Mrs. Brightside

I have been putting off writing this one. But I don't trust my memory. And this is part of my life that I choose to remember, no matter how painful it is.  Mama We lost Mama, my mother-in-law, on February 17, 2020. About a week before that, we were able to visit and spend a few hours with her. She happily watched the little boy's new antics.  On Friday, February 14, Papa's death anniversary, Mama went to the cemetery to visit him. She was still okay then. However, come night time, she suffered a stroke. The helper found her unconscious in her room. They rushed her to the hospital. Unfortunately, no ICU was available in the nearby facility. They had to move her to another hospital. While she was still not accommodated in the ICU, this hospital was bigger and had better facilities.  On Saturday, we dropped by to say hi to our still unconscious Mama in the emergency room. We spent Sunday with her as well.  Dawn of Monday, February 17, my husband got the dreaded message ...

Bolero (February 20, 2021) I’m feeling a little under the weather and he’s being extra sweet.  Mommy, I love you. You are the best girl. You’re the number 1 person I like. :) On Compromise (May 22, 2016) R: Watch A, B, C. D (who downloaded Lion King movies because little boy seemed to like the Lion Guard show on Disney): You don't want to watch Lion? R: Lion with A, B, C. D: You don't want to watch Lion King? I downloaded all 3 movies - Lion King 1, 2, and 3. R: Lion King with A, B, C, okay? === Mr. President (May 23, 2016) R was running around the house. We asked him to stop. He refused because he was... R: running the President. Election news overload. :D === Cannot eat Kalamansi R wanted to eat the kalamansi that came with the pancit we ordered. I did not let him do it so he cried. A few nights later, before he slept, he told me. R: No eating kalamansi. Asim. Put only pansit, water, kalamansi juice. :) === The Real Orange M: Do you want oran...

I just want to thank God for helping me survive the past week. I thrive on routine. If something makes me deviate from my routine, I'm shaken. I'm slowly learning how to live an unpredictable life since I am raising a toddler. But there are still basics I need to live by to keep me sane. The little boy goes out in the morning while I eat my breakfast and take a bath. He goes out again in the afternoon to give me some merienda and me time. He naps once a day to give everyone at home a break. His yaya is the main substitute caregiver. His father pops in once in a while to help. The past week was tough because both my husband and the yaya got sick. The little boy could not go out of the house so we were stuck with each other. I could only get about an hour long break throughout the day for my bath. I could not eat proper meals. And I had to worry about everyone's health. The only thing that I was praying for was for me and the little boy not to get sick. I was exhausted ...

My family has been staying in an Ortigas hotel for the holidays for the last 3 years. We love it because it’s directly connected to a mall.  The mall has a flower shop, Holland Tulips. It’s the first shop you see after getting off the escalator from the hotel’s 4th floor mall access. The past years, I would always take note of the shop. I didn’t know why. I could not associate it with any memory unlike the other shops where we bought stuff like my husband’s hiphop walking shorts.  Then yesterday afternoon, when I was absent-mindedly going down the escalator with my son, I suddenly remembered why that Holland Tulips was special. It was the flower shop I visited some 18 years ago where I ordered flowers to be delivered to a no labels whatchamacallit guy who started ghosting me. I sent the flowers as a last ditch effort to win him over to continue our no labels relationship. Of course, I did not succeed.  I was in a trance. I vividly remembered every detail like how the sale...

The past few days have been exhausting. Our helper left because of some health issues. We got someone who comes in once a week to clean the house and we have our clothes washed by a laundry shop. But of course there are still some things to take care of and they can be tiring. Work's been piling up a bit too. Add to that my homeschooling tasks and the demands of taking care of a toddler. Plus I got a bad cough. You would definitely get one monster mom. I admit I have not been very patient with the little boy. And I regret it most of the time. But sometimes I just can't help but take things out on him. Yesterday was extra challenging. My husband had to go to the gym so I was left to do all the morning tasks by myself. It was already 11 and we have not started our lessons yet. I had dishes to wash, clean clothes to return to the cabinet, new stuff to sort, etc. R was asking me to find a toy and I just got so pissed with his impatience. I might have raised my voice. I found ...

We officially started homeschooling this week. It's been okay, so far. Preparation takes a lot of time, especially for an OC person like me. I have a comfortable 3-week buffer so I guess that should make me calm down. But I admit that I am a bit anxious if I can sufficiently explain more complex topics to R. We'll see, we'll see. The sort of broken road that led us to homeschooling deserves its own blog post. But the trainings and actual homeschooling itself have reaffirmed that we made the right decision. Yes, I sometimes feel inadequate. And some nega people around saying elongated Okayyyyyy and Good luuuuuuuucckkkk whenever we tell them R will be homeschooled are not helping at all. But I just keep on telling myself that hey, I can always learn alongside R. I don't need to know everything. If there's something I don't know, we can always research together. I just need to pray for patience and wisdom. And so far, I have really been learning a lot with him an...