Pinay mom parenting her Caucasian/Filipino daughter in suburban America.
Does not go well together.
At least, Mary is learning…
It is Jack’s family tradition to open ONE present Christmas Eve. I guess, it got started to quell impatience over waiting until Christmas morning to open presents.
What we should have done is let Mary know of this tradition, right on Christmas Eve, when she could not wait for Christmas Day. Instead, we had been telling her about the ONE present.
I had started piling up presents mid-last-week and since then, Mary had been checking and re-checking the gifts, trying to decide which one would be THE ONE. One day, it was the flat one that she couldn’t figure out what it was and the next, it was the biggest package (so far) that she “knows” has the “Rose Petal Cottage” that “she’s always wanted.”
Christmas Eve morning, Mary wakes up and the first thing she wanted to do is open her ONE present. WE knew it was for tonight, before she goes to bed but Mary did not know that so when we told her this additional clause on the rule, she was upset.
Not too upset, she just gave her Dad what Jack calls the “Filipino Stun Stare.”

Mary is my "I'm Not a Baby!" daughter and this is my blog about her and our life in suburban America. Parenting tales, our travels and travails, forays into great and not-so-great restaurants, kitchen adventures--- all chronicled with as much photos as you can stand. Comments are very much appreciated --- let me know you dropped by! Thank you.
Val
December 24th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
i thought im the only one with the stun stare…oh its got a different name… I call it, the Motchong Look…