Breastfeeding and Calamities

by Justine C. Tajonera

I just recently read a blog post by Mommy Mec of LATCH (Lactation, Attachment, Training, Counseling, Help) regarding the importance of breastfeeding especially during natural disasters.

Breastfeeding has a lot of benefits, but these are much more emphasized during emergencies. According to a UN News Report on Breastfeeding, babies and small children are particularly at risk for diarrhea, pneumonia and under-nutrition during natural disaters. “The life-saving role [of breastfeeding] during emergencies is firmly supported by evidence and guidance,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in the news report.


Read here also a blog report on the Chinese police officer who became a national and international hero after she breastfed nine infants after an earthquake.

Breastfeeding ensures that a child is getting proper nutrition without the need for sterilized bottles or water. No matter what the situation, breast milk is at the proper temperature, is clean, safe and provides the child with immunological benefits and probiotics. Not only is it good for the child's health, breastfeeding calms down a child and provides him or her a safe haven during such a stressful time.


Let's promote breastfeeding in the Philippines, ensuring our children's health on regular days and most especially, during disasters and natural calamities.


Acknowledging the picture source here. The picture is of heroic Chinese police officer Jiang Xiaojuan breastfeeding an infant who was separated from her parents.

Making the Most of Hospitalization

By Justine C. Tajonera

Last Sept. 15, Badger accidentally ingested nail polish remover. I only knew because he started vomiting. It was one of my worst moments as a parent. I felt like a headless chicken, all panicky and disoriented. It's a good thing Vier is always so clear headed and calm. He asked me to call our pedia who immediately advised us to get him to the ER. The doctor in the ER called up the Poison Control Center and recommended that we admit him for observation.

We had him admitted. The worst part, for me, was the whole dextrose process because he wasn't allowed to drink or eat for 24 hours. The nurses had to stick needles into both his hands because Badger was violently fighting them off. It was so painful to hold Badger while he begged us to take off the needle and the tube.

Badger was finally released the following day, Sept. 16. Here are some things that I observed that helped me and Vier make the most of Badger's hospitalization:

1. Always keep a calm disposition. Even though your blood pressure is rising because it's the nth time that the nurse is finding your child's vein. I realized that it would help no one if I scolded or got angry. I made sure that I did not react emotionally to anything that the hospital staff was doing but rather, rationally. Also, don't waste beating yourself up over what happened. What happened happened. And then move forward.

2. Take advantage of a tag team. I realized that I was able to cope better because Vier and I made sure to get all the help we needed so that neither of us were harassed. I would attend to the Philhealth papers while Vier accompanied Badger to the hospital room. I would take care of the paper work at the cashier while Vier talked to the ER resident.

3. Be assertive and get full explanations for any recommendations. Just because the hospital is recommending something, it doesn't mean that we have to take everything hook, line and sinker. We talked to both our pediatrician and the assigned doctor. We decided to go with the initial recommendation to admit him overnight but when the doctor advised us that we needed to keep him in the hospital for another 24 hours, we disagreed. He had already stabilized and he was suffering more from the IV than from his stomach. So, we signed a waiver, got instructions for his diet and bought his follow-up medicine.

4. Be firm but compassionate with your child. As parents, we knew that he had to be admitted. No matter how hard he fought it, we had to help the nurses insert the IV into his vein. Badger was so angry, confused and frustrated. All I could do was show him how much I loved him. I would hug him and try to divert his attention from his constant requests to take off the IV. We would read him stories, tell him jokes, sing to him, play games with him and surprise him with inexpensive toys (like the gag glasses in the picture).

As parents, there will always be the possibility that our children will be admitted to the hospital. To help cope with this situation, I would recommend: always keeping calm, taking advantage of a tag team with your partner or family members, asserting your right as parents and getting full explanations for all recommendations and being firm but loving and compassionate with your child during such a trying time.

See my poem about Badger's hospitalization: Pinprick

A Field Trip to Pansol and Calamba, Laguna

By Justine C. Tajonera

Kids learn not only from books and lessons at home. Going to new places and seeing new things greatly stimulate their inborn love for learning, no matter what their learning style is.

A great itinerary for busy parents is a trip out of town, not too far from Manila. Why not go south-bound and check out the treasures in Laguna?

Pansol, Laguna has a lot of private pools that are filled with hot spring water. So even during this rainy season, you can be assured of "nginig-proof" swimming pleasure whatever time of the night or morning it is. An overnight stay could cost as low as P2K or as high as P8K depending on the number of people who are staying at the rental.

On the way home, stop by the Rizal Shrine in Calamba. You'll see a rebuilt replica of Rizal's first home (bahay na bato) and you'll see some really interesting sights from his childhood. There's an Audio-Video area where they play a Rizal documentary. Your kids will be fascinated with the contraptions of the Spanish colonization era and you can treat them to an impromptu history lesson. In the yard, there will be a bahay kubo where your kids can have their picture taken and there's also a bronze statue of Jose Rizal as a child with his dog, Syria.

Check out my poem: The Childhood of a Hero
Check out the pictures from our trip

A Trip to the Secondhand Bookstore

By Justine C. Tajonera

It was wonderful to plan an afternoon adventure with my toddler. After his afternoon nap, I asked him if he wanted to take a walk. He already knows how exciting it is to walk the dog (our Dalmatian, Sparta) so he didn't hesitate with his "Yes!!!"

Together with Yaya, Badger and I walked from the house to Roces Avenue and climbed up to the second floor of the building where Chocolate Kiss is and rang the doorbell to "Books for Less." Badger went nuts choosing from all the books on display. We sat on a little table and laid out all his choices. Of course, Mommy had the veto right. We wanted a couple of Dr. Seuss books but one of them was too vandalized and the other one had musical notes which I wasn't sure Badger would be able to appreciate. We finally settled on four books: a biblical re-telling of The Prodigal Son, titled The Lost Son (he liked it because you can literally pull out the "son" from the cover and it acts like a bookmark), Alpabetong Pinoy (published by Adarna House and first spotted on the July issue of Smart Parenting), Tight Times (in both English and Filipino, also published by Adarna House), and his favorite of the batch, Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings, a touch-and-read book which he absolutely adored because of all the textures and colors on each page.

So, we not only got to exercise (around 300 meters worth of walking), but we also got to save a lot of money and discovered new things that Badger liked! His book preference really demonstrated to me how Badger is so kinesthetic or tactile in his learning style.

After thirty minutes of book browsing, we capped our afternoon with Baked Potato, iced tea and a slice of carrot cake. 

For more information on learning styles, check out Learning Styles Online.

Teaching Badger at Home

I started finding ways to teach Badger at home ever since Badger was evaluated as speech delayed last January. Everyone kept telling me that it's okay because "boys are usually late to talk." But I didn't see the harm in giving it our best shot. Because I was busy at work and Vier was busy with our business ventures, we enrolled him in occupational therapy (OT) and we pitched in based on suggestions from his teacher. Badger would still attempt to talk but we still couldn't make sense of what he was saying. It was hard to get him a slot with a speech therapist so we just continued with his OT. I discovered a free website resource for home schooling and teaching speech and reading to toddlers, starfall.com. It was a really great way to interact with Badger. He became adept at using a mouse and he would squeal with delight whenever he saw a new letter and played an online game.

Last April I had an ectopic pregnancy. It was a sad and traumatic experience for me but my maternity leave gave me two months to just concentrate on Badger. I even explored youtube videos on speech therapy strategies and attempted some of the activities with Badger. Then, something magical happened. During a friend's birthday party, Badger became antsy because it was getting late so I tried to play a game with him. I would say each letter of the alphabet and wait to see if he would follow. And he did! Right up to his funny pronunciation of "z." I wanted to cry. All my friends were amazed at how he was just going on and on. It was as if all the sessions with starfall and all my crude speech therapy attempts with him came together and something clicked. He was saying the alphabet! It was also wonderful that he could also identify each letter that he was saying because of his OT classes.

I was awed by what a little more time and a lot of love could do. I now believe that homeschooling is something that I should aim to do when he is ready for nursery.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day
by Justine C. Tajonera

Your father and I
discovered your budding teeth
while eating crabs on a Sunday.

Time stopped for me
as I counted back
all your goofy,
toothless grins.

I wanted to slow
down
and memorize
every one of them.

Do you know that
I bring your drowsy eyes
and sweet, milky breath
with me
every day
that I plod to work?

Though I can't wait
for you to call for me
by name,
I want to bask
in this quiet smile
of yours.

Wait a while for me,
dearest one.
Hold my hand
a bit longer.

May 13, 2007

Please Welcome... Gabriel Andrinor "Badger" Camacho Tajonera

This is him! This is Badger. This is his cutest picture so far. We just got it last Saturday after our 4D Ultrasound at Fort Med.

I'm so excited to hold him already!

Family Reunion at Pasadena

And the whole gang's here too!

Family Reunion at Simi Valley

The whole gang's here.

Pancakes in the Mojave Desert

This was during our West Coast adventure. We had a long road trip to Arizona and passed by this place in the Mojave Desert. It was quaint, old-fashioned and served buckwheat pancakes with boysenberry syrup.

Shanghai 1930's

Someone commented that my bridal look was Shanghai 1930's. And how right he was. Looked through some vintage posters from the era and surprise, surprise! The timeline was right and my chinita face brought in the Shanghai touch. I was just lacking that feather boa...

A smaller table arrangement & the menu

This is another example of how one of the smaller tables was set up (picture is of us with my dad, family friends from Cebu: Tita Jing, her daughters Mariles and Merche, my sister, my brother and my sister's boyfriend, Carl). One of the difficulties we had was putting together table arrangements. We had tables that were originally set for two (Cafe Ysabel is a date place after all) which we had to increase to three. We also had to put together tables downstairs to accommodate large groups of friends. If you notice, the menu (in beige colored paper) was simply propped against the centerpiece. Nothing fancy but it served its purpose. Our reception sit down dinner was lovely: lobster bisque, Ceasar salad, Chicken Alfonso (stuffed chicken) served with Fetuccine Alfredo and a hot & cold dessert (apple crisp and heavenly panna cotta).

Simple centerpieces and colorful plates

This is a picture of the lovely centerpieces that my florist came up with for the reception. He combined simple floral arrangements with candle lamps (here, elevated for the principal sponsors table) to highlight the antique feel of Cafe Ysabel. You will also notice that Cafe Ysabel made the table arrangements look appetizing already by pouring the olive oil and black vinegar dip for the appetizer bread on all the plates prior to any serving.

The Caramel Area

This is a picture with friends at the lower part of the restaurant. I wish we could have had the wedding in just one floor but we really needed the whole restaurant given the number of guests. We solved the problem by having all the traditionals (bouquet tossing, cake cutting, speeches, etc.) in the courtyard at the beginning of the reception so that everyone could be there (though, we had to serve pink lemonade to combat the heat). We then split our time after dinner visiting tables and having our pictures taken both upstairs in the Chocolate area and downstairs in the Caramel area.

Down the stairs of Cafe Ysabel

This is one of my favorite pictures as well. It has a fairytale, old-world feel to it.

A good laugh.

An image of fellowship...

Okay, that's my train they're playing with. :)

Running through a shower of petals

A moment