I seldom see Dennis over-react to something. He’s not like me who SOMETIMES just wants to exaggerate every emotion and reaction. Hehe…. God, in His sovereignty, knew that he had to create a Dennis who is stable in his emotions, to give to a Thammie who is….well, a woman.

What I witnessed earlier, however, was something quite out of the ordinary. Upon waking up, Mika rushed over to us to tell us about something very exciting. One could tell how excited she was to share what she had to share from her smile, her eyes, her tone of voice….well, just about everything. I guessed that the reason for the excitement was because she was about to tell us about her summer class. I was right— it was about that….somewhat.

I initially thought that Mika was excited simply because it’s the first time that we enrolled the kids to any summer class (That’s right. After six years of Alyanna’s existence, she finally knows what it’s like to have summer classes!). But more than the activities, Mika went on to tell us about something else:

Mika: “Mom! A guy in my class told me, ‘Oh, you’re sooo tyoot (cute)! I want to kiss you!” …And then he tissed (kissed) me! And then we all started laughing. My other classmates also started laughing because he tissed me and said that I was tyoot! But it’s otay (okay) because he just tissed me on the cheets (cheeks) lang! ”

Me: *semi-shocked but trying to contain myself* “Uh-huh. I see…..okay…go tell dad about it….”

I then motioned for Dennis to listen and PAY ATTENTION. He was playing NBA at the time that Mika told me about it (FYI: NBA = physically present but mentally absent unless otherwise requested to be present mentally as well).

Mika: “Dad! A guy in my class told me, ‘Oh, you’re sooo tyoot (cute)! I want to kiss you!” …And then he tissed (kissed) me! And then we all started laughing. My other classmates also started laughing because he kissed me and said that I was tyoot! But it’s otay (okay) because he just tissed me on the cheets (cheeks) lang!” *excitement still showing*

Daddy: *drops the iPad and turns to Mika….then points his finger to emphasize the importance of what he was about to say* “What?!?! Okay, the next time a guy does that to you, you tell me right away okay? I’m going to fight the guy and get mad at him!”

Innocent little four-year old Mika: *gulp* …and I assume there was a thought bubble that said “Uh, did I say something wrong???”

After a few seconds, she said “O–kay…”, but she still had that “gulp”-y expression on her face.

Mighty emotionally-stable mom to the rescue!!!

Me: “Oh, Mika. *big smile* How nice noh? They think you’re so cute, maybe because you are so kind to them, huh? *big smile*….But the next time someone tells you that they want to kiss you, just tell them right away that you can only kiss mom and dad okay?” *big smile*

Dennis: *starting to get my drift….now trying to sound calm* “Yes, and remember the ONLY boy who can kiss you until you have a husband is daddy. NOBODY ELSE. Okay????”

Mika: *back to her excited self* “Or maybe I can just tell them only the cheets is allowed??”

Dennis: “NO! Not even the cheeks. Only daddy. No boy is allowed to kiss you!”

….Okay…. Dennis, you still have about ten years (I hope) to work on your “my-daughter-just-said-the-word-boy!” responses.

Good thing you have a very calm and stable wife, eh? hehehe ;D

One thing that I love about homeschooling is that we are not bound by time nor space when it comes to doing our schoolwork. We have the liberty to bring our children with us whenever we choose to.

I attended our Biblical Counseling Seminar, but I was already out the whole day and so we didn’t get to study yet.

Thank God for “portable” schooling! hehe

I could listen and take notes while Alyanna did some drills…

And when it was time for group discussion/workshop, I also went back and did our own version of discussing…about our lesson.

Er….Uhm…In case you noticed and were wondering why Alyanna’s holding an Ipad instead of her book…. ah…well, the pictures were taken when I was already checking her work. But, promise— We were studying! And I gave her legit work…really. Promise!!! hehehe O:)

Here’s another mother-daughter dialogue over lunch:

Alyanna:”Mom, why are you so quiet all of a sudden? Are thinking of how to fix our house?”

Me: “Hmm…not really, but yeah I’m also wondering about that, I guess…”

Alyanna: “But mom, you don’t have to! Our house is perfect!”

Me: “Oh, thank you! But when you say perfect, what do you mean? What makes you say that it’s perfect?”

Alyanna: “Well, because you’re special. So even when you’re just thinking about fixing, it’s already special. It’s already perfect to me. Does that make sense or you still don’t get it?” (She was so cute when she said this, so…feeling grown-up!!)

Me: “Hmm…Can you explain that some more please?”

Alyanna: “I said, diba you’re special to me? So that means whatever you think about, it’s special also. How you fix the house, it’s special to me na….so it’s perfect for me!”

This couldn’t have been a more timely reminder for me. As homemakers, we (or is it just me??) easily get caught up with trying to make the house look nice and neat, with the intention of providing our family with the best experience of “home”. I need to get all the countertops organized! I need to arrange this so it would fit perfectly and go with that! I need to fix this and work on that!

What Alyanna said struck me: our home is perfect, our home is special…because mom is special. She didn’t require for her room to have all the best stuff, nor her closet be filled with the nicest clothes, nor her shelves be lined with the most expensive toys. She didn’t mind the current mess that’s sitting in our hallway waiting to be moved before she could say that our house is perfect.

THIS….is “perfect”?!???

Our kids’ definition of perfection is different from how grown-ups would usually define it. Their perception of a perfect home is not based on how their house looks like, but about the people that make up their home— their family. In short, they would rather have me playing with them and sharing memories with them than me spending the entire time fixing our house or finding nice things to put in our house. They would rather have me and be with me.

Mom is special, and that’s what makes the home special!

And it doesn’t matter to them either that mom often make mistakes (in my case, a lot of them! hehe). To them, mom is perfect on the basis of her place in their hearts— because she is special. And as long as they are with mom (and dad of course), home is special….and perfect.

Whew! Thank God! No pressure na!

Last week, I noticed that Alyanna’s lower front teeth had moved forward. I initially thought this was because of her occasional tongue-thrusting, but she assured me that she has been able to stop herself from doing that habit already. This week, I observed that the teeth had moved forward a little bit more. When I checked her teeth, this is what I saw:

A PERMANENT TOOTH ERUPTING!!!!!!!!

What?!?!  How did this happen??? Last week there was nothing behind those  teeth and now…. a permanent tooth?!?!

This transition only means one thing: My little  girl is growing up at a faster rate than I thought! (Waahh!!!)

*sigh*

So yeah, I’ve been a bit sentimental lately. Mika’s growing taller…Alyanna’s getting taller…. Mika’s hair is growing longer…..Alyanna’s hair is getting thicker…their pajamas are getting shorter…. lahat nalang!

OA is what you can call me, pala. Hehe It’s a good thing the girls are riding along and have been extra sweet to me too!

Let’s enjoy our kids being kids while we still can!

One thing that the kids love is hear me run my lessons or preachings by them (hehe eew I make it sound like it’s a lot! haha! It’s not that many naman).  Aside from checking that I have sufficient time, it is also helpful to download my lessons to them because if I can make my little girls understand them, it means that I have understood my topic well enough, too.

One time, after “preaching” to the girls and checking to see if they understood what I wanted them to get, Mika raised a question. “Mom, what about Beauty and the Beast??” 

Huh??

My topic had absolutely nothing to do with this favorite Disney fairytale! I was talking about the Gospel, the Cross, our identity in God….and then, Beauty and the Beast?!?? Was she even listening?? What a silly question! 

Well, maybe I just didn’t hear her question well. Maybe her question was….. “What was your question again, Mika?”

“What about Beauty and the Beast??”, her tone was now a bit more serious. She sincerely believed that her question warranted a good answer. It was vital to her understanding of my preaching.

But I still thought it was a silly question— a waste of time, even. “Mika, that’s just a movie. Stop thinking about it already.”  I just didn’t even want to try and give an answer to what she considered was a very valid question.

But then….ting! It hit me.

Yes! That’s right! Beauty and the Beast!!!

“Oh! Mika! I get it now. Yes, sorry I forgot to explain about Beauty and the Beast.

What happened there? There was the beast, who was….well, a beast, right? but despite that, Belle chose to love him. What happened when Belle loved the Beast in spite of of how he looked and the state that he was in? He got transformed and he became a prince again, right? 

Well, all of us, we’re actually all like the beast. We’re so unlovable and ugly…but what happened? God chose to love us anyway, right? And it’s that very love of God that has transformed us and made us beautiful! Now, we are not beasts anymore! We are princesses because God chose to love us!”

What followed was a huge smile…and a look that said “lightbulb moment!”  :D

How often do we dismiss some of our kids’ questions because we thought they were silly? Or maybe we do acknowledge their questions but not really give much thought to the answers because they seem to have nothing to do to what we are trying to teach our children at the moment? I’m guilty of this at times. *big grin* ….But if we really think about it, there are no silly questions when it comes to our children. To them, every question is valid. Every question deserves an answer. Every question is an opportunity to learn and grow.

“Silly” is just a word that grown-ups came up with as an excuse to ignore questions when we’re too preoccupied or too….lazy…to come up with good answers.

I was scrolling through Twitter while we were stuck in traffic last night and I read this: “Famed children’s book co-author Jan Berenstain dies.”  Since my kids and I are fans of The Berenstain Bears, I immediately decided to read up some more about the author/illustrator.

You can read and find more here (CNN), here (Yahoo!), and here (Time)…

….But here are some bits from CNN and Yahoo! News that amazed me:

“Berenstain and her husband, Stan, were already successful cartoonists when they decided to transition to writing children’s books.

According to publisher Harper Collins, “The Big Honey Hunt,” published in 1962, was the first book starring the bear family.

Since that time, more than 330 “Berenstain Bears” books have been published over the past 50 years, the publisher said.

More than 260 million copies have been sold, making it one of the best-selling children’s book series in history, Harper Collins said.”

(from cnn.com)

After Stan passed away in 2005, Jan continued writing new books, often with the help of her son, Mike. The series has grown with the times, covering topics like the dangers of bringing guns to school, online safety, and childhood obesity.

According to Mike, Jan had been working on two more books in her Pennsylvania home at the time of her death. “Every day she was very productive,” he said. “[She] had been doing illustrations until the day before she passed away.” In a 2011 interview, Jan told theAssociated Press, “It’s wonderful to do something you love for so many years. Not everyone has that.”

(from Yahoo! News)

After reading all these links, I have to say that I greatly admire not just her work, but how this Mama Bear lived her life partnering with her husband to do and create something that would outlive both of them, how she successfully passed on her love for writing and illustrating to her son, and how she lived her life to the very end– doing the very thing she was gifted and called to do. The success of all their books is just  a bonus.

This is how I want to live my life– to partner with my husband in doing something that would outlive both of us, to pass on to my children the things that I am passionate about, and to live my life doing what I love and know I am gifted and called to do to the very end. Everything else that would come with this kind of success will all be just a bonus.

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photo credits: http://www.mysanantonio.com

http://www.cbc.ca

http://www.seattlepi.com