They say that motherhood is the hardest job of all. I would very much agree to that but grandparents and yayas kinda aided the evolution of motherhood to something lighter in its domestic sense. Still, being a single mom for a few years now, I can say that it's not just the bottle sterilizing, ass wiping, sleepless nursing nights that make motherhood difficult. It's the scary fact that one's set of personal values will depend on you. What makes it scarier is another fact that you even find your own set of values questionable. It's the "tabula rasa" analogy... Skye's the innocent, blank page, and mummy's the great writer whose blank notebook pages in high school were filled with doodles, odd names, and stick people... go figure. In short, some mothers are like Michelangelo, with paintings of motherhood so lifelike and a perfect imitation of the human form. Me? I'm a Georgia O'Keefe... abstract and representational. Mothers are painters... each one with their own ways of raising up kids whether it be based on a strict, scientific discipline like Michelangelo does or my creative, O'Keefian abstraction that others may find odd. Nevertheless, I believe that whatever technique you employ, as long as you put your heart and soul into it, both paintings will come out as their own masterpiece.
I take it one day at a time when it comes to painting... err... raising a 7 year old tyke, but it pains me though to think that the days fly by so fast and before you know it, that little boy who cuddles up to me every chance he can get, sleeps on top of me, and kisses me on the lips while blowing in my mouth would one day find all of the acts awkward and childish. I dread of thinking about the time that he would start not kissing me and start kissing other girls instead. I shudder at the thought of his lips not touching mine again because his friends would feel that it's something only babies do. Then again, I think it's how baby boys were built. It's just the way things are, and I should slowly learn how to cut the apron strings before the knot gets too tight to undo. He will, after all, be a man, and real men don't hide behind momma's big ass.
If raising a kid alone for a few years is hard, I sometimes wonder how Basti feels about parenthood too. I mean, kid raising is hard, and raising a kid that's not yours is even harder. Well, it isn't really technically raising Skye already but it's because we're kind of preparing him for it. Our Sundays have evolved into family days or simply put... Skye day. It's funny how we treat choosing a place to go to a dilemma just because we would want it to be places where he'd get to learn something. Halloween and field demo costumes would be something to think about, and so is his penmanship and when to let him play with his Wii or Tito Basti's PS2. I sometimes laugh a little when he begins to wander around the mall only to come back when he hears his "come back" whistle (which he now uses too when HE begins to get lost). It's now choosing Mickey D's over Sbarro because they have something Sbarro doesn't have - the Happy Meal. It's draggingly watching "City of Ember" instead of "The House Bunny" because of the following words - R-13. It's having one of our most dramatic moments as a couple just because I couldn't bring myself to act tough when Skye began using his puppy pout on me that one time.
We placed him on allowance a few weeks ago, and I wasn't there when they talked about it like adults... Dunno what transpired during that lecture on allowance tracking but all I know is that he seemed to teach my son in a few minutes everything financial that he learned during his MBA years. He is now learning the value of money and the value of a cute face to use on his grandparents when he knows he can't milk it out of us because he has his own money. He's beginning to sharpen his mathematical skills (except when Basti begins using the "square-root-of-God-knows-what-number" crap), and more than that, he's learning through positive reinforcement. Nice... but what I fear now is he's going to be "kuripot" like Basti and I are.
This week, Skye came home with his report card. Top 5. I'm a very proud mom, especially when you know that Skye really doesn't study at home - he hates it a lot. He called his Tito Basti as soon as he can, but there was something more than the numbers that he was proud of...
"May outstanding ako... A! Sa independence and self-confidence!"
Even if he is cities away, I can clearly imagine the proud smirk on his face. Who else would teach him that but the kid who got triple A's in those categories?
We are aware that parenthood is hard, and it will take lots of will power and determination to withstand pouty faces and spoiler cries, but it can be fun. Bottom line is, we can only guide up until they're able to walk on their own. We can't do the walking for them all their lives, because for one thing, they'd be so darn heavy by then. It's a rough journey, but we know that eventually, we'd get there, and I wouldn't care if he ends up being a Chef like what he wants to be (not a doctor or an architect :( ) as long as he is happy with what he's doing and he'd be the best darn chef ever so he could cook his mummy the yummiest pasta! But as for me, I am going to enjoy his baby kisses and his bear hugs while I can.
note: Skye the hyper boy was cuddling in his mummy's arms while this was being written.
I take it one day at a time when it comes to painting... err... raising a 7 year old tyke, but it pains me though to think that the days fly by so fast and before you know it, that little boy who cuddles up to me every chance he can get, sleeps on top of me, and kisses me on the lips while blowing in my mouth would one day find all of the acts awkward and childish. I dread of thinking about the time that he would start not kissing me and start kissing other girls instead. I shudder at the thought of his lips not touching mine again because his friends would feel that it's something only babies do. Then again, I think it's how baby boys were built. It's just the way things are, and I should slowly learn how to cut the apron strings before the knot gets too tight to undo. He will, after all, be a man, and real men don't hide behind momma's big ass.
If raising a kid alone for a few years is hard, I sometimes wonder how Basti feels about parenthood too. I mean, kid raising is hard, and raising a kid that's not yours is even harder. Well, it isn't really technically raising Skye already but it's because we're kind of preparing him for it. Our Sundays have evolved into family days or simply put... Skye day. It's funny how we treat choosing a place to go to a dilemma just because we would want it to be places where he'd get to learn something. Halloween and field demo costumes would be something to think about, and so is his penmanship and when to let him play with his Wii or Tito Basti's PS2. I sometimes laugh a little when he begins to wander around the mall only to come back when he hears his "come back" whistle (which he now uses too when HE begins to get lost). It's now choosing Mickey D's over Sbarro because they have something Sbarro doesn't have - the Happy Meal. It's draggingly watching "City of Ember" instead of "The House Bunny" because of the following words - R-13. It's having one of our most dramatic moments as a couple just because I couldn't bring myself to act tough when Skye began using his puppy pout on me that one time.
We placed him on allowance a few weeks ago, and I wasn't there when they talked about it like adults... Dunno what transpired during that lecture on allowance tracking but all I know is that he seemed to teach my son in a few minutes everything financial that he learned during his MBA years. He is now learning the value of money and the value of a cute face to use on his grandparents when he knows he can't milk it out of us because he has his own money. He's beginning to sharpen his mathematical skills (except when Basti begins using the "square-root-of-God-knows-what-number" crap), and more than that, he's learning through positive reinforcement. Nice... but what I fear now is he's going to be "kuripot" like Basti and I are.
This week, Skye came home with his report card. Top 5. I'm a very proud mom, especially when you know that Skye really doesn't study at home - he hates it a lot. He called his Tito Basti as soon as he can, but there was something more than the numbers that he was proud of...
"May outstanding ako... A! Sa independence and self-confidence!"
Even if he is cities away, I can clearly imagine the proud smirk on his face. Who else would teach him that but the kid who got triple A's in those categories?
We are aware that parenthood is hard, and it will take lots of will power and determination to withstand pouty faces and spoiler cries, but it can be fun. Bottom line is, we can only guide up until they're able to walk on their own. We can't do the walking for them all their lives, because for one thing, they'd be so darn heavy by then. It's a rough journey, but we know that eventually, we'd get there, and I wouldn't care if he ends up being a Chef like what he wants to be (not a doctor or an architect :( ) as long as he is happy with what he's doing and he'd be the best darn chef ever so he could cook his mummy the yummiest pasta! But as for me, I am going to enjoy his baby kisses and his bear hugs while I can.
note: Skye the hyper boy was cuddling in his mummy's arms while this was being written.
