching up with the lost times. WAHMoms should realize that it’s never too late to maximize the benefits of working from home for personal and professional reasons.

Q: How long do you intend to be a work-from-home mom? Do you still dream of going back to the corporate world?

A: My 1st born is now 21 months. I told myself that I’d just stay at home and work from home for two years. The fruits have been wonderful. I have lots of moments and memories with my baby. I saw how she grew up into an amazing toddler. With this arrangement of working from home, I work when I want to — I mean, I can choose my time in working. Currently, I am pregnant with my 2nd baby. For now, I am enjoying much the privilege of being a full time mom and a work-from-home mom. What I really want is personal and financial freedom away from the bondage of working for others -which I know I will achieve by working for myself, having a steady flow of income from my business and other businesses that I intend to put up. Just recently, I have a dream of pursuing my advocacy to influence moms out there to never stop looking after their own personal growth.I was able to find my voice while being a work at home mom; other moms could do it. WE ARE NOW THE NEW MOMS. What and who is a new mom? A new mom shouldn’t be guilty of pursuing her passions in life while attending to family affairs. Some would give up careers for the sake of the children. There has to be a way. The Internet, technology, social media are a great help for today’s woman. It’s not easy to juggle all the vital roles of a woman, especially, a married one. This is a path I am now pursuing — helping other moms find a balance between work and life.It’s like creating an awareness for moms about WORK-FROM-HOME CAREER.

Q: Wow. It’s a great advocacy. You’d touch a lot of women, moms, especially, with your advocacy to create awareness about work-from-home career. Have you started with your project? Do you intend it to be global or local?

A: It’s in the making now. Pretty soon, I will announce the site. I hope to start locally, I mean, in my current location, Kuwait. I know that through my advocacy, I’d be able to help those wives here who are on a dependent visa, who cannot work outside because they have kids to take care of, those who are student-moms, and more. I think that, in a way, my project will touch the international audience. There are many expats here or potential expats who might be inspired with pursuing their passions even when at home.

Q: Great to hear that! You have a lot of time to do your advocacy, your online business, your writing gigs, and running your personal and family life. How do you balance your work-life?

A: Thank you. Being a work-from-home mom for two years now has given me lots of lessons – sometimes, the hard way. There were times in the past when I felt like the world was upon me. It’s too hard not to have a househelp overseas while I struggled to learn the art and science of being a new mom. I am a career-oriented person, too. It wasn’t that easy to give it up so suddenly. For several months, I did nothing with my career – even at home. But gradually, I learned to manage my time and self without a househelp. When we were given a chance to have a fulltime nanny here – overseas – I was somehow relieved, but I am still a hands on mom. With your question as to how I balance my work-life, I just recently wrote an entry about it; you can find it here.

Q: Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the path that your Web site, DUTDOT, is tracking. You’re a great inspiration. I wish you luck and fun in your endeavors.

A: Thank you, too, for this interview. To be of help to my family and to humanity, even just a part of it, is something that I have prayed for. With God’s help, everything will happen. We only have to believe.

previous FAQs

T H E  2nd  L E T T E R

Dec. 30, 2010 @ 9:44p.m.

Dear Baby2,

Geez, my baby2! It’s been quite a while since Mommy wrote you a letter. I am VERY SORRY! There have been countless times I wanted to write you and Ate some letters, but, Mommy kept on postponing them. Ahh, but this time around, I shouldn’t postpone this great news! Read the rest of this entry »