my son, a singer?

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I have been telling my son, from the time he can already understand simple words, about the talent's that God has given to each and every person he has created. That God has given us the responsibility to discover and use our talents.

When I picked up my son, RJ, in school today...

RJ: "Mama, I am joining a talent show."

Me: "Really, when?"

RJ: "Wednesday, next week."

Me: "Did teacher asked you to join?"

RJ: "No, I volunteered to show my talent in singing."

Me: (He has a talent in singing??) "I am so proud of you, son!"

RJ: "Only 5 out of 35 kids in our class are joining."

Me: "I am so proud of you."

RJ: "Now I have a problem, I don't know what to sing. I am thinking of 'We will Rock You' from the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. But there are other songs that I also want to sing."

Me: "We will practice, don't worry about it. I am so proud of you."

I was shocked and proud at the same time. Shocked that he wanted to show his talent--in singing (?) and proud of his confidence that he has a talent--in singing (?). He doesn't have a horrible voice, he can carry a tune. I've noticed that when he was still a toddler, maybe he does have a talent in singing. But all he has been singing (in the house) are his OWN compositions. Mostly unintelligible words with lots of banging of the guitar (he doesn't know how to play the guitar, by the way).

What will I do if, instead of the song from Alvin and the Chipmunks, he wants to sing his own composition in the talent show?

I guess I will allow him. It's good that he is confident of his talents.

But what if the other boys (he attends an all boys school) teases him because they don't understand his song composition?

Well, I have to wait for his decision on what he will sing. Will talk to him later.

teach your child to pray

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My son can already pray the Lord's Prayer, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be at the age of 2. He joins the family in doing our nightly prayer everyday.

He attends a Chinese-Catholic school. Last year when he was in first grade, he was the only one in his class who knows the prayers mentioned above.

Now that he's in second grade, in his Christian Living Education class, they are asked to memorize the Mysteries of the Rosary.

Last night, he led the praying of the rosary in the house. I am so proud of him. I hope he continues to be a prayerful person. This, I believe, will make him grow into a good man.

teach your child to be responsible

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I have mentioned on my other blog that we have a very messy bookshelf in our house right now. A few days ago, I asked my son to check if there are books in his collection that can already be given to his younger cousins.

This is one way of asking him to fix his side of the bookshelf because I got tired of always telling him to put his books in the bookshelf properly.

He is asthmatic so I asked him to wear a mask because the inner side of the bookshelf was a little dusty already. I guess that's where he put the books that he doesn't like to read anymore.

He did a great job of sorting his books. He was able to give a bag full of books to my sister's kids.

Now, he has free space in the bookshelf. He can buy more books that is appropriate for his age.

He now read "novels". That's what he call books without pictures.

I hope his side of the bookshelf looking organized won't just be for this week. Now, it's my turn to clean my side of the shelf.

Cookies worth $13,000

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One of the guests in The Today show this morning is Liz Scott, mother to a girl named Alex. Alex Scott battled neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer, before her first birthday until she died in 2004 at the age of 8.

Alex was a determined, courageous, confident and inspiring child with big dreams and big accomplishments. After she received a stem transplant the day after her 4th birthday, she said to her mother that she wants to have a lemonade stand so that she can give money to the hospital to help them find a cure. Later that year, her first lemonade stand raised $2,000 for childhood cancer research.

After she passed away, her family continued her inspiring legacy through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. People from all over the world held their own lemonade stands and donated the proceeds to her foundation. Alex’s mother, has raised additional funds by auctioning off her lemon cookies. This year, the cookies raised $13,000 on the eve of what would have been Alex’s 13th birthday.

Isn't this a very inspiring story?

To know more about Alex and the foundation, check out Alex's Lemonade Stand and The Today Show.

Do you want to try out Liz Scott's cookie recipe? Of course you do! Click here.