TOUGH but GREAT!

Before King left, I didn’t have much expectations or anticipations about what it was going to be like. I anticipated that I’d have some difficult days, but that’s typical of every week. I didn’t psyche myself out by already expecting to be overwhelmed and tired. I guess you could say I took it a day at a time. And by the grace of God, here we are. “Reunited and it feels so gooood….” 🙂

Thinking about the past two weeks, even though it was tough to be without King, it was surprising and rewarding.

My children….ah, my children. Since Noelle’s summer workshop began, I’ve been juggling my daughters’ morning schedules because both their classes start at 10am. One morning of hurrying and trying not to be late, which is usual for us FYI, I discovered that Danae is completely capable of walking herself to her cheer dance class after I drop her off at the school’s entrance. I was somewhat okay with trying that because I know the teacher personally and am assured that my daughter is safe. We’ve been doing it ever since. Not only that, she waits for me at the canteen with her other teacher because I am not able to pick her up on time. We just make sure that she has a few pesos to buy her snack, which she does by herself, and that she has a notebook and a pen to keep herself busy. The first time we kept her waiting due to a miscommunication between her parents was terrible. She was almost about to cry when I got to her. But she’s resilient and confident, and we prepared her, anticipating that I may always be late due to Noelle’s workshop that ends at 12. She’s also adjusting well to her class, making new older friends. She’s the baby in the bunch. I can’t wait for their recital this week — she’s showing off her cartwheeling skills!

So why can’t I just pick up Danae before Noelle’s class ends? Well, I did a few times but I was still late because Noelle simply won’t let me go. Up until yesterday, I would have to sit with her in class the whole 2 hours! I was the only 33-year old there taking the summer workshop! But if at first, Noelle did not even want to sing or do the actions of “Pitol Pitol” (Twinkle Twinkle), now she participates! Her current favorite song is Row Row Row Your Boat. She stays put in her seat, responds to teacher’s questions, enjoys playing with the materials, enjoys making art. Her favorites, of course, are playground time and snack time! She’s always excited when it’s time to play and always the first to get her snack bag haha! Even though she doesn’t interact much with her classmates yet, she knows them especially the girls, by name, mentioning them in our daily conversations. I left her a couple of times inside the classroom, following through on the “prep talks” I had with her. Though she cried a lot, I think I can expect that today and tomorrow she’ll be more adjusted to not having mommy inside, but being assured that I’m waiting outside. It’ll take more practice for her and more practice for me not to run to her each time she cries, but we’ll get there. It doesn’t matter much if she doesn’t learn all the colors, shapes, and letters yet, but I want her to learn to trust and be comfortable with others outside our family and circle of friends. I want her to associate school with having fun, which she actually already is because she always says “too  too (school), I want too (school)!”

Both my girls are growing up to be independent and reliable little ladies! It’s such a joy to see them grow! 🙂