Gwama, My Idol.

When M1 cries M2 cries too, if M1 sees M2 cry she cries too.  Imagine how noisy the house is when they start their duet.  As I was trying to tune out their noise my Gwama (mom's mother) came to mind, she had 11 kids and was able to stay sane.  How she did it still boggles me, she was a superwoman.  A cousin of mine brought this up at our Gwama's wake, wondering in awe at how she did it all.  A cousin in law said that she wasn't a hands on mom, thats why.  During their time no one was hands on.  Everyone was trying to make money for their children's futures.  This is what my grandparents did for their family, they raised them as best as they could and I think they did one helluva job.  But really, it wasn't just the bringing up of 11 kids, it was also the budgeting.  Obviously everything was cheaper way back then but imagine enrolling 8 girls in ICA.  Imagine all those school books and those uniforms.  Imagine all that food!! They ate gallons and gallons of ice cream.  Times were simpler too, my mom and aunts retold tales of them playing patintero, hop scotch, and hide and seek.  All games that don't involve mechanical toys, all they needed was each other.  Now we have a few kids and a lot of toys to compensate for the idle time that they have.  One of the things I look forward to is seeing my two girls playing games together when they get older but for now I get them toys that may or may not help in their IQ.

If my heart and pocket could afford it I would want more than 2 kids but for now the budgeting is hard enough.  Spending 100pesos each day on diapers is enough for me to roll my eyes and not want to count how much I spend on milk and all else.

11 kids, Gwama, you still amaze me.  11 uniforms, 11 diapers, 11 beds, 11 mouths to feed and to listen to, 11 cries to calm down, 11 boo boos to soothe, 11 tantrums to appease, 11 report cards, 11 demands, 11 seats in the car, 11 allowances to give, 11 water jugs and baons... 11 kids and you still worked day and night.  If I could be half the woman you were I could apply to be a superhero's sidekick.