Make no mistake, motherhood is all about making mistakes.

I have stopped deluding myself that my life is going to be an instagram-worthy life. For the first few months of taking Claud home from the hospital, life was to be pretty great. I was sleeping for 8 hours, my breastfeeding journey got easier to a point that I can say I was acing it, and the baby is chubby as a cute little bunny. With every pediatrician visit, we were hitting milestones left and right. Best of all, she wasn't sakitin. While I read stories of children getting sick, my Claud was more than awesome... I think the whole 6 months, Claud only got a fever once!

Then she started to crawl, to walk and then all hell broke lose. A mother like me would only want to nurture this new found independence and so I try to engage her with a lot of activities. But things could go wrong and it got pretty scary for us at one point.

During a gruesome time in Tagaytay
(it was a vacation turned emergency visit to the ER), Claud tripped on the flooring of the bathroom, hitting her nose on the marbled tiles! I don't know why I was so calm that night but instead of being hysterical, I carried her (not immdiately though because I tried to look first for broken bones), hugged her close and inspected the bleeding.

Naturally, my child was screaming her lungs out but I was cool as a cucumber. Thank God for breastfeeding because the moment I whipped out my breast, she immediately suckled and stopped crying. I had time to inspect her nose which already stopped bleeding. I just held her tight and prayed so hard that nothing is wrong. And to my surprise everything was okay from there. Claud went back to her usual self!

Still we brought her to Tagaytay Medical Center. I can tell you now that X-rays are the bane of parents with toddlers. Claud who just went through the trauma of falling clung to me like crazy. She refused to stay put during her X-Ray which caused us to do it five times! But it was all worth it because the ENT doctor cleared Claud for any alarming fracture, we were advised to just continue around day of Paracetamol just in case there Claud is feeling any pain along with antibiotics for possible infection from the bleeding.

We were sooo relieved. It was then that we realized that there was no blaming or anger that happened between me and my husband. We were simply focused on making sure Claud is well. It was a teachable moment for us that in times of troubles, we can work together and find answers to our problems.

Because no matter how much you take care of your child and protect them and safeguard them, there will be a sprinkling of blunders here and there and you just have to accept it as your new reality. Mistakes are bound to happen and there is no escaping it. This doesn't mean you are a bad parent. In parenting, there is no room for blame, spite and angst. The more calm you are and have your wits about you, the better the situation is going to be.

Now that Claud is almost 2 years old, I still feel I have so much to learn. But if there is one thing that keeps me sane, is that I have to just let her go once in awhile. I have to let her experience things. Now I don't go all crazy when she stumbles. I'm not strict with her nor do I wet wipes everything she touvches. I don't get mad anymore when she breaks my things or when she writes on the wall. I let her feel she has all the freedom while I never take my eyes off of her. This has made our mother-daughter relationship easier and to be honest, I think she's developing really well.

Artist or tattoo artist? Who can tell? Basta go lang ng go!

Okay lang anak, sirain mo lahat ng makeup ni mommy. Awas ko na lang sa baon mo yan in the future. LOL!

That's why I always bring Calpol where ever we go. One in our medicine stash and another in our diaper bag. It's just one of the things that I never ran out at home! Just so I'm prepared in case of teething, injury, pain, catching a viral infection and what have you. After all, Calpol is less than P100 for the 0-2 years while 2-6 Years variant is only around P120! Ang mura di ba? No reason not to stock up. Especially now that's Summer and you're on vacation most of the time. Who knows what could happen during a trip? Scariest thing for me is getting stranded in a place with sick child with no medicines at all! Kebs na kahit mabigat ang bag!

And also, I now understand why children prefer this over the other brands! It's sweet and yummy! Making her drink Calpol is never a chore and it's such a blessing. Our child being sick is incredibly stressful, much more if you're in their situation when they can't express and tell you how they are feeling, di ba?