Being a mom is very challenging because you not only have to take care of your own evolving needs, you also have to address the changing concerns of a child who’s growing right before your very eyes. So whether you’re an expectant mom or a new mom, a mom taking care of a toddler or a mom raising a child, you’ll find both enlightenment and encouragement at Expo Mom 2016: The Motherhood Journey, happening on April 29 to 30, Friday and Saturday at the Glorietta Activity Centre, Makati.
Foremost in the minds of the expectant mom is providing for her unborn child the best possible nesting ground for growth and development. You’re conscious about what you’re eating, doing, thinking, and feeling because you know all these would somehow affect the life growing inside your womb. At the same time, you’re educating yourself about how to take care of a newborn while calming your worries and fears about labor and childbirth. At this stage, you need the support and encouragement of your husband as well as soothing words from your own mother and cheery, you-can-do-it messages from friends.
The mom of a newborn can usually be recognized by how often she yawns and how she seems just a bit frazzled and bewildered. After the novelty about how adorable your newborn is wears off comes the harsh realization that you are responsible for taking caring of this fragile, little creature. This thought can be overwhelming. Whether it’s your first baby or your third, taking care of a baby is backbreaking work, and you’re almost always on the tip of exhaustion. You may not likely ask for help because you think you’re supposed to do this motherhood thing on your own. So family and friends who offer to watch your baby so you can go to the spa or have a date with your hubby, you’ll love them forever.
Just when you think you’re getting this motherhood thing down pat, your child blows two candles on his birthday cake, and you’ve got a toddler on your hands—and with it a whole universe of challenges and concerns. Why does he have these tantrums? Why won’t he eat? Why can’t you have a few moments in the bathroom all to yourself? You’re reading up on parenting tricks and asking your mommy girlfriends about what worked for them, and some ideas are just downright conflicting. So you do a bit of experimenting on your own, discovering in the process what kind of parent you want to be.
By the time your child goes to preschool, you are more confident of your parenting skills. You also have a more time for yourself and your husband. With your child set on his routines, things run like clockwork at home, leaving you with more energy to focus on the present and the future. You rediscover passions and interests which took a backseat when you were taking care of the little one. You find renewed energy at work and reconnect with old friends and even make new acquaintances. You congratulate yourself for having survived the first stages of motherhood, until your mommy friends tell you about the horrors of adolescence. And just like that, you’re on learn and discover mode once again.
At Expo Mom 2016, you’ll find answers and solutions to your challenges and concerns whatever stage of motherhood you maybe. There will be onstage talks and workshops to bring to light the different experiences, concerns, joys, realizations of moms in various stages of mommyhood. There will also be 80+ booths showcasing products and services that are Mommy Mundo’s #topmompicks for all moms, dads, babies and children.
Expo Mom: The Motherhood Journey is co-presented by Caltrate Plus, Pampers, and Belo Baby and supported by Sun Life, Clearascar, Mott’s 100% Apple Juice, Downy Baby Gentle, Fuji/Instax, with Celebrity Mom, Working Mom, Diva Universal and Crossover as media sponsors, Glorietta and Ayala Malls as venue sponsor, and Creative Juice Communications as logistics partner. Proceeds of registration fees shall be forwarded to Momshare beneficiaries: Alpabasa, which provides public schools with teaching materials as well as much-needed teacher training, and Childhope Asia Philippines, a non-profit, non-government organization working to promote the welfare of street children. Starting April 20, 2016, moms may visit the Mommy Mundo shop to place pre-orders from Expo Mom vendors and enjoy good deals.
Expo Mom is the banner event of Mommy Mundo, an organization dedicated to educating, inspiring, and empowering moms with useful, relevant, and up-to-date information.