I have a confession to make: I like it when Sadako is finally asleep, because it means that I can finally start or go back to dinner, work, or netting.
I loved singing and performing for relatives and guests at home when I was young. One time, when I was about four years old, my mother asked me to sing Tomorrow for our relatives who were visiting. I instantly burst into song. However, after singing the first line with so much passion, I decided to stop and asked to be excused. I went inside my room, did a proper entrance, and then whipped out my milk bottle, which I used as a microphone. I sang “The sun will come out tomorrow” again and finished the song. No doubt about it: even when I was just a kid, I already knew I wanted to sing and perform for others. Fast forward to my high school years. One day, I read in the papers that Ryan Cayabyab was forming an all-male version of Smokey Mountain. Of course, I just had to try out. I didn’t tell my parents about it. My friends and I decided to try our luck. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, Smokey Mountain was a vocal group composed ...
I’ve always found the expression “Tao na!” (used to describe a baby who’s already acting like a big kid or an adult) hilarious, but I found myself using it a couple of hours ago when Sadako kept on bugging Honeybun, my sister and I while we were enjoying our shawarma pizza dinner. To shut her up, we offered her a bite. As it turned out, she wanted more than just a bite. Good thing we didn’t put hot sauce on all the slices. Tao na!
Some years ago, back when my now-1-year old daughter Sadako wasn’t even an idea yet, I came across an article about how supposedly bad TV is for babies and young kids. I now don’t remember the boob tube’s bad effects on little ones (although I really should Google that), but whatever they are, my daughter must already be suffering from them because watching TV has been a daily habit for her for half a year now. Blame me and my girlfriend, Honeybun; we always have the TV set turned on. Apart from being soothing background noise, we discovered that it can be some sort of a babysitter, too. For example, certain commercials would make our daughter stop crying or catch her attention long enough for us to squeeze in drops of yucky medicine inside her mouth. Sadako is picky, though, so we bought a stack of DVDs and VCDs to entertain her whenever her favorite commercials aren’t on air. Her favorite show in the world is Hi-5, and Australian kiddie show where five adults—two guys and th...