by The Happy WAHM
In September last year, I attended my first Homeschooling Conference, although we were already in our sixth year of homeschooling.
This year, I’m excited to be attending another homeschool-related conference, but this time, it is more focused on the parents, not the homeschooling concept. It’s the TMA Homeschool Parents Conference, happening on March 12, at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig.
You are not going to believe how insecure, how frustrated and how scared I’ve been in the past years. But all these hodgepodge of emotions are nothing when compared to the happiness and security I feel about being with my kids day in and day out.
Six years, and I’m still in need of hand-holding. Or maybe just in need of knowing how other parents do it, or how I can further improve our homeschooling experience. Not just for me as a parent, but for my children, as well. Which is why, this time, I’m bringing one of our two remaining homeschoolers to the conference.
Our middlechild is about to move on to Grade 7, and she is strongly considering going the traditional high school route. Oh, I have cried about this, feeling that I have failed. That drama about being incompetent and not meeting the expectations of my child. But a chat with a fellow homeschooling mom gave me back my confidence that hey, we must have done something right after all. Because our baby knows what she wants, and she’s able to voice it out.
Whatever happens, whatever she ultimately decides to do, we will support her. But for now, while she is still processing her thoughts about going, I’d like to equip myself with proper knowledge and insights from those who have actually homeschooled through high school, so that if and when she decides to stay home, I will be ready.
The conference topics are all the things I would want to know more about: character-focused education, multi-level homeschooling, homeschooling through high school, adjusting teaching strategies… All very rich topics. All I expect to absorb like a sponge.
So, whether you are a parent who have homeschooled for years already (like I’ve been), or a parent who is still considering homeschooling and just want to find out if it’s for you, I invite you to join me in this homeschool parents conference on March 12.
Oh, and have I mentioned that the provider we started with was TMA itself? 🙂 Well, yes, it was.
Click on this link to register, and don’t forget to use my code THWTMAHS_1 when prompted for a referral code.
Hope to see you there!
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Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
It must be that surprise mention in The Asian Parent article, or something about the month of February, that inspires me to write about the hubby. After having palpitations from the excitement of seeing a link back to my site from a popular parenting site, I went all agog in sharing the link, and stalked all other shares, truly curious on how many women in my extended Facebook network would be interested on having homebased jobs. Surprisingly, there were a number of commenters who left the question: What about something for work-at-home dads?
So since yesterday, I’ve been mulling about writing an article about my very own work-at-home dad. Yes, folks, my husband is a WAHD. So I asked him if I could feature him in my blog. He readily said yes, but no pictures, please.
That was yesterday afternoon, and I have conveniently forgotten about it because there have been a few emergencies at work.
Tonight, in the middle of setting up a shopping cart for a local client, this Deniece Williams song played on my tablet, and it goes like this:
My baby, he don’t talk sweet
He ain’t got much to say
But he loves me, loves me, loves me
I know that he loves me anyway
And maybe he don’t dress fine
But I don’t really mind
‘Cause every time he pulls me near
I just wanna cheer
Okay, stop singing now. But yeah, this song is spot on. And reminded me again of the feature write up that I already have permission to write.
So is it possible for husbands to transition to a work-at-home career?
My answer, and the husband’s, of course, is a resounding YES!
Back in 2013, the company that he served for 18 years was bought out by the country’s telecoms giant. About 80% of the workforce were immediately offered early retirement, while a few were asked to stay on for the transition. Hubby was among those few people who were retained on that first salvo of massive manpower displacement. He was given a consultancy position with a one-year contract. Benefits were taken away, and tenure just went pfffft! The only consolation was that his take home pay went higher, his service vehicle was retained, and he stayed in the same area. Others were not that fortunate, as salaries were drastically cut, and others were assigned to far away places. In that one year as consultant, he felt the dissatisfaction with the management. It just wasn’t the same.
So nearing the end of his contract, we already started planning our next move. I asked him if he’d welcome a home-based career, and he said, why not? He was confident that I could help him. It was during that time that we decided to go ahead with the house extension, so that in case he decides to join me in my virtual office, we will have space. I also wanted to have the expense taken cared of while he was still gainfully employed.
In the same manner that we prepared for my farewell to corporate, we again worked on our numbers. Four months to the end of his contract, I stopped touching his salary. We went into a dry run of how our life would be if there would only be me earning for the family.
The decision to not renew his contract came on the day before it actually ended. There was a call for him to go out of town for troubleshooting. And we decided that he would not go.
It took him eight months before he was finally hired on a retainer position. In those eight months, he took care of almost everything around the house, allowing me more time to focus on my existing engagements and looking for additional clients that I could pass on to him. He’s a technical person, and a desk job is not something that he would really love, but he was at least willing to give it a try. He took an online qualifying exam for a marketing company, passed it, but failed the Skype interview. Please refer to the second line of the song. 🙂
WordPress
Most online jobs that you would come across these days require you to at least know how to upload a post or update a plugin. So I bought him a domain name and set up a WordPress dashboard for him, so he could familiarize himself with the back end navigation. Just our luck that I also conduct WordPress workshops, together with my partner, The Techie Mom, for a living, so he had an in-house WordPress tutor. 🙂
In the end, he landed a job that is in itself a specialized service. That of shipping management, which requires a working knowledge of 1ShoppingCart, Shipwire, and Zendesk. Errrr… I also trained him on these platforms, as I have become a subject matter expert on these over the past five years.
He also became my official computer technician, performing maintenance of my PC and laptop, installing and updating virus protection, taking care of our internet connectivity, and even periodic cleaning of the CPU and keyboard.
At times that I have out-of-home meetings, he pitches in with some of my administrative and research tasks. And I think he enjoys the research the most. He’s very meticulous with data and he goes the extra mile, which I always say is a great VA trait. One time, I asked him to do a research for meat curing equipment, parameters were price, ease of installation and functionality. He surprised me with adding product reviews. And I was like, why didn’t I think of that?
So yes, dads have a place in the virtual workplace, even those without administrative and clerical background. They just need to find that job that will challenge them in a way that they will enjoy. With my husband, it was the challenge of being in a very unfamiliar territory that’s making him enjoy the journey.
I’m still confident that I can give him a run for his money for the Employee of the Year Award, but the best part of having a WAHD in the house is that I no longer have to take my coffee breaks alone.
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by The Happy WAHM
He doesn’t bring me flowers. Says he wouldn’t know what to get for me.
He doesn’t buy me gifts. He’d rather that I just buy what I want for myself, after all, I’m the one who holds the purse.
He calls me Marge. No endearments. “Because Marge is who you are.”
He doesn’t take me out on dates. The closest thing we can call a date is when we buy groceries without the kids in tow and we take a bite at Red Ribbon before going home.
We don’t have a song. He listens to Yes, Pat Metheny, and Bela Fleck. I listen to Barry Manilow, James Ingram, and George Benson.
He reads Hawking and Sagan. I read Grisham and Ludlum. He reads textbooks. I read business books and DIYs.
We watch TV from different rooms. He surfs channels, I stay glued even on commercials. Especially if it’s NCIS. And I stay glued even on replays.
HHWW (Holding Hands While Walking) is taboo.
He doesn’t know what MFEO means.
And he kisses me on the forehead.
Because you see, my husband is not romantic.
But that is more than okay with me.
Who needs romance? Definitely not me.
He doesn’t bring me flowers, but he cleans the bathroom.
He doesn’t buy me gifts, but he makes me breakfast in bed even on ordinary days.
He doesn’t take me out on dates, but he takes over the housechores so I could lie down and rest.
We don’t celebrate anniversaries. We have not agreed on what date our anniversary is, actually. I say it’s on the day we got married. He says it has to be the day I accepted him into my life.
And to think that I said my husband is not romantic!
From the day we started living together, I have not once prepared my own coffee. At least, when he’s around. It has always been him who prepares it for me. From those days when coffee was of the instant variety, to the day we switched to brewed, coffee would always be ready by the time I reach the breakfast table.
When the kids were still babies, I would wake up for feeding and he would already be changing nappies. Every single time.
I work ’til the wee hours of the morning, and my body clock wakes me up at 5:30, and I would see the bedroom door locked to keep the children out, and overhear him telling the kids to “quiet down, mommy needs to sleep.”
Ever since I’ve started seeing a nephrologist, he’s been making sure that I get enough fluid intake daily. On days that he has to go out, he would deputize either one of the two younger kids to make sure that the glass on my desk gets refilled.
He intentionally left the car stereo of our old car broken for the longest time, because he’d rather hear me sing while he’s driving, or for us to talk and connect during the drive. Now that we have a new car with a good working stereo, it still stays off when it’s just the two of us.
I buy one pair of shoes each year, and each time, he would know where to take me for something I would definitely love. He knows me that well.
He doesn’t take me out on dates, but on my “dates with Jethro, Mac and G”, he makes sure there is a cold drink and chips within my reach, so I wouldn’t have to stand up to make a trip to the ref. I once asked him, don’t you get jealous of Jethro? He shrugged it off and said, “It will take one small tap on the remote control, Marge.” Yeah, right.
And to think that I said my husband is not romantic!
Some time ago, I posted a photo on my Facebook Page.
It was this:
I always tell him, I’m sorry that he got a bad bargain marrying me. He loves to eat, but I don’t cook. And he would always tell me, “I did not marry you so you can cook for me.”
Well, actually, he married me so our daughter would be an Aberásturi. Ha ha!
He’d deny that, of course. Saying he just didn’t know how to deal with things in those days.
And I believe him. I know he would have done things differently had he known. He’s just not wired the same way as the rest, I guess. His love languages are acts of service first, and words of affirmation second. He’s my my biggest fan and my staunchest supporter. My WAHM life would have been a bust without his understanding and support. As I always say, he’s the secret of my success.
We go around like we’re best buddies with kids. Although more often than not, we’re mistaken to be siblings. I can finish his sentences for him, and he can tell when I’m not feeling well. And although he really can’t take my kind of music, he takes time to download, convert and upload them to my phone. Just so I won’t have to.
He loves teasing me…
Admit it, Marge. I am the wind beneath your wings.
And I do. He is!
And to think that I said my husband is not romantic!
by The Happy WAHM
Working for a fitness coach for the past five years had me surrounded with information on every aspect of keeping a healthy lifestyle. We have everything from the food pyramid, to supplements, to just about every meal plan from paleo to vegan to vegetarian and even keto meal plans. But what can I say? Every meal plan that I work on contains something that is just not readily available in the Philippine market (or maybe just not where I’m based) or if it is, it is super expensive that it is not within the budget of a struggling WAHM with three kids, with one who is about to go to college. So I let all the information float around, and pick bits and pieces of them and apply what I can. We’ve already taken up juicing as part of our family diet around the second quarter of last year, and I consider it a big a step towards our goal as a family of taking care of our health a little bit better.
Cleansing is something I’ve been familiar with but have not really taken up since most of the ways I’ve encountered have not appealed to me. Some cleanse diets have combinations of food that I don’t even like, so why bother?
Working on the Juice Hut website late last year took me up close and personal to something that I felt I could consider doing, and love, even. So right after we launched, I decided that it would be good idea to go on a cleanse. I thought I’d try out the one-day cleanse first, and see how my body would react.
I followed the preparation written on the site. My mind was ready, so I was hopeful that my body would be ready, too. I’m a heavy rice eater, and I was a bit concerned about not having to eat any solids during the cleanse. So I really appreciate the guide given at the site about the preparation. Cutting out on carbs at least two days prior to the scheduled cleanse prepared my body for the no-solid day. My stomach was pre-conditioned.
Came cleanse day, and the whole family gathered to watch me drink on the very first bottle in the kit, which is the Lemon Detox. Yes, we are that kind of family, where everyone gets excited over everything, including, but not limited to, Mommy’s cleanse. Questions like, how does it taste? Is it good? What comes after that? Does your tummy ache?
And it was good! No tummy ache. With a little bit of spicy taste in it. I liked it. Not love. But I liked it. I can live with that.
The Cold Buster Orange was for breakfast. It’s a mix of orange, pineapple, carrot and cucumber. I’m all for orange and carrot, but apprehensive of the cucumber. I was expecting it to be bitter because of the cucumber. Surprisingly, it tasted good. So I listed it down as a possible favorite. 🙂
For lunch, I had a bottle of Revitalizing Red and a bottle of Fresh Start. The red blend has beets, carrots, apple and cucumber. Again, carrots and apple are familiar, as they are already part of our juicing regimen, but a little bit apprehensive of what taste the beets and cucumber would contribute to the mix. I have eaten beets in potato salads, but never had beet juice, and I’m not a big fan of cucumbers.
I was in for another surprise, as it tasted good. Another one to make it to the list of possible favorites.
The orange blend has apple, carrot and celery. A big thumbs up from hubby, as he says celery is good for my kidney. He’s been wanting to juice it, but our present juicer can’t handle vegetables. Love this one! Definitely a favorite!
Snack was Pure Almond Milk. This is, hands down, going to be a staple. Already thinking of hoarding a supply.
Dinner was apple, celery, lemon, orange, spinach and ginger. That’s a mouthful of blends, and knowing that it has spinach and ginger in it made me dilly-dally on drinking it.
A very small sip.
No, I don’t quite get the taste.
A bigger sip than the first.
Hmmmm… interesting.
“Marge, why don’t you just take it in big gulps to get it over and done with?”
Yeah, why not?
“It has spinach and ginger, Dad!”
“You’ll survive! Drink it!”
And so I did.
Not bad. Not bad at all. It’s not something I’m going to rave about, but it has good things in it, and I can live with it if I ever need to take it as part of a diet or something. Good enough.
I normally end my days at 12 midnight, but on busy days, I extend my working hours up to 2am. On my cleanse day, I was ready for bed as early as 10pm. After drinking the organic tea that came with the kit, I just felt that my body was ready to relax. The tea had a calming effect, and I started to feel sleepy earlier than usual.
This was me the next day. 
Suffice it to say that my one-day cleanse introduced me to new tastes, and inspired me to continue with our juicing protocol. I really feel lighter these days, getting my nutrients in liquid form. And I can bring a bottle with me anywhere!
For those of you who have the time to do your own juicing, go ahead and invest on a good juicer now. That’s our plan, too, since we have a fast juicer, and it’s not good with leafy vegetables. So this WAHM has to take on some extra projects for that dream Hurom Juicer
But if you are living the busy life but want to have your nutrient boost without the fuss, just go over JuiceHutManila.com and choose your combos. Or better yet, try out a cleanse, just like I did.
Oh, and when you do decide to try out a cleanse, think of getting some extra bottles for your family, too. Husband and kids were all too interested to find out what’s in the bottles that they just had to take a sip from my supply. 🙂
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Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
We met one fine day at La Creperie in Robinson’s Galleria. She was referred to me by my partner, The Techie Mom, for domain and hosting service, and a possible WooCommerce set up. I’ve been working with WooCommerce for years already, and around the second quarter of 2014, I started to seriously think of offering it as a service outside of my VA gig as a new income stream. The first person to know of this plan was of course my partner.
So in July, I met Mia Sison. She told me her apprehensions about having an online store. She was selling her products through Instagram, and using Viber as the point of communication. She also was not sure as to what the process would be. She has gotten used to doing business through her phone, and she was worried that her customers might not welcome the change.
I was just going to buy her domain name for her, and set her up with a hosting account, which I did. Then I was supposed to just wait for her to get the site ready for me to install the cart. But she wanted to know how an online cart actually works, so in that first meeting, I discussed with her how the process would go, from the time that a customer lands on the site, what happens when they click on the ADD TO CART button, how she would get alerted of orders, how the customers would pay. I took note of her present process on deliveries and went on to explain how I would set up her cart to accommodate the present process.
As we continued to discuss her cart, she had questions about what else to put at the site, what would be on the menu, how customers would navigate, if she could connect her Instagram account with the site, could she put photos, could she put another product in a way that that product would not be a major item at the site, and I just felt that she needed help in setting up the website itself, not just the cart. So I offered to just manage the project for her. At no cost. I would just charge her for the cart set up, and I would take care of getting her a designer.
In truth, I was not even familiar with her products at that time. So my first request was for her to provide me with a list of her products, descriptions, etc. She said she has a product brochure, complete with cleansing instructions and all. And I said, great! Send that to me, please!
And she sent me this really colorful artwork!
And what do you know, the artist is not a stranger, but rather an admired online personality of mine.
Upon seeing the brochure, I instinctively knew who the best web designer to contact. And I was so grateful (still am) that she was available to take on the project that time because she’s the designer who gets full booking for months ahead. Or maybe because she loves me, too, that she took pity on me. #wishfulthinking
The old brochure became the basis of the web design, with Nica providing all the images and artwork, and Pat translating them to codes that made them come alive online.
The process was long, but it was a very fulfilling five months of working with the best of the best. I will continue to be in awe of Nica’s artistry, and will forever be Pat’s number one fan. Together, they created this online showcase of healthy goodness that I am so proud to have been a part of.
This is Juice Hut Manila.
As for me, it was by far the most challenging cart set up I’ve ever done. Variable products, variable purchase options, variable shipping. Without any extensions used. It was a dream project for someone who thrives on challenges.
But most importantly, I will forever treasure the relationship that was started with this project. This is what makes my WAHM life so fulfilling. The relationship that develops on a project and goes beyond its completion. Nothing beats getting to work on projects that you can be passionate about while working with people that you can be friends with.
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