Sympathy

The other day, my wife sprained her pinkie toe. We placed a splint on her left foot to immobilize the toe. While the splint was being placed, my eldest son, Basti, was there watching and crying and shouting "Mommeee!" "Mommeee!"
It must have been traumatic for him to see her mother being placed in a splint and bandaged. At the time, I saw in my son a quality that I didn't expect from him.... sympathy. Sympathy for her mother who was in some pain. I may have the makings of a sensitive child.

Exiled

I'm sick. I'm running a fever. My body is aching. I feel weak. I called in sick from work and what's worse, I have to stay away from the kids! Haay.... I could be playing with them right now...

Stare

Yesterday, my eldest son, Basti, was trying to grab some plates from the table. Afraid that he might drop the plates and hurt himself, I grab the dishes and placed them where he wouldn't be able to reach them.
His reaction: he gave me a look that sort of said "Don't mess with me, Dad!"
My reaction: I gave him a look that sort of said "Go ahead! Make my day!"
The Outcome: He found out that he shouldn't mess with Dad!

Funny Lizard story

This was sent to me by Email and it was so funny, I had to post this story.
Enjoy!

If you have raised kids (or been one), and gone through the pet syndrome, including toilet flush burials for dead goldfish, the story below will have you laughing out LOUD!

Overview: I had to take my son's lizard to the vet.

Here's what happened:

Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was 'something wrong' with one of the two lizards he holds prisoner in his room. 'He's just lying there looking sick,' he told me. 'I'm serious, Dad. Can you help?'
I put my best lizard-healer expression on my face and followed him into his bedroom. One of the little lizards was indeed lying on his back, looking stressed. I immediately knew what to do.
'Honey,' I called, 'come look at the lizard!'
'Oh, my gosh!' my wife exclaimed. 'She's having babies..'
'What?' my son demanded. 'But their names are Bert and Ernie, Mom !'
I was equally outraged.
'Hey, how can that be? I thought we said we didn't want them to reproduce,' I said accusingly to my wife. 'Well, what do you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?' she inquired (I think she actually said this sarcastically!)
'No, but you were supposed to get two boys!' I reminded her, (in my most loving, calm, sweet voice, while gritting my teeth).
'Yeah, Bert and Ernie!' my son agreed.
'Well, it's just a little hard to tell on some guys, you know,' she informed me (Again with the sarcasm!). By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged, deciding to make the best of it.
'Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience,' I announced. 'We're about to witness the miracle of birth.' 'Oh, gross!' they shrieked 'Well, isn't THAT just great? What are we going to do with a litter of tiny little lizard babies?' my wife wanted to know.
We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later.
'We don't appear to be making much progress,' I noted. 'It's breech,' my wife whispered, horrified.
'Do something, Dad!' my son urged.
'Okay, okay.' Squeamishly, I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gentle tug. It disappeared. I tried several more times with the same results.
'Should I call 911?' my eldest daughter wanted to know.
'Maybe they could talk us through the trauma.' (You see a pattern here with the females in my house?)
'Let's get Ernie to the vet,' I said grimly. We drove to the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap. 'Breathe, Ernie, breathe,' he urged. 'I don't think lizards do Lamaze,' his mother noted to him. (Women can be so cruel to their own young. I mean what she does to me is one thing, but this boy is of her womb, for G~d's sake.).
The vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass.
'What do you think, Doc, a C-section?' I suggested scientifically.
'Oh, very interesting,' he murmured. 'Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?' I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside.
'Is Ernie going to be okay?' my wife asked.
'Oh, perfectly,' the vet assured us. 'This lizard is not in labor. In fact, that isn't EVER going to
happen. Ernie is a boy. You see, Ernie is a young male. And occasionally, as they come into maturity, like most male species, they um . . um . . masturbate. Just the way he did, lying on his back.' He blushed, glancing at my wife. We were silent, absorbing this.
'So, Ernie's just just . . . . excited,' my wife offered.
'Exactly,' the vet replied , relieved that we understood. More silence. Then my vicious, cruel wife started to giggle. And giggle. And then even laugh loudly.
'What's so funny?' I demanded, knowing, but not believing that the woman I married would commit the upcoming affront to my flawless manliness.
Tears were now running down her face. 'It's just that ... . I'm picturing you pulling on its . . . its. . .
teeny little ' She gasped for more air to bellow in laughter once more.
'That's enough,' I warned. We thanked the vet and hurriedly bundled the lizard and our son back into the car.. He was glad everything was going to be okay.
'I know Ernie's really thankful for what you did, Dad,' he told me.
'Oh, you have NO idea,' my wife agreed, collapsing with laughter.

Two lizards: $140.
One cage: $50.
Trip to the vet: $30.
Memory of your husband pulling on a lizard's winkie: Priceless!

Moral of the story: Pay attention in biology class. Lizards lay eggs!

Hating Kapatid

When I was a kid, we love to use the term "hating kapatid" whenever we have to share something. "Hating kapatid" when roughly translated to English meant "brotherly division." At the time (and sometimes up to the present), this meant fair and equal sharing. You wouldn't cheat your brother/sister of his/her fair share, hence, the probable origin of the phrase.
A week ago, I was listening to Men of Light (a weekly TV show here in the Pampanga that is also shown on the internet at www.rcasf.com). One of the host mentioned that hating kapatid can be interpreted in another way. Instead of fair and equal division, it can also mean giving more to the one who needs more. I think that is a very beautiful way of defining hating kapatid. You give more to the needy sibling because you love him/her and you are willing to receive less for the sake of that needy sibling. Now THAT is really brotherly division.

Chocolate cake and veggies

I think that making kids eat vegetables is a problem that is common to every parent. We know that it's good for the body but we also know that it doesn't taste as good as chocolate cake. The problem is how to make our kids eat vegetables and eat them without the fuss...

Baby smile

There's something about a baby's smile that, just by looking at it, makes you feel that everything is alright in this chaotic world! By the way, the cute baby above is my youngest son Paolo.