Counting Our Blessings

taken in front of our house
Despite the damage of the floodwaters last Saturday, despite loosing all our furnitures and appliances, despite braving the 12 hours of traffic, despite wading deep in floodwater, despite being despite being homeless for days now; we are still counting our blessings.

Number one, our family are together now.

Number two, we are all in good health.

Number three, our friends are now all accounted for.

Number four, there are always helping hands.

Number five, true friends are all over.

Number six, life goes on.

Number seven, there are better days.

Number eight, dreams are free.

anya

'>All is ok with the family of Anya -- all is ok, God is good' 3 pm, Sept 28

that little girl in white and red is anya.she is my goddaughter.
she just turned 2 this september.
her mom texted me yesterday afternoon that their house in san mateo is neck-deep in water; some family are on their rooftops already.
she asked for prayers.i texted her back saying i am praying for them and for all of those affected by the floodwaters.
i tried to call her. nothing.
at around 10 pm, i called another friend. she said the last text from her was that they were only able to grab two bottles of water.
they are a family with two kids, and her parents are not young anymore.

then she texted me at midnight. she said a little better but still flooded.
no water, no electricity.and then in the morning, she said water has receeded.
they are cleaning. but they have no more food. until 5 pm this sunday, no food.

it is now monday morning, 1 am; we have been trying to reach her. trying to organize something. monitoring. keeping a vigil.
anya, ninang (godmother) is trying to help you. your mama's friends are trying to help you.
tell your mama, your ate, your lolo and lola and whoever is there with you... we are praying for you.

whoever could help those people in san mateo, thanks a lot. let's continue praying.

The Flood

I havent officially announced it in my blog, but because of the flood; I am now.

We have been living in the Philippines last June because as my husband said, 'he saw a better future with the kids there instead of Germay.'

As a good wife, I didnt disagree. As for the kids, they agreed as they see more opportunities to play with their loads of cousins in Manila; and they are excited to go into a school with a swimming pool.

And then the flood. It happened yesterday morning. I was unfortunately out of the house as my sister, my mom and an aunt wanted to visit a cousin who's confined in a hospital.

We left before 9 am; but before reaching our destination, it rained very hard and the streets were full of water. We managed to find a parking area in a restaurant.

Meanwhile, at home, my husband and my two kids, with our housemaid were in panic because the water was coming inside our house fast. I called up some people to ask for help at home.

Help came but the floodwater's faster. The whole first floor's been damaged: all furnitures and appliances.

To be continued...

What is good with smoking?

One morning, MC, 7 year old looked up to me seriously and asked, 'Mama, what do you think is good with smoking?'

'You buy a cigarette. Then you light it up. Then you inhale. Then you exhale,'she added. 'And what good does it do?'

I didnt ask her why she suddenly have an interest about smoking; especially since nobody smokes in our household. She wants to know and I will try to inform her.

And so I explained to her that I dont also see what is good about smoking. The thing that you inhale and exhale and that creates smoke is a strange something that your body dont really need for it to grow. In fact, it would even make your body sick. I told her of someone close to us who used to smoke a lot; and ended up in the operating table fighting for his life. It will only make the family sad when such things happen.

She simply nodded and said, 'I heard that smoking is fun. But what is fun in it if you would be sick?'

'I dont think smoking is good. I am glad nobody smokes in our family,' and she cuddled closer to me.

I wonder how she got interested in this topic? But I hope I managed to answer her questions and influence her in a positive way.

I want my own cellphone, too

And now my five-year-old IC wants her own cellphone, too.

Remember that we gave her big sister, MC, her own cellphone a few weeks ago? here

Well, MC followed the rules; though it was always a big discussion everytime she would ask permission to bring the phone to school. We never gave in. Plus, she has since forgotten about her own cellphone; and never misses it.

Here comes IC. Asking when she could get her own. Because she wanted to call her friends anytime she wants to.

When I asked her if her friends also have their own cellphones; she shook her head. 'So there's no need for your own cellphone if you cannot use them to call your friends,' I smiled to her.

I told her that her sister doesnt have one anymore; and appears not to need one at all. I told her that she doesnt need one because most of her friends are with her in the same school.

And if she wanted to call her friends, she is welcome to use mine or her Papa's or better still, use the house phone. But, she must always ask permission and let us know who she is calling.

I explained to her that she is also too young to have her own cellphone. Having a cellphone involves money and she doesnt want to use her allowance for such silly things as a cellphone; to which she vigorously agreed.

'When could I get my own cellphone?' she couldnt resist asking. I told her when she is old enough to realize what is really important to her -- a cellphone, that she could tinker with alone the whole day; or a toy, that she could play with and have fun with someone else.

That's when she took my hand and guided me to her toys.

Saving for Mama's Sunglasses

The kids cannot wait to receive their allowance this month. In fact, they cannot wait to receive their allowances for the next months.


They need to save those allowances.

Why?

Because they broke my sunglasses. They were roughly playing inside the car during a long trip when it happened. They heard enough warnings from me. Then I heard a crack and I knew it's my glasses.

They didnt try to deny it. They simply showed the broken pieces to me.


And I told them there are important things to be done.

Number one, they are responsible in making sure that I got a new pair of sunglasses.
Number two, the money would come from them.
Number three, they need to save.
Number four, their allowances would suffer.

They nodded and excitedly asked me if they are allowed to choose my new pair. Definitely, I answered. And so here we are, all three, anticipating our shopping trip.

Breaking something is also a cause to create bonding time :D

I'm not allowed to play with you

MC is happy that she is finding more friends in school. But what she misses most are those playmates who would visit her at home.

I told her she could invite her friends to our home and she excitedly approached one while I observed them from afar.

In a second, MC came back with a little frown saying, 'my friend said her mom told her she is not allowed to play with me in our house.'

I explained to her that she must not take that personally. Her friend wont accept her invitation maybe because her mom forbid her to say yes without asking first for permission. The same thing I keep telling them, 'to let me know first before deciding on such things as playtime, birthday invites and house visits with other kids.'

Plus, I told her that since the school just started, some people needed a little time until the parents would get to know more the kids and their parents in school before they would be allowed to visit each other.

A 'No' is Okay, Too

The girls were invited to a kiddie birthday party where the adults were allowed to stay (for a change :D).

They joined the lines in the salon, in the face painting, in the balloon-making, in the sweets corners; but they balked on the idea of joining the games. But IC, my five year old, just cant hold her excitement when she saw that the kids who joined the games got prizes for their efforts and got extra gifts when they won.

I was thinking she wanted to join the contest to get those; but nope, my clever girl wants to get them her own special way as she asked me, 'Mama, could you please ask the host of the party if she could give me those prizes simply as gifts?'

I smiled at her cleverness and told her that would be unfair to the other kids but her answer made me move, she said, 'You know what mama, if she said 'no', that would be okay. The main thing is we asked her.'

That made me grab her hands to bring her to the host. One thing though, I told her she should be the one to ask. And she did ask. And she got a 'yes' and her handful of gifts.