Love Notes

Maia has a new hobby. She makes love notes for me and her dad. In the morning after breakfast, she would hand each of us a piece of rolled scratch paper with scribbles on it.

"Sa yo to Mommy. Sa yo naman to Daddy. Dalhin nyo yan sa office ha?" "Tingnan nyo muna. Sinulat ko yan para sa inyo. Galing galing ko di ba?" (This is for you Mommy. This is for you Daddy. Bring it to the office, okay? Check them out. I wrote them for you. I did great, didn't I?)

too bad I wasn't able to get photos of Tibs' notes

She's been doing this everyday since the beginning of this week. Times like these make me look back and think about what we might have done to deserve this uber-loving and thoughtful little girl. You see, Tibs and I were never showy and affectionate to our respective families (parents, siblings). Although undeniably, we tend to be quite affectionate to each other. I guess, it does pay to model the values that you want your kids to emulate. 

This morning, while I was instructing Ate Inday on their activities for the day, Maia kept interrupting. So I asked her if she likes to contribute as well. She went to point out several activities in her Art Voyage kit so we wrote them down as well. Being a sucker for surprises (even 'planned' ones hahaha pathetic no?), I dropped hints of wanting to get something special for Mother's day and guess what she did? She got a piece of paper and immediately got down to write. With Ate Inday's help, they came up with this.

Of course, she still had to roll it before handing it to me. (I don't know where she got the idea. She rolls it like the paper scrolls in the ancient times lolz)

ISN'T SHE THE SWEETEST?

I miss blogging so much. I have around 50 drafts sitting in this blog alone but I'm still swamped mostly by work that by the time I get home I usually go straight to sleep after putting Maia to bed. 

But....it's a Friday! So let's get those positive vibes going. Advanced HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO US AWESOME ROCKIN' MOMMAS! 

Hey There, Manong! Pabili Pan De Sal

Starting this week, the kids have another morning ritual. Their twosome would patiently sit on our front steps and wait for the pan de sal delivery manong to pass by so they could shout PABILI, PABILI PO!!!!!

You see, we now have a door-to-door pan de sal delivery in the mornings. It's a development (of sorts) that we dearly welcome (and have been looking forward to) because we used to have to ride a jeepney to and fro just to get our morning pan de sal fix. Bless you dear neighbors who come up with services like this! Hehe. :)

Maia's Bedtime Prayer

I was never good at keeping rituals. Ever. I've always been the spontaneous type. But when I became a mother, rituals were one thing that I paid extra attention to. Motherhood can really turn a woman's life upside down, no (mine was a 360-degree turn but it was the best 360-degree turn i'd probably experience in my lifetime)?

I'm not very religious but believing that there is somebody greater than me EVEN greater than people I admire keeps me grounded. So I wanted to teach my daughter that too.  And for now what seem to be an effective teaching medium is through prayer. We started a bedtime prayer ritual when I became pregnant with Maia (well actually when I was put to bed rest and was drowning in fear, I found solace and peace through prayers) so we kept at it even when Maia was born. As much as our schedules as working parents would allow it, we try to be with her during bedtime so that we can all say a prayer together. Tibs and I would take turn saying our prayer of thanks for the day and we would say it as if Maia is saying it. Now that she's able to say a prayer herself we would always encourage her to lead it.

Favorite position when she was still an infant. Was she praying?

Last night I started a prayer of thanks. Since I just came from a battery of tests at the hospital, I had this compelling urge to talk to Jesus. I started with Hello Jesus, Maia says thank you for helping her mom to get through all the needle pricks today. She thanks you for letting mommy bring home meryenda. (Then I felt sleepy so I paused fto gather my wits) Out of the blue, she blurted - thank you sa Daddy ko. Kasi daddy ko sya eh. Thank you sa drawing, sa laro sa computer, sa mga kiliti, sa mga songs kasama sya, sa mga pinapanood namin, sa pagsama pag matutulog na ako. thank you sa Mommy ko. Kasi mommy ko sya eh. Thank you sa paintings, sa laro sa labas, sa mga pancakes, sa mga pasalubong, sa mga sayaw. Yun lang naman. Thank you Jesus. 

I was stifling a laugh while listening to her finish her litany of thanks. More than the  stifled laugh though, I was fighting tears. I was on the verge of crying because I remembered this video and I realized how important those ordinary days were for my little girl. And I was just so happy that I was there to hear her affirm that those moments really did matter to her. I am glad to know that we imprinted (and will keep imprinting) good memories onto our daughter. And I'm super delighted because my daughter now prays with her heart. 

I love you Maia! I can never say that enough.