I'd miss you babe

The other day, Ryan and Ryland were looking at their baby pictures. They both love going through our photo albums. Ryland came across this photo when he was 11 months old. He asked, “Mommy, did you throw away this carpet?” He was referring to the area rug that used to be in our TV room, which is now also my workstation. This rug had pictures of roads and streets and this was where he played with his toy cars, mostly the Hotwheels ones. I said, “Yes, I threw it away a long time ago. You spilled your milk and juice on it, and also vomited on it a lot of times.” Ryland said, “Oh yeah, I remember. That was my favourite carpet. I miss it.” Then I said, “I miss him,” pointing at his picture.

Last night, Ryland and I were lying on the bed just having one of our bonding moment. He was lying across my stomach.

Me: Come here beside me. You’re heavy. You’re squishing my jelly belly.

Ryland: Because you’re fat.

Me: Hey, I’m not fat. Do you think I’m fat?

Ryland: No, I’m just kidding.

Then he named people who he thought were fat. I’m not gonna mention them.

Me: You’re just too heavy for me now. I miss my baby. Where did my baby go?

Ryland: I grew into a child.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Me: Yeah, you did. You are now my little boy.

Don’t grow up too fast little boy.

Sometimes at church, he gets bored and he would hold on to my hand or hug my tummy. Until about three or four years ago, I would carry one of my children during mass and I would rock him to and fro while singing along to the songs. Nowadays, I find it silly when I rock to and fro to the songs without carrying any child. When they were little, I couldn’t wait for them to grow up so that I wouldn’t have to carry their heavy bodies. It had been hard on my back. I now miss that. And you bet that I’m gonna hold on to Ryland’s hand and hug him so long as he will let me.

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
Far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Well, every moment spent with you
Is a moment I treasure

I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing

Excerpt from I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing by Aerosmith

Sticking up for our children

I watched an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” last night. Ally, the 13-year old daughter, came home with an F on her report card. Debra, the mother confronted her about her failing grade. Now, Ally, who got A’s and B’s in her other subjects, retorted to her mother, “What about my good grades? You only noticed my failing grade.” Ally explained that she got an F in Math because her teacher was mean. Debra wouldn’t listen to her and thought that she wasn’t paying enough attention. They had a heated discussion and Ally answered back at her mother. Ray felt that it might be the teacher. When Ray and Debra had a meeting with the teacher, they found out that he was really mean. Ray berated Debra for not sticking up for her daughter.

In the Philippines, children are raised to respect their elders, parents especially. They are not supposed to interrupt when adults are talking. I knew people whose children were even sent to their bedrooms if they have company – visitors in the house. So answering back at parents is a big NO NO. This is even depicted in some of the Tagalog movies I have seen. It is not unusual to see a father saying to his child, “You have no right to answer back at me so long as I am feeding you and you live under my roof” or something to that effect. I thought that I’d hear that only in the movies until it happened to someone dear to me just recently.

If a parent is obviously at fault and a child answers back in the heat of a discussion/argument, what should the other parent do? Does one stick up for their child or do they take the side of their partner? I understand that parents should be supportive of each other in raising their children. But if the other parent is being unreasonable, what is one to do?

I have seen quite a few people close to me who had been in conflict with their parents, usually their fathers, who were more of disciplinarians, sometimes to the point of being an authoritarian. The children of these parents ended up leaving home, sometimes running away. The mothers were helpless and left heartbroken. They chose to take the sides of their partners instead of sticking up for their children. And it’s really sad.

Have you ever been in a situation like this either as a child, as a parent, or as a mere spectator? Does anyone care to comment?

I'm loving you

We were planning last year to go to Toronto this summer. But since R had been laid off earlier this year, we had to forego our plans.

We were at the dinner table when Ryan asked, “Are we going to Toronto?” I replied, “I’m sorry, not this year. Daddy’s still not working.” Then Ryan said, “We never go anywhere!” Ryland interjected, “Yeah, we do. We go to Tita Carol’s and to McDonalds. I’m loving it!”

We all laughed. This is just what we needed. There had been quite a tension in this house lately because someone had been so irritable due to lack of finances. I just couldn’t help it. I hugged Ryland and told him, “I’m loving you!"

Bears on Broadway

We visited some of the Bears on Broadway. They are really cool!

We have more pictures here.

Canada Day at The Ex

We had quite a downpour on the last week of school. So when the forecast said that it would be sunny on Canada Day with a high of 24C, I thought that it was better to bring the kids to The Ex on that day and use their “Read & Win Pass” instead of the last day of The Ex, July 2, which would be a hotter day, 28C.

Ryan didn’t want to come. I didn’t make him go because I didn’t want to deal with his “I didn’t even want to come here.” Mabuti na lang at hindi nga siya sumama. He would have complained. Susme. Who would have thought that there would be thousands of people at The Ex on Canada Day. The bus was all packed. You wouldn’t believe the traffic when we got close there. Reggie, Ryland and I ended up walking because the bus wasn’t moving. We got there before the bus did. The parking lot was full. There were cars parked on the highway and even on the grass.

There were lines at the gate and at the rides. It wasn’t that bad naman. We went to the Glass House and the Cuckoo Haus. Ryland tried the balloon darts twice and he got prizes (plush toys) on both tries. He and Reggie tried the Rising Water but the girl on #12 won. Ryland and I went on the Tilt-A-Whirl. Ryland didn’t get dizzy. I did. Mahihiluhin talaga ako. Anyway, we had fun and brought home cotton candy for Ryan.