Bad Mood

Dear Sabrina Banana,

Mommy's in a bad mood today. So sorry for being short-tempered and irritable =(. You have nothing to do with why I feel bad but I feel like you're taking the brunt of it.

Love you,

Momma

Handling Disappointments

Dear Sabrina Banana,

My heart bled when I had to tell you that you will not be joining your friends on your second field trip. Your entire class is supposed to go to Tagaytay but I couldn't go with you. Daddy was supposed to go but something came up at work which made it impossible for him to take you.

You have been to the zoo in Tagaytay so I know you won't be missing out on the learning, you will however be missing out on the fun. That's what I'm most sad about. I know you would have loved to play with your friends but unfortunately we really couldn't find a way to take you to your trip.

I felt so proud of the way you handled the news. You said you felt sad, you asked me why you couldn't go and I explained it to you. That's it! No rants, no whining, no tantrums. I heard you tell your dolls that they couldn't go somewhere because their mommy needs to do something. That tells me that you have understood what I was explaining to you.

I wish you know that when we have to say no to you, we feel worse than you do. Trust me! All we parents, want to do is to make our child's life as easy and as fun as possible. That's not what we should be doing though, we should be teaching you how to deal with the things that life will throw at you. The disappointments, the frustrations, the anger, the sadness.  I should not be shielding you, I should be guiding you as you deal with the negative emotions life throws at you.

I pray that I am able to do this.

Love ya,

Momma

Quality Time

Dear Sabrina Banana, 

Daddy's work takes him away from us several days a week. It breaks his heart you know? Having to be so far away from us and knowing that we miss him just as much as he misses us. Which is why he takes the time to take you out on dates on certain occassions. Like this movie date!

Daddy can't spend as much time with you as I can but there's no denying that he loves you sooooo much. The important thing is not how much time he spends with you but the quality of  your time together.  

I once said that the best thing I've ever done as a mother is to make sure that you have a dad as awesome as your dad. 

Love, 

Momma

Mercury Report

Dear Sabrina Banana, Around 3 months ago, you were asked to report about Mercury. It was quite exciting because you really love planets. The thing is, I don't want you to memorize things. I think memorizing things will not be effective in reporting because if you forget one little thing, you lose the entire flow of your presentation. Also, the point of this is to teach you something, not to get you to repeat random facts. What I did was I pasted questions on the board that you would read. Then you can answer the question as you would want to. You had so much energy while I was shooting this video it was hard to capture it. You said, you weren't as "jumpy" during your classroom presentation though so YAY! Love ya, Momma

 

Read Here, Read There, Read Everywhere

Dear Sabrina,

I was just telling Daddy how much easier our lives have been since you started reading whole books by yourself. You're addicted!!

Here you are in Starbucks as we meet up with Gramma. (Water, comfy couch, choco chip cookie with macadamia and a book?....ah, this is the life!)

Here you are in the car on the way to Sunday worship.

You know, I'm going to have to start imposing rules on where you can read. You'll probably be a bit sad about that, but I really need to take care of your eyes sweetie.

Love ya,

Momma

Favorite Author

Dear Sabrina Banana,

Ever since you found out what the word author meant, you have been going around telling anyone who would listen that Dr. Seuss is your favorite author =).

Last Sunday, while we were in the car with Daddy you had this conversation:

Sabrina: Daddy who's your favorite author?
Dad: When I was a little boy I like Franklin W. Dixon and Hans Christian Andersen
Sabrina: He's the author of Thumbelina!

Wow, I didn't even know that. Hahaha. I don't know why you know that but good on you!

Love ya,

Momma

Random Special Day

Dear Sabrina Banana,

We normally don't allow you to sleep with us at night. You see, we think it's important that you learn to sleep on your own plus Mom and Dad need the night time to catch up with each other. We do allow you to sleep with us during "special days"

Special days are birthdays, Christmases, New Years, etc. Last night, I asked you if you wanted to sleep on mommy and daddy's bed. You said "Is it a special day?". I said YES! And you wanted to know what the occassion was. I said "January 11 is Mommy loves me so much day". You dug that!

Is is hereby decreed that January 11 will be the official "Mommy loves me so much day"

Love ya,

Momma

Princesses and Knights

Dear Sabrina Banana,

You don't want to be a princess. You cried when your nanny said you should be a princess. You said princesses don't do anything except stay in castles. You said you want to be a knight, because they keep the princesses safe.

I respect that. Heck...I applaud that!

I guess not exposing you to Disney princesses has its perks. There's a study that shows that children who were not exposed to disney fairy tales have happier and more satisfying relationships than those who were. I can see why. Imagine being lead to believe that love happens at first sight and from that point on you don't have to do anything...you will be swept off your feet and your life will be perfect. BALONEY!

This is why I like the story of Beauty and the Beast. Belle is smart, she cared deeply for her father, she bravely looked for her father, she took her father's place in the dungeon, she didn't fall in love based on appearance. She had more depth and substance than the other princesses.  The other princesses aren't as interesting for me.

You on the other hand, don't care at all for any of them. Funny how you care more about Dopey than Snow White for example. =)

Love ya,

Momma

How to Eat Ice Cream

Dear Sabrina Banana,

Sometimes, all it takes is a simple activity to remind us that life is fun.

Thanks for the reminder.

Love ya,

Momma
p.s.
Crazy cause you love the cone more than the ice cream

Sharing as a Way of Life

Dear Sabrina Banana,

The psychologist in me knows that it's normal at this age for kids to start becoming a bit selfish. I am grateful that you are not as selfish as you should be developmentally, you are actually quite generous at this point in your life. You understand the concept of sharing, but truth be told, it's more often understood as others sharing their toys with you rather than you sharing your toys with others.

Dad and I are constantly trying to find ways to make you understand the value of sharing. Last December we got the chance to join Tita Joy's annual Christmas charity where her family buys toys and gifts for children. All 3 of us tried to help put goodies inside the bags (we were able to stuff 1000 bags!) but unfortunately we had to leave before all the bags were packed.

True, you got tired halfway through our shift but at least you were able to experience doing something for others. I know it was tough not opening the toys you saw around you....but you didn't and we couldn't be more proud.

Last week, we went a step further and we went through all your toys and you made a pile of things you were willing to part with to share with other kids.We are now going to find kids to share these toys with.

You know what honey, even I struggle with this sometimes. I think it's such a blessing to have you in our lives because it reminds daddy and myself that we need to be good examples to you.

Love ya,

Momma

Preparing for a Photo Shoot

Dear Sabrina Banana,

Today you wore make-up for the first time. You were both terrified and excited. Terrified because you thought I was going to paint your face and turn you pink all over. Excited because you're doing something you've seen me do once in a while.

To be honest, I wasn't very comfortable exposing you to make-up so early. I was sure to tell you that you're wearing make-up not because you don't look good without it, but because you need it for your photo-shoot.  You seemed to understand what I was saying...or at least you nodded vigorously when I said it.

You squealed in delight when I put "sparkly stuff" on your eyes. After all, what silver fish is complete without sparkly eyes right? You also squealed in terror as the mascara wand approached your lashes.

You asked me after I finished putting on your make-up if you looked pretty. I said "You looked pretty without make-up, now you look ready for a photo shoot." That seemed to make you happy.

It was surreal when you got home and I was wiping the make-up off with baby oil. You  asked me why I had to remove it and I explained to you the importance of making sure we take off make-up at the end of the day. "Was I really having this conversation with my 4-year old?".

I hope you know that the only reason I let you wear make-up is because the teacher specifically said that the kids should have make-up on for the photo shoot. We established today that you can only wear make-up when you have a show on stage. You seemed satisfied with that.

Love ya,

Momma

Impulse Trip

Dear Sabrina Banana,

Daddy decided to surprise you one afternoon and just like that we were off to Araneta to watch Disney on Ice.   You were beyond excited! You were even more excited when you found out that you were allowed to spend your money to buy one of the toys on sale...you chose the binoculars.

It was quite funny how your body tensed up with excitement at the site of Mickey and Donald and your other favorites.

Yup, you had a blast!

And because you had fun, I had fun too.

I am so thrilled that you have a dad who is willing to give up rest, just to spend time with you and have you experience things you like. It's such a blessing!

Love ya,

Momma