Chel Quitoriano: A Mommy With No Nanny Who Homeschools Her Kids

Chel Quitoriano is a full-time mommy with no nanny of 2 bright kids. Chel has been homeschooling for almost 10 years,  since her firstborn was 3.  She and her husband Abel are very passionate about raising  kids with the right values.  Abel, who is in the IT industry, is fortunate to be able to work from home. Together they are rearing 12 year-old Tiana and  soon-to-be four  Tobey . Read and learn some  important life lessons from this beautiful family.

Profession before having children: Life Insurance Underwriter and Businesswoman

Profession after having a children: Full-time mom

Q: How many years hve you not have a yaya?

A:  Since it took time for me to get pregnant with my 1st baby, I promised my self and my husband also agreed that when I get pregnant, i would stay home and be fully hands-on to our baby. So that’s what happened. When we knew i was 2months pregnant, i stayed home and since then, I’m was full time Mom with no yaya. My daughter is 12 now, so 12 years of no yaya!

Q; What made you decide not to have a yaya?

A:  From the start, i decided that I will be a hands-on mom. i never want to delegate my child to anyone because I want to establish relationship with my daughter.

Q: What are the perks of not having a yaya?

A: Not having a yaya means more savings, haha! It can be tiring, but I have peace in my home.

Q: How did you manage not having an extra set of hands to take care of your children? Did you get a housekeeper? Did your husband/ siblings/ parents help you?

A: Back then, when we had just 1 child, and my husband was still working, it was easier and hard at the same time (confusing, I know.) I’m a full time, stay-at-home, homeschooling mom. I do all the cooking (up until now), dishwashing, cleaning of the house, laundry, folding of clothes, pressing of husband’s office clothes, etc. It really helps to have a supportive, loving and helpful husband. I remember having a helper but for a few months only. Then, before I got pregnant with my 2nd child, year 2010, I was working part time for my husband, still at home. Since working took some of my time, we hired a housekeeper to help maintain the house. Until now, we still have her but not as nanny. I’m still a hands-on mom even when I worked and full time in the kitchen and house’s welfare.

Q: If you had a choice, would you do it all over again? Why or why not?

A: Definitely! I can’t imagine leaving my children with the nannies. Not that I don’t trust them but I want to be hands-on in bringing them up. I want them to be close to me or to us as parents.

For me, I consider having children a gift from God and it is an opportunity and privilege to be able to stay with them as they grow older. What’s sad for me is, I see a lot of household, they leave the kids with the nannies and the kids end up getting closer to the nannies instead of the parents. What the nannies watch, they watch and nannies become the biggest influence and company, so the family relationship is not getting established. It will be hard for parents to discipline their child if they don’t have relationship. This is our own point of view. But I think, we are always given a choice in everything we do and this is our choice. There are some sacrifices that come with it (in terms of finances)’ but God is faithful when we are also faithful and when what we do align with His will.

Q: What positive effects did this have on your children?

A: We have a very close family relationship, there is harmony and everything they learn, only come from us. We are the biggest influence to them. Whatever right or wrong they see, we are there to explain to them right away. So, we as parents, also have to be very careful on what we do but still be our authentic selves. We become the role model to them. But we explain to them that we also make mistakes and God disciplines us as well. That’s why we also always point them back again and again to Yeshua because He is and has always been the best example for all of us.

Q: You are now homeschooling Tiana. What made you decide to homeschool?

A: Yes, we do. We decided to homeschool Tiana mainly because we believe in the the proper laying of foundation and character building is made during the early growing up years which is from 0-7 years old. We strongly believe that everything starts at home.

Q: How long have you been homeschooling?

A: We’ve been homeschooling since Tiana was born, hehe. Kidding aside, we’ve decided to homeschool her since she was 3. It started as play learning, like we’re doing to Tobey now. We, then enrolled her when she was 7 years old, grade 1. She’s now grade 6.

Q: How is the experience so far? (Positive and negative) 

A: Positive: (1) We are able to bring her up in the ways of the Lord. (2) We are not forced to wake up early and get stressed to prepare for school everyday, except for every Tuesday that we bring her to MAPE (Music, Arts and PE) classes. (3) No baon preparation (4) Since we don’t go out a lot, we also don’t experience too much traffic congestions most people do everyday.

Negative: We can be too lax, we are very laid back, hehe. But we know she takes her studies seriously, we see her learn a lot of things and she loves to read as well.

But there are principles we teach her: We teach her the Value of Learning instead of pressuring her to excel in her studies. So she knows, that education is not for our gain but hers alone. We teach her to take charge of her education and not merely rely on schools, teachers or even us parents. We tell her to be excellent in whatever she’ll do, and offer everything she does as service and worship unto the Lord Yeshua.

Q: What curriculum are you using?

A:  We’re using an open curriculum guided by DepEd. We source out projects that interest her and us as well.

Q: Would you recommend homeshooling to other parents?

A: I totally recommend homeschooling but somehow, a lot of parents have so many fears, misconceptions and don’t really try to understand it. Most parents want to see their children excel in their studies, to make them feel proud. Don’t get me wrong, but we (Abel and I) as parents, may think differently. We think, that homeschooling is a lifestyle. It’s not just about academics, it is where life’s lessons happen. It is teaching her to weigh whatever situation she may be in and be wiser in her decision making. It is teaching and applying the more practical skills in life like household chores, grocery. laundry, etc.

Q: Will you also homeschool your son?

A: Definitely.

Q: Tips you can offer on how to not just survive but enjoy being a mommy with no nanny:

A: One thing I’ve learned in my Christian walk is to enjoy and make the most of whatever season you are now. Let’s enjoy our kids as they grow up, because we can never turn back the hands of time. Opportunities may come and go, but our kids will only be young once.

I recently talked with one of my older cousin-in-law. She knows that we’re homeschooling and she even complimented us for doing a great job for our children. Then she said, “You know, if homeschooling was introduced to me before, I would have done what you’re are doing now. ‘Coz back then, when my kids are smaller, I was so busy working and I left them all to the nannies. But now that we are already established and we have all the time we can spend with them, they are all out of the house, studying and working. And I thought to myself, where did time go, what happened?”

It’s sad, but that tells me that we are making the right decision now with our children. We spend our time together 24/7. We own our time. We can do whatever we want, whenever we want to.

Other people may not understand the way we think as a family….but really, the more we seek the Lord, the more we unsubscribe with the ways of this world. We are not that kind of family that would just go with the flow.