Caroleen’s Treasures

I wasn’t feeling like blogging tonight because I am dead tired but there’s a very significant event for our little girl that I couldn’t resist sharing. It’s their Christmas program/party at school this morning and both I and Donald went to party with her. We were in a rush because the program will start at 8am yet we were still about to leave the house at that time. We even hailed a cab even it’s just two blocks away because I am afraid that Ella will miss their class presentation only to see that there are only few kids and parents inside that came before us. Was I surprised? Absolutely no because here in the Philippines when the time that was set is 8am, expect that the program will start an hour late. That’s so called Filipino Time.

There are all 4 classes in different levels with a total of almost 200 kids. The teachers are busy organizing the almost 200 gifts on the table, writing the name who brought this and that, putting numbers on each gift…in short, they are too preoccupied to control the crowd. Some parents, on the other hand, could not get their kids to behave because they are as busy as the teachers chattering about the latest gossip. So you get the picture. When you are there, you’d get really annoyed and all I could do is to just sit there and give Ella the look each time she starts joining in the “chorus”.

Finally the program started and Donald could have whispered a prayer of relief. I am more patient when it comes to waiting and I constantly see him glance at his watch followed by a deep sigh. Anyway, inspite of the flaws, I am happy that Ella did enjoy. Here’s some proof.

I could boast in my blog right? She made me so proud and she could have made me prouder if they had a dance presentation too. Last year she was the star of the show when she danced to her hearts content wearing that big smile while the one on her left was sobbing and the other one on her right froze like she’s under a spell.

After all the classes have come up the stage, the giving of gifts took place and boy it was such a long wait for Ella to receive hers. Come on, there are almost 200 gifts on the table and they are asked to pick a number. She got number 28 BUT it took forever for the gift #28 to get picked by the teacher. When she finally got hold of it, she asked me to open it for her. Donald read the gift tag and it’s from Charita. A little girl from the Kinder 2-A that Donald always talks about. I got to see this girl before and I really felt sorry for her. She came from one of the poorest family in town and today, during this special event, she wore a dingy white t-shirt, green skirt and an old pair of slippers. Let’s go back to the gift. So I opened the gift and it has 6 individual packs of different biscuits. You could tell that those are carefully chosen and put inside the bag. Maybe her mother, who is a vendor of different kinds of food, bought those in one of the stores along her way home after a long day of peddling her goods. Donald and I exclaimed, “Wow! Ang sarap naman nito!!!” (Wow! These are so delicious!!!). I was waiting for Ella’s reaction, afraid that she will complain of not getting chocolates or something that could not be found in the neighborhood store and she surprised me when she smiled and agreed that they are really delicious. Although she ate first the chocolates inside the gift that I wrapped for her (just in case there would be a declaration of civil war), the most important to me is that she never ever complained about what she got. She was even so proud of it that she showed it to her playmates in the neighborhood and in the evening, I found her on the floor licking the filling on the biscuits. :-)  

Oh, I am not done with this post yet. After the program, we all headed to their classroom and had lunch together. Not much to talk about it though. I am just so glad that we brought more than we could consume because after all it’s potluck which is the opposite of what Donald said to me. What he said was we will just bring food for the child because that’s the information he has gathered from the parents. Sometimes it’s best to doubt what the husband says and just trust your instinct.

I am still not done yet…. When we came home from the party, I had a nap that caused me to feel so uncomfortable. I feel bloated and at the same time dehydrated from the heat so I asked Donald to buy Coke. Still I feel the same so I decided to join Donald working in the yard to forget about it and surely I did forget about the bloating and feeling of dehydration but I was dead tired. He has been working for three consecutive days after the lost $$. Hey, it’s not his punishment. He said he’s disciplining himself that’s why and he’s enjoying the feeling of having accomplishing something plus the bonus of exercise to get rid of the growing bulge on his belly. No need for him to try Lipovox.

So that’s all folks. I am finally done.