Kaloy

I mentioned in one of my previous posts about my nephew Kaloy and how he has been giving me a sneak peek into that complex yet joyful universe called motherhood a lot lately. And for that, I decided to spare a while and write something about this toddler.

His mom and I go a long way back, us being first cousins and that we practically grew up together here in UP. Being the only son (as of yet), Kaloy is an extremely pampered child, as with most solong anak (only child) we have around. But what's so surprising about this kid is that he enjoys simple pleasures. Mababaw ang kaligayahan. He'd rather have your time saved up for play with him than your neatly-wrapped presents. I'd tell his mom, "You're fortunate that he's a cheap kid! At least he's not a brat." If there's fried chicken and tortang talong (eggplant omelet) served before him on the table, he'd quickly go for the talong! He prefers those 30-peso toy cars over the matchbox cars. My cousin told me that most recently, when they took him to a toy store for him to splurge as an advance Christmas treat, he picked up one of those fragile cheap remote-controlled cars (Php100 each), while his father bargained, "Are you sure you really want that?! Don't you like one of these nice (a bit expensive) race trucks instead?" But no, he wouldn't let go of his precious 100-peso car. He proudly showed it off to me when I got home from work that night.

One time, I asked him to tag along with me to a convenience store. After getting all the stuffs I need in the basket, I asked him what he wanted for himself, "Do you like ice cream cups?" He only shrugged off his shoulders and playfully shook his head in reply to my offer. I smiled at him and recalled on the side my childhood grocery trips with my mom. How I felt my world crumbling down at age 8, whenever I'd take my chances at asking her if she can get for me a tetra pack of chocolait (milk-choco drink).

And now here is Kaloy, with his aunt trying to spoil him just for 5 minutes, not clawing in!

Kids like Kaloy are not hard to please. He's very appreciative. He also happens to be my inaanak (godson), so this Christmas, I think my purse wouldn't be sore if he'd retain his "cheapness". But even far more than that, I'd go on hoarding 30 minutes of my time every single day and play cars with him. Those tender minutes with him have become a training ground for my patience, integrity (a promise is a promise) and creativity (imagine having to hold the same cars and pretend the same play everyday!).

Sometimes I wish he'd stay as a child. But since that's a hopeless wish, I just hope that he'd never forget our minutes spent together as he grows up. I had lots to thank him for.