Down the Rabbit Hole

What children need the most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humour, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies. — Rudolph Guiliani  I grew up hanging out with Lola Bats and Lola Estay . They didn't offer cookies like Rudy Guiliani must be doing with his grandkids, but they did fill our tummies with yummy bulanglang  and  pupur ( dishes from Batangas), and chicken sandwiches and fried chicken (Lola Estay's specialities). I vaguely remember Lolo Bats because he passed away when I was five years old. I didn't spend a lot of time with Lolo Roman but I do remember slurping piping hot arroz caldo  every time I visited his house. My grandmothers proved to be strong-willed women while I know more about my grandfathers' reputations rather than who they really were.  I find my son and my nephew extraordinarily lucky to be doted upon by my parents: They are not the major childcare...

Teachable moments are defined as an unexpected opportunity seized by a teacher to offer their thoughts on a topic or to stimulate a student's mind to find answers to their questions (Lewis 2020). As a new mom, I look to my parents to learn how I can model their parenting styles (because they're different but complementary) to how I parent my child. I also read quite a few parenting books and articles , and follow responsive parenting accounts on social media. Based on what I've observed my parents do, I think they probably read the same books and articles and followed the same social media accounts... except that they have not. They probably just figured out, over the years, that being responsive to a child's needs is a good way of parenting. And even as all their kids are now adults, they still find opportunities to teach and to model. One particular instance pops up in my mind: Anna's a relatively new driver. She's not very confident in maneuvering her car t...

I haven't visited a zoo in a long time. My last visit to a zoo was in 2019 when I went to Singapore's Night Safari with Val. For this trip to the zoo, I was with the whole family, including Val and the wee one. It's pretty exciting for me because it's our son's first time to see the animals that he's only seen photos or videos of. I really appreciate that Biboy and Barbara invited us to join them because it's such a fun trip. I didn't expect that we'd meet the resident lesser flamingoes just beyond the zoo's gates. These pink birds are known to thrive in salt marshes in Africa (including Benin) and India. They are omnivorous, but they eat Spirulina , a type of algae that thrives in alkaline water. This alga has pigments that make the flamingoes turn pink.  After we've passed the flamingoes, we encountered a few reticulated giraffes. These are mostly found in the wild in the Horn of Africa, preferably living in savannahs, woodlands, or floodpl...

As I grow into my role as a mom, I realise that there are two camps about toddlers' crying and whining. On the one hand, parents believe that toddlers have some episodes of fake crying in which they try to manipulate parents into doing what their toddlers want. On the other, parents believe that crying is a form of communication, especially for pre-verbal toddlers (the tantrums become less frequent as toddlers learn to say what they need). The parents who believe tantrums are "weapons of manipulation" (I actually heard someone say this) prescribe ignoring the behaviour. "Don't add fuel to the fire", so to speak. For example, if a toddler had a minor fall, parents should help the toddler brush themselves off and encourage the toddler to continue playing instead of showing sympathy or giving extra attention; otherwise, the toddler learns that each time he falls, his parent(s) will dote on them even more. The parents who believe that tantrums are a mode of comm...

Now that California is slowly going back to normal, it's time to introduce the wee one to playgrounds! The challenge is to find a space big enough for him to practice walking, sparse enough so we don't have to worry about COVID-19, and contains play equipment appropriate for his age. Of course, the safest approach is for me to make his very own playground at home (expensive!); but being around other people in a public space will benefit him, so we still have to visit public playgrounds. As of this time, we've visited four playgrounds quite close to home. Here's a quick description of our playground visits: Oak Hills Athan Downs Matteo's Dream Blackhawk Plaza Crowd size (during our visit) 웃웃 웃웃웃웃웃 웃웃웃웃 웃 All-abilities playground No info ✅ ✅ No info Rubber floor ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ...

We invited a larger group, for the first time, after everyone who we planned to invite were already fully immunised (i.e., two weeks had passed since their second dose of Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, or since their shot of the J&J vaccine). And the occasion: Val's nth birthday (many weeks delayed as we waited for the stragglers to become fully immunised). Ate Maddie outdid herself by creating multiple cheese platters adorned with fresh fruit, jams, and biscuits. JP, once again, cooked scrumptious sous-vide salmon. It's so good that my son ate most of my salmon portion! Aung Maylika , our go-to restaurant for Burmese fare, also impressed our guests with its tea leaf salad and other dishes. I wasn't in the loop most of the time because I was taking care of the little one (who fell asleep despite Kuya Merlin's booming voice and infectious laughter); however, it proved to be an excellent party because the company was great, the conversations were flowing, and we...

On another visit to Vallejo, I thought that it would be nice for me and the wee one to hang out in a park while waiting for Val to finish up at the dental clinic (he had three appointments; during two of them, the wee one and I visited the Blue Rock Springs Park ). Dan Foley Park was just a few miles away so the wee one and I went there to while away the potentially long dental appointment. Looking at Lake Chabot's resident ducks Dan Foley Park has a lot to offer. It has a cultural centre, a man-made lake (Lake Chabot was built in the late 1800s), a football pitch, and a baseball diamond. On top of these features, the park also has a children's playground and several picnic areas. (The park had me at "man-made lake".) When we arrived, I learned that parking was free that day (perhaps, COVID-19 restrictions made for slow days at the park). And because the park is huge, I decided to park in a lot nearest Lake Chabot. From there, the wee one and I went around the cultu...