During school lunch a few weeks ago, T proclaimed to his class he was refunding his parents. His CYW recounted to us with amusement, via text message, that T ranted out loud that he had told Daddy (the hubby) many times that he didn’t want meatballs for lunch and still got them. Due to thisContinue reading “Angels in the Infield”
Tag Archives: love
Life is a Gift
Live and love as if it’s your first and last day on Earth. Our caring, curious, funny and not-so-little guy turned 9 this weekend. How is that possible?! The past year brought adventures and hard losses and through it all, he steps forward with his fun-seeking, resilient and endlessly energetic spirit. Our consecutive hard lossesContinue reading “Life is a Gift”
A Thousand Words
Sometimes, a picture sums up life’s depth of emotions better than words ever could. Yesterday, we had lunch with family to celebrate Ma and my aunt’s birthdays. Ma’s absence was noticeable. Afterwards, my uncle, recently returned from the Philippines, gave me Ma’s urn. It was a strange feeling holding it in my hands. The logicalContinue reading “A Thousand Words”
Personal Affection Day
On Friday, T asked to stay home instead of going to daycare for PA Day. “I just need a break,” he said. On Professional Activity (PA) Days, kids get a day off school and teachers focus on professional learning. My first instinct to T’s request was no. The hubby and I had work, remotely atContinue reading “Personal Affection Day”
The Oldest Chinatown in the World
I recently visited my childhood neighbourhood in the Philippines, 35 years after moving away. Over the holidays, I unexpectedly flew to Manila after Ma fell ill and with a very sad outcome. After Ma was admitted to ICU, I could no longer visit her. So, with thanks to uncles, I visited Binondo, the neighbourhood myContinue reading “The Oldest Chinatown in the World”
Fighting Spirit
Grit, resilience and work ethic are wonderful lessons I learned from Ma. I thought about times she demonstrated them during my recent unexpected visit to the Philippines, as she battled for her life. At 15, she left her home in the province to move to the city in Manila to attend university – working tutoringContinue reading “Fighting Spirit”
Far From Home
During the holidays, I unexpectedly flew to the other side of the world to visit my ailing Ma. Ma moved back to the Philippines in July. In early December, her myositis autoimmune disease, which attacks and weakens her leg muscles, resurfaced and a few days before Christmas, she had a fall at home. On ChristmasContinue reading “Far From Home”
The Gift of the Redo
Christmas is a time for forgiveness and it is the kindest gift one could give and receive. When we were having rough patches this fall with T – a part of the FASD parenting life – we met with our developmental pediatrician, who has been supporting T since he was 18 months. In addition toContinue reading “The Gift of the Redo”
“I Believe in the Power of You and I”
We attended T’s wonderful school holiday concert this week and it moved me to tears. The school concert was the first since the pandemic, and T and the kids did such a great job. It brought back wonderful memories of holiday and Spring concerts, pre pandemic, when T was in preschool and kindergarten. I rememberContinue reading ““I Believe in the Power of You and I””
Love and Karma
The energy we send into the universe is the energy we invite into our lives. I found this belief challenged the past few weeks, because of T’s chaos – meltdowns, foul language, rude attitude, defiant behaviour at school. It was draining – and at one point, I told the hubby I did not have theContinue reading “Love and Karma”
Smells Like Teen Spirit
A creature is growing in our home that is more horrifying than the supernatural or undead. Saturday morning, I was enjoying coffee in the dining room when I heard the hubby say with alarm, “Oh my God, T, you’re turning.” It was a full moon on Halloween weekend. Did we have a werewolf in ourContinue reading “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
The Power of Yet
T asked the lifeguard if he could try the deep end test. It was his first-ever attempt. Would he make it? I thought about this recent outing at the community pool, as it’s goal-setting time for the school year. This year, I love how T’s teacher included the kids in the process, using the PowerContinue reading “The Power of Yet”
Fried Spam with Rice
Like many immigrant kids, I’ve experienced many “smelly weird” school lunches packed by Pa. But I loved them all and the one I looked forward to most was fried spam on a warm bed of rice. I would inhale the luncheon meat, its greasy goodness soaked up by the rice. This weekend is Pa’s deathContinue reading “Fried Spam with Rice”
Tree of Life
There is a special tree, that sways to the side like a painting, that serves as a route marker of time. Killbear is special because it is the first place we camped together at as a family. It is the first family vacation we took during the pandemic and we were so excited to getContinue reading “Tree of Life”
Shooting Stars
Night hikes are a camping tradition and when darkness fell, we excitedly set off for the rocks. After our spontaneous sunset swim and jumping off beautiful rocks at Killbear, we roasted marshmallows and made s’mores at our campsite. T was now sugared up on s’mores and a watermelon slush from dinner. He was bouncing offContinue reading “Shooting Stars”
Leap of Faith
We were racing against sunset as we hiked up the rocky hill to get to the cliffs to jump into the bay. It was our first day camping at Killbear and we had just finished dinner. We had decided we would do cliff jumping the following day, but T was insistent, so the hubby andContinue reading “Leap of Faith”
Our Budding Influencer
“Hi guys,” T says sweetly and excitedly to his phone, on video record mode, to his imaginary followers. He goes on to narrate what he’s doing, emulating the online influencers and livestreamers he enjoys watching, like Ethan Gamer. It appears we have a budding influencer. T started doing this at his grandparents’ cottage during ourContinue reading “Our Budding Influencer”
Catch and Release
Kids catching lobsters washed up on the beach gave me a good reminder about abundance of gratitude. On the second morning of our recent visit to T’s grandparents’ cottage, we went for a walk by the beach, an activity T enjoyed several times a day. We stumbled upon three boys carrying buckets and excitedly catchingContinue reading “Catch and Release”
All That We Leave Behind
In the end, it’s about memories and we hang onto photos and things that remind us of loved ones. In a year of losses, our family experienced another loss – Ma moved back to Philippines at the end of July. We knew for over a year this day was coming – it was delayed dueContinue reading “All That We Leave Behind”
Rain or Shine
When things don’t go as planned, like pneumonia ambushing vacation, I look for the silver lining. We had a nice 10 days visiting T’s grandparents in New Brunswick, despite me being ill for most of it. On our third day, I started to feel nauseous, had shaking chills and developed a fever – which reachedContinue reading “Rain or Shine”
My Life With T 