Tuesday, November 23, 2004

It has been a very frustrating 2 weeks. It started 2 Fridays ago when one of the fetchers of my students was late, again. He always fetches the child 30 minutes late, which means that my lunch break is reduced from 1 hour to 30 minutes. Everyday he always has an excuse, traffic was terrible, his tricycle wouldn't start, a road was being repaired, etc... So 2 fridays ago I decided to leave the child in the office while I have a 1 hour lunch break. The Monday after that the child's mom came to school furious. The fetcher had told her that I had locked up her son in a dark room. Duh? I explained that I had asked the school staff to watch over him and left him in the office. Four of the school staff eat their lunch in the office so he was not alone, the door was not locked and the light were not closed. What planet is that child's fetcher from? At least now he is never late in picking up the child. I've tried talking to him for the past 2 weeks but he just turns his back and leaves. What is his problem? Hmmm... maybe its because the mom discoved that he always picks up her son 30 minutes late?

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

One of the moms came to the office with her son and asked me if I could talk to him. He didn't want to go to school. Thoughts started racing thru my mind, was he being bullied, did he fail to do his homework and was scared that his teacher would get mad, was he in an embarrasing situation the day before? I asked the mom what was wrong. She then told me that he had high fever and colds, that's why he didn't want to go to school. She must have noticed my eyes widen, and quickly added he wasn't coughing as bad as last night.

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Yesterday I discovered another child who was the victim of parents giving weird names. She handed me her excuse letter for being absent the day before, and it was only then I noticed that her name was Lard. Lard! How could her parents do that to her? If anyone wanted to make fun of her, all they had to do was call her by her name.

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Ahh yes. Isn't it wonderful when parents take an active role in their children's education? Teachers aren't perfect, they make mistakes, too. I suppose that was the reason why one of the moms took it upon herself to correct the teacher's lesson. The topic was what plants needed to live. As it turned out, the mom happened to be a grade school science teacher, so ofcourse she knew what she was talking about. The teacher had helped the students draw on their notebook water, air (symbolized by wavy lines) and the sun. The next day, the teacher was surprised by a huge red X drawn on the sun and a note by the mom correcting her, saying that plants don't need the sun. Oh my God. She's a grade school science teacher?!!!

Thursday, September 23, 2004

It was one of those rare moments. The kids were having their recess, when the boy seated at the left-most corner threw up. His seatmate looked at his puke, and threw up as well. Then, the next child beside the second also threw up. It felt like I was in a cartoon. The kids, one after the other, were puking in order. It started with the kid seated the farthest and ended with the kid seated nearest the blackboard. I could see myself running in slow motion towards the kid in the corner, only to gasp at the puke-fest going on. It just had to be one of those days.

Sunday, September 05, 2004

After going to the gym religiously for 5 months, I was finally able to attain killer abs. I was finally able to wear low waisted jeans and actually look good in them. Then, I didn't go to the gym for 2 weeks, and the flab came back! Arrgh!!! My dad calls it the curse of the ancestors. I, just like all the women in my family who came before me, am pear shaped. Will it take me another 5 months to regain my former glory?

Friday, September 03, 2004

I think its become a sore eyes epidemic.
It started with a couple of students coming to school with sore eyes. They were sent home right away, but came back to school the next day. They were sent home, and again they came back to school the next day. This went on for the duration of their infection.

I don't know why they keep coming back. Its so frustrating. You explain to their parents that they should rest at home for at least a week, you say its contagious, you say sick children should not be in school. They agree with you, then send their kids back to school the next day. I had actually seen several parents drop off their kids with sore eyes in the front of the school gate, and run. The guard called out to them but they just jumped back into their cars and sped away.

Last week we were averaging about 50 kids with sore eyes who would come to school. This week the number is at 120. Why won't they stay home? The school doctor now has sore eyes, so do the high school counselors and several teachers. It has gotten so bad that yesterday, the school directress announced that anyone who came to school with sore eyes would be suspended. Today, more than 100 kids still came.

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

At around 11 a.m this morning the Pasig City mayor finally woke up from his beauty sleep and anounced the suspension of classes in Pasig. Thanks a lot. The other mayors had already announced suspension of classes in their respective cities at 5 and 6 a.m. The children were already in school with wet socks. A few were soaked from the waist down. I feel bad for the teachers who live far. Whenever there are heavy rains they end up arriving home past nine in the evening.

Saturday, August 14, 2004

Rhochie and I visited my parents at the hospital today. My mom has dengue. Yesterday, one of the school staff heard that my mom was in the hospital. She kept trying to convince me to buy flowers from this store where her sister-in-law works. I explained to her that my mom would much rather have me buy some take-out for lunch, and perhaps some snacks, since she absolutely hated hospital food. Besides, flowers make her sneeze. My workmate spent an entire afternoon trying to change my mind, saying things like flowers have healing powers and will absorb the illness. Gee, the next time I get sick, flowers will be the first thing I'll buy. If only I knew this before, then I wouldn't have wasted all of my money on medicine.

Friday, July 30, 2004

We asked the parents of one of the students to come to school today. Their son wasn't wearing the proper uniform. There wasn't really anything wrong with his uniform, except that it was for a girl. Why? Why? WHY?!

Friday, July 23, 2004

I wish to nominate my preschool principal as the newest member of the Homer Simpson Duh? Society. She told me that her husband had complained to her about my being a snob. It seems that he had seen me in the mall on several occasions and I had totally ignored him, no hi, hello or how are you. I was so shocked I didn't know what to say. I had never met her husband and I had absolutely no idea how he looked like! Come to think of it, how in the world did he know who I am? Does she expect me to talk to every guy I see just in case it may be her husband? He could have at least introduced himself when he saw me on those occasions so I would have known who he was.

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

We're having exams this week, which translates to tons of sick kids coming to school. I can't understand why parents would sent a seriously ill son/daughter to school just because it's exam week.

Yesterday a boy threw up right outside the school gates.His mom kept on insisting that he was okay while helping him to stand. There was also another kid who had chicken pox and her mom said she had rested for two days so she was strong enough to take the test. Today we had around four kidswho all had high fever, chills and sunken eyes.

It makes you wonder if these parents care at all. Last year a parent sent her daughter to school with german measles even though she knew that her teacher was pregnant.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

I call it "Attack Of The Parents With Weird Logic".

Today, a mom came to the office and wanted us to replace her son's school bag. It seems that on the way to school, the bag had gotten dirty and it was our responsibility. Duh?

Yesterday, a mom gave birth in front of the school. She was going into labor early this morning, and instead of going to the hospital, she thought it would be best if she brought her daughter to school first. When they reached the gates of the school, the baby literally popped out.

Last week, another mom wanted me to play dentist and pull out her daughter's rotting tooth.

When I think I've seen it all, another attack occurs.

Last school year we had a mom who brought her son to school three days in a row despite the fact that the nurse had told her to let him rest at home. The mom then told us that she had consulted several doctors and they all said chicken pox was not contagious, and that the airconed classroom would do him good.

Thursday, July 08, 2004

This afternoon an angry mom came to the school with her son. In between tears and screams she said that they were on their way to the hospital since her son had broken his right arm earlier in school that day. She demanded that the school compensate her for what happened.

The boy's teacher was really surprised. She told the mom that her son had tripped and had a small scratch on his arm. But that was all that happened.

The mom started screaming again and asked what kind of school would allow a child to trip. She also complained that his older sister who also studied in our school had tripped a few years ago.

Her son was seated in the corner of the office, and it looked like he was getting bored. His mom had been screaming at us for more than 15 minutes. So, using his right hand, he took out a yoyo from his pocket and started playing with it, using the arm his mom said he had broken.

Needless to say, his mom decided that they didn't need to go to the hospital after all.

Saturday, June 26, 2004


Here we are at Fazoli's.

We've got a lot of catching up to do.

The food was great.
Posted by Micki
The first week of classes has come and gone, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Last school year half of my students cried for the first month, and one of them cried all the way till March. This year only four of them cried, and they cried only until the third day of classes.

On the first day, the kid who slapped me during the entrance interview was absent. I wondered if her mom decided not to send her to school anymore. She came the second day. To my surprise, she had totally changed. She didn't even cry. She smiled whenever I talked to her and wanted me to tickle her most of the time. What happened? I'm starting to wonder if 2 year old kids can be devious.

My only real problem was what I call the escape artist - the kid who tries to run out of the classroom and out of the school in order to find his/her mom. They can be real fast and squirmy. She slid under tables and jumped over chairs. Its no wonder when my mom came over for a visit yesterday she was surprised and said I had lost weight. Even my friends who I saw today asked me if I had lost a few pounds.

Friday, June 04, 2004

Mother-in-laws from hell do exist!

A few of my friends were talking about their mom-in-laws, and their experiences made me feel really lucky. I never thought such people existed.

My first friend who has a small store was wondering why they always came up P1,000 short every week. It turns out her mom-in-law who eagerly volunteers to watch the store swipes P1,000 every week. To add insult to injury, whenever she, her husband and 3 year old kid visit, her mom-in-law charges them for whatever they used, eat, or are given. What kind of grandma would charge her grandson for the food he eats whenever he visits her? Even more shocking is that when the kid washes his hands, she charges them for the soap!

My other friend's mom-in-law regularly calls her up to borrow money. Sometimes, she also receives an envelope containing her mom-in-law's bills, asking her to pay for it. My friend's husband works abroad, and whenever he comes home every 6 months, all of her in-laws come knocking. When he arrived last week from Japan, she rented a van so she could pick him up from the airport. Her in-laws wanted to come, too, including nieces and nephews, and even a family friend. As it turned out, there was no room in the van to fit all of them and it was hinted that she and her daughter should stay behind.

Sometimes I wonder if people with this kind of attitude have any friends.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Today at work I was checking the registration cards parents filled up during enrollment. I don't know why but some parents misspell the names of their own children, and often write the wrong birthday. I end up having to check it against the child's birth certificate.

Sometimes, their child has such a strange name, I check to make sure it's right. There was a boy named ArrArr. I thought maybe it was a nickname, but his folks really did name him ArrArr. I can imagine when he reaches high school people will call him doggie or bow wow.

Then, there are the kids who I really feel sorry for. If only I could, I would tell their parents to have their family names changed. I mean, if you were a girl, would you to marry someone with the family name Ginahasa? Or how it would feel if everyone at work called you Mr. Peniz?

Saturday, May 15, 2004

Hooray! I just came back from a Boracay beach vacation with my husband. I haven't had a vacation in 3 years, haven't been to a beach in 7, and haven't been to Boracay in 12. The last time I was in Boracay, there wasn't any electricity and there weren't any bars, and the only water sport available was scuba diving. The most exciting activity available was watching naked foreigners sunbathe.

Now, they've got electricity, shops and bars galore, and tons of water sports. My only disappointment was that the naked foreigners were now extinct. Everyone had skimpy clothes on. It will never be the same.

Sunday, May 09, 2004

Yesterday, I went to the gym. I've been going for about two weeks now and I'm starting to notice something. The personal trainers are always happy to see me and encourage me to try out every single machine in the gym. I suspect it may be my tiny tiny frame with tons of fat and they feel they must put some muscle meat on me.

It was okay at first, I got to learn how the machines work and what the different classes are. But after a while it was just painful. "Here, let's add some more weights." "You can do it! Push! Pull!" "Just one more machine and we'll be through." "Let's do a whole body workout today." Ugh! I couldn't budge a couple of machines, even without any weights.

The first three times I went my body hurt for more than two days. But now it's getting better. Maybe in three months I'll actually be able to move all of the machines, with weights.

Thursday, May 06, 2004

I was hopping she wouldn't enroll, but today she did. Last week I was conducting entrance interviews for incoming pre-schoolers. I handle the prenursery class and she was applying for my class. The moment I sat down beside her, she started slapping me in the face! One of my co-teachers approached to help me, and she dug her nails into the teacher's arms and scraped her. We both backed off to give her some space. She started screaming and waving her arms. When she noticed that we were ignoring her behavior, she urinated on her seat. When we called her mom to pick her up, she told her mom that I had hurt her.

Unfortunately, the school rarely turns away pre-schoolers who apply, unless they are special children. We explained to her mom what happened and strongly suggested that she may not be ready. She didn't enroll last week so I thought I was safe. Today, I was handed her registration card. I am not looking forward to this school year. I've had kids who hit other kids, kids who curse, kids who spit, kids who have body odor and bad breath, kids who say they will kill you or shoot you in the face, kids who throw chairs and tables, but not one with behavior as bad as this. When I showed the registration card to the teacher she had scraped, the teacher showed me the wounds on her arm and said "you'd better be ready for this." I just hope she doesn't hurt any of the other children.

Sunday, May 02, 2004

here is a recipe my parents emailed to me

Banana Cake with Cashews

3 eggs
1 cup (250 ml) sugar
3/4 cup (180 ml) cream
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) flour, sifted
4 lbs (2 Kg) very ripe bananas, peeled and
slightly mashed
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) coarsely chopped cashews
1 cup (250 ml) grated coconut
1 tsp (5 ml) Chinese five spice powder*

* Available in finer supermarkets and Asian specialty shops

Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick and pale. Add the cream
and stir to combine. Add the flour, bananas, cashews, coconut, and
five spice powder and stir just enough to combine the ingredients.
Pour into two greased and floured 8 inch (20 cm) cake pans and bake in
a preheated 350F (180C) oven for about 1 hour, until the top is golden
brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes two 8 inch (20 cm)
cakes.