A Mother’s Day Blog: If I Should Have a Daughter

Last year I blogged about the value of having fathers in our lives. And today I am posting a recognition to the people who play equal significance to us all-- mothers.

I find it hard to write anything really heartfelt about my mother. Before any cuss words be thrown up on me, I have a good relationship with her and I love her beyond faking.

One reason is, I have way too many laughing moments with her more than I thought. Good memories outweighs the bad.

I spent senseless years thinking that I don’t have a mother who cares about me. It sounds very trivial but that existed in my mind until I was sixteen.  But as tough luck and misfortunes came, I have seen my mother coming to the rescue without solicitations needed. She knew when to speak and when not to.

As I step a little forward towards maturity, I can see how she maintains her strength all through the years. She is able to carry on her youth despite being a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a daughter all at the same time. And if I’m being overemotional, I’d like to think that every daughter is entitled to feeling that way when talking about her mother.

Few things I like or dislike about her though is that first she isn’t a good laundry-maker. Let her do the washing and you’ll get your white trousers back in red and your black t-shirt in pink. I don’t know exactly how she does that.

Next, you’ll never work with her in the kitchen without leaving it messy afterwards. And by messy I mean total chaos. It’s either you get mad at her for it or you get used to it because there’s no way for her to change that attitude. She believes in speed more than cleanliness.

Third is that you can never take her to a concert because there’s also no way for her to care for music or yet you have to blush your butt from watching drama series on TV every night for 5 hours.

And fourth, God so help me she won’t hate me for writing this. (Love you Ma! :D) These are very minute details about my mother and I just love her for the way she is. Sometimes she just really makes me laugh.

Side note: Here's my mother reading a travel magazine in one of our recent trips to a local resort

But seriously, believe me when I say there’s no measure to a mother’s love; the same love that Mary has shown for her son Jesus. No matter how terrible or unreasonable a mother can be, she’ll still always be the last person standing for you after everyone has left. For sure you know that too. There is no break, time-out, or leave in being a mother. Until her last breath, you will always remain a son or a daughter to her.

As I write this post I have here beside me a book by a spoken word poet Sarah Kay. I could not help myself but cry at how she expressed the great importance of a mother in our lives. Here are the lines:

Wanted Perfect Father

First of all, I would like to greet all the long time dads, new dads, and soon-to-be dads in the world a HAPPY FATHER’S DAY.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Few days ago when NBA and the Lunar Eclipse were the trending topics on the twitter timeline, I caught site of a twitter hashtag hanging at the bottom of the top 10 trending topics that goes, #thatsmydad. I could only remember one thing about my dad that would suit the hashtag pretty well and I tweeted, “someone who plays guitar and sings me ballad #thatsmydad”. 

I don’t exactly know how other families would usually have a good time on father’s day. I for real grew up in a family where celebrating such occasions is so unlikely, at odds to what I typically hear from others where preparations are really done for their father say, a special dinner. 

“I love you”  is a not so familiar line inside the home. After my mother remained a plain housewife for few years, suddenly had to start a job in the city government. And my father, focused most of his time and attention on politics when he started serving as a Barangay Chairman in 1995. My brother was 9 years old then while I was 5. 

Apparently, politics became part of our daily life since then. It wasn’t until I also turned 9 that I mustered the courage to write him a letter for the father’s day (thanks to the 90’s educational TV series for reminding me of such a good conduct) because I thought it’s only on those kinds of occasion that I get the chance to thank him for all he’s done and to let him know that I love him. 

There were times when I would only see my letters for him run into the trash bin few days after. Though I’ve realized my father surely didn’t intend to throw my billet-doux. I remember my aunt even said, “Don’t be discouraged, you know your parents aren’t really fond of emotions popping off letters”. 

We all in the family hardly recognize feelings and thank each other. Endearments are taboo in that trying to open up something like it makes for a very awkward conversation. Though I know the Filipino culture where families are really valued (well I still hope despite of all the issues the country is facing now), father’s day is supposed to be a day when everybody, most importantly children have to give honor to their father and make him feel like he’s the greatest, the best and the most special dad there is. 

As children grow up, perspectives change and greeting dads on father’s day grow to be less and less of a priority. All the greetings if not forgotten just become perfunctory. Some start to move and have families of their own while others get too busy with their individual jobs. I don’t know how fathers really react to this. It is probably one of the hardest things a father or a parent for that matter could ever learn to do and accept as being parents, the stage of emancipation where one has to understand that his children are never his own . 

Waking Up to a Fluffy Eyes

Image taken from ps-iheartyou.tumblr.com

For once, I felt the need to clear everything that happened. I tossed and hang a left as I moved past the late night conversation. I sat down the stairs trying to sort it out. I suppose I made the right decision in laying the real score out in the open.

As I ponder every decision we make in life, especially when it’s a decision that has something to do with persons coming in and out our lives, demands a spit and image of attention we give to some of the other significant things in our life. When emotions are involved, things wouldn’t be way easier. There always has to be a consideration for all the consequences of our actions. We have to weigh them up and see what will serve better.

Decisions shouldn’t also depend solely on emotions because the latter do last and when it does, we eventually realize that we could’ve made a better judgement and decision. Let our emotions be part of our making for our decisions but the basis.

Things should be pondered upon fairly well before it’s laid out. It would be difficult though sometimes we have to take full maturity and responsibility in letting go of things that would only give a more negative effect to many or hold on to things that really matter to us. Now it takes much realization to do.

So today, 1:37 pm as I wake up, I find my eyes flocculent as I look in the mirror and am still contemplating. I only pray for God’s guidance that I could make the most-fitting judgment to all these things that are moving stealthily in my present life.








Image Credits:
ps-iheartyou.tumblr.com

Forever Young

There's nothing more good than being young in mind and heart l 
Image taken from daytobeyou.com

I wanna be forever young! — If only life put up with this.

First, I’m turning 21 this year and am not getting any younger.

Physically, I may still be able to get along with activities that require so much strength but I pretty  sure that my endurance wouldn’t be as sound as a 4th grader could get. 

Emotionally, I cannot just let my tantrums and emotional constipation fly in the air because I’m no more 3 years old and the society expects me to act and deal with things the more mature way; which also means to say that I could no longer just decide on things impulsively and do whatever I want without keeping other people in mind. 

Mentally, I know I have to stretch my brain and understand things the higher level. That 10,000 minus 8,985 is not equals 1015 but finding a job (with pay) and searching for a sideline to get the money coming in for the family’s daily consumption and for a post-graduate study’s tuition. 

And spiritually, I need to realize that going to church every Sunday and memorizing some bible passages cannot help grow my sacred side but act on them.

Second, being young holds for so many opportunities to explore without hesitations of what the people around can say. A young mind and heart is yet spared of the world’s too much vanity. Innocence is professed. 

Lastly, I just miss the times when all I think about is what movie to watch the next day and get mad at the mom for not buying me the pink-dressed doll she promised since two weeks ago.

Photo Credits:

daytobeyou.com