Yesterday, while giving her a bath, I told her that I saw that they learnt about the number 7 in school and that they chose a colour to paint their own number 7. This was how our conversation went:
Mama: I saw you had number seven today. Did you paint it?
Sam: Yes.
Mama: What colour did you choose?
Sam: Orange.
Mama: So, orange was your number?
Sam: (no break or pause) Orange is not a number!
Mama: (surprised but happy) Why, what is orange?
Sam: It's a colour! Funny Mama!
The other day, after she went to the toilet, I assisted her in putting on her panties:
Mama: O, come here na, put your leg here.
Sam: Yes, your majesty! (bowing to me before putting her leg on one of the holes)
I was just surprised because I think it was the first time I heard her use "majesty" on her own and in a correct context that it.
Truly, as soon as the kids hit 2, there's no stopping them from learning and using a lot of words!
Last Monday, I attended a Staff Development Day in one of the schools I work for and we discussed about the different special learning needs/difficulties of students/kids. It was another opportunity for me to revisit my previous learnings being a Special Education major and to also update myself of the recent developments in the field. I am just thankful because admittedly, all these information I get are put to use not only inside my classroom but at home as well. I've been getting a lot of helpful tips and approaches waaaay back, and it did seem to work! :-) I shared the highlights of my day to hubby as he was eating dinner (isn't it awesome I get to share this kind of things with hubby?!) and I can't help but tell him that as I was listening to the speaker that day, I can't help but be thankful that my kids are doing okay, especially after discussing the cases we had earlier that day. Fine, if before, I wanted my kids to be identified as "gifted" (yeah, right!) I am now VERY THANKFUL of what they have. Yes, they might not be super duper bright, but they're okay-- no special cases mentally even emotionally. They are coping, they are learning and they are enjoying. No red flags whatsoever. For that alone, I am very thankful.
Speaking of tips, I just wanted to share about one tip I heard (or was it read?) before...it's about kids being "stuck." Kids usually cry when they don't get what they want or we start losing it when we want them to do something and they don't follow us straight away. It now becomes a battle. The reason why they don't want to follow is not really because they want to test our patience or just wants to be stubborn. They are actually "stuck" on what they are doing and are not yet ready to move on to the next activity. We usually expect too much from our kids.If as adults, we can quickly change our focus and move on to the next activity, kids, especially toddlers are quite different. Sam is quite different from her Kuya in the sense that if she's doing something you cannot just interrupt her. Before, I used to get mad at her. Yes, big drama! But after reading this very helpful article, I tried it on her, and what do you know? It worked! It worked wonders. Example, we already need to leave the house and she is still busy playing in her room, I will tell her we need to go, she doesn't move or listen to me. Then I will tell her I'll give her 5 minutes and yes after that five minutes, she stands up by herself and is all set to go. The same thing happened when we're in the shops and she's playing with those kiddie rides. There was one occasion when I had to use the timer of my mobile because she really loved the Sesame St. ride. But still, no dramas. So when I see hubby being the one in-charge of Sammie and is slowly starting to lose it, I take over and give my Sam a time to get "unstucked."
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Liam brought home a note yesterday from his school about their forthcoming excursion. He is one very excited boy. Can't help but tell him the story when I was in elementary that there were times (a lot actually) when I was't able to join the excursion because we didn't have money to pay for it. I'd stay at home when almost all my classmates went on a field trip. As if it's not enough. everyone is expected to talk about it the following day, well, leaving me clueless. I remember in fifth grade, they went to Science Centrum. The following day, the teacher gave a quiz about the trip, without even considering people like me who were not able to join the trip :( I got of course a very low score on that quiz. Bagsak. And it wasn't good because I was running for honours. Anyway, I told Liam, Papa and I still need to discuss it because we need to see if we have money to pay for his excursion. Oh that look on his face! He's afraid of missing out the chance to ride on the bus and learning and being "independent" if ever we decide not to let him join. Of course, I was just testing him hehehe. But I just wanted to let him realize how lucky he is because we can now afford to let him join excursions like this.
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During our recent trip to Canberra/Snowy we chanced upon Australian National University and shared to Liam that it's one of the best universities in Australia and that we hope he and his sister gets to be accepted there when they go to Uni. We told them that Papa and Mama went into one of the best Uni schools in the Philippines -- one of the reasons why we have good jobs and we have a good life now. Liam was listening and trying to digest everything when Alvin suddenly told me:
Alvin: But Mama, when they go there, it means that they have to stay there while studying. They'll leave our home.
Me: Papa, isn't that our responsibility? We have to be ready for that day. We should ensure that our kids will have a good future, right? So if it means we have to let go of them, then by all means. We cannot just stop them from working for a good (or better) life in the future, right?
Alvin just kept quiet because we both know, I have a point. That time will come when both our kids will be ready to spread their wings and we cannot do anything about it, but just support them. Tough love...tough love indeed.
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"They're growing up too fast, don't blink."
