Kat in the Box

As working parents, Sherwin and I always look forward to weekends and holidays. We call it our "Daddy, Heinel and Mommy days!". These are days wherein we get to spend the entire day with our son; bring him to the park, play "boy games" with him (meaning physical and rough games such as wrestling. poor me! :), have DVD marathons (Harry Potter, Kung Fu Panda, Cars, etc..) and go everywhere with him. We make sure that he tags along with us wherever we go, and just the three of us, no yaya involved. As little time as we have with Heinel, we make sure that these are quality ones. Since I don't get to spend my entire weekdays with him, I also make sure that his time with Mommy and Daddy are not just fun but educational. I incorporate colors, numbers, words and shapes in our play. Hitting several birds in one stone, right? Then at night, when we go home and he's still awake, we read books. This is multi-tasking again. We get to spend time with him without stimulating much physically plus we get to have a little study time. Children nowadays are very intelligent. They absorb everything like a sponge that is why as parents, we should take this opportunity to teach them as much as we can. You will be surprised with how quick they learn! Having a career does not give me an excuse to miss out the tiny or seemingly insignificant aspects of Heinel's growth, that is my personal belief. I never want to miss my turn bathing him, washing him up when he poops, preparing his milk (and show him I'm shaking it well) nor calming him down when he throws a tantrum. I believe that more than my presence in major events, our establishment of a routine, even just weekly ones, provides Heinel the security that he needs from us. He knows that he will do everything with Mommy and Daddy when we are home. That is why he doesn't want anyone taking care of him other than us. He doesn't even want to lose sight of us! Now that we have Heinel, gone are the days when weekends meant waking up late and lazing around all day. Rather, it means walking up at 6:30AM to bring the little boy to the park and a more tiring day than weekday because of the endless running, chasing, playing, and cleaning. But despite all these, Sherwin and I always end the day happier than ever. Nothing compares to the joy that our cute toddler brings us. He can be vary naughty at times but he sure has cute ways of getting away with it. One day Heinel will have his own friends, his own schedule, his own life. That is why Sherwin and I will cherish every second spent with him. We will keep our "Daddy, Heinel and Mommy days" for as long as we can.

If you are asked by God to account for all blessings he has given you, can you report everything? Every single thing, from the air you breathe to the grand car that you're driving? That is the topic of today’s Gospel this first Friday of November. In Fr. Johnjohn Dimatera’s homily, he used the natural calamity the occurred in Luzon as a starting point. If you sum up all the flooding that occurred simultaneously, it will seem like the entire Luzon was submerged in water. Majority of the victims said that this is the first time they have ever experienced it. What is the meaning of this? What can be the message behind all these that our country is experiencing? Nature do has her ways of making her presence felt. If only there had been more trees, less garbage, more recycling , less population, then maybe, just maybe, the flood wouldn't have damaged that much. Yes, we have failed to appreciate God's gifts to us. In failing to appreciate, we failed to take care of our environment, of our world. Why? Because we are busy thinking of ways to have more; more money, more cars, more fame, more power. We took for granted the fact that we are with our families; that we are healthy; that we have food on our table; that we have roofs to shelter us from the rain. We often forget to say “thank you”to Him because we are to preoccupied asking things from Him. I agree with Fr. when he said that the flood is a great reminder to us that everything we have; are just lent to us by God. That in a mere snap of finger, in a matter of hours or even minutes, it can all be gone; that it can be taken away from us. Amongst our busy schedule, let us find time, an hour or so, to take a break and just thank God for all the blessings He has given us. Find ways in which you can take care of His blessings; be affectionate to your families, be happy with your job, enjoy the simplicity of your home, plant trees, limit your garbage... the list goes on and on. Look around, I'm sure you can find reasons to be thankful for.