should parents support their children's love for music?

While on our way to enroll the little girl to her school, I noticed two girls waiting to get a ride and carrying their musical instruments. I knew they were siblings because they look pretty much alike. I think they play clarinets. They must be going to a musical workshop or something. I thought they must be so lucky to have parents who are able to support their love for music. Or is this really something they love doing? Just wondering. As a parent myself, I know how hard it is to pay for a child's basic education but, in their case, I think they're just so fortunate to have parents who can also afford to send them to a music school. Oh, if by any chance my little girl is interested in music, somehow I hope to be able to support her the same way. Hopefully. :-)

enrolled her to Nursery

Here's a quick update on our little girl's schooling status come opening. Hubby and I finally decided to have her enrolled in Nursery instead of in Kindergarten 1. I thought we were not in a hurry and I want her to enjoy her time in school by not jumping on to Kindergarten just because her age is suitable for K1. So there you go. In less than a month from now, her classes would already start. I hope she'll learn and have fun at the same time while she's in Nursery school.

on keeping myself protected when traveling alone

When I learned about my husband's plan to resign from the company we are both working for, one of the many things that come to my head is my safety. I told him I am no longer used to traveling to work and to go home alone. It just won't feel comfortable anymore to leave the house and the office without him. I feel paranoid about my security as I am used to riding the motorcycle with him and trust his driving skills to send us both to safety. Now, what I am particularly worried about is when I would go home by myself from the office in the evening. After having experienced being robbed on the road many years ago, I would often feel paranoid that someone is following me whenever I am traveling alone. So, I asked husband that if he has no plans of fetching me at the office, he had better provide me with the best pepper spray so I can better protect myself whenever I feel like I am in danger and have no one to ask for help.

remembering my childhood through an old picture

I am so glad my mom took good care of our old photos, especially those pictures of my childhood. I want to show them to my little Dippy so she can see how I look like back when I was as young as her. There are photos that I can say for sure that she looks like me or I look like her. Sometimes, when she looks at one particular photo, she would surprise me by asking if it was her. If I would tell her that it was me in the picture, she would insist that it was her. Below is a picture I dug in my drawer today that kept me somewhat smiling today because I have remembered my childhood.

I believe mom was the one who took this picture (me in green)

Looking at this picture sends me back to the summer times when our family and some friends would usually go to the beach to unwind. At the beach, we would take a whole day swimming, eating, and singing along while someone in the family or a friend plays the guitar. This picture is just one souvenir from one of those enjoyable beach times I had with family and my parents' close friends.

preparing for a family beach outing

The other night, my husband received a call from mother-in-law. She called to inform him/us about an important itinerary that we shouldn't miss this month - the annual family beach outing. It was so sweet of her to have called to make sure that we could be available on a particular day. We were told we were going far South this month but the specific beach venue is still something that needs a final say. Wherever that is, as long as the family is together on this activity, I'm sure it's going to be fun.

When the little girl learned about the beach outing, she got really excited. In fact, last night, she has already decided what outfit to wear to the beach. Thanks to the little girl, husband and I realized that there are things we needed to prepare for this family beach activity. Last year, we forgot to bring our own sunblock. That's quite a major offense, indeed. It was a good thing that one auntie brought one with her - but it was just a small bottle that needs to be shared with everybody. Yes, that's how prepared we were last year. :-) This year, we need to be a little more prepared. It's definitely time to check on important stuffs we needed to bring to the beach . This weekend, we intend to score a kiddie life jacket for my daughter. I also wish our beach budget for this summer still has room for a marc jacobs sunglasses but I guess this can wait until the next scheduled beach activity or until all other priority purchases are made.

just another kiddie update

It's amazing how kids tend to grow up quickly. Seems like it was only yesterday when she still wants and likes to wear and change diapers. At 3 years old, we couldn't let her wear one anymore, even during bedtime; although, I know other parents successfully got off the diapering stage of their kids way earlier than we did. Anyway, we got even more impressed when she didn't pass the stage where she would pee on her sleep. Hubby and I didn't find it hard to wean her off from wearing diapers or to potty train her. It was something that we didn't force her to do. There was really no effort at all. Thanks to her cousins who are a couple of years older than her, she got herself interested to sit on her kiddie toilet seat as she saw them doing the same each time they would need to answer the call of nature.

Bonding with her first cousins

On the not-so-positive side, this 4-year-old is also at this stage where she would really insist on doing what she wants to do even if we told her it would do her good if she didn't. Also, it's hard to let her wear something she didn't approve of, even if we thought it's the more appropriate thing for her to wear at that moment. And if there is one particular dress she likes to wear but it is still hanging in the clothesline, she would insist on wearing them even when the dress still needs to dry. You can only imagine what a day is like with a little girl having tantrums because she can't wear her favorite dress. This is indeed the period that husband and I could use a little more patience. Now I remembered that this is what most parents refer to as "terrible-two's" stage. Now I wonder - what is it going to be like when she turns 6 soon? Still, it is something I'm looking forward to experience.

I guess we really can't stop our kid from growing up each day, can't we? Soon, a few more years from now, we will be parents to an adolescent. I wonder how we would fare to her as parents by then. I hope we can still be as close as we are right now.