girlfriend

after that post about the little girl and her fascination for make-up, i am reminded of the little big man with his new-found fascination for....drumroll please...... A GIRL.  or as he calls it, CRUSH.

ok, this may be too much in one day.  the girl, barely 6 years old, into make-up and the boy, just turned 9, having a crush.  but i just had to blog this and make it something to laugh about later on.  maybe blackmail them into doing something for me when i'm old and gray.

so anyway.  it's been over a week that the little big man has been exchanging text messages with his classmate who is, yes -- a girl.  Who has, yes -- a crush on him.  he claims he has a crush on her too but i really think he only has a crush on her because he found out she has a crush on him.

some of the girl's messages i read goes like this:

kinilig ako kanina.

pano tayo makakapag-usap? alam ko na magpasahan tayo ng letter.

bakit di mo ko tinatawagan?

nasan ka? (this was sent during lunch break)

may sasabihin ako sa yo pero di ko masabi.

good night. mwah. :-*

while they're young, i encourage my kids to not have secrets from me.  that i am their best confidant for anything whether problems or dreams or crushes.  i feel a certain joy that my son trusts me enough to let me read some, if not all their text messages.  


i continually pray that my relationship with my kids be as open as this until they grow up.

make up

recently i've noticed the little girl watching youtube videos about make-up tutorials.  and consequently, she has been bugging me to buy her make-up.  it even came to a point that she was bargaining that she will not tag along to somewhere i was going to where she was not allowed on the condition that i will bring make-up when i get back.  i knew i was going to give in eventually  but i didn't want to go to the mall just for that.  so i told her to wait till the weekend when we do go.  she bawled over, gave me the bratty attitude which i so hate, did everything to make me buy her but to no avail.

but yesterday, i found these pretty little things at hortaleza.  made for girls 8-18 "who are in the advent of many beautiful first experiences." 

the culprits:  hypoallergenic pressed powder, lip gloss,
shimmer cheek blush with sunscreen, sparkle eyeshadow

i know, i know! my girl is way too young for make-up.  goodness, she's only turning 6 this april! but i had to humor her.  or maybe, humor myself.  i can't help but give in.  so shoot me, my self-rightoeous, condemning, judgmental readers! ;-)  disclaimer:  i am not, in any way, advocating, endorsing or justifying make-up use for 5-year olds.  

did you shoot me already?

but let me just say that i did lay down the rules.  1)  that she can only wear them if she's going to sing or dance in a school presentation.  incidentally, her moving up ceremony is coming up next month and she's actually going to dance the doxology!  2) that she absolutely cannot wear it in school or in church.  3)  that she washes her face everytime after.

here she is wearing her trial make-up.

on a side note. there was a time when the little girl was told by her teacher that they will have make-up classes on a saturday because of the several typhoons that cancelled classes.  during the evening after of one such class, i asked her how her make-up class went, her reply was, hindi naman kami nag-make up e.  nag-aral lang kami.

turnaround

the little big man's grades dropped this 3rd quarter from last.  significantly.  that's adding insult to injury because from the first to the second quarter it has already dropped and he had made a promise to get them back up but still, he disappointed me.  i found out he has not submitted a couple of homeworks and a book report which he had already made but lost and did not make any effort to make another to submit.  he had high grades in oral and class work and most of his exams and quizzes which only meant he was doing good, if only he'd submitted those darn homeworks!

i told him how irresponsible he had become and really made him feel how disappointed i was in what he had done.  or had not done, for that matter.  i decided to ground him in some way by banning the use of the iPad for the rest of the 4th quarter and he will only be concentrating on homeworks and taekwondo.

last tuesday, when we met at our store after school, he gave me this:

it reads:  BEST ENGLISH SPEAKING PUPIL


i always knew we'd have some use for his talkativeness.  so anyway, right now, we're still focusing on getting him to submit homeworks.  

40

and so the week of my birthday has come and gone.  there were no  surprises, nothing spectacular or extra-ordinary happened.  it just went by like any ordinary week.  except that i got to take a leave from work for 3 straight days without the guilt-trip.  (yes, i do sometimes feel guilty when i'm absent from work.)  and life just moved on for everybody else without them noticing that, hey,  i'm now 40.  

i am thankful for all the greetings.  most especially, the time spent with my kids doing whatever we want, going wherever we want and sleeping as long as i want.  ahhh... the rewards of growing old.  the best things in life are free.

just to let it out

not letting my sadness overcome me...

but there's been a big turnaround in the company i work for.  4 out of 5 of the friends/colleagues i've been with have resigned, retired and regretfully, terminated all within the last 30 days.  things are a bit weird around here.

i need to carry on and i am thankful for the handful who are still here hanging on.  maybe i'd completely go nuts without them.

praying

http://papertolesupply.com/littleboyprayingpapertole3dkit5x7.aspx

our little family recently got into the habit of praying spontaneously.  for years, we've been praying "the angel of god" every night before bedtime.  the four of us know it by heart, even when the kids were too young to pronounce the words, they knew the prayer by sound and would ramble along with the hubby and me whilst we did.


i love that these days, the spontaneous praying has become a requisite.  the little big man prays in english.  the little girl in tagalog.  the hubby in tagalog, me in english.  mostly the kids' prayers are thank yous for the good things that happened during their day.  then they'd say sorry for disobeying or anything they know they did wrong.  what touches me most is when they pray for each other and for their dad and me.  especially their dad about our problems last year.  i feel their sincerity.  i have really cool kids, i know right. :)


as i write, i was supposed to relate an actual prayer but my memory is failing me.  this blog entry was started last january 19 with that in mind but i was unable to finish so i'm just finishing it now.  i will make sure to remember tonight's prayers so i can write them down here.

You Gotta Be

was on the cab on my way to work a while ago and was sort of kind of a little bit depressed coz i left home and the little big man was sick in bed and didn't go to school and the hubby asked if i could skip work and much as i want to do just that, deep breath................ i had to still go coz of a scheduled meeting.

then this song was played on the radio.


You Gotta Be - Des'ree


Listen as your day unfolds 
Challenge what the future holds 
Try and keep your head up to the sky 

Lovers, they may cause you tears 
Go ahead release your fears 
Stand up and be counted 
Don't be ashamed to cry 


You gotta be 
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold 
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard 
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger 
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm 
You gotta stay together 
All I know, all I know, love will save the day 


Herald what your mother said 
Read the books your father read 
Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time 


Some may have more cash than you 
Others take a different view 
My oh my heh, hey 


You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold 
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard 
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger 
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm 
You gotta stay together 
All I know, all I know, love will save the day 


Don't ask no questions, it goes on without you 
Leaving you behind if you can't stand the pace 
The world keeps on spinning 
You can't stop it, if you try to 
This time it's danger staring you in the face 
Oh oh oh Remember 


Listen as your day unfolds 
Challenge what the future holds 
Try and keep your head up to the sky 
Lovers, they may cause you tears 
Go ahead release your fears 
My oh my heh, hey, hey 


You gotta be 
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold 
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard 
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger 
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm 
You gotta stay together 
All I know, all I know, love will save the day 


You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold 
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard 
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger 
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm 
You gotta stay together 
All I know, all I know, love will save the day