Raising Casey

        On May 26, 2025, I will be traveling to Vietnam, particularly Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City for the first time. I will be going with Casey, her mom and dada  and a few close friends.      I'm excited to write about Ho Chi Minh City because I notice that most of the articles, travel blogs and stories published to promote Vietnam are mostly about Hanoi and all other cities that have become well-known tourist spots after the Vietnam War.       Ho Chi Minh City as it is popularly called today was formerly called Saigon. Before the War, Vietnam was divided into South Vietnam and North Vietnam. Saigon was the capital of South Vietnam and Hanoi was the capital of North Vietnam.      The airport in Ho Chi Minh City is called Than Son Naht International Airport. For me, it's very important to know where I will be landing after coming from my own country. This is the gateway to the southern part of Vietnam so an...

OMG! It has been four years since the last time I posted in this blog about Casey. I have been so busy. September 2014 was a critical time in my eldest child's life who was then in medical school. (Casey's Kuwa). I don't have to go into details but Kuwa has since graduated, passed the boards and currently working as a physician in a major insurance company.  Anyway, Casey is now 6 years old. She turned six last February 12, 2018. We had a simple party at home with guests Dada and Mama Tring. We had cake, ice cream, chap jai, siomai, sushi, and fried chicken. All of us enjoyed the food. Then the next day, being a school day we treated Casey's  classmates to McDonald's chicken and coke. Her classmates enjoyed the food and the had fun.

I noticed that it has been more than a month from the last time I posted about Casey. She is exactly 2 years 6 months and 7 days now. She has become a talker, a good eater, a good dancer, and a good singer. She says "deloom" for ballon. Her Daddy calls her Miss Independent She calls her dad's mom Mama She calls her mom's mom Lola She calls her mom's dad Papay She calls her mom's brother Owa (for Kuya) She remembers Kuya Josh, Ate Chloe and Jose. She remembers Ate Chloe telling her to always tie her hair. When Casey was born, I made a lens about her life in Squidoo. Unfortunately Squidoo closed but I hope I can recover that article in Hubpages where Squidoo moved all their content to. I went home to the province last week of August

Casey is 2 years and half and she is a "terrible two" baby, feisty and independent-minded. It is a challenge raising a two-year old very independent-minded, very confident baby who knows exactly what she wants.  Wikipedia's descriptions of a terrible two kid perfectly fit Casey to a tee: Casey is often defiant; shouting "no" to everything she doesn't approve of. She is very bossy, demanding from everyone and expects immediate attention by crying. Casey is very clever in using crying to get the attention she wants.  Casey is very impatient.

  "5 Reasons Modern-Day Parenting Is in Crisis, According to a British Nanny" is an article written by Emma Jenner that I've just recently read which identifies 5 reasons why modern-day parents could be raising children who might grow up as self-centered, spoiled, selfish, and rude adults. The five reasons as described by the author are:  1. We always want to please our children. Parents especially us, moms, always want to please our children, we always want to give what they want. 2. We don't discipline our children. The author is saying that children nowadays lack discipline because we do not do our part to discipline them. 3. People in the community don't care as much anymore. 4. We are teaching kids not to be patient. 5. Some parents forget that they have their own needs to meet, too. You can read the article in full here .  

The day after I gave birth to my eldest son, Casey's uncle and godfather, his doctor visited me in my room and informed me that my baby boy had jaundice which caused his skin to turn yellowish. I asked why it turned yellow and she said it was because his bilirubin count was way past the normal count and that he had to be placed under a bililight to reduce the amount of bilirubin in the baby's body. I then asked the lady doctor what happens if the amount of bilirubin did not go down. What's the next step? She said, the baby will have to undergo a blood transfusion to completely clean his blood and stop the yellowing of the skin. I asked her what's causing all these and she said my baby had ABO incompatibility. She explained that me and my baby had different blood types which was the root cause of the blood disorder that affected my baby. As a first time mom, I wondered what all those medical terms mean. Jaundice. Bilirubin. Bililight. ABO incompatibility. The...