that long overdue motherhood post

so....as i posted before...that itch.

my largest concern is always leaving Navis.

I decided to start slow. Previously I managed to wedge in 1-2 hours of work a day during Navis' naptime. But lately as he has grown to be more active, I needed that nap as well :)) And because these days my role, aside from breastfeeding him, is to watch him play/play with him. I have been finding myself vacantly staring into the wall o_O

So we decided to find a daycare. I'm not against nannies but as I intend to do this gradually, I probably would need someone to look after my son for at most 6 hours per day and only for 3 days a week.

The weirdest thing if you google 'Daycare Jakarta' you will stumble upon many blogs with this seemingly comprehensive list + contact info of daycares all across Jakarta. HOWEVER...many of the names listed have either moved/non-existent. so, UNHELPFUL at all.

My next bet was scouring the online forums. I found theurbanmama.com really helpful...eventho I have to scan through these mama's laments for anything that contains "Jakarta". The thread was only about "daycares" not region-specific. (In the end I posted a review there as a my way of "giving back")

As i mentioned in the review, I finally chose this relatively new daycare called Kidee Childcare. the place is halfway between our home and my husband's office..annnddd..there are a lot of cafe/hang out place in the area tee-hee..well not a lot. I found at least two that can serve as my "mobile office": anomali coffee in Senopati and coffe crematology in Suryo.

The result is this blog post you're reading and the other two in my other blog. Anomali has a promo till May where u can get a syphon coffee and a croissant/banana cake for 29k. which is cheap! but today i'm trying crematology. cozy place, okay coffee. with so many nice coffee houses in jakarta i wonder why people still go to starbucks. (well coz theyre easier to find, thats why!).

but what i crave the most is 1/15 in Gandaria. *sigh* too bad navis' daycare is not in their neighborhood. 

umm yeah, so before i can get like a real writing job i guess am gonna do a more regular post on my own blog lol.

toedels..!

This post was originally written in December. I dunno why i didnt publish it. Privacy concerns I guess.

Ceritanya lagi sebel sama ni bocah. Ga mau makan, udah bisa marah balik kalo dilarang. Jadi ceritanya mo nyuekin aja.
Mommy is ignoring you and will only tidur2an aja today.
Bocah nyamperin bawa tas kosmetik minta dibukain. Abis ngeluarin isinya, sama dia dimasuk2in lagi trs dibalikin ke tempatnya haha

Having a kid really took toll on my patience. I broke my own "no hitting" rule several times. (A small slap or pinch, or shove when I got really mad). I am NOT a patient person. (Nor am I structured). All of my vices are being extrapolated back at me. *sigh*

Rambles

I've been itching to go back to work lately. Would be good for both of us. Had this same dilemma when i was pregnant. Work or stay at home. I know i made the right decision. Stayed home but I always know that work makes me happy. No, being a mother is not a 'job'. You don't get paid for it. *snort* it's a status. Like being a wife. 

Maybe ive always itched for work. Took in all odd freelance work (would do a separate post on it). At some point I had to put them off. Son is priority. He is dependent on me. Ive been his life support. But now.. I can see his eagerness when he sees other kids. Of course he still looks for me when faced with strangers. Was thinking of starting him on a preschool program. Then we'll go slow from there.

mother knows best.. do we really?

Thinks 'mother knows best' is a bit overrated. #rookie
— ulma n. haryanto (@ulma_nh) August 5, 2013

If there is ONE thing that really stressed me out after 10-months of mommyhood is WHAT TO FEED THE BABY. I mean, for me, I ENJOY eating. I love food. I couldnt wait to give Navis his first taste of whatever. Little did I know, me and my baby weren't on the same page. This is what I first thought of baby feeding: Tossing whatever from the table and baby will chew/gum happily Boy I was wrong! Okay the first couple of weeks was relatively easy. I had the whole thing figured out (or so I thought). I'd cook his meals in big batches, freeze them in ice cubes and ready for reheating anytime of the day.

Yes it worked..for a few months. 

Then comes toddlerhood. 

Ok this one was written in August. Yes I was so fed up by people acted as if I know EVERYTHING about my kid. And put on this puzzled look when I said I dont. Come on.. Ive only been with him for less than a year and cant they notice he's growing?? Everyday something inside them CHANGES. plus...how many times i have to say this.. They dont come with a manual! 

Feeding was a nightmare..everything was trial and error. Now it's less so. I know things he would happily chomp (krupuk) and spit out (bananas).

Why do people have kids?

So i was thinking aloud, "Is it instinct when I had Navis, or do I really want kids?"

The reason I asked this is because I did have a passing thought of not having kids. Well actually with Navis it's just sorta happened. Never intended to get pregnant but wouldn't object if I do.

It has always been a tricky question.. Do i want kids? What to do with them anyways? Why do we have to have kids? (Of course we don't )

Our body are engineered to have kids. You have the urge to have sex and sex = kids. Of course nowadays there are contraceptives but they can be so tedious. E.g. with pills you have to take one every day at the same hour. IUD doesn't always work.. Condom is well I just hate condoms. See.. You get this feeling that it's unnatural. No i am not against family planning i am for it. Couples should plan when they want children. And if you don't want any, then go ahead.

So anyways.. Then I have Navis everything in me just switched to mommy-mode. He becomes the most important thing in my life and right now everything I do revolves around him. (Sorry Iko, mom & dad).

So, is this just instinct? Part of our survival thingy as a species? Can you want kids the way you want a particular dress or shoes? (Yes i guess you can).. I wish i could ask my DNA..Am sure this survival instinct is embedded somewhere in our genes: "Is having kids still necessary when human population is way way too much?"

Hellloooooo

Soooo.. I finally made an official "departure" from my previous personal blog (the beloved pip-squeak aka ratsustekuzo aka tikus-ilang aka whatever else i'd named it :D)

At least for a few years (!) I'm gonna update this blog with family, maternal, motherly stuffs.. 

I know this blog still needs editing, layout-wise..I guess this was the only"family-friendly" template i could find 4 years (!) ago.

A little recap of what had happened in the past year (!):

- I gave birth to a lovely baby boy: Navis Sahl Putera in October
- I quit my 3.5-year stint as a reporter to stay at home with my son
- I still do various freelance work: translation, writing, editing, transcribing, heck even trolling ;p
- I started cooking again, albeit on and off
- I started reading 5 books and finished none
- I don't know what movies are playing in the theatre anymore
- The last time I discovered a "new" band was Ellie Goulding

And I've just installed this blogger app for Android that is supposed to motivate me to write more often here rather than wasting my time over at Quora.

Cheerio!

Tes..

tes..