Afternoon Delight

One thing I’m enjoying about being on leave these past weeks is the time I spent with Baby in the afternoons. As is usually the case, I had to do a lot of “encouragement” before he agrees to take an afternoon nap. More often than not he would tell me in his trilingual tongue, “Play lang ako, Nanay. Dili ako sleep,” with matching flick of the eyelash and the pouting of lips. This would put me in a dilemma. Why? Because, I remember not so long ago how I also used to “despise” my Mom or whoever would “command” my cousins and I to take a nap in the afternoon.

I remember feeling rebellious at that time, thinking how I’d rather just play than sleep. In hindsight, I think it’s really a way for the kids to dispense with all that energy. Playing meant some kind of outlet. The funny thing is, I also remember telling myself then that when I would be grown up, and it’s my turn to become a parent, I would not force my kids to take an afternoon nap. Instead, I will allow them to play all afternoon because I know how it feels. Wahehehe I was that “forward looking” even then.

So one afternoon, I found Bee and Baby locked in an argument about taking a nap. I could see that Bee wants to take a nap himself and would want to feel secure about Baby by making sure he’s asleep as well. Isn’t this the real reason really? Hehe. And so I asked him if he had the same experience as I did -- despising naps in the afternoons and vowing not to subject my would-be kids to the same treatment. He looked sheepish for a while, smiled and changed his approach. Without changing a beat, he immediately told Baby that he could play all he want! Hehehe. Of course I admonished Bee for it. Baby would only be confused by the sudden change but I also appreciated the fact that Bee got the value of what I was telling him. What I appreciated more, however, was his readiness and willingness to “change tapes” at a drop of a hat.

Bee and I are serious about not making the same mistakes that our parents did. Of course we’re not saying that our parents are bad. Now that we’re parents ourselves, we recognize how hard it is to become one and be responsible for everything that concerns our child. We know that parents have unconditional love for their children and that at any given time was really only being the best that they could be. At the same time, we recognize that there are certain patterns – not exactly good – that are passed on from generation to generation that we would not want our child to inherent. Thus the “changing of tapes.”

Bee and I are really dead serious about changing our tapes. We would want to “break” the patterns and provide Baby with a relatively “clean” slate. We are not perfect. Bee and I recognize that he and I are also the product of years and years of conditioning – by our parents and by our own experiences while growing up. And so, we try our best to do two things: first, to always better ourselves in order to be able to give baby a good example and second, to constantly be in search of ways with which we could raise baby in a good way.


Hmm… but that’s not what I intended to write about in the first place. What I want to share really is this funny incident I had with baby very recently. As I said, urging him to take afternoon naps is really such a challenge. I had to be really creative about it, resorting to ways that would eventually induce him to sleep without my having to force him to.

Usually, I would insist he would have to take his “dede” first and play afterwards if he wants. The good thing is, there is a direct correlation between the decrease of the level of milk in Baby’s feeding bottle to that of the degree of the opening of his eyes hehehe. If that does not work, I would read to him or engage him in an “I-Ask-You-Answer” exercise. Well, my years of experience in training sure do come in handy on time like this : )

Anyway, here’s a transcript of one of those “afternoon sessions:”

Me: Baby, what do you call a baby seal?
Baby: Pup!
Me: What do you call a baby panda?
Baby: Cub!
Me: What do you call a baby pig?
Baby: piglet!
Me: What do you call a baby dog?
Baby: (It’s been a while since I last asked him this and he probably forgot already) Ah…dog, Nanay?
Me: Yes, dog. What do you call a baby dog?
Baby: Ah… puppy! Puppy!
Me: Very good! Puppy! How about the baby cat?
Baby: Cat? Meow, Nanay?
Me: No, that’s the sound a cat makes, Baby. I meant the name of the baby cat. What do you call a baby cat?
Baby: Call Nanay?
Me: Yes, call.
Baby: (putting a fist on his right ear) Hello! Hello! Nanay?

Waaaahhhhh! Hehehe

Here’s another:

Me: What do you call a baby elephant?
Baby: Haaachooo! (pretending to sneeze)
Me: What?
Baby: Calf, Nanay! (He meant cough!)

Waaaah! Matalinong bata hehehe. Able to make associations of words already. Calf (cough) indeed! Hehehe

Another one:

Me: What do you call a baby gorilla?
Baby: Di ko ‘lam, Nanay.
Me: It’s infant, Baby. Infant.
Baby: Infant Jesus, Nanay?


Hahahahaha!!!! Afternoon delight indeed!

Thank you, Father God for every moment of it and for giving me such a smart Baby. May you constantly sustain Loreto and I as we fumble and grope our way to being the best parents for our son. We make humungous mistakes every now and then, being a work in progress ourselves. For that I am constantly ashamed of and am sorry. Please help us train up Rod Lauren in the way that he should go. Amen.