TIPS – Mama The Explorer

ACTIVITIES, ART, BOOKS, CULTURE AND WORLD, PHILIPPINE DESTINATIONS, PRINTABLES, TIPS, TRAVEL

COLORING BOOKS FOR FILIPINO CHILDREN

February 6, 2020 1 Comment

From what I’ve read, philosophies like Montessori and Waldorf don’t subscribe to the idea of coloring books, and their reasoning behind make total sense: it takes away the creativity of the child. True. I mean, it does encourage you to color within the lines, and follow a certain look rather than making something from scratch that you can totally own. I think it’s different when coloring is used to cultivate attention to detail, learn anatomy, etc, though (that’s for another […]

FINDS, PARENTING, PRODUCTS, REVIEWS, TIPS

MTE FINDS: WATERPROOF SHOES I LOVE

May 20, 2019 No Comments

If there’s one kind of footwear I’ve really come to appreciate the moment I started traveling and going out with my toddler – it’s waterproof shoes. I’ve always loved using waterproof shoes for my travels, but more so when I gave birth and found out I have a lot more to think about than the state of my shoe when we’re going out. I love how the thought that even if it gets stained with something, or liquid spills on […]

PARENTING, PHILIPPINE DESTINATIONS, THOUGHTS, TIPS, TRAVEL

HIKING WITH A TODDLER

February 11, 2018 6 Comments

Whenever people ask me what parenting books I recommend, I send them the link of my list. But, I always tell my friends that if they can, I feel nothing beats reading Maria Montessori herself. You can start with all the books with practical suggestions and applications, but I feel that for me, the only way I can truly grasp her philosophy is by actually reading her work. When she explains something (that’s very simple but not something my common […]

PARENTING, TIPS, TRAVEL

TRAVEL TIP: HOW TO PACK YOUR CHILD’S CLOTHES

December 14, 2017 2 Comments

So, you are going on a trip with your little one, and you have shopped for clothes already. The next question is, how do you even begin packing? Is there a more efficient way to pack? In this blogpost, I will share with you what works for me. You can search online for the most efficient way to fold different kinds of clothes, but at the end of the day, when you’re already at the destination, this technique is what […]

BREASTFEEDING, FINDS, PARENTING, TIPS, TRAVEL

TRAVEL TIP: HOW TO BREASTFEED IN COLD DESTINATIONS

December 14, 2017 6 Comments

I posted some of our breastfeeding sessions in Paris, France during our recent trip in my Instagram account. This lead me to a lot of private messages from moms asking how I breastfeed in public using regular clothes and in a place like Paris during fall (transitioning to winter). First, I shared my process HERE on how I dress my son for the cold weather. I do the same for myself – I do a lot of layering. In the […]

PARENTING, TIPS, TRAVEL

TRAVEL TIP: HOW TO DRESS YOUR CHILDREN FOR THE COLD WEATHER

December 13, 2017 No Comments

We recently traveled to France where the weather was transitioning from fall to early winter. Living in a tropical country, I can bet our version of cold is just right for people living in countries where they experience four seasons every year, so if you’re reading this and you don’t live in a tropical country like we do, feel free to make adjustments. For my Filipino friends and readers who are going somewhere much colder than our beloved Philippines with […]

CLEANING, FINDS, PARENTING, PRACTICAL LIFE, TIPS

CLOTH DIAPER STAINS 101

December 13, 2017 3 Comments

I get a lot of questions about cloth diapers. In our family, this is what works for us: P wears cloth diapers whenever we are at home or just going around the city. However, whenever we are out traveling, we switch to disposable diapers. Diaper space (especially for air travel) is always a challenge, plus the time factor in washing clothes. Speaking of washing, in a gist, a breastfed baby’s stool is usually very easy to clean because it’s mushy/soft, […]

PARENTING, TIPS, TRAVEL

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR (PHILIPPINE) PASSPORT TO YOUR MARRIED NAME

January 19, 2017 217 Comments

In this blogpost, I shared how we applied for a passport for our son when he was an infant. Because he had a priority pass via the courtesy lane (no appointment needed) and one adult can ride with this pass, I decided to have my passport changed to my married name, too (we’ve been married for almost 4 years, after all, haha!). So, if you are changing your Philippine Passport from your maiden name to your married name here in […]

PARENTING, TIPS, TRAVEL

HOW TO APPLY FOR A U.S. VISA FOR BABIES (PHILIPPINE PASSPORT HOLDERS)

January 14, 2017 22 Comments

There was a crazy airline sale sometime last year, so my husband, mom, and I booked a flight from Manila, Philippines, to Los Angeles, California, USA for March 2017. I was already pregnant when we booked the fare, so we knew that we would be traveling with our little one, but he was not born yet, so we just booked ahead because an infant is easy to follow – all you have to do is call the airline and ask […]

PARENTING, TIPS, TRAVEL

HOW TO APPLY FOR A PHILIPPINE PASSPORT FOR BABIES

December 21, 2016 71 Comments

When I posted about applying for my son’s passport, I got so many questions, so I’m sharing our experience here! We booked a long-haul flight for March 2017, and I gave birth late October 2016. I have about 4 months to complete both a passport and a visa. With this in mind, we decided to work on our son’s City Hall Civil Registrar Copy (aka Certified True Copy/CTC of city hall’s birth records) on our own. The day after I […]