Mom of 3rd Culture Kids

A Touching Post

momof3rdculturekids — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:05:40 +0000

My friend has posted a link of her son’s post on his blog. My friend is also a mom of 3rd culture kids like me and so, we share something in common. Anyways, I was so touched with her son’s post that talks about ‘Home’. He has described how he has considered his birth country to be ‘home’ after living in different countries all his life but after he has gone back ‘home’ to study and live independently, only then he realized that ‘home’ is not a place but the people ( his family) that he loves. The post was very well written in which you can feel the emotions of the son and indeed I was so touched after reading it. As a mom of 3rd culture kids, I could relate to what he’s going through since my kids ( as young as they are) are having experiences like this too. Yes, our daughter has asked us many times, where is ‘home’? She was 6 years old at that time and she was quite confused that it seems we were living in a country that is not her mother’s nor her father’s country. If you haven’t known yet, I’m a Filipino married to a Malaysian and our family’s living in Thailand.. So, where is home? .. ..

Aeon Jusco, Klang

momof3rdculturekids — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:52:11 +0000

Welcome to Malaysia! Yes, we are currently in Malaysia right now and it’s really nice to be back here even just for a short while. We arrived in Klang just this afternoon and after resting for a couple of hours, we went to Aeon Jusco in Klang. Oh, I love to go to the malls even if I don’t buy anything. We passed by Haagen Das and I how I wished that I was there redeeming redenvelope haagen dazs icrecream , but we were just there to look around. But after passing by Daiso, a Japanese shop that sells everything for 5 RM, one can’t help but buy stuff a lot of stuff. Oh, we really didn’t buy so much of stuff, but for sure we didn’t just buy a single 5RM item.

Oh, anyways, I’m excited for tomorrow.. to spend more time with our friends here, to savor Malaysian food and hopefully to go and shop a bit more.

A Trip to the Bookstore

momof3rdculturekids — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:38:50 +0000

We’re currently in Malaysia right now and aside from visiting friends and family, one thing that we shouldn’t miss is a trip to the bookstore. Being in a bookstore in Malaysia is like haven for me and our kids since they have a wide selection of English books. Oh, you could never get this selection back in Thailand. Even if we never get to buy as many books as we want, but the feeling of accomplishment of getting to choose the ‘best’ book out of all the varied choices is simply priceless. Never mind if we don’t get to buy the other school supplies and plastic cards here, as long as we are clutching our selected books back home, we could never be happier!

Can We Stay Here Forever?

momof3rdculturekids — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:43:58 +0000

Lyle with cousin Zane

We went to the Philippines for a 2 week vacation to spend our Christmas and New Year with my family. Even if our family was badly affected by the flash flood brought by Typhoon Sendong, we still managed to have a pleasant stay at our cousin’s house. We were so comfortable there that my kids loved every minute they spent in the Philippines. A few times my son would ‘plead’ with me and ask, ” Can we stay here forever?’. My daughter share the same sentiments but since she’s older now and understands the need for us to be here in Thailand. But still my heart aches whenever I hear my kids talk about their time in the Philippines. They have such fun memories with their cousins there and their reminiscing always ends up with a sigh and a wish.. “I wish we could go back there…’ my daughter would say. And because of that, we’re seriously considering to go back to the Philippines this year. Never mind if we have to save a lot of money for our trips, I find it important for us to spend more time with family and let the kids have more connection with their roots.

Malay and Thai TV

momof3rdculturekids — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:08:28 +0000

I’m amused with my kids. They don’t understand a lot of Thai but they still don’t get bored watching cartoons that are in Thai. My daughter picks up a lot of words and can understand better but my son is just contented watching the without really understanding anything. I’m sure he just understands by the gestures and facial expressions.

There were also times when my HUbby would watch the Malaysian Channel and my kids still gets glued to the tv on the tv box even if the show is in Malay. Maybe they’re quite used to watching shows in different languages. As for me, I easily get bored if I don’t understand the language ( especially those without subtitles). Maybe my kids will soon pick up Malay and Thai words here and there through watching TV.

Surprise!

momof3rdculturekids — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:28:55 +0000

We just got back frommy Hubby’s suprise birthday party. It was a great party and I really had a lot of fun. This party was actually organized by my siblings and cousins. All I had to do was to cooperate and keep the party as a secret from my Hubby. My cousins on the other hand, spent the whole afternoon preparing and cooking all the food. Oh, we were just so touched by my siblings initiative and my cousins hardwork. Hubby didn’t expect this party and he was most touched by their time and effort in putting all these together.

And now since Hubby’s birthday just passed, it’s almost time for me to think of : valentines day ideas for husbands and wives.

Savings and Coupons

momof3rdculturekids — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:01:18 +0000

If there’s one thing that I have to seriously do next year, then that would be to start saving money. I already know by heart, all the steps that I have to do, to be able to save money, but as always, it’s easier said that done. But at least I’m already quite good in saving up all the discount coupons and cash vouchers for later use. If I’m in the US now, I would definetly frequent onestopplus coupons , to get my coupons and rewards. But since I’m in Asia, I would have to search for coupons, discounts and freebies that are not just available in the US but also worldwide.

18 Days Before Christmas

momof3rdculturekids — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:11:53 +0000

The clock is ticking faster and I’m loving it. I can’t wait for us to go back to the Philippines to spend our Christmas and New Year. We’ve been waiting and preparing for this for months. Oh, never mind if we spent so much for our plane tickets, there’s indeed to place to be during the holidays but with our family.

So, 18 days to go before Christmas and that’s another 13 days for us to go before arriving in our hometown! Yipee!!

*image from Deviant Art

Mr. Fix-it Hubby

momof3rdculturekids — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:53:29 +0000

My Hubby wasn’t Mr.Fix-it before. But since we are living away from home,he didn’t have much choice but the fix things himself around the house rather than paying a local guy for it. He also got inspired to do all these after how he saw how handy my brother was in fixing and installing things. He then bought a tool box set with all the wire ducts and gadgets. Now, he can fix almost anything in the house from plumbing works to electrical problems. Thank for for Mr. Fix-it Hubby!

Growing Up Fast

momof3rdculturekids — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:46:03 +0000

My friend and I just had a long chat on the phone today. Her girls are actually going back to the US for college. Oh, it seemed just like yesterday when I first saw her girls, they were only about 8 and 9 years old at that time. And now, they are off to college! Oh,I’m getting old.

My girl is 7 years old right now and she’ really growing fast. Her ways are more lady-like now and her body is slowly changing. Just the other day, my cousin noticed that her eyelashes are naturally growing longer. And oh, and that’s without the use of eyelash growth products . Anyways, it’s exciting to see our kids grow but it’s kinda sad to see them grow so fast.. and soon enough they will be independent and live their lives on their own.