First Day Of School Traditions

The other day a blogger friend asked me if we as a family observe any first day of school traditions.

This year will be the 4th year that we will be welcoming the first day of school with our little girl. Traditions?

Well, apart from me ensuring that I personally prepare her lunch box and snacks (at least) during the first week of the school year, I'm not sure if it can be considered a tradition but we have been consistent in the last 3 years of ensuring we have our family photo taken in front of our house.

We're just going on our 4th but when I look back at the last 3 years, I can clearly see how much this little kid has grown. I personally miss the chubby cheeks she had when she was still in preschool.

When she graduates from Grade School, I think it would be nice to gift her with a collage of all these family photos, don't you think? I sure will try to keep on doing this as long as we can.

How about you? What first day of school traditions do you observe with your kid/s?

Sharing these interesting ideas for first day of school traditions that I found online:

25 Fun First Day of School Traditions : The Dating Divas

School Immersion First Grade Edition

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Kumusta kaya ang araw mo, Maia? Bigla ka namin naalala ng sabay ng Daddy mo. Naisip namin sana matawagan ka man lang namin para kamustahin. Pero naisip din namin dadating din yun. Sa ngayon ayaw namin magmadaling bigyan ka ng telepono hehe . Ang aga mong nagising kanina. Sobrang eksayted ka sa araw na to. "Di na ako inaantok! Bangon na ako baka maiwanan ako". Enjoy ka anak! Ikaw na lang kumaway pag nadaanan mo office ko :) #fieldtrip #schoolgirl #letterstomaia

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Today, my little girl went to her first immersion (a.k.a. field trip) as a grade schooler. A month ago when this was announced, she immediately marked the date on our calendar. She was so excited we were reminded almost every day to make sure we bring her to school on time because she did not want to miss the bus!

So we were up early today. At 4am to be exact. And unlike the usual school days where it takes us at least 3x to hit the snooze button before someone finally jumps out of bed, she was first to rise and wake every one up!

We were in school 10 minutes before the call time of 6am. Ah despite of the 2 hour delay, she spelled the day in 3 letters - F.U.N.

Her dad picked her up from school and on their way home, she had tons of questions and stories for him:
>Bakit andaming mesa sa bahay ni Jose Rizal, Daddy? (Why are there lots of tables in Jose Rizal's house, Daddy?)
>Ano ang ibig sabihin ng 24/7, Daddy? (What does 24/7 mean, Daddy?) Apparently noticing this signage from one of the popular burger joints she saw on the road.
>Daddy! Dinrowing ko na lang yung mga napuntahan namin kanina. Yung mga hindi ko na makita, inimagine ko na lang! (Daddy, I drew the places we've been to earlier. I just imagined those that were out of my sight already)

Our little artist. Our little storyteller. Our curious cat. Our princess.

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Time flies. Sooooo fast.

Are You Ready For The Next School Year?

My little girl officially starts her new adventures as a grade schooler in a couple of weeks.

Are we excited? Of course!

But if you believe in "action speaks louder than words", that might not really properly translate to us being very excited to have a grade schooler this year.

I did school supplies shopping rather late this year. I got sucked into a blackhole the entire summer and I barely got out of it alive. But thankfully, I'm back. Not in my best self yet but I'm just happy to report...I AM BACK.



So the cramming worked. I finished labeling most of her stuff and checked off and packed those items that we needed to deposit to school on the first day of class. Although I have yet to buy her books and cover them up. The little girl's books need to be covered because based on experience, a few months into the school year, you'd normally see her books looking like it's almost the end of the school year. Have to work on teaching the kid how to be more careful of books and school stuff.



This year, thankfully, I didn't have to buy a lot of school supplies anymore. Some of them, I still had stocks from previous years so I didn't have to buy anymore. I was actually tempted to recycle even her crayons but I found a cheap box (toxic-free, made by a trusted yet practically priced brand and looks every bit like the expensive brand) of 24's in SM Hypermart and I kind of still remember how good the smell of newly bought school supplies were (hehehe, I'm weird yes) so I didn't want to take that feeling away from my kid.

The only difficult task I had to do now is train the kid to sleep early and wake up early yet again. Her sleeping schedule changed drastically this summer (and yes, I'm partly blaming my blackhole tale for that) and we need to reverse that soon! Please send me good luck vibes. And may we reach our goal by the end of this week.

I am well aware of more challenges coming when we officially welcome the school season. I still have not thought about mid-morning snacks menu planning, for one. And we're still waiting to get her uniforms shipped from Angeles (we thought we can find a cheap mananahi there but turned out to an epic fail too). I can probably list  a dozen more but I've decided I am taking them one challenge at a time. This strategy worked well, in the past. I hope it still will, this time.

Crammer moms, unite! :)

Weekend Love: Litte N@Wies Tea Party At Stacy's Capitol Hills

I was fortunately to be online when the idea of dressing up our little girls as princesses and bringing them together in a tea party was brought up in a private Facebook group that I belong to. I immediately expressed my interest to join knowing that if I ask the little miss herself she wouldn't think twice of saying YES! to the invitation right that minute anyways. Especially since she's so into everything princess-y these days.

The response to that invite was overwhelming and within a few hours, it was closed because the original plan was to really arrange a small, intimate formal party for the little girls and the organizers wanted to keep attendance to about 30 kids max. It took weeks for the organizers to iron out everything, even find a dainty place that could fit that much number of kids and their parents (so about 60-ish all in all). Several cupcake shops were considered and eventually the choice was zeroed in on Stacy's. It had a branch in BGC but it was smaller and it didn't have the space for the adults to hang out in while the kids are partying so the bigger branch in Capitol Hills became the obvious choice.

Quezon City is FAR from where we live but that didn't stop us from pushing through. I know that commuting was going to be a challenge but I normally don't let myself get intimidated by that. So come Saturday, I donned my supermommy cape and readied myself for the challenge ahead. It was just me and the kid so I really had to toughen up. I briefed the kid too that it wasn't going to be an easy commute this time so she needs to be very cooperative with me. We left home around 1:30pm and arrived at Stacy's around 3:30pm. Not bad at all. And the party was just starting then.

I immediately took the kid to the nearest restroom so we can change into her 'princess' attire (which is a borrowed flower girl gown from her second cousin). We came back to Stacy's and found an empty seat for her. It only took her a few minutes to warm up with the other kids (considering it was her first time to meet any them).

Milestone: Studded

We just came back from a weekend with my in-laws. I could barely remember the last time went for a visit since it's usually my in-laws who have been coming over to visit us lately. But since my mother-in-law is not in the best shape to travel for 4 hours (it's from the north to south after all), we thought it best that we do our share of the long commute this time. The little miss couldn't be more ecstatic. She has been asking for us to take her home to her Lola Aida's for some time now.

And you'd think "how sweet of her to miss her lola that much" but honestly, the excitement was fueled by a totally different agenda. You see, eversince since she started obsessing on getting pretty (and was slowly putting together her personal definition of what beautiful is) she wouldn't stop bugging me to get her ears pierced. We opted not to get it pierced when she was still an infant because we thought body piercings are something that one has to decide on her own (and yes at 4, she is still in no position to decide for herself but admittedly the delay was mainly due to my paranoid nature - I was too scared she'd pull it off or ingest it or put it inside her nostrils).

I couldn't remember now when I got my ears pierced. But I am sure I was already in school then. The guns (what are they called exactly, would you know?) that most pedia would used these days are not yet popular in the province then so the nurses (not even sure if a nurse did it then or maybe it was just one of the elders in our small town then). In my teens, extra ear piercings became a fad I did my second ear piercing by myself thinking my parents would never allow me to get an extra hole on both ear lobes. Looking at them now, makes me rather 'un'proud of myself because they were a little lopsided. Yes, you most likely will pay for the reckless things you do in your youth (and this serves as a warning to you LITTLE GIRL).

Little miss had no idea what that trip to the doctor had in store for her. All she knew was a pair of earrings would make her extra pretty. So when the doctor pushed the trigger of the piercing gun and locked in the first earring on her earlobe, she cringed and stifled her cry of pain. That didn't stop her tears from falling though and soon she was sobbing and almost refusing to get the other earlobe pierced. Good thing, the doctor patiently waited for her to calm down and we managed to get the other earlobe pierced within seconds. After a few more minutes, she walked out of the clinic beaming like nothing happened. She proudly showed her dad her sparkling earlobes and happily trotted home.

Isn't she prettier indeed?