As a single parent to three kids, my contribution to my family is mainly financially. Family support braced us in our situation. My mother took care of my two kids in Benguet; and my mother-in-law supervises the nanny to my youngest child here in Nueva Ecija when I am at work.
During weekends, I don’t have a nanny so I took charge of everything as a daughter-in-law, a mother to my kids, and being a “plantita”. This hobby serves as a therapy, easing stress from the everyday events and boredom, especially to my mother-in-law, now that people at her age are limited from going out of the house.
Balancing time at work and family is very challenging on my part. However, setting up priorities, time management and negotiations is what keeps it balanced. Set priorities – when work becomes very demanding affecting my time for my family; negotiate and explain to my kids about it and make sure I make it up to them.
My kids understand what sacrifices we needed to take as I made clear to them our situations at the moment. As for my time with my two kids, I go see them twice a month before the pandemic, however with the current situation, I can only spend time with them now through video calls.
