Productive on the 1st day of the week - check! Bullied for the 1st time = check!

Last week was one of those weeks when my brain and hands do not seem to get along. :) So many ideas and plans but all of them are just random bits and pieces.... on my thesis proposal, business, activities to do with the kids, even my mental to-do-list-before-i-die! I tried to put them in writing but I ended up with more to-do lists! Overwhelming...felt like drowning in my own doing. I just had to pull out myself. I need to FOCUS so I thought hey maybe I'll just slow down a bit and re-align myself.

And so I did. I just did a little bit of design, a little bit of proofing. For my thesis, I was stucked! I just can't seem to figure out what are the sub-topics of my thesis! There's so many things going on my mind about my thesis but when I start to write them down, wah, as in wala ako masulat! :(

Weekend came, still no output. I do work a bit but nothing I expect I could do in a week's time. Instead, I just bonded with the family which is equally, rather more important than I mentioned above. Vcoy just had his Monthly Test and he needed to relax and just have fun playing. Loui improved a teeny weeny bit on her eating time (< style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Monday morning Things are going pretty well even if I feel a little dizzy in the morning. Emails answered, designs and samples were sent. Job orders prepared. Production began. Working on my sub-topics. Exciting!

Monday afternoon

Vcoy came home with a swollen upper lip. We thought he's having an allergy/asthma attack. We were advised by his pulmonologist that symptom like this needs immediate attention. He must be brought to the hospital because his allergy might spread on his windpipe/throat (basta sa leeg!) and he might have difficulty breathing. I was about to give him his asthma medicine before bringing him to the hospital when I asked him what happened. "Do you have allergy? What happened to your lips?" I think I was more tensed than him.
"No, Mommy, Kulas (not his real name) punched me!" Whaaatttt???? Then, I think I asked a lot of questions one after another. I can feel my blood pressure going up. But when I noticed tears are welling in his eyes, I told myself "DON'T PANIC! Breathe in, breathe out. All the more you are scaring him." And so I told him we're just gonna talk later. Just take a rest and eat his merienda.

While we were having our snack together, I asked him casually why did Kulas punched him? Did he do something wrong that would make Kulas punch him? He said no. Then he began talking.... "He's been bullying me for some time now. He would always tease me I'm panget (ugly) because I have bulok teeth!" Frankly, his teeth are not as in bulok. He's just starting to develop some permanent teeth. Of course, sino bang hindi naging bulok ang ipin nya at one point in his life! Grrr! Kakagigil ung Kulas na un ah, I thought. But of course, I cannot show my son my "immature" side. Pero kung ako lang talaga, at kung pwede lang, kukutusan ko talaga yung batang yun! Sarap sakalin! ;)

You might say I'm immature but for a mother like me, I don't think so! Who wouldn't like her son to be punched by some bully kid for no reason at all? I know my son very well. He's not the type of kid who bullies other kids. He may be hyper, makulit pero mababaw lang kaligayahan nya. He's basically a happy kid - always smiling, palabati even the parents of his classmates tell me so (I was surprised when I went to the Accounting office of CSA the cashier knows him! She said Vcoy never fails to say "Hi" to her after class!). He is a very sweet to all of us...a gentle creature.

So I called up Kulas' adviser and told her what happened. I took pictures of Vcoy's swollen upper lip but only after 2.5 hrs have past. Kainis! I did not thought about it the moment I knew what happened. Nevertheless, I have documented it and I have proof of what Kulas did to him. So you Moms out there, God forbid, if this happens to your kid, grab that camera and take pictures so you have proof.

The adviser assured me that they will investigate the case and talk to both children and appropriate disciplinary action will be given to Kulas. I told her that I am ready for a conference with the teachers and the parent of Kulas and I have photos of Vcoy's swollen lips as proof of what Kulas did to him.

Realization

We prepared ourselves that our children will experience a lot of good and bad things in school or wherever they may be. That's part of life. No matter how much we wanted to protect them from any harm some things are meant to be experienced by them and only them. We, as parents, are just there to assure them that no matter what we LOVE them. We may not be always be there physically to shield them from harm but at the end of the day our children can run to as and we, in turn, will embrace them lovingly with open arms.

We planted seeds of good manners to our kids because we want them to be good persons throughout their lives...God-fearing, can speak out their minds but at the same time responsible for their actions.

While Vcoy and I are studying, he told me out of the blue "Mommy, I miss my old classmates." (referring to his classmates in pre-school). Then I began to explain to him that his former classmates also feel that way because they are also in other big schools. They also miss him just as much as he misses them. I can feel what he is trying to tell me and so I hugged him and said, "Kuya, you will experience a lot of good and bad things in school. But no matter what happens, always remember that Mommy, Daddy, all of us love you. Some kids are just bullies but don't mind them. Stay away from them if you can but then you also have to learn to protect yourself. You have lots of other good friends in school, right? Just don't be like the bullies." And he told me, "...because Jesus can see us...what we do..., right Mommy?"

Yeah...if only we keep that in mind ALWAYS then this world would be a much better place, isn't it?