TEN things I learned as a parent of TWO!

I've been a mother of two boys for only five short years and I know Veegee and I still have a very long way to go when it comes to bringing up the kids. So far I've learned a few things about parenting and I'd like to share my top ten things to know when raising children.

NUMBER 10. Never shave your baby's head, they say shaving a baby's head make their hair grow back thicker and faster. That's totally true but nobody mentioned that it will grow back curlier and coarser too which means you can say goodbye to the soft baby texture of the original hair they came out with. We never shaved Miguel's hair off at the advice of my Uncle who is a doctor and had three sons.. he said all the hair will eventually come and so it did. We totally love and enjoyed his long soft straight hair and we did the same routine all over again with Jaime. BUT..
Do CAREFULLY cut your baby's lashes as close to the roots as you can, once if you have a boy, twice if you have a baby girl, the best time to do this is when they reach around two months then around six months, after which don't touch their lashes anymore as it will not grow back as fast as it did on the first few months of their life :)

Miguel when he was one-year-old and when he was two, we never touched his hair! Now at 5 years old his hair is still soft :) 

Jaime at 10 months and still semi-bald, by two-years-old his hair became thick and long and still baby soft! :) 

NUMBER 9. Sometime its best to buy clothes for your kids that fit well and not always say that they will eventually grow into them...being in the baby apparel business this is one thing I've learned: try as much as you can to buy clothes that generally fit well and not always buy big sized clothes thinking that kids grow up fast anyway. Always doing this will make you end up with tired looking loose clothing that never caught up with your kids. Then your kids will look like they borrowed their clothes, their shirts will always fall off, the neckline would be too loose, and their pants will look like long "tokong" shorts that fit terribly. Then to top it all off their "baggy" look will be forever immortalized in pictures where in the future they will see how they looked and how they eventually never fit into the clothes that we bought for them.

My boys! I make it a point they wear clothes that fit and are not too loose or baggy :)

NUMBER 8. Never unnecessarily expose your kids to direct sunlight, at this stage they still have very young skin and they easily darken, once their skin shade goes up a few notches you can never take it back. Gone are the days when kids were allowed to stay as long as they wanted under the sun.. these days sun protection is a must!

NUMBER 7. Your child will turn out to be who you are now... I believe that children learn by example and not by long lectures and talks, its as simple as setting a good example and then hoping that your kids pick up on all the good things that you do.

NUMBER 6. Expose your child to all kinds of people let them mingle and talk to as many types of people as they can. Teach them to respect all types of people in all walks of life. I remember having a classmate way back, she used a different tone of voice when she spoke to their household help and she had a different tone of voice when she talked to us, I realized how tiring that could be having to adjust my tone and personality depending on who I'm talking to. Wouldn't it be easier to just be plain nice to everyone.

NUMBER 5 Let your children make mistakes and praise them as many times as you can for all the good things they do. Let them touch things,smell things, experience things and go about their own way.

My boys insist this is the correct way to use a swing! :) We know someday they will figure it out!

NUMBER 4. Be as child-like as much as you can because your kids will love seeing you go crazy sometimes.. for me these are the memories I hold dear when we played and danced with our kids like we were kids too.. doing this will look terrible when we turn 50 something but its cute now that we are still in our 30's

Having a tickle fight with my boys before we sleep!! I seem to be the one losing!! :)

NUMBER 3.Treasure every moment and spend as much time as you can with your kids. Be there to witness as much of all the "firsts" as it will never happen again the same way it happened the first time. It is for this reason that Veegee and I are firm believers in letting our children sleep with us, we can have as much couple time as we want when the kids are all grown up, but for now its best we enjoy every moment we can with them while they are still young. On the flip side its also good to spend total couple time at least a few hours a week with just your husband then go back to enjoying the kids 100% of the time.

NUMBER 2.Breastfeeding is the best gift you can give your child. I can never stress this enough, the benefits that a baby and a mother receive from breastfeeding are limitless. It makes a huge and positive difference on a child's present and future health. While breastfeeding the bonding time and one on one time spent with your baby is priceless, according to my experience the eyes of a breastfed baby are much clearer and happier compared to formula-fed babies.

Breastfeeding Miguel in the car, he was around six-months-old here :) Breastfed babies are happier and healthier babies!

I had the pleasure of breastfeeding both my boys! :) This is Jaime at 7 months!

NUMBER 1. Parents are guardians not dictators.. we are here to guide them and provide for them, I hope never to impose anything upon my children as this breeds resentment, hate and blame. For me my role as a parent is to be there for them at all times and to help them make important decisions for themselves.

We still have a very long way to go but for now these are some of the things I've learned from being a newbie parent of two boys :)