3 Soul-Feeding Podcasts for Surviving Mind-Numbing Manila Traffic

Manila traffic is not going away anytime soon and it is slowly killing us. Like every species that's been faced with such threats to our existence, there are only two options: adapt or die.

I am only slightly exaggerating.

When we chose to live further away from the city center, we did not anticipate that traffic could get any worse than it already was in 2013. At the time, it used took us about 45 minutes to get from our home in the east of Manila to the Pasig Central Business District, where we worked back then. On Tuesday last week, we left the house before 8 a.m. and arrived at our destination at 11:25. This is becoming the norm.

Sometimes I joke that if we were to die on the road, we'd have a lot of unconfessed sins we'd have to answer for. My daughter is 3, and she already knows to ask me, "Mommy, are you frustrated?" Dear soul, she has actually prayed for me in the car on more than one occasion: "Dear God, please tell this traffic to stop making my Mommy mad." And since there is nothing we can do about traffic, God has wisely decided to work on Mommy's temper instead—by leading me to some new podcasts.

I like to think of listening to podcasts in traffic as being on a road trip with your wittiest, funniest, most intelligent friends. Podcasts are the only reason why, in a road packed bumper-to-bumper with angry drivers, I'm now one of the few who you see laughing. Or crying, depending on the subject. I welcome any emotion other than rage and hopelessness. (Note to self: Get darker window tint.)

Podcasts have been around since the advent of the iPod, and were once thought to be the next big thing. If you've never heard of them (or are my mom), a podcast is basically a radio show that you can listen to on-demand. There are podcasts for every subject imaginable, for every mood, for every person. Here are the ones that I personally enjoy:

What It Takes (Listen via browser)

I'd never heard about The Academy of Achievement until I chanced upon this podcast a month ago. Established in 1961, this non-profit organization exists to honor and celebrate the greats of the previous generation—think Oprah Winfrey, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Tony Faddell—and allow the younger generation to learn from them. The treasury of knowledge and experience that was once only available to the privileged invitees at the academy's annual banquet has now been digested, reformatted, and made public through the academy's podcast, named What It Takes. I've just started listening to these hour-long broadcasts, but my current favorite is the program about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. What an extraordinary human!

The Dinner Party Download (Listen via browser)

Do you love trivia as much as I do? This podcast will arm you with some fun facts and stories "designed to help you dazzle your friends at this weekend's get-together." Sit at the table with some interesting strangers (a recent episode featured Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers) who can lift your mood. Great for when lighter fare is needed for a particularly enraging evening commute.

The Moth (Listen via browser)

If you're not already listening to the Moth, do yourself a favor and subscribe to the feed now. The Moth organization encourages people to share their stories, and helps those who have stories craft them for maximum audience engagement and appeal. The podcast started in 2008, but it also features stories that go back to Moth live sessions from 1997 onwards. This podcast really awakens you to the beauty of the human experience, from parenthood to prison life to the prison you feel you're in when you feel like your body is not your own, or you're trapped in a relationship with a person you no longer recognize. Hearing from so many different individuals also helps take you out of the prison on wheels you're trapped in for the next hour or so (and might even make you a little more gracious to the driver next to you—who knows what he's been going through).

The Life Enthusiast Tip: If you're worried about data limits or don't have 3G, you can download them over a WI-FI connection to listen to later, offline. Load up! I like to check Waze before I leave to see what my drive will be like (plus at least 30 minutes) and to see how many episodes I'll need.

I've scarcely scratched the surface of what's out there! I'd love to hear what you listen to so I can add them to my queue. I have many more hours of commuting ahead of me, so I'll need them. Do share!

P.S. Cup of Jo has a pretty excellent list, too.   

A Morning with My Preschooler at La Mesa Eco Park

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

marcel proust

I still remember when I first visited La Mesa Eco Park in Quezon City for a fashion editorial shoot (one of my favorites!).  I was amazed that a park that large (33 hectares) could be hidden within this crowded city. That was in 2010 and I hadn't been back since, until a few weeks ago when E's nursery class visited the park for their end-of-year field trip and family day. I am glad to report that the park is still as green and well-kept as it was many years ago (which is not often the case for public areas in Manila, unfortunately).

One of the joys of having children is that I get to be a traveller in my hometown. I've lived in Metro Manila for most of my life and I've visited most of the kid-friendly places in the city, thanks to the 11 years I spent as a writer and then an editor for three kids' magazines (first, K-Zone; then, Monster Allergy; then, finally, my beloved Total Girl). But I was not yet a parent in those days.

Visiting with a preschooler on a mission to fully experience everything rather than with a fashion editorial team on a tight schedule allowed me to see the park with fresh, eager, and gracious eyes. I know some may dread taking their young kids out in public because of the potential for disaster—I know because, on some days, I am one of those people—but I urge you to bring a venti cup of coffee to rinse away the pessimism  and try to see all the potential for wonder, three feet from the ground, arms outstretched, head in constant motion. Up, down, back, around, then back up again. And if, on that morning, you are having trouble finding joy, bring a magnifying glass. No, really. Literally. Because if you do, I guarantee your preschooler will have no trouble pointing out to you that there is much to wonder about hiding in plain view.

Family Fun Field Trip: A Strawberry-Picking Side Trip for the Baguio-bound

An unexpected family obligation a few weeks ago led to an unexpected milestone: Ella and her papa's first father-daughter trip. Although they only stayed overnight, they managed to fill their short trip with memorable experiences, not the least of which was strawberry picking at La Trinidad, Benguet. I'm so glad they made the time for the side trip! (This was before we read Stefen Chow's Medium article about father-toddler adventures that's been going around. Read it for inspiring insight!)

Papa W rarely takes photos so I'm impressed and touched that he remembered to take a few for my sake. Since I didn't come along, I can't fully narrate so I'll let the pictures do the talking. Their stories and photos were enough to get me excited enough to share this with you. Read on also for tot schooling tips to go with your trip!

We Said Yes to Play for 29 Days—Here's What I Learned From the Experience

Last January, I chanced upon the wonderful Capture Play Instagram challenge from supermom Allie of No Time for Flash Cards. I've tried—and failed at—photo-a-day challenges before, but this one was different because it focused on one thing I love and believe in: playing with my kids.

We tried to complete all the prompts for February for our own #29daysofplay experience. Though towards the end we skipped a few days—not because we didn't play but because we were too busy playing to catch it on camera. The rules were simple: just say yes. Yes to walks, yes to books, yes to being loud, yes to being quiet, yes to imaginary bad guys, yes to unearthing long-forgotten toys from dusty shelves, and yes to making toys out of household objects I happened to have on hand.

I loved this challenge because it gave me an excuse to take photos of my kids, but also because it taught me a few things about playtime:

1) Playing is Learning.
I've heard and used this expression before but, after doing the challenge, it really became real for me. While playtime can be noisy, chaotic, messy, and a sensory overload, I'm thankful for the times this month when I was able to participate in playtime as an observer. This happened mostly with my six-month-old son, but remarkably also with my tornado of a three-year-old. I am grateful for the times when I was able to watch little fingers flexing, stretching, and curling in response to a stimulus, eyes turned upward in thought, pauses before decisions were made, or bodies pushed to their limits, one millimeter closer to achieving a gross-motor goal. It was almost as if their entire bodies were expressing a thought that was being processed—the nerd in me liked to imagine neurons firing, synapses connecting, brain architecture changing. When my daughter finishes a seemingly pointless task of creation or exploration (a rock being balanced on a toe, a tower built from mealtime table materials) and tells me, "I've worked so hard, Mommy," I don't doubt it.

A Book Without Words for a Story Time Full of Words

I Don't Like to Eat is a wordless book from Adarna House. It's meant for older kids (6+) but my preschooler likes it, as she so proudly announced a few nights ago. I actually bought it last year but, understandably, toddler E wasn't ready for some of the illustrations (Marcus Nada's drawings are not your typical cutesy picture book fare) and the ideas of the story:

A boy refuses to eat healthy fruits and vegetables, choosing to eat only junk food. He eats so much that a junk food monster bursts out—Alien-style—from his tummy! (Parental guidance advised.)

Found: A Dinosaur Sticker Activity Book—and a Fun-for-Free Activity to Go with It

Child-led learning has brought us to dinosaur town, which seems to be an essential phase of childhood. What is it about these reptilian giants that kids find so alluring and irresistible? The funny-sounding names? Their strange and varied forms? This is the kind of conversations we're having at home these days:

"Mom, this is a monto-saurus"
"A brontosaurus?"
"No, a monto-saurus. It's a dinosaur mixed with a cat and a leaf."

It is often challenging not to laugh, but let's just go with it, okay?

I, too, was a bit of a dinosaur nut as a kid because of Land Before Time and those collectible sticker books that were all the rage when I was growing up (showing my age here; raise your hand if you remember these). Now I happily get to pass on my limited knowledge to E. It's not in-depth, but I can tell a stegosaurus from a triceratops. So when I spotted the two (super) sticker activity books, pictured above, at National Bookstore, I was happy to feed her interest.

10 Links I Shared with Friends (#10)

Parenting

• Valentine's is over, but pink salt is always in vogue. Trying this salt sensory writing tray. (pre-k pages)
• I'll be trying this method of toy rotation. (cando kiddo)

Productivity/Creativity

• The 7 keys to creativity, illustrated and animated (the rsa) 
• Rethinking the to-do list and why you should have a calendar instead (forbes)
• The secret to productivity is motherhood. One working mom explains why. (huffington post)

Miscellany 

• Beautiful images and stories of womanhood—not just motherhood. (honest body project)
• Hearty laugh of the day: Iconic male characters introduced as if they were female characters (slate)
• What the heck of the day: How female characters are introduced in actual scripts—seriously, it's 2016, people! (fem script intros)
• Illustrate your own recipe cards (or 50). No cooking skills required (Phew!) (inkstruck)
• Married love in pen and ink: A 365-day illustration project you should be following (drawings365) 

And another thing...

What are you not doing today? Why not? Now change your tone and read it again. Why not?

A Letter-Whenever Alphabet Sticker Activity Book for (Sort of) Tot Schooling Moms

If you're familiar with tot schooling and homeschooling, you've heard of letter-a-day curriculum. Now, me, I love order and planning and so a letter-a-day tot schooling plan really appeals to me. My daughter? Not so much. I'm not actively trying to teach her to read (we'll wait a few years for that), but I recognize that she will be routinely quizzed by well-meaning adults so I felt I needed to equip her with the basics. (She once won a pink tumbler at a pizza place this way.) I'd tried printable letter-themed activities, but E ignores them, although she does them when she is at play school twice a week. Perhaps she is past the age when coloring a picture of an A and an apple fill her with glee and satisfaction.

Stickers are another story. She loves them! We do a lot of sticker-based activities using whatever stickers I happen to have handy at the time. So when I saw this B is for Breakdancing Bear Alphabet Sticker Activity Book at NBS (also available through Amazon.com—disclaimer: this is an affiliate link), I took a chance—and hit a jackpot.

Join the "Embrace Your Art Challenge" with Me

Has January been a meh month for you? Are you ready to scrap your resolutions and throw out the fancy inspirational words and just get to work? Want to be more creative, but feel like there are a million reasons why now is not the time?

Watch this:

Then, join this: The 28-Day Embrace Your Art Challenge  (via Ria Sharon/Skillshare)

I'll be signing up as a way to keep myself committed and accountability to my goal of staying creative as a mom.

"If You Can Make a Circle": A Simple Way to Use Art to Teach Shapes

Exploring the beauty of shapes

I've been struggling finding engaging activities for our homeschool preschool, but this morning, as usual, it was she who showed me an activity we could both enjoy and learn from. Letting the child lead is truly the wisest principle for early childhood education in our household. She's a much better teacher and initiator than I am.

I'd tried other activities to help her practice her shapes, but she runs from anything pre-planned and presented to her as a "lesson". Quizzing her with flash cards? Not our thing. She knows her shapes already, and the goal is not memorization of shape names, but training the brain to see how shapes fit into our world and to see that there are shapes all around us. It was about exploring possibilities and using objects creatively. I'd bought her a wonderful Learning Resources wooden pattern blocks set to play with because a lot of moms seemed to have success with those, but she is completely uninterested in them. So it was back to the drawing board.

It just so happened, drawing was actually the answer I was looking for:

Baby Sign Language: It Worked For Us!

Time to eat, Mom!

When you're a first-time mom, you come across a lot of must-tries that turn out to be disasters, a load of pishposh, or simply just a waste of time. Baby sign language is not one of those. Baby sign language, you say? Sounds like voodoo. But, for us, it worked! We are so glad we read about it, tried it, and kept at it! I have a lot of fond memories of Ella signing (I shared one in a previous post) and sometimes, when she nurses, she'll still sign "I love you" and we'll touch hands (sort of an "I love you"-five), our little ritual and secret language. I look forward to the memories I'll make with Jacob. He'll be six months old next week and we'll begin signing with him soon (although I've already begun signing, "I love you," out of habit. I wonder what his first word will be. 

(Click on for 5 reasons we love Baby Sign Language and 5 quick tips for getting started, after the jump)

Who Would You Be?: Silencing Self-Doubt by Showing Up

Practice makes progress!

Who would you be if you'd never listened to the voices who told you who you could or couldn't be? 

I'm wondering that now as I doodle a quill on the corner of my notebook. I wondered that yesterday when I attempted to paint a flower that looked like a flower and not a ring of simple brush strokes. I wondered that this morning as I sat down to paint a floral wreath that I actually thought was not bad. Good even, for an amateur. 

Who first told me that I couldn't draw? And whose voice stuck? And what made me listen and believe them? I can't remember details; all I know is that, for as long as I can remember, I've said that I can't draw. "Me, draw?" I'd say with an embarrassed laugh. "I don't know how." "Stick figures, mostly," I'd answer when asked, even as I made the most of a marginal squiggle. The voice I once heard stopped being someone else's and became my own. Art was something that other people did, but not me.

We're Reading: 3 Children's Books About the Power of Imagination

The recent winners of the "Again, again, Mommy!" book awards have been three books on highly imaginative kids: Red Wagon by Renata Liwska, Tiger on the Wall by Annette Flores Garcia (illustrations by Joanne de Leon), and The Zoo by Suzy Lee.

Red Wagon and Zoo are both books where the beautiful illustrations are meant to speak louder than the minimal text, making them perfect leave-behind books for pre-readers to flip through. I'm always looking for books like these to encourage E to make up her own stories and explore these worlds on her own.

Exploring Homeschooling for a Preschooler

I promised myself we'd start when she turned three. Or rather, that I'd at least put in more effort and add some structure to her homeschooling. Well, D-Day has come and gone and I am at the starting line, trembling.

Where do I begin? A letter a day? A book a week? A theme a month? There are so many options, so many choices; as a pathological collector, that is a recipe for frustration and a cause for the failure to launch. 

But launch we must. Not because I want her to get into a prestigious preschool program or to learn to read before she's four or be better at math than both her parents combined, but because I realize that she is now three and time is passing too quickly.

She woke up one morning and she was three. The toddler in the house was gone and a little girl has taken her place.

A Life of Learning: Brush Lettering

For an early birthday gift, my husband offered to pay for a year of Skillshare Premium, because he's wonderful like that. Seriously, nothing says "I love you" to a life enthusiast like the gift of free classes. I'd taken a few of the classes included in the free membership before, but the premium membership gives you unlimited access to all the premium classes as well. I was clicking "Enroll" for everything from "Food Photography: Capturing a Moment Worth Eating" to Seth Godin's "Modern Marketing Workshop". (Now if only I could pay for a year of free time to actually take the classes...Oooh, just saw a new knife skills class that might be fun. *click*)

One of the classes I was excited to take was Brush Lettering Made Simple, taught by Andrea Campos, an art director, hand letterer, and self-confessed type junkie. After a few attempts at freehand brush lettering following tutorials I found online, I realized I had no natural talent for it. I needed a structured class, with a teacher and assignments (yup, nerd through and through). So, pen in hand and head hung humbly, I was ready to learn.

Building Blocks: A Lesson in Letting Her Lead

This is my new approach to teaching her: Give her something that stimulates her mentally, then sit down and have my coffee. Win-win.

I'm half-joking. But I'm serious about how well this worked this morning. Left alone, she is able to focus on the task at hand, whatever she feels that may be. When I'm too near, she is distracted as her main goal becomes trying to get my attention. My full attention. Look away and you'll hear a crash, a splash, or a more explicit "Mommy, look at me!"

Today, the task at hand was building a tower by stacking boxes.

Fun for Free: Story Stones at Ayala Museum

A is for Art, Awesome, and Ang Ink

We had come for the mall koi pond, but we found this instead. What a serendipitous find! This kid-friendly art installation outside the Ayala Museum was the highlight of our Sunday afternoon. I'd heard about story stones and have been coveting a set by Etsy seller Thrive 360 Living. So when I saw this exhibit-sized version, I was thrilled! What a fun way to introduce my preschooler to the concept!

A project by Ang Illustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK, an organization of illustrators for children) in collaboration with Ayala Museum, these story stones were painted by Ang Ink illustrators, such as Robert Alejandro, Jamie Bauza, Liza Flores, Abi Goy, and Yas Doctor. Can you find which stones were painted by your favorite illustrators?

On Being an Artful Parent

By Ella and Mommy

On my shelf is a wonderful book called The Artful Parent, which teaches parents how to bring out their children's creativity. (A book that I need to reread ASAP, as our morning art sessions haven't been ending in the best way.) In the morning, before her after-lunch bath time, Ella plays with her art materials. It's occurred to me that the artful parent should probably be creating her own art, too. It's only fair, right? Why should children have all the fun?

We're Reading: Adarna House Books

We just returned from this year's Manila International Book Fair, braving the traffic, the crowds, the potential bankcruptcy, all for the love of books.

For us, this year's star was Adarna House. I'd planned on buying just one or two storybooks for our helpers to read to Ella (and Little J), but seeing the shelves and stacks of great titles, I picked up a few more. Workbooks, storybooks, ABC (alpabeto) books for baby J, books for when the kids are older. I'd have brought home these posters if I had anymore wall space. 

We can't get enough of Adarna House books! Find out why after the jump.

Naptime Project: High-Contrast Buntings

"Nap when your baby naps." That's common knowledge and common sense and new moms would be wise to follow said advice. But did I mention that I've a recovering workaholic? It's hard for me to use daylight hours for sleeping.

Today's nap time project was inspired by this space: the empty space between the changing table and the gallery wall.