Ika 12 ng Setyembre 2008

A fully packed Friday for me.......

My eldest daughter called early this morning to tell me that she's going to attend her lab as it would be hard to catch up and going home after that. She wouldn't go to their field trip tomorrow. She's got the flu and I am on edge because she's sick and no one is taking care of her. I called her last night and told her to miss her class if she does not get better. She took paracetamol to ease her pain.

First stop...... my middle daughter's PTA. So I had to take care of it and I would be late for the office. Another concern is when my son finds out that I found time for this, I need some serious explaining on why I missed his PTA which was set on a Saturday. Motherhood is really a tough balancing act. There were three more parents before me when I got to my daughter's classroom. The parent in front of me was looking around and writing something on a piece of paper. I did the same thing. On the wall of the classroom, the names of students with top honors for the quarter, the top students for each subject, and those who qualified for gold, silver, and bronze awards were posted. My daughter is ranked 6th, top for English, and is among the silver medalist. I was teasing her through text message on how poorly she ranked. She was among the top five in previous years. Both my daughters are achievers in school and are quite grade-conscious. Frankly, I appreciate my daughters' effort as it has brought us honors but do not place too much importance on the grades they get. I am happy just the same and I am proud of them. My daughters have always amazed me on their capacity to draw out their best as they immersed themselves in serious studies. I say this because I have not been a very conscientious student. I was in my elementary years, maybe high school. In college, I did so so....... Let's just say, I mixed work and fun wonderfully. I would make up for my slack when I took my graduate studies.

I would also see a collage of the officers of the class. My daughter is class president. She has always been popular and exhibits leadership. After stimulating my senses while I was eavesdropping on the conference of the parents before me whose son got the top honors (yes, I am good at eavesdropping without them knowing it), it was my turn. The teacher immediately congratulated me when I mentioned my daughter's name. Maybe, she noticed I winced at seeing her chemistry grade which lowered her averaged. She told me to encourage my daughter to brush up some more. The teacher told me that my daughter requested her to ask the science teacher about her grade because she was concerned she will be out of the honor's list. She made it to the cut and would still qualify for top honors when she turns senior next year. She told me that my daughter is responsible and performs her role in class to a T. The teacher was very accommodating but the queue of parents was getting longer and so we ended our conversation. After the PTA, I would read a text message from my daughter telling me she talked to her teacher before and even cried about her grade in chemistry.

I rushed going to the office because I need to attend a 2:00pm meeting on JPEPA in preparation for Monday's senate session. I proceeded to Alabang for a bus ride going to Makati. Inside the bus, I started having headache. Must be from coming home late as I attended a despedida party for a colleague leaving for Brussels for her graduate studies after my classes last night. I slept but couldn't really get enough and I got down the bus still feeling my head was going to explode. I walked the last leg of my trip to the office taking my time.

I hope my meeting ends early as I also have make-up class at 5:00pm. Good thing that I was able to prepare my lecture yesterday. I should be giving more activities to my students soon.

After classes, I am free again............ free to spend the weekend as I please. Well, I have to take care of a sick daughter, maybe ease my other daughter's disappointment, and probably make up for my irresponsibility and do some serious bribing to my son.

PS: Napakaraming opportunidad ang mga kabataan ngayon, para umasenso sa buhay. Yun kaopisina kong aalis ay isa sa mga kabataan na ito na gumagawa ng pangalan nila. Malalakas ang loob at puno ng pangarap. Naghanap siya ng scholarship sa ibang bansa para maisulong lalo ang kaalaman. Maging sa anak kong panaganay ay nakikita ko ito. Mas maraming paraan na pwedeng gamitin para maging makabuluhan ang pag-aaral nila kompara sa nakagisnan kong paraan. Karaniwan na kasama sa curriculum ng paralan ngayon ang pagbiyahe sa ibang bansa o sa iba't ibang parte ng Pilipinas para maranasan nila ang mga natututunan lang sa paaralan. Ang dalawang anak kong babae nakapagbiyahe na sa ibang bansa sa murang edad pa lamang. Nung kabataan ko, parang pangarap lang ito. Masuwerte sila sa isang banda. Ang pagbibiyahe sa iba't ibang lugar ay isa sa mga magandang paraan para magkaroon ng kaalaman. Para sa akin, ang panibagong paraan ay senyales ng progreso ng tao.