by rossanahead | Jun 17, 2011 | children, Education, Gina Abuyuan, parenting, woman
By Regina Abuyuan
I usually dread the mornings. I hate the feeling of drowsiness, not being able to think right because you’re just too goddamn sleepy. When I’m sleepy, I turn grouchy and uncoordinated; an ill-tempered puppet.
But it’s school time again, and while my partner D has taken the initiative to make the kids’ breakfasts and drive them to school every morning, I sometimes feel guilty that he has to do all the dirty morning work…so I gather up all my willpower to drag myself out of bed and join him and the family for “breakfast.”
We have no stay-in help, so breakfast is a no-fuss affair. No table settings, no side dishes of atchara or elaborately sliced fruit. This particular morning, it’s ham sandwiches, all piled up on a single plate. Baon is packed the night before (that I do). Sounds efficient, yes? Like everything would go by without a hitch? Not really. Either one of the twins has a hard time waking up, gets absentminded while eating his sandwich and loses it to our new Labrador puppy. Another forgets to turn off the faucet after brushing his teeth. Then the other wears his shirt the wrong way. Their older sister is getting grumpy; she’ll be late if the twins carry on like this. Eventually, it’s over. Schoolbags are piled on little shoulders. Kisses are exchanged. They’re in the car and off to school.
I sit alone at the dining table. Crumbs litter the surface; little bits of wheat bread and egg are scattered on the floor, and already I can imagine the ants’ antennae perk up, a contingent of soldier arms ready to pick up the morsels. I pick up their leftovers, put them in my mouth and chew slowly.
Amidst the mess, the whole house is quiet. Cool, not-yet-so-bright, and silent. I’m alone. For the first time in almost a week, I feel I can breathe.
At that moment, I feel like a different person. I feel no tension and anxiety, and a thought crosses: I love mornings.
Let’s see how long that’ll last.
by rossanahead | Jun 14, 2011 | career, children, family, Karen Galarpe, parenting, woman
By Karen Galarpe
About a year ago, I was trying to schedule a lunch date with two of my classmates back in high school. We were all working for the same company, and I figured we should have a mini-reunion right in our neck of the woods.
It should have been easy to set a date then, I thought, but it proved otherwise. MG had to pick up her daughter from a tutorial center and bring her home, right around her lunch break. MC had to make a run to her sons’ school to pick them up and bring them home, before returning to work. Every day.
Finally, we found a common free lunch hour (after weeks of scheduling). After talking about high school and work, we got to talk about our lives as career moms.
True, it may be difficult, but bringing our kids to and from school is a joy in itself, we agreed. The extra time to bond with our kids is priceless as we get to talk about the serious and not so serious stuff while on the road.
We hear it first from our kids what happened in school, what project they need to do, and what they did with their friends.
We learn more about their world at the exact time they feel like talking about their day. More often than not, they’re kinda tired by the time we get home from work that they’re not in the mood for much talk.
I know not many moms have the privilege of driving their kids to and from school every day, but should you have the chance, take it. Kids grow up fast; make time to be with them.
by rossanahead | Jun 11, 2011 | career, children, family, Mari-an Santos, woman
By Mari-An Santos
Whenever I go to Hong Kong, it feels so familiar. On the MRT and at the stores, I inevitably encounter a fellow Filipino. It could be the bakeshop attendant, the security guard, or the countless au pairs taking their wards home. A lot of them, recognizing a countryman, will ask, “When did you arrive?” It felt good to be acknowledged.
I am struck by how much my fellow countrymen have to sacrifice in order to provide for their families back home. On Sundays, they congregate at the Central District, where they lay out mats and have picnics with their friends. They spend the entire day catching up with each other’s lives as well as those of their loved ones back home.
One particular scene has stayed with me all these years. After Sunday Mass, a group of women huddled around one, who was distributing all sorts of goodies to her friends. I gathered that she had just arrived from the Philippines. One of her friends started looking at the pictures in a digital camera. She was showing her friends her children, exclaiming, “Oh, how he’s grown!” “Look at what she is wearing!” I was moved to tears. Here was a mother who was taking care of a child not her own while her children were growing up without her.
Walking through the groups, it was as if they were at Luneta Park on a Sunday. Some were getting a haircut, some pedicures, others were reading gossip magazines, others sharing recipes. Whether Ilocano, Tagalog, or Bisaya, their collective chatter made a cheerful sound.
We have given them the generous monicker “Bagong Bayani.” But I suspect that given a chance, they would rather be fathers and mothers to their own children, and husbands and wives to their spouses than rays of hope to an entire country from across the sea.
by rossanahead | Jun 9, 2011 | woman
By Jane Santos Guinto
Serendipity is my second favorite word.
It’s a big word for such a simple idea—happy accidents. I came to embrace it after watching the 2001 movie in which John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale’s characters find and re-find each other through beautifully spontaneous and frustratingly romantic accidents.
Each ‘real-life’ day can either be a series of harassing hassles or a bunch of serene serendipities. Driving in Metro Manila’s horrendous traffic, for instance, can either be perpetual hardship or just prolonged lessons on semi-devilishly defensive uniquely Pinoy driving. For those who are religious (a.k.a. spiritual), you can use the agonizing commute as extra prayer time.
To help me see events as happy accidents instead of coincidental curses, I borrow the words of a wise believer:
Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
—Reinhold Niebuhr
May life be a series of satisfying, soulful serendipities for us all!
by rossanahead | Jun 7, 2011 | children, family, parenting, Ruth M. Floresca, woman
By Ruth Manimtim-Floresca
It was humid last night and my skin felt sticky. Hubby opted to spread a mattress on the living room floor to escape the heat from our bedroom. As I remained in bed to keep an eye on our child with special needs, who was watching TV, my youngest son jumped on the bed and snuggled against me.
“It’s hot anak, we’re both going to sweat more if you hug me like that,” I admonished.
My 12-year-old, the one who’s the smartest aleck of all my sons, didn’t let go. Instead, he softly replied, “You know Mom, when I’m all grown up and working in a faraway place, you won’t get as many chances to have me by your side. By then, we’ll just get to talk and see each other on Skype.” So much for guilt trips; I was the one who got hit, hard.
“Fine,” I said grudgingly, suppressing a smile. When I tried to move a little and get more comfortable, my not-so-little boy tightened his hold and whispered in a singsong voice, “Chance.”
As we watched TV, I said a silent prayer of thanks for having such a sweet boy who has this ability to utter retorts that sound way beyond his years.
Five minutes or so later, my son got up. I guess he also realized he can’t stand the heat. “What about the chance?!” I protested. He smiled his mischievous smile and said, “It will come again tomorrow night.”
Every day, I am constantly amazed at what my kids are capable of, in a good way. I just hope that I remain observant of those precious moments especially the ones that pass by only once. Happily, I got one of those chances last night.
