by The Happy WAHM
Been meaning to share my DIY hobby corner since the day we had it set up, but have not had the time to take photos of what’s actually in my kits, until this morning.
I like working with my hands. Since I was little, I’ve been sewing by hand. Daughter of a seamstress, of course I know how to sew. But never really liked using the sewing machine. It intimidates me. And besides, our Home Economics and Practical Arts teachers required us to sew by hand, simply because public schools didn’t have sewing machines then.
Then my mother-in-law gifted me with a Singer sewing and embroidery machine. Since then, I’ve been wanting to really use it regularly, but the limited space in our home had me keep the machine in its box, only taking it out when I have a project to do, like sewing new curtains for Christmas, or making little items for give-aways.
So when, finally, I settled in my new home office, I decided that I’d put up a hobby corner, too. I just want to have all my things in one place, you know. I want my hobbies to be within my reach, that when I start to feel tired of the humdrum of my work, I can just reach for a needle and sew.
I asked for the husband’s help in setting it up, of course. I had a small table made for the sewing machine. Then we installed braces on the wall for the open shelves. Hubby’s pretty handy with the electric drill. Got the braces from Wilcon Home Depot.
We bought a piece of marine plywood from the construction supply store and had them sanded. The original plan was to have them stained after sanding, then cover with varnish for a shiny finish. But I changed my mind when I realized that it would take longer to complete the project because we would have to wait a long time for the smell of varnish to dissipate.
I already have self-adhesive laminating sheets which I used to line my office table drawers, so I thought, maybe we could use it to cover the wood planks.
Husband took care of the measurements, and I took care of putting on the laminate.
We bought some covered trays that I saw from SM Hypermart and started putting all my hobby stuff in them.
I have a growing stash of yarns for my new-found passion, crocheting, which was introduced to me by my daughter.
But I will never forget my jewelry-making hobby, which I started back when I was still in corporate. I used to accept bulk orders from OFWs, who sell the stuff to their bosses. I also remember making the bracelets and necklaces for the secondary sponsors in my brother’s wedding.
The materials I used ranged from semi-precious stones, to German stones, to polymer clays.
I still have some Swarovski crystals left, which I’m keeping for my daughters.
So this is how my hobby corner looks like now. I just have to turn my office swivel chair, and I can be sewing, or darning, or crocheting, in no time! The only items not in here are the cross-stitch materials that I have already handed over to my middlechild.
I’m sure I’ll have lots of crochet projects to make, thanks to Mrs P. Cuyugan of Mrs C’s Sugarcoated Life, who gave my daughter (not me, mind you!) five amazing pattern magazines. Take a peek at what’s inside and be excited with me!
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by The Happy WAHM
Been sharing a lot of my family’s random conversations on my Facebook profile, and some of them are just too long for a status update that I have to edit heavily on the content. On the way to the grocery for an unscheduled shopping this afternoon, husband and I again got into fits of laughter over something. And while still trying to catch my breath, I said: This one is going to be my status later. Or maybe this can be a blog post.
So here I am, back from an unscheduled shopping, writing an unscheduled post on what I always talk about: finding your happiness.
The husband broke our coffeemaker’s glass decanter this morning. Accidentally dropped it, and it broke into a thousand pieces. However busy my Saturdays are, not having a coffeemaker on Sunday morning will be a violation of our motto: Everything gets better with coffee. So off we went for a not-so-short drive to the city to get a replacement.
Before we left, I asked for my eldest daughter’s help over some tasks that I need to accomplish for today: creating images on Canva for a site I’m working on.
During the drive, we started talking about our kids, and the choices they are making, the directions they are taking.
So here’s the conversation:
Me: I think that’s a good exercise for her, give her an idea if she’s going to enjoy working on graphics. And she can play around with WordPress and online stores.
Hubby: Ako, Marge? Kelan mo ituturo sa ‘kin yong shopping cart?
Me: Ah, ‘yon. I’m just waiting for you to sit beside me. You’re always busy with other things. And I don’t want to force the issue. You know, we really have to talk about what you will do with your website. We need to diversify.
Hubby: Yeah. ‘Yong sinasabi mo na online shop.
Me: That’s one thing. But it’s not you. We need to find your core. I mean, palagi ‘yan ang sinasabi ko sa mga workshops ko. Find your core. Find your happiness. Create opportunities. Tapos di ko ma-apply sa asawa ko. I want you to be happy with what you’re doing. I don’t want you to do things just for the money. It has to be something that you really enjoy, because it will be long-term. Only make money with what you love to do.
Hubby: Okay naman ako sa ginagawa ko ngayon, Marge.
Me: Yes, but that’s not long term. We are not sure how long your engagement will last. And we can’t have all our eggs in one basket. We need to establish something that is really for you. Something that has your personality in it.
Hubby: ‘Yong online store, paano ba ‘yon?
Me: Well, you need to have items kasi for that. Products or service. But I don’t think it’s for you. Let’s start from the beginning nga. Tell me, what’s your happiness?
Hubby: YOU.
And he wants to learn how to set up an online store.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
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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!
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
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.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
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!
