After being quiet for more than two weeks, I want to be back – and with a vengeance, if I can call it that. I just wanted to do something else for a change. I was really tired when I came home this evening, so I thought I’d be able to go to bed early. The exact opposite happened. I started with updating my iOS to 4.3.4 (how can Apple update it to 4.3.4 when everyone’s expecting iOS5?) and then I decided to watch some tv, and then – voila!
What I would give to become a kid once more. I mean, I am thankful and extremely blessed with what I am doing now, but as you move up, the more stressful and more difficult the tasks become. Most of the time, you just get tired of all the shit and drama you have to put up with in keeping things running. Which brings me back to the topic of tonight’s entry.
This morning, I visited Universal Studios once again. It was nice being inside the Theme Park, though seing waiting times of 110 and 95 minutes to get into some popular rides was just over-the-top crazy. Anyway, being able to enjoy the day, riding the roller coasters, going around the park, seeing all these characters from the animated movies ignited my perpetual longing – to be YOUNG and becoming a KID once more.
This also probably is the reason why I miss living and spending time with my nieces Toni and Lien, and my nephew Noah. I get to think, behave, and act like them whenever the four of us are together. Of course, my role as the supervising adult would always be there – but being the cool and dependable uncle, just is a different ball game.
I miss spending time Lien because I go back to basics with her – we play blocks, go through the alphabet and the letters via picture cards, sing the Alphabet Song, and even watch The Wiggles non-stop. With toddlers, you have to really use your imagination and ignite the creativity within them. Then jumps in my boy Noah, who dreams of becoming a chef. I like being in their household because it encourages and welcomes whatever you want to be when you grow up. We encourage Noah with what he wants to do – we spend time with him in the kitchen, involve him in the preparation of the food, and ask him to help us prepare the food whenever we have play dates at home, or during their birthday parties.
My niece Toni is a bit different now that she’s older. Sure, we still have our secret club (Tito Carlo, Toni, and Noah – with Lien as our honorary member) Toni holds meetings and then sends me and Noah off to our space adventures. It would also be board games, or just being in Tito’s (the guest) room, talking about what happened during the day, or asking me if she can play with my iPhone. (This is also one of the reasons I download games on my iPhone – so that whenever I am with the kids, I can keep them entertained if Tito becomes a bit boring or tired).
How I wish I were the same age as these kids are now – young, learning, and carefree. I miss those days when all I had to think about was how to tell my folks I flunked an exam in school, or that I need money to buy materials for our school project. I miss those days when I would stay late in school because we were all preparing for our school program. I miss looking forward to recess at 9:30 and just going out into the quads and start playing with my classmates. Heck, I even miss those fist-fights, brawls, and other things I got myself into – leaving me either all bloodied up, or crying.
Being a kid, all you had to do was to be good in school – for me to be able to ask my dad to buy me that Ninja Turtle or Dragon Ball Z action figure I’ve been looking at every time my mum would bring us to SM Makati to shop for clothes. I miss trying to pick stuff on my own or frown at my mum whenever she starts dragging me to either Maui and Sons or Moose gear. I miss being sent to school by my dad, picking me up during lunch, and then picking me up again after school. My dad would drive me and my sister first to the nearby Greenwich, buy that lovely lasagna, before going home. I miss those times back in the 90′s when power outages were so horrible, my dad would ask me to bring my brother and my sister down to the car, start the engine, and then turn the A/C on. I was probably 8 or 9 when my dad started to teach me how to operate a car.
I miss having to look forward to December when my Dad would get his Christmas Bonus, give mum cash, and then my mum would tell us how much everyone was getting. Growing up, me and my sister started buying all these stuff from Guess, and wouldn’t go to school if we wouldn’t wear Dr. Marten’s. Now that I think about it, I was a bit spoiled by my dad.
As a kid and growing up, I would always look forward to my dad coming home from the office – with him bringing me all these fruits I love eating either while watching cable news with him, or just plain Weekend programming. My dad would get me 5kgs of lanzones or mangosteen, and he would just look at me eat the whole thing. My dad taught me a couple of valuable things – spending on FOOD, BOOKS, and TRAVELING.
What I would give to just live a carefree life. A life not having to think about not being able to satisfy or provide for the needs of others. To just be able to go home at night and look forward to a hearty meal, not having to think about what to eat for lunch because your mum packed one for you either from the dinner the night before, or Fried Chicken, Pork Chop, or Tapa freshly cooked in the morning while you were having breakfast.
I guess this is me wanting to live my life as a young boy all over again, and my way of saying how I miss my life living in the Philippines, and most especially, with my parents and family. I miss living in a house filled with love.
