Kyla's First Holy Communion

It was a special day for our daughter Kyla.   It was the day she will be receiving her First Holy Communion.  I'd say special and meaningful. Unlike me who grew up and attended an all girls Catholic school where First Holy Communion is part of the second graders Christian living or  religious education, from where we live, the First Holy Communion is a privilege to be earned and not an automatic bestowal that comes with a certain age.

Kyla attends a non-sectorial, non-religous affiliated international school.  In this setting, raising morally upright, God-loving children lies fully in the parents' responsibility.  And this is not just a matter of providing religous education or catechism, but at the end of the day, walking the talk and giving your children an exemplary model of what it means to know and love God.

Although we have been attending Sunday mass, we learned that to prepare for First Holy Communion, children are required to attend catechism every Sunday to help them prepare for receiving the Sacrament of Contrition and Holy Communion. 

We have come to meet the catechists in the Our Lady of Lourdes Church who leads the Sunday catechism class for children, mostly volunteers that include the elderly ladies who dedicate significant time of their life in the service of the church and yound men and women who teach catechism to children.

Children are allowed to receive First Holy Communion only when they are ready and demonstrate maturity in understanding what it truly meant to receive Christ and participate fully in the Sunday mass.  Incidentally, there is only one window every year for First Holy Communicants to receive this sacrament.

We are thankful that after only a few months of catechism class, Kyla was ready for First Holy Communion. She loved her catechism sessions so much that she continued to attend the Sunday classes before hearing the Sunday mass at church.

Seeing our little girl dressed in girly white dress and veil also poignantly remind us that she is, after all, no longer a baby but growing into a graceful, elegant young lady soon.   And we pray that she grow up continuing to have the love of Christ in her heart.   In the end, it is all that truly matters in this life.

Flexing My Wings: How I Overcome Shyness

The butterfly is my chosen icon for Metamorphosis. There is parallelism between the lowly and unglamorous caterpillar transforming into a butterfly after weeks of hibernation. The original article Metamorphosis was born at a clandestine time when I was going through my own coming to age journey.

Reaching Out

In my second year in college, I experienced working in a fast-food industry as a service crew. Financial crisis struck our family and supporting me through college put a toll to our finances so I had to find a way to help out. I was a shy person and you'd understand that this is quite an effort for me. I dont mind working but one that required constant exposure to people is enough to make me cringe. Not to mention that I had to learn my way in getting SSS, NBI, Medical clearance, interviews, etc etc and enduring long queue.

My first job was at Dunkin Donuts in Sta. Lucia East Mall. We were to be the 1st set of crew in this franchise store in Cainta, Rizal. The glitch? We had to complete a 72-hour OJT in their shop located at Novaliches! And we did not even get paid for it, mind you. For the OJT duration we received an allowance of Php30/day which, if you add up the fact that I had to eat and commute from Binangonan Rizal daily, is not even enough for a day really. But between nothing and a prospect of a job, we had to take it anyway. I left Rizal at 4:30 am daily because my shift starts at 8AM and came home past 9 PM. I met my friend Mhel in my first day of OJT and we were both from Binangonan. Our friendship continued long after I went back to my college, graduated and worked in Makati. I was even in her wedding entourage and a godmother to her daughter. There were six crew in the Cainta branch and being a small team, we bonded naturally and worked well together. They were all present in my 18th birthday and we continued our friendship long after our contract ended.

My next job during my 4th year in college was at Pizza Hut. It was also a new store in the same mall where Dunkin Donuts was located. You can also say that after my stint at DD, a veil was lifted from me and somehow helped me overcome my shyness. I was more confident already when I joined PH and had less trace of awkwardness that I had years before. I was stationed at the slice pizza counter. I already started writing for the college journal then and the other crew would always run to me if they had to write promisory notes.

I realized now that it was after my stint with the fastfood industry that I actually learned to overcome my shyness and be more comfortable around people. After my DD stint, I finally had the strength to apply for the staffwriter position at the college journal, compete for (and won) a position in the Chem Engg Society organization, led the SK at our hometown and many others.

Looking back, I did not only gain experience about life, I also got an important gift for myself.

The Gift of Generosity

Eversince Kyla started owning coin purses, mostly as a gift or souvenir pasalubong from someone, she always made it a point to fill them up with coins. She is so resourceful that her pink piggy purse or her tarsier purse from Bohol would always be brimming with coins.

When I travelled home this month and we had quite a time together, it was then that I saw for the first time what she has been up to.

When we heard our Sunday Mass, Kyla would no longer ask me for money during the Offertory. She turned to her own coin purse and brought out coins for the offering. She even gave some coins to her Kuya Kevin. This made me smile. I am proud of my little girl!

Later thay day while going around the mall and shopping for home stuff, whenever we will stop by at the cashier, Kyla took out coins from her purse and drop a peso or two to the tin can coin banks beside the cashier. She did this for at least 3 outlets we visited. Kyla knows that these coin banks go to charity work, usually for Red Cross or Bantay Bata, she once asked me what they are for. This also made the cashiers and sales ladies smile.

By mid-day, her once heavy coin purse is empty.

And so whenever I have change of coins after paying the cashier, she would ask for them. I think she also collects the coins from our garage sale at home. She never rans out of coins to be sure. I believe generous people-- despite giving away what they have-- they never really lose anything. They gain back more vs. what they have given away and most of all, they gain back more blessings and reap good karma points.

It is so refreshing and heartwarming how a child develops the gift of generosity amidst her world where the young are surrounded by crass materialism and me-first attitude.

I am proud of you, my little one!

And as I waved my goodbye to her this morning, though I leave Manila today with a heavy heart, I know that she will be alright. In more ways than one. 

(Musings from NAIA, thanks to the reliable wi-fi, it worked this time)

A House and a Home

Been busy house hunting for the past three weeks or so.

Exciting, interesting, riveting and of course tiring. It helped that I have been trained on Options Analysis, Success Criteria and Key Drivers. It made a big difference when it boiled down to the Final Two choices.

As I was looked forward previewing the so-called future home towering above me, I could not help but also think about our home in Sta. Rosa, Laguna that will be the soon-to-be-ex-house with poignant memories. Come to think of it, two years ago my husband and I made the big leap to finally build our home/house and it ended to be everything we both dreamed of and a place where the kids would be warm and secured. It was in a way a symbolic commitment on our end that it was a place where we would now be settling down for the many years to come. We even thought of selling the land and moving on the side of Sta. Rosa where new neighborhoods and villages are bustling. But we also believed that it wasnt just the prestige of those new places that mattered -- really, it was our community of friends in La Joya and their warm treatment of Kevin that held us back. That home also brought about many blessings and good karma to our family. Alvin and I both felt good we stayed in La Joya. The thought of having to relinquish ties with the old home seemed unnerving. I thought of every stick and stone that carried priceless memories.

In the Settling-In tour that Alvin and I had during his visit to Singapore, a nice Swiss lady was assigned as our settling in consultant. She has been married for more than 16 years and lived all those years in SG. Over a nice lunch at Lee Soy Chicken Rice (I hope I remembered it right...) along the SG backstreets, she shared something that her husband told her once when they were deliberating to sell their house in Switzerland ... "A house is just a house."

I had to tell myself again. A house is just a house. I had to bow to the wisdom behind these words.

A house is just a house. But HOME is where the HEART is.

 

A house is just a house. We can have so many houses in a lifetime. We actually did. But there can only be one home.

Break the Bank

It is never too early to teach kids the value of money. Kyla and Kevin have their own coin banks for nearly a year now. They earn coins (P10, P5, P1) after doing some light chores at home or whenever they get "stars" (or for Kevin, the Happy Stamps) from school.

We thought of teaching the kids to help doing light household chores rather than just sit around waiting for Yaya to do everything. 

For Kyla, this is watering the plants and the lawn (which she loved doing since she was 2 anyway), fixing the bed, looking after Kevin, feeding Kimby and helping Daddy wash the car during Sundays.

Kevin also have his share! He is in charge of setting the table for dinner. After eating, Kevin knows how to wipe the table and sweep the crumbs off the floor using the 'walis'. After every meal, he brings the utensils to the kitchen sink. He also learned to feed Kimby. After playing with his cars and train, he is sure to "pack away" his toys back to their boxes or cabinet.

Last Sunday we broke Kyla's coin bank which was too heavy to carry by now. Kyla bought more than a dozen books from her earnings and even bought some activity and coloring books for her Kuya Kevin. Next Sunday it will be Kevin's turn and we'll buy him a stuff toy of his choice to add to his collections.

And they have new coin banks in tow!