[Editor’s Note: Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio and Cheska Garcia-Kramer will be making a TV comeback on CNN Philippines’ new show Mommy Hacks. The lifestyle show on parenting will start airing on May 30.]
(CNN Philippines) ― Actress, blogger, crafts artist, wife, and mom are just some of the hats that Rica Peralejo wears. If you are wondering where she got the skill to juggle all of these, she has one simple answer: she got it from her mom.
Rica entered the entertainment business at the age of 11. Working at a young age, her parents decided that she needs to be accompanied, a task which fell to her mom, Alicia Peralejo.
The self-confessed mama’s girl characterized her mom’s parenting style in three words: strict, direct, and protective.
“The parenting style of my mom is common among their generation. She’s in her 60s. Around her time I think it is very traditional like they’re the authority. So instead of a parenting style that asks a child what he or she thinks, ang sa kanya is more like this is wrong and this is right.”
Now a mother herself to one year old Philip, Rica, said she appreciates the firm and steadfast parenting of her mom, traits that she has also inherited.
‘ ‘6’: ‘image’: ‘jcr:b66c303e-5515-4101-82fb-7c8a8df1f79f’ ‘imageCaption’: ‘Alicia Peralejo with her grandson Philip. Rica says she got
Baby talk
But she admitted that her style also has distinctions of its own.
Rica, who married Christian pastor Joseph Bonifacio in 2010, said that she wanted to raise their son in a way that will make him “confident about the way God has designed him and be expressive of his own individuality.”
“I talk to Philip in a way that will encourage him to talk to me like he is a person, because he is, like a normal person and not like a baby. His own person, a separate unique individual.”
As much as possible Rica said that she doesn’t baby talk with her child.
“I baby talk with him sometimes, I mean who wouldn’t do that kuchikuchis and things like that? I think that’s part of your lambing, your sweetness to your child.”
“But you have to be discerning in a sense na you have to know the age-appropriate language you use with them. And even your actions, your activities.”
Balancing act
The actress admitted that balancing her time is really a challenge. But what’s important is to know “when to stop and when to go.”
“There are times that I understand that the season calls for me to be out everyday and then after that I just tell myself that no matter what happens nobody touches this week. This week is for me and my son to rest at home.”
The actress decided to temporarily leave the entertainment business to be a hands-on mom after giving birth to her son in 2014.
Rica to her mom: She’s a super homemaker
During the generation of her mom, there was no avenue to publicize the things that moms are doing so it would appear that they were solely homemakers.
But moms have always wore many hats, she said.
“It’s just more publicized today. Because now you have social media as an avenue to express everything that you are doing at home. But our moms have been doing this forever.”
“Like for me, I’m so influenced by my mom. The DIY part of me was because my mom was like that. I remember going home to our house and I’ll be looking for the refrigerator because she rearranged everything again. So she’s like a super homemaker.”
‘ ’23’: ‘image’: ‘jcr:64fde8cb-1eab-4093-9273-8bbb78a0fe75’ ‘imageCaption’: ‘Rica shares the importance of keeping tangible memories of her child’s firsts. One of her do-it-yourself projects, called “Beautiful Feet”, included memorabilia like the cake topper on her son’s first birthday
Mom hacks
Rica also shared some life hacks to fellow young moms.
Keep a tangible memory of your child’s firsts
“In the time of my mom, they would keep the umbilical cord, and the hair of the baby, things like that. Now we don’t anymore because we keep those memories in the web. You’ll be surprised because they seem like babies in your eyes but one day they will learn to crawl, they will learn to walk, then they learn to say new things. Keep a tangible thing that would remind you of seasons that have passed already.”
Use every moment with your child to teach them something
“Every moment with your child is a teaching moment. Make your motherhood purposeful. Don’t think like: ‘Time is passing I am just going to wait for this boy to grow up.’ No. They’re growing right now and they’re learning new things. Use every time to teach them something. It can be something about character, attitude, or something about the world. Just teach them.”
Don’t succumb to your child’s no
“Don’t succumb when they finally say no about some of the food that they are given. I’ve read in this book and I tried it with Philip that it’s only a matter of presenting to your child and not really giving up right away. Like if they didn’t like papaya the first time, try it again another time, and if that fails then try it again another time.”
As much as possible offer them real food
“Don’t offer them french fries. Sometimes it’s so easy to give them finger food because it’s so convenient even if you don’t prepare it yourself. But that’s laziness, I believe. Teach them to eat real good food and don’t succumb to the thinking that because they don’t like it the first time they are not going to like it forever. It’s only a matter of presentation and timing.”
Don’t be afraid of your baby’s cry
