In a Race that Matters

  Kiddo, Dad and I were lounging lazily inside the bedroom on a Saturday when  O matter-of-factly prattled. O: Dad, Mom, when you are old,  I will take care of you. You both will live in my house so we are always together. Me: Oh, that's so sweet of you, son. I like that. But you know what? O: What? Me: When we are old, we'll be like babies again. And that means, you'll bathe us, feed us.... O: (frowns) Whaaat? Dad: (butting in) Yes. And you'll change our diapers, too. O: (With a sour face and pouting lips) HUMMMPH! I don't like it!  LILIPAT NA AKO NG BAHAY! (I am moving house!) Me and Dad:  LOL! Click THIS  for more quips.

We have been complimenting the kiddo as of late about his striking similarity  with one of the hottest moviestars in the country--- the youthful Coco Martin. For reasons unknown to us, he pouts, frowns and angrily reacts, as though he’s received a lashing instead of a compliment. Here’s what usually transpires: Dad: (while driving, notices the gaint billboard of Coco in an ad campaign for Max’s) Oh, it’s Orvik! Rovik: Yah, you really look like him. Mom: (sings, Co-coro-co-co, Paloma ..) So handsome... Orvik: ( covers his ears in disgust, shouts ) Nabuang na kayo kay Coco! (You are crazy over Coco!) I don’t like him! Mom: But you look like him. Orvik: No! Dad: Okay. You don’t look like him.   Coco looks like you! Orvik: ( shouting ) They are just the same!!! Our Little Man   We are all amused. Hearthrob Coco 

What goes on in the mind of a five-year old? I am oftentimes baffled by Orvik’s spontaneous rattles that reveal a line of reasoning fit for an A in Logic 101. My, I don’t remember having the wit of Michael V at age five. *** His expression these days is “Ay, Que Barbaridad!” in imitation of Dad who blurts the words when things are not A-ok. The little man, however, coined a new term addressed solely to me whenever I seem to do things he doesn’t approve of --- “Ay, Que BarbariMOM!” *** When asked why he has missing teeth (he already lost two), he quipped without batting an eyelash, “Si Mommy kasi brush ng brush ng teeth ko, nalaglag tuloy!” (Mommy always brushes my teeth, that's why they fell!) *** When he heard that Jesus is in our hearts, he asked, “Bakit maraming Jesus?” (Why are there plenty of Jesus?) (He took the meaning literally. Since each person has a heart, he thought that each has Jesus in his heart. And because there are many hearts, then there must be many...

I sometimes feel disadvantaged being the only “girly” at home. The boys seem to have a special bond I cannot penetrate. It doesn’t help either that the little boy always reminds me that I am not one of them. “Mom, we are three boys, ikaw one lang.” “You have no daughter. You just buy a daughter.” The boys also have regular fart-y times with Dad as the initiator. I don’t know what makes noisy farting fun, but the combined shrieks and laughter of the kiddos every time Dad lets out his butt whistles do tell me they sure have a good time. Of course, I can’t relate with something I find gross. The boys though, regard their Dad’s icky habit normal if not enjoyable. Yuck! In fact there were two occasions when, while we were inside a mall, Orvik just blurted out, within earshot of a saleslady, “Mommy, si Daddy umutot naman. Ang lakas! Ang galing!” And, at another time, while we were inside a classy restaurant waiting for our order, the unsuspecting kiddo again exclaimed, as though he wo...

I am now at a stage where I get stricter by the day. My son, Rovik, on the other hand, is at a stage where he starts to try dipping his feet on stuff tweens get themselves into. I will point out 11 things that stand out: 1. His taste for clothes has changed! He no longer wants to wear shirts with cartoon character. He has also started to whine over wearing the same type of shirt as his younger brother’s.Where before, he used to be delighted when Mom dressed him up like a twin of his younger bro, it is now a taboo to him, “Mommy, I don’t like to wear uniform shirt with Orvik, ha?” 2. He has bought two tubes of hair-styling gel from Bench in just a month. He doesn’t go out without his top looking like the plates of a Stegosaurus –standing stiff and ready to pierce anything that gets in its way. 3. When we go the mall, he is drawn to the high-end shops of Crocs, and Haviannas while I cringe and bite my tongue (to prevent it from cursing) every time I flip open the price tags. (One...

My son, all of eleven years is now a tween going pubescent. When I look at him, I hardly see any trace of the once chubby baby who was addicted to Tomica cars of all shapes and colors that he was able to fill a three-foot display cabinet with his collection. Thank goodness he is past through the stage where he tries everything he sees on TV – from putting on a pair of handmade wings (which cost us five hundred bucks in 2004) so he could be like Aguiluz (Richard Guttierez’ winged character in Mulawin) to collecting Bey Blades, marbles and Tom’s World game tickets. Gone were the days of imitating Mom—trying on my undies sandwiched with napkin (which he rummaged from our plastic cabinet while I was at the office) and trying to pee while sitting or squatting. With a tint of sentimentality, I miss the days when he was just starting to write and he would send me notes with scribbles of a five-year old, expressing with all candor his dream of building me a hotel when I grow old wit...

Sometimes you can't help but rub on your children your own passions (or should I say,frustrations and unfulfilled dreams). Growing up, I had a thing for the arts -- acting, public speaking and writing. I would have ventured into dancing and singing as well had I not learned early on that I had gawky moves and my singing voice only sounded good inside a 2x2 square-meter john. Well, my acting landed me top recognition in 1988 during the talent night competition of the National Secondary Schools Press Conference in Malaybalay, Bukidnon. I competed with representatives from all regions and Region V (the one I represented) stole the night at that time. That was twenty years ago. I was a fifteener raring to show my 'brilliant' ideas in English Editorial Writing. Nope, I didn't land a spot in that tilt. What I brought home was the top honors in the talent show! I was afraid I would be swarmed with movie offers after I got off the stage. Thank goodness I still managed to bl...

Last Saturday, Rovik surprised dad and me when he informed us that he already organized the kiddie members of his Sunday School for a swimming class. We were even more surprised when just a few minutes later, the kids started to arrive complete with their back packs and 'baon', all set to go swimming. Caught flatfooted, Jing and I decided to go to Walter to buy a pack of spaghetti and some food stuff as instant baon to feed the kids after swimming. We brought the kids to Laguna Hotspring at around 2pm.Gosh, the boys scampered right away and jumped into the pool without bothering to change into their swimming gears.The girlie girls-- Kayla and KC, however, changed into their swimsuits and put on borrowed floaters before they frolicked. My boys, Rovik and Orvik who are both permanent fixtures in the pool (that the owner decided to just let them swim for free day in and day out) had a blast as well. Rovik showed his fine form doing the strokes he likes best --Breast stroke...

Every Sunday, after attending his Sunday school at the VCF Church in Sta Rosa, my eldest makes it his personal commitment to open up our garage to the neighborhood kids to hold his own version of Sunday school, with him as the teacher. He opens his class with a prayer, then he tells a Bible story laced with lessons kids can relate to. After each story is a question and answer portion for the kids, followed by some parlor games he leads. Of course, the class ends with a prayer. The kids, around seven of them, ranging from two to five year-olds seem always excited to attend “Teacher” Rovik’s class. They huddle and sit together on the carpet Rovik lays out in the garage every Sunday afternoon. Aside from enjoying the games, the kids also get to showcase their “talents” in singing and dancing during the talent time/portion allotted in the ‘class sked’. As a mom, my contribution is to prepare the kids’ snacks and from time to time, I pitch in the story-telling time when my son asks...

--> Kids have a way of saying things that amuse us no end. My eight-year old son who is on his 2 nd year of homeschooling under the umbrella of the Victory Christian School has lately been utering quotable quotes that sometimes make our thinking caps spin. At other times his ramblings would unexpectedly elicit chuckles from both Dad and me, with him as clueless as ever of his wit. An incident happened a few months ago, just weeks after Dad and Rovik arrived from a week-long vacation in Singapore . We (Dad, Rovik and me) were inside our L3 van on our way to Crossing Calamba. Rovik was unusually quiet and seemed absorbed in his thoughts. After a while, he asked the one question that both scared and thrilled me. (Let me take you in on that conversation) Rovik: Mom, how can one become the President of the Philippines ? Mom: (surprised) Why are you asking son? Do you want to be the President of the Philippines ? (Talk about answering a childish question...