by Rinna
Plofino-Garrucho
In the astrology
community, often I would hear, “I wish I knew astrology earlier.”. Now knowing
what I know, whenever I hear that, I think of my children. We have four
children; eldest is a sweet grown-up lady, 20 years of age, then twins - a boy
and a girl - aged 11, and youngest is a 10-year old girl. I gave birth to our eldest when
I was 22 years old, and needless to say, I was groping in the dark as a young
mother. Although young, the desire to love her, protect her and give her the
best was all that I had in my mind. Growing up, I would be overprotective of
her, set high expectations and so many other things that had led to a less than
ideal mother-daughter relationship. On the other hand, my relationship with my
3 younger children is better as I started mothering wiser in my 30s.
A big family of
6 members each with different personalities is not for everyone. To this day, dining
out is a challenge as the 4 kids have their own food preferences. One loves
pizza, pasta, and burgers, one loves meat- pork or beef (like me and my
husband), one only prefers chicken which all five of us do not eat. I, on the
other hand, prefer to have seafood at certain times but that does not fill up my
husband and our eldest absolutely stays away from it. Our only son is the most
adventurous but still picky when it comes to the thickness and texture of his
meat viand. When it comes to character
and personalities, each child shares different traits of myself and that of my
husband. Clearly, there is no same character and personality.
As the years have
gone by, I discovered that the best way for us to spend quality time with our
kids is to dedicate one Saturday with only one child wherein the child gets to
have alone time with us while we do errands then an activity of their choice
afterwards. This way, we are all focused on each other and our conversations on
numerous topics with not having another
child overpower or taking time and attention away from the other strengthened our bond with each other.
Fortunately, I
attended a seminar at my son’s school where I was made to do an exam which was
called Language of Love. They made us take home a copy of the exam. I made all
kids take the exam and Voila! Four different results for four different
children. While the test helped, I wished at times I understood them more so I could
help them better when they encounter difficulties at school, in sports, with
their friends or even with us. This is mostly applicable to our eldest wherein I
feel that I have lost so much time trying to understand her and how we can
adjust to each other. Then astrology came into my life.
Among the areas
in my life which astrology has helped, mothering has been one of the most rewarding.
Knowing my children’s tendencies, I am now more able to communicate better. It also helps my husband to understand them better so he does not tell them off
too much. For example I tell him; “No he’s not stubborn, he’s just really built that way", "He’s too emotional he cannot control it.” or “She’s just really like because she
likes being the center of attention, I don’t think she really means to hurt her
sister by doing that.” In fact, it’s not only Mothering that’s gotten better
but Parenting has gotten better too!
In a recent
Sunday lunch, I discussed with the family what I do when I read astrology
books and articles since they see me constantly reading, as well as what I do when
they see me look at charts. I told them, “I look at your charts and I look at
what you are probably feeling at a certain time!” And they looked at each other
in horror. I asked them, “Wanna try?” to which they all excitedly said yes.
When I told them what they are, how they are, what their interests are, how
they usually feel when they’re mad or upset… all of them were shocked!! After
such a fun long lunch, I told them that’s how I understood them better and if
anything, they just need to come to me in the future and communicate their
problems or confusion. Whether it be having to deal with challenges in
school or in their chosen sport, or when they have problems with friends, or perhaps on the onset of financial difficulty, love problems or even problems
with us, their own parents! Astrology has helped me get through my own
challenges and has led me into clarity for the past few years, and I wish to do so for my
own children as well. This is how I see astrology helping me in my motherhood for years
to come.
While I wish I
knew then what I know now, I am making up for lost time and I owe a lot of it
to astrology.