The
last time I took the bus home, it was for an awfully painful reason. This Christmas I was actually dreading to take that bus ride again. Not only because of the hassles of traveling alone with a toddler (especially at this time of year) but because our home will never be the same again, now that my father is gone.
I guess my mother thinks so too and decided she’d come here instead to join me (and Raine) for the holidays. She arrived last Sunday and since then I am gleefully waking up to garlic rice for breakfast (hurray…somebody is cooking breakfast at last!) and Raine has suddenly forgotten how to spoon the food into his mouth (these days, lola has to feed him!)
Like the many occasions most of us had to be here in LB, we all like to think and feel that Papa is just at home because somebody has to be left behind to take care of the pigs, the chickens and the dogs and cats (his usual excuse anyway). So this Christmas we’ll all be with my uncles (pa’s brothers) in Cavite.
How do you encourage a woman (your own mother) who just lost a dear husband? I honestly have no idea, I just know that I have to be there and cry with her. Cry is what we all do anyway, whenever we sit down and talk. I’m just glad that Raine is there to always put a smile on Mama’s face. So in the last couple of days I’ve been taking the back seat and letting her have Raine all to herself.
Saturday I attended a wedding: one of the few times I attended a social event without Raine. It was nice to be able to “dress up” once more; even the heavy downpour of rain can’t dampen.
It was kind of liberating to catch up on old (and new members) of the flock (without a rowdy toddler in tow). I’ve always been longing for opportunities to “get out” and have fun with friends but the moment I do, I end up missing Raine every single minute and wished I brought him with me; especially if people around me keep asking about him and why he wasn’t with me. I guess I spent three-fourths of the time talking about Raine instead!
Well, I may be a different person now, but some things never change: I still cry at weddings. 
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dun sa tumatawag sa dis-oras ng gabi: it’s not that i’m intentionally not picking up your call…but if you really wanna catch me and talk…agahan mo ang tawag baka sakaling gising pa ako (!!) 
The AW server has been down for 3 days now. Huge apologies to those who has bookmarked The Philippine Culture Blog. Next week (hopefully before Christmas) it’ll be up and running again.
Meanwhile I was able to write 2 entries at emothersonline, another one on single parenthood (what else?!…he he…) and our unusual dining habits.
Please check it out. :))
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‘dun sa nagpa-pa-ring ng phone ko sa dis-oras ng gabi at madaling-araw…you know it would take more than that to get to me or even raine, not even in the “spirit of christmas”.
sa mga balak magbigay ng pamasko kay Raine…perahin niyo na lang! he he he ;–)
Red, gold and green are the colors of Christmas, while everything else fades dim into the background: like the new color theme of this blog. He he 
Not really being scrooge, i skipped attending our office (division) Christmas party this afternoon. First time in 8 years that I don’t feel like partying int he office this time of the year. I don’t know, for some reason my heart is just not into it. Maybe it is my father’s recent death or something else I can’t pinpoint. I tried going to the department store last night (with Raine) in my attempt to do some small Christmas shopping but only ended up with Raine getting another toy truck. The store was too crowded, it was just impossible to shop peacefully. Maybe I’ll just take one afternoon off real soon (before my mother arrives for Christmas!), i like to check out the shops at the time of day when everyone else is buried in their offices or having siestas at home.
Our diaper challenge wasn’t even replicable. I was shooting at the moon! So I guess I’ll wait five more years before Raine learns not to wet his bed. Meanwhile I hope to blog some more to buy tons of diapers. He he. :))
Read my new post at EMothersOnline and my article published at The Parenting Weblog via the Creative Reporter.
Earlier this year, I mentioned that Raine is
partly toilet trained. He has progressed more in that department since then. I could actually take him with me (to the grocery and somewhere else) without having him wear a diaper. He’s still terrified of sitting on the potty though (much more the toilet) but he at least informs you clearly if he’s about to poop.
Last night, we ran out of stock of diapers. Too lazy to run to the nearest store, I talked Raine into sleeping with just his pajamas on (sans the diaper). He took a leak (at the toilet!) a couple of times before going to bed and I reminded him firmly not to wet his bed and to get up and wake me up if he needs to pee in the middle of the night. As contingency, I inserted a rubber mat under the sheet on his side of the bed and placed an extra folded sheet on top of it. It was like our mantra before we went to sleep: “huwag mag-wiwi sa bed, sa cr lang. gisingin si mommy pag wi-wiwi. Ganun ha? ok mommy, ganun. ok Raine, usapan yan ha?”
Like me Raine sleeps like a log, so I really didn’t expect that he’ll have the will to get up on unholy hours in the night even for a pee. So I actually spent the whole night sleeping lightly, checking every hour or so for a wet bed. To my surprise. It didn’t happen, Raine did well. For the first time he spent the night without diapers, without wetting his bed. Hooray! He was just a little grumpy when he got up this morning at around 6:30, I needed to carry him to the toilet to pee, and he peed a lot!
I’ve been slack with Raine’s toilet training. Doing it actually poses more challenge to me that it is for Raine. Letting your toddler wear a diaper all the time is just too convenient (even if it hurts your budget sometimes), way too convenient I may even let him wear it ’til he’s five or so. (I know, I’m such a lazy mom!)
Anyway, last night was a first for the two of us, it’s definitely
something new that Raine accomplished with flying colors. One thing that I want to do each night after that. Wish us luck!
When I applied to be a
blogger at About Weblogs, I originally suggested single parenting as a topic. But then it’s a topic too competitive and broad, prolifically existent in the web.
Shai convinced me that I can do a philippine culture blog, with the aim of showcasing the Philippines not for the purpose of traveling but to reflect the Filipino way of life, not only to Filipinos but especially to non-Filipinos who would be interested. When
Mabuhay!: The Philippine Culture Blog went live in August, then being the first Filipina (aboard the network) based in the Philippines (now there’s another one,
Connie of the Online Journalism Blog) I already had sure readers from the network itself with 6 other Filipinas based in several parts of the world (U.S, Germany, Australia, New Zealand). Time flies when you’re blogging, I’ve recently published my
100th post!
Then the girls of About Weblogs brainstormed on the concept of Alpha Moms Worldwide that hoped to gather mothers from different walks of life without being competitive about each other’s varying states and ways of motherhood but would instead encourage and empower one another irregardless of one’s demography, cultural background or financial and marital status. That very concept gave gave birth to EMothersOnline.
This got me all dreamy. If blogging can already sustain us for a living, maybe I’d quit this day job (that I both hate and love) and do more blogs in agriculture or chemistry and maybe even entertainment. Let’s just wait and see, who knows? Nothing is impossible, right?