Entertaining Traffic

Traffic in Manila is probably one of the worst in the world. A car ride from Paranaque to Makati during rush hour can take as long as 1 to 1.5 hours, whereas normally it should only really take about 20 minutes. Taking the Skyway makes the trip a little more bearable at about a half hour. But when you get down that bridge where you meet the traffic.

There's not much you can do during times like these. If I had a book or a magazine I would definitely use the time to read. Sometimes I pray the rosary. But most of the time I try to get some shut-eye. I love to sleep and usually fall asleep pretty easily in the car, sometimes I even have dreams, interrupted by the occasional sound of the honking horns outside.

My mom who's a doctor and professor eats her lunch during traffic, makes phone calls, checks her students' test papers, catches up on her reading (it's not even light material she reads but medical stuff). Her car is a veritable moving office. If there was ever an award for Most Productive Use of Time Spent in Traffic, my mom would win it hands down.

Time's up already?

Don't you ever wish there were more than 24 hours in a day? Or that maybe you could be at 2 or even 3 places at once? Or how about if you could freeze time for a few hours while you're working on something so that you have more time to do other things?

I thought being a stay-at-home-mom would allow me a little more time to do the things that I couldn't do when I worked full time with, but I was seriously wrong. Just getting all the housework done and taking care of Raine takes up a lot of time so that "me-time" almost always takes a backseat.

I try to reserve Raine's afternoon nap for my internet time when I can answer emails, blog, surf the net and do some reading. But more often than not I make use of this quiet time to catch up on my chores. Actually, more like rush thru them. Raine is like my little shadow. She follows me around the house constantly. When I sweep the floor, she would walk behind me really closely and stare in awe at the broom. For some reason, she seems to be amazed by dirt and dust. She has a habit of touching it all the time, much to my dismay. As a result, I try not to clean when she's awake because we end up with more mess than when we started. I can't get any ironing done either for fear that she might yank on the iron's cord or something.

Hubby got pretty sick last Wednesday with fever and diarrhea so I had to take care of his needs too. It was a bit of a challenge to be both nurse and nanny especially when both hubby and Raine called for me at the same time. Thank goodness hubby got well after a full day of rest (Am I good nurse or what? Hehe).

We've been here in Marshall Islands for 2 months now and I still have so many things to learn as a new SAHM. I think the most important of all is time management.

Learning to cook well, keeping the house clean, teaching my growing toddler more than just the ABCs, these are just some of the many things on my plate. Let's not forget quality time with my hubby. And time for me too. Balancing everything is one big juggling act I have yet to master.

Kudos to the stay-at-home moms out there who seem to do it all effortlessly. Someday I hope I can be just as organized and put-together.