Gabriel is Ambit's youngest volunteer

Our youngest volunteer in the group giving a drawing workshop.

Our youngest volunteer in the group in his storytelling task.

Colors of May

Ambit's youngest child volunteer has successfully held his first ever Painting Exhibition together with his grandfather. Gabriel dedicated his summer vacation working on his artworks using mostly oil and chalk pastels. What made it special was the fact that he wanted to raise funds so he can buy notebooks for Ambit's children beneficiaries. Take a look at our little philanthropist and the joy of those who went to the exhibit.

We Have A Venue!

For a few weeks now Gabriel has been working nonstop on his paintings bearing in mind that his sacrifices would mean a priceless gift for the children in Sipalay and Hinobaan. As his mother I take pride in the fact that at his tender age, he is already taking it upon himself to affect change in the society. When he inquired about the possibilities of him holding an art exhibit, I didn't wait a second in explaining to him the mechanics, the sacrifices that he's going to make, and that the only consolation would be to see the faces of his fellow children lighting up while receiving their notebooks. We have been praying each night that God will provide us with the venue for the exhibit. Since it's going to be a charity event, it will defeat the purpose if we spend for anything to have it done. Today, God has answered our prayer! A new friend I met on Facebook offered her place for us to hold the Art Exhibit. How encouraging it is to know that somewhere out there, someone heard God's whispers and directs her to us. Salamat Leia Mae, for being an angel to us. May you be blessed even more!

What Can a Child Do for Others?

Gabriel is 10 years old and this particular summer would be extra special for him because there's no out of town trips, vacations, outings. Aside from being a child volunteer for Ambit where he usually gets assigned reading stories to children beneficiaries in our adopted villages, Gabriel takes joy in doing his part in the notebook drive. Right now, he is dedicating his time doing his paintings for his first ever painting exhibit. He wanted to help donate notebooks for Ambit and he thought of using his talent in raising funds for the less fortunate children in Sipalay and Hinobaan. May he be an inspiration to us.

Baby boy

From being a baby to now a boy... big boy...tall boy... still my baby boy. 

A few days ago, he was at his grannies and just like any ordinary day with his lolo, they never run out of play ideas.  I saw this pop out in my FB notification, to my great amusement and delight. Made me recall right away some years back when he was still wearing his diapers... Check these photos out. 

He likes to give me flowers

That kind of face, that kind of smile, makes me feel so grateful God made me a mother. How can I not conquer the fears, pains, failures and heartaches? See those tiny flowers in his little hands? He picked them for me and very excitedly showed me. It's these little things that I call treasure, riches, gold. Priceless moments that I can never trade for anything, as it's in these moments that I am reminded of my purpose, why I am here. Knowing my purpose leads me to where I will be in the future, it gives me the right motivation to keep going in spite of the present darkness. 

What motherhood is

Motherhood is getting to know his friends and treating them like my own. Whenever Gabriel comes home with a bunch of his friends, I make sure I welcome them all like I welcome my son. I call it "open house" for them. They get play, eat, jump around, shout, laugh, get crazy, sweat it out. For me, that is the only way I can assure my son as he transitions in teenage phase, that I can be one of his buddies, too. I guess one of the saddest thing that can happen to a parent is when their children become stranger to them, or them to their children. I do not want that to happen ever.

 

Dont prepare the future for your child. Prepare your child for the future.

What makes me particularly happy that I am my son's mother, is the fact that we understand each other in every way. There's never an instance when Gabriel would whine because I asked him to do some household chore. I see to it that we talk about everything, including the fact that I make him learn to do the household chores. "I'm doing this because I love you. I want to prepare you for the future." I always tell him that and he would embrace me and kiss me and say, "I know Nanay, and I understand." It makes me feel so blessed to get that kind of assurance from a 10-year-old son whose priority is to play, play, play and play. Fellow mothers are often surprised when I tell them Gabriel can already cook rice, some simple dish like hotdog, fish, he washes dishes, helps me in the laundry, mops the floor, fixes the bed. Well, I was 5 when I learned to cook rice!

Why do you grow up so fast???

I savored each step,
to where you are now,
to where you want to be,
to how you want to be.
I felt each sigh,
each deep of a breath,
each whisper of the wind
through your hair,
your face,
it's life...
you are life.
It's been a while
since you were tiny
in my hands, frail but alive
like the breaking of dawn,
full of promise
of new beginning.
It's been a while
since I last sang you some lullaby,
the songs that you loved
that brought you to heights
and peaks of dreaming
and believing
that life has got so much for you
and me.
You are enough for me.

Character building

Goodbye 2015!

Our last chowking date for 2015 :Dgrin emoticon

The joy of celebrating the Saviors Birth

My son, being a Leo, is such a leader and an organizer. And of course I am his number one supporter. Tonight they met at our house for their first try at Christmas caroling around the neighborhood. I had to get someone to secretly follow after them as they roam around the subdivision. He came home super proud, being about to go to different phases in our area, without him knowing I got them followed. I am a mother, that's why. 

Yes, my son is a daydreamer

I am sharing here an article I read today, as I can relate so very much. I do not think it's ADHD, although I would be happy to find out the real score. The sooner, the better. But I think it is just more of like raising a mini genious, as far as my own observations as a mother could tell.

Daydreaming Kids May Be Brighter, Say Scientists

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Rex Features

Is you child a daydreamer, always lost in their own thoughts, and easily distracted?

Are you forever nagging them to get a move on, pick things up, do this, do that, because they never seem to pay attention to a single thing you say?

Well, first the bad news: there isn't a thing you can do about it.

And now the good: you may be raising a mini-genius!

For new research says absent-minded children might actually have sharper brains.

Their study showed that those who appear to be constantly distracted in fact have more "working memory", giving them the ability to do two things at the same time.

The researchers asked participants to either press a button in response to the appearance of a certain letter on a screen, or tap in time with their breath.

The researchers checked periodically to ask if their minds were wandering. At the end, they measured the participants' working memory capacity, giving them a score for their ability to remember a series of letters interspersed with easy maths questions.

The results of the research, by Daniel Levinson, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and published online in Psychological Science, are the first to show the association with mind-wandering and intelligence.

It's thought the extra mental workspace is used, for instance, when adding up two spoken numbers without being able to write them down.

Its capacity has been associated with general measures of intelligence, such as reading comprehension and IQ score.

As the stepfather of a daydreamy 10-year-old, these findings make perfect sense to me.

History is famously populated by geniuses who could barely put their underpants on yet solved some of science's greatest mysteries. Isaac Newton was one; Albert Einstein another. Both absent-minded professors.

And although I don't think mine is quite in the atom-splitting league of intelligence, this research has certainly given her mother and I some cause for optimism.

At the moment, we spend our lives nagging our girl. "Have you packed your homework? Have you cleaned your teeth? Where's your P.E. kit? What on earth is going on with your hair? GET IT BRUSHED."

While all this is happening, she wanders around in a daze. Literally away with the fairies in her head.

She comes home from school, drops her bags and coat in the middle of the living room and steps away from them, leaving them in a pile for us to tidy up.

She goes into her bedroom to do her homework only to emerge an hour later with some drawings of butterflies or an outline of a play she'd like to perform with her brothers i.e. absolutely, completely, nothing whatsoever to do with the maths she was sent in there to do.

But it's not because she's belligerent or stroppy – though as a typical 10 year-old she certainly has her moments – it's because her thoughts always seem to be elsewhere.

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In fact, she often seems so absent in the mind-stakes that we have a nickname for her: Dolly Daydream. And our easily-distracted daughter drives me and her mother to distraction.

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We have had endless discussions about how to get her to engage more; how to get her to focus on the task at hand. But no amount of hand-wringing or cajoling has worked so in the end we concluded: "It's just the way she is."

And now it seems that the way she is might actually be a Very Good Thing.

Cognitive therapist Dan Roberts told Parentdish.co.uk: "if your child is a bit of a daydreamer, I certainly wouldn't worry about it.

"As this new study on working memory suggests, appearing distracted or absent-minded may be a sign that your child's brain is more adept at performing a number of different tasks at the same time, rather than having to concentrate hard on one thing after another.

"While parents do have to encourage their children to knuckle down, both in school and when slogging through homework, it's crucial that we don't make kids feel bad or inadequate just because their minds seem to wander.

"For brighter children, a great deal of their schoolwork is likely to be mundane, so their daydreaming may also be a sign of boredom. If so, the key is to find subjects that stimulate and engage them, rather than getting frustrated or impatient when their attention flits about."

I doubt very much that my stepdaughter has genius tendencies, but she is unquestionably as sharp as a tack. For a recent school fair, she set up her own "Body Art" parlour – and made the princely sum of £50. Last week, she got an A+ in French. And the week before that, she was top of her year in a spelling challenge.

Yes, she might be a Dolly Daydream, but I'd like to think it's not because she's lazy, thoughtless or rude – but that her mind is so full of plans for world domination that she has no room in her massive brain to pick up a couple of wet towels from the bathroom floor.

As long as she shares her vast wealth with me and her mother one day, we'll just have to put up with it.

I miss you

It's been 5 days since you left for a vacation with your cousins and it feels like eternity. I can't believe how I am surviving right now. I knew it's going to be a challenge for me but I let  you go anyway, in spite of your own hesitations. The experience will be good for you. You need to explore the world, to learn independence, to meet different kinds of people, to see how far you can go with each experience, with each new discovery. I praise and thank the Lord for taking care of you and keeping you safe, for allowing me the experience of trusting in him with all my heart to hold you, when I can't.

I can't wait for you to come home and hear your stories. I can't wait to see how much you've grown. 

Gabriel's Diary

The scientist and the explorer wants to document his journey.

And he calls it FED: Fun, exciting, diary.

I wonder why it's not good. I am allowed to access his diary anytime but he won't elaborate with what he's written in it. "It's there in my safe, you can read it but don't ask me anything more about what I write in it." I hope he won't mind if I post it in his blog. 

Indeed he is!

Listen up adults. This is coming from my nine-year-old. 

Looks like the scientist has an exciting schedule coming up. 

We beat Dengue!

We just beat dengue once again. My son was only four when he was inflicted with this deadly viral decease and he beat it heroically. It wasn't easy to get a very picky four-year-old to eat all the time, since dengue doesn't have any cure and the only best way to combat it is to make sure the patient eats a lot and takes a lot of fluids. We tried tawa-tawa that time and I was pretty sure that was the one that helped the platelet rise. But this time, I lost most of my faith in tawa-tawa. Since day one of his very high fever, I already gave him tawa-tawa. But still, after the 3-day fever and we went for a blood test, his result showed that his platelet count dropped to 88. I was so scared and I rushed him to the hospital even though that time he said he was already feeling well. He was actually eating already and gaining his strength back. He said he was feeling all normal. But I wanted to make sure.

First day at the hospital his platelet count showed 115 so I had high hopes. We went on with tawa-tawa, cmd mineral drops, gatorade, yakult, pineapple juice, all those stuff that everyone suggested. Second day, we had a plateau. It was still 115. I was beginning to worry. And on our third day, it dropped to 102. I was crying and crying I was so scared. Then someone sent me a message telling me to try papaya leaves extract, which I did immediately.

We pounded the papaya leaf and extracted its juice, mixed some honey with it to pacify the bitterness and had my son drink the bitter but miraculous herbal medicine. Yes, indeed it was miraculous. Because the following morning, the blood test result his platelet count rose to 168, thanks be to God, the maker of everything including papaya! I am still in awe and I am writing this article to share to others who, God forbid, will undergo the same ordeal such as we have undergone.