Having Kids

"N-nong stiffie!!"

That was the greeting made by my almost-3-year old godson Maqui.

Quito sent me an SMS early last Sunday morning to remind me of spending half a day with his two kids. My schedule really hasn't been that friendly to my family and social life, and even worse for touching base with my inaanaks (I missed out on their last birthday parties and Christmas). He had it planned out as a very busy Father's Day but I had to point out that Father's Day is every 3rd Sunday of June, not the second. Hahaha...

Anyway, I drove to Manila and met up with Quito, Marge, Maqui, Justin and yaya Sol for lunch at Blue Wave. After lunch, we trooped off to nearby SM Mall of Asia.

Marge had to buy some stuff at the grocery and the department stores so she left Maqui (age almost-3) and Justin (age 1) to Quito and me. She took yaya Sol with her. She'd like to see how the Quito and myself would manage (she had that mischievous look when she handed me Maqui's baby bag) for 3 hours without female assistance.

Quito took Justin while I got Maqui. I think I got a raw deal there. Not five minutes has passed by, Maqui was tugging at my hand and babbling "Twuck... twuck...".

He wanted one of those truck-type baby strollers that you rent at the malls. No problem. Ninong Stiffy can afford that.

But that proved to be a hasty statement on my part. After going through three stalls where they rent out those strollers, none were available. "Sorry po sir, ubos na po." And Maqui was making tantrums already by the time we got to the second stall.

I gave Quito a look saying "Uh, a little help here?". He just grinned, as if saying "You're on your own, man."

So being desperate, I offered Maqui a ride on my shoulders. "Sit up on my shoulders, Maqui? Go like Superman?"

"Soo-per-man...soo-per-man... teeheehee...". Jackpot. I found out how to manage him. So I boosted him up over my head and onto my shoulders.

Thank goodness for my gym sessions. Maqui weighs about 40 pounds!

Sitting on top of my shoulders, Maqui would point out somewhere and say "Dat?". I'll say it's a tree, but he'll say it's a "G-raff". Another "Dat?". My reply was "chair" and he say's it's a "ru-mo". The kid's playing mind games with me. Are there any toddler dictionaries for adults being sold somewhere? I'd like a copy of that, thank you.

While walking in the mall we came across Timezone. Maqui, still seated on my shoulders, began bouncing up-and-down. "Timezone, timezone, ball...basket...ball". "Kits, Timezone okay with you?" "Sure man, no problem. We've brought Maqui to Timezone once." "Okay Maqui, basketball?" More bouncey-bouncey on my shoulders.

I got a Timezone card loaded with 300 pesos. Maqui and I played hoops. On the first game, I got Maqui shooting the balls while I handed it to him. On the next game, it was the other way around. On the third game, he climbed up again on my shoulders and went at it together.

Next stop was Daytona racing. With Maqui on my lap, I had him doing the gear-shifting. We were fortunate that another dad-and-kid joined us in the race, so we weren't pressured to race like professional drivers. After the race (which we won), Maqui and I made high-fives and did a friendly wave to Dad-and-Kid next to us.

"Superman..." Okay, back to my shoulders.

There are plenty more stuff that we did until Marge got back to us (riding the escalator back-and-forth, ice skating for 20 minutes, taught Maqui how to catch popcorn with his mouth, etc.) but the funniest one is the bathroom incident.

"poo-poo...". Major bathroom break for Maqui coming up. With the nappy bag slung on my neck, we trooped off to the nearest men's room.

First problem: Maqui has been taught not to touch any part of the toilet bowl with his hands. So, I had to support him by holding him under his armpits while he dumps, and pretty much took his time doing it.

Second problem: Washing the baby's butt.

(to be continued...)