Pabaon For Mommy's Trip To Japan (and a letter from a homesick momma)

I miss you so much Maia. Malas ko I am currently using a borrowed laptop, I was not able to check if a webcam was installed or if it has speakers. Daddy tried to call via skype and we couldn't hear each other. Sigh. I miss the shrill of your youthful voice. I miss your whining. I miss your kiddie smell a.k.a. amoy araw/amoy aso smell. I miss your kili-kili. I miss tickling you and making you giggle like there's no tomorrow.

For now, before I go to sleep let me just recall what you said when you handed this note to me the night before I left for this trip:

"This is for you, Mommy. It says: when Mommy go to Japan(ese), I will take care of my daddy. I will listen and obey. I will make my mommy and daddy happy. BUT. I will miss my Mommy!"

Haaaaaaaaaaaaay. I'm crying homesick tears bebe girl. It's a different thing when I'm preoccupied with work (I totally forgot about my afternoon coffee break today and I barely took toilet breaks), but when I'm back in my hotel room like this with no one to talk to I miss you so bad. And I realize, this past few years there's always you  I can to talk to when I get home from a very tiring day at work. I miss your tight hugs. I wish I packaged it and brought lots of it here with me. (or maybe just brought Georgie or Babbie with me? I wasn't prepared, obviously).

This morning, when they discussed the possibility of us extending, I felt my knees go weak. (and I just prayed silently "Dear God, please not a week more." I hope he somehow heard me). A week just feels like ages. I couldn't bear extending for another week more.

I hope you and daddy are taking good care of each other. I love you, both. From Japan(ese) and back!

Photoblog: Scenes From SMP's Baking and Cooking Class

Yes, I'm not yet done documenting this part of her summer. I'm happy that now the nurturers at SMP try their best to document the kids' activities through photos so the parents get a glimpse of what's happening inside the classroom. Thank you, Titas!

All photos were grabbed from SMP's facebook page. 

DAY 1: Break making (Waldorf bread with basil and raisins)

Tools of the trade all ready to start their adventure!

tito alan, the day care's kitchen master joins the kneading fun!

ready for the oven!

Day 2: Turning Japanese - Learning to make maki/rolls

the photo caption in SMP's page went something like: "she had the last piece"
she did say she liked the cupcake rice (because she insisted they were making cupcakes that day).
and  honestly, it was her first time to eat maki rolls. she liked! yay!

Day 3: Cookies and Cupcakes Galore!

they paired the cookies with a refreshing mango-banana smoothie.

scrapping off mangoes. she never does this at home. and she was never fond of mangoes.
but after this,  she volunteers to help 'slice' and serve during mealtime.

masa! masa! 

freshly baked goodies

They also had a group picture during the last day of this 3-day class. That one goes to my growing collection of 'class' pictures. I hope someday, when she sees those photos she will still recall how fun her summers were because of activities like these.

Three Days Of Summer At St Michael Playhouse a.k.a. Baking and Cooking Class

Last week, the little girl had to wake up a little earlier than usual to make it in time to her Baking and Cooking class in St. Michael Playhouse in Makati. I found it super cute when I would wake her up and she'd respond: "ANG HIRAPPPPPPPPPPP! DI KO MABUKSAN EYES KO! DI AKO MAKAGISING!" She's just very excited to spend time in SMP we didn't have to force her out of the bed. She was making the effort to wake up on her own (albeit, yes, eyes that are very uncooperative hahahaha). I seriously hope that when the time comes that she had to be in school by 7am the wake up scene in our household would remain as cute as this. 

So how did the 3-day class go? Oh they were very productive, super fun days based on her stories. She was never this open with sharing stories of how her days went but those 3 days were different. She was just too eager and excited to tell us what they made in class, who her new friends were. 

For documentation's sake, I will try to narrate the events that took place from Day 1 to 3, as told to me by the little miss. I hope my memory won't fail me. 

Day 1: Bread making

Little Miss, Ate Inday and the Daddy left the house before 7a.m. so the Daddy can bring the little miss himself to Rockwell. You can just imagine how excited she was knowing she's leaving the house ahead of me. She's also imagining that she's coming to work with her daddy. Funny kid, ain't she? Wanting to become an office girl at a young age while her wonderful parents are wishing to be at the exact same place where she is now. 

So they arrived earlier than call time which is 8:45am. Her dad still was able to steal some time to get her photo by the door but since he had to rush to work, he was not able to meet the nurturers anymore. By 845am, the door opened to welcome them. And they went on with their day. When we got home that night, we had this small bun waiting for us. It was good. Tasted healthy. Haha. 

Day 2: Cooking

The next day, the daddy couldn't take them anymore so it was just her and Ate Inday who travelled to Makati. No complaints despite the long ride (of almost an hour and a half). And before she left, she announced they were going to bake cupcakes that day. So that got my sweet self really excited. I had thoughts of cupcakes (I swear I could even smell it in my head) and slowly baking in the oven all day.

But (to my disappointment), she came home with cupcakes of a different kind. "They're still cupcakes mommy! Rice cupcakes!" Silly girl!

Day 3: Pastry baking

During the last day, I was able to escape work (albeit for just a few hours) to personally take her to school. I was told by Tita Marcy (one of the nurturers) that the little miss was such a hardworker. She takes her tasks to heart and is very industrious. Yay for that little girl. Keep it up!

She also got her wish granted during the last day as the main agenda for that day was to bake cookies and cupcakes. She told us later that she had fun kneading the dough and cutting up the cookies into different shapes. And she went home with these:

I wish I was personally there to witness everything she did step-by-step. But of course that wasn't really possible. I'm just glad she's finally sharing school stories to us openly (unlike before when she it would take us a lot of prodding before she'd share bits of this and that). This time she had detailed stories for us. This time of the year is really a special time for her. I can tell she really loves being in SMP. I wish it's near so we can enroll in more summer activities. Right now, one class is what we can handle because we really do not want to tire her up since summer is also intended for her to rest.

Hopefully next year little girl. We can enroll in two classes. We'll see.

The last time I heard from SMP, they still have a few slots open for their Woodworking class and Arts and Crafts class. If you're interested, go ahead contact them.

Breakfast Date

Nakabawi na rin si Daddy and Mommy. Breakfast date before her summer class. This is the closest way we can get to stage parenting: taking a few hours off our respective jobs to spend breakfast with the little girl before she heads off to class. And boy, did she like it? Syempre naman!

powered by Chicken Joy

I am really a wife and a parent before anything else. I dropped work plans this morning to take the little girl to her last day in class. Well I know, this is really an attempt to erase all the guilt that I've been nursing these past few days. Selfish, I know. But now I feel good. And since I feel good, I can function better on all these roles that I play - wife, mom, daughter, sister, employee, friend. It's the fulfillment of motherhood that fuels me to become better. I hope I always remember my priorities so I don't get side-tracked.

Thoughts Of A Tired Working Momma

My heart aches a bit. Not being able to personally take you to summer class makes me feel like a worthless mom. This is one of the few things that you always look forward to during the year. And I'm not there to take you.

Every night I ask you if you feel Mommy's love. You always tell me YES. I hope despite my shortcomings, you will always feel that way.

I am happy that you always feel secured by our love. Yes, you are very vocal about wanting to have a car to take you to Jollibee anytime you feel like chomping on a Chicken Joy. But other than that, you are a relatively easy kid to please.

My bread baker's masterpiece. "Masarap yan Mommy!"

Yesterday, you were so proud to bring home a piece of the bread bun that you helped to bake. You told Ate Inday to just pinch the edge to taste it since you wanted to leave most of it for mom and dad. My heart swells. Daddy's heart swelled even larger than mine, I'm sure.

Last night, you told me you are going to make cupcakes today. I can't wait to see what you brought home for us. You are the sweetest, Maia. Sometimes, I feel so unworthy of that. But in times like these when I leave the office dog-tired, the thought of you alone is enough to wipe my exhaustion away.

I am soooo lucky to have you.

Hello, Hello!

Hello loyal readers. Did you miss me? I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for still following this blog despite the absence of my mom's regular posts.

It's summer and I'm currently just basking in its full glory. I know my mom is expecting me to do productive things this summer but so far I've been doing nothing but socialize and play. I get plenty of visitors namely my village friends everyday and I'm simply just loving all that attention.

While my mom has lined up several activities for me to do weekly, I have yet to really make plans to do them. I love lazy days! And right now, I am living them. So why take my mommy seriously? She should learn to keep it cool. She should learn from me.

So while I burn my mornings memorizing lines from the Season 1 of Doc McStuffins and sleep through half of my afternoons, I hope your summer days are just as easy as mine.

Even if the heat goes up to 41 degrees Celcius, don't forget to smile. OR heck--laugh like there's no tomorrow. Because yes - LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE. And that's my prescription for the day.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!