Moms! Which Side Are You On: Pigilan o Sige Lang?

I do the laundry at home as we've been maid-free (thank goodness!) since 2007. And, even though we have a washing machine to make the task easier, having really dirty clothes to clean can be tedious. Still, it's not avoidable to get grimy laundry especially when all of your four kids are boys. So, I sometimes end up running really dirty clothes in the washer twice.

Like me, today's moms face a lot of decisions when it comes to child-rearing. But it's not surprising to know that recent studies show that mothers have different opinions and varying degrees of flexibility when asked if they would let their children go for hands-on learning or restrict their activities to make household chores, like washing clothes or cleaning up messes, easier.

an old stolen shot I took from a bench in Boni High Street while waiting for my hubby

Consider these findings in child development researches. Did you know that children remember:

10% of what they read 

20% of what they hear, and an astounding

90% of what they do

These results are deemed accurate by child psychologists because 8 of 10 moms agree that the skills learned through play will never be replaced by books, TVs, and computers. In fact, 91% of the moms who were surveyed admitted that they played outdoors during when they were still kids and 96% of them said getting dirty was part of their childhood.

some of our Tree House Day Care kids doing hands-on activities

On the other hand, while modern and busy moms see the value in learning activities, they also cannot help being concerned about dirt and stains and 7 out of 10 confess to being irritated when their kids arrive home with dirt-stained clothing. This stems from the fact that 89% of mothers consider laundry as one of the two most disliked chores and dealing with dirty clothes makes it worse.

According to a study conducted by the Ateneo de Manila University Fr. Jaime C. Bulatao, S.J. Center for Psychological Services, there are two main attitudes that mothers have on children's experiential leaning -- the sige moms and the pigil moms.

Dr. Liane and Dr. Cara

Psychologists Dr. Cara Fernandez and Dr. Liane Alampay describe sige moms as those who are practically open to all possibilities and means in which their kids can learn as much as they can about the world around them. They are hands-on and encourage their little ones to engage in less-structured activities and permit their kids to explore freely to learn new things in the process even if it means getting dirty. 

Pigil moms, on the other hand, are more cautious and restrictive with the kind of activities their kids engage in. They constantly worry about the consequences of a child's actions to the point of inhibiting the kid's potentials that could otherwise be developed through play.

Ok, this is not a kid but he also comes home with dirty laundry from his trail runs :p

The doctors are quick to explain though that pigil moms, who are often viewed in an unfavorable light, have valid reasons for setting parameters in terms of their children's activities such as safety and health issues. 

In the end, it remains a mother's prerogative on how she wants to raise and guide her kids the way she feels is right.  What's certain is that moms will always want and do what is best for her children although they also need to find the balance between being a loving, sige mom and a responsible, pigil parent who wants to maintain her standards of cleanliness.

To help mothers cross this bridge, Unilever launched Breeze with ActivBleach, a new household cleaning product that promises to change how moms view laundry-washing. This powdered soap was developed with moms who have growing kids in mind. As a global brand, Breeze has established itself as a thought leader in child development the world over through its campaign called "Getting Stains is Good."

This thought-provoking platform conducted a study on Filipino moms' attitudes towards stains in relation to child-rearing. Breeze fills the gap by encouraging moms with its Sige sa Mantsa! slogan along with the assurance of the product's unbeatable stain removal capability that is aimed to take away moms' worry of removing tough stains. Thus, Breeze encourages moms to say sige to life experiences and learning for their children.

So, whichever side of the fence moms stands on, the undivided love and attention to one's children should be top priority. We just have to keep in mind that kids only get to be young once in their lifetime. So let's give them a lot of chances to indulge in the joys of experiential learning because it is a very important part of childhood development that is crucial to shaping their future.