Parenthood

I became a parent at the young age of 18. I think I've always known that I was going to be one at a young age and for a reason that I only understood more than a decade later. I can never imagine how my life would be without Miguel at my side.

I cannot say that I easily slipped into the role of parent. I had lots (loads, many-many) help from my family, especially my parents. I was lucky though since Miguel has always been a good child. He's not sickly, he's obedient and has so far shown no interest in having a barkada. AND he still enjoys my company (I do certainly hope so). He has his own interests so I let him be. I do intrude sometimes when I think he's forgetting about his other interests.

On the other hand though I can honestly say that it took me awhile to balance my work and life priorities. Being a single parent I had to work doubly hard and I can say that taking my MBA at an early age paid off. Eventually I looked for a company that was mommy-friendly. With much hard work and prayers I managed to work for one. Social life? It was only in my late 20s that I managed to have one haha. Becoming a single parent also helped me know who were my real friends were.

I only slipped in the full time "Mom" role when we finally moved out of my parents' house. I had to learn really fast on how to be a full time Mom and wife. During our first month Miguel didn't want to move in with us since: (1) we didn't have all the stuff we needed yet, (2) I was still learning how to do the laundry and ironing  (3) he was probably scared he'd go hungry because of my cooking. Hahaha!

We have so far survived and when things settled a bit, Miguel's grandparents have had to demand for him to sleep-over so they can spend some time with him. I know that I have to change pace on my "mothering" now since Miguel's turning 16 soon and a high school senior, but it's still quite hard to push him out of the door (haha) so he could mingle more with kids his age (he enjoys hanging out with my friends more than kids his age).

Becoming a parent drastically changes your life and with it comes a lot of sacrifices and the fact that you don't live for yourself anymore. The joy though far outweighs the sacrifice. And, God willing, I definitely want to have more!

*Thank you Sweetie for being there now to share the joys and pains of being a parent. Big challenge huh =)

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My friend Sonnie sent me a message earlier about a free seminar they are hosting on, "Web Safety for Parents". It's free and will happen on July 10 and August 14, 2010. For more details and to sign up please check out their website.