As a mother.........

As a mother, I have been scared all my life. Ever since the birth of my eldest son and subsequently more children later, I was extremely afraid of sickness of which they were never spared of. You name it and they had it....asthma ( Roy was an extreme asthmatic case ), eczema, diarrhea, amoebiasis, allergy, flu, colds, cough, measles, mumps, chicken pox, typhoid fever, dengue fever, hernia, appendicitis, poisoning, fractures....etc. I was always a nervous wrecked whenever my children got sick.
When they were of school age, I personally tutored them one on one. I took note of their academic weaknesses and strong points. I sat with them until they had done their lessons for the night. They were not spared of scoldings and spankings. I specially would not tolerate lies. "I am not stupid." I warned them. " So don't lie to me"
I was not specially a dotting mother but that didn't mean I loved them less. For as early as they were young, I was fearful that one day they had to face the real world all by themselves. So my husband and I had to teach them the basics for survival in this jungle world: the rudiments of reading, the ease in dealing with numbers, the joy of doing your work well, the fruitfulness of hardwork, the knowledge of good versus bad, the rational of being humble and above all the love and fear of God. With all my exasperation that my teachings were not getting into them or whether all my sermons had eventually infused into their young minds, I could not have done these things better without constant prayer to God and the help from our blessed Mother.
 
Three of my children left home at the age of 13 for better high schools in Manila. Two of them left at 16 for college education. I kept in touch with them through long distance calls and recently though text messages and chats. Each child had his/her own fair share of difficulty but some problems were beyond our sphere of control like incidents of  robbery and thieves in crowded public places, of car accidents and/or a number of harassing corrupt policemen in highways too, not to say the least. Until now I teeter at their smallest problems. I am still so much of a worrywart and a hysterical mother. In my own capability, I can't do or help them any better. I am an average person without any power or influence. I entrust my children to God and He is kind and merciful.

earthquakes

There was a mild tremor at around 9pm here in cotabato last night. There was also an intensity 5.5 in Manila the other night. As I exchanged text messages with my children and siblings...I was again reminded of my own horrifying experience in 1976. I told them to be careful and to be alert and to check on their flashlights. I am so scared of disaster and sickness.....
As I watch CNN, I feel a great pain for the people of Haiti for the big damage that the very recent earthquake has caused them. I feel sad that many UN peacekeepers have died in Port-Au-Prince too. It's a pity that these heroic men have to die. They could have been a big help in this time of crisis. I can't imagine how desperate are all the victims of the earthquake right now. It has come to my mind that with the cloud of dust enveloping the city, how many lung diseases such as asthma would ensue within 24 hours. With no electricity and water and shelter...............Oh God, please have mercy on us.

Jan. 2, 2010

Today, Lucas and I sent off Tom, Angel, Martha and Dylan to the airport for Manila. It had been a couple of busy weeks since the children came home to Cotabato. Recapturing some of the things we did this holiday season:
1. Tom, Angel, Martha and Dylan arrived Cotabato on Dec. 23, 2009
2. Emil and Marion came home on the 24th. Christmas eve dinner at my home with Lucio and Conchita, Eugene and Aimee Tan & children, Vicente and Sofia Co and grand daughter, my sister Jeannette Yu and her family, close friend Kian Hua Co and of course Lucas and me and my family except for Roy who was in Seattle, USA.
3. After dinner, we attended mass at Queen of Peace Church from 9 to 10 in the evening.
4. After the Christmas Mass, we came home to open our gifts. Emil donned the Santa's hat and started the distribution of presents. Dylan received a lot of gifts and his favorite was Thomas the train complete with rail and bus tracks. We were all fascinated by his favorite toy too. It was Dylan Christmas wish. He drew it on a paper and put it inside a cardboard stocking he and his teacher helped make at school. This stocking was hanged on the Christmas tree and his parents made sure he got his Christmas wish and more. Everybody was equally elated as Dylan jumped and ran and screamed and played with joy.
6. Noche Buena after the opening of presents - We ate my traditional Christmas ham and a special ordered pato tim, however there were not enough coke and bread ( my mistake ) so we drank juice instead and just simply shared and finished what's remaining from our loaf of bread that day. Haha! It was a good meal altogether!
7. Went to bed late and most of us woke up late on Christmas Day.
8. We went to CCI in the afternoon of Dec. 25th. Angel watched over Dylan while he played on the slide and seesaw. Lucas and I took a walk around the school while Tom, Emil, Martha and Marion played 21 and 2 on 2 on the basketball court.
9. The family except Lucas who had to work in the store on Dec. 26, 2009 went to Agco Kidapawan for sight seeing and took a dip in the cold and hot water pools at the side of Mt Apo. It was an enjoyable whole day excursion.
10. Emil and Marion left for Manila the next day Dec. 27 for their year end work duties.
11. LCT Hardware Employees Christmas party at South Sea's Ballroom in the evening of Dec. 27th. The Tans present were Lucio, Conchita, Eugene, Lucas, Heddy, Tomas, Angel, Martha and Dylan. We consumed one whole lechon on our table. It was crispy and yummy. I didn't eat anything else except lechon and rice and few cakes.
12. Angel, Martha and I went shopping at Simply Fashion Boutique and South Sea's Mall on December 28.  In the evening was the CCI Annual Alumni Homecoming Event - a time for meeting old classmates and friends. Union Hardware won the first prize - an Isuzu Crosswind car.
13. Next day December 29th, Dylan was fretful and not feeling well. We mostly stayed at home. I baked cupcakes and planned my menu for the new year.
14. Angel and I and the whole household got really busy on Dec. 30: Me with my fruit cakes, Angel with her fruit salad and the houselhelps with our home cooked suman. My suman recipe was really delicious!!! I gave away cupcakes and suman to relatives and closed friends. After a hard day work of preparing food, we took our supper at Circuit Resto. The children were surprised that the restaurant served delicious crispy pata, sizzling beef spare ribs and pizza. Everybody at home was worried because Dylan was still sick.
15. On Dec. 31, the family had New Year's Eve dinner at Lucio's place. We went to Mass at 9 to 10 in the evening. We came home after the mass to prepare for the noche buena. My center piece was a shinny golden brown roast turkey breast. Everybody waited for the new year's count down and cheers!!!.............. HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!!
P.S. Tom and Angel brought Dylan to a doctor on Jan.1, 2010. He took the medication and felt a lot better.
A blessed, happy and prosperous year 2010 to all !!!