Mommy Diaries 06.20.14

Today is Cecilia's first day of school for Kinder in Miriam College Child Study Center.

They grow up so fast. Parenting is a tough job but I don't have to face it alone. I reach out to family and friends, and I join groups who share tips and tricks that worked wonders for them.

Hot to Commute to Katipunan

From where I live, I ride three jeepneys to go to Katipunan Avenue.

Costs me:
8.50php
13.00php
8.50php

It is always a terrible experience for me to commute, but I will hurdle this. I applied for work and I got an interview schedule. I'm sure I'll get the post.

Hair Cut For Kids

My 5 year old C and I have our hair trimmed in neighbourhood salons which offer hair cuts as low as 50php.

100 Peso Meals: Chicken Teriyaki

Ingredients:

Justbought:

80php chicken fillet

10php togue

Pantry/Ref Stash:

Bell Pepper

Carrots

Sesame Seeds

Soy Sauce

Sugar

Ginger

Sesame Oil

Procedure:

Marinade Chicken Fillet strips in soysauce, sugar and pounded ginger for at least 15 minutes.

Cook in low heat, adding just a few tablespoons of water and a few drops of sesame oil.

Cook the vegetables in the same pan so that you do not have to add seasoning. 

Total: 90php

Teriyaki is a japanese way of cooking by boiling or grilling with a glaze of soy sauce, sugar and a spice they call mirin. Sometimes, pineapple is used instead of sugar. I like this better with Kimchi. 

100 Peso Meals just cover the cost of the main ingredients, not taking into consideration the gasul consumption, the cost of depreciation of the stove, paid labor by the household help, and other pantry items such as cooking oil, water and spices.  Nor does it account for the opportunity cost that I am staying at home blogging about this ulam.

How to wash cloth diapers

I chose to cloth diaper my second daughter J. When I was still pregnant I equipped myself with information on different nappy systems and wash routines so I can exclusively cloth diaper her. There are a lot to choose from, and I have tried different nappies on Baby J. Now that she is 10 months old, I have bought, used and destashed a lot of nappies that did not work for me for different reasons: "too expensive and I do not know why I even bought it", "too many of this brand", "boyish print, I have a baby girl"

I have not bought any disposable diaper since I gave birth in August of 2013. My baby is now 10 months. I want the barest minimum but working nappy system for Baby J so she now owns only 24 pockets and 48pcs of inserts.

Wash routines may change as the baby grows. Now that J is 10 months and she eats solids, we strip wash all her nappies once at the end of each month. We wash nappies daily since I am not comfortable leaving them dirty for more than 24 hours.

For nappies with pee: in the sink we prewash with running water (both inserts and pockets) so they wont get stinky. And leave them in an open laundry hamper. Most moms recommend hanging the nappies to dry before wash day, but I can't seem to do it in terms of logistics. The sink is inside the house and the sampayan is outside, in the garage and it is too much work for yaya or me to hang them outside. Remember, baby just took a bath/diaper change and it is more important to look after a crawling baby. excuses. excuses. excuses.

For nappies with poop: using a bidet, drop all solids and poop in the toilet, then pre wash. This must be immediately done.

At the end of the day we have around 6-7 nappies all pre washed.

We wash everything in the morning just before both kids wake up:

First cycle is rinse cycle for 3 minutes, drain water.
Wash cyle for 15 minutes using 2 tablespoons of detergent
Rinse cycle for 3 minutes, drain water
Rinse cycle for 3 minutes, drain water
Rinse in a batya before hanging to dry.

It is very important to rinse the nappies very well and to use as little detergent as possible since these may cause build up and make the nappies stink or leak.

No fabric conditioner even if the inserts feel dry. Anyway these inserts do not touch the baby's bum directly.

Starting a Business with 5K Capital

I do not have any savings. In fact I have mentioned that my BPI Savings account opened by my husband is always in its maintaining balance of 3,000php.

I asked mom for 5thousand pesos so I can have capital for any business I want.

1. 1,999php (3,001php remaining)

To start, it is easy to resell. And I signed up as a dealer for Human Heart Nature and got the 2k worth of samples for dealers.

I don't intend to sell the Human Heart Nature items at full brochure price. Will probably sell them 20% less the brochure price since I am already getting 25% off as a dealer. So, to get my return on investment for my 2,000php capital, I need to sell worth 40,000 of items. I am terrible at arithmetic by the way.

I just intend to have 2k worth of products on hand all the time and keep them moving as the orders come along. A few best seller items that I initially have on hand are their Human Heart Nature Natural Baby Wash and Lotion, Human Heart Nature Sunflower Beauty Oil and Human Heart Nature Citronella Bug Spray.

2.  3,000php for buying yards of cloth so i can start sewing.

No I am not an expert in this area but will try my best to make them good enough for someone else to buy.