Joys in Life

Does your partner remember important dates such as anniversaries and birthday or do you keep a calendar to remind him?  Same as Mitch, my guy remembers my birthday, dimple’s birthday and the anniversary year and month but forgot the exact date.  He does not also take time to remember the birthdays of his family and even his birthday.  I never remind him except if he totally forgets about dates.

NOVEMBER 7 -Do you celebrate anniversaries? How?  In all my relationships (i think except the man i married) anniversaries are special dates.  If time does can’t let us have a celebration, special greetings will do like anniv cards and maybe a candy or two will go along with it.   In my current LO, for our first 2 years, i was still in China, the anniversary is being celebrated with cakes and wine and pasta.  And i buy lots of flowers too and we celebrate it together - he inside the pc screen and me on the table, tasting the wine and eating some of the cakes.  I eat half of the cake and put away in the ref half of it and freeze them til he makes it to China.  Sadly he did not, so that frozen cake was thrown away from some months. lol!  Now that am back in my homeland and he is still out there, we just greet each other and when we have the chance to meet in real - we celebrate all the special dates in our relationship (pakyawan).

OCTOBER 31
If there’s one greatest gift that you ever received in your life, what is that?  My mom.  The mom i have.  She may not be perfect, but i am so proud and thankful that she is my mom or else i won’t be here blogging and answering this meme question and having children that calls me mommy because am “really” their mom.   

OCTOBER 24
Were you taught and trained to do the household chores at a very young age? If yes, would you implement the same to your children?  Yes, we were or I am.  Am the eldest i have to learn earlier that in my elementary years, i can be a doting mom to my siblings because my mom is a working mom. hehehe.  I can remember we have house-hold assignment list pasted in one of the corners of the kitchen that we have to do it before going to school in the morning and beofre eating dinner in the evening.  I thought that time i got a devil mom because she let us work hard while other kids in the neighborhood play and play.  But later at 14 when me and my sister were off to a boarding school and we have to cook our food, i did well.  I have to fed my sister for 4 years in boarding school and my bro for 2 years.   Would i implement to my children?  I do want to but my kid is now at a situation where almost everyone will do things for her, especially the grandma.  I even mused to myself how come my mom was not able to train my child well when it comes to household chores, when she had done her best when me myself and my siblings were still young.  oh well, i’d like to blame it on grandmahood. hehehe.  Dimple is still not good in washing clothes even her undies and socks.   She can’t arranged her clothes well nor fold them very well like i want to.  But for cooking rice, as long as she measures water and rice well, she goes along fine.  She can sweep the floor too.

OCTOBER 24

Were you taught and trained to do the household chores at a very young age? If yes, would you implement the same to your children?

My answer:

Yes, i was taught.  At a young age of six and seven, i have to help my mom wash clothes, can sweep the yard, water the plants, help fix things at home.  Since am the eldest, i was also tasked to take good care of my siblings. 

Right now, am trying to implement it to my daughter, but she is not as receptive as i was when i was young because i got in conflict with my mom.  Dimple grew up with lola at her side so her grandma does most of the housework for her. I can even say at times - she’s lucky, right? But to me, it looks like she will be a lazy girl. hehehee  But am confident she will changed when she wll become a teen-ager.

OCTOBER 17
Do you practice a time-out corner way to discipline your kids?

 I have never tried that “time-out corner” as one of the ways in disciplining my kids because i’ve never seen my mom doing that to me and my siblings.   But the procedure i think is good and can be very effective especially in controlling tantrum behaviors.   I have known friends who make this time out corner and all they can say is that this is effective.

Who are the women you admire most and why?

My maternal grandmother - She raised a total of 12 children most for her life is a single parent.  I can imagine how much pain she felt when she decided to give away her husband to her younger sister.  She advised my grandpa na panagutan nya ang ginawa nya sa kapatid, thus my grandma and grandma’s sister married and bore 6 children.  A year after the 6th child, the sister died, leaving all the kids to my grandma.  So she got 12.  They never stayed together again because it was a no no to her principles, but i know my grandma was showered with her children’s love and blessings throughout the years unitl she died at 86.    I admire her strong strength.  She’s a strong woman. She not only made strong bones of my uncles and aunties, but she also build houses, build little dams and maintain her farm and gardening up in the mountains.  One thing i can’t forget is that — am her favorite apo. :)  She died at our house.

My mother - She’s tough and one strong woman too but even then i know that deep in her heart she has that soft spot.   My mom is the youngest of my grandma so she’s the last one to leave her care and yet my mom goes back to check on her at least once a month when she started to live in the city.   She took care of my grandma til she died.  She took care of us 3 children (financially and morally) while struggling a balance btween work and taking care of kids.  It was at tough job for her because of a very irresponsible and uncooperative husband.   My mom though hard up, she does not fail to share.  She has the attitude of even she can’t eat because she sees her neighbors or people around her needs it more.

Do you find blogging as a good diversion whenever you feel the need to let things out in any way that you just can’t tell your betterhalf/friends?

Answer:

Yes especially in my Life is what we make it blog.  That is why i tagged that blog as a “more” personal one.  Having done that, i can really say that blogging is a blessing to my emotional growth.

Do you tell your significant other everything about your worries? 

Yes i do.  As in everything.  Same as the author, am in an LDR too so to me an open communication is very important.  I speak out when am angry when am happy when am doubting and even when i was cold.  My happiness made him happy, when am sad, he is comforting, when am in doubt, he reassures or confirms, when i was cold, he got hurt.  I said yes here to everything, but what if time comes my affection goes out to another guy, well then, i dunno. lol!

SEPTEMBER 5 - How would you rate yourself being a mother, 10 being the highest.

Wow thats’ a tough one and really i can’t rate myself as mom all in all because it’s often i would say am not a good mother being a mom on the go at that.  I was not there for my children especially in their toddler years.  Though i was there when they were born but not so long after that they were left to the care of my mother and my son to the care of my ex-hubs.  It was a choice i can’t avoid.  It’s should be my mom who will answer this question. hehehee.  But if it calls for financial support, i surely got the highest rating.  That’s the only reason why i was a mom on the go, why i missed those moments when i should be with my children.

AUGUST 29

Would you tell your children that they should only enter a relationship at a certain age {like most parents do}?

MY ANSWER:

- my parent’s did not tell me the exact age that i should start dating or go into a relationship but all i know is that it was not yet allowed during my highschool (especially for my father)  but then sinuway ko yong kagustuhan nya, only him because i told mom everything if ever am into one.  so with that experience i don’t have any plans of telling Dimple at what age she can go dating, but will not stop guiding her.  although i can remember telling her one time that if “possible” she won’t get married unless she have  a stable job already and got a house of her own.  at least no matter what happens she got a home to go home to.  i told her not to mind about me because i will also try to have a life of my own.  and if she ever do that, i will be the most satisfied mom in this world. when i told her that, she just nodded her head.