Sunday, January 06, 2008

Ben is now 13!

So, I'm now a full-fledged mom of a teener! Ben turned 13 yesterday. To celebrate his transition to "teenhood," we went to Mall of Asia's Science Discovery Center. A budding scientist, Ben loves anything about science and the technology that goes with it.

He's especially fascinated by astronomy and robotics. One of the sites that he frequently visits is NASA and boy, are we amazed by the information he absorbs.

During his second grade, he was designated as "the official class researcher" because he loved to research ahead on their lessons. Without being told, he would then give his researched materials to their teacher. Of course, she was just so happy to have an assistant.

He's also a geek. He learned to use the computer at age 2 1/2. Being so "usesero," I thought it was wiser to teach him the proper way to use the computer rather than stopping him. Who knows what a terrible two can do without the prying eyes of a mom! In a few months, he was already so good in Corel. In fact, he did his sister's birthday invitation when Pia turned 1. He became our in-house "Mac" expert at 7, reading through religiously my friend Boogie's Mac for Dummies. Around that time, he also did his first website. He has created his own RPG game (through a gamemaker).

Now, he's our consultant on anything about computers and gadgets. And he's earning, too! :-) I paid him P500 for doing my website. We used to pay him P10 powerpoint presentations, until Ben realized he was underpaid! haha!

We praise God everyday for his life. Ben is God's living testimony that He is a miracle-working God. (Read here Ben's testimony) Our prayer for Ben is that he'll realize the gifts God has given him and use it to bless others. May he live to glorify God for the rest of his life.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

New Year, new beginning

(photo from Harshad Sharma)

I have this thing with new year. This time six year ago, I resigned from my dream job to become a full-time mom. It was a tough decision considering that I really loved what I was doing. But I love my children more and I was willing to drop everything for their sakes. It was truly a leap of faith, having to leave the hubby all by himself to tide us through.

Later on, as I got the wind of being a stay-at-home-mom, God opened opportunities for me to do consultancy work. It allowed me to work from the house, thus making me a work-at-home-mom. I still managed to bring the kids to school and fetch them, attend to their needs and manage the household. Before I knew it, I had been doing it for the past three years or so.

One part of me misses my old job as reporter. In fact, when I was offered last year to join the reportorial team of a business paper, I almost said yes. Yet, just the thought of being on-call again 24/7, being asked to cover coups and rallies and all, kept me from jumping back into the world of journalism. Being a news reporter is just not for moms. It's one noble job that I love, but some nuances that go along with it just wouldn't jibe with my idea of motherhood.

I've been praying to God to give me a clearer direction. And I guess, in a resounding way, He has answered me. Late last year, I got a call from a friend asking if I was interested to join their company. Things happened so fast that before I realized it, I had already said yes.

And so here I am, six years after I resigned from the Inquirer, I'm taking on a full-time job again.

I hope 2008 will be better, much brighter for all of us.