For the first time since Achi’s birth in 2007, the hubby and I are going on a long-overdue vacation. Since I am presenting a paper in the Asia Pacific Children’s Museums Conference on Oct. 19-21 in Hawaii, we decided to hit the beach as well. Who’s having the blues? Shobe is now experiencing a severe […]
One hot day in early June, it was my turn to mind my friend Astrid’s two daughters (Ara, 7, and Happy, 2) plus my two for the afternoon, in return for her minding my kids in March. The question: how do we take care of that many kids? The answer: if our parents / grandparents […]
Babies and toddlers are just too cute for their own good. My husband believes that God deliberately made babies and toddlers irresistibly cute so that parents will not abandon them, no matter how horrible their tantrums can get. Also, parents will have the baby memories to look back to and decide that all the horrible […]
My little shobe, who is daring and gungho about pretty much everything, had a major drama breakdown late last school year. I had to put her head on my chest so she would not see me smiling at her hacking sobs and giant tears. The problem – typical 6-year-old issues of her BFF (best friend […]
The past few months, parents have been bombarded with the Close-Up tragedy news, where five people died of suspected drug overdose. In the university where I teach, we have another conundrum, a community problem: we are discussing the issue of Close-Up traged. Because our university does not have classes on Fridays, Thursday night is the […]
It’s almost 6 p.m., the time my parents come home from the store. I hear their distinct footsteps coming closer. And just as they were about to turn the corner… “Bulaga!” I’d shout. My parents would have a good laugh. A nice end to another tough day. People say children bring families together and I […]
I wrote about spirituality for parents in Tulay’s past issue (April 19-May 9, 2016). It has been a struggle for the past month, but even that little time is seeing small results. The key, for me, is putting everything in concrete terms. The spiritual powers that senator Leticia Shahani talked about are all abstract concepts. […]
I attended the graduation ceremonies of Charity First scholars last April 9 at the Trinity University of Asia Theater in Quezon City. This annual affair celebrates a milestone in the scholars’ lives as they move on from a nurturing community into the “big bad world.” Most of these scholars have already gone through hellfire, and […]
There was news recently of the Philippine run of “Les Miserables” beginning this March and of a Filipino-Australian girl who is cast as Cosette. My girls know many of the songs in “Les Miserables,” especially Cosette’s solo, “Castle on a Cloud.” Shobe immediately asked, “If she’s here, how will she go to school? Maybe she […]
One day, flowers will arrive at the house and they will be for my daughter.I was once on the other side of that doorbell – the teenager carrying a nondescript box of chocolates waiting for the door to open. Flowers tend to elicit a few too many stares. At least that’s how I saw it […]