Show and Tell

While I was doing the dishes after dinner, Stefan was doing his usual on the table, when he suddenly blurted that he's done with homework.  So I looked,

I was amazed - and slightly proud -  that he did his homework without any supervision.  I shouldn't mind the table looking like this everyday.

It is where he does drawing, colouring, writing and flipping through his books.  His current favorites -- One Million Things: A Visual Encyclopedia, that I got from Amazon, and the Toronto & Area Map Book.  He would muse that we live on page 183 and his school is on page 188.  He's bringing it to school tomorrow for Show & Tell.

This is my Show and Tell.

 

 

 

In Love with Peach

This morning.

 

Stefan:  Mommy, the peaches are mad at you.

Me: Who?!?!

Stefan:  The peaches.  They want to be washed.

Me:  Huh?

Stefan:  The peaches want to be in my mouth.

Me:  They’re not ripe yet.  Wait until they get soft.

Stefan: That’s okay.  I can bite it.

 

His love affair with the peach started when he was 9 months old (in the picture).

 

Separation Blues

 

Saturday was the last swimming class of Stefan, and today the last of soccer.  These past days have been marked “the last of” everything in bits and pieces.  Stefan has been visiting the SK class this week before he officially starts next week.  I am also at the last days of my year-long maternity leave as I am returning to work, also next week.  Struan has already started daycare to ease us back to the routine.  The first days dropping him off have been excruciating for me.  I had to leave immediately after a quick goodbye to a crying wawa little Struan.  It tore me to pieces.

 

It's been quite a change coming back home.  I’ve got time on my hands again.  I had the luxury to whip up something better for lunch than what normally were boring, if not leftover, dishes.  Also, I could not just breeze each room and every floor of the house, but sit and tackle every nook and cranny.  I have so far organized every bedroom, cleaned the bathrooms, fixed broken toys, washed the curtains and blinds, changed the bedsheets (finally!), gave myself a pedi, etc.  That’s a lot in just a few days.  Although at some point, I would think I have forgotten to clip the monitor on my clothing to hear if Struan is awake or he’s crying, then I come to my senses… he isn’t home.

 

Just when you wish days would go by fast, these days went slow.  It almost killed me.

 

Sherwin worked from home today.  He asked, “are we having lunch out to celebrate our freedom?“

 

“I’m still mourning.”

 

Separation anxiety.  Who has it?

 

 

 

Trip to the Library

On my library trips, I always come home with two Envirosax full of books and magazines for moiself and my little boy.  I go there every week. Stefan checks out the car magazines or sits down to read while I pace the magazine aisles.  Current issues of magazines circulate a month later.  I'm happy if I am able to get previous issues of magazines that I read, or sometimes duplicates of the current issues, but this is very rare.  Home design and improvement magazines are my first hit, also because they're on the first aisle.  Then I check out lifestyle, parenting, fashion, and food magazines, in that order.  Gossip magz are often outdated, so they’re at the bottom of my list. 

 

With such a busy life, I don’t really have time for long reads anymore.  Hence, the magazines that I can read now, put aside then get back to later.  Best of all there’s no commitment.

 

Going down, I let Stefan play on the track table, with the computer, or with the other kids, while I suss out the children’s books row by row, top to bottom.  There’s tons of books for every age group, subgrouped into different subjects, while the rest are arranged by author.  I am not partial to any, but I have so far enjoyed the comic stories of Robert Munsch and the rhymes in Dr. Seuss’.  I am sweeping these 2 shelves before I pick a few from the self-help books, i.e. teaching manners, feelings, empathy, all that stuff.  Then a few Ready-to-Read and Early Readers books, those that Stefan can read on his own or at least try to.  He is an early reader, his teachers say.  Then the rest would be of what currently interests him.  Right now, it’s Dinosaurs and Solar System. 

 

On my way to the check-out, more books will grab me.  Here it’s Thrifty Chic and Slow Cooker Recipes.  I’m going back to work next month and that means I won’t be having enough time to cook meals from scratch. This cookbook might be helpful.  But first I have to wake up my hibernating slow cooker.

 

… blah blah blah…

 

Somebody’s not allowed to read while on the car, so the moment we get home, Stefan skims through all his books while I make dinner, not yet with the slow cooker!

I've Learned

That it is futile to wipe the mouth every subo.

That the older one will also be a messy eater occasionally.

That the toys in the playroom will never stay lined up.

That the boys may be gone, but the toys will remain.

That they can't help vacuum even if they try to.

That toys will be everywhere, even in the dishwasher,

That anything can be toys, like that empty bottled water,

     the bottom of the LKK bottle,

     even the plastic wrap of the lotion bottle.

That the fridge will always be full of stuff, inside and out.

That dishwashing will often get interrupted.

That under-the-bed is walang lusot. It will be a parking for their trucks.

That toys are not for display,

     but are to be played with.

That the dining table is a bigger space for reading, writing and board games.

That the house will not always be this neat and clutter-free but that's okay.  That I can be orderly around the house but there are moments to let loose.  That some rules can be bent and some O.C. habits should be broken.  That kids will be kids but they will be kids only once in their life.  So I should let them be.

Going through the house room by room putting things back where they should be have been a daily exercise.  I now sometimes just leave it as is.  For I have learned that this is a permanent trace of motherhood, a life with kids, and a house that's home.

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
So she'll pour herself some.
The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She'll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of
Hamburger.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for the checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old.
While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. (Of course!)
Her five year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on
Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are,
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Written by Kathy Fictorie

Based on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Remembering MJ

I sobbed so hard throughout the tribute as if a part of me has died with him.

When Mariah sang "I'll Be There" I knew I'm gonna sit through this no matter what - 2 sick boys.

A pregnant Jennifer Hudson didn't do justice to my favorite "Will You Be There"

Magic and MJ shared a good laugh over Kentucky Fried Chicken in his house.  That's hard to imagine.  Read this, Diane: they were like "normal people"!

Although he sounded so Martin Luther King and Obama at some points, Rev. Al Sharpton delivered powerful words of the music icon: "I want his children to know there was nothing strange about your daddy, it was strange what your daddy had to deal with."

Brooke's eulogy made me wish I have a friend like MJ.  Is that weird?

Marlon Jackson telling MJ of the bad publicity, "maybe now they will leave you alone," brought me so much tears. Also when he told MJ to kiss his twin brother Brandon for him. 

Paris said, "I just want to say ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine. And I just want to say I love him so much"  and bursted to tears.  I joined her, LOL.

I swayed and sang along Heal The World, with Stru, as if I was watching his concert again, only now MJ was not the singer, cos he's gone forever.  Boohoohoohoohoo!

Memory Game

After packing up a game of Snake & Ladders one normal afternoon, Stefan went on to watch TV.  With the S&L box with me, I asked him out of the blue where the Green playing piece is in the picture on the box.  The question startled Sherwin like I was asking a very useless random question.  When Stefan blurted, “19 on the ladder,” he was blown away.  I went on to ask Stefan about the other playing pieces, to which he said, “Blue is on 3,... Yellow is on 24,... and Red is on 21.”

 

I checked the box on my hand... unbelievable!

 

Looking Forward To September

I'm two months away from going back to work.  We have found a daycare for Struan.  It is with heavy heart that I am leaving him with someone else for the most part of the day.  But I should move on looking at the brighter side.  Struan will have more activities throughout the day in the daycare, where he will develop better socially, than he would staying at home with me.  And I let someone else handle the messy feedings and occasional whinings.  It’s going to be a hectic schedule once again.  Wake up early.  Make quick breakfast.  Drive to work. Put on my work hat.  Work.  Pick up the kids on the way home.  Make dinner.  Or just go to my suki.  Clean up.  Do homework.  Squeeze in playtime.  Bathe the kids.  Read them story.  Tuck them to bed.  Do some chores here and there.  Call it a day.  And wake up to another day like this.  It’s not going to be easy.  But there’s gotta be little things to look forward to amidst the hustle and bustle – driving by the airport every morning (my peculiar obsession), checking out our lunch menu at work (I take it seriously),

leaving the office el punto, picking up Stefan & Struan on the way home, talking about their day, having dinner together, playing with the boys until their bed time, and more importantly spending some alone time when the boys are asleep. 

 

These I'll be looking forward to everyday.

Gone Too Soon

Dangerous is by far my favorite album of MJ, with Heal the World, Will You Be There, Remember the Time, and Black or White to boast. Who can forget the Ancient Egyptian themed video of Remember the Time with Eddie Murphy and Iman, the morphing of heads in Black or White featuring a young Tyra Banks, In the Closet with Naomi Campbell, and Jam with Michael Jordan. These videos are unforgettable. It is to me also the best stage and image of MJ - his hair, his skin, and a scandal-free "love life".

Truly memorable was watching his Dangerous concert in Taiwan in October 1996. That was sem-break in University. Ahia got us tickets and it was a no brainer to go see it. Apparently MJ got sick so his concert was postponed giving me ample time to secure my Taiwan visa, and memorize another favorite, Man in the Mirror. Ahia, Mom and me, we were within the first five rows amongst Taiwanese celebrities none of which I really knew and recognized. Who cares, the bigger celebrity is on stage up close. Dich had bought her tickets earlier on and was with friends Jena and the rest by the dance section. Nat watched it later in Manila with cousin Monique.

She's Out of My Life was played on the radio this morning. It was, at one point, my heartwrenching break-up song. Only this time it is my song for its singer. It gave me shivers. I sang along, lol.

MJ's death was like that of Princess Diana's, so sudden and so unexpected. I'm sure everyone of us has a story to tell of how this pop icon has touched our lives in so many ways through his songs, videos and persona.

This is my story.

 

What Eats My Time

I never get tired of home design, decorating, and improvement shows on TV, magazines, and the internet.  When I turn on the TV, I always first check the guide for either Divine Design, The Designer Guys, House & Home, House Hunters, Home to Stay, Love It Or List, Cityline, or …I could go on and on.  That’s to think we don’t have HGTV yet.  Every week that I’m at the public library borrowing story books for my kids, I never skip the magazine shelves.  Style at Home, House & Home, Metropolitan Homes, Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Chatelaine, Canadian Living, and Real Simple are constantly on my library card. I don’t subscribe to any because there’s tons of them that I read.  If those are still not enough, almost daily, I check www.apartmenttherapy.com, www.ohdeedoh.com, www.unplggd.com, www.re-nest.com, www.thekitchn.com -- great ideas for home. The people behind these websites are genius. They got me hook, line and sinker! 

 

I haven’t even touched parenting yet. 

 

And fashion.

 

And gossip. 

 

But as the saying goes, the time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time after all.  So why care if these things eat my time?

 

Why Women Cry

 

A little boy asked his mother, 'Why are you crying?' 'Because I'm a woman,'she told him.

'I don't understand,' he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, 'And you never will.'

 

Later the little boy asked his father, 'Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?'

 

'All women cry for no reason,' was all his dad could say.

 

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.

 

Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, 'God, why do women cry so easily?'

God said: 'When I made the woman she had to be special.

 

I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort.

 

I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.

 

I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.

 

I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.

 

I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

 

And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed.'

 

'You see my son,' said God, 'the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides.'

 

Author: unknown

 

            To Mom. My pillar of strength.

            To Auntie Marcie. My mother figure away from home.

            To Aphu. The grandma I never had.

            To my Mom-in-law. The best MIL one could ever have.

 

                      Happy Mothers Day !

Traffic Thoughts

 “ That’s not mess, Mommy. That’s traffic in the Philipines.”

           -    Stefan, of his bedside, when I asked him to tidy up his mess.

 

It’s been a week, and he has never tidied his bedside table.  He would go to his bedside, play with the cars, and make stories of who is driving each vehicle -- Uncle Beau, Auntie Sarah, Uncle Simon, Auntie Jen, etc.… he mentions them repeatedly all through out the day.

 

The first 2 days after we came back were harder on him.  He’d cry endlessly saying he misses everyone.  We would all be awake at wee hours of the morning – thanks to jetlag – and he would insist to call the Philippines and talk to his grandparents, aunts and uncles.  He’ll hug his Lightning McQueen stuffed toy tearfully and say everybody’s in the car with him.  “Oh, I miss everyone, “ he’d say with pouty lips.

 

When we ordered in food that evening when we arrived, he ran down so quickly to the door when the doorbell rang.  He asked if it was the people in the Philippines.  Disappointed, he went on to play Wii and told us that if the doorbell rings again, he’ll stop in the middle of the game to open the door for the people back home.

 

The calendar in our kitchen, which has been left at March when we came back from our trip, he said to leave as is – March – so we can go back to the Philippines all over again, go to Taiwan, then Tagaytay, Fontana,… and the same old story goes.  On second thought, he said, January and February would be fine too, as March would be after them.

 

Our vacation may be over, but we are left with good memories to recollect over and over until we make new memories again.

 

 

Basic Instinct

 

I don’t know what had prompted me, but several months back I told myself that I am going simple and basic in our everyday life.  I am striving to “basic” everything from our house, ourselves, to our kids.

 

I have recently read Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judi Levine, a copy I have borrowed from the Public Library.  It’s something I cannot do for sure – a year without shopping, but the book has inspired me in bits and pieces.

 

Since we had Struan, we go out less often on weekends like we have used to.  That means less shopping and less eating out.  Since then, it has cut down our eating-out expense by more than half.  And with less and lesser shopping, I begin to NOT feel the need for new clothes, new shoes, new gadgets, and any more new candles and candle dishes!

 

And so with groceries.  I practice not buying anything that I would still have in my pantry, fridge, or storage. I now focus on the basics like milk, eggs, bread, meat, fruits and vegetables, knowing I can whip up good meals with these basics alone.  Whereas I would be in the Filipino take-out store on a weekly basis, now I cannot even recall the last time I was there.  Canned good and frozen dinners were kept to minimum, and are only for lazy days and last minute meals.  I have to give credit to my sodium nitrate phobia, too, although that is a completely different story.

 

If it isn’t obvious yet, I am a magazine worm.  Although I have thoughtlessly bought a few copies here and there, I never subscribed, and never recently bought any.  While I go to the Public Library weekly to borrow books for my son who is quite a reader, I take the opportunity to borrow magazines for myself as well.  So I get to read current issues of all fashion, parenting, home and lifestyle magazines that I love without spending a dime.  I also do a magazine swap with Harriet regularly, magazines our families back home send us and those from our stash.

 

I have pledged to stop buying toys for my kids months back, but rather spend on what would give them experience, like sports activities, museum or zoo trips, a bus or train ride, or a mere visit at the library.  On Stefan’s birthday party last year, we didn’t give him any present, and I have asked friends not to give him too. This was the reason why.  Although they still did.  And contrary to past birthdays and Christmases where he would get sets after sets of Thomas Train and Cars, this Christmas we gave him a book.  Nevermind if it is was another Cars book.

 

I’ve been on this pledge for several months now.  Although I have fallen off the track a few times with some tempting finds here and there, we have so far spent the past many weekends doing family activities, like watching kid movies, bowling, painting, musical chairs, Playdoh, reading, and lots more.  The challenge is not easy, but I am making sure that anything I bring into the house and out of my pocket is going to gather the family together for some good quality time.

 

 

Gift Giving

                  A gift is pure when it is given

                                          from the heart to the right person

                    at the right time and at the right place,

                                          and when we expect nothing in return.

                                                                                             Bhagavad Gita

 

My shopping marathon last week inspired me to write about my Christmas shopping, or I should say, gift giving.  If it isn’t obvious yet, I love shopping - for myself, for the boys, or for others, and whether it’s grocery shopping, online shopping or plain window-shopping.  That’s a lot of “shopping”!  No pun intended. 

 

I love to give, so I take my Christmas gift-giving seriously.  There’s no particular time I start my Christmas shopping.  Throughout the year, if I see something and have a person in mind to give it to, it’s sold.  I may keep it until that person’s birthday, until Christmas, or when the person hosts a party, or I would just give it if we meet. 

 

My latest preoccupation was online shopping.  It’s where I can find interesting things that you don’t normally find in the stores. 

www.Etsy.com has anything handmade, it’s an ebay of mostly housewives who handcrafts from home.  www.Uncommongoods.com has – what else – uncommon goods.  For the engineer in me, I love the items from www.thinkgeek.com.  The only downside to online shopping is the US conversion, shipping cost, and sometimes a ridiculous import tax.

 

I am governed by the following criteria when I buy gifts:

 

Inexpensive.  When you have more than 20 on your list, you gotta keep the gifts within your budget.  Else, it will blow your pocket.  Who says nice have to be expensive?

 

   Shoehorn.  IKEA. 99 cents.

 

Eco-friendly.  In keeping with being environment-friendly, www.envirosax.com has the lightest I-am-not-a-plastic bag.  www.Chuvaness.com blogged about it.  My sis-in-law gave me one.  I liked it a lot that I bought some more online for my girlfriends and a couple more for me.  It folds to this small, I always keep 2 in my purse.

 

 

Healthy.  The Sugarfree Shoppe in Mississauga has everything sugar-free and no-sugar-added sweets, candies, chocolate, caramels, and baking.  Hard to believe huh?  It’s the best you can give to the health-conscious.

 

Branded?  I am not brand conscious with gift-giving and myself.  But if I do give branded stuff, chances are it’s something that I want, I also have or I use.  Like walk the talk. LOL.  Tupperware, Old Navy, H&M and anything from Utsuwa are a few of my favorites. 

 

Personalized.  To somebody of age, parents or grandparents, a personalized gift would be nice, like a calendar with photos of the family.  For Christmas this year I gave my grandma-in-law a personalized magnetic white board with pictures of the boys.  It’s useful for tracking her medicine intake while also looking at the greatgrandkids she seldom sees.

 

Unique.  Something that is going to be a conversation piece in a friend’s computer desk or living room is your best bet. 

Lego calendar. www.uncommongoods.com.  $9.99

 

Themed.  Although it may seem like a loot bag, a themed collection is always nice, such as an assortment of tea flavours in a nice tea box or tea set, Guylian hot chocolate and biscuit in a holiday mug, or a Japanese-themed food set.  If you want to give something for every member of the famliy, an assortment would also be nice in a giftbox. 

 

Safe.  You can’t go wrong with food items, especially for guys.  Belgian chocolates.  Mixed Nuts.  Pralines.  Who doesn’t want them?  It’s one of those things people don’t usually buy for themselves, so there you go. 

 

Presentable. If there’s Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, you can say Don’t judge a gift by it’s wrapper.  But you can judge mine.  Cos I always wrap my presents as nicely as I think my presents are.  I re-use gift bags.  I save ribbons.  I even love to curl them.  I keep nice boxes, tin cans, candle boxes, and what nots. Anything that may accessorize, I’ll put in my craftbasket.  A salvaged Christmas ornament, hollies, beads from an old bracelet, or a dismantled piece from an old windchime would certainly add flare to a plain packaging. And I have to use my Swiss Army knife to cut my wrappers sleek and straight.  That’s gotta be my OC-ness.

 

For keeps.  Most importantly, I strive to find something my recepients would love to keep or use.  For the time, money and effort I put into shopping, buying and wrapping my present, I would feel really bad if right after my presents are opened, they go straight into another gift bag and re-gifted, or buried in someone's storage, or much worse trashed.  Boohoohoo!  Most of the time you would never know, anyway. 

 

From the heart.  For all that was mentioned above.  I give from the heart.  Inexpensive or extravagant, my gifts are always well thought of and I expect nothing in return.