The Gratifying Yesterday

Yesterday was pure bliss and blessing.

It was the first time Pappie could attend Yakee's swimming class and see for himself what a trooper his son is. With videocam in hand, he watched as his son kept paddling and kicking as well as laughing and smiling. The class is only 30 minutes long but for a toddler, it could be quite exhausting (exhausting for Mommy too!). But Yakee kept making Mommy and Pappie proud. His other classmate for that batch kept crying, and a new classmate who was a year older only howled the entire time.

I think it helped that I was there with Yakee from Day 1, while the other boy had different caregivers accompanying him in the water. We both knew what to expect and we both progressed with the lessons. Yakee trusted me and I knew his limits. So when he was being dunked in the water, he was still alright.

And really, Mommy was so proud. And I hoped Pappie will be too, and he'd realize that his son is indeed worth the classes. See, we wondered before if Yakee was ready for such or if it would just traumatize him. In fairness to BLSS, the classes are really systematic. I love Teacher Berna and Charisse! And i'm happy that hubs acknowledged my efforts because its really not easy handling a tot in water.

After the swimming class, we headed to the pedia for Yakee's booster shot. Other parents waiting in the clinic with us couldn't help but smile at Yakee's antics and marvel at what he can do (and yes, they also kept commenting on how high-spirited he was). He also couldn't help but impress, even his pedia, with his signing vocabulary. It's probably wrong to be tickled pink but when I engage Yakee with the picture charts in the clinic, it was really gratifying to have him point out what I was asking for, do the sound for that (if any) and also do the sign. I'm not sure if that's advanced and I don't really care about that, it was just a validation of our parenting.

One mother there, whose daughter is suffering from some congenital anomaly that has resulted in hemorrhoids (she's not yet 3) and is requiring surgery, was also vocal about how much of a jerk her police husband is. She regaled us with stories of how she's caught him cheating and all the other selfish things he does and laments about how karma is taking it out on her and their daughter instead of him. Of course, that made me feel grateful all over again. The worst Yakee had to contend with is that gastroenteritis thingie last January, but though that was bad, it wasn't as bad as that poor girl who really had something wrong with her. Or that wee boy who needs oxygen and is being fed through a tube up his nose.

And my husband is an involved father and a committed husband. And we can afford health care. Really, everything else is just icing.

After the pedia visit, we decided to catch the christening reception of hubs' former colleague. We were very late (as pedia visits tend to drag on and on) but we wanted to just hand our gift (hubs is Ninong) and make that effort. And we knew that it was appreciated. And Yakee ended up getting a little traumatized from an overzealous Zoe who kept on kissing him. Hehe.

Then we went home. SIL was upset because she wanted to bring my nephew to the doctor but she didn't have money and my brother is late coming home. And distant relatives came to ask if they can stay the night because a child is already turning blue/black because of a hole in her heart. Poor girl cried half the night because she ate a cookie I gave them, and her heart couldn't stand the pumping required to digest it.

Again, I had to hug my darling husband and thank him for not putting me in a position where I can't bring my son to the doctor should he need immediate care. I thank him for working hard, for loving us, for the knowledge that we're the only ones that truly matter to him. It's sad that others aren't so lucky.

So yesterday was filled with bliss and blessings indeed.