Posts tagged with Tisay
My parents had my sister, Tisay, baptized last October 30 in our maternal hometown in Bulacan. It was like a debut of sorts for her, since she’s now legally a part of the family, so my parents invited more than a hundred guests to a post-baptism lunch banquet of sorts.
Our family had dinner at Ling Nam along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City one ordinary Saturday night. There was no occasion, just a spontaneous dinner outside the house. Chinese food (Cantonese in particular) is the best. If there’s one cuisine I can live with, it’s Chinese.
We had a fastfood chain host a kiddie birthday party for Tisay's fifth birthday last Tuesday at her afternoon kindergarten class
Tisay in her kindergarten uniform, at her school auditorium
I went to her school to accompany her in receiving some kindergarten awards last week, among them “Best Leader”. I wonder what that means in the context of four year-olds.
A few weeks ago, I went on a nursery field trip as chaperone for my younger sister Tisay. Looking after a four year-old girl the entire day all by oneself can both be tiring and enjoyable. Most of the attractions are geared towards the amusement of toddlers, so it can be a bore sometimes.
The first destination was a puppet theater. That was quite boring. The second destination was a Pizza Hut branch in SM Mall of Asia where the kids were made to “make their own pizza”. They were actually just herded inside, while parents and guardians waited outside the mall, and were made to place ham and pineapple pieces on ready-made dough with tomato sauce. After lunch, we were taken to a large warehouse in Paranaque owned by a pet shop company. The huge compound was transformed into a cramped-up zoo environment with fishes, dogs, cats, and different birds and reptiles in cages and tanks. It looked like cruelty to animals for me. All the kids were given goldfishes in plastic bags, after the tour, regardless if their families owned aquariums or not. It was a death sentence for most of those fishes. I asked Tisay if we could give out our two goldfishes instead, since we don’t have an aquarium at home.
The last destination, surprisingly, was where I quite enjoyed. It was a big three-storey maze-like indoor playground in Alabang where the kids are let loose to play. They let in the parents and guardians too, and I felt amazed going around the play-structure myself, with about a hundred kinds running about screaming with joy.
Aside from Tisay’s vomiting incident in the bus and a few bouts of tantrums, the chaperoning went well.
My parents hosted two small birthday parties for Tisay and our foster kid Bugoy a few days ago. Tisay’s actual birthday was more than a month ago, but since it was during the time when tropical storms were battering Luzon, we couldn’t go out and celebrate.
The first party was at our hometown in Bulacan. There was no program nor games, just a get-together over fastfood meals. Present were my mom’s colleagues in Sta. Maria and a handful of strangers.
The other birthday party was held at our hometown in Cavite with our paternal relatives. This time, there was a kid’s program hosted by a fastfood crew, complete with games and prizes. After the birthday party, we proceeded to the cemetery to visit the resting places of our departed paternal relatives.
Tisay celebrated her fourth birthday last Monday. We had planned to spend Sunday in a theme park, but since the metro was still reeling from the aftermath of tropical storm Ondoy, we decided to have a simple feast of Chinese food at home. We had a small sansrival cake for Tisay but we even forgot to buy proper birthday cake candles, so we made do with a medium-sized wax candle.
Tisay’s understanding of “birthday” unfortunately, is of a party, so all along up until today she doesn’t believe it was her birthday. She insists that she still has to celebrate her “birthday” distinct from the simple celebration we had last weekend. If the weather permits, we will push through with our trip to the theme park this weekend. I think she even expects to give a blow-out bash to her kindergarten classmates.
Tisay will begin her post-daycare schooling this week as a nursery student at some private school a few minutes from home. I’ve been doing errands for my mom with regard to her enrollment, so I’ve been to her new school a number of times the past week. It’s amusing how some of the people at her school mistook me as her father, that day I took her and bought the prescribed school uniforms. This time, she’d be taking the school bus, so there’d be no need for me to bring her and fetch her from school, as I used to do over the summer, when she was attending daycare school in UP.
A few weekends ago, we went to Amadeo for the Santa Cruzan. We had lunch at the residence of the presidente of the youth council of sorts in the community, organizing the festivities, who happens to be a second cousin also. It was the first time Tisay donned a gown for the parade. Too bad the dress made her itchy all over so she backed out from the parade the last minute. It’s hilarious how young girls are so excited over dressing up and parading, I don’t get it.
A weekend ago, the family went out for lunch together at the mall. It’s been a while since we did that. There are those rare times when we’re not all busy with our own preoccupations.
Yesterday, I went with my family to Tagaytay to pay my paternal grandfather a visit at the hospital. He’s actually been at the ICU for around two weeks here in Manila, and for that span of time my parents have been visiting him almost every day. The doctors and the family decided to have him discharged from the private Manila hospital, after the hospital bills reached the seventh digit. For quite some time already, his children–my dad and his siblings–among with other relatives have been talking about how his health has been failing terribly the past months and about his possible demise anytime soon. They’ve also made plans, apparently, for his funeral.
Despite everyone’s expectations, however, and quite fortunately enough, he’s still alive. I never really grew close to my grandfather at all, but I’m glad he’s still here. These past weeks we’ve been having unofficial family reunions almost every week.
On other family matters, my days of bringing my sister Tisay to school early in the morning and picking her up at lunch time are temporarily over. I used to enjoy doing it, but during the past few days it felt like quite a chore. One morning, I brought her to school too early so she didn’t want to go in. Though the school’s doors were open, she insisted on staying out and waiting for her classmates. Because I grew quite impatient, I told her I have to leave and if she wanted to wait for her classmates before going in, she could wait without me. Before I stepped into the car, I saw her crying silently and alone in the bench. It wasn’t the usual bratty-type of crying I quite detest of a brat, but the silent and genuine type that just crushed my heart. It was too cute, and too heart-breaking, I decided to walk back to her and stay. Bought her a happy meal after picking her up.
She probably gets this from playing with her friends in the neighborhood or at the daycare, but obviously this concept of “boyfriend” is something new and fascinating for Tisay. She would proudly drop the name of some of her male playmates and giggle if you ask her who her “boyfriend” is. May konsepto na rin siya ng “kasal”. One night, as she was about to sleep on bed in between my parents, she asked “Mama, sino boyfriend mo? Si Papa?”
Hilarious! And it didn’t end there, she added, “Kailan kayo ikakasal?” My mom answered, “Kasal na kami, ‘nak.” My mom then points to a wedding portrait on the wall, “‘Yan o, picture namin ni Papa noong kinasal kami.” And then Tisay starts crying! “Bakit ‘di niyo ko sinama!? Di niyo ko sinama sa kasal niyo!”
Another night, still on bed as my parents were about to sleep she points to my father’s belly and asks, “Papa… buntis ka? May baby diyan?” *ROTFL*! Whew, buti hindi ako tinatanong ni Tisay nang ganyan. ‘Pag dumating ang panahong ako tinanong ni Tisay n’yan, magpapapayat na talaga ako nang seryoso.
law student, national democracy activist, film school graduate, photography hobbyist