Notes from G.M.

I only realized last Sunday that my son has indeed grown-up. No matter if I have to shop for a new set of pajamas twice in a matter of 6 months as he was getting taller everyday, I just did not notice it. Even when he picked up Grisham’s A Time to Kill and reads the cover and copyright page with the proper pronunciation and crisp tone, I still did not notice. I was taken aback with pride of course, I thought “Wow! He reads perfectly." Still, I did not acknowledge it to the fact that he has grown up, after all he just turned 6 last August. When you’re a Mom or a Dad, I guess you are in complete denial that your once tiny baby is growing up before your eyes and you just can't process it as fast as it happens. Well that was not until Sunday…

While waiting for Dada in the parking lobby, Sharkboy (SB)and Baby Diva (BD) asked for their new books. A little girl with an angel’s face about my sons’ age suddenly approached our bench and sat beside them. It’s really cool to be a kid, you make and become friends in a heartbeat, and she was getting along well with SB and BD browsing through SB’s dinosaur book. After 10 minutes or so, Angelface gets bored, gets up and walks away, my SB takes notice and gets up from his seat as well and exclaims, “Hey! Do you want me to read to you the names of the dinosaurs?” I could not keep myself from chuckling. SB got a pick-up line and what can I say? T'was good and somewhat geeky but still it was good. He has indeed grown up. Did he get Angelface to go back? That’s another story.

vivi, ama e ridi,

Mermaids

I support my children’s interest and fascination with sea creatures. They visited the MOP twice last year and it influenced them positively on how they look at the ocean and its wonderful marine life. When they learned about the Mermaid Show at the MOP through a front page photo in the Inquirer, they would not stop asking me to bring them again in the oceanarium.








When their Grandpa R paid us a visit last holiday (Independence Day), he was apparently charmed by my little cherubs and brought them to the MOP one morning. The Mermaid Show was only scheduled in the afternoon until the evening and my children felt disappointed. I promised to bring them back on a Wednesday afternoon before the 7-day expiration of our entrance tickets. So it was done on a Wednesday, I got off early from the office to beat the traffic, my brother was kind enough to pick me up and my kids with their nannies since Braveheart was on a client call. Was it worth all the trouble for a 15 minute show? Yes of course, I could not buy my children’s smiles and squeals of delight, including their Yayas’ as they watch in awe the beautiful and graceful mermaids of MOP.

MOP Mermaid Show runs from June 5 to July 15, 2009. Regular schedule: Tuesdays to Sundays; starting 4 pm onwards. For more details please visit the MOP website.

Photos: MOP, Reuters

Wishful Thinking

So I am 10 minutes in the waiting - my eyes begun to wander away from the distance where I suppose the object of my waiting would appear. With much conscious effort, I surveyed my surroundings upon discarding my indifferent self, I felt a sense of connection with the people passing by in that street corner in Sta Ana where I planted myself like a shrub.

The sunglasses came in handy, they gave me free room and ample angle to discreetly observe people, take note, not ogle them. I see an old man carrying 3 bags of clothing (I assume) while holding a brown paper envelop which from the way he held it must have taken great effort from his gnarled hands not to have it creased. Meanwhile a woman, who just stood nearby huffed and puffed her cigar like there was no tomorrow, she must have a pair of mighty and happy lungs.

Still the happiest sight of the moment goes to a number of Mommy-baby pairs who come passing by. I counted several pairs of them: taking a stroll, stopping at the fruit cart, crossing the street and emerging from the Jollibee store with a Kiddie meal take out. One common denominator was the cheery aura, as if both were caught in their own little bubble and the rest of the world do not exist. I felt envious.

I wish I have the same privilege of staying home with my kids. I could just do blogging for a living like Anton of AOP and I would be available to my kids anytime. I would fix my schedule around them so I could be the one preparing their breakfast, giving baths as often as they want in a day, driving them to school and putting them to sleep in the afternoon. We could watch their favorite movies a hundred times over and eat their favorite cookies and chocolates until our tummies ache and read and re-read their favorite stories and talk and talk without the worry that it’s past their bedtime because you can do it during the day. Sounds perfectly simple, but it is not simple.

How I wish it would be easy for me to shift into the low gear. I remembered seeking Hubby’s opinion on home-schooling our kids; he said he’ll give it a careful thought. But then again, am I prepared to once again fold the career plan and store it behind the kitchen counter until both my children are independent enough to go to school?

I am also thinking it over.

Acknowledgements to the following image sources:

www.site.blissliving.com

www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/4991399

Indicators

There’s nothing like the experience of becoming a parent to your child. When I was single, I was totally clueless of the roller-coaster of emotions and challenges involved in parenting even though I heard a lot from DEWKS (dually-employed-with-kids) friends. I now share the old words of my Mom- “You will never understand until you became a parent yourself.”

What is with this life-transforming vocation that can really seep through you in time? I am amazed at how parenthood contributed a lot to my maturity, having newly-found the virtue called patience and the capacity to love and care spontaneously and selflessly. As Mommie to two precocious children aged 3 and 1, I’ve transformed from a “cool Mom wannabe” to someone who sincerely loves the job. The idea of changing my baby’s diaper in a public washroom used to intimidate me as a 1st time Mom, now I can only smile while looking back how far I’ve improved.

Much has been gained from being a parent and I can only say that I took the roller- coaster ride and enjoying it too. As an output of my reflection sessions, I’ve come up with some practical indicators related to parenting that tell if you are really into it:

1. You do crazy stuff just to give your kid an unforgettable experience
Keith is fascinated with toy trains. He loves his Thomas and Friends collection. He knows each and every character by color and body number. He scolds me when I mess up the identities of Gordon and Edward or Emily and Lady Thomas.

Inspired by the idea espouse by Bo Sanchez on nurturing a child’s passion, I’ve decided to take Keith to a train ride from Pedro Gil to Central Station and back via the LRT one busy afternoon. Keith enjoyed the ride and upon descending from the train, requested for another one. Without wasting a minute I bought another token and we took the Pedro Gil to EDSA route and I decided to transfer him to the MRT which is bigger and spacious. Cinders and ashes! (a Thomas expression), I was shocked to find EDSA station choking with passengers at 3 in the afternoon.

In spite of everything, my kid breeze through the throng, he was overwhelmed with the idea that he was actually in the middle a train station’s hustle and bustle. He looked up to me and said, “Mommie, it’s like Thomas’s Train Station!” We got off from the MRT at Shaw Blvd station and he has wearing his happy smile on.

2. You equip yourselves with knowledge to relate with your child

I and my husband always find time to watch our children’s brand of TV shows; I find Mr. Meaty amusing as I shared a good laugh with my kids on Parker and Josh’s outrageous ideas and behavior like the episode wherein they inventively transplanted a hotdog for a nose in a lady’s face. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse requires more interaction from its children viewers with my little Ysa performing the Hotdog Dance. Toy Story 1 & 2, Nemo, Shrek 1 & 2, and Monsters Inc have turned into my kid’s movie staples.

Keith & Ysa Banana's Top Picks

We read and re-read their big and little board books that include Peter Pan, Noah’s Ark, Tigger’s Bouncing Story, Toy Story (again), Baby Einstein books and Lampara bilingual books (English-Filipino). My kids never discriminate as long as stories are told animatedly and creatively; they even patronize the free story books that come with their milk.

Keith & Ysa Banana's Top Picks













Taking the extra mile, I even do internet research to gather relevant snippets on my children’s favorite characters, mall tours/live appearances, shows including lyrics of its TV theme series. Further, arming yourself with loads of information is essential especially when you buy toys for your kids. At least you could assert to Mr. Salesman that Racer X is different from Speed Racer. You could explain to a misinformed salesgirl that Elly in Pocoyo’s show is a girl and not a boy and that you are looking for a pink-colored elephant ballerina and not Lumpy, the violet colored elephant from Pooh’s tv series.


3. You do product testing on yourself as well as food tasting
How can you prove that a particular baby shampoo brand is really tear-free? There is no other way of finding out unless you try it on yourself. This sounds humorous but I really do. I try my kid’s shampoo, lotion, toothpaste and oil before I could actually convince myself of its worth. J&J though traditional is consistently good to my baby’s skin while I find Nivea and Huggies baby products too perfumey.

The same with food, both Keith & Ysa Banana are fond of eating fruit yoghurt. Thanks to my sister-in-law Leah, I got into the habit of giving my kids fruit yoghurt and cheese which not only taste good but are great sources of calcium. Moo and Yamoo are big favorites though I prefer the latter; not too sweet but with a milky flavor.



To be continued...



PS: Image sources will be properly cited.

Why does my son love Buzz?

I have shelved this Toy Story 1 CD for quite some time in an old rack. If I recall it right, my husband bought this CD a long time ago, we were still dating then. I remember accompanying him to a CD store where he bought this movie for lack of any other interesting material. Little did we know that this CD had a purpose of its own and that is to serve a little master, our son.

My kid received a Buzz Lightyear bubble blower from his Godparents last Christmas. This toy became an instant hit to him the moment he saw Buzz blowing bubbles in the air. He was absolutely delighted as he chased the floating air packets around. The refill bottle did not last a week and so were the batteries.

Wanting to educate our son on the beginnings of Buzz Lightyear, my hubby decided to look for our good old CD and tried in on the player. Fifteen minutes later we get a first glimpse of Buzz when he is seen standing atop Andy’s bed as the poor Woody cowboy is flung from his prized spot. My little boy suddenly stands up, with glistening eyes and exclaims “Buzz!” The instant recognition earned Buzz our respect that he was to become Keith’s favourite toy and so begun our history of the toy-never-ending- story.

Who is Buzz Lightyear? According to the description inscribed in his spaceship, “he is a member of the elite Universe Protection Unit of Space Ranger Corp. protecting the galaxy from the threat of invasion from the Evil Emperor Zurg, sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance.” I am writing this from memory, who couldn’t I watched the movie a hundred times already.

My son adored Buzz even though he is only a secondary character in that film where Woody is. He plays Buzz to the hilt – he jumps, crawls, runs, and raises his hands and even his right foot as copied onscreen. I am amazed at how this more than an hour movie holds the attention of my 1-year old.

I fear that constant exposure to the same movie may pose a health hazard to my son in the long run. Like all mothers, I did my homework and arrived at a conclusion that TV viewing is alright in regulated doses and should be quality controlled. This is quite obvious as “just enough” is always a better choice to less and more. The TV like any other device is a technological means that could be tapped for creative learning. I was a follower of Sesame Street and Batibot once and I guess my tolerance streams from this reason. This is our version of MTRCB at home, Toy Story 1 will be shown once a day then gradually reduced to thrice a week until it becomes occasional.

In response to the above query - why does my son love Buzz- well based from my almost a 100th time viewing, I am expected to offer highly analytical and profound answers but I can only say: Buzz is funny (my kid’s laughter is proof enough), creative and gutsy (Buzz refers to flying as falling with style) and sincere (he is a true friend to Woody whom he saves in the movie). My son deciphered these qualities the first time he watched Toy Story 1 that is why ….while it took me almost a hundred viewing times before I picked it up.