Just sharing with you how my kids, especially Ate, always protects & defends me. She wrote this yesterday in reply to a recent comment questioning sponsored posts & full disclosure. First of all, and not to come off antagonistic I sure you, this is a personal blog. I don’t get paid to share my thoughts & my feelings. I am therefore not obligated to anyone to explain myself & defend topics I write about.

I oftentimes get emails & private messages from bloggers & aspiring bloggers -or even ordinary readers, asking how I get sponsors as they too want “in” and “freebies”, and how lucky I am to “get to eat for free”. Now that’s just crass, plain & simple. Please know that blogging is not as easy as you may think. One needs to have the dedication, passion, and heart -as what my daughter describes below. Good grammar helps a lot too, if you know what I mean. ;P

It takes a lot of hard work to even be relevant & interesting. Whatever I’m reaping now, it’s because of the effort I’ve put into blogging through the years. This isn’t something that happened overnight. Almost 6 years of blogging guys. It took a while before I got noticed & amassed readers who not only read, but stayed, and ultimately became friends -not just with me but with Kap & the kids as well.

Sponsors don’t just pick you out of the blue. A blogger must have a decent amount of followers, write relevantly, and be a viable candidate in the return of their investment. Nothing in life is free, if I get something, I make sure that I also give something back – 200% pa nga & I’d like to believe that it shows.

Many times I just take the questions & comments with a grain of salt, but I am so blessed to know that my kids always have my back. At the end of the day, what they think of me is what’s important.

Thank you Ate. I don’t deserve you, but boy am I so blessed to call you mine! :-*

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Ate always tells us.. “I GOTCHU, FAM!” Thank you for that my sweetheart! :-*

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“I would just like to remind mommy’s readers that over the years, mommy has put her heart and soul into every single blog post and eventually made a name for herself. On top of that, she’s so easy to love. Many of my friends love her even more than they love me. She’s met a multitude of people in the blogging industry and many have fallen in love with her. When people gift her things, they do it out of love for her, not merely for promotion. And mommy blogs out of love for her kids and readers, not merely for profit. 

Yes, I too remember that phase of nonstop sponsored posts that so many of you disliked. I disliked that change I saw in mommy too. But she promised she’d revert to the “old Jane,” as many of you like to call it, and she did. For those that still doubt her, well, you can gtfo. We don’t owe you an explanation. We don’t owe you anything. But one of you really pissed me off on a beautiful Sunday morning so I’m gonna bitch it out of my system. 

You guys only see a fraction of our life on social media. You don’t see what I see on a daily basis. You don’t see the amount of back breaking time and effort mommy puts into writing. You don’t see the lack of sleep and the eye bags in the morning. You don’t hear the complains of back pains from slouching over her laptop all night. She could easily go to bed but she finishes each blog post with a self-set deadline because of how obligated she feels to her readers. Every single picture is edited to become brighter and more colorful like mommy’s personality. Then every single picture is cropped, resized, saved, filed and renamed meticulously. The pictures then get uploaded and inserted ONE BY ONE. And if you’ve been around for a long time, you know how picture heavy mommy’s blogs tend to be. 

Do you honestly think even the most famous of bloggers never have sponsored posts? Just look at my favorite fashion blogger, Chiara Ferragni. Her outfits are almost always gifted to her from head to toe by the designer friends she’s made. But does that mean she doesn’t like the clothes she wears? No. Does that mean she only ever promotes an item of clothing when she is paid to do so? No. She has a passion for fashion and wakes up every morning excited to put together an outfit. In her posts, she doesn’t try to sell the clothes she’s gifted. She posts about them because she genuinely likes what she’s got on. She doesn’t care if people buy the same things or not, but she states where what she wears are from for those that do. 

I’d like to acknowledge the fact that when you gain popularity or become any kind of “public figure,” people feel like you become their property. They develop an image of you in their head and if you’re not what they expect, they try to control you and change you into who they want you to be. Those are the worst. I’d also like to acknowledge that there are people who become so engrossed in reading about our life that they feel they know us personally. Many times those are the people that become are our friends in real life. But sometimes, there are those who feel so close to mommy that they think they can say anything they want to her, especially harsh critiques.  

I’d like to emphasize that mommy is a personal blogger, not a professional one. Blogging is not her main source of income. We have been so blessed with multiple businesses and properties that mommy can stop just as easily as she started. She used to blog only for her kids so that we’d one day have this beautiful diary to look at and show our own kids. But today, many of you have become part of our family so now she blogs for you too. 

Mommy reads through comments across all her social media platforms, and these either make or break her day. Even now that I’m busy in med school, I make sure to still read through the comments. I might not be able to read them on a daily basis but I always find the time to backread and go through each one. I might not always be home but I am in contact with mommy 24/7 via cellphone. So yes, I am updated and I know what goes on. I appreciate those of you who have nothing but praise and love for mommy. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys are a huge reason for her to keep going. I would also like to recognize many of you who have become part of our family despite never meeting us in person. We appreciate you and we hope to see you soon. To those whom we have already met, thank you for sticking around. We love you. Lastly, to her silent readers, we know you’re there and we appreciate you just the same. 

In closing, I ask that you approach the comments section with KINDNESS, HUMILITY, and RESPECT. It’s okay to REQUEST but do not DEMAND. This is my MOTHER we are talking about after all. Forgive me if I become protective but I’m 100% sure I have the right to do so. Remember, I’m a growling tiger who’s developed the wings of an eagle. Don’t piss this ferocious beast off.”