Let me sum up this week: back to basics. I had my old Facebook account deactivated and, after three weeks without cable TV, installed a UHF TV antenna at home. Baron, you should be a saint.
Will write more about it next time. Now off to a badminton tournament. It’s been years since I last joined one.
First half of July is over. And I spent majority of its days trying to figure out how to become an effective parent. This must be the longest time I can recall that I have struggled to discipline Marcus. Had I spent the same amount of energy in badminton or gym time or running instead of parenting I know that I would have improved in those crafts significantly. There’s just so much passion, so much thinking I have done since the month started but I just seem to fail. It’s a mind game—us versus Marcus—and I am starting to believe he is winning. But I know that, however hopeless I feel most of the time, we cannot give up. There should be something up our sleeves that should address this parenting challenging. Yes, there should be because when the kid gets tough, the parenting gets going.
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This Monday we heard a very surprising news, one so unlikely, when we picked Marcus from school. I got off from the car and approached two anxious faces–the assistant teacher and school director–looking after our kid as he does his usual end of class playtime. And my gut feel proved itself right when the school director walked with me and Marcus back to our parked car.
“Sir, I will tell you something about Marcus…he’s been acting up in class. This morning he wrote on his classmate’s school uniform. Their adviser also said that every now and then she has observed aggression since the start of school year a month ago.” Boom. The few meters to our idling car felt like a hundred. The director’s report made me walk a lot slower, it dragged me more than the weight of Marcus whom I was cuddling then. I feinted a smile to appreciate the feedback.
“What’s the news? What were you discussing with Sir Ric?” asked my wife who was waiting inside the car. “How’s school, Marcus?” she added a cliché question as Marcus settles down at the backseat. The next thing my wife heard struck her just as it did to me. To display some bullying is the least of the things we expect to hear about our son. The news was just unbelievable. There were some serious exchange on our drive back home.
Yesterday, I already talked to our son’s adviser and likewise had a chat with the director at the dreaded principal’s office. I have told them that Marcus has been made aware of what he did and that I am open to receive updates regarding his behavior in the next days. “Let’s talk again next time, but hopefully not about Marcus,” I said as I stood up to leave. The director agreed, “Yes, sir. Hope it will be about our badminton game.”
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For the very first time, Marcus helped out in washing the dishes after lunch. He also wiped the table top. I wonder what’s up this time–must be his way of entertaining himself as it’s nine days since I had our cable TV subscription discontinued.
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Mood: 2/10 Honks! (He just played the Christmas CD.)
Location, location, location. This I am sure is what was in the minds of the people behind The Bellevue Resort. Situated in Alabang, the hotel can be accessed by almost everyone coming from any direction. The Bellevue Resort can be easily reached by guests coming from both Northbound and Soutbound of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), by people passing through the kanan service road, and even by those coming from Cavite via the Daang Hari road.
Getting around the hotel and nearby establishments is also a lot better than any, if not most, hotel in Makati. Like us who do not have the privilege of having our own chauffeur, driving to and from the hotel is not as stressful. Compared with traffic volume in the Makati commercial district, Alabang is more manageable although one must expect to get stuck especially on a payday weekend as there are two malls and several office buildings in the vicinity. Here’s a driving tip: read the hotel’s guide on the first day and familiarize yourself with the location map in one of its pages. In my regular visits to Festival Mall, I have been thinking all the while that the hotel is just right across another block but good thing there are alternative areas where anyone who is lost can safely make a turn.
What about hotel accommodation? For the price of around Php 5000 we got ourselves a room that we did not expect to be a lot better. With wifey and our five-year old boy who changes sleeping/play spot without notice, our hotel room bed was more than enough. Our room on the 8th floor of The Bellevue Resort also has several features: a long study table and a matching ergo chair; a Sony Bravia wall-mounted flat TV; a wide wardrobe section that includes a safe and an ironing set; and a bathroom with well-maintained fixtures–our son, however, still prefers the tub over the rain shower head.
Included in our 2-days 2-nights resreservation is a buffet breakfast. We already enjoyed one yesterday in Cafe D’ Asie. Breakfast is from 6-10 AM and I have just checked the display of the Philips iPod docking station below the bed lamp and it is past 6:30. It’s time to wake kiddo, make a dash from the tower wing’s elevator, through the main lobby, then to the 2nd floor of the main wing where scrumptious breakfast awaits. It’s our last day today, so I might eat more than yesterday. Well, that’s the plan but if the little brat decides to sleep longer, then wifey and I still have time to enjoy the free WI-FI.
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Mood: 3/10! (Hope that today he will behave.)
Marcus Can Blog 