Monday, May 31, 2010

julla onstage

and so the much anticipated (by me and hubby) ballet recital was held last friday.  it was actually great.  all the money and effort of the last eight weeks, especially by hubby, were all worth it as we saw our little julla strutting her stuff onstage.  she didn't miss a cue, her confidence level was at a maximum and her pride in herself was overwhelming.  it was definitely HER moment.

yes, i am again, one proud mommah!

Monday, May 24, 2010

the fifth

DISCLAIMER WARNING:  
IF YOU ARE ANNOYED BY PARENTS WHO TALK ABOUT NOTHING BUT HOW GREAT THEIR KIDS ARE, STOP READING HERE AND MOVE ON TO DO BETTER THINGS WITH YOUR TIME BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BRAG ALL I WANT.  THIS IS MY BLOG AFTER ALL AND NO ONE'S FORCING YOU TO READ IT.

 

hindi ko na ipagkakaila.  my gad, ang galing ng anak ko!

the 1st proof
he got his 5th gold yesterday in tkd. we were back at the bulacan sports gymnasium where he won his 2nd gold last november.  he was all fired up early in the morning and we knew he had set his mind on only one thing.

the 2nd proof
while waiting on the bleachers for his fight, daddy efren, one of the trainors was talking to some newbie parents (read:  parents of white belts who are first time attendees of a tkd competition).  he was sort of telling them on how to motivate their kids during fights.  how some kids may be afraid to fight but will have to face up to their fears and all that.  then he told them, abangan nyo yung anak nito (pointing to little me sitting beside him), yung si migo, tapos si clarence tsaka si miggy.  further, in a different conversation with another set of parents, he told them that too and added, sila ang pambato natin sa novice.  that said, i will now rest assured that i'm not praising my kid just because he's my kid. 

the 3rd proof
still on the bleachers, his coach was wandering around and when he saw me, he came over and asked, si idol?  (that's what he calls migo eversince he got him under his wing.)  i pointed to migo 3 seats away, playing with his psp.  he half-grinned saying, ok yang warm up mo ah, baka ma-injure daliri mo nyan.  he's always confident about migo's performance like that. 

the 4th proof
i have yet to figure out how to embed the youtube video here.  so i just put this link.  see for yourself by clicking here.

the fifth
for his past several tournaments, i got into the habit of cheering him, wrecklessly screaming my lungs out while he's on the court.  i would usually watch at the sidelines with his teammates and without a care about other people, our usual cheer goes GO MIGO!!  i asked him if it embarasses him and if he wanted me to stop doing that.  he said he actually likes it.  this morning as i was about to leave for work, i kissed him goodbye and told him bye-bye champion.  he kissed me back and replied, bye-bye my number one fan.


it's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

ang upo, bow!

no, this aint an upo

the other night, julla requested for the vegetable UPO for dinner.  recently, she's been sort of reprimanded by grandparents from both my side and hubby's side about her not knowing how to say PO and OPO.  which i suppose led them to the usual expression of old people, kumain ka nga ng upo para matuto ka mag- po at opo.  i guess this stuck to her, thus the request.

unfortunately, we only had sayote that night.  at the dinner table, i put 2 spoonfuls of sauteed diced sayote with squid and baby corn on her plate.  she looked gleefully at it and started eating.  midway through dinner, she announced, hmm..ang sarap ng upo!  lasang sayote!  hubby and i giggled, realizing that all along she thought she was eating upo.  hubby, not wanting to deceive her, told her, sayote nga yan

she looked at us in disbelief, hurt written all over her face as if the world came crashing down on her.  tears filled her eyes and i knew she was about to bawl.  immediately, i took it back, told her that dad was just kidding her and that she was really eating upo.  she stopped  midway through her frown and composed herself.   she looked at us with a blank expression on her face.  then she picked up her fork and stuck it in the "upo" and popped it into her mouth.

all was well.  thank you po!


Monday, May 17, 2010

a lesson in defeat


victory is sweetest when you've known defeat. - malcolm forbes

migo brought home a bronze medal yesterday from another tkd tournament.  he should be happy.  out of 12 tournaments that he has participated in, he already won 3 bronzes, 2 silvers and 4 golds.  that's all in the past 13 months that he's been into the sport.  that's more than anyone who started the same time as he.  and at his young age of 7, that should be a feat.

but as soon as the referee raised his hand indicating the win of his opponent, migo's eyes welled up in tears as he headed out of the court, towards my outstretched arms.  he cried and cried for a good ten minutes, i think.  me and his dad and his coach and his tito benedict, together with his teammates comforted him, patted him on the back, gave him words of encouragement and did everything we could to console him.  you still got a bronze, anak!  don't cry!

it wasn't really a fair fight if you look at it.  but who said life, or this sport, is fair, right?  he won his first 2 fights for the day and we were already looking forward to the finals.  then we found out that he needed to win a semi-finals round with a group 2 opponent.  (migo is in group 1.  group 1's height is 120-128cm.  group 2's height is 128-136cm.)  i became a little anxious but knowing my migo, that he is never  fazed by any size opponent, i relaxed a bit and waited for his call.  it turned out the kid matched to him was about 5-6cm taller, 3 years older and although was a yellow belt, had been training years before migo even started.  but migo put up a good fight, with a 5-8 final score, with some points by  migo not counted.  i have the video!  i can prove they didn't count at least 3 points in round 1!  to me, it was a tied match but then again, that's me, i'm his mom.

in the end, it was a lesson learned, not only for migo but for me and hubby as well.  that we cannot always win.  that at some point in life, we will lose.  that losing doesn't make us any less, but makes us better people.  that we now know how those we defeated before felt.  that it's okay.  that life moves on.  and that there are more things to be thankful for.  that prayers sometimes go unanswered because God must have another thing planned out for us.  that a bronze is better than none. 

my migo became a matured athlete yesterday.  i'm still a mighty proud mom.


"Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere."
                                                                                               -Barack Obama

 

Sunday, May 09, 2010

mother's day

happy mother's day to all the moms!  this is our day so let's all enjoy it.  no worries!

there it is.  three generations.  my mom, me and my daughter.

one thing that has always stuck with me are these few words my mom told me when i was in my teens.  she said this about herself:  i'm not perfect but i strive to be one.  there have been lots of times after that, that i knew she was the most imperfect person but she did try her best to do what is right in every situation she and our family were in.  to this day, she still wants only what is best for our family.

i am not perfect as well.  too imperfect in fact.  and now i live by those words my mom had said many many years ago.  i only pray that someday, my children will love me back the way i do my mom.  and more.

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Julla@Work


the little girl striking a pose at my desk at work

i brought julla to work today.  migo had badminton at 7:30 in the morning and would be going to taekwondo practice at 6:00 in the evening.  i figured the poor girl had no activity for the day so i decided to bring her along.  besides, the new nanny is still -- what... new, so i don't want to leave her alone with her yet.  yes, inang yaya mode it is.



with tita nem

we ordered mcdonald's for lunch.  around 2pm, i was with a supplier downstairs when she decided to ask her tita nem for milk and later on fell asleep on her lap.  i was kinda surprised coz she usually never sleeps without me around, lest of all, new people around.

we left the office at 3pm. when we got home, migo hugged us both and whispered, sa susunod ako naman sama mo sa office ha.  i gladly said yes.  i love that they love being with me, wherever i go.

Saturday, May 01, 2010

nanny diaries

we're losing the nanny tomorrow.  officially.

a couple of weeks ago, she announced that she wanted to go back home in tacloban to finish her studies.  might i mention that i have been proud to have her eversince she arrived.  she's an intelligent girl for she was once a scholar, i think in chemical engineering but she quit school. according to her, the money she gets from her scholarship was extorted by her father so it made her lose interest in studying.  that was why she decided to work.

i vividly recall her first few days at our house.  we were in the room and she timidly asked me if she could read my books.  i had dozens of books.  i said sure as long as she returned them exactly where she got them from the shelves.  hubby, who heard this, suggested to her to read the harry potter series which i had only until book 4.  to which, she replied that she had already read those that i had and if i had the next books?  which sent hubby tumbling over.  then she told us if she could read the hardbound shakespeare.  hubby double tumbled.

i could share many anecdotes about her.  she's not funny but she usually makes me laugh in disbelief at the things she says or does that i believe normal nannies or househelps don't say or do.

last december, our helpers from the store told hubby and me that she was not treating little julla well.  we had to confront her and she explained that yes, sometimes, she pulls julla a little too roughly when the little girl is a bit hard-headed or that sometimes the two of them get into arguments.  but that she never actually hurts her.  the next day, she sent me this text which i saved in my phone and shared with my colleagues:  ,ate i fil guilty..i nvr thought ds wud hapen and i cnt help blaming myself..on d othr hand,i'm hurt kc dy hv judge me based on wat dey see w/o listening2 my syd...i wud nver hurt d only person hu luv;if not,accepts me 4 hu i am..julla's my haven cuz w/hr dr are no pretntions...other pipol myt not see it but i show my affection in my own way...and it's just between me and her.  14/12/2009  12:21:33PM

then she goes:  ,i may not b good in conveying wat i fil but i do care a lot for them (julla@migo) ..and i'm grateful ol of u bcame a part of my life even if i missed to say it.  14/12/2009  12:29:50PM
to be honest, over the last 11 months, i've really become so dependent on her in taking care of the kids.  i've had most of my facebook time because of her.  i've been able to go through late nights because i have her around.  i am in fact, at this moment, blogging because she just gave julla's milk and they are busy watching cartoons right now.

once, i asked her to do something for me which i cannot recall now.  but after she completed the task, i texted her my thanks and told her, i mean it thanks talaga.  just to show that i appreciated what she did.  this was her reply (which again i saved in my phone):  ur most welcum...(just wen i tot na im not that efficient...whew..! tnx 4 making my day.)  10/02/2010 09:24:39AM
 


so today, i give tribute to this young woman.  i cannot say she doesn't have flaws.  she actually has a lot, to which, hubby complains a lot about.  but generally, we have been glad to have her and are very thankful.  the day she told me she wanted to study again, i was not hesitant in letting her go.  she deserves a better life.  we're not sure if she really is gonna do that but then, it's her life.  we'll let her decide.

here's hoping we find a new nanny/househelp soon. meantime, goodbye and good luck to you, ate lyn.  we will miss you.