Ondoy Stories VI

Here are some of the anecdotal stories from this period:

Our boys' volleyball teams went to play one of the other International schools on Friday night but the game was cancelled after they arrived so they began the journey back, only to be caught by the weather so one coach stayed with the van and the other took the boys to one of a family's house nearby. Only to find that family was stranded at Faith. They enjoyed their hospitality regardless! The teams arrived back at school late Saturday afternoon.

The Cross Country team were competing in Subic (further north) and got stuck there. They arrived back Monday afternoon.

Lots of families had their first floor flooded but one family had the extra aggravation of a local plant spilling oil and it went over everything they possessed downstairs.

Two of our school families who live next door to each other - and were busy helping feed families from their local church - were told by their neighbours - of course, via their helper - that they needed to clear up the mud from the road outside their houses as it was unsightly.

One lady was not in her house when it flooded but had emptied her important papers onto her bed. The bed rose with the flood and lowered as it receded with the papers still intact.

Ondoy Stories V

We've had brown-outs before so I've experienced the darkness that we never normally get during the night here but the thing I really noticed with this prolonged blackout was the quietness. There is a lot of noise created by appliances running all day. It seemed like when the electricity came back on so did our neighbours!! Their TV, aircon and lights are on all the time and I guess I had got used to it before but now it's noticeable again.

Our kids have introduced flooding to their play. Their animals keep having to escape to the roof and be rescued.

Ondoy Stories IV

It's the ordinary people doing extraordinary things that inspire me - the judge who rescued 100 people using his jetski and two rubber dinghies; the 18 year old strong swimmer who saved 10 people but died after rescuing a baby floating away (click here for full stories).

The families opening their homes to take in other families whose homes were ruined; people buying food to give to those who have nothing left; our students who have cleaned homes; my 3 friends giving up 3 hours to wash other friends' dishes which had been covered by the dirty water.

Ondoy Stories III

We decided to spend the day at school as there is power, space for the kids to run and a TV in Steve's office. Ironically, with all the flood water, we went swimming too!

I and some friends went to the supermarket. We got there right as it opened but the car park was already the fullest I had ever seen it (it's only a small car park, but still!). No ATMs were working which was a problem as I only had 500 pesos on me. Luckily, I had brought a generous friend who lent me enough to get some basics. We whipped round the supermarket but even in the time we were there the long-life milk disappeared, the bread aisles emptied and the tinned meat/fish also went fast.

The queues are long - we combine all our bits into one trolley so I don't feel guilty about sharing our spot in the queue and it takes us about 45 minutes to get through the till, even as they open others. I have never been in a run on a shop before.

We get back to school and are delighted to have internet access. We start looking at the news sites and are amazed at what we are seeing and reading. My internet didn't work well for some reason and that was frustrating because I couldn't send emails and reassure people - it was pretty obvious it had made international news and they were mentioning Cainta so I knew family and friends would be worried because it was specific and not the usual generic Philippines disaster news that ends up being on some island thousands of miles away.

We have found our groove now. We charge up the computers and watch a DVD with the kids after dinner, then we watch one when they are in bed.

Ondoy Stories II

Sunday

We spent a couple of hours getting all the main furniture back down. Letting the playroom dry out.

We tried to go out for lunch to the mall and to get water from school. Until we drove through our subdivision we had not realised just how bad the storm was. It makes sense as we are at the higher end of our subdivision and it slopes down from us. The traffic on the main road was at a standstill with lorries blocking all the lanes both ways. We thought we could probably make it out but were not sure how long it would take us to get back in - if at all. So we turned round while we knew we still could and headed home again.

One of our friends came round. Their house was flooded waist high. They only have one storey so most of their furniture was damaged. They saved their clothes and books but are camping out at another family's house. He told us one of our other still had power so we went to her house for the afternoon. She was busy charging computers and cell phones for our mission friends and delivering them back. What a Godsend! We had cold water, fans and a TV for our kids!

She took the kids for a walk to our friends' flooded house which they thought was brilliant and brought their kids back with her too! Rose and Joshua described this "sunken car" to us - which actually turned out to only have its wheels in the water! But that family did have their new car submerged in the dirty water.

Steve tried to get up to school again later in the afternoon to get drinking water and got there and back OK. Very strange cooking by candlelight.

Ondoy Stories I

Rain. More rain. Even more rain.

We have another low depression sitting over the Philippines - which apparently hasn't even reached Manila yet, which is bad news as the water has been inching up all morning. About 12 o'clock we decided to start moving furniture and books upstairs as it looked likely it was going to enter the house. Our bathroom flooded early as the drains were blocked so that was unpleasant! We finished moving everything we were going to move about 1:45.

We had just settled the kids to watch a DVD when the electricity went off about 2 p.m. The water is now covering the playroom and right up to the front door but thankfully, staying just under the level of the main room. We have thunder too.

The kids think it's the biggest adventure (how perspectives change with age!). They have been hyper ever since it looked like we were going to flood. They have been tracking the progress of the water in the road from Josh and Naomi's bedroom window.

I'm not sure if floods or fire are my greatest worry. Josh, in particular had to be restrained from bouncing on our bed.

Lea got her friends' boys when the electricity went off and they all stayed here overnight. They had to practically swim back to our house and it's only round the corner. Their mum works in Makati so goodness knows what happened to her.

Lie To Me

Steve and I love this series ("Lie To Me"). Mum and dad brought the episodes with them and we have watched them in all in the space of a few days. You get to the point where your recognise the gestures and the expressions but that's to be expected as the actors are probably emphasising them obviously for that reason but I have realised it has begun to creep into real life too! When I picked Rose up from school I asked her if she had eaten her lunch. She started to tell me about her chapel practice and I caught myself about to say 'Rose, you are deflecting'. So I asked her again and she said, "I ate my apple". I said, "That's a no, then?!" She may have to watch out, I'm going to start checking those micro-expressions soon!

So Impressed

My kids' vocabulary amuses, amazes and annoys me. Josh's current word is "whatever" and Rose's is "boring". I feel like I have 2 teenagers!!

Josh, Naomi and I were driving home in the car yesterday and Josh says "I was so impressed..." So I take the bait and say, "So impressed with what?" He says"I saw a girl riding a motorbike and I was so impressed." I said, "Don't you see many girls riding motorbikes?" (We actually don't). He said, "No. But I was impressed because it was a big kid [high schooler], not an adult, and you don't see many big kid girls on motorbikes."

Teacher Debs

Tuesdays is my "float" day at pre-school so I have to organise the transitions, amongst other things, of the centres. Obviously one of the other adults had told one particular group they should ask "Teacher Debs" where they were going next because Josh walks round the corner and says, "Teacher Deb, where are we going now?" I suppressed a smile and said "Over there" and off he went. It was very funny.

Boo!

Joshua is into hiding and jumping out of places to frighten anyone around at the moment. Often at bedtime he will sneak into one of the wardrobes and jump out as you come in the bedroom. Today he was in the study and I didn't realise so I opened the door to get my bag and he yelled BOO! I jumped out of my skin so he was very satisfied!!

Tonight we are enduring the mother of all karaokes next door. It was already going when we got back from the mall about 1:15 and is still going strong now (7:30) with the kids' turn - which is possibly the most out of tune bit yet! Thankfully it didn't prevent our kids going to sleep even though their rooms are closest to the noise. It's interesting to me that so many men sing quite happily at the karaoke - can you imagine English men (other than my brothers of course!) doing that so willingly and frequently?!! We have even had a couple of Christmas songs. But it is September so that's only to be expected.

Josh and I had a lot of fun this morning doing letters and numbers on the whiteboard. He is really good at drawing his numbers and I was encouraging him to change his Hebraic form of writing to an English one!! - He writes his name from left to right but he got it in the end! He seems much more ready for school and I only hope we can last out the year without major frustration! For some reason he also knows how to spell hot!! I have no idea where he has picked it up from.

Tonight at dinner the kids started talking about "When we are back in England..." Rose really wants to see snow (they are doing weather in class right now), she also wants her pink bed set and curtains back in her room. Naomi wanted to know if she had a bed in England. I told her she had a cot but she would have a bed next time! She said it had to be pink too. Josh wants to splash in the mud with his wellies on. Josh is beginning to remember less about England and Naomi has no idea at all!

Farewell

Today Sam and Emma left us. Naomi and Joshua spent time before they went making them pictures and hearts to take with them. They said goodbye to Rose at school and she gave them long hugs. Emma told Josh he would be 6 next time they saw him and he thought that was unbelievable! I drove them to the airport - I hate that departures area. There is nothing worse than dropping people off in 2 minutes flat! Although, I guess it does stop protracted goodbyes.

My first niece or nephew is going to be born in Feb and we won't meet her or him till they're already 15 months old. Having had mum and dad and Sam and Emma here reminds me of the daily sacrifice we (and our families) make in being away from family. But I can't say it's not worth it and God blesses us with the people He brings into our lives. As far as we know, we are going to be here a few years yet!

Handling Embarrassment on a LARGE Scale

First Story/Nice Story

We are at the restaurant for lunch and Rose starts showing us her bites by standing on the seat and lifting her shorts. I say, "You shouldn't do that when there are strangers around". She looks a bit puzzled and says, "Sam and Emma aren't strangers". Steve explains, "Mummy means the rest of the people in the restaurant!".

Second Story/Not so Nice!

We told the kids they could spend their pocket money today (Naomi: "Yes, I have enough money!") Rose couldn't find anything she really wanted but she couldn't handle not spending anything and waiting. So, eventually we decided it was time to leave. At which point she decides to have a huge meltdown - in the middle of the posh mall. All these Filipinos are staring - with obvious disapproval - at us. (Thanks goodness Sam and Em were with e because it made me feel a little less of a target!). I'm trying really hard not to allow my embarrassment to dictate how I respond to Rose and am trying to calmly move her towards the escalators and to the nearest exit. But my temperature starts to rise as I get Filipinos passing us saying "Shh, shh", the security guard on the door tries to mimic Rose crying and others giving the typical Filipino comment of "Why?" By this time I'm beginning to want to swing at the next annoying person but I make it out with Rose. She gets in the car - fussing and being uncooperative - and as soon as it starts to move she becomes sweetness and light and asks Steve if she can have the yellow car he bought as an extra.

I don't know if it's because Rose's class are studying David but it made me think of when David prayed for his and Bathsheba's first child and his attendants are worrying that he's going to go ballistic when he finds out the baby is dead but instead he gets up, washes and eats. I think it was that way with Rose - as soon as we were leaving and she knew she really wasn't going to be able to go and buy something she was fine.

Not sure it helps my blood pressure, though!

Toilet trained

Yay! I think Naomi has got the whole toilet thing cracked. Weds she wound Steve up by doing a wee on the arms of our settees in the Tv Room but yesterday she had no "accidents" and happily announced when she wanted to go (including at preschool) and even, by the end of the day put her pink, princess seat on the toilet seat and got the stool so she could do it herself. Today she has continued so I am celebrating the end of nappies in the day. I hope it is not premature but I don't think so.

Sam's last preschool

Today was Sam's last preschool as they leave on Monday. He has been such a cool addition to our group. The kids think "Mr. Sam" is great and we have loved having a man involved. He has even led singing and games for me when I was feeling yuck. One of the mums baked cookies for everyone as a thank-you to him - how cool is that? He was sad that it was his last one and at the end, so was I.

Self-explanatory conversation

Naomi: "I want a drink".

Sam: "That's not how you ask for a drink, is it?"

Naomi: "I must have a drink now!"

Sam: "Excuse me?"

Naomi: "Please can I have a drink?"

Birthday treat

Naomi wanted to go the play place for her birthday treat so we invited one of her friends' family to join us and we went after a trip to the doctor first! Rose and Josh both have ear infections so are on antibiotics and Naomi was declared well. Our doctor has disappeared but the "relief" doctor was very nice and helpful.

Unfortunately, Josh was feeling so yuck that he didn't even have the energy or the inclination to play, but Naomi had lots of fun until the person dressed up as a clown showed up and then she wouldn't play anymore.

Naomi turns 3

Today was Naomi's third birthday. Part of me can't quite believe it and part of me thinks she has been 3 for ages!!

She was pretty excited most of the day as were Josh and Rose. It was fun to see them enter into her excitement. Naomi had chosen a penguin cake and my first attempt came out far too thin - the good news being it inspired a trifle for the weekend! - and my next effort was really thick but I knew no-one would be disappointed by that :-) She had made me promise I would take her with me to buy the candy floss so I duly made good and she helped put it on the cake.

We didn't invite any other children to the party as she doesn't really have any identified group of friends but she was happy because we did have Bonnie, Wendy and Kate.

The advantage of having had so many visitors recently is that we have received lots of presents from home so Naomi had a huge pile between us all and it was great that Sam and Emma were here to share the occasion.

However, we are meeting up with one of Naomi's friends at the play place tomorrow for an hour of fun!

Positive reinforcement

We have been enduring even-worse-than-usual broken nights with the children suffering from colds. Joshua has a habit of shouting really loudly to announce to me that he is awake so one of his targets on his sticker chart is to not shout out in the night. Anyway, the first time he woke up last night he did not shout out but just appeared by our bed and climbed in. Even in my groggy state the first thing I said was, "Good boy for not shouting out" before rolling over and dozing off. When I remembered that later I thought it was pretty funny that even in a sleep-deprived state and half-asleep at the time, my first thought was to affirm my son.

Time Lapse

As I was out this afternoon I asked Lea to make the dinner - fish and chips, yum! I was back by 5 and I was surprised dinner wasn't ready as Lea is usually very punctual with our food and most times has it ready early. Anyway 5:30 rolled round and Lea cme in and said "OK, dinner's ready. Do you want it now or wait till 5?" I said, "it's half five now". She was very flustered and said, "What?" Turns out the clock in the kitchen only said 4:40 so while Lea thought she was in plenty of time, all the other clocks said 5:30. It was kind of funny, although poor Lea was very embarrased!

Lego Day

Sam and Emma were out for the morning and I was by myself with all three kids, as Rose has not been at school today and yesterday because she has been unwell. We had a really fun, relaxed day hanging out together in the playroom. The lego came out and I ended up spending the whole day - and I really mean the whole day, with a minimal lunch break - building things for Josh, then Naomi, then Rose, then Josh.....

I enjoyed just spending time with my children and it reminded me how they like my company as well as other people's. That may sound daft but sometimes I wonder if being with me every day isn't the teensiest bit boring!

Naomi's birthday is on Friday. She has had her cake picked out for weeks so I asked her what she would like to eat for dinner on her birthday. She looked at me quizzically and eventually replied, "lunch". (I was asking her at lunchtime which probably wasn't the greatest moment). I said, "well what's your favourite food?" She said, "cookies". I'm pretty sure there's going to be more on the menu that cookies.