From Dawn Till Dusk

At long last, I felt relief as of this writing after about five days of my heart and mind in total anxiety and somewhat depression. We almost lost Ness, Our Soulmate Nanny and I am very much thankful we got her back! It’s a long story that we went through a sort of “hostage-taking” drama unfolding before our very eyes in the past days.

Our Nanny, whom we assumed was just on a day off on a Saturday (04 November), was hostaged till Wednesday by her own mother who refused to let go of Ness back to us on a purpose: Apply Ness for a job in Japan as Japayuki or get her as a tindera sa palengke (while waiting for that work in Japan) and have all her daughter’s earnings straight at her palms. What a mother? Never in my entire life that I encountered there are mothers like those who sucks like predators out of their children’s earnings. Or should I say, is it right to call her a Mother? But well, after our persistent texts, calls (including secret talks with Our Nanny) and ransom money/ bribe slapped on the face of this mother, we finally triumphed and got Our Soulmate Nanny back!

Many reflections and realizations came to me when this instance happened. For one, I realized how much my son Nico loves her Ate Ness. He is so attached to her that he misses her so much that even when asleep, he would dream and mention the name of her Ate.

What a sweet way of showing Yaya Ness’ love for her alaga. Left photo shows Nico in her Yaya Ness’ room playing–a bonding time the two often do when they can get bored playing in the living room. Right photo meanwhile is Yaya Ness’ stuffed toy given by her bestfriend Cristine where she wrote: “ATE LOVE NICO” — one of the evident ways of showing her love and concern for my Little Angel Nicolas.

I pity my son during those times that his Ate was not home. He wanders around the house, sneaking through her Yaya’s room and the kitchen—the places where he often sees his Ate. Much as Nico misses her, I too, realized that I really value her coming into our lives as I treat her as my eldest daughter, an Ate to Nico. It broke my heart in reflecting the thought that we wont have her anymore in the house. It was never the same without her, “parang may kulang sa aming bahay”. And it was such a weird feeling that I felt. The whole time that she was not with us, I cried, felt depression, and anxiety, as if I lost a loved one. And I don’t want to feel that way again, ever. Glad she’s back. That gloomy episode in our lives made our relationship with Our Soulmate Nanny, more stronger, now… and more than ever.

[PS. The funny side of what happened though was, Jun, who missed (for the longest time) some baby chores such as washing Nico up when he poohs, putting measured scoops of milk in Nico’s milk storage, and sterilizing Nico’s feeding bottles, was able to do them again! Good for you Dada!]

[PS.2 While I was writing this entry, may isang makulit na mama dito sa tabi ko (hubby ko ata ito) na nag-co comment, “masyado daw kaming madrama ni Ate Ness, para daw syang nanunuod ng pelikula”. Sabi ko naman, “Oo nga, talagang pang-pelikula ang talang ito at isa lang ang aming kwento sa napakaraming tala ng buhay ng mga Ina at ang mga Yaya ng kanilang mga anak”. Kaya nga sa 29 November may natatangi kaming bonding ni Yaya Ness, manunuod kami ng movie ni Maricel Soriano ang “Inang Yaya”. ü]