Sunday, April 28, 2013

a mature 8 year old

Coming to church and attending class in order to prepare for his first communion doesn't sound much of a hard work, but it is. Big M's hard work this year has paid off and now he can take part of the Eucharist. Apparently, it is not required for a 2nd grader anymore to go through reconciliation before taking their first communion. But the parents were given the choice, and we chose for him go  through it. 

What I saw in Big M was amazing. Right after he had his reconciliation, he came down the isle with a big smile in his face and bouncing. He came to me and said, "I feel happy!" "Why?," I asked. "There were things that had bothered me, and now they don't. How often do we go to confession?"

I explained to him that there isn't a set time, but it could be whenever something is bothering him. He said he will do it every few months.

Then on April 14th, he had his First Communion. Big M was pretty proud of himself having received another sacrament. As parents, we are very proud of him too. As a child growing up in the Philippines, I didn't go through any such preparatory classes for any sacraments, so while I appreciate my faith (because of my grandmother) I admit that I didn't know as much. This year long class for Big M was as much a learning process for me as it was for him. Our church has made this process very family-centered. Every week, Big M meets with his class, and once a month, the parents meet with our priest to be taught ahead so that that we can then help teach the kids. It has been a wonderful experience for me and I am happy to have gone through it. 


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

at the science museum

It's the kids' spring break this week and finally, most of them are on the mend from being sick. Little M's asthma is on overdrive with this cold. The girls are on their albuterol inhaler with a spacer, and I thought maybe we can bring that and use it on Little M when we are out instead of not being able to take him out when it's time for the nebulizer. And it worked! We spent a good 5 hours out without Little M have to cough to the point that he throws up. He hates it though, so when we are home he uses the nebulizer. That is completely fine because he doesn't get as much medicine with the puffer anyway. We can just use it as backup when we are out.

Anyway, here are the kids in the hurricane booth. They enjoyed it; we enjoyed watching them, and I need to remember not to cackle so much while taking a video. :)