Chapter One

Ten years after I graduated from college I married MKT, my classmate and a Chinese businessman with a succesful gulayan business.  Then, we have three kids- 2 girls and 1 boy.  Our eldest is 6 years old named Salve.  She is a premature baby. Her speech is not yet full developed but she is a still a dariling little girl.  Sometimes, she helped me doing household chores.  At her age, she knows how to cook rice, sweep the floor, and wipe the furnitures and stuffs.  She proved to us that she can be a dependable child even though she is underdeveloped.  All things that she had done to me is her way of showing her love to me.  Of course, she has undergone in a speech therapy and we spent so much money to the therapist.  Even though she is a slow learner, she really work hard for improvement of herself.  When MKT is not very busy with his gulayan business, he teaches little Salve how to write.  Little Salve is now a Kinder Two this coming school year in her special school.  We tried our best to prepare her in the next phase.

Our second child is 5 years old named Little Darius.  He is not a premature baby unlike Little Salve.  He is a remarkable boy because at his age he can read fairy tale books on his own.  Sometimes he is very lazy in his studdies and he has low score in Chinese writing.  We have to pay for a tutor to help us in disciplining Darius in his studies.  Darius is a playful child. He is also a brave child who always defend his sisters from other naughty kids who make fun of them.

Our youngest child is 4 years old named Little Prea.  She is a very adorable little baby.  She really loves to play.  When I am tutoring her in some of her subjects in school, she taught that it is just a game.  She loves drawing and coloring. I bought some activity books for her age to develop her mental capabilities.  And, she really loves them. She is far different from Little Salve.  Sometimes, she is very stubborn, and she did not follow.  Same situation with MKT, she also did not follow the instructions of her daddy. And, MKT is disciplinarian.  He is the one who do the spanking and scolding when my children are doing something wrong. 

Chapter Two: Christmas Season

It’s Christmas.  UNCLE, who is the BROTHER of MKT is having a dinner with us – the whole family.

UNCLE: Little Darius, what is the book you are reading? Is it another fairy tale book?

Little Darius: No.  Ninong Dimitri gave me this new book for Christmas.  It is entitled, The Law of Power Kiddie Edition by Robert Greene.  It is a very helpful book.  Do you know what, UNCLE? There is no GOD.  LIFE IS HORRIBLE….

(UNCLE have his eyes widened after listening to Little Darius’s story.  I make Little Darius stop sharing to his UNCLE before UNCLE lost his appetite.)

UNCLE said to MKT: Did you send him in the right school?

MKT: Yes. 

UNCLE: You must before it is too late. He will drive every people’s mind crazy.

MKT said to Little Prea: Little Prea, your teacher said you are not following instruction.  It is important to listen and follow your teacher’s instruction.

Little Prea: But, I WANT TO DESIGN….. I DON”T WANT OTHER COLORS… I WANT TO USE GREEN, YELLLOW, BLUE….

(Before Little Prea making some noise, I make her stop.)

ME: She is just four.  You must understand.

MKT: Yes, she is just four.  But, don’t wait until she is five.

UNCLE to Little Salve: How about my little Salve? Tell me something about your school.

ME: Salve can speak few syllables. She also knows how to read and to write.

UNCLE: That’s good.

Chapter Three: Father’s Day

I went to the three day business conference conducted by the INJOY ministry.  So, the kids are taking in charge by their Daddy MKT.  MKT served them a nutritious cereal drink which is bought from the Chinese supermarket.  The kids don’t like the taste.

Prea complained, “I don’t like its taste.  It is not sweet.”

Darius complained also, “Yes, it is not yummy.  Mommy used to put sugar on our cereals.”

MKT replied, “I am in charge here.  Too much sugar is bad for us.  Look!  Little Salve almost finish her cereal drink.”

Darius went to the sink to pour out his cereal drink because it doesn’t taste good.  When MKT saw him, he scolded him.  He said, “Don’t try to do that, Little Darius.  I am warning you.”

After school, the three kids rented a DVD from the video shop.  The movie is entitled 300.  They already watched this movie before at Ninong Dimitri’s house.  When they got home, they finished their homework first before watching the movie.

MKT did not bother because he is cooking a dinner for them.  Then, he took a glance at the movie and saw it is too violent for kids to watch.  And, Little Prea is just four to understand the film.

MKT said, “This movie is for adult.  Where did you get this?”

Little Darius replied, “Ninong Dimitri let us borrow his membership card to rent a DVD at the store.  We already watched this movie at his house before.  It is a good movie about heroes.”

Little Prea added,”Red is now my favorite color.  It is symbolizes blood and true bravery. ”

Little Darius also added, “I like the hero King Leonidas.  He is my real kind of a hero.”

Little Salve added, “It says show no mercy.”

MKT gasped.  He quickly called Ninong Dimitri on phone to complain about the film they watched.

Ninong Dimitri replied, “Oh my God!  You are the reason why Little Salve cannot speak eloquently because you letting the kids watching some dumb films.  The kids are complaining to me that you let them watch My Little Ponies a hundred times and that makes them sick!  I am their godfather and I know what I am doing in guiding those kids.  My friend who happened to be your dear wife trusted me so much in handling those kids because she is sure of what I am doing. Now, cook your dinner because I am very busy here with my papers.  Good Bye..”

MKT is hopeless.  Then, he thought that the kids are just fine.  So, he continued cooking the dinner for them.  Then, Little Salve saw her father cooking their dinner.  And, she approached him.  She looked at the Japanese cook book and said, “Are you sure what you are doing? Do you need my help.  I can put something on it like salt and pepper.”

MKT replied, “No, Little Salve.  I am fine here.  Go now with your little brother and sister and watch the DVD.”

Little Salve said, “I am sure that it will not taste good because you did not put salt and pepper on it.”

MKT replied, “I am fine, Little Salve.  I am very busy if you don’t mind go with your brother and sister to watch the DVD.”

When they were having a dinner, the kids are surprised with the taste of the food.

Little Darius said, “The vegetable is crunchy.  But, I like it this way.”

Little Salve said, “It doesn’t have too much salt and pepper.”

Little Prea said, “The meat is easy to chew.  Are you sure you did not buy it from the Japanese restaurant?”

And, MKT said, “I am so happy that you love our dinner.”

The Finale

Little Salve’s learning skills is improving and she was recommended to go to the normal school.  She and Little Darius are attending the same class.  Little Prea is still very stubborn at her age, she did not follow her teacher’s instruction, but she managed to pass the preschool with her charm.

MKT is sometimes busy with his business and does not have time for his family.  But, sometimes, he treated his family to go to New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and other countries during holidays.

While I am spending much time with my kids, and I am very grateful for they are being part of me. This is the way I enjoyed motherhood.

During summer vacation, i let my children attend summer classes.  Little Salve need to improve her Math, Science and Language so she has a tutorial on these subjects.  Little Darius need to improve his Chinese subjects so he attended a tutorial class.  Little Prea also needs to distinguish letters, shapes, and colors so she is having a advance class and workshop in arts to express her natural abilities.