100 Years Old

Over a dinner of pea soup.

Rama: When are you going to die?
Me: I don't know. Nobody knows.
Rama: If you eat vegetables, you will live for one hundred years.
Me: Who said?
Rama: Ate Mercy! I love vegetables. Eat some more.

Random Stuff From This Morning

On the walk to school today, Rama and I stopped to watch some birds. One of them had a some tissue paper in its beak. A couple of other birds were flying around him. I guessed it was to use for their nest. When he perched on a roof, one of the other birds managed to grab the other end of the tissue, and a tug of war ensued.

Me: Uh oh. They're fighting.
Rama, to the birds: Please please please don't fight.

We watched the action for a bit. One bird tore of a small piece, and the other bird flew away.

Rama spotted a discarded tissue on the side of the road. She stood there and pointed, while looking at the birds, wishing to tell them, here, there's more, you don't need to fight.

Further along, we met a friend, Pierra, a mom whose kid goes to the same school, but in a higher grade. She said to Rama, I like your haircut.

Rama: I didn't have a haircut.
Pierra: Oh, but I haven't seen you in a while, and your hair looks different.
Rama: Thank you.

Pleasantries exchanged, and then we parted ways.

Rama to me: I didn't have a haircut. I just woke up.

She wore a pretty dress to school today. It was warm enough today for bare legs, so the dresses are back.

Gulp

Subway ride.

Rama: Mommy, I'm thirsty.
Me: Uh-oh. Ubos na ang baon natin na tubig.
Rama: Oh. It's OK. I'll drink my laway.

The Brave One

Booster shots due.
2 needles. No tears.

She wanted to look at the needles, but the doctor kept instructing her to "look at your mommy." So we locked eyes. And she never flinched.

Car

It was wet and cold on the walk to school today. I tried calling for a cab, but the taxi company wouldn't send a car if you were already on the road. So Rama and I just trudged along.

Rama: I wish you had a car.
Me: Tumawag ako, hindi nga sila magpapadala ng car kasi naglalakad na tayo.
Rama: No, I mean a car, not a taxi.
Me: Hmmm. We'll just have to work for that. Let's see, what car would you like?
Rama: Nakakita ako ng car, from there to there! (I think it was a stretch limo that she spotted once.)
Me: Ay, ayoko nun. Hirap i-park.
Rama: You can park it... in the ocean! No other cars there!

I just remembered a retort that I heard once, dished out to somebody who was complaining about the traffic and potholes on Manila roads: Mag-drive ka sa dagat, walang traffic. O kaya sa ulap, walang lubak.

I Can Do It By Myself

You know how kids this age insist on doing everything themselves?

Rama likes doing up her own buttons. Today, I helped her with the dress - the buttons were at the back. When it was time to take it off, though, I was in the shower; she still managed. "Don't worry, I can do it by myself." She took off the sleeves while keeping her arms in, turned the dress around bringing the buttons to the front - voila!

Happy Birthday

Rama turns 6 in a month. We've been discussing her birthday party. We're looking at cakes, debating whether to invite a "real" princess (the same way you would invite, say, boyoyong clowns in Manila, you could invite "princesses" or "pirates" to your party for entertainment). For a while she didn't want Jasmine to come ("I AM the princess!"), but later on changed her mind again and said, yes, she would love for Jasmine to come to her birthday. Discussing, too, where to have it - my place or her Papi's. (Resolution: her dad's place)

In bed, during a quiet moment, she got reflective.

Rama: I don't actually want to have a birthday.
Me: What do you mean?
Rama: You'll just get older and older and you won't be able to do fun kid stuff anymore.
Me: Like what?
Rama: Eat cookies. As much as you want.
Me: Hmmm. I still eat a lot of cookies. And how old am I?
Rama: 36.
Me: That's old, see? But I still do fun stuff.
Rama: Yeah, but all my pretty dresses won't fit me anymore.

Awareness of the perils of aging. At 6.