I'll start with the regular, steady stuff before I tell you about the juicy stories, ah-key?
1. My Only Kadayawan Find
There must be something wrong with me because I am no longer excited by sales. Mas excited pa ako for book sales and garage sales hehe. So despite the many sales all over the city, unsurprisingly, this was the only thing I bought:
Montessori Letter Work
I first discovered this book in my internerd-blackhole, bookdepository.com (you're welcome), and it's unique because it uses the Montessori concepts of textured letters (Google sandpaper letters) and teaching children not letter names but letter sounds. I subscribe to these philosophies so I knew I had to get it.
In the website, it costs $11, free shipping, or around P473. It's quite pricey for a board book, and while I'm willing to invest in it, I just had to shop around. That led me to local bookstore chain, Fully Booked, that sells it for only P398! Almost P100 less! Yay!
So yesterday, first thing we did was go to Fully Booked in Abreeza and when I finally found it, I never let go. Haha!
But the best thing was that when I was paying for it, the cashier told me it was on sale, so it was now just P318! Perfect! Based on the original $11 price, I saved... do the math!
2. The "Stores" I've Been Waiting for are Finally Here!
Remember last time when I showed you our Book Sale loot from NCCC Mall, an hour away from home? Rember how I said I wish they were nearer? It turns out I was wrong because a few days before that, a branch opened at my beloved SM Lanang Premier! Can you believe it? Book Sale at SM Lanang? I can't. A quick Google search revealed it opened on August 1; I went to Book Sale in NCCC on August 3. What?!
Well, I haven't been to the mall in weeks so I didn't have any idea! The selection's limited compared to NCCC's, so I don't regret going to the latter, but I'm still one happy gal for the nearby book fix.
The next one is technically not a "store" but a service for kids. Guess what it is? Gymboree! Finally! I've always wondered when it'll come to Davao, and now it's finally here. The best part is that it's very near SM Lanang, which we frequent. I love how establishments are investing in the northern part of the city!
Image from Gymboree Davao's Facebook page
I was already decided on enrolling Yuri to Gymboree to give him a "school" experience, but now I'm not so sure. The reason will be revealed later.
3. When Our Neighbor was Falsely Accused of Kidnapping
Our peaceful Saturday morning was interrupted when policemen came to our house! Our neighbor was accused of kidnapping and my mom, being the purok leader, had to come with them.
Now, this neighbor was a respectable Filipino man, a retiree who actually worked for NASA. Cool, right? He was one of the first people who "got" Yuri's name's origin. But why was he accused? Here's the story.
One of his children has a classmate whom he and his wife took a pity upon because she always goes to school wearing the same unwashed clothes and she looks (and smells) like she's not taking a bath. She also goes to school hungry and does not have any baon. From then on, they treated her like their child and fed her, clothed her - and sheltered her? We'll get there.
Since this past weekend was a long one for Davao, she asked our neighbor if she can sleep over. They agreed only if the girl's mom agrees, and when she told them yes, they, of course, let her stay.
But apparently, the girl's mother didn't know where she was. When she finally knew her daughter was here, she came to fetch her. Why she came with the police, I don't know. Ironically, in the police station, it turned out that the real "abuser" was the mother. You see, the girl's father is Japanese; he is no longer with the mother, but he sends regular sustento. But the mother doesn't spend money to take care of their daughter. Instead, she and her new partner use it, neglecting the girl.
However, the girl's already 14, and she should be able to take care of herself, diba? It led me to think that maybe she's being abused in "another" way, which is why she doesn't like taking care of herself, probably to ward her abuser off. I may be imaginative, but it's a possibility, right? Whatever it is, I would never know; the girl's now with the DSWD.
4. Firing Yaya for her Big Head
Image: http://www.enmast.com
Like what I said, it was Kadayawan weekend, which made me doubt whether Honey really has school on Sunday or not. (We send her to a private Sunday college.) But she swore they had classes, so sige. We even told her that if they don't have classes, we'll give her "pasyal" money so that she can enjoy the festivities.
But at 10am, she texted us, saying that she wants to go home to her province. Normally, we'd allow her, but since she has cough and cold (which she passed on to Yuri - ugh), we told her no, she should rest instead. She insisted and not in a very humble way, which irked us. I can't copy the text verbatim since it's in Bisaya but it reads like this: kahit anong sabihin o isipin nyo, uuwi talaga ako.
That was only Strike 1. Strike 2 came when she texted again, saying that her parents have wanted her to go home for good since before pa daw and she just refused. Parang utang na loob pa namin that she stayed, when the opposite was true: she couldn't go because she has an utang that she needs to pay for.
Strike 3 was when she said that she wants to go home already because, according to her mayabang na sister, life was more comfortable in their home and that her parents can afford naman to keep sending her to college.
Aba! If life was so comfortable at home, why is she here? She was the one who willingly applied for work, even lying about her age. And if her parents could afford to send her to school, why are we the ones sending her to school? They barely sent her to high school, and now in college, they contributed not even a single pencil, not even a single centavo!
Tapos ngayon, parang kami pa ang masama? Parang perwisyo pa that we employed her and sent her to college? Nakakaloka.
Above all, it's the disrespectful tone that she used to talk to us, to my mother even, that gets me angry. I want to be discreet in words, but sorry I can't help but say this: ang kapal.
Now we're surer that we no longer want her working for us anymore. We'll stop paying for her tuition fee; after all, kaya naman syang pag-aralin pala. Then we'll ask her parents to pay for her her debt that's just a little less than P10,000. Then we'll contact the guards and say she's banned in the village (we don't want her working for a neighbor and spreading false rumors about us).
As for Yuri and me, I really don't know yet. To be honest, having a yaya made my life as a work-at-home mom a lot easier. But if that means paying - and helping - someone who views our help and guidance as perwisyo, she's welcome to pack her bags and leave. We tried our best to help her but she doesn't want to help herself. Worse, despite everything we did to her, she keeps making us look like bad people.
(On a related note, here's my post before about her ungratefulness for her education. And while we're at it, here na nga: more yaya woes posts.)
I know, I know. I want to be as Christ-like in this situation, but please don't judge me. I'm just bursting at the seams here. I'm really sorry. I'm only human and in my not very admirable state.
I'm just praying hard that God will help us with this rough transitional period.
PS: I think the real reason why she wants to leave has something to do with our decision to not eat meat and white grains. Hahahahahaha.
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