Mr. Congeniality

After Church, we went to Pizza Hut, Fort. While walking towards the restaurant and holding Boing by the hand, he saw some kids at the second floor of the building. He kept on shouting, "Hi, hi, hi friends!" as he smiled at them.

When I was young, I would smile at people, but Boing has initiative. He would say hi first to a person. He would say "Thank you" to a carpark cashier, which he learned from his Ate Kitkat, who knows how to make someone's day by doing something that others don't usually do.

This energetic boy is showing signs that it will be very easy for him to connect to people when he grows up. Boing, I hope you will remember these days, wherein you would do positive things to people eventhough they don't know how to respond to you. Do not let this frustrate you and change the way you talk to people.

Always remember your mission which God prepared for you. Let's build the Filipino nation, so that we would all graduate from the kanya-kanya, galit-galit, kampi-kampi system and start to focus on doing things together, as one people. Help break the psychographical barriers so that time will come when there will no longer be Ilocanos, Pampangenos, Bulacenos, Cavitenos, Batangenos, and all the "nos" with different connotations. Aim to demolish the maginoo-alipin thinking and the regional discrimination. Eventhough there is hopelessness today, which leads to migration and God forbid, the dilution of the Filipino blood, we believe that there is hope in Christ. All of us will be called Filipinos with distinct culture, and we shall be proud of who we are. You will be a great leader someday. We'll be counting on you, Braveheart.

Monopoly

Today (Sept. 24, 2006), Kitkat and her Daddy played Monopoly. It was the first time for both of them. And since it was my first time, I felt that the competitive spirit in me wanted to win. So everytime my piece landed on a lot that I owned, I would buy at least 2 houses, to make her pay much higher rent. I even resorted to borrowing from the bank just to finance the putting up of houses.

Unlike me, Kitkat was not agressive. She only bought one house per lot and enjoyed playing with me. Somehow, I encouraged her to start borrowing from the bank to buy houses, but although she borrowed some money, it was alright for her not to buy some properties just to keep herself liquid.

The first thing I taught her (well, technically, it was the borrowing part that was the first...) was to pay all her debts. Next, it's alright not to win, as long as you're having fun.

As we played, I found myself paying her rent, because she was able to monopolize 2 blocks. She was first to buy lots so I would always land on one of her properties. When I was running out of cash and I had to pay her again, she said, "It's okay Dad, you don't have to pay me." I told her that that is the objective of the game. In real life, she should be a blessing to other people but in the game, I have to pay her.

Kitkat was very sensitive that she would want to make sure I was still enjoying the game. When I paid her two or three consecutive times, she asked if I wanted to end the game. I said I was having fun although I wasn't winning.

In the middle of the game, I got most of the railroads and utilities, and built more houses than Kitkat. When I paid her $70 for rent, she would pay me $100 when it was already her turn. She realized something about economy... that the money just goes around.

We were supposed to end in an hour (10:30am-11:30am) so we could prepare to leave the house and attend the service at Victory, Fort at 3pm. Kit was very conscious about the time but since I was starting to get paid, I said we'll end when it's time to have lunch.

When it was time to end the game, we computed the networth of each player. I was confident that I would win. Somehow, I felt sorry for Kitkat because I got around $3,200. When I checked out her properties, it was more than $4,300! She won even without trying to win. She just wanted to have fun with her dad :)

Many of us want to win in the game of life, thus, treating it like "Monopoly", wherein we want to get everything for ourselves. We ought to learn from this child who just wanted to have fun with someone who matters more to her than the actual game.

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By the way, it's our second time to play chess, Kitkat (right before playing Monopoly). You were great! You knew how to move the pieces and how I would move mine if you place one of yours on a particular block. You've got an analytical mind. Keep it up!

Best Friends

Last week, Kitkat told me that she felt bad because her best friend, Mika, didn't want to play with her anymore.

A few days later, she said she talked to Mika and asked her if she had done something wrong. Mika said that she thought Kitkat was mad at her. Kitkat said she thought Mika wanted to play with the other girls and that she was left out.

The two girls found out that this was just a case of miscommunication. After saying sorry to eachother, they laughed and started to play together again. To strengthen their ties, they made a club that day. They called it the "Best Friends Club". Poca, Liezel and Sab are also part of this club.

Jenn and I were amazed at how mature these two girls are, considering that they are only Grade 1 pupils! They are concerned about eachother's feelings and they know how important friendship is.

Kitkat Plays Chopsticks

Boing and I went to the grocery to buy batteries for his robot (in the background) and Kitkat's electric piano (both came from Mama and Martin/Kyle).

While Boing played with the robot, I taught Kitkat how to play "Chopsticks". This is the first piano piece I learned how to play when I was in Grade 2 (or 1).

Jenn said it was her first piano piece too. Click on the link to watch Kitkat's video.

Kitkat's Chopsticks - View with Quicktime

Handyman

This afternoon, while Jenn was watching Steve Irwin's (Crocodile Hunter) marathon tribute, I searched for a blank VHS tape so she could record at least part of the 12-hour (or more) program. The drawer where we put all the tapes was stuck so I had to pull it hard.

I got the blank tape alright, but I also broke the drawer.

Since Jenn could record the program, I decided to call Boing and help me fix the drawer outside.

This is the first time that Boing helped me fix something using tools. While I was putting epoxy on one side of the drawer, I let him hammer a nail on the other side. What surprised me is that his plastic hammer really works! So as I held a small nail (pakong bakya) with a long nose plier, I would tell him to hammer it. His Lolo Agapito would have been proud of him if he were alive. Lolo was the one who taught me and Kuya Marvin how to use handyman tools.

Family Day at The Fort

Yesterday (Saturday), we went to The Fort to play baseball and frisbee. First, we dropped of Jenn at Victory at 3pm because she had to practice together with the whole music ministry as they would sing the following day. Then, we parked the car and looked for a vacant lot near the NBC Tent.

Kitkat is good at hitting the ball, and Boing is very good at running after it ;)

After playing baseball, I taught them pinoy football, which I used to play when I was a small boy.

Here are some of the pictures taken at The Fort:

I told the kids to thank Papa God for making it a great day to play there because it rained so hard the previous day.

We didn't just cherish the quality time we had, but also the opportunity to play where there won't be any space to fly a kite anymore in 10 years or less.

After the games, Kitkat, Boing, Yaya Merlyn and I headed straight to Go Nuts Donuts. The kids enjoyed watching how donuts are made. Of course, it was more enjoyable for them to eat it :)

After eating, we fetched their mom. Instead of going back to the lot, we went to the playground of Market Market, which is just right across the Every Nation Building.

This is what Boing usually tells us when he would like to make lambing: "Dad, Mom, can we go to the playground, and ride the rollercoaster, and see the monsters, and pop the balloon, and eat ice cream?" He is referring to Fiesta Carnival in Cubao were we went on his 4th birthday together with his Ninong Olie and Ninong Vin's families. The Market Market playground is one of his favorites.

I would always tell my children that they will be better than their parents. I was surprised to see Boing climbing up this spiral thing by himself! I told Jenn I never did something like that when I was young. Well, I guess that's part of what Magz said about boing being a "Braveheart". I'm sure Kitkat and Boing will do far more than what Jenn and I will be able to accomplish in our lifetime. They will grow up to be leaders after God's own heart and He will bless them with wisdom, good health, long life and more than what they could ever think or ask for. They will make Papa God smile by bringing many many souls into His kingdom and equipping these people to do the same. This is their purpose. Their tools are whatever they have, including their skills.

Oh, by the way, the picture on the right is a proof that throwing and catching frisbee is not that easy. Nakakapagod din pala :) We are thinking of making this as our official sport hehehe.