Surprisingly, I did.
I thought I wasn't ready for it, I thought we weren't ready for it.
Guess I was wrong.
It was another first for both me (Alvin , too!) and my son, Liam.
As mentioned in my previous post, I decided not to join the rest of my family in the Melbourne, but my son still did. Even if we tried to persuade him up until Wednesday of last week, well, there was really no changing his mind.
Alvin asked me to talk to him Wednesday evening, but at that time, and seeing how eager and excited Liam was for the trip, I felt, we should give it a go. I will miss him, definitely, but I felt it was unfair for him not to go for that reason alone, and because his younger sister didn't want him to join. I just don't want him harboring bad feelings toward his sister, for you know, being a KJ. And it was a chance for him to, hopefully, miss us! hahaha
By Thursday lunch, I was making all the habilins na -- you pray before you sleep, put your dirty clothes in the plastic bags I put inside your luggage, wear your dog tag (withh is address on it), always hold the hand of an adult, drink your vitamins, be a good boy, suncreen and sunnies, hala, the habilins just came! I wonder if he remembered all of it!
I was okay with it. But Thursday night, and probably Liam already realized that it will be the longest time he will be away from us, started crying. Not the crying na atungal, he was just lying down and then he started to sniff and tried to remove the tears from his eyes, without making a big fuss.
That did it for me :( Umiyak din ako :(
The "crying part" didn't even last for 10 minutes hehe. We were both okay. He just asked me to sleep beside him that night and hold his hand.
They left early Friday morning. Sam as soon as she woke up, looked for Liam. I thought she would cry when I told her they already left for Melbourne, but to my relief, she was okay with it. She just kept on telling me every time we go out that we already pick up her brother.
Now, back to my story, my sister-in-law gave me updates every 3 hours hahaha even if I didn't ask for it. Anyway, I called to check up on him and the second time I called, my son already told me, "Just be cool Mum."
Hala! hahaha
So from that time on, I stopped myself from texting and even calling him.
My only relief was seeing his pictures in FB. My Kuya Jay knows me too well because as soon as they started to go places, he took Liam's picture and tagged me straight away in my FB account. That is not my Kuya Jay, but probably he loves me hehehe that's why he did it :)
The four days came quickly and I was an excited mum by Tuesday because they were to arrive around 6pm at our home.
When they arrived I asked my Mum and my siblings how Liam was, and they said they didn't have any problems.
Although during their second night, my sister told me that probably he had a bad dream, because he awoke in the middle of the night and asked her if he can go home already. My sister had to explain to him that it was not possible. Anyway, he didn't cry or anything, he just asked my sister to sleep beside him and hold his hand. End of story.
I was surprised because I didn't become super affected or super sad with him not being around. You know, the feeling as if your world has stopped revolving. Bumaha ng luha or the like. Maybe because I was able to prepare myself mentally and emotionally, and maybe because I still had Sammie. It will be unfair for her if I just sulk, right? I was missing him but I wasn't sad.
And at the end of the day, seeing and hearing him tell us that he really enjoyed and had fun, was more than enough :)
This experience proved that I can really be a tough Mum and that my son has proven that he can be independent. More than being lonely, I was actually happy and proud of what we have both realized and achieved thru this experience.
As my friend described this experience, "maaga bumitiw sa palda ng nanay...ihanda mo na ang puso mo!"
Yes, that is what I am definitely doing, because I know that this is just the start, the beginning of many adventures, experiences and choices my son will be making, without me--without us.
So help him God :D
Here are some of the pictures he had during his Melbourne trip:
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| at the 12 Apostles, St. Patrick's Cathedral, aboard the tram and at Melbourne Park with his Lolo Jorge |
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| at the Australian Open! (lucky kid tsk tsk tsk) |
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| more pics at the Australian Open |
