Saturday, August 6, 2011
Raising a 4 yr old...any advice (esp filipino, tagalog speakers)?
I guess the best place would be to start at the beginning. My wife and I met while I was stationed overseas. She lived in the Philippines while I was still in Japan. We got pregnant after marriage and she wanted to have her family with her when she gave birth so the baby was born in the Philippines. She was living with her family in one place as typical for filipinos so the baby had constant attention, especially from her mom. Due to some difficulties with immigration and missing paperwork, it wasnt until this year that we were able to bring the child home with us. He is now 4. I was able to visit quite a few times while he was in the Philippines. My wife's immigration was already completed so she had been working here in the US with me to save money to send home for her family. In any event, our son understood he needed to come home with his parents so we brought him back here and hes now been here with us for 3 days. It was a big change for me especially since Ive not had any time with him really so Im learning to be a dad for the first time. The other issue is that he speaks mostly Tagalog which is native language over there. He speaks a little English but I worry about what will happen when preschool times comes, which is right around the corner. Ive never trained anyone to speak, Im not sure if flash cards will work or how Im supposed to go about this? I dont want him falling behind because hes not a native English speaker. So far hes been pretty good. He plays and Ive had a day or two where mommy can sleep and Ill take him to the park with me. He doesnt ask for her and as long as I keep him entertained, seems fine. Oh yeah, with this all in mind, I shouldnt be expecting much sleep during these years correct? I just want to be sure I know what to expect. Seems like hes super active really late into the night. People have told me I should sleep as much as I can when he sleeps. Seems like hell wake up for 8 hours, take a nap and then up for another 8 hours. Its been hard cuz my wife and I are kind of on different schedules that way. She stays up with him at night for the last 4 hours or so because she can get him to sleep by coddling him. Doesnt do that with me so I usually crash a few hours before her. Then when he wakes up, Ill send her to the bedroom so that she can sleep and I try and take him out of the house somewhere to play so he can use up some energy. Its tough in WA, the weather is always so bad its hard to find places outside to take him...ideas? I guess Im just wondering if this is all normal, if the sleep thing will be something the wife and I will have to make the best of while hes this age and also if anyone is filipino reading this, if you have any suggestions for teaching him English now that hes here? He likes watching backyardigans on tv and whatnot, and knows some songs totally in English but still talks to my wife and I in Tagalog. Again, Im just worried about school and him learning a new language and how best to teach him. If anybody lives in WA area and knows of any resources I could consult about Filipino schools that teach English or something similar, that would be great. I just want the best for him and to get a good dad. As good a dad as my wife is a mother. I feel like shes having to hold up so much right now and I just want to do everthing I can to make this doable for her too. Hope I didnt write too much. I appreciate any inputs or advice, this is scary starting off. Thanks
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