Proud member of Mommy Mundo, Social Media Moms Community #SoMoms

by ⋅ 3 Comments

Contact #SoMoms at [email protected]. Visit our #SoMoms community

Using the monicker ““momblogger” was a matter of convenience. I wanted to be called by my first name. You know how Filipinos are. There is always a title before one’s name like Ma’am, Miss or Ate. The evolution of my online name was more for vanity’s sake. I didn’t want to feel old online. Years later, how would I have known that personal branding would define my online reputation and the focus of my advocacy?

Not so long ago, blogging was a popular medium. Blogging was a platform to share my story on how I lost my beloved son. There is hope after a loss of a precious child. There is a new normal , a new life after a loss of a child. The platform served me well because I was able to reach out to readers with similar losses. Twitter came but I used it mainly for broadcasting my daily grind . Then facebook, instagram, pinterest and other social networks soon sprouted. It is not just mom bloggers anymore.

social mom

The rise of social media moms is a new force to reckon with. According to the 2013 Social Mom report in the USA ( see study below), “moms in general tend to be heavy users of all the major social networks: YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+. They also tend to have larger networks of friends and followers than the general population.”

1. Mom is a social leader
2. Social powers her life
3. Different social for different needs
4. The most social consumer you’ll meet
5. Marketing to Social Mom

Social moms in the Philippines are not just heavy users . They are influential in their community.

somoms community

Nuffnang was the source of digital ads for this blog for the past five years. It was time to move on to a community that can effectively deal with moms as an empowered consumer. Brands dictate too much on their own agenda but do they really care about mothers’ needs? Have they been communicating with us effectively? Whether we like it or not, the communications world is rapidly changing. Emerging media is ““the evolution of utilizing technology to share information in new and innovative ways.

It must have been fate that Mommy Mundo SoMoms came into my life early this month. This coincided shortly after I raised objections to Mead Johnsons’ sneaky #BestStartswithDad campaign ads in my blog.

Together with my good friend , Jane Uymatiao, we are the newest members of this wonderful community of social media moms. During Social Media Weekend, Janice announced that we are the newest members of the #SoMoms community . It is with great pride and joy to be with the mommies of the #SoMoms community. I feel positive with this community.

What is Mommy Mundo #SoMoms?

social media moms community

We are a collective of moms who are active on social media and have unique voices and points of view that are relevant to moms like us.

We have individual beliefs and advocacies covering a wide range of concerns that most moms today have namely, breastfeeding, babywearing, natural parenting, time management, mompreneurship, home management, beauty and fashion, health, and more.

We are passionate about sharing our discoveries with other moms, giving advice, creating conversations and building relationships online with our readers and followers.

We are proud to be social media moms. We are always online. We recognize the responsibilities of being an active influencer in social media and celebrate the opportunities that come our way.

Contact us at [email protected].

social media moms

Marketing to Social Moms

With the help of our community, I hope digital advertisers shift their strategy and listen to our parenting needs and aspirations. The 2013 Social moms study reveal some tips:

1. Recognize she’s different, and so are her needs; how and what you talk about matters

2. Create a give-and-take relationship based on what she finds valuable

3. Listen to her. Act on what she says; if she asks a question, answer it – every time

4. Talk to her about things that have nothing to do with you

5. Support her busy life, don’t make demands, nurture her journey

The Social Mom is well connected and influential in her community. Moms like Jane and myself who transitioned from active parenting to being involved parents must not be underestimated.

Advertisers and brands seem to forget or underestimate a growing circle of Mom influencers and advocates who no longer have young kids. This group of Moms are my generation — older women, social media savvy, still involved with our families, wiser (we would like to think) after many successes and failures during our parenting years. We have survived the schooling years of our kids, even going as far as sleepless nights helping them with exam preparations, homework and projects. We graduated from tutoring as our kids graduated from school. We saw them through struggles to find employment on their own. We have been there through their heartbreaks and relationships. We have worried over them as they traveled to foreign lands. We have prayed each day for their protection as they drive off to work. And we remain a presence for them even if some of them have already left the ““nest” to settle somewhere else.

I am not a political blogger

I hope digital advertisers understand the advocacies I support. I am not a political blogger. I am a citizen advocate. As a mom blogger, I cannot isolate myself from the larger society. Yes, I may seem controversial but I do this to advocate social change.

My concern is to nurture both my family and community. Dealing with politics is incidental. Sometimes when you want change, the best way to attain is to through political means. But politics is not an end in itself but merely a means to an end. I use social media to drive an advocacy, to push for social good.

social media day talk1

This change benefits the country and eventually improve the business climate. Moms may react differently on specific issues but we all have a common concern : our children’s futures unite us.

Most of the moms in the #SoMoms community are so much younger than me. My daughter was kidding me that I am probably the only one with children who flew the nest.

I protested “I will always be a mom”.

ONCE A MOM, ALWAYS A MOM! No matter how grown the kids are, they will always be your precious babies in your eyes!

Contact us at [email protected]. Visit our #SoMoms community

Here is the 2013 Social Mom report in the USA

2013 Social Mom Report

A Healthy Attraction to People

by ⋅ 13 Comments

wedding2.jpgIt was in Twitter that I saw someone post…”asdfjhsda I’m so sick of weirdos! WHY CAN’T I ATTRACT NORMAL GUYS????????”. No offense to the guys who are attracted to that person right now, but the problem is not the guy. It’s you and me who are attracted to these types of person. My daughter and I had a conversation about how I got attracted to her dad. I remember now. I never lacked of a father image. My dad was a loving father, great provider and a mentor on handling life’s problems. But my loving dad was boring. He was so traditional and conservative, afraid to venture into the unknown. A perfect example was a trip to Europe with my sister and dad in the early 80’s. Dad preferred to take organized tours while my sister and I wanted to take the nearest train and just venture on our own. Most of all, he wasn’t demonstrative with his love. He never hugged us or said “I love You”. Subconsciously, I chose a spouse that was passionate, affectionate, happy go lucky and adventurous and to put it mildly, “wild and unconventional”. The truth of the matter was my marital problems were mainly caused by this happy go lucky trait.

When I planned on a separation with my husband a few years ago, I imagined I would find myself in another relationship. Who was I kidding? I needed to fix ME, first and foremost. The issue is about us and not the other person. That is the heart, the hope and the power of recovery.

Often, we learn about ourselves from the people to whom we are attracted. The basic question is : What then is a healthy attraction towards people?

1. In recovery, we strive towards a healthy attraction to people. We allow ourselves to be attracted to who people are not their potential nor to what we hope they will become.

2. We need to work family of origin issues. The less one needed to work out on these issues, the less one needed to work through them with the people one gets attracted to. It meant one needed to finish our business from the past as it helps us form new and healthier relationships.

What I needed to do was reach out to my inner adventurous spirit. I didn’t need a partner to compensate this for me.

3. The more we learn to love and respect ourselves, the more we will become attracted to people who will love and respect us and who we can safely love and respect.

Once we take care of ourselves, we start to value ourselves. Loving ourselves overflows and it transcends to others that value our love.

4. Be patient with yourselves. The type of people we find ourselves attracted to does not change overnight.

5. Learn to take care of yourself during the process of forming and initiating relationships. Learn to tread slowly, to pay attention and even allow mistakes , even when we know better.

6. Stop blaming our relationships on others or on God and begin to take responsibility for them. We can learn to enjoy the healthy relationships and extricate ourselves more quicly from the dysfunctional ones.

We learn to look what’s good for us instead of seeking what’s good for the other person. We need to take responsibility for ourselves and learn what we need to learn.

Trust that the people you want and need will come into your life.

I trust that my daughters will form a healthy attraction to people in their lives. I trust that they will be open to the lessons they need to learn about themselves in relationships so that they will be prepared for the best possible relationships with people.

The father of my children speaks up on #BestStartsWithDad

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

my husband the father of my children

A few weeks ago, I was horrified to see Mead Johnson Nutrition ads in this blog that supposedly honor fathers on Father’s day. Why would Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN) spend so much money on gadgets to entice everyone to submit pictures of fathers and their kids? Why will they spend on ads in all TV stations this afternoon? Do you think MJN cares about the nutrition of their children. Think about it.

My friend Jen explains it best in her comments at the Chronicles of a Nursing Mom

Think about this. Mead Johnson, a milk company (yes, the ENTIRE RANGE from forumla to older people milk), focuses on dads. Dads feel good (marketing nga eh, diba?)! And who wouldn’t with the carrots they’re dangling (gadgets, etc). One day Mom has a new baby and she might be having a difficult first 2-3 days. Dad remembers MJN and says “honey, bili nalang tayo ng ********, para di ka mahirapan.” Then that can RUIN the REAL BEST START ng baby — ang Breastfeeding. When Dads do this, MJN HOPES that the dads remember them. (this is where it translates to sales for MJN).

By convincing dads that the best start to life is Mead Johnson Nutrition, I feel they are undermining breastfeeding ““by removing a crucial factor in the successful breastfeeding relationship- the dad”.

In an exploratory study, “paternal emotional, practical and physical supports were identified as important factors to promote successful breastfeeding and to enrich the experience for the mother and subsequently the father.”

Dads do make a difference.

The father of my children has been so supportive of breastfeeding since day 1. He never had any sleepless nights because our babies just latched on to me and slept peacefully. In those days , I had no peer group or websites to give me the moral support. It was just my husband and myself believing that we were giving the best nutrition to our children.

It is just the two of us right now but we have not forgotten our child-rearing days. I told Jenny that we should honor our husbands, the father of our children through a live-stream chat. Much to my delight , my husband agreed to participate in this live stream chat of “#BreastfeedingPH discussion with moms & dads #BestStartswithDad”.

butch my husband

In the first part, moms talk about the support, the love and dedication that their husbands gave them when they were breastfeeding their babies. In the second half, we discuss the importance of being breast feeding advocates. The breastfeeding advocacy includes protection, promotion, and support. “Protection means you fight those people who are fooling us. Promotion, that you make mothers want to breastfeed. And support, because even mothers who want to breastfeed need to be supported.

Lastly, the moms sent the sweetest Father’s day message to their husbands thanking them for their support and their recognition that the #BestStartswithDad is Breastfeeding

Listen to their father’s day greeting in this video (around the 1:00 hour mark):

Happy father’s day to all the dads for their dedication, commitment, persistence and support to breastfeeding, as the best start to our children’s nutrition.