Elections 2010

Election came and went. And much to everybody's relief, it went by in relative peace. Someone mentioned that the election automation was the first of its kind - considering that we were going from 0% to 100% automation. Despite glitches that led to predictions of election failure and implotion of the automation process, the PCOS machines and CF Cards did not disappoint. We are one with the majority who say (for now, at least) that the election was a success!

The Mokongs' interest in politics came about during the aftermath of President Cory's passing as you can see here and here. After that, they asked about government, laws, Marcos, Gloria, Ninoy AquinoY. It was only natural that come campaign season, they were well-prepped and had opinions of their own on who should lead our country.

H to his classmate: I want Noynoy to be President!

Teacher J: Why?

H: Because I went to his house.

Classmate: How about X (another candidate)?

H: No, I didn't go to his house!

Another classmate: Me, I like Villar!

H: Why?! You want the roads to be zigzag?!!

(Teacher J remarked that this conversation helped her understand the controversy about diversion of roads WAAAY much better!)

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H: Villar made the roads zigzag. Remember, Tagaytay and Ko-Asia (Croatia)?

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On the way to Calatagan where the road became winding and some roads were only partially cemented -

B: Villar, what did you do?!!! (in a whining and irritated voice)

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B: When did Gloria become president?

Mommy: In 2001.

B: What?! But the last elections were in 2004!

Mommy: You're right but in 2001, the people kicked Erap out. So since Gloria was the Vice-President, she became the President.

B: But you can only be President for 6 years!

Mommy: Yes, but that is only if you became President through elections. Gloria was not elected in 2001.

B: But 9 years is too long to be President!

(At his young age, he knew that occupying the highest position of the land for 9 LONG years is much too much.)

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They also did some campaigning of their own.

B: Please, Grandma, puh-lease, can you please vote for Noynoy?

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Hadrien was also adept at reading cues. He knew who his grandparents were voting for. But he had this to say about Gramps.

H: Gramps is voting for Noynoy. If he is talking to other people, he says he is voting for Gibo. But if he is talking to Grandma, he says he is voting for Villar.

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They were also hungry to learn about the election process.

B: Where are the elections going to be?

M: All over the country.

B: There will be many elections?!!

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On the day of the elections, a slightly feverish Baz could not be deterred from participating in the elections. As we were accompanying Raffy to vote in Las Pinas, I did not want the boys to go in blue and/or yellow. But it was pointless to try to get them to do otherwise. They've waited so long for "their" votes to be cast - and they wanted everyone to know who they were rooting for.

Here are some photos of the mokongs having their first taste of the electoral process:

(waiting patiently in more than 30 centigrade heat)

(making his Laban sign, just in case someone was in doubt as to who his candidate was. in korean kasi ang campaign material sa shirt niya!)

(posing with the friendly policemen who were making sure that everything was going smoothly)

(Mokongs: There, Aquino! Lacson! - The Mokongs making sure that their Daddy doesn't forget who to vote for. The future generation is taking the future into their hands. Their logic is simple - vote for someone who (at least for now) follows the rules. If you can't obey the laws, you can't be President)

(Waiting for the "congratulations" on the PCOS machine's screen.)

At dinner time, their election fever was still high -

H: Kuya, If I run for VP and Noynoy will run for president, who will you vote for?

B: There will be 3 presidents before Hadrien will be allowed to vote and 2 presidents before I can vote. (I thought I was good in math but it took me a while to digest this statement and verify its accuracy.)

It's not that I want my boys entering politics any time. But I think it's a good sign that they're concerned about their country and having an opinion about things like these.

One Very Hot Sunday Afternoon

Raffy organized a trip to Pila, Laguna so that the kids can see Philippine ancestral houses. It's a pity that there are very few left of these houses for the kids of their generation to appreciate. Not even the blazing heat could take away from the rare sight of the plaza surrounded by well-preserved Filipino houses.

While there, Baz got to review what he learned during their theme investigation on Philippine houses such as callado, bangerahan and ventanillas. Sadly, we learned that some of these houses are uninhabited except for the token care-taker. Some are owned by corporations and therefore used as offices. And because it's election time, many of the houses were plastered with campaign materials. Obviously, the boys were happy to see the Noynoy/Mar campaign posters - and covered their eyes as they came upon Villar's.

It was quite a drive so the first order of the day was lunch at a local carenderia off the town plaza. And Raffy was actually okay with the kids eating carinderia food!!!! For the kids, we played it safe with sinigang (which they re-heated in the microwave as an extra precaution) and grilled fish. Don't worry, we did bring our own set of utensils for the kids. Hahaha!!!

As for us, we took a chance and tried the menudo. We were rewarded for our bravery :)

Sidebar: Look at the little mokong here. Ano ba, Hadrien? Were you bored, intrigued, shocked or captivated by the movie you were watching (while Mommy and Daddy were eating in relative peace)?

After lunch, we visited the St. Anthony de Padua church - beautiful both inside and out.

This is what the sun does to poor Hadrien ...

A quick stroll around the plaza and a first-ever tricycle ride followed, complete with lubak and all!

(Agra house in the background, Daddy and a wilted Hadrien in the foreground)

(in front of the Rivera house)

(in front of the Pila Municipal Hall)

(St. Anthony de Padua Church in the background)

(their first tricycle ride c/o Mang Jessie)

On the way back, it would be unforgiveable not to take a photo of the lush green ricefields. Thinking that we would actually go into the ricefields, Baz cautioned: We must be extra careful or we will ruin it!

Then another quick stop at UP Los Banos. but not without stopping to picky up milk from the Dairy Husbandry. YUMMM!!!

More Facebook Updates from Mommy

M sees two kids clutching their ears. The reason: a truck playing the song of Villar passed by. H is now shouting: STOP, VILLAR!! OK?!!! (4/11/10)

B and H are so much into politics these days. They both refuse to eat, wear or even see anything orange. If anyone says they like "V", they immediately berate that person with "why?! do you like the roads to be zigzag?" (4/10/10)

Comments:

1. There goes their beta-carotene! Tsktsktsk! Hahaha! - T. Jojie
2. The roads to be zig zag... HIGHlarious! - Nikka
3. When when we were playing with the toy bowling....they refused to hit the yellow pins..but they put the orange ones up front so that it would be the first one to fall. LOL!! grabe na 'to!! - Aunti Ritchie

B: Daddy, I have to ask you something. What does a lawyer do? D: Lawyers help people understand the laws. They also help people when they appear before the courts, like the Supreme Court. B: What is a court? Like a basketball court? (Laughter) B: Is that part of the government? D: Yes, you remember there are ... (3/24/10)

Baz's reaction to chat not working: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is so so so Very BAD!!!!!!!!!!! x-(. (3/13/10)

Baz: I watched Noynoy (obviously a big fan) on the news. They called him "Senador", not "Senator"... Must speak Filipino to them more often. (3/13/10)

The kids were upset during yesterday's brownouts. H asked me if he could go to heaven and turn on the lights and come back to earth. At some point (10 minutes into the brownout) they both got cranky so I told them that they should learn to be still. B asked me what he could do in the dark (I figured they got bored talking to me), so I said why don't you talk to God. And he said "God, please fix the power plants!" (3/2/10)

M's 4 and 6 year old rushed to meet her and Raffy as they came home. B reported that H hit him on the head. The reason for the scuffle - they had an argument as to whether "infinity" was a number! Needless to say, the scolding for the physical fight was half-hearted. (3/1/10)

H's attempt to make her feel guilty with: "Mommy, when you go on trips without us, I want you to get this, this, and this... Make sure when you go that you get this, this and that. Ok? Promise?" (pointing to a Thomas the Train catalog) (2/14/10)

H: "Mommy, I love you to infinity!" But this is the same kid who made paper flowers for 3 of his favorite girl classmates - and none for me! (1/20/10)

M fooled B into thinking that she turned eggwhites and salt into icing and then chicken! (1/18/10)

Shoe-ssess

Let me preface this with .... I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS SOONER!!!!

The Kinder Koala's Shoes culminating activity was held October last year. And it took me more than 4 months to blog about it. Sorry, Hadrien! You'll see .... I'll make it up to you.

The theme on shoes came after "sari-sari" store. In keeping with the theme, instead of footprints, the path leading to the Kinder Koala's room was peppered with cut outs of various kinds of shoes, hand painted by Hadrien and his classmates. This set the stage for a month-filled activities involving shoes. Even if Hadrien skipped school for about 2 weeks to attend Tita Bel's wedding in Dubrovnik, he was on shoe-theme mode making sure he took pictures of the shoes he saw:




These were nifty additions to the kinds of shoes he learned in school - sneakers, ballet shoes, slippers, boots, ice skates, etc. His new-found expertise on shoes also added a good 5-minute to our routine everyday as he showed off his knowledge on the parts of a shoe - outsole, insole, heel, vamp and accessories (e.g., glitter, buckles, velcro, straps, etc). Or when he insisted on wearing black leather shoes and white sport socks on days when he was already dressed in shorts. (At this point, I might suggest adding to the lesson which shoes go with which outfit... sneakers do not need shoe polish or that black polish should not be applied to brown shoes.... but I digress...) On some days, he went through our shoe drawers to to point out that shoes could be made out different materials - such as rubber, leather and fabric.

They were supposed to go on a field trip to Marikina to see how shoes are manufactured. But because of Ondoy which inundated Marikina and other parts of the Metro, they decided to collect shoes and other donations for people who make shoes. This was a great lesson in itself.

During the culminating activity, the Koalas recited "There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe" and another poem which they composed. They also sang and danced to a couple of shoe songs. They held an exhibit where they showed off their shoe designs (both sketches and actual finished products) and allowed us to see and touch a sampling of shoes. We were allowed and encouraged to ask the kids questions. And they were mostly NOT shy to answer our questions. It was an activity filled morning - with the parents and yayas getting the chance to play shoe relay and nibble on shoe-shaped cookies.

I must mention that T. Jojie even came dressed with a pretty-shoe-printed blouse. Talagang sticking to the theme!

Flowers, Flowers Everywhere!

Baz's 5's and 6's (aka Prep) class had a culminating activity on flowers last week. For about a month or two, they learned about the different parts of the flower, what flowers are used for, what flowers need to survive. They also learned about 2 painters who were famous for their flower paintings - Vincent Van Gogh and Georgia O'Keeffe.

They had 3 field trips. The first to see different kinds of flowers at Greenbelt Park - a bit poetic since as we were growing up, the park near Shakeys that became Strumms, now Greenbelt 5, looked like a lush mini-forest. The second was to Flower Farm in Tagaytay where they saw greenhouses, learned that chrysanthemums are "tricked" into thinking that there was continuous sunlight by the use of light bulbs strung across the flowerbeds. The third was to Market! Market! where they interviewed people from a flower shop, learned about the flower trade, how to make flower arrangements and put some math into action by buying flowers and making sure they received the right amount of change.

In science, they dissected a flower and saw first-hand what the stamen, pistel, ovules, ovary - in addition to the run-of-the-mill stem, leaves, roots, petals and sepal. They witnessed capillary action at work when they put white flowers into 3 separate jars containing yellow, red and blue dyes - causing the flower petals to change colors. They learned how to measure flowers and chart the lengths.

During the culminating activity, the 5's and 6's opened their very own flower shop - aptly named Flowers & Flowers. We were wisely instructed to prepare P10 and P1 coins and were given an order slip showing how much our order cost. Raffy had his film-tubes of coins and Baz counted out exactly how much he needed - P95 to be exact. The business part out of the way, Baz went into flower-arrangement-mode. His aesthetic was Ikebana-esque. And he snipped and cut away like an expert.

Then we got to see their paintings - all inspired by Van Gogh and O'Keeffe. I couldn't believe how artistic these kids are. There's something to be said about not requiring kids to do projects at home. Their skills are really harnessed and honed - no parents doing their kids' projects here! Still, it's a lot better than I would have expected from these 5 and 6 year olds.

To cap the activity - the kids sang "Starry, Starry Night" - a song inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's life and paintings.

Obviously, we're mighty pleased about what our kids are learning at Keys. And what's more, they are REALLY REALLY happy in school.




Next post: Hadrien's shoe culminating activity....

Daddy Is Not Independent

For a long time now, we've been trying to get the kids to sleep on their own beds in their own (shared) room. But every now and then, we'd give in to pleas to allow them to sleep with us. Lately , I felt that I wasn't getting enough restful sleep with elbows and knees periodically nudging me so I began to put my foot down. Today, as Raffy was prepping them for bed, I overheard Baz say: "Daddy, you're already almost 40 and you're still sleeping with Mommy! So you should be more independent."

What did you say, Daddy?

How Do You Pee?!

The hazards of having to take your son to the public bathroom when you have no choice but to have him stay in the stall while you do your business...

The following conversation is a variant of a similar conversation last week. This one took place at home as we were all getting ready to leave.

B: Mommy, can I see your penis?

M: I don’t have one.

B: What?!!! How do you pee?

M: Baz remember your lesson about flowers? There are boy parts and girl parts.

D: Mommy has A stamen. Ha ha ha ha ha ha…


Note: The last two lines were typed by Baz. So, for the record, he can say that he started blogging at age 6 :). He even wanted to be accurate in the number of "ha's" to type, asking Raffy how many times he laughed.