Goodbye, Kindergarten! Hello, Grade School!

Twenty years from now, she probably won't have the faintest idea of how her moving up day went but to me and her dad it was a milestone that will be forever etched in our memory.

Moving Up Day fell on a Tuesday. Both me and my husband have work. But we knew when it was going to happen, just a few weeks after the school year started so we have no excuse to miss it. Well, I still ALMOST missed it. It fell on pre-close week and my boss was coming over for just a week. With all the things I needed to iron out, missing a day seemed really bad. But my boss (who is a family man himself, thank you J for understanding!) told me a story about a parent who missed her kid's kindergarten graduation because of an important meeting and yet 20 years after, the kid never forgot about that day (because probably of the missing parent) while she could not even remember what the meeting was about. "You wouldn't want that to happen to you, do you?".

Time to pay it forward.
These secondhand uniforms are going to a new home come school opening.
Ate Inday made sure they were well taken cared of and would still be deserving of a 3rd chance.

Mommy, sabi ni teacher wear bright, shiny shoes!

Of course not. And yes, I always know where my priorities lie. So I stuck to my decision. 

And yes, we didn't go home with any award but the kid was just so proud to be called a graduate and share that moment with her parents. THAT is more than enough.

Did I cry? Almost did. After all, we are not just saying goodbye to kindergarten. We were saying goodbye to being overprotective, controlling parents. We are saying goodbye to our "baby" (and yes she reminded me to not call her baby again today). But cuteness was just overflowing that today and the tears of joy decided to take the back seat.

I never figured I bore a performer but today proved to me I did! She was having so much on stage I could almost hear her voice even if I was a couple of meters away. She was jumping, singing, dancing, reciting with pure, unadulterated joy. And that to me is what performing always ought to be.

Her class adviser for SY 2013-14. The very patient, Ms. Jas.
We will miss her stories about you!

Post by Faye Pachoco-Paras.

Christmas Cheers 2013

I posted this photo earlier today in IG with this caption: She's been practicing for her presentation since last week. I feel so sad I won't be around to witness the fruit of her hardwork. But. A working mom's gotta do what she needs to do. Super sigh.

Most working parents (if not all) can probably relate to that post. I have not only once, twice, or even thrice been in this situation before. And I've only been a parent to a school age kid for 2 years. When she moves to big school next year (yes, we are graduating to grade school parents by next year), I'm bracing myself for the worse. I would like to believe though that missing these things can be made up by my giving our bonding sessions my full, unadulterated attention. Time after work is the only thing I can offer her. For now, yes that is enough. I hope she really grows up to understand why there are days I will really have to miss moments like this. Sigh. Why does life have to be filled with trade offs?

Dalawang tulog na lang and we'll be off to our family holiday. We'll be full time parents again with no nanny to help us get through the day. I'm so looking forward to that. It's going to be challenging and tiring for most part. But yes, I'm totally prepared to plunge into it.

While I revel at that thought, let me leave you with a photo of my pretty little miss in her presentation get up. She truly enjoyed her day so much that she replayed her presentation to her dad and me tonight not just once but twice complete with giggles and squeals. Oh how comforting those squeals sounded like. I suddenly felt like I wasn't the worst mom in the world at all. That it really is just okay that I couldn't make time to be with her today.

Looking so grown up and every bit a student. I love you so much, Maia.
Always remember that.

Hardwork Pays Off - Musings On Grades and Study Habits

Our little kid went home a couple of weeks ago with her first quarter report card and I can't be any prouder especially with her grades for Reading.

Were you grade conscious as a student? I've been trying to remember and my memory tells me I probably was. I really wanted to graduate top of the class because I wanted to make my parents proud.

I would later realize I should have done it for myself first. Well I never graduated the way I dreamed to but I would like to think I still made my parents proud somehow. I was never a diligent student but I learned fast. And I loved English and Math and Physics (no not Science and yes, in that order).

I hope for my little kid to be an enthusiastic learner too. To always embrace that thirst to learn something new. But I would want to be as cool as my parents were. So I try not to be imposing.

I do see that she's starting to develop a study habit. And I'm happy for that. That wasn't my influence though but more of her school's because she's asked to complete several sets of homework everyday. So far, so good -- she's been very diligent about finishing most of her homework before dinner time. Once or twice a week I make it a point to give her some slack and let her finish in the morning. I really am scared she will get burnt out so early in my student life. So I want her to still make time to enjoy her childhood while she can.

Anyways, again for posterity's sake I am posting a photo of her first quarter grade in reading.

Again, thank you for always listening and obeying us Maia! We love you and I keep that in mind. ALL THE TIME.

p.s. Posting here a photo of the card we made for you. You were sad you didn't get a merit card but you know little girl, it didn't really matter to us. What this card says is real. And that's exactly what felt when we saw your grades. Just keep that up. And just keep asking questions. As long as we are assured you are learning, that's what is important to us.

A Peak At Maia's Day In School: Prayer Before Mealtime

Last October on her birthday, Maia treated her classmates to a pizza and spaghetti lunch. We ordered 5 boxes from the nearby Yellow Cab store and had the canteen pack them individual boxes of spaghetti. Based on our experience last year, not all of the kids are going to eat so we decided to just stick to pizza and spaghetti as requested by the birthday girl herself.

As kids are, they were pretty excited to share the simple meal after they greeted the birthday girl with a joyful Happy Birthday song but they had to play super cute first before they get to the table. 

So here's our little girl, leading the class in prayer before mealtime.

p.s. We would later find out that their class adviser would assign a prayer leader to lead the class in prayer every day. Our little girl seemed to be very good at that role, don't you think?

United Nations Day - Winning Best Costume

It is both amusing and scary at the same time. I am more scared than amused to be honest. I do hope and pray this milestone doesn't give you the impression that you can only win best in costume when you start exposing some skin. (You called me after you were recognized onstage: "Mommy!!! Nanalo ako Best in Costume! Kasi, labas pusod ko eh!")

This was something really unexpected. Not much effort on our part and yet you won! And you were the happiest!

Congratulations, little girl. You rocked that Brazilian costume!

Our daddy had his share of milestone on this day too. It was the first time he came to school with the kid on his own. He played Daddy Paparazzi/Yaya Daddy (yes, I would learn that he was even the one who dressed her up) so well and tailed the kid like he was chained to her. He took great photos of that day and I just have to compliment him for those. Good job, sweetie! (see it ain't that bad at all!)

QOTD: Why Is There Night and Day?

Original post started in mid-July 

Yesterday, (probably due to sheer exhaustion) I swallowed a tiny pill of optimism and believed that I can forcefully put a hyperactive kid to bed at 6pm. The sun is still up and shining so brightly that even a thick curtain in our bedroom cannot hide.

The kid was trained that long sleeps are for nighttime and from where she was lying it just wasn't night time yet. So she just had to ask:

"do i really have to nap, Mommy? it's already late afternoon."

For which, I had to slyly reply:

"no, this isn't naptime. it's early bedtime little girl. now, close your eyes"

But Mr. Sun is still up. And I can't go to sleep yet. I'm not sleepy.

Here we go again. I thought I'm now a proud graduate of this phase. Apparently, that was all wishful thinking now.

But we can just talk here in bed, Mommy? Why is there day and night anyway? (bakit may araw at gabi? kelan ba nagiging gabi?)

Photo grabbed from here

Ahhh, an opportunity I can seize finally. So I briefly explained to her why there is night and day. I tried my hardest to provide the simplest explanation. And while I am far from calling my attempt on early bedtime a success, I seem to have hit the jackpot on this one.

I made a fist, placed an invisible pole in between my palms and told her that pole is what holds the earth. And everyday, the earth revolves around that pole while the star that is the Sun is in a fixed position. So to simplify, some places are lighted (DAY) and some places are not (NIGHT). She understood my simple explanation but I know complicated questions are going to start pouring soon. (Note to self: start investing time to do more science research.) I hope when that day comes, I'll be armed and ready.

For now, I can only wish it doesn't come real soon. I just do not want to be caught unprepared.

Found a useful link from Ehow by the way listing a few experiments you can do with your preschoolers in relation to this topic. Bookmarking it here as well for future use. :)

34th Manila International Book Fair

Going to the Manila International Book Fair has been in my (invisible to the eye, visible in my head) yearly must-go-to-with-the-kiddo list. The kid is turning 5 next month and yet I still couldn't find the time to bring her. I thought last Saturday that we could squeeze in a few hours to spend at the fair after Sam's birthday party but the weather wasn't very cooperative it forced us to choose to go home instead of heading straight to the book fair. I slept with a broken heart that night.

I think the husband must have felt my sadness because one of the first thing he told me when we woke up the next morning was "go, I think you will really enjoy it there. It's your happy place".

A bubble thought went "awwww" in my head when I heard that but I wasn't in the mood to really take it seriously because the weather remained gloomy. I really want to take the little girl with me. So better for me to stay home if we can't go together. "Better luck next year", I thought.

But after breakfast, Mr. Sun peeked and the hubs decided he'll go with us so I finally gave a little squeal, grabbed a few things for the kid and readied her for our trip to a 'BIG' bookstore. The mention of that made her excited as well. In the beginning she thought we're just going for a bookstore date at the nearly National Bookstore.

Luck seemed to be on our side because it rained hard while we were on the road but when we were nearing our stop, it was only drizzling and we didn't have a hard time commuting to MOA at all. It just took us a little over an hour to commute from our place to MOA despite the heavy downpour and slight traffic in Baclaran. 

When we got to SMX, the kid was just too eager to get inside I didn't get the chance to scan the floor map to check which side was Lampara and Adarna books are located. Well, the kid was really only after finding NBS because when we entered Hall 1, she made a beeline towards the NBS arch totally dismissing the colorful kiddie book stall that was just right beside the entrance. I guess she figured, she will find every kind of book anyways inside NBS. She immediately raided the kiddie bookshelves, I think we spend more than an hour just going through each of the books on display. Some of the books, she took out and pretended to read on the floor. Good thing we got there early so the crowd was still manageable and she still was able to get a space on the floors.

I would've gone through each of the stalls if the hubs was with us but he wasn't in the mood to go inside the fair so I had to just pick the stalls that we'll check. After spending a good deal of our time in NBS and burning almost half of our budget on workbooks, we also went to Anvil Publishing's area. We bought 2 books there but I seriously wanted to splurge on the textbooks most of which were being sold at 80% off but I had a tight budget and I really wanted to see the Lampara and Adarna stalls first.

Found these trivia books at the Anvil display. I was tempted to get the entire set.
My siblings and I were trivia addicts and we really enjoyed Brain Blitz when we were younger.

It was past 1pm when we got to the Precious Pages area (where Lampara books is located). Sadly, they were only selling at 20% off. I had to pass else I end up buying just two books each from them and Adarna. The kid didn't push, she contented herself with leafing through the books she liked and making me read the pages that interest her.

This was one of the books that caught her attention.
IT HAS YOUR NAME MOMMY!

After leaving Precious Pages, we headed straight to the information booth because I was already dizzy from looking around searching for the Adarna stall. Turns out it was just near the Precious Pages booth. The kid found it first actually. While my eyes got transfixed on the Cultural Center of the Philippines booth, kid grabbed my hand and shouted "THERE, Mommy! ADARNA!" That sounded amusing. I didn't know if she read the sign right or if she just remembered what the Adarna logo by memory.

Adarna was our last stop so I let her pick books she wanted to check and didn't press her to hurry anymore. Sadly, there wasn't much left on those books that were previously being sold for 50% off. I was aiming to spend half of my budget on those. Still, I was quite happy with what we came home with from Adarna. 

When we were about to pay for our picks, I caught a glimpse of Russell Molina (one of the Adarna authors that I really like, no bias, he tells stories that are very reflective of the realities in the Philippine society). I excited told the kid she can have one of her books sign by the author himself. She gave me a wide grin and proceeded to bring her books to the counter. She handed the book to Russell to sign. (Happy me, she isn't shy anymore!) I also asked Russell for a souvenir photo and he happily obliged. 

Ahhh someday Maia I hope we can publish a children's story for Adarna. A mom and daughter colab perhaps? Just the thought of it makes me giddy. But really no pressure there. That's just one of my silly wishful thoughts.

Anyways, back to this super sulit trip. I had a thousand bucks to burn here's a breakdown of my spending for the:

NBS (8 workbooks, 1 storybook)           -       523.75
Anvil (1 book and 1 box of Dora stickers)-      123.50
Adarna (7 books)                                   -      430.00
Total                                                        P1,077.25

snapshot of our MIBF loot

I overspent a little but brought home a total of 15 books. I think had I gone earlier, I would have bought more with the budget  I had but still the daughter and me were happy campers on this trip. And yes you bet I'm going to save for more pesoses to burn next year!

Till Next Year!!!! (we're going to bring bigger bags and somebody else to keep this little girl company while I scour the floor for more bargains)

Preschool Corner: Reviewing For Reading And Spelling

We've recently just finish with first quarter exams and let me just share with you another review tool that proved to be useful to us.

A few years back, I bought a box of tongue depressors for Maia. About 99% of that wasn't put to use at all and I don't have the confidence to use it anymore as Maia already played with the box several times before.

I've used them in several crafts projects in the past but I still have a lot of it left. I've recently been exploring other creative ways of reviewing the kid with her sight words and spelling. Last year, listing them on a piece of paper and posting that paper on the wall worked but this year, it just doesn't seem to do the trick anymore.

Then I thought these Popsicle sticks could be useful too. I wrote the words on the popsicle tips and wrapped a decorative tape on it to categorize the lesson it falls on - short a, e, i, o, u and to tell which week the spelling word was taught.

We created a guessing game out of it and the kid liked it! We were able to review smoothly.

I have yet to see the results of her mastery tests on Reading and Spelling but she already assured us it was super easy for her. Oh well, whatever the result is, I'm already proud to know that she's gain so much confidence already especially when it comes to reading and spelling.

Milestone: Learning To Tie Laces

My plan for today involved only 2 things - a corner table and my office laptop. Due to the torrential rains that we've experienced for the past 3 days, the area where my company is situated was severely flooded and we were advised not to come to work anymore last Monday. Had it been any other week, I would have jumped in glee. Who wouldn't appreciate an extra day to spend with her family?

But it's the end of August (in our financial books) and a day or two missed translates to piles and piles of paperwork that I will have to catch up and make up for during the same week. And it just so happens 2 public holidays were set less than a week apart.The more that I gotta work extra hard (and maybe put in more hours).

Good thing I'm finally allowed to work from home these days so I only had to condition the kid that I cannot be disturbed for a few hours during the day because I needed to get some things done. Good thing, her school also declared that they are taking the entire week off so I had no reason to be implementing gadget-free school day rule. 

Just to be sure, I woke up extra early today so I'll have a few hours headstart before the kid regains full energy at breakfast. 

Being a working parent and actually bringing in work to the home sucks big time. But I guess, it helps if you poured extra efforts in her earlier years to train her to be independent. These days, apart from the non-stop craving for mommy and daddy's attention, the kid can pretty much do a lot of things on her own. And that includes feeding herself, dressing up, entertaining herself mostly through pretend plays (yes complete with a script and an imaginary playmate to boot). So the gadgets remain my last resort even during days like today.

She really can survive the day without me asking how she's doing but being at home and not doing my parenting duties always leaves me guilt-ridden. Luckily today, I finished work early and we still had the few hours of the day to bond. I wanted to do an art project but ditched it when I realized I was just too exhausted to gather materials to use. 

Then I remembered I'd been planning to try to teach her again how to tie laces. Last December, I attempted to teach her that but I guess she wasn't ready because she was losing patience every time the ribbons would jumble up. Well, she still has a lot to learn on being patient but when I took out the P20 pair of laces (mahal pa actually because I bought it from the supermarket) that I bought a few weeks back she was eager to be taught. 

I remember a book about tying shoelaces that I saw in NBS recently and thought I can maybe do something similar to it. At no cost. Of course the book came with a story but we're experts at that already, we can always make up new ones. We just need the props.

So I got a pair of scissors and a cereal box from my recyclables stash, traced the little kid's cute feet on it, cut two pairs of feet and punch 3 holes each on the sides. Viola! We now have 'shoes' that we can practice tying laces on.

She grew really impatient in her first 2 attempts. But I remained calm and assuring her it's an easy task to do. After 3 repeats, she grabbed the laces again and was able to make a loop and tied the laces tight! Yay! She seemed so proud of her achievement she gladly replayed the same to her dad and ate Inday.

Now...it's probably time for us to get rid of those velcro P.E. shoes and get her a pair of decent laced rubber shoes. Agree?

Throwback Thursday: Preschool Hunting

Dearest Maia,

I'm sad these past few days. I just found out I lost most of the photos of our recent Tagaytay get away. I hardly get attached to material things but to memories, oh I have extreme attachments. Pictures are my way of preserving memories. So when I lose those things, my heart breaks. I wanted to preserve these things for you to browse through when you're older.

But I am better now. I found a collage I made of you and Daddy from that day. At least, I have that.

And while I was frantically browsing through old photo files, I came across this. So apt to the day because in the Instagram world, Thursdays are known for throwbacks. And these are photos from last year when we were still preschool hunting. You took a preschool screening test here and you aced it. Especially the test for emotional readiness.

I don't think you were really mad here. You're just goofing around, I guess.
You're so cute!

Chubby cheeks!

famished after spending about an hour at the testing room

Looking at these photos made realize how so much can change in just a span of a year. You still look like a baby here. Now, you're all grown up. Just like a real kid. Some days, you even feel like an adult ever-ready to give mom and dad a piece of advice. You're very outspoken. And opinionated. Oh so much like mommy actually.

BUT. I hope you take your sweet time growing up, my little miss preschooler. Enjoy your childhood. Because I want you to have great memories of it when you are at my age already.

Love,

Mommy

Arts-N-Crafts: Cardboard House

I can't remember the last time I did an arts and crafts post but I am sure it has been a very long time already. I could tell by the look on my kid's face when I told her we'll do something crafty last Sunday. She lighted up. Like she really missed doing something with me.

She was actually the one who pushed for us to do this activity. She pointed to a pack of corrugated paper boards that we've had for a long time now and said, "let's do something with them later Mommy ha?"

Who am I to refuse?

I was the one who introduced her to the fun world of crafting. I wasn't any good, I must admit. I bravely plunged myself into crafting because I cannot think of any activities that we can make good use of our hands. But I wasn't artsy, not friends with scissors and even crayons. You get the drift. But what she saw everytime we do an activity was never the aesthetics aspect of our project but the quality of time we spend together. I figured then that's how badly she misses my company. And she has full faith in our partnership, she always believes we make the best art projects in this whole, wide world. (Indulging, eh haha)

After lunch that day, I logged into pinterest and showed her several activities that we could do together given the materials that we have on hand. She initially picked a lighthouse made of what was to be a mishmash of all types of paper (cardboard, tissue, crepe and corrugated paper). Then she saw a miniature cardboard house and decided in a heartbeat -- we are making that one, Mommy!

So off we went with the cutting and measuring and taping and glueing...tada! This is what we came up with. The structure was mostly me. But she decorated it with cut outs of different shapes of corrugated paper. We built an art deco inspired miniature house made of recycled cereal boxes and corrugated paper. She also gave it her personal touch by doodling on the walls.

Ain't it pretty? Surprisingly, the house still stands to date. I gave it at least 2 days but she was so careful with it I now think it will last longer than I thought.


Do you enjoy crafts with your little one too? We'd love to see your projects too. Please do share.

Here are the other recycled paper/boxes projects we did in the past:

Easter Bunnies
Truckie From Trash

and more here.

posted from Bloggeroid

First Illustrated Story Book

A couple of days ago, at bedtime, she surprised us with this storybook that she had put together that day. It always amazes me how detailed her drawings can be. And for the first time, she attempted to put together a storybook (about Barbie, which is her current favorite toy). 

Last summer we made a storybook about Little Bear but I was mainly the one who did the storyline. I did that to practice her use of several sight words that they are learning in school then. But now, this was entirely hers. All of it a product of her creativity. When she's at home, you'd find her sprawled in our living room floor (with scratch papers, pens and pencils scattered around her), lost in her world of drawings. And this the first compilation of those drawings and it came with a story to boot!

Good job, Maia. Keep doing what you love to do! 

Maia's Favorite: Kindergarten Review Materials Online

As much as I would like to be hands on with my preschooler's needs, being a working mom doesn't give me a lot of extra time to make our own review materials  for lessons, quizzes and quarterly exams. I maybe idealistic but I am also a practical working parent so I try to make use of every help I can get especially when it comes to helping my preschooler review.

If you are like me who is frequently online, then no need to worry. There are a bunch of readily available resources online to help you and your preschooler get through exam season.

I am just going to list our favorite spots online. But I'm sure if you Google "Kindergarten reviewers" there's plenty for you to choose from. My list is short as I really do not like being overwhelmed. I stuck to these 4 sites for long because they are more than enough for our preschool needs. Without further ado, here they are:

1. STARFALL - Starfall was the first free-online resource that we explored when the little miss was just a toddler. She is now very familiar with the site and can navigate it well on her own. From ABCs she has now moved on to reading short, simple stories on this site.

2.  SCHOOL SPARKS - I love this site. It is a treasure trove on its own. I usually download most of my math and reading review materials from this site.

school sparks also has tips for parents at the bottom of each worksheet.
nice touch, don't you think?

The next 2 websites also offer free resources but I've paid for membership subscription for these this year because I wanted to have access to answer sheets, to more worksheets and online exercises (which are usually perks offered to valid subscribers).

3. SCHOOLKID.PH - I like that this site was founded by a mom. The worksheets here are the ones she used to review her kids too and some were shared by other parents as well. I used most of the worksheets here last year when Maia was just starting out. I have yet to revisit the site again. But there's plenty of worksheets you can use here. I can say that I got fair value for the membership fee that I paid for.

4. IXL - During schooldays we impose a no TV/no electronic gadget policy. Since the little miss started with regular school, she has been very diligent at abiding by this rule. I can't say yet if 'breaking' our rule to make way for review sessions using IXL online exercises is a good thing but so far, the kid is really enjoying reviewing her math lessons using the exercises here. I paid a minimal fee to subscribe to this site so I'd say it's also fair value. Kid has no trouble answering the worksheets and the time limit on every exercise somehow adds a fun factor to the activities. I try to limit our sessions to 2-3 exercises every other day though so the kid won't get overly stimulated and to keep the fun going. I wouldn't want her to eventually think logging in to this site is 'schoolwork' that she has to complete.

So far, those are the online resource sites that have proved to be very useful to us. I'm still on the look out for an online resource for Science. Would you know of any? Care to share?

First Day High SY2013-2014

So the first day of Kindergarten year went by like a blur. Unlike last year's, this was a fuss-free first day for us. But the husband and I made sure we took leaves from our respective busy jobs to bring the kid to school today. Most of the kids in her school service opted not to take the service since their parents also personally took them to school. So at least the kid didn't feel left out or something.

Actually, she never let go of our hands the minute we entered the building. It was like she wanted to walk proud with her parents in tow. We surveyed the play area to check if she had friends there but couldn't find anyone. Then we went in the party area which was converted to a waiting area for the parents and guardians to stay in. That's where we found most of her old friends from last school year.

I was looking at her this time. She wasn't as timid as last time. But she didn't reach out immediately to friends too. She just stuck with Daddy and her bag. Haha. So we didn't pressure her. Daddy was also very happy to have her sticking like glue to him that day. She freely gave kisses away. No reservations.

And so when they were all called out to get inside their respective classrooms, we lined up to hers. When it was her turn to get inside, her new teacher (a familiar face) welcomed her warmly and told her she still fondly remembers her name. She beamed. "I remembered you Maia, do you remember me?" Her new teacher asked. With bowed heads and a low voice, she said -- "Teacher J" -- gladly accepted her name tag and took a seat on one of the tables where her friends are seated.

When the teacher politely asked us to leave, she urgently kissed us goodbye and happily waved us out of the classroom. Someone was obviously so eager to start her first day in school. I took one last look at her and didn't see a look of hesitation on her. My fears disappeared in thin air. She has grown to be one confident preschooler now.

Dearest Maia,

You are starting to make me feel it's time for me to let go. That thought kinda pinches my heart a bit. Just a teeny-tiny bit. You know how protective Mommy is of you (and I do not want to mention Daddy here because he is definitely a 100x more protective than me). But one thing is certain, this is bound to happen. And I'm happy that you are finally embracing traditional school like a real pro. 

Keep it up baby girl! I'm sure it's going to be a rocking school year for you. I look forward to all your stories about your daily school adventures. 

Love you always and forever,

Mommy (and Daddy too!)

Maia Recommends: Travel Logbook by Caroline Istas

I cannot think of anyone I know that doesn't like travelling. Travelling in my opinion is the most fun (if not the best) way to learn about other peoples/regions/places/cultures. I want my daughter to nurture in her a love for travel and adventure. I want her to be curious of other cultures. I want her to be curious of the world. And so even with our limited (financial) capacity, my husband and I try our hardest to expose her to travelling as young as she is. 

To me, a family trip is most fun when we try to blend in with the locals. (Eat where the locals eat, go where the locals go -- or something to that effect). So we try to just that when we travel. We want to teach our daughter to love travelling despite some bumps along the way. And by bumps I mean the possibility of taking the local commute, the lack of air conditioning and (maybe) posh accommodations (or not being able to afford it), or maybe even love walking when the situation calls for it. At this time, she still is enjoying the fact that she can just yell - CARRY ME MOMMY! CARRY ME DADDY! each time she feels like it. But you bet, when she's old enough, we will impose stricter travelling rules (hehe, I assure you Maia, it is going to be fun that way)

Writing this just makes me even more excited to travel with my little girl. I look forward to backpacking adventures in the future. And to her filling up the pages of this latest discovery - A TRAVEL LOGBOOK by Caroline Istas.

I first saw this posted in COANM's Instagram account. I immediately asked where she got it and was happy to know that I am acquainted to one of the resellers - Lyra (who is also a fellow n@wie and a blogger mom that I frequently stalk). Lyra's blog - Hello Saigon - talks about living as an expat family in Vietnam. Do check it out one of these days. It's really fun and informative.

So anyways, let me give you a glimpse of this travel logbook that I'm talking about.

cover, inside cover and back page

just look at how intricate the drawings are in this log book.
no wonder my little miss illustrator was immediately smitten.
it was love at first sight!

it has pages to entertain a kid's restless mind.
the bottom left is 2 pages of beautiful hand-drawn stickers 

it's a very comprehensive travel log book that your kid will truly appreciate if she owned one.

The minute she learned the book was for her, she immediately grabbed a pair of scissors and started opening the package. She was very careful though (probably thinking what she was holding is very fragile and delicate)

She was so ooh'd and ahh'd at the drawings on every page and she immediately expressed her want to travel soon so she can fill up these pages. Soon, Maia. Hopefully, soon.

Do you want a copy of this book for your kid too? You can send an inquiry to Lyra at hellosaigoncity@gmail.com. I ordered this book from her and had it shipped through local post. It didn't cost much (a little more than P100 if I remember correctly).