Monday, June 18, 2012

While Waiting

Being married to a teacher has it's perks.  Hubby usually comes home with bags filled with gifts from parents, students and co-teachers especially at the end of school year and before the Christmas break.  One memorable gift from the class was a box of Twinings tea. I love tea! The bags were encased in this special wooden box with small compartments that I just don't want to touch any of it. 

 

Most of the time he would be blessed with gift certificates from Rustan's, SM, Starbucks and Fully Booked. All of which we are so grateful for!

It was a rainy first day of school for most of the students of the Metro. But for our homeschooling bunch, we headed to Fully Booked in Bonifacio Global City to finally redeem our GC.

Since Jianne is formally starting school this year, I was in search for school books for her. Unfortunately, we were pressed for time because our "Prinicipal" had a tutoring stint that day. For almost two hours, we searched the entire building for books. There were tons of chapter books for boys but Coby was not too keen on getting chapter books since he has other books at home he hasn't read. He was searching for encyclopedia-like-sci-fi book but when we found one, it was way over budget. We need to get something for everybody, that's our rule.

So finally, we found an origami plane set. It was way too cool! He couldn't wait to open that bright orange box. For our little girl, we got her a Little Bear level 1 reader book, her own choice of Princess book and a 300-page huge coloring book...now that's a lot of coloring! We also got them their favorite Princess Diaries DVD and The Tale of Despereaux DVD.

Papa got his car magazine and I got my food magazine. Everybody happy!

We were out of the bookstore just before 1PM to grab a quick lunch before hubby goes to work. He gobbled up his lunch at McDonald's and hurried to the nearby condo where his student stays.

After the kids and I finished our meal, I decided to take them walking along the busy streets of BGC. We saw different restaurants, some peculiar looking, while some are dainty. We were walking slowly just to pass the time and until we reached the frontage of The Mind Museum. We haven't been there and we will surely visit one of these days. Soon, we headed back to McDonald's and ordered a double caramel sundae while waiting for our papa. We were supposed to go to Market Market but I am not used to driving in that area with strict traffic rules.  So I just told the kids we can do something fun while waiting. The kids were getting bored in McDonald's so we headed to the open parking area.

Instead of waiting in the car, I decided to wait outside and let the kids run around an open space near the parking lot. The place was so windy and the kids were enjoying the cool breeze. While waiting, they run, pretended to be giants and did their version of Temple Run. I was happy because the kids were not bored anymore but were just enjoying playing with each other, laughing, and taking pictures. Slight drizzle ended our Temple Run adventure and we headed to the car and soon papa arrived just in time.

 













Monday, June 11, 2012

Two Peas in a Pod

My husband and I are blessed to have a boy and a girl. When I was pregnant with Coby, we prayed that it would be a boy. God blessed us with a happy baby boy. The second time we found out we were having another child, we again prayed for a girl to complete the Brady Bunch. In His graciousness God gave us our little princess.

Two different individuals coming from the same parents. Indeed each child is unique. No one is exactly the same. Even twins are not exactly the same. We, as parents, should celebrate their differences. Our kids were created wonderfully and fearfully by our Creator, of course, including us.

Just for fun I wanted to look at how different our two kids are...

During my pregnancy...I gained so much weight when i was pregnant with Coby and had not much morning sickness but with Jianne, I was skinny and had a sensitive first trimester.

Breast feeding... Coby was breast fed for only two to three months while Jianne was at it until she was almost three years old.

Putting the baby to sleep... Coby easily gets startled with the slightest noise and has trouble falling asleep while Jianne will easily fall asleep while being breastfed.

Language skills... Both started talking early by age one.

Love language... Coby feels loved when you do something for him. He appreciates you when you put syrup on his pancake. He feels loved when you prepare food for him or make him anything. His
love language is service. Jianne on the other hand is very clingy, very attached. She enjoys hugs, kisses, scratching her back and brushing her hair. She craves physical touch as she herself generously showers you with hugs and squeezes.

Food... Coby enjoys gourmet dishes. He wants sophisticated food at times. He does not like "lutong Bahay". He would always request that we eat in restaurants or asks me to prepare something different. He eats a lot when dining out. He calls himself a "fruitatarian" because he loves all kinds of fruits. Jianne craves for sinigang, nilaga, typical pinoy dishes but does not eat much when we eat out. She does not care much fruit except for mango and banana but would finish the okra in sinigang and eat broccoli with her fingers.

Coby is the talker in the family. His voice would always fill the house. Jianne is quiet, a bit reserved, quite shy too.

Learning style...Coby is a visual learner. He learns best with visually attractive curriculum and materials. Maybe that's why he is into art. He paints and draws well too. I still have to find out Jianne's primary learning style but I could see that she may be an auditory or kinesthetic learner. She loves music and dancing.

There are still a lot more waiting to be discovered from these two blessings. I just pray that God would allow me to witness all their milestones in life. I also pray that despite their differences, they would continue to love each other no matter what and wherever God takes them.

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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Taming the Tongue

The greatest influence our children would have is us, their parents. We taught them how to talk and guided them as they started to walk. It's funny when I see kids walk and talk like their parents. It's like looking at mini versions of Mom and Dad. Not only do we pass on physical traits and mannerisms, we also intentionally and unintentionally pass on to them the values that we want them to have.  Because I homeschool our kids, I would say that I am my children's greatest influence, not to exclude my husband, of course. But since I am with them 24/7 I have more opportunity to teach them and impact them in a positive way. 

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When I talk to Coby, our eldest, somehow I could see some semblance of me in him. I claim or even argue that he looks like me but some people insist that he is a little Peewee. Go figure  :-) Aside from the physical aspect, I see his interest in writing, creating his own stories and cooking as well. But the most striking trait he got from me are my  exasperated expressions like "Hay naku!"Image

He expresses this phrase exactly the same way I do especially when he is dealing with his younger sister, Jianne. From the tone, to the facial expression and hand gestures, it's all me. The first time I saw this I thought it was kinda cute but then again, it's not a good thing. I would hear him talk to his sister in a mean way and I would always call his attention and correct him. I would even ask him, "Why do you speak like that to your sister? Why are you so mean?" I could sense that he feels there is nothing wrong with what he said maybe because I could be mean to him too at times. He would feel ashamed afterwards and say sorry to his sister.

Somehow Coby's negative behavior only mirrors what I do when I do not control my tongue. But the Lord is good at reminding me of my weakness and my need to tame my tongue. Realizing, again, that I used harsh words on him, asking for forgiveness is the next thing to do.

Did you know that the tongue is the most powerful muscle in the body? Such great power for a tiny part of the body. Likewise, in the words that we use to communicate with other people, our children or our spouse, we forget that the words that we speak have so much impact on other people that we end up either encouraging them or hurting them. 

James 1: 19 says, Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

 

James 3:5-6 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

We, as parents, are the primary life teachers of our children. Let us not let our our anger and our untamed tongues influence them. Instead, we should acknowledge that we cannot parent our children by ourselves. We need someone who is the best example of patience and love and this is our our Heavenly Father who richly gives us everything we need. He will give us the patience, the wisdom, and compassion to bring up our children the way He wants us.