Modern Day Heroes

"We don't have school on Monday," Gabi reminded me while we were driving to Subic yesterday morning.

"And why is that?" I wanted to know if the teachers in school explained what National Heroes' Day was all about.

"Because it's Heroes' Day. It's the day for heroes like Cory." Gabi proudly replied.

Wow, I thought. Bringing Gabi to watch President Cory's funeral march earlier this month was well worth it after all.

"And who else are heroes?" I asked.

"Ordinary people," he said. "Like policemen and firemen. And like those who bake, those who cook. Like Mommy!"

I was impressed. I liked what Gabi was getting from school. The noble idea of turning ordinary work into something heroic was something worth learning.

"And so who is your favorite hero?" I wanted to be impressed some more.

"Mmmm," he paused in deep thought. "My favorite is Spiderman!"

Better Late Than Never

Gabi and I got to school early today. And with good reason.

Yesterday we received Gabi's first monthly school report. It began well.

Gabi has proven to be very confident since day one. He verbally tells everyone that he already knows how something is done and attempts to demonstrate it most of the time. Like when teacher writes her morning message on the board, he tries to read it with much confidence and succeeds most of the time.


Then, out of nowhere, the reprimand came.

Since we started school, Gabi has shown how much he missed playing with his friends in school. Sometimes, even when it's discussion time already, he still tends to tell stories to them, which hinders him from concentrating on the discussion. It might help if he would arrive on time and have Free Play (8:30-8:50), when he gets to have all the time to socialize with everyone and play with the materials in the classroom and enjoy playing with everything else.

Oops. Yikes. Sorry, Gabi. Papa's fault.

I know that you are almost always ready to leave for school at 8:15. It's Papa who dilly dallies in the morning.

Promise. Papa will work on his tardiness.

Speechless

For once, Papa was speechless!

Today was my Moving Up Day in Little Sandbox. And I received an award!

The teachers voted me the Little Chatter Award for being able to "express my mind freely" and "converse with others fluently."

In other words, because they can't keep me quiet, they decided to give me an award of excellence for being madaldal.

And I choose to chat not with my classmates, many of whom are still in the googoo, gaga stage, but with my teachers. I like telling them stories of where I went on the weekend, the games I played, the places I visited, the people I met.

Sure, I still have to work on my pronunciation and I still mix up my past perfect and past progressive tenses but by and large, I think I am understood by most.

Papa was so surprised by my award. I am sure he was proud of me. But I guess he was more caught off guard by the accolade.

Papa doesn't realize that it's all his fault. He and Mommy have always insisted on talking to me like an adult. Even when I was still in a crib and not yet crawling.

Every morning, while having breakfast and before Mommy wakes up, Papa and I spend the time talking about anything and everything. Today Papa asked me what I wanted to do during the summer. Of course he had to explain to me what summer was and what it meant. That there was no regular school because the teachers needed to rest. But that if I wanted, I could continue to go to school for special classes or join football clinics or swimming lessons.

I enjoy these chats I have with Papa. Not only do I get the chance to learn new words and expressions but I also get a chance to be with my Papa before he sets off for another long day of work.

But why were you speechless, Papa? This we have to talk about.