Mommy's Little Big Helper

I promised Oona that we'd allocate some space in our room for us to "practice schooling". Going to a big school is a dream of hers and "practicing" for it is her motivation for a lot of things. I'm teaching her that preparing for it is just as important as actually going. This means practicing her listening skills, learning how to follow rules and instructions, and putting things in their proper places among other things.

So a few weeks ago, we fixed up a corner in the room to be our designated "school area". I told her she'd best help me because it's part of getting ready to go to a real school. The room was a holy mess anyway with all her stuff strewn about, so now was as good a time as any! We brought out her little plastic worktable and chairs and I let her have my collapsible storage boxes to put all her things in.

Fixing up!

She picked up all her stuff, segregated the hard toys from the soft toys and put the legos, puzzles and blocks in their respective "houses" (containers where they 'live') . She even helped me fix her books and put aside those that Olly could already inherit.

That done, we threw away broken toys, junk paper and debris, swept and mopped; and put her baby dolls to sleep on top of the toy boxes.

I guess that activity helped concretize a lot of things for her, two major concepts I was gunning for being the importance of preparation and helping out.

Nowadays, she's taken up other ways of helping without any prompting from anyone. I know that half of that helpfulness comes from curiosity and wanting to be involved in absolutely everything (sometimes to the point of exasperation on my part!). But what makes my little momma's heart swell with motherly love and pride is when she says she wants to help and you know she just really wants to.

'Mom, I want to help wichoo!', then off like a shot sometimes without even waiting for me to answer. Often like predictive text, she'll just hand me whatever she's previously observed me needing for that particular activity she's assisting me with. Mostly it's with taking care of Olly and cooking noodles she likes to help me out with. She'd get me diapers and wipes, advise me to put jelly on her sister's butt ('So no rashes, Mom!') and distract olly with funny faces or a toy while i wrestle a diaper on. When it's reading time, she'd get a book for herself and one for olly.

Recently, Olly fell off the bed while I was so weak from a really bad tooth pain. Oona scrambled out of bed and marched calmly downstairs to inform Lola that she needed the ice pack because Olly fell. She also got me medicine and a water bottle because my teeth hurt. She recommended I brush my teeth so that they'll be happy too; after which, she insisted on being Doctor Oona and put the medicine in my mouth and giving me water to drink. Then she kissed little sobbing Olly and said, 'It's okay, sweetheart!'.

I wanted to cry! I haven't totally been a monster at all *sniff* Seems I'm doing something right!



Assistant Chef Oona



She likes to participate in cooking too, whether it's helping Lola peel vegetables, piling the chopped vegetables in a bowl or putting the peelings in a container for the organic waste bin. With me, she's in charge of the spice rack and handing me the noodles or macaroni to put in boiling water. I let her stir on occasion too when there's no danger of anything hot spilling. Watching Safety Patrol on Playhouse Disney helps a lot because she's very careful and conscious about safety measures around the house. She also tries to help wash dishes with Daddy (she's in charge of putting them on the dish rack to dry), holding the dust pan when Lola cleans the floor (Oona bids for the broom or mop but she makes more of a mess) and helps fold and put away our clean laundry. She sometimes wears our clean laundry on her head first or pretends that the socks are long gloves. She's still a baby, after all! Play is still a central part of her life!

Oona also packs away after playing, turns off the tv after watching and makes sure her shoes and slippers are neatly in their proper place. She sets the table, puts water from the dispenser in the drinking glasses and calls everyone to the table to eat.

Automatically, she shares anything she eats with Olly who is now a very adventurous eater ('Mommy, pwede kay Olly ato?' or 'Mommy can Olly eat this?') and puts her bowl in the sink when she's done. She volunteers to change Olly too when I'm getting them ready for bed. Of course she can't, but she manages to help get pyjamas for both of them, take Olly's shirt off, put dirty clothes in the hamper ('Dirty na 'to, Mommy?') and change her own clothes.

Gosh...

I can go on and never finish this entry as every day brings a new revelation. Little things to us other people but accomplishments to her and milestones worthy of pride for me. They may be everyday, ordinary things but it's showing me that my little girl is not only practising for her school days, she's really getting ready for independent life in general. I can only hope I do a good enough job of equipping her for that!

Now if I can be sure that I'll be ready for her independepence! Ayayay! :)

KITCHEN MAGIC

When I was a child, there was only one room in the house where everything really happens. Since there was no distinction between kitchen and dining room, you can imagine that most conversations, interactions and family activities centralized around this area.

There would always be someone preparing food, eating, making a snack or using the dining table as a study desk, drawing table, battlefield for toy soldiers or secret bandit hideout from the cops stationed in the living room. I used to hide under the table to escape from having to sleep in the afternoons when I wanted to play. My mother had the coolest make-up kit from my grandmother's Hong Kong trips with little drawers and slide-out compartments. I'd sneak it out from her dresser, paint my face up and make a dash to the kitchen sink when I heard her coming down the stairs to hunt me down for the bothersome nap.

Most growing up conversations also happened around the kitchen/dining table. We'd get reprimanded, praised or grounded until we were thirty while we were having breakfast, lunch or dinner (when activity reports usually roll in for our parents to comment about). Of course you couldn't leave until you finished your food so even if you wanted to die of shame from being publicly executed, you had to soldier on while conversation flowed to other more wholesome topics around you.

When I was old enough to help in the cooking, the conversations evolved as well. From how to cook my favorite Sinigang (Tamarind Soup) to how to deal with the bullies in school, to deeper, more intense issues later on in life. Life lessons are easier to deal with while your hands are busy, but wrestling with them while chopping up vegetables amidst the warm, homey smells of bubbling broth seemed to drive them straighter, truer and deeper into the heart.

Late at night, on occasions where one is restless and sleepless with the countless things that plague growing minds, the kitchen/dining table was the scene of many a hot coco philosophical discussion.

Heartbreaks, arguments, life decisions, confidences. I'm sure many kitchens and dining tables in small houses like ours have heard them all.

My ideal house would have the kitchen/dining area exactly like that, where the heart of the home is at the hearth. (sidenote: Hearth= heart, earth/mother earth...cooking, eating, sharing food for the belly, heart and the mind are such earthy activities...no wonder we feel fuller and more grounded, reconnected.)

I've always dreamt of a home that would be sanctuary to family and friends. Such as when I was growing up and bringing home friends, we'd gravitate to the kitchen where my mother would usually be found cooking dinner. And since I brought extra appetites, she would whip up something for us and we'd help cook while filling her in on what happened during our day. Sometimes, one of my friends would find herself confiding in my mom while shelling peas or stirring the stew. My mother would listen and dole out her brand of wisdom like she would dole out steaming soup for the heart-sick. My friends would always say how cool my mother was, sated with the yummy food we helped prepare, hearts soothed and minds at peace with practical advice.

When I was still single, I had the fantasy of living alone but always having a warm and welcoming home. Now that I find myself married and a mother to a precious little girl, I am nostalgic for kitchens and dining areas that remind me of my mother's kitchen. Of course, this would mean warm wood furniture, unobtrusive kitchen appliances, functionality with down-to-earth, homey styles . . . and a bunch of wild flowers stuck in a jar somewhere.

I want Oona to know how it is to come home, plunk her school bag on a chair and tell me all about her day as she gobbles a snack and I start preparing the family dinner. As it is, at 14 months, she likes playing under the kitchen/dining table. She listens in on the conversations of her mother, father, grandmother and nanny. She offers her babbled opinions every now and then and pokes our legs to let us know she's still there. Whether we're cooking, eating or typing away at a laptop, she'd be right there, camped under the table, among the chair legs.

I look forward to having midnight coco in my pajamas talking over the serious business of a first love or deliberating over college courses with Oona and her siblings (hopefully soon!). I can't wait to be solving crossword puzzles with a cup of coffee at 2AM, waiting for the last kid to come in after a concert. Or making anti-hangover specials for someone who came in four hours after their curfew, reeking of way too much beers, hunched guiltily over black coffee, waiting for me to read them the riot act. God forbid my kids have my spunk! But I DO truly look forward to it all, including cooking their lunches for school and baking cookies (Cookies? Bake?! ME?? Quick, someone pinch me!). Well, I'm sure there are idiot-friendly contraptions nowadays for people like me who can basically cook but can't whip up a chef's masterpiece.

My husband would laugh and tease me no end if ever he reads this. He's never seen me take the initiative with ruling the roost, so to speak, let alone cook everyday. But since his Mom lives with us and she likes to cook for the family, I can understand her sentiments enough to know it warms her heart to see us gather round to eat together and enjoy her food. And I know, it will be my turn soon enough, to have my own kitchen and rule the roost. Nowadays, I share the crown with the hubby and his mom, but mostly, it's Oona who wears that crown most.

Currently, we are paying for a pre-sold condo home at nearby Beacon (so near, we pass the construction site everyday). It's amazing how it feels, to watch your investment for the future rise from the foundations going up, up, up! Before we know it, it will be our floor that's going to be done and the condo guys will be calling us to go over the specs we want for our new home. So this early, I'm already looking at lovely stuff I want for our own first home, interior decorating it in my head.

Most especially, I would finally be able to have a kitchen, a hearth of my own! Sure I'd still be sharing with Mama, my hubby's mother, but I would have picked the tiling, the cabinets, the stove, the everything! Besides, it doesn't take anything away from me to share the traditional domain. It makes for incredible conversations when we're cooking together, even now. For sure, since it's a condo and we have kids running around, we'll have appliances that would be space-saving and child-friendly (if not child-proof).

I'm glad I'm a net surfer so it's easy for me to find things I like and hopefully buy, when the time comes for moving in. The condo's already fully furnished in my head! Although I'd love to go out and "get dirty", walking around to hunt down furnishings, drapes and sinks, it really isn't realistic for me nowadays. It helps that the ever-reliable Shopwiki's there. I don't have to go all over the place to find something I need, they already have stuff from on-line stores all across the web, centralized in one website. Think your very own, friendly, reliable on-line warehouse with goods from all over the world in one place! The interface is very user friendly and very informative.

I would also suggest fully reading through the Shopwiki shopping guides as it also helped me decide which ones I can do without and which ones I would definitely need for condominium living and the lifestyle that I want. What's noteworthy for me is that they help promote Green Living with earth friendly products! Definitely for us earth mommas! They also support advocacies and causes near and dear to our hearts, like this October's Shopping for a Cause is about Breast Cancer Awareness. So think pink while shopping and beat shopper's guilt by saying: "It's for a cause!"

From the bedrooms, to the curtains to the little reading corner I want to have (with a computer, naturally!), I have bookmarked a dozen pages or so from this shopping guide! Too bad our bathroom's not big enough for a bath tub or a home spa . . . Oh well, I'll keep that in mind for the next house! :D

All in all, I truly look forward to making our new house into a home, where my daughter, her siblings, their friends and everyone we welcome into our midst, would feel the love and warmth radiating from the heart/h, filling up tummies, minds and spirits with food for the body and nourishment for the soul.

Mommyluscious Goes Mobile

I guess this is my equivalent of the little notebook where you scribble stuff for further elaboration, random thoughts and word doodles.

This is also my contribution to my advocacy as a green mom. I'll be using my PC less when I'm writing my blog drafts. I'll shut it down completely and just use my very capable, very versatile Nokia N95 8GB, publish via Opera Mini (through our WiFi) and edit later.

After all, my excellent DSL service is there to be used! Why not further maximize my resources while allowing myself more freedom AWAY from the desk? I made our DSL into a sweet WiFi deal with a simple router to make sure RF gets a connection anywhere in the house (while he's out smoking, in the living room, while in the loo...did i mention that I'm married to a workaholic? He always needs to check work email!)...So why not make it work for me too?

Especially nowadays, Oona's much more mobile and terribly pro-mommy, I can barely go anywhere without her toddling after me. True she's got her yaya but here's me feeling like others get to spend more time with my daughter than me, her own mother! She's growing up so fast that I'm afraid I might miss out on something while I'm cooped up in the room.

Blogging will always be there for me after all. I can put it off for later, when she's tucked in for the night, when she's bonding with her lola or dad, or she's being fussed over by her yaya. It's not like it's going anywhere, unlike Oona's childhood: so fleeting, so precious, so infinitely special.

I'm glad there are resources like these available to me. It makes me feel so spoiled as a new mom. I'm just thankful at how blessed I am to be able to choose to be there for Oona and still be able to do my own thing. Right now, i am writing this while Oona has her afternoon nap. She wouldn't go beddy-bye without me and would wake up should I try to get up. I am watching her gentle breathing and lovely face and can't think of anywhere else to be...or anything else more blog-worthy than her.

Hehe...I know I sound like I'm such a blog-addict! In truth, while I am building my on-line presence, blogging has afforded me a measure of sanity, an avenue for individual expression and a way to make sure my creative muscles don't atrophy. Especially now that I am technically a SAHM (stay at home mom), I need the extra-curricular activity. I used to be a workaholic too, you see. And while being a mom has a more frenetic, action-packed schedule, the periods of down time could drive a former career person nuts.

By this paragraph, Oona's been up for about two hours. I've fed her, bathed her, changed an incredibly smelly poopy diaper and am currently watching her play by herself. In the interim, I get to jot down a few thoughts here.

Not for long though. Oona doesn't let me off the hook that easily. As soon as she notices I'm sneaking in a few lines, she scoots on over and pounces on me!

So before she starts grabbing for my cellphone (bright shiny mom's toy!) or crying (because mom's cellphone is not a toy, Oona and I am not giving this to you!), I'll be signing out now to be my daughter's activity play center. :-) Later I'll be editing for final post, tags and adding pictures.

Sigh. I just love technology.

UP NAMING MAHAAAAL...The Meme

More on a reminiscing note and for UP students to grow misty-eyed over...

1. Student number
95-04292

2. College
College of Mass Communications

3. Course
BA Film and Audio Visual Communication...pamatay isulat sa Form 5. Absolutely kills me writing the whole thing.

4. Nag-shift ka ba o na-kickout?
Overstaying. Kamuntik na ma-MRR (Maximum Residency Rule). Wala na raw nun ngayon?

5. Saan ka kumuha ng UPCAT?
Sa building tabi ng BA. Stat pa siya noon.

6. Favorite GE Subject?
Humanities.

7. Favorite PE?
The pool PE's. I just hated what the pool did to my hair. Or the fact that there would be frogs. Mega ligo ako after.

8. Saan ka nag-aabang ng hot guy sa UP?
SECRET!!!

9. Favorite Prof/s?
My Prof in Anthro, Prof. Armi Vallejos Santiago for Photography/Thesis and Prof. Hammy Sotto.

10. Pinaka-ayaw na GE subject?
Math, SocSci and NatSci.

11. Kumuha ka ba ng Wed or Sat classes?
Yep. College was my time in the sun!

12. Nakapag-field trip ka ba?
Yep...Banahaw, Tagaytay...etc.

13. Naging CS or US ka ba sa UP?
Nope. I studied but I wasn't trying to compete with the other brains.

14. Ano ang Org/Frat/Soro mo?
UP RPT Mutiny Batch '96; Cineaste yata

15. Saan ka tumatambay parati?
1st year: AS, FA, Sunken Garden
2nd year to 4th year: AS, CMC, UPRPT tambayan, Sunken Garden
5th year: Bahay Alumni

16. Dorm, boarding house or bahay?
Bahay.

17. Kung walang UPCAT at malaya kang makakapili ng course, anong pipiliin mo?
Fine Arts

18. Sino ang pinaka-una mong nakilala sa UP?
Basta blockmates ko...sina Hilda, Crissy, Will, Odessa, Armin, Kat, Sharon, etc...

19. First play na napanood mo sa UP?
Dammit forgot na.

20. Name the 5 most conyo orgs in UP.
Frats or soros ata, especially in AS. Meron din from BA. Law and Eng'g.

21. Name 5 of the coolest orgs/frat/soro in UP
FA for meeee.

22. May frat/soro ba na nagrecruit sa iyo?
Hinarang ng Nanay ko e. Tapos recently kong malaman na Frat/Soro people pala parents ko! Kaloka!

23. Saan ka madalas mag-lunch?
Beach house sa likod ng Library, Casaa, Arcade, International Center...RODIC'S!

24. Masaya ba sa UP?
BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE.

25. Nakasama ka na ba sa rally?
YUP

26. Ilang beses ka bumoto sa Student Council?
ONCE is enough

27. Name at least five leftist groups in UP
STAND-UP, Alay Sining, League of Filipino Students, Gabriela, er...

28. Pinangarap mo rin bang mag-laude nung freshman ka?
Sus. I was just to happy to be there. I was determined to have fun.

29. Kanino ka pinaka-patay na patay sa UP?
Sa College of Fine Arts.

30. Kung 'di ka UP, anong school ka?
Honestly I wouldn't have been able to stand being in another school. Maybe if things were different, or di ako napunta ng UP, baka kaya ko pala. I just wanted to be in UP.

***
Photo courtesy of Butch Dalisay...

Die hard na kung die hard. Pero I love college. Most of my adventures happened then. I was also at my coolest...for this former high school wall-flower, college gave me so much freedom. I was free from the vagaries of high school girl cliques! Free to wear my retro clothes! Free to act contrary to norm (which of course made me fit in UP all the better, so ironic)!

Ah...and to have the future at your feet.

I want that for my daughter: the freedom to be who she wants to be without fear of prejudice, censure or scorn.

WITHIN REASON, of course. And provided she keeps me up to date.

This Mom wrote the book on collegiate adventuring (within reason). ---> uuy! disclaimer! kaloka!

THANKFULLY BLESSED LIST: FAMILY

3. Family

It's a classic scenario. Growing up, we wish we had different parents, different siblings, different upbringing, different households...different anything from what you have at the moment. Ad nauseam.

You swear you'll never do it like your parents did and are horrified by the saying that we all grow up to be our parents. We have sibling rivalries. We ignore some, fight some, rival some. But when you finally grow up, certain things fall into place. You realize that no matter what, someone's got your back.

Of course it's a given that you all love each other (to each his own way of loving, though). Growing up begins to take away the cringe-worthiness of expression little by little. It's easier to reach out, easier to understand. It's easier to recognize the bonds that hold you to the family that bore you.

They say this happens especially when you have a child of your own. I agree. I still draw the line at becoming my parents but for all I know, I just might turn out that way (which one, I wouldn't know). I'll probably have to ask my daughter (and other children, hopefully) when we get to the stage when we're finally not killing each other over curfew.