The Beaver

People have been telling Gael that he has Justin Bieber hair.  He shrugged it off until he got it so much that he asked me "Who is Justin Beaver?".  I told him he was a singer and we googled some pictures.  He was thrilled.  "Mama, he's a rock star!"  Not exactly but I suppose at 5 there are no lines between a pop idol and a rock star.  Everyday now he brushes his hair to look like the Beaver.  This sparked an interest to wear hoodies because Justin Beaver wears them.

He has also recently been picking Jonas or iCarly over cartoons.  He says they are so cool and awesome.  Awesome for me.  Soon he's going to be wanting the Jonas and the Beaver CDs.  Oh no, he's going to want them on my iPod so we can play them while we have dinner.  Awesome.   

Expanding Genres

I a have rule for the earthlings that we all love and abuse.  I will only buy toys on birthdays, Christmas and extra special occasions but I will buy as many books as they want.  When we're thinking of what to do on the weekend I love it when they says "Let's go to the bookstore!".  It makes me feel like a kick ass mom that imbibes culture and literature in these little people.  They love to read, but most kids seem to love books.  So this bookworm thing might not last, I sure as hell will be working on keeping them into books forever.

At our last trip to the bookstore, I wanted them to think out of the box.  Even just a little bit.  As much as a 5 and 3-year old can.  Instead of the usual Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, dinosaur, superhero and animal books we get, I suggested some Philippine legends.  My earthlings need more Filipino in them and this seemed like a prefect way to do it.  Subtle yet entertaining.

I remember having a big book of Philippine legends when I was little and I loved it.  Most of them were tragic but I didn't care.  On the contrary, I loved those that didn't have happy endings.  I was the weird kid that snickered at the boring fairy tale happily ever afters.  Legends are surreal, magical and kinda trippy.  My favorite one was of the Dama de Noche flower.  Don't ask me what the legend is, I only remember thinking it would be so cool to turn into a gorgeous and fragrant flower, which then made me hate how boring my life was.

Back to the bookstore.  So we were at the children's Filipiniana shelf (Ironically, a rather tiny section of the bookstore that calls itself National Bookstore.) and I spot age appropriate books and quite a selection by Lampara Books.  I pick out The Legend of Pasig and The Legend of the Carabao.  They both get excited when we cross Pasig river and when we see carabaos, so they had to be winners.  Right?  Nope.  Gael just gives me this can-I-get-this-Spiderman-book-instead look.  While Aiden asks if there are penguins in the book.  Ummm, no and no.

I make a deal with them, first we read the books and IF they still don't like them we don't have to get them.  We sealed the deal with a bribe of spaghetti and pizza at CPK.  The Legend of the Carabao was full of mythical creatures like the capre, they were captivated.  That or they wanted to head off to CPK.  Doesn't matter to me, we got the books and they love reading them.  They are so proud that the Carabao is a Philippine animal and they know how the first ever carabaos came to be.  Each time we cross Pasig river, they now love to retell the story of Pas and Makisig.  We definitely need more. 

Let me end this post with a funny little story.  Unless it is only funny if you were there and I was the ONLY one there, in that case I will be ending this post with a very strange story.  I checked out Lampara Books' website and was shocked to discover they have actual bookstores called Precious Pages in a ton of SM malls.  When I clicked on their online shop I almost fell off my chair, they have a whole line of Mills and Boons type books under the category Precious Hearts Romances.  That gave me a good laugh.  I had no idea people still read those books.  I think I'll stick to kiddie books.

Snack Time: Ice Cream Heaven

The earthlings are chocolate lovers.  Chocolate in any shape and form.  I'm an ice cream lover, my childhood was all about eating the most ice cream.  My grandmother had a whole freezer full of it just for us grandkids.  Maybe I've passed on this ice cream craziness to the earthlings but who doesn't love ice cream?  We live in a tropical country and are lucky enough to have the weather to enjoy it every day, so why the hell not.

 

Breakfast Buffets Rock

I have one picky eater, one that eats everything plus some of mine and a husband that throws chili oil and sili in everything.  Meals at home have never been easy.  If only we could afford breakfast buffets everyday we'd all be much happier.

Living Iconoclastic In Catholic Manila

I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of the Catholic Church and because of that I am not quite sure how to deal with religion when it comes to the earthlings.  I've been trying to do it gradually with a couple bible stories.  Yes, a couple.  That's how far we've gone.  I know, I am totally slacking.  (Side Note: they're really good at football, art and reading.)

The thing I don't want them to ever, ever have is that Catholic guilt I was brought up with.  I want them to learn to be their best by trying, not by pointing out all things the church says are bad.  I'll never forget when I learned about the 10 commandments and confession before receiving my first holy communion.  What pressure on a 7-year-old child!!!  To have a first confession when one hasn't sinned at all.  Oh and let's not forget about original sin.  I just don't get point.

So here I am trying my best to keep what I consider the ugly side of Catholicism away from my earthlings but apparently that's not possible when they have friends from a Catholic all girls school in an unnamed village in Makati.  Unfortunately some things never change and Gael has been led to believe by twin 7-year-olds that "God is in all of us so when you fight me, you fight God."  What a nightmare!

God is strong.  God is just.  God is beautiful.  God is generous.  They could have passed these positive and lovely points to Gael but instead they show him the art of threatening and using religion.  I can only hope that this isn't all they've been learning from religion class.  Although I seriously doubt a religion class will ever be progressive, not in the Philippines at least.  I can't wait to see the wonder twins next and give them a dose of my pragmatism, I will definitely be the most unpopular mom on the block.

Traditional & Progressive Schools Part 2

Remember this forum Explorations was hosting on traditional and progressive schools?  One of my favorite mom bloggers My Mom Friday attended and tells you about it here.  For those of you still deciding on what school to send your kids to but weren't able to go to the forum or for anyone that values education, this is a must read. 

Homework For Kids or Moms?

On the rare occasion that the earthlings have homework I pretty much let them do it themselves.  I don't run out for a massage or pedicure at homework time, I'm still home.  Dear readers, I'm not that spaced out.  I guide them but let them do their own things.  Now before you think that my earthlings are geniuses, remember that Gael is 5 and Aiden is 3 so homework is not really homework.  Hey, they don't even have grades at this level.  It usually involves sticking pictures of how your family spends weekends or what the kids enjoy doing or their favorite food on a large sheet of colored paper.  So it isn't exactly the multiplication table of nine that absolutely has a right and a wrong answer. 

See I figure it's art, so I should just let them be.  I make sure the work gets done but I don't tell them how to do it.  Aiden sticks his pictures upside down.  Gael doesn't put any color when he doesn't feel like it.  Aiden refuses to put any stickers or anything decorative.  Gael wants to stick lion stickers on a baking picture.  SURE!  Go ahead, it's your work not mine. 

BUT.  But. But. But.  Today was Aiden's culminating activity at school.  After the short program we walked around the classroom looking at all the cool and artsy stuff the kids did.  When it came to the area of the show and tell large sheets of colored paper of what you enjoy doing, Aiden's was obviously the ONLY one done by a 3-year-old.  All the others had the pictures neatly aligned, with cute little drawings of flowers and shells and butterflies, stickers in all the right places.  His was easily the messiest and most incoherent work but it was totally endearing.  Totally.  Dude. 

I know I'm usually the oddball but it got me wondering if I'm the one being stupid.  Maybe I should tell Aiden that the pictures don't want to be hung upside down like bats.  Maybe I should suggest to Gael that a cake sticker is more relevant than a lion sticker.  Maybe I should pretty it up myself when they are done.  Well, I could be wrong.  The bad parent.  The slacker mom.  Come on, even I admit there is a possibility that I am mistaken.  A one in a billion possibility, but it's still probable.

Analog Baby

Finding hip clothes for hipster kids is not easy at all.  There is too much frou frou and preppy crap in stores.  I love to shop but too much of these cutee patootee merchandise just wants to make me puke.  What about the rest of us non-preppy and dare I say hipster parents?  When oh when will H&M open in the Philippines?

I'm always on the look out for cool tees.  Something that I wouldn't mind wearing myself but not in the D&G kids price range.   Analog Soul makes one of the hippest tees in town and they've just hooked up with In The Crib.   Et voila!  Analog Baby is born.  Check out the collection here. 

This one is my favorite.  I love the color!

Shake That Booty!

Culo Dance
Originally uploaded by ronevalles

I know Aiden will hate me for posting this ten years from now. But it's hilarious! How can I NOT share it with all of you lovely people. This dance he has appropriately called the Culo Dance.

Shoe Sale

I'm a shopper.  Not only am I a shopper but I'm a big sale shopper.  If a store has that big red tag sign I'm in it.  I can look through rack upon rack, pile after pile to find the right size, style and color.  I'm a really good at it, I think sale shopping is my special gift.  Having been a shop girl for close to a decade, I'm also gifted at guessing people's sizes.  So I absolutely HATE it when I make a size mistake.  Especially when it's a sale purchase. 

So what was the point of this post?  I'm not quite sure myself but please indulge me and read on.  Last week I bought the wrong shoe size for Gael and as sale karma would have it, he didn't have the right size in the 50% off sale section when I went back the next day.  Not only did I have to get him regular priced shoes, I ended up getting him the more expensive printed ones.

I couldn't resist the little sneaker print!  I just realized that the Superga website has it in the girls' section.  They would sell so much more if they put it in a unisex section.  Pretty funky for a 5-year-old shoe.  Don't you think? 

Superga is available at Rustan’s Makati, Rustan’s Tower, Rustan’s Alabang, Eastwood Mall, and Greenbelt 5.  I've been to the Eastwood and Rustan's Shang stores, the staff is extremely helpful and not annoying at all.