Scoop and Snap

Tic toc tic toc. It is 4:30 o’clock a.m. It is the start of my morning. What can I say, I have an early riser.

Fact: I don’t care waking up early as 4 as long as I had 7 to 8 hours of sleep at night (which is sometimes impossible).  I just need to recharge my battery. You know, for another day filled with never ending house chores and exciting hours of activities with my little one.



I normally, set an activity every hour for my toddler. That is to keep her active, creative and happy. It is a long list since we’re awake since 4am. But all good and fun stuff. If possible I steer her away from tv or ipad. Too much of it will not only impair her eyes but also her development and temperament ( you probably hear a lot about that, so I will not go there any more). Here are few things we love to do for 8 hours before her nap time:

• Listening to nursery rhymes and dancing with it. 
• Play musical instrument with her like drums, trumpet, maracas or anything that bangs and create sounds. 
• Learning new words through books, flash cards and everything we see around the house. 
• Being creative with lego and blocks. 
• Lots and lots of pretend games. 
• Colouring her favourite book ( and favourite wall). 
• Playing ball outside (with lots of running around)
• Tidying up her toys (teaching her until she gets the idea, who knows when).
• Playing hide and seek (mostly she’s hiding and I’m seeking but when you call her, she will answer “ I’m here mommy.” So adorable.) 
• Tickling time (my favourite part) 
• Her “me-time” (She needs it as it is the time she develops and come to know herself on her own.)

Who said being mom is easy? No, it is not. But I enjoy every bit of it. Even if it means lack of sleep, no personal time or no private time (literally a plus one everywhere I go, even in toilet). Becoming a mother is the best thing that ever happened to me. I won’t exchange it for anything in the world.

That said, I admire all moms out there who unconditionally give their best to make their children happy. The tasks is non-stop as well as the joy it brings. It is challenging sometimes but that’s part of making who you are as a mom. It is part of becoming the best mom as you can be. A woman needs 8 hands to do all the house chores, but she only needs one heart to be a mom. So yeah, Challenge Accepted!

My idea of happiness now is simple and sweet; I got to be with the people I love and enjoy what life is offering.



I don’t need to be rich to be happy. I just need a decent place for my family, food on our table, savings for the future and rainy days. If there’s one thing I want to do that is to travel with my family and see the world. I already have the key ingredients for my happiness which is my husband and my daughter. The other ingredients are basically on the table too. I just need to mix and match to find the right taste.

My husband and I are talking of becoming minimalists. Here’s my thought about this.

Nowadays, we are trapped in a world where advertisements lead us what to do with our lives. We are influenced by what we see and what other’s have. “Oh the new iphone is out. I should get one soon.” Newsflash, your monthly due is not getting less and you’re thinking of updating your phone? For what, just to be cool? How about be realistic.

This is what’s happening, we tend to buy what we do not need. But because it is hip, trending, you still do not have it, or for other reasons to justify your willingness to buy without thinking. I admit, that was me a year ago. When you open my closet before clothes were overflowing. It was hard for me to choose what to wear because I was overwhelmed with the choices. One day, I let go of the other clothes especially those that were old. And it feels so good.

The results of keeping what I do not need or not using at all, resulted in growing amount of clutter and duplicate things that are not necessary.

Those material things have clouded my vision of what matters most. It prevented me to live a life worry-free. I literally ditched my peace of mind by acquiring stuffs that gave me fake happiness. Realizing this is not the hard part. Eliminating things you are used to have is the difficult one.

During the early months, giving up this and that doesn’t make sense to me. Up to the point of accepting that I am truly happy with few clothes, shoes, bags etc. I started to focus on what matters most, the people I love. A simple weekend with my darlings can make soar up high with joy. Definitely not a weekend spend in the mall and buying unnecessary stuffs. Purchasing now is more of acquiring what is needed and not just because "I don't have such thing."