PHILIPPINES: Interview with Tina Santiago-Rodriguez/Truly Rich Mom

Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?

I currently live in Manila, Philippines with my husband and two children. We’ve been based here for about two years now. Prior to coming home to the Philippines, we were based in Timor Leste (East Timor) as a missionary family for our Catholic community, Couples for Christ (CFC).

I actually grew up in Brunei (another Southeast Asian country), where my parents worked for 20+ years. In 1997, I went home to the Philippines for my university studies, graduating with a BS in Physical Therapy in 2001. I worked fulltime for CFC’s youth ministry soon after and was assigned to different places, including Manila, Singapore, East Malaysia and Brunei. (more…)

Tina Santiago-Rodriguez (Philippines)

Tina Santiago-Rodriguez is a wife and homeschool mom by vocation, a licensed physical therapist by education and currently the managing editor of Mustard, a Catholic children's magazine published by Shepherd's Voice Publications in the Philippines, by profession. She has been writing passionately since her primary school years in Brunei, and contributes regularly to several Philippine and foreign-based online and print publications. She also does sideline editing and scriptwriting jobs, when she has the time. Find out more about Tina through her personal blogs: Truly Rich Mom and Teacher Mama Tina.

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PHILIPPINES: The Inexperienced Work-at-Home-Mom

To say that my life has changed significantly is an understatement. I’ve given up life as I knew it and moved on to greater, yet completely unfamiliar things. Was it the right thing to do? Yes, a million times over. How did I know it was time to make the move? I just knew.

One day I woke up, and I was a Work At Home Mom. There were no meetings on my to-do list for the day, nowhere to go, no phone calls to be made or emails to be sent out. Instead, I had a 6am appointment with myself in the kitchen to prepare a packed lunch for my husband to take to work.

This was followed by breakfast with my son at 8, then play time, lunch at noon, bath time after lunch, and more play time afterwards. Oh, and I remembered to throw in some writing exercises, and a bit of cleaning up in between. (more…)

Patricia Cuyugan (Philippines)

Patricia Cuyugan is a wife, mom, cat momma, and a hands-on homemaker from Manila, whose greatest achievement is her pork adobo. She has been writing about parenting for about as long as she’s been a parent, which is just a little over a decade. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her reading a book, binge-watching a K-drama series, or folding laundry. She really should be writing, though! Follow her homemaking adventures on Instagram at @patriciacuyugs. 

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PHILIPPINES: The Inexperienced Work-at-Home-Mom

To say that my life has changed significantly is an understatement. I’ve given up life as I knew it and moved on to greater, yet completely unfamiliar things. Was it the right thing to do? Yes, a million times over. How did I know it was time to make the move? I just knew.

One day I woke up, and I was a Work At Home Mom. There were no meetings on my to-do list for the day, nowhere to go, no phone calls to be made or emails to be sent out. Instead, I had a 6am appointment with myself in the kitchen to prepare a packed lunch for my husband to take to work.

This was followed by breakfast with my son at 8, then play time, lunch at noon, bath time after lunch, and more play time afterwards. Oh, and I remembered to throw in some writing exercises, and a bit of cleaning up in between. (more…)

Patricia Cuyugan (Philippines)

Patricia Cuyugan is a wife, mom, cat momma, and a hands-on homemaker from Manila, whose greatest achievement is her pork adobo. She has been writing about parenting for about as long as she’s been a parent, which is just a little over a decade. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her reading a book, binge-watching a K-drama series, or folding laundry. She really should be writing, though! Follow her homemaking adventures on Instagram at @patriciacuyugs. 

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INDIA: Praying for Rain

Hot sweltering weather in Chennai

Hot sweltering weather in Chennai

Whoever coined the phrase, ‘bright cheerful sunny day’ had not been to Chennai. Do you know what they say about the weather in Chennai? There are only 3 seasons in Chennai: hot, hotter, and hell!

Even though technically summer and summer vacation are over and schools have reopened, it still is either ‘hot’ or ‘hotter’ depending on your luck. ‘Hell’ is over with May. Or is it? It still displayed 110F on my mobile yesterday, and Chennai is the most sultry and humid place to live. Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love my home and my life here, but it still has its disadvantages.In the beginning of summer, we decided that my son and I would spend the entire summer at my parents’ place. I was born and brought up there, and the weather is just awesome. It is located at the base of a hill station and you can find rolling plains, lush green fields, and pleasant weather with cool breeze all through the year. Heaven indeed! (more…)

Purnima Ramakrishnan

Purnima Ramakrishnan is an UNCA award winning journalist and the recipient of the fellowship in Journalism by International Reporting Project, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Her International reports from Brazil are found here . She is also the recipient of the BlogHer '13 International Activist Scholarship Award . She is a Senior Editor at World Moms Blog who writes passionately about social and other causes in India. Her parental journey is documented both here at World Moms Blog and also at her personal Blog, The Alchemist's Blog. She can be reached through this page . She also contributes to Huffington Post . Purnima was once a tech-savvy gal who lived in the corporate world of sleek vehicles and their electronics. She has a Master's degree in Electronics Engineering, but after working for 6 years as a Design Engineer, she decided to quit it all to become a Stay-At-Home-Mom to be with her son!   This smart mom was born and raised in India, and she has moved to live in coastal India with her husband, who is a physician, and her son who is in primary grade school.   She is a practitioner and trainer of Heartfulness Meditation.

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Saturday Sidebar: Baby weight and pregnancy weight…what’s the norm?

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Maggie Ellison.  She asked our writers,

“Pregnancy/baby weight….where are you with this? What are the social norms about pregnancy/baby weight where you are from?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

Hamakkomommy of Japan writes:
“In Japan we are told the optimal weight gain is 7kg (~15.4 lbs)! Pregnant women are scolded, shamed, and berated for gaining too much weight. Women are told gaining too much weight will result in difficult labor, and often blamed when their labors are difficult. The flip side of this is that most women are able to lose the weight quickly. The average newborn baby weight here is 3kg (~6.6 lbs).” (more…)

World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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INDONESIA: Blending Cultures

Raising a mixed-culture child is unique, there’s no doubt about it. There’s a lot of mix-and-match of parenting techniques until we finally find our own little blend of both cultures that works for my son and me.

Besides the obvious ability of him to speak bilingual, Indonesian and English, we have a lot of aspects that we assimilate and incorporate from both cultures.

It all started even before he was born. My dotting mother, a.k.a. the first-time-grandma, bombarded me with advice from the moment she found out I was expecting her first grandbaby.

(more…)

Maureen

Founder of Single Moms Indonesia, community leader and builder. Deeply passionate about women empowerment.

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