Broken Traditions

This past holiday season, Noah reminded me how important tradition is.

I did not realize I had been breaking so many traditions until Noah pointed it out the morning of NYE.

Apparently, I had been upsetting him since the week before Christmas when I did not put a star on top of our Christmas tree. I went for a different tree this year because the horse-lover in me couldn't resist these horse bag charms.

So I put them on our tree.

When Noah asked for a star, I put a yellow horse at the top of our tree.

He groaned & put his palm on his forehead, but I didn't realize he was serious about disliking the non-star trimming.

Then the morning of NYE, his dad told him that there might not be a fountain at fireworks this year because fireworks weren't as readily available this year.

The last straw was when he realized he didn't have any polka-dotted clothes and, trying to comfort him, I said, "It's okay. I don't have anything polka-dotted either". That's when he burst out, "We're breaking so many rules! No star on the Christmas tree, no fountain, no polka dots!"

And so I scrambled to DIY bowties & a bow out of fabric tape a few hours before midnight to keep at least one tradition alive for Noah.

Noah reminded me that family traditions are treasured heirlooms you pass on to your children so they can pass them on to their children. They are meaningful experiences that will become precious memories they will look back on when they're all grown up.

His dad & I broke the news about our amicable separation about a year ago. I guess, as Susan Lieberman said, "Family traditions help us define who we are; they provide something steady, reliable and safe in a confusing world." And I guess Noah needed that. 

I am so glad, for my kids' sake, that despite our now 8-year-long separation, we still make it a point to spend special occasions together.

Our family photo is a tradition that we will always, always keep.

Photos are my own & from acupofjo. 

Click here for previous posts on Christmas, New Year, horses.

old wives' tales

There are some old wives' tales - "mga pamahiin ng matatanda" - that I realize I instinctively believe for a few seconds until my good sense takes over and reminds me there is no truth to them. Like when I saw this photo of a child sitting on the hood of a car... My automatic reaction was that she'd get "balisawsaw", that peeing problem my Lola [grandmother] said I'd get from sitting on hot things like a car's hood or concrete stairs that have turned hot under the sun. I feel the same about itchy palms. When my palms get itchy, my automatic reaction is to put my hands inside my pockets... until I realize I can't suddenly turn rich & lucky by merely putting itchy palms in my pockets. I still believe that touching your eyes after touching a butterfly can make you blind. Gosh, is there any truth to this? Or is this also an old wives' tale?

I have to admit though that there are myths I wish my kids still believed. Particularly those old rituals on New Year's Eve. When I look back on New Year's Eves of my childhood, I remember how fun it was to jump 3 times with my brother & cousins when the clock struck 12. I also remember a NYE when we crawled around - underneath our dining table - with huge luggages believing that ritual would assure us of travel that year. 

Noah is quite a realist, reluctant to jump this past NYE because he found it ludicrous that jumping on NYE would make him tall. To some extent, I agree that we shouldn't propagate these myths (Just last week, a co-parent at Noah's school said Noah was "handsome. Pwera, usog.", licked her thumb and reached out to touch Noah with it. Thankfully, another co-parent stopped her, saying, "Hindi totoo yang usog-usog na yan!". Thank God, coz I was too shocked to keep her saliva from touching my son!). But it's still a shame because the NYE rituals we did when we were kids were quite fun to do. And I can't help wish that Noah embraced the fun of it more (vs. half-heartedly jumping). After all, while they're really old wives' tales, they still make for such happy, nostalgic stories of childhood. 

Photo from annnniegirl. 

Today, I am unloving...

... the hubby's and my poor family vake planning skills. The last time we went on a family vake to the States was during the Christmas season. We scheduled our theme park trip between Christmas & New Year and it was our worst decision ever! Waiting time at the line of each attraction was at least an hour, 15 minutes. And the park streets were so filled with people that we couldn't scoot to each attraction. We had to inch our way slowly with the throng. 

We ended up splitting up just so the kids could experience as many rides as they could. Noah and I rode It's A Small World while Isabella and the hubby rode the Matterhorn.

Photo ops were close to impossible - unless we wanted a photo of the attraction with a mob of people we didn't know. So our best one of Cinderella's castle was one that skimmed the top of the crowd's heads and captured just the upper part of the castle.

I would have thought we'd learned our lesson after that awful trip to Disneyland. But we didn't. We recently booked a family trip to the States in April and turns out, our days in Disneyland & Universal Studios will fall during Spring Break. Aaaagggghhhh!

We're hoping it won't be as bad as our December trip. Maybe we can go around the park together as a family this time. But I expect we will again end up with photos of just the top of the castle.

With our vake planning skills, maybe the only way we can get a photo of the bottom part of the castle is if we build one ourselves. :(

Sigh. Today, I am unloving... our poor family vacation scheduling skills. 

Photos are my own and from annnniegirl.

Click here for another theme park wish of mine.

rambling about getting old & not feeling it

I celebrated my birthday 2 weeks ago. Let's just say that I've gotten to that age when I don't automatically remember my age when asked (and I mean asked on a form to be filled out rather than, God forbid, someone actually asking me out loud) how old I am.

Seriously. I have to calculate it just like I do when asked how old my mom or grandmother are: 2013 minus year of birth...

And no, it isn't memory loss from old age yet because I remember my kids' ages perfectly well.

In a few years, I will go back to automatically remembering my age because I will have reached a milestone age. Ironically, I think it is nearing that milestone age that makes me forget my age today. :P

The funny thing is I don't feel old (until I have conversations with friends about cholesterol & SGPT levels). But seriously, I feel like I just graduated from highschool or college. Maybe because I've kept my highschool & college friends and still see them at least once a week. Of course, I realize I didn't just come out of school when I get to talk to the trainees in my old office who actually just graduated (who, by the way, described Leonardo DiCaprio as "middle-aged" in a recent Pinoy Henyo game! Horror!).

But when I paid for our realty tax last month (I used to ask my mom to do this for me), I left city hall like a kid bursting with pride having accomplished something so grown-up. Strange, because I am actually grown up.

I guess age is really relative. And maybe the point of birthdays is not to make me feel old, but to let me celebrate my youth (even in my late 30's). After all, on my birthday, I am younger than I'll ever be.

Photos from acupofjo & lushlee.

a different window view

Remember how I hate my windows here? I never ever pull back the curtains because I really find what's behind them so unsightly.

Well, I now see my windows in a whole new light. After I woke up to this...

... the sight of the kids playing on my window ledge.

Noah and my niece weren't even playing the same game. Denise was playing with Noah's old toy piano (will post about this soon) and Noah was playing with some dice & Captain America. But they were perfectly happy on that thin ledge covered by my curtains.

I guess for them, it felt like their own little fort.

And what kid wouldn't want a fort of their own?

Yes, I now see my windows in a whole new light. Now, I like pulling the curtains back a bit to catch a glimpse of the kids playing quietly in their own little fort.

It doesn't matter that my windows are unsightly because the sight of the kids playing in front of it is much, much more delightful!  

Photos are my own and from annnniegirl & pinkwallpaper.

delightful dinner dysfunction

I grew up eating dinner in front of the TV. We did it as a family. We would eat in our den with trays on tables like these (ours weren't as pretty though) and watch TV together. We watched dramas like Dallas, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest. We watched comedy shows like Three's Company, Who's the Boss?, Punky Brewster, Cosby Show, Alf and Perfect Strangers. I also remember watching Buck Rogers, Greatest American Hero, Moonlighting and Scarecrow & Mrs. King. We talked about our day during commercials, but once the show started again, we either laughed together, groaned together at annoying cliffhangers or playfully teased those that bawled during sad episodes. I didn't have a TV in my room and I never felt I needed it. Perhaps because TV time was family-time rather than alone-time for me.

I realize now it was odd not to sit at the dinnertable at dinner. And if you're wondering how my brother and I learned good table manners with this dinner-in-front-of-the-TV habit, I think it's because our mom used to take us out to lunch every weekend. I remember how when we were kids, we frequented Cafe Rizal in the old Rizal Theater, the Manila Garden coffee shop, SM's Cafe Elysee and Trattoria Uno in Ali Mall (see related post here). I also remember how my little brother would even pull our chairs for my mom & me at these restos. I'm sure the other lunch patrons who saw us kids with our napkins on our laps and scooping our soup away-from-rather-than-towards-us wouldn't have believed we ate our dinners on cafeteria trays in front of the TV.

I guess I have to admit that growing up, our dinners - maybe even our lunches - were not very common. Some would probably even frown upon them and call them dysfunctional. But for me, they were delightful family-bonding memories. And I wouldn't have had them any other way. 

Photo from FYNCT. 

my impossible wishlist

After writing that post on my excessive wishlist, I got to thinking about an impossible wishlist...

1. To watch a Friends episode live. When we went on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Burbank, California two years ago, we went inside the Two and a Half Men studio. Filming the show wasn't scheduled that day but we got to sit where a live audience would and right in front of us was the set of Charlie's house. It hit me then how sad it was that I would never get a chance to watch the filming of a Friends show. Good thing the Friends Central Perk set was part of the WB Tour so I at least got to see it up close. 
2. To taste Trattoria Uno's Zuppa Marinara again. When I was growing up, there were very few mall choices. One of them was Ali Mall and they had this quaint little Italian restaurant there with patrons' graffiti all over the walls. We ate there all the time. They had freshly-baked bread and the best Seafood Marinara soup! If I am not mistaken, it was owned by the Aranetas and in later years, would sometimes be closed because the chefs were busy with a private party of the Araneta family. I remember going there in later years and Zuppa Marinara was no longer on their menu but the chef would gladly cook me and my mom our favorite tomato soup! But a few years ago, Trattoria Uno closed down. And tasting their Zuppa Marinara again sadly lands on my impossible wishlist. Sigh.  
3. To munch on Jack & Jill Barbecue Curls again. I haven't found anyone who remembers Jack & Jill  Barbecue Curls because only Chiz Curls survived the test of time. People remember Munchees (which I wasn't a fan of) but nobody remembers the Barbecue Curls packed in a red and yellow foil pouch. I remember loving it when I was a kid. But to be honest, decades later, I have a very faint recollection of it's actual taste. So I'd sure love to try it again! A snack I do remember so well - that I can almost taste it - is the original Planters Cheese Curls that came in big cardboard canisters. I remember they brought out the "selfish" in me. When my friends were over at my house, I'd hide my big can and offer everything we had to eat at home - except for my salty, cheesy Planters Cheese Curls. Now sometimes, a Cheetos Crunchy would start out tasting like my old Planters, but the flavor at the end will be quite different. And don't be fooled by the Cheese Curls you might spot nowadays in a blue canister and yellow lid (even those that use the Planters brand), they are so NOT the same. The Cheese Balls versions are pretty close to the original. But the Cheese Curls are never like the original.
4. To see a photo of my old toy creations. When my brother and I were little, we would make pretend horses using side tables as the body (with a pillow so it would be soft to sit on), our mom's belts as reins & stirrups, and our teddy bears as our horses' heads. I also remember building various things out of Lego... Like a dog with an open slit as his mouth. The flat hole led to his belly so we pretended the "smooth flat two" Lego pieces were dogfood. The memories are so clear in my head but it would be great to have a photo as a souvenir.

5. To be one of those names in the credits of Disney's Beauty and the Beast or Toy Story. When I first watched Belle, I was so in awe of her expressions & actions - how her eyebrows furrowed, how her eyes widened with emotion, how her hair would fall down her face and she would brush it off. She seemed like a real person! I was also captivated by the very realistic majestic ballroom. And to this day, I love the songs! As the credits rolled down, I remember wishing my name was one of those many names. It would have been great to be a part of such a grand project. It was, after all, the first ever animated film to be nominated in the Academy Awards for Best Picture. I would have also loved to be part of the Toy Story production team. The first-ever animated film in CGI with three-dimensional characters... and toys I grew up with as the characters! That would have been awesome! Oh and just so it's clear, this wishlist item is not only impossible because the movies were made a long time ago, but more because I have no idea how animated films are made! I don't even know how to use Photoshop! It's just really fun to dream of being part of such a Creative Team.

Oddly, I thought thinking up this impossible wishlist would make me sad. But dreaming up the possibility of these impossible wishes was actually quite enjoyable! 

Friends photo is my own and the Beauty & the Beast animated gif is from annnniegirl.

Click here and here for previous posts that show my addiction to Friends. Click here for another nostalgic post on Ali Mall and other old malls.   

my fantasy of an empty theme park

Wouldn't it be great to have Disneyland's Main Street - or any theme park for that matter - all to yourself like this? So your photos will not have more people you don't know than you know?

We went to Hongkong Disneyland last week for Noah's 7th birthday. And it wasn't very crowded. Waiting time at each attraction was anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. Not bad. But getting a photo of the sights without strangers in the picture was still quite challenging.

Family member - 1. Strangers - 4. And this display was not even a big one. Try getting a photo of Sleeping Beauty's Castle with just your family.

What more trying to get a photo of just the attractions - no family member or stranger - for your blog? I so wanted to take photos of the newly-opened Toy Story Land for my blog. I had planned to take attraction-only photos for anonymity (I'm still shy) and so unsightly crowds of strangers are out of the picture. But so many people were trying to get their turn at a photo op that when a kid leaves, another would always get there before I was able to take a shot of just the attraction.

Turns out, even these official photos from Hongkong Disneyland features the crowds.

I guess it showcases the perspective more accurately - how people look like they've been shrunk to the size of toys: really small ones, like Sarge and those tiny toy soldiers. While the toys in Toy Story Land are big, the place isn't. There are basically just three rides: Slinky Dog Spin, a kiddie rollercoaster ride (or caterpillar ride as we call it here in the Philippines) where Slink chases his tail around and around.

Toy Soldier Parachute Drop, a parachute training drill that vertically drops riders from high above.

And RC Racer where RC speeds back and forth on a soaring U-shaped track (ala Enchanted Kingdom's Anchors Away ride).

This ride we skipped, so we just faked it on this giant RC photo op display (Oh, I am still shy. But I didn't get that attraction-only photo of RC that I wanted. So am hoping we won't be recognized with our mouths open so wide.).

The last attraction is the Barrel of Fun. The queue is right beside these giant domino & checkers pieces with some monkeys from the Barrel.

And inside the gigantic Barrel of Monkeys, you meet either Woody or Jessie (In case you're wondering, Buzz still makes his appearance in Tomorrowland).

I wanted a Jessie-only photo but as with all the other attractions, that was impossible. An empty theme park may just be a fantasy, but I'm glad that birthday-boy Noah had his fill of big smiles, roars of laughter and delightful fun!

Photos from here and my own.

Click here for another post on our recent trip to Hongkong Disneyland.

gifts under the tree

There never are gifts under my tree. I always end up wrapping gifts at the last minute - the night before I have to give it out. So while I absolutely love Trisha-of-Playtime-Break's color-coded giftwrapping idea via OCMomInManila here, I really haven't had the chance to wrap gifts early enough for them to have some wait time under my tree.

Even for my kids' gifts, I end up spending December 24 from noon onwards wrapping the gifts I will be giving out to the family that night and the day after. Oh no! Am I depriving my kids of the eager anticipation of finally unwrapping their Christmas gifts? Am I keeping them from excitedly wondering what is inside their wrapped gifts as they hold it up to their ear and shake it days before Christmas? :(

Photo from anniegirl.

   

foiled christmas traditions

Turns out, posting photos of your Christmas tree is a common holiday tradition. So I didn't realize it when I did it here, but apparently, I started my blogger holiday tradition. 

I find myself starting new traditions every year. Largely because my previous ones somehow get foiled. When Isabella was much younger, we would watch Disney On Ice every December. But for a couple of years, the Araneta Coliseum skipped showing it so that Christmas tradition was foiled. When Noah was born we started going to Policarpio (this street in Mandaluyong where the houses go all out with their outdoor Christmas lights). But 2 years ago, the economy took its toll on the once extravagantly lit street and only a couple of houses put up their traditional decor. So we didn't go back the following year. Christmas tradition foiled again.

Even our traditional family photo by our Christmas tree was foiled the year we moved houses in mid-December while I was pregnant with Noah and on complete bedrest. Putting up the tree was just too difficult in the scheme of things. Other Christmas activities we did a couple of times but didn't pursue consistently include roadtrips to view the Ayala Center Christmas lights, letters to Santa, roasting marshmallows by the fire and the Christmas service and cantata at our church.

This year, inspired by Trisha of Playtime Break here, I may have started a tradition of Santa videos for Noah. Will need to think of an appropriate one for 14-year-old Isabella though.

Perhaps, the point of Christmas traditions isn't consistency. Maybe we don't need to commit to one thing and do it every year. Maybe the point is doing many different Christmassy things every year. It may be roasting marshmallows one year, Disney On Ice during the years it is on, and Policarpio or Ayala Center lights every now and again. Perhaps, that is the Christmas tradition.

Photo from nyctaughtme.

oops, my neurosis is showing...

For some odd, neurotic reason, I wake up in the middle of the night to check if my kids are breathing. I quietly watch to see their chests rise and fall. If Isabella happens to be hugging a pillow, I hold two fingers outside her nose to feel the air come out. If Noah's face is buried under the pillow he is hugging, I pull the pillow away even though I know I could wake him. When I am satisfied that they are breathing, I go back to bed.

Oops, is my neurosis showing again?

Photo from lushlee.

Click here for previous posts from the Oops, My Neurosis is Showing series.

 

his fashion opinion

Remember when I pretended to buy this here? Well, I realized a month later that I must really love it because I ended up actually buying it.

Sadly, the love wavered when I wore it last week and when the hubby saw me, he started singing Purihin ang Panginoon (a popular Filipino mass hymn). He said I was missing either the stole (what priests wear around their neck, over their shoulders and down the front of their vestment) or the wimple (nuns' head covering).

As I was leaving our room, I heard a muffled How do you solve a problem like Maria... Sigh, he ruined it.

Photo from Zara.

oops, my neurosis is showing...

I have a meticulous photo-organizing system. I organize photos chronologically. So on big family vacations or on special occasions, I find it so difficult when there are so many cameras.

My chronological photo organization is put to test by multiple cameras - multiple photo sources. Would be easy if every camera had a uniform date and time. But of course, that is impossible.

So first, I organize the photos by camera: my folders will read cam1, cam2, cam3, cam4. Then, I create folders per activity. It's easy when activities are defined. Like say, lunch at Puca Beach. But idle leisure time drives me nuts. Like for example, hours playing in the sand. Based on the chronological order in each cam's folder, I figure out which idle activity went first. Oh, and when Isabella and Noah split up and go enjoy different activities, I end up having to have an Isabella folder organized by activity and a Noah folder also organized by activity.

Oops, is my neurosis showing again?

Photos from everythingfab and streetfsn.

Click here to see the first peek at my neurosis.

Today, I am un-loving...

Today, I am un-loving... the fact that my kids have no ratatouille. Anton Ego was the tough food critic from the 2007 Disney Pixar movie, Ratatouille. When he was served ratatouille, a peasant stew, he was shocked. But the second the flavor hit his tongue, he was transported to his childhood.

He returned to the time he crashed his bike and his mother prepared the same meal, the same way for him. It comforted him in a moving, inexplicable way.

I feel the same way about my Lola's (grandma's) cooking. Her chicken in brown sauce is my comfort food. No matter how bad a day I have, when I taste that first bite of her chicken in brown sauce, I magically feel better. None of us can recreate it (not that I ever expected I could. See related post here). I cannot even figure out what goes into the mysterious brown sauce. To this day, my 90-year-old Lola cooks me my chicken in brown sauce, my ratatouille, as my birthday gift every year.

I realized recently that my kids grew up with Inday's (Inday is a typical househelper's name here in the Philippines) cooking. We've gone through our share of different Indays through the years so there really isn't any dish - cooked in a distinct, personal way - that they grew up with and could call their comfort food, their ratatouille.

Sigh. Today, I am un-loving... that my kids do not have their own ratatouille.

Photos from here and here.

Click here for previous posts from the Today, I am un-loving... series.

just a thought

I don't remember ever being spun around like this as a child. I wonder... Could this be why I have motion sickness?

Click here for a previous post on my motion sickness.

Photo from i'mjustsaying.

"in a little room called the kitchen"

In case you haven't watched this episode, don't worry, I promise not to spoil it so much. For this post to make sense, all you need to know is that Marshall brought the gang to a Hibachi grill restaurant against Barney's liking. I was laughing out loud when, as Chef Takumi started his Hibachi cooking stunts, Barney said, "Oh, that reminds me. There's this other restaurant we should try sometime. What they do is, they cook your meal in a little room called... the kitchen. What's the name of that? Oh yeah, every other restaurant in New York City!"

That's exactly how my hubby feels about shabu-shabu restaurants! It doesn't help when he's already hungry when we get to the restaurant. Seeing food in front of you, albeit uncooked, is understandably difficult for someone who's famished. So he'd much rather restaurants cooked our meals, as Barney said, "in that little room called the kitchen".

Photo from here.

Click here for a previous post about my hubby. Click here for a previous post that is NOT about my hubby.

measurements: from paper feet to hands

Do you remember when you were a kid and your mom would trace your foot on a piece of paper so she could buy you a pair of shoes? I remember how it tickled when the pencil went around my foot and how she'd test the cut-out paper foot inside a shoe that could still fit.

I realize that I don't do this with my kids. I use my hand and arm to measure my kids feet, chest (for shirts) and waist. So I hold the armpit area of Noah's shirt with my right hand - between my thumb and index finger. Then I pull the other armpit with my left hand and hold it against my outstretched right arm. Noah's shirt measurement is from my thumb to the line on the back of my elbow. Isabella's would be the same plus 2 inches. This works for Isabella's waist as well.

For Noah's waist - which is still too small to reach the back of my elbow, I fold his pants in the middle and measure the halfway point on my hand. His folded pants would start at my wristline to the middle of my middle finger.

Noah's shoe fits right between my wristline and the line at the back of my elbow.

 

Don't you think my hand measurements are just as good as those giraffe height charts at the pediatrician's office? :)

 

I store these measurements on my phone so I can buy the kids clothes and shoes that fit perfectly even when they're not with me (This is most useful on out-of-the-country business trips for pasalubong shopping). Of course, I have to update the measurements every couple of months. But it sure beats having to bring out a tape measure (which isn't so easy to roll back into place) or paper-feet when measuring clothes at the mall.

Photos of this fun hand-&-foot painting kiddie activity from playtimebreak.

Click here for a previous post about feet.