Sunday, January 27, 2008

Thank You Daddy

(I am writing this down to remind me, every time your work gets too tough for me to understand and then I begin to demand and then harshly question your commitment to this family, that you do do your part the best way you can. Yes, sometimes, my frustration at not having you with us all the time tends to make me forget about the things you do for us, about how you still manage to fulfill your role as daddy, husband and co-homemaker despite the limitations imposed by your job.)

Thank you for coming home last Thursday early enough to be able to pick me up from work. Thank you for coming home on a weekday although that's not usually allowed in your job.

Thank you for waking up early on Friday and cooking breakfast and promising to cook lunch and dinner so that I could sleep for an extra 45 minutes. You know how waking up so early so I can cook all the meals for the day (our yaya doesn't know how to cook) before I go to the office tires me so and saps up all my morning energy. The breakfast was delicious and so was the lunch. I was surprised you can cook that well, considering all I gave you was generic instructions. Ang sarap, daddy, napabilib mo talaga ako :)

Thank you for being my personal driver every time you're here. Savings yun sa ating taxi bills habang bawal pa ko mag-commute.

Thank you for doing the groceries and the marketing too. Marunong ka na pumili ng karne at ng gulay ngayon sa palengke. At binili mo pa yung pinaglilihian ko ngayong halaan kahit na di ka kumakain nun. And for eating the halaan because I insisted na kainin mo din ang pinaglilihian ko kahit na ayaw na ayaw mo talaga nun. Salamat daddy.

Thank you for massaging my legs, feet, shoulders and back kahit na alam kong naging napaka-tiring din ng day para sayo. Thank you for volunteering to be the one to do the evening rituals (brush teeth, put on pajamas, read a story, sing nursery rhymes) with Gael so I can sleep and rest early.

Thank you for waking up early again on Saturday to prepare breakfast. Thank you for accompanying me to La Salle so I can enrol for residency. Thank you for bringing all of us to the doctor last Saturday for a check up. I know you wanted to play football with Gael or play with his RC at the park, but we ended up just resting at home after the check up that ate up our whole afternoon. Thank you for assisting Gael while he was having an X-ray. Thank you for cleaning him up when he had an "accident" again at the mall.

Thank you for being so hands-on. Thank you for making sure that I get adequate rest everytime you're here by doing all the tasks that I should be doing. The scenes this weekend make me look back at those days when I just gave birth to Gael. When you helped me pee on my bedpan, when you assisted me to walk to the CR, when you helped me dress up, when you put on and tightened the abdominal maternity belt for me, when you gave me sponge baths, when you helped me have my first post-hospital bath, when you washed all our dirty, blood-stained clothes, cooked all our food, and looked after Gael when I was still too weak, too sleepy or too tired.

Minsan nahihiya nga akong pauwiin ka pag weekend kasi parang mas napapagod ka sa bahay.

Salamat daddy, naaappreciate ko naman e... Sobra. Minsan lang nauunahan ako ng drama at init ng ulo. I really do not mean it when I say na ako lang ang me ginagawa para sa pamilya na to - that's just the drama queen talking.

Thank you so much daddy for being so near perfection. Oo na, sige na nga, suwerte na nga ako sayo. Hehehehe. I love you so.


__________

My friend Lisa, upon reading this entry, suggested that I join the Love Struck writing contest of Ms. Noemi Dado. I am submitting this post as my entry to the contest. Four years after we’ve met, I am still love struck by the small and big things my husband does to show his love for me.

Thank you so much daddy for being so near perfection. Oo na, sige na nga, suwerte na nga ako sayo. Hehehehe. I love you so.
- love struck at baduy na baduy pa rin di ba? :p

10 comments:

zahflo said...

Aww... pag nagka-bf ako, papakilala ko agad kay Arnie, para mahawaan hehe. Good example! Thanks, Arnie, for taking care of your family. There is hope in the world. :-)

kiel said...

Hihi... Lalaki na ang ulo ni arnie nito :p

berna said...

funny i was supposed to write a similar entry pero opposite naman. he wasn't able to come home last weekend and we had a big fight over it. when they don't get to come home, it's so easy to think that they don't care. i'm guilty of that as well. i also tend to forget all his other efforts when my current demands are not being met. i have yet to learn to remind myself of the "good times" everytime i need him and he can't be with me. but thanks for your post. normal lang pala nafifeel ko. =)

kiel said...

normal lang talaga...

and, girl, the fights will get worse, there are months when he won't even be home at all even for just a single day, even though he is so badly needed and not just missed... his job will eat up more and more of his time, and more and more of your demands won't be met.

there will be days when it will take a whole lot of will power to summon all the memories of the "good days" and to allow those memories to quench the frustration and feelings of abandonment that you might feel.

i find it really helps when I write down memories of the good days, so I can have something tangible to come back to and help me hold my tongue when I feel like lashing out at him for things he has no control over and couldn't do anything about.

bottom line, i guess, is just to remember that they too would love to come home every so often, but such a privilege, sadly, is not allowed for men of their type.

berna said...

ye. there will be tougher times still. it's just that i get tired and pissed everytime i hear the words "wala akong magawa". but i guess that's just how it goes for their profession. and ye. they do want to come home too. masmagaling lang talaga siguro silang magdala kesa steng mga babae. hehe..

i've been playing this role for only 3 months now. and from what i read, after almost 3 years of marriage, there are days when you still struggle. hay. i still have a loooooong way to go. =)

kiel said...

struggle nga talaga

when he was assigned sa mindoro, meron kaming once a month away blues, pag malapit na lumipas ang isang buwan at di pa rin sha nakakauwi na kahit na for 2 days lang...

ngayon na mas malapit sha, we have the thursday awayan-kulitan marathon, na kinukulit ko na sha kung makakauwi ba sha ng weekend...

:)

Dhanggit said...

nice lovely entry for love struck..i agree with you that we should never stop from saying thank you to the people we love.. no matter how big or small the reason is...

kiel said...

thank you

U-teach said...

I love your entry! Sana makapagsulat rin ako ng ganito para sa hubby ko :)
Thanks for the inspiration! Happy Valentine's po...

Mec said...

I mirror some of your sentiments... :) we're so blessed to have such loving husbands...