Call Me Maybe - More Fun in the Philippines! INDEED!

Empty Nest?

School's about to start in our side of the world. My son will be in grade 1 in a week. And he will be having lunch at school, every weekday. That's five days a week. For the next 12 years. Whoa!

I'm beginning to feel a bit sad about this not-eating-lunch-at-home set-up. I've arranged to work as much as I can at home and have been used to eating lunch with my boy. But now that he's not going to have lunch at home, should I still work from home?

Looks like mommy's having a separation anxiety. While my little one was so excited yesterday when we toured his new school and he saw his cafeteria. He asked if he can carry his tray and if he can eat with classmates.

I know, I've got to let go. But not yet. Not until summer is really over and he starts back at school. And that's still 10 days away.

Where is home?

The little boy with his Lolo - playing with Ada, my parents' black lab

I went home to Cagayan de Oro last weekend and came back with my Mama.  She stayed with us for 5 days.  It felt good to have my Mama here, we talked non-stop for days.  I brought her to church.  She went with me when I picked up my little boy and my hubby.  She went with us to shop for grocery, ate dinner somewhere and we watched TV together.

Both hubby and I are from Cagayan de Oro.  We're both strangers here in Laguna.  I came to Manila when I studied in UP, back in 1994.  So I've been here in Luzon for 18 years.  My hubby came here after he graduated from Engineering school in 1998, so he's been here for 14 years.  But we always consider Cagayan de Oro as home.  When we plan to go "home" for a vacation, we mean Cagayan de Oro.  In fact, we do plan to go "home" when we're retired.

Lately whenever we (my hubby, I and our little tyke) go home or have family come visit, I've always wondered what it would be like to move back to Cagayan de Oro and be near family.  Be with people who have known you since you were a kid.  Be with people you can just call out to whenever you need something.  What would it be like?  Would it be so comfortable?  Would being with and in the familiar, be relaxing?


I so envy those who have their families within driving distance.  I also want to be able to just drive to my parents' house, and find them home.  I so want to call my sisters, and we could go to the mall or get frozen yogurt.  I so want to text my cousins to meet up for coffee or tea.  I'd so like to see my son so excited for weekends, so he can swim non-stop with his cousins while my hubby bonds with his brothers, and I catch-up with my sisters-in-law.  I'd so like to go grocery shopping with my Papa, coz he buys the biggest can of milk haha

But we can't.  They're there and we're here.  We make do with a few days a year of being together, like how families should be.  And we try to make the most of it.  We'd bunched up all the activities - talking, eating, swimming, playing, drinking, and yes, sometimes, arguing - in a few days a year.

After we dropped off Mama at the airport earlier, I still wonder.  And I guess I'll always wonder, what would it be like if we all moved back to Cagayan de Oro?

After Ash

As it was Ash Wednesday yesterday, and like most Catholic Filipinos, I went to hear mass.  I was with my lonesome self as the Hubs already had mass at work and the little one had "black cross on my head" given by the "Sister" at school.  My little one goes to a Catholic school run by Nuns, you see. 

We usually go hear mass at the St. Benedict Church right outside Ayala Westgrove.  It is a little farther from our home, but I just love it there, the church design is minimalist, it's so clean and airy.  Plus the crowd is thin and homilies are, well, relevant. 

Key take aways this Lent:
1. Pray
2. Give Alms
3. Fast

Aptly timed, yesterday, on my way to work (yes, yes, I do physically go to our office LOL), I saw a couple of backpackers (foreigners) on the corner of Ayala and Buendia Avenues.  They were speaking to street kids and then gave them food.  I was about two cars away, so I was able to take a picture.  Right there, giving alms, in the middle of a concrete jungle.



Thank you kind couple, for visiting our country and for feeding our street kids!



Why?

Practicing to write

When I was a kid, whatever my Mom told me, I'd follow.  Like my Mom said not to stay out after 6pm.  So I always ran home before it was 6, even when my playmates were still outside, well, playing.  Or when my Mom said not to bike outside the house, so I biked around our garage instead even when I got so dizzy turning in circles LOL

Experts say that we have to keep a set of rules for kids to follow.  Kids follow structure.  So I set rules for our little boy to follow, some rules were handed down to me, some new.  One particular rule I inherited and my little is having a hard time following is not to stay out after 6pm.  Whenever I asked my little to come inside before it's 6, he would always ask why.  And every single time, I answer the same thing.  What I don't get is that, he always asks "Why" and I say the exact same thing. 

When I was his age, I never asked, I just followed the rules.  But this little boy, he asks.  Always.  Like why he needed to eat vegetables, why he is allowed to eat only half of the donut, why he can't drink Coke, why he needs to practice writing, why he's not allowed to watch Willy's noon time show.  Endless whys.  Sometimes I get tired answering and I take out the "Because I say so" card.  You'd think the questions stop, but they keep on coming LOL

I'm not sure if I like answering the why's, coz really, it gets tiring.  But I let him ask and sometimes I shot it back to him and ask "Why do you think?".  It keeps him curious, makes him question and learn things.  It exercises my mind and his too. 

Maybe I should record myself when I answer him why he needs to go inside the house before 6.  So the next time he asks, I'll just play it for him :D

Sharing a wonderful video - of Moms and kids

Drove me to tears.  Cherish every moment.

It's almost Christmas

And nothing like listening to Christmas songs while wrapping Christmas gifts can make you feel the spirit of the season.