Yes, you read it right.  My question is posed to the parents and not the kids who are expected to be going back to school this month of June.  If your kids are anything like mine, they are as ready as they can ever be, excited and raring to go after almost two months of vacation.  I am just allowing myself to enjoy their eagerness while it lasts since I know fatigue will eventually set in at any time during the school-year and their sights will transfer to vacation time again.

By now it is safe to presume that most of us parents have again miraculously found a way to enroll our kids.  I really consider it nothing short of a miracle every time my husband and I are able to hurdle such a financially-challenging time.  So before we start another year of "stage-parenting" which we fondly call our hands-on parenting style, let us make a rundown of our checklist.

1. Medical Concerns of Kids

This may include yearly flu vaccinations and boosters when applicable,  teeth prophylaxis(cleaning), and routine check-up with the family doctor for recurring conditions such as allergies.  These procedures are best done before opening of classes to ensure that kids are physically ready for school.  Flu vaccinations are usually offered by the school way in advance to offer maximized protection.  Dentists recommend semi-annual cleaning and check-up both for children and adults. My children have the good fortune of having their teeth taken cared of by an excellent and caring dental practitioner. Medications taken regularly and continuously may need to be assessed for possible substitution or discontinuance.  A child who is sent to school while dealing with some physical pain cannot perform as well as he/she should.

2. School Uniforms, Shoes, and Undergarments

Buying new uniforms every year is not practical especially if the ones used in previous years still fit and are still in good condition.. School shoes suffer more wear and tear but good-quality shoes can easily last for two school years as long as they still fit. My children used their Happy Feet school shoes respectively for two school-years.  However, the need for repairs should be addressed before classes start.  Fit is not something to be sacrificed as a physically uncomfortable child in school cannot be expected to give his/her full attention to learning.  New undergarments and socks will have to be provided every year as they tend to discolor and lose their shape because of the year-round use.

3. School Bags

I don't know with other kids but my kids have luggage-like bags to accommodate at least 10 books and 10 notebooks.  Since the cost of the bags are not at all cheap, I expect the bags to last for at least three years.  I was pleasantly surprised when my son's Hawk bag with wheels lasted for five years and to be quite truthful, it appears to be ready for another year except that my son requested for a sturdy backpack for this year to be more fitting of his adolescent status. Oh how time flies...My daughter's Hawk bag with wheels is now on its second year and I expect it to perform as long as that of my son's.  Parents however should make sure to clean the bags thoroughly after the end of each school-year so that accumulated dirt will not lead to permanent damage.  It is of special note that the manufacturer offers warranty for repairs.

4. School Supplies

All school supplies left over from previous school-years should be kept and saved for the next years.  This is especially true with unused papers and folders, art materials, charts, maps, and others.  I also keep my son's projects just in case my daughter needs them.  Of course, we won't submit the same project but the materials can certainly be reused and the idea modified for greater ease in preparation.

5.  "Baon"

All school children know what "baon" is.  It can come in the form of food and drinks or money to buy food and drinks in school.  We don't actually give our children money and instead include their food requirements in the weekly marketing budget.  The small amount of money they have in their wallets are not expected to be spent except in extreme cases like the unexpected lengthening of class hours or emergencies.  We are very lucky to have very understanding children as they do not demand what we cannot afford.  The challenge for parents in a similar situation like ours is to provide food that will be exciting to eat even if prepared simply.

My Say

It is not an exaggeration to say that we parents have so much participation in the school affairs of our children that it sometimes feel that we are again going to school ourselves.  . When our children have to wake up early, we are expected to wake up earlier.  When our children have to stay up late to study or finish a project, we may have to stay up longer to provide the finishing touches.  Such is the role of  parents and I say this with no hint of complaint.  To echo the words of the patron saint of my children's school " I love, therefore I serve" and so we serve the needs of our children because we love them.

That said, so parents, are we ready?

The Ambos Mundos legal story can already be considered a saga by virtue of the long period that has elapsed since it began.  To say that our legal system is quite slow is the understatement of the century. Rights have been trampled on and disregarded without compunction behind the legal gooble-de-gook of appeals and motions that have clearly exhausted their reason and relevance.  My only consolation is that my prior right over the trade name is always upheld in each and every venue where the false claimants choose to bring their claim to.  I have actually observed an interesting phenomena related to this case.  Every time they suffer a legal debacle through an unfavorable decision, they hit back with a frenzy of media blitz.

To see false claimants to the business name selling their story through media and reading them online is both heartbreaking and laughable because of the erroneous details being forcefully peddled on a largely gullible audience who have no access to the facts.  They do not even bother to get their history right.  Our ancestors  are probably rolling in their graves whenever they attribute names to the wrong pictures or reference questionable dates and events whenever they need a story to tell.

For the record:

Ambos Mundos Restaurant has not carried Chinese cuisine from its inception up to the time that the last legally recognized Ambos Mundos was closed.  I have nothing against Chinese cooking but to include it in the description of the restaurant today is clearly just an orchestrated effort to explain why people associated with a Chinese restaurant (Wah Sun Panciteria) are laying claim to it.  To include it would probably necessitate changing the name to Tres Mundos to accommodate the three cultures of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese which they are trying to do.  History will say that Ambos Mundos refers only to Filipino and Spanish dishes to agree with the English translation of Two Worlds or Both Worlds. Insisting on the inclusion of Chinese influence is just plain hard-sell at this point aiming to lend an air of legitimacy to an otherwise illegal use of a business name.

Ambos Mundos- the trade name does not play any part in the highly-romanticized union between my brother and his wife.  There was no agreement, implicit or implied, written or oral, to the effect that the business name will be used by the family of my brother's wife by virtue of the marital union.  They should know better since their family is in the same line of business as us.  The legal use of a long-established trade name does not come about in such a manner. It was plain and simple taking advantage of an internal problem with our family.

Los Ambos Mundos Restaurant and Ambos Mundos Restaurant Inc. are not authorized to carry the trade name and in fact have been directed by the concerned government agencies to delete the words "AMBOS MUNDOS" from their business name/s which obviously they refuse to follow.  It should be noted that these two "registered" names refer only to a single physical entity and the same set of incorporators.  The second registration was done within a matter of days after the DTI Office of Legal Affairs released its decision in my favor.  My intention to re-register was again frustrated by a "no-brainer" technicality they took advantage of which they in effect blame to DTI and so we brought our case to SEC. The SEC Decision can be viewed through the url provided below as well as the Court of Appeals Decision which I believe is the cause of their most recent marketing hype since it again frustrates their objective.

Come to think of it, the communication between DTI Office of Legal Affairs and the DTI Business Name Registration must be seriously flawed for the latter to render useless the efforts of the former even if they are only floors apart in the same building.  My problem started when DTI Business Name Registration allowed my brother to renew my certificate of registration.  Common sense tells us that one cannot renew that which is not registered to him in the first place.  Instead of correcting an obvious error, DTI Business Name Registration only gave me one option which is to bring a case against my brother to be lodged with the DTI Office of Legal Affairs. I won the case after ten long years of waiting but DTI Business Name Registration again committed a grave injustice against me when they again allowed my brother, now with the family of his wife to register the trade name as a corporation because (take note) the trade name was not registered to anyone at that time they applied. WHAT!!!

Of course, it wasn't registered because they wouldn't allow me as the case was still pending.  When the case was resolved in my favor, the other side beat me by several days because apparently I was the last one to know of the decision.  Strike 2 for DTI Business Name Registration.  Am I missing something here?

It was a good thing that I have already registered the trade name with the Intellectual Property Office or else all my efforts would have amounted to nothing.  SEC for its part has already directed the other party to change its business name while the Court of Appeals recently upheld my prior right over the trade name AMBOS MUNDOS.

The issue of ownership of the trade name AMBOS MUNDOS does not get to be settled on television.  It will be settled in the legal courts  and agencies where they should be.  To my mind, the endless motions and appeals are part of a dilatory tactic so I don't get to use the name while they take their time and enjoy the benefit of using it since the case is still under "appeal".  My personal appeal goes to the concerned courts and agencies to provide finality to this dilemma and once and for all say that enough is enough.  I have suffered in silence for a long time and I want to believe that I will get to live to see the day that such suffering ends.

Setting the record straight.

By Maria Teresa Gaudinez-Martinez



For related story, see: http://just-passing-thru.blogspot.com/2010/10/defending-family-legacy-ambos-mundos.html

We parents often think that it will always be us who will do the teaching when it comes to our children and not the other way around.  Nothing can be farther from the truth as I have come to realize that they have been doing some teaching directed to me, whether they were conscious of it or not.  I am not simply talking about the way they teach me some "techy" things which young people seem to very adept at nowadays and of which I appear to be particularly challenged.  I am referring to lessons that pertain to life as we know it.

I learned that I can surpass my self-designated limits if I need to. 

We have pre-conceived ideas of what we can and cannot do. As a rule, I observe these limits especially when applied to myself but experience would show that I have time again been able to exceed these limits and succeeded when catapulted to action in matters concerning them.  A mother's response to a child's need is automatic, often paying no attention to obstacles and hindrances.



I learned that there is such a thing as unconditional love and unlimited capacity to forgive.

Most families like us would go through conflicts and challenges which sometimes appear irreparable.  I often marvel at my children's ability not to hold grudges against my shortcomings. Yes, they love me in spite of my imperfections and without asking anything in return.



I learned that I have to let go so that they can soar.

Many parents tend to burden their children with their own fears and inhibitions and in the process, succeed quite effectively to hold them down.  It is my fervent wish that I can always protect them from whatever danger lurks ahead but now know that I have to step back once in a while to allow them to grow as they should.



My Say

I'm sure our lessons are not yet done and understand that soon there will be reversal of roles as they grow into adulthood and I hopefully advance to old age with as much grace as I can muster. In the mean time, they will still have to accept some lessons from me, a mother who would gladly learn from them as well as we all study the complicated subject of life.

That said, I am looking forward to all the lessons I still have to learn from my children.


To my children Ada, Dap and Pio from whom my penname "adapio" was lifted.

Image Source: kmberggren.com

Motherhood is said to complete the essence of a woman.  Does this mean to say that women who are unable to bear biological children are less of a woman or for that matter less of a mother?  I don't think so.

Women who are blessed like me to have children of our own can easily be "unmother-like" if we are not careful enough of how we interact with them in the same way that women who have not had children can be the most "mother-like" beings in this world to children they choose to take care of.  The inability to bear children either by choice for remaining single or by fate due to some medical condition should not limit the capacity of women for motherhood.

I believe women in this situation are being called to answer the call of motherhood in a different way.  It takes tremendous love and sense of giving to be able to truly nurture our own children but it takes much more to be able to love a child who is not our own in the biological sense. This is probably why adoption and other ways of taking care of another's child is such a noble thing to do. 

My Say

Not every woman will be a biological mother but this should not prevent any woman from giving in to her natural instinct of nurturing and caring for a child.  Many mothers take their children fof granted while many who have not been blessed with a child are moving heaven and earth to have one.  The important thing to consider is that every woman has the power to make a positive change in a child's life, whether as a biolgical mother or as an adoptive mother.

That said, it makes much sense for women who are physically, emotionally, psychologically, and materially capable to decide to take care of one child and help make his or her life better.

Bebet was my uncle who I never got around to calling Uncle Bebet, Tito Bebet, or Tiyo Bebet.  I knew he was my father's brother but since his age was closer to our generation than that of his brothers, I grew up seeing him  more as one of my cousins.  In family gatherings , he almost always ends up being photographed with us instead of the older generation.  And so to me and the rest of my siblings and first cousins in my father's side, he was simply Bebet.

This photo will show you just exactly what I mean.  A much younger Bebet beside his best-friend/nephew Jun is shown with his three much older brothers towering behind him, (my father Nene, Tito Carlito and Tito Luis) along with Tita Baby and Lolo Peping.  The rest of us came almost successively, not very long after this photo was taken, thus the age difference really wasn't that much so as to make Bebet's seniority to us very obvious to everyone.



There are probably only two moments that stand out in my memory when such actual seniority was summoned by him at least with respect to me.  Bebet was every inch my father's brother when he lent his full support and guidance during one of the most difficult times of my life when my father died.  The next and the last instance was when he told me about his terminal sickness.  It was very difficult for me to understand how anyone can accept certain death with calm acceptance.  In fact, it was so difficult that I had no words, only silent tears.

He said it was okay because he has lived a full life.  That comforted me in a way and the thought continues to comfort me now that he has passed on.  Like the rest of us, he did not have a perfect life but I believe he got to finish most of what he had to do, which is something most of us are still trying to accomplish.


                                                       
                                                                   
My Say

Life is too short to finish everything we want to finish.  

That said, let us try to make the most out of the time allotted to us.  Have a peaceful journey Bebet.