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Yay! She’s super excited. She had already fix her school things and placed everything in her school bag. Though, we repeatedly told her, her school would start not until next week. After the June 12 celebration of Philippine Independence Day.

 She even went on to try her black shoes! Forgive the little lady.

She’s the only “makulit” in the house now. Thus, we tried, in all our patience to make an excuse out her whims and tantrum throwing. Especially when I cut short her bangs with a dull scissors ^_^. She went crying for like thirty minutes. The husband was the only one who comforts her. ALWAYS! Then he mutters in jest, “wala na tayong baby…”

Hmmm, whatever he meant…I AM DEFINITELY NOT BUYING!

Three kids were enough for me. I have had too many lines on my forehead. My hands were both dried and showed swollen veins up my wrist with too many chores…

Besides, the what’s keeping me worse than a worrywart freak is the too many expenses raising and sending three kids to school. Though, I must agree, only one kid (yes, that little girl photographed above) goes to private school. The eldest is an “Iska” (Oh, the tuition is not free, UP tuition cost is subsidized) . Then, the middle kid (junior high school) is attending a public science high school nearby.

As I always say, even when were paying low tuition fees, the heavy burden of most parents are the everyday expenses. Allowances and clothing and food costs. Hence, for frugal mom like me, I tried to searched every mall-wide sales and hoping to get discounted items. Imagine buying stuff for the three kids prior to school opening. Bags, shoes, uniforms, tuition fees…that’s a ginormous expense! It really pays to plan out the expenses. As early as March or April, until early May, I tend to buy all the kids’ stuff. I will allot portion of the husband’s monthly salary to those “unexcusable” expenses. Hence, when mid-May came, it’s the tuition fees that came last into the list. And, at the end of May (there’s the little girl’s birthday that adds up to the expense^_^)…I am off to wheeze a sigh…RELIEF!

Yesterday, when we’re out for grocery shopping, we saw long queues at the mall’s department store and at bookstores. Might be late shoppers cramming to buy their kids school stuff. Some of the kids toting along with their moms are whining inside a popular bookstore. Imagine the National Bookstore jampacked with shoppers, the airconditioning system could not vaporize the heat. I saw a friend with her two kids near the end of the line, with the little boy crying out loud saying he’s hungry and wanted to go Jollibee^_^.

I do understand some people who shopped at the very last minute. Financial difficulties and all, it does happened to us a lot of times, too. But, when shopping on a super busy days, I opt not to tote the kids with me…it’ll add up to my wrinkles all the more^_^.  Oh, except when buying shoes. Well, that should be scheduled on different days. Shopping with kids tend to be more exhaustive than fulfilling

Ranting out so many words here again…Forgive….a mommy has too many stories to tell….

…and, too many things to do on the first day of school. I know more mommies have to wake up earlier than usual. I hate…I hate

The growing debate over RH Bill has been alarmingly DISAPPOINTING, far as I am concerned. If one should have the time to read (RE: READ) its context, no doubt that the purposes should it be implemented, is of  great significance. POPULATION CONTROL. No doubt, as it is the main target of the bill. Digging deep and UNDERSTANDING the proponents, twas where my DOUBTS in this bureaucratic and corrupt government system lies. We’re going nowhere but the dogs.

OUCHY!

I digress…

Watching local news last night, I caught up the swift reaction of viewers in Jessica Soho’s previous report about how an aspiring UPCAT passer wanting to study in the Philippines’ premier state university, UP. But, tuition cost prevented the UP aspirant from enrolling because her parents couldn’t afford P7 k plus tuition cost. Her story was aired by Jessica Soho (VIDEO HERE) the other night and last night came the news that one good samaritan offered her free four-year scholarship.

Miss Soho reported also how many UPCAT passers weren’t able to enroll at UP because of tuition costs. I guess, with this issue , the government should review the educational system while waiting for the fate of the RH Bill. I always believed that education puts one person an edge over somebody, let alone A GOOD EDUCATION.

Though UP made it to the top 200 top universities in Asia, it is saddening that most universities/schools we have (not to mention those fly-by-night schools) can only produce more profits to the owners but producing less competitive graduates. Sorry.

For my part, I wished to teach my kids values/morals that they can never learn inside campuses. Armed with tenets, I wished to make my kids be of good example to other kids in the communities and not  be juvenile delinquents. Please Lord.

My mom used to be a teacher when she was alive. She used to teach at a far-flung village here in our town. She’s my first teacher. Teaching me ABC’s and 123′s. Though, she may be busy neglecting my homework, she was always there guiding me, giving me enough courage to excel in school. She would often tell me, “if others can, so do you, and you can go further”. That was her most USED PHRASE. I so missed her, MY FAVORITE TEACHER.

These were my photos in grade school. Mom was always a proud mom accompanying me every recognition day even if it meant skipping her own class. On my elementary graduation, I personally asked dad to escort me on the stage.

I missed my mom, and my dad, too. Dad may not be the best father figure I have, but very thankful that through him, I had been given this chance to live and share life beautifully with the family I have now.

SORRY FOR THIS LONG POST.

A bit sad this morning, I meant to link up other post for PF, but my recent blogger post where nowhere to be found?  Blogger’s been down yesterday, I published the post in the morning while waiting for Pink Friday linky. Would it ever go back?

Hence, I am writing down this entry^_^. Glad that I found more pinks here.

This is the Barbie House that my little miss was fretting about at Toy Kingdom. If I did won the lotto jackpot, I would have bought the entire Barbie toys there ^_^. It saddened moms like me not to be able to give my kid her dreams. No amount of money can buy a child’s stable childhood.

But then, with much explanation, and of course, more arguments, why she couldn’t have that P3499.00 Barbie house, we walked out of the toy store feeling optimistic that sooner she could have that dream house^_^. I should be dreaming of lotto numbers tonight ^_^.

I don’t know why kids today would have to have many toys? I got backaches everyday picking up dolls, kitchen sets, little pots and pots, around the house. I was telling the little miss, they’re lucky because when I was a kid I only got to have ONE RAG DOLL. And, it’s my prize possession!

Bye bye said the little miss for that pink Barbie house. There’s more important things on the list. School’s coming out. She needed new shoes. I can’t stop her feet from getting bigger each month! Here she is, trying out rubber shoes at SM Megamall.

I hated the light-up thingy on the shoes. But since I don’t want to be the villain mom always, I let her have the pair. Tweety’s one of her fave character…and she insist that it’d be in pink. Geez!

We had to shop for the much needed black school shoes, too. Hope these shoes last for the whole school year without her feet getting bigger soon:)

Glad that her Barbie trolley bag is still A-okay. I have to washed off the dirts. No need to buy new one. Good savings for me:)

There’s more school stuffs to buy…No worries…I worry much about tuition costs...One senior college, one high schooler, and, the little miss, a grade schooler…

pesosesssss please!

POSTED FOR

this post is in response to an fb friend and some commenters on a previous post (SHE COMES, HE GOES). fb friend ask me how did i let go of daughter, who needs to attend school away from us. as i said in my old post, she passed the UPCAT, a test given to thousands of graduating high school students aspiring for UP academic programs.

UP Oblation

as i said, letting-go of a kid is hard, a lot harder than stretching a week’s budget! i have to call her everyday, checking if she had eaten, calling her again every night, asking so many questions. sometimes i couldn’t eat because i was thinking, what could she be eating at her dorm? i do get paranoid most of the times.i couldn’t visit her, much as i would want to, i have two other kids to attend to, plus some other things that needed my attention here. so, slowly, i did get the hang of it…

2008, freshie year of daughter, we tag along to make her company on registration day

and now, she’s enjoying her stay at the university (away from my nagging voice, haha). she just arrived last night, first semester had ended. she has at least three weeks off before second semester began. as for those asking tuition cost at UP, yes, it is subsidized by the government twas was coined, ISKOLAR NG BAYAN. but, it aint really free. our government cannot shoulder all the costs, hence tuition rate is socialized (?). you’ll pay on the amount your family is earning. so-called bracketing in the UP SYSTEM. daughter was in bracket B, paying 14-16k/sem on a 17-19 unit load. she did applied for re-bracketing, writing an appeal that necessitates our family status and expenses. we’re hoping for a lesser tuition this second sem. yay!