The Road to 40 Day 96/365: Trips and Training

A field trip, a food trip, and going back to football training made this day as busy as it gets.

Took a while to wake Vino up and get him ready for school, but it’s always going to be a struggle every morning.

Once he gets up, he’s usually quicker and has no qualms doing everything else. It was a bit difficult to book a car, so I expected us to be a bit late for school. The goofball was at it in the car when I asked for a photo to send to Che.

After I dropped him off, I went off to Rey and Lia’s brother’s house. Their brother lives in SG and they usually stay with him when they visit. Most of the time, they are packed with activities, but I think since they have been here quite often, they’re not particularly excited about going around anymore.

Rey said they don’t have definite plans, so I said I’ll wake him up.

Took a couple of buses to get to their place. I like going to unfamiliar places with a purpose, as it gives me a reason to explore the city.

Once I got to their place, their parents opened the door for me as he was still in the toilet. We were a fixture in the Cabusora house in QC, so we know Nanay and Tatay from way back.

We talked while we waited for Rey to come out. A bit later, Lia came out, surprised that there was a random visitor so “early” in the morning.

I was in no rush to do anything, really. We planned on eating, and that’s about it.

Suddenly, my phone gets an alert – “aircon cleaning, 11:30am today.”

I double-checked with Che because it might just be a scheduled appointment but we already canceled it. Turns out it was not. It was already 11am by then and Rey, Lia, and Caeleb were not anywhere near ready to go out.

I asked them to come home with me first while the air conditioners were getting cleaned, then we head back to eat where we originally intended.

We were about 10 minutes late, and the cleaners graciously waited for us. Uncle was really nice.

I toured Rey a bit in our house, and once the cleaners were gone, he tried out the massage chair. Lia was rushing him a bit so we could eat, but my guy got the full experience.

It wasn’t a long drive if we took a cab, but it would have taken close to an hour if we used public transport.

We wanted to explore an Indian/Middle Eastern food spot, but Lia and Caeleb wanted chicken rice. We weren’t married to the idea of the Indian/Middle Eastern spot, so we went with chicken rice, because you can never go wrong with it. Plus, Lia tried it before, so at least we know it’s gonna be good.

We had roast and steamed chicken, some bread, cereal prawns, and I insisted we get some veggies.

These kids did not have a lot of veggies, that much I can say.

We enjoyed the food and had a lot of conversations while eating. We had to get up because I had to pick up Vino from school.

I reached him in time, and saw that he was just drawing on his school iPad. As we were about to go home, he said he lost his lunch box and wasn’t able to eat lunch.

I’m trying not to get angry at him as per Che’s request, but in my head I was thinking “how the heck can you lose a whole lunchbox, dude?”

I asked if he sought help from a teacher, which he did. They weren’t able to find it, though. At lunchtime, he asked for help from his friends, who couldn’t find it as well. I asked him to double-check in the classroom while I went down to see if I could find it in the field.

When I reached downstairs, I saw it lying on the ground. We think that someone mistook it as theirs and came to realize it later. They then decided to put it back where they got it, which was why I saw the thing easily.

We saw Anjo and Gabbi touring the place as well. Our houses were in opposite directions, but we were heading for the same exit, so we squeezed in as much catch-up as we could. I asked Anjo if he could teach me tennis sometime, and he said we should run together one of these days.

I ordered food for Vino so that he can eat once we get home, especially since he hasn’t had lunch yet.

He ate while I did some housekeeping chores, but my stomach was bad after eating corn, McFlurry, and drinking iced Milo. I mean, who would have thought that would be the effect, right?

We then headed off to football training.

It was a good day with clear skies by the time they were training. It was the first time in a while that the team was complete. I intended to write the blog while waiting for Vino, but I never turn down a conversation with other parents.

It’s nice to see Vino enjoy the company of his friends. They don’t say it, but it looks like they missed each other. Some of the kids went up to talk to me about why we were away for a while. Vino walked up to one of the dads to tell him that they saw each other in school.

They had a good game afterwards, and I talked to him about some of the things I observed. He’s always receptive of these things and offered his own perspective sometimes.

I still had meatballs, but Vino said he wanted pork steak. It would cook a little longer, but I had to be ready to cook it if I asked which one he preferred.

We had dinner at past 9pm. Not ideal, but we got home at around 8:30 already, so I’m actually glad that the meat got soft enough in such a short time.

I took a bath while Vino was in bed. I could tell he’s tired, but he’s never one to admit that he is, especially by bedtime. I felt his knee jerk, which was a sign that he fell asleep already.

I took off his glasses and he woke up a bit. He said his prayers and tried to find his sleeping spot. Before he slept, I thanked him for being cooperative and easy during this time.

He’s been a handful at times, and he causes a lot of mess when he eats. I get frustrated, but he quickly takes action by doing what I do. He helps with no conditions when I ask him to, and he’s learning how to let go of his games when there’s something he needs to do.

I said I’m trying not to be angry at him, but I know it comes out a bit sometimes. If I can do that, I should also be able to acknowledge his efforts. I’m trying to get him involved in cleaning and doing things right, and he’s really doing a good job.

These are the times I feel really lucky to have him as my kid.

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