Me, My Daughter, Our Books

My life-long love affair with reading began with all those “Nancy Drew” mystery novels I avidly read when I was in grade school. By the time I reached the sixth grade, I seemed to have finished the entire Nancy Drew series. My passion for reading was fueled by a highschool classmate who seemed to share the same interest – Joyce Bautista, now a very dear friend. My mother, later on, would take me with her to the bookstore and let me pick out books to read. As an adolescent and now as an adult, I can still go sleepless nights finishing off a really page-turner book.

At the moment, my five-year old daughter, Alex, seemingly demonstrates the same love I have for reading. I can leave her sitting down in one corner of the bookstore poring over books while I go around looking for my stuff. At home, when not playing or studying, one can find her inside the bedroom going over her Kids Almanac or her “precious” collection of story books. I’m quite keyed up with the thought that sooner or later she will also be reading all the books I have spent so much of my time and savings on.

My Children’s Daddy (a belated father’s day salute to my children’s daddy)

Every kid thinks that he has the world’s greatest daddy. My children are no less any different. They think the world of their dad…in their eyes, he can’t do wrong. Truth is, human as he is, he has flaws and inadequacies. He, too, needs to be told time and again of some things that he may have overlooked, disregarded or overdone. Nonetheless, he incessantly struggles to live up to our kids’ idyllic image of him as their mentor, disciplinarian, playmate, friend, personal magician, clown, surrogate “mom”, “superhero” (?!). But one thing’s for sure, I know my children’s daddy will never stop loving them and caring for them. Whatever he is, at the end of the day, he will be just pure and simple DAD, ready to tuck them in bed…give them butterfly kisses…and overwhelming hugs…WE LOVE YOU DADDY! MWAH!

It's School Time Once Again!

It’s school time once again! On my kids’ first day of school, my little boy was feeling excited yet a little sad that summer was finally over. My little girl, on the other hand, was a bit jittery on her first day because of all the new things: new teachers, new friends, new school. And me? I was not at all “unaffected” by the opening of the new school year. In fact, I had mixed emotions when the school opened that Tuesday morning (June 10). The imminent opening of classes would mean another year-round of homeworks, projects, reviewers…and I would have to be once again at the helm of everything. I don’t deny that indeed every school year that passed became more and more difficult and I suppose that this year would not be any different. We will have to leave the house at 6:30 in the morning to bring the kids to school, go to the office to earn the money that would send them to school, reach home by seven in the evening and there my commitment as my kids’ “guru” begins. Don’t get me wrong, I really and truly enjoy every single moment spent sitting side by side reviewing them and studying with them…I melt along with every single grin they flash at me when I give them the “thumbs up” sign…I smile from ear-to-ear every single time they give me the right answers to my questions. In fact, the truth is, as much hurdles as I’ve had…come end of school year, I get rewarded time and again not just with good grades but another year of new lessons learned and discoveries made.

SNAP & SCRAP

I love snapping and scrapping pictures!!! In fact, I was able to put together snippets and pieces of my kids' pix from the day they were born but have discontinued doing so for sometime now. Lately, I can't seem to stumble on an ideal moment to organize all those heap of pictures.

They're mostly stuffed in boxes, assuming I even had them developed.

Scrapbooking seems to be a huge trend nowadays. I'm actually "artistically challenged" and overwhelmed by the number of scrapbook materials now accessible in the market. I remember when I first started scrapping, I was restricted to buying my "stuff" at Rustans & they were really very expensive. Now, with a lot of articles, books and internet sites for scrapbooking, you get to be more ingenious as you get to "think out of the box."

But being a working mom to two vigourous and energetic "grade schoolers", I can't seem to have enough time on my hands to carry on with what I've started so earnestly and devotedly when my kids were not as mobile and "attention-seeking" as they are now. My hands are itching to cut, to fold, to paste; my mind restless with all the thoughts and ideas - embellishing, mix and matching, scraplifting and heartfelt journaling.

After all, when my kids are all big and grown-up and have lives of their own, my husband and I will just be left with all those fun-filled childhood memories and what better way to muse them over but with scraps of pictures handcrafted with love and devotion.