Top: UNIQLO; Pants: AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS
One of my adviceS to you regarding fashion is that if one item of clothing fits you well, buy them in all colors.
Yun lang, bow.
Lelz. But very true.
Hindi naman yan ang topic ko for today. What I really want to talk about is how challenging it is now to raise kids.
Tingnan niyo before ha?
When we were kids, when we did something wrong, papadapain kami then papaluin ng sinturon sa pwet. It doesn’t really hurt that much pero the anticipation of the belt hitting my buttocks is wild. I remember I was around 5 years old yata yun. We were told not to play on top of the sofa. Naglaro pa din kami ni Toots. Toots was like 3 nun ata or 4 years old. He was chasing me while balancing ourselves sa wooded arms ng sofa. Eh aabutan na niya ako. Sa excitement ko, naitulak ko siya! He fell hitting his chin on the wooden arms ng sofa. He cried. I went to him to tell him not to cry otherwise we were deadz. Paghipo ko sa chin niya, ang daming blood! There was a gaping wound on his chin which had to be stitched up. I was so deadz. True enough, when Lolo Papa went home, we went straight to the bedroom and pinalo ko sa pwet ng sinturon.
Hindi na ako umulit ng dangerous games after that. I became super mindful where we were playing. In short, natuto ako.
I remember pinaluhod ni Wowa one of my brothers sa asin because he pulled down all the naka-sampay na newly laundered blankets and pinagtatapakan. Wala, trip lang niya.
Try mong gawin sa mga bata ngayon yan. I did corporal punishment to Anika until she was only 3 years old. Nothing heavy. Pinapalo ko sa pwet. I see na natututo naman. Pero now na she’s older, hindi ko na napapalo. Kailangan daanin sa usap. Bakit? Ganun daw eh sabi sa mga “How To Raise Happy Kids” articles online.
Before, if you did something wrong, silent war ang game sa bahay. The parents will not mind the kids until magmakaawa ka na pansinin ka ng magulang mo. I don’t do that to Anika. May psychological effect daw sa bata.
Nagugulumihana ako sa “How To Raise Your Kids” articles ngayon. Ako lang ba or kayo din? You cannot be very strict kasi baka magsuppress ng feelings tapos magsuicide. You cannot be very maluwag naman baka maparaya.
Nakakaloka.
Wala kasing manual that came with them nung nilabas ko sa tiyan ko eh.
What I do is I combine the what I think good ways how we were raised with the things I read online with my gut instincts. Nanay ako eh. I am supposed to know what is best for my daughter. Kino-combine ko din with prayers.
I also stopped comparing myself with Anika. Nung bata kasi ako, I had really high grades. Walang tutor yan ha. Now, Anika’s bringing home lower than her normal grades. May tutor siya partida. I wanted to get mad kasi I know she can do better pero TV and play lang ng play. Reklamo ng reklamo when studying. But no.. I held myself back. Inaawat ko din si Alvin kasi kinagagalitan. Pero nung araw, Diyosme, papagalitan ka talaga ni Wowa. Her threat was no more volleyball and no more boyfriend pag I had a grade below 85. Mahirap yun nung high school ha pero nagsumikap ako kasi I wanted to play volleyball badly. Yung boyfriend, kebs. Lelz! Pero basta I bring home lower than the normal grades I have, galit na yan si Wowa.
So eto na. Last Mastery Test week, when Anika brought home her test papers, almost all more than 5 mistakes! Ka-stress! This quarter kasi the teachers don’t read na the test papers to them. Sila na bahala eh ang hina ni Anika magbasa =c She knew all the answers but she had a hard time reading. Pagsasabihan ko sana na instead na maglaro ng maglaro, magpractice siya magbasa. Eh she handed me her CLE test paper. Her teacher wrote “Honest kid!” in front.
ME: Why did teacher put Honest Kid in your test paper?
ANIKA: Because there were 3 items that I got wrong but she checked it. I told her that she made a mistake checking my paper. She told me I was honest.
Listening to her, I saw na parang wala lang sa kanya. She’s not bragging that she did it. Wala, normal.
Sumaya na ako dun. I felt we are raising her right. I’d rather have her honest and kind. Character is more important than anything. Pero that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t study harder ha. Pero I am happy Anika is honest. Tuwang tuwa ako. I can also see she’s growing up to be kind. Pinasasalamat ko yun kay God.
Mahirap magpalaki ng kids is an understatement. Maloloka ka. Malamang ganito din kayo, ano? =)