Happy 6th - Dealing with Disappointments

The Birthday Girl with her bouquet from Papa Ramir

R celebrated her 6th birthday last July 21.  It was a Thursday.  Ramir bought her a bouquet and we fetched her from school.  We were suppose to bring her somewhere but something happened which made us cancel. So we just had dinner that day.  She didn't have a birthday party because it was agreed earlier on that we would go on a weekend out-of-town, swimming excursion.  Everyone was excited.  But Someone has other plans.



A freak incident left all of us frustrated and sad.

You see, we live in Malabon.  Friday night, Ramir texted me that he has a bad news.  The floodgate in our baranggay bogged down.  Water was knee deep on the streets.  The possibility of murky, smelly water inside our house always haunts us. Typhoon Franco made us all scrub the floors and walls of our house because the water was thigh-high inside.  Everything the water touched needed to be disinfected. Imagine the discomfort, frustration and utter helplessness we all felt that time.  And this floodgate breaking down, with the possibility of flood inside our house again, made us cringe.  It's all coming back to us (fade in Celine Dion "It's All Coming Back" as background music).

Decisions have to be made. Last minute, we canceled.  R cried.  It was heartbreaking.  But our hands were tied.  It was a good thing that the guy whom we're dealing with fro our accommodation was was very understanding.  He didn't charge us extra even if it was lost business for him.

Since what we promised didn't happen. We stroke a deal with R, we'll bring her to SM instead for some rides, food and gifts.  But that too didn't push through. You guessed it right.  Saturday afternoon, nothing has changed.  Our street was still flooded.  And it was raining.  This was even scarier because even if the water is not coming in from the river, water volume is still rising.

The kid was very understanding.  Some of the gifts she had from her past birthdays were still left unopened.  We told her that she can open some. This appeased her.  She told me that she'll just go with me in the office on Monday.  Since she doesn't have classes because it's the feast day of the school's patron saint, I agreed.

R has some friends in the office.  They are my officemates and they're R's favorites.  She call them "mga anak ko" and in turn, they call her "mommy."  I was very grateful for the time they spent with her.  Because really, as a mom, I just want my kid to be happy.  And I think, they saved the day.  They kept R's day busy and they allowed her to "take care of them." They surprised her with cupcakes and sang her happy birthday.  Since my daughter was shy, R made them repeat the whole cake-blowing ritual inside the pantry with very limited audience.  This was her savoring her moment.

They even gave her a DIY card, which R colored as a sign of appreciation. She also wrote something on it.

The birthday card her "anaks" gave

She also wrote her note to them.

It was sad that we weren't able to push through with our plans.  But we need to learn how to deal with disappointments.  There are other things worth appreciating - an open heart is all we need. We are blessed with what we have.  We just need to really "see" them.

Below is a video that I made to document her day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqSvLbv_EG4

Happy 6th birthday to the other half of the Rainbow Sisters.  Mahal na mahal R.