The Journey. It’s Mine. [My personal take on love, life, parenting and blogging.]

During the summer season I was commuting from the barrio to the city on a daily basis in order to work online. On the average, I was just working 8 am to 2 pm days, with the hope of accomplishing more during school days. It’s been two weeks now that classes are going on and my days have gone really crazy.

I have already mentioned that a cousin is staying with us here in the city to help me with chores and with sometimes with Raine. However, he is also a college student (whom I am sort of helping out financially) and unlike last semester, he’s got a crazy class schedule this time.

Therefore I am mostly alone here… favorable to the fact that I need some peace and quiet while working. However, a disadvantage at times because - like any parent with school kids - my mornings can get really hectic. And so I have recently been starting my day at 4 am just to get a head start on stuff.

However, after a few days of waking up too early…it has taken a toll on me…that by Wednesday I am already snoozing during the 7 pm news, leaving Raine to close-up the house, practically. It’s good to sleep early right? It’s just that when I sleep too early in the evenings, I’ll be up and about by midnight.

So instead of staring in the ceiling and tossing and turning in bed, I’ll be working instead. And you know how that goes…I’ll be online through dawn! Worse, I just have to be up by 6 am to take care of my school kid. You get the picture… Ill be a zombie the whole day!

These days, I am busy blogging not just about weight loss products but also about practically any topic under the sun. I just have no choice, there’s a need to be a ‘general expert’.

On the other hand, there’s 3 more weeks of Raine’s summer class. So he comes with me to the city on a daily basis for his half hour in school. The downside is that, I need to get up at 5 am again. Summer is supposed to be vacation time right? Anyways…3 more weeks and we’re off to a real vacation. I can’t wait.

Yesterday…it was the principal herself who brought Raine to the clinic after the eye-poking incident.

This morning, some moms told me that the principal already talked to the bully’s mom. However, she twisted the story when she came out and said that it was her son’s eyes poked by Raine.

What?!

Raine ended up in the clinic. He’s got red, swollen eyes and scratches around her eyes. (It was not just a piece of crayon used in poking, but the bully’s whole hand, by the way.)

Now the bully’s mom has twisted the story upside down. Maybe to save face in front of the other moms? Gosh, what kind of person is that?

I haven’t been able to talk to her yet because she has disappeared on me. I texted her a couple of times yesterday, but I didn’t get any reply. Maybe avoiding a confrontation with me? Well then, they (mother + bully son) already smell guilty.

(You know…I’m such a bad mom…sa awa ko kay Raine at sa galit ko dun sa bully…I told him to punch the bully in the face really hard, the next time around. To put a stop to the bullying once and for all. Then I told him not to be afraid, take care of himself and take care of the situation. Whatever he can’t take care of? I’ll take over.)

The class bully picked on Raine again.

At lunch break, Raine didn’t come out of the gate on time…so I went inside to his classroom. I was told that the principal brought Raine to the school clinic. When he arrived and I saw him for the first time, his right eye was swollen and red. Both eyes have red scratches around. The bully threw crayons at Raine’s face and hit the eyes. That’s what I’ve been told.

WTF?!

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First time ever I saw your face

I wish Raine will do that in the future…

…I’d be standing up the whole time.

Finally i have a group of moms in Raine’s school. After lunch time today, I hanged out with them for an-hour-and-a-half.

You know…just talking about life and parenting in general. Almost 3 months later and I finally belong.

It’s good hanging out with other moms. For one, you’ll finally find out that you are not alone. Today I found out that there are other kids worse than Raine. I mean mas malikot at makulit. Mahirap gisingin sa umaga. Maarte sa ulam, etc, etc.

I feel so relieved!

Besides, I need to hang out with others aged waaayyy over 6 (or 7).

Whatdoyouthink?

…and Raine is moving in slow mo.

I’ve been up since 505 am (i slept around 120 am)!

5 more articles to go and I’m done.

That’s probably going to be a new television set or an aircon. (I’m leaning towards the aircon while Raine wants the TV)

Starting at 1130 this morning, brownout na sa barrio. A few minutes before 1 pm, I’m back here in the house in the city. I need to work. Then I got distracted browsing my FB friends’ photos!

I thought I’d blog first. My problogs are down.

What’s with today?? Mu-mu ni Ninoy?! He he he.

Right now? I gotta go home. Mommy duty calls!

Unlike our Monday morning…this morning was a lot better.  A lot better that i need not file for a social security disability. He he.

Raine got up before 630 am. He went ahead to bathe himself and then finished his milk and cereals.

Marunong namang maligo at magbihis yan mag-isa. It’s just that when we are pressed for time, I do it all for him so that we’ll make it to school on time. Besides…I keep telling him to get up before 630 am so that I don’t have to rush him. He hates it when I rush him. Lalo syang bumabagal.

Anyways…I hope daily is like this morning. So that I won’t be too tired at the start of the day.

Mornings like today…I want to go on orlando vacations for like…forever!

First he didn’t want to get up.

Then, he wanted to wear the converse shoes to school!

But it can’t be because it has to be black shoes with the uniform Mondays through Thurdays.

He can on Friday though because that’s P.E. day.

He threatened he won’t go to school if I don’t let him wear the converse.

Huh?! Alangan naman…sya ang masunod!

Syempre ako. We left the house at 655. I walked him to school.

No more arguments! Period.

Time flies pag pasaway ang anak mo the whole week. Now it is almost Friday and I’m cramming with my blog commitments. Now is the third night that I’ve been sleeping late. Since my Smart Bro was installed on Tuesday, I just can’t get away from the PC. I’ve been doing stuff I wasn’t able to do then. You know…like watching YouTube videos and live streaming. I really enjoyed it that I forgot I gotta blog some more in my problogs! Ha ha ha.

I’ve just been relaxing  at night because Raine was just too much to handle this week. If he keeps on going like he did this week…I’d be needing the best wrinkle creams before next month arrives.

At least we go home Friday afternoon and will just sleep (and eat!) this weekend. I can’t wait!

Cory was a very prayerful woman. Maybe that’s the reason why she had always forgiven Kris with all the mess she was involved in.

As a mother myself, I need to learn a lot from Tita Cory. Most especially patience and forgiveness. I can forgive my son alright but it is forgiving other people that I find hard to do. Okay, but if Kris was my daughter and she went into that lovelife mess in showbiz? Nungkang i-forgive ko sya! Ha ha ha!!

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It happened again — I snapped at Raine during lunchtime at school today.

Why?

He’s being choosy about his food. Again.

He can’t eat well coz he just wants to play. Again.

He can’t sit even for a straight minute. Again!

Other moms were looking at me (at us!). I don’t care. Having other people around doesn’t mean Raine can get away with anything. Being in public - to me - isn’t an excuse not to impose discipline on a child.

I insisted he finish his food. He did.

I insisted he sit down and do their learning task. He did. Eventually.

But it wasn’t that easy. It is always not easy. I always have to put an iron hand forward. Else he’s going to abuse me!

He finally settled down and then some of his classmates came up to me. Kesyo hinampas daw sya ni Raine, naitulak daw sya ni Raine, etc.  Then I got angry at Raine again!

Then I saw the back of his white polo. It is splattered with mud.  I asked him what happened. He said the other big kid (one of those na nagsumbong sa akin!) stomped on a platter of rainwater while he was running! Arrgghhh…kids!

Tonight we’re going to have some lenghty conversations. Mother to son.

See? I told you…I don’t need a Kettlebell these days! Hayyy

I’m typing this entry in our new home in the city. Maybe in the coming week…i will have broadband installed. I’m still using my phone to get online. At least there’s a full signal here so my connection is still okay.

We were supposedly to move after lunch today. But the tricyle I asked to bring us  was only available  in the morning. We got up at around 730 am only to find out that my mother already arranged that we hit the road by 9 am. So it was a whirlwind packing! I did not even take a bath the whole of Saturday because I wasn’t done relaxing yet. He he he.

Anyways… just allow me to let the following photos speak as to how this day went for us:

Ready to go at a little past 9 this morning.

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Well…when i found that I was having a boy, I admit I was too happy. I’ve always wanted a boy for a firstborn. Why? Because I never had a kuya and I felt it is better that boys are the panganays. So they’ll be more responsible. Especially if younger siblings are girls. You’ll learn early on that girls should be take cared of.Many people might disagree.

But you see I am the edest and I’ve got 3 brothers. Because I am too dependable an Ate, they became sissys! (read: not very responsible!).Would have been a different story if they were the eldest. Sila unang mag-aral apra makapag-aral naman ako.

Given such a responsibility that big, failing isn’t an option.Going back to having a son.Imagine my glee when I found out that I’m having Raine? I was really over the moon! I’ve always been in love with a guy who treats his mother well (mama’s boy has a diferent definition in my book) and who is not squeamish with doing the house chores.

You know….somebody who takes charge and is uber responsible and dependable. Somebody who respects women (because he’s got a mom and and sisters). Somebody who doesn’t take bcbsnc literally.

I want Raine to grow up as one. This early, I’m traning him to help me with the grocery bags. I let him carry the weight he can carry. He sweeps our floor regularly — something I didn’t do when I was 6. He religiously puts his dirty clothes in the laundry basket. Little things like that. He can take a bath by himself, di nga lang makahugas ng puwet nya pag nag-poop.

I was already in grade 4 when I learned how to take a bath by myself!

In the photo above, I left Raine guarding our grocery bags while I went to the Mercury drugstore across the road. I found him with that facial expression! Ha ha.

Well…with my son Raine, I have a bodyguard and luggage porter in one paglaki nya ;) Hehehe.

Raine almost didn’t get up this morning. Me too. The 430 alarm already went off 3X and I still keep putting it on snooze. Raine on the other hand, finally got up at 545. I had to carry him from the bed to the kitchen table. By this time, tapos na ako maligo.

He is so heavy already! I almost couldn’t walk. Anyways, lambing lang the carrying part. So he’d get out of bed. That trick worked this morning. So it was all good.

It’s Friday and I understand that all the tiredness of the week have accumulated. I understand when poeple are late on Fridays. Could be also that they partied early (Thursday night).

Anyways…I haven’t had a day job for 3 years now. So that Fridays aren’t that special anymore. But now that Raine goes to school, we both are looking forward to Fridays and the weekend ahead.

If we were still in LB, today is Laguna day. Holiday. Walang Pasok. Birthday ni Jose Rizal.

Just great!

Not that I forgot…Raine and I have been greeting Lola Happy Mothers’ Day since Saturday night. With matching hugs and kisses from Raine.

I was still asleep on Sunday morning when the txts keep coming in my cellphone.  Everyone, greeting me HMD! Thanks everyone, just in case I forgot to reply.

Another important day was last Saturday — would have been Papa’s 63rd birthday. Nagluto kami ni Mama, and we just celebrated quietly within the family.

Belated happy mothers’ day to all you moms out there!

I think I made a mistake by putting Raine in a Montessori Pre-school. In the said school the child decides what he wants to do or learn. The teachers will not force you to learn how to read or add if that’s not what you want to do for the day. For somebody like Raine who prefers play than a serious lesson if he can get away with it, it is no wonder that he is behind in reading compared to his other classmates.

I can’t remember when I learned to read. I must already be in grade 1!  So I thought Raine is still doing good. Besides, it is really more play in pre-school. So I thought.

Raine’s been going to pre-school since he was 2-and-a-half. That first time we didn’t even last a week. It was just a desperate move on my part, that was the time I was in-between yayas. The next time, he was 3-and-a-half and he lasted four months this time at Gubat Montessori. When typhoon Milenyo struck, Raine wouldn’t budge, nobody could convince him to go to back to school.

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Raine is always saying he is getting ‘tired’ of going to school. It horrifies me whenever he says that. How can he be tired of going to school? He isn’t even in first grade yet! I was already in first grade when i turned six and as my mother is always saying, I was reading non-stop.

I know it is horrible to compare myself to Raine, there are just too much distraction these days. Besides, each child is different. And it is also true that he has been going to school/day care since he was two-and-a-half. His exams in school have deteriorated. Well…except the science part. I can’t help but be worried that he is showing signs of burn out and worse, disinterest with school stuff.

What to do? Now I am hesitating to send him to summer school as a bridge before first grade. Maybe I should just let him play all summer vacation? But then I am afraid he’d get too much play and not be focused when school starts in June.

Sa isang mailing list ko, may discussion tungkol sa Reproductive Health Bill or House Bill 5043. My stand? Don’t kill it. As what the catholic church and it’s groups are doing.

Andito sa baba all my comments on this matter:

Comment 1: sasabihin ko sana don’t kill this bill. dahil baka batuhin ako ng kamatis dito. pero i’ll say it anyway, don’t kill this bill. baka eto na ang maging way ng totoong pagunlad sa pilipinas. ano ba ang ang picture ng pamilyang pilipino? di ba yung sampu ang anak at 50 pesos ang kita sa isang araw? think twice before killing this bill.

Comment 2: i think it all boils down to the use of artificial contraceptives. na noon pa kinokontra ng simbahan. pero scientifically speaking, hindi naman talaga effective ang natural method. besides, it doesn’t work for everyone dahil iba iba naman ang katawan ng babae. masyadong backward na ang pilipinas tuloy sa usaping yan. i’m still against abortion. kaya nga merong prevention eh, at dyan pumapasok ang artificial contraceptives. educate the people and make contraceptives available to them. that is what this bill is all about i guess. subukan natin, baka ito’y isang daan na sa pag unlad. at yung mga sampu na ang anak dapat na sigurong i-ligate na sila ano? kung ako ang masusunod dapat maging mandatory yan, somehow!

Comment 3 : [insert name here], i was exagerrating. yan ay kung walang demokrasya sa pilipinas. sa tingin ko kasi the way things are now in the philippines, may mga bagay na kelangang maging mandatory. katulad ng bakit pa kelangan isangguni kay mister ang ligation ni misis kung ito naman ay isang lasenggong bum at wala nang ginawa kundi anakan si misis. dapat siguro sya ang i-vasectomy against his will? mga ganyan. but i guess that’s beside the point of discussion here.

nicely put [insert name here]. magandang family planning method magpalaki ka kaya ng bata. palibhasa wala namang anak ang mga pari. at di nila alam papano ang hirap to rear one’s child. lalo na sa panahong ito na mas magastos pa sa isang adult ang isang bata. kelan ba matatapos ang gastos, pag tapos na sya sa college? iisa lang ang anak ko, hirap pa din. papano ba kung sampu na sila at 50 pesos lang kita ni mister sa isang araw. di ba kahindik hindik?! sa aking opinion di lang kahindikhindik karimarimarim pa. papano mo bubuhayin at pag-aralin lahat ang mga yan, lalo na sa lagay ng gobyerno ngayon na palala naman ng palala.

i believe in the freedom of choice as well. educate the people and let them choose kung ano ang gusto nila. eh di ipasa ang bill na ito at hayaan pumili ang mamamayan what will work for them. besides, natural family planning method doesn’t really work for all. para bang sa analogy na, kung sundalo ka pala at katoliko ka, di ka puedeng gumamit ng baril sa giyera dahil kasalanan ang pumatay? nag sundalo ka pa. hindi baga>

di ko pa rin nababasa ang mga uploaded files ni [insert name here]. pero ngayon pa lang obvious naman na agree ako sa reproductive health bill na ito. it may be flawed like [insert name here] pointed out in the other thread, but i think it is worth giving it a chance.

yun lang po. bow!

Maganda yung nakasulat sa papel [full-text-of-repro-health-bill.doc]. Sana lang yung implementation ay walang halong kurakot.

Here in the Philippines it is almost sembreak. College kids in Manila going home to their provinces need money to go home. How long does the sembreak last, a month? While it means vacation time to the students. It hopefully is vacation time from the expenses from the parents’ perspective. But it’s NOT. Since they’re all home, you feed them more, right?

Then before you know it, the next semester is here and that means they need money again for enrollment and fare. Sometimes looking for online car insurance quotes are way easier than raising kids and sending them to school.

Our two college boys come home everyday and the daily grind of expenses is just way too much. I hope I can breathe this sembreak (even the one in prep - Raine- is going on a break). I mean breathe from the expenses! But maybe not.

This is the one other person that truly makes me happy but makes me cry as well.

Taken today in his sporty/casual Friday get-up:

Today’s motiff is in Raine’s favorite color: GREEN.

Hmmm…hindi mukhang nagpapasaway! He he.

How long should a kid sleep with his parent(s)? I hope not too long, as Raine and I are still co-sleeping. I remember when it was just me and the oldest of my 3 brothers, we used to sleep with our parents until when I was 10 and was moved to my own bed. My brother stayed there ’til he was 14, the twins had to be born before he would budge. He he. He’d kill me if he is reading this now.

He was such the baby that’s all but he eventually turned out to be an an independent, responsible man. I’m just a little scared that if Raine sleeps with me any longer he’ll be such a baby baby when he grows up. But then he’s just barely six and isn’t budging on my left side of the bed even if i am sort of ‘kicking’ him out already. Go…sleep on your own, we have a small old bed, you can start sleeping there Raine. AYAW. There are nights he ended up sleeping with lola though.

Well, it has been a long time since I worried only about crib bedding regarding our sleeping patterns/habits. Believe me, that is a lot easier than ‘weaning’ Raine now of sleeping with me.

Raine’s turning 6 on Dec 29, which makes him 6.5 years only by the time the next school year opens in June. We are hoping Raine’s going to get admitted in grade 1 when June 2009 comes.

Yesterday, he came home with his ‘mid-term exam’ paper: only 1 mistake. When I taught that he’s not going to get half of it the way that Raine seems not too serious with school work. But then who am I kidding, he’s not even 6 yet. He’s supposed to be having more fun.

Wow look at the time, my boy’s going to first grade soon. If I will put each moment in picture frames, may division na ang bahay namin!

Hala, mag pasko pala muna. Ang apurado ko naman! Ha ha.

If there is one thing that I didn’t get to buy Raine when he was a baby was a baby stroller. For practical reasons. First I couldn’t buy one. Second, it was more convenient then to just carry Raine in my chest, in one of those baby straps. Gosh, my baby stuff terminologies have gotten rusty! He he.

Anyways, I might have relayed the story at some point here that I shopped the old fashioned way with a couple of my friends when I was six months pregnant. Had I been too net savvy then and had the resources, I would have just shopped online for baby stuff. But then shipping to the Phils. would have been too costly.

Speaking of baby strollers and shopping online, a Maclaren stroller is something I would have considered. Light weight, portable, stretchable legs, with carry handle, foot-operated pedal breaks, with water-proof hood, washable seats are among the many characteristics I would have weighed in, should I care for a branded one.

Durability is one too…you know, something like your 2nd or 3rd kid can still use.