Padyak, Padyak, Padyak

Admittedly, it is a catchy tune. Particularly because it was sung by a little boy crooning about the hardships of life.

Laila needed only one time to hear it on radio before she started humming herself. Padyak padyak padyak...

I'm no Mar Roxas fan, but whoever thought of that ad campaign for him was brilliant as well as disappointing.

Padyak padyak padyak, pagod ng mangarap...

It's a haunting tune, especially for impressionable children.

But I can't shake the image of Mar getting on a pedicab driven by a boy half his size. The boy, when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, answered 'seaman.' A little girl in the pedicab with Mar said she wanted to be an 'artista'.

Uh, I suppose it does take a certain type of personality to become a seaman and it would need a lot of skills to be a good actress. But then what happened to little kids who wants to be doctors, engineers and astronauts?

The 1980s family sitcom The Cosby Show featured a professional African-American family--dad was a doctor and mom was a lawyer who speaks Spanish. It was a totally different take on African-Americans who were usually portrayed as uneducated hoodlums. The sitcom improved the perception of African-Americans, with more young African-Americans saying they want to be professionals like the Huckstables too.

Shouldn't the Mar, ehem, 'infomercial' have featured kids who dreamed high?

I have nothing against blue collar work. Not that being an artista is blue collar work. But when you mean to inspire a nation to progress and economic development, shouldn't you be pushing for entrepreneurs, professionals and scientists?

Oh well, when it's a question of politicians, we could very well be singing padyak padyak padyak, pagod ng mangarap as well.

It's difficult to hang on to a dream where the country's leaders propel to country to progress.

Whining

Laila's been whining a lot lately.

I'm not blaming her though. The people at the house are really making an effort to make her whine.

Biggest of all teasers is Daddy Cat, who begins her day by waking her up. He then counts 1 to 10, an indication that a race to the sofa is about to begin. If you've just woken up, would you be in the mood to race anywhere but back to sleep? Or Daddy Cat would tickle her feet or nibble on her ears. He also ends her day with a major dose of teasing, from tickling to anything that would make her cream and whine.

Cousins John and Anne, who are both staying with us for the summer, aren't any easier on Baby Cat either. They don't mean to tease her, but they just ended up that way without meaning to. And so Laila ends up whining more lately.

I know Laila whines because of the stimuli around her. As much as I want to protect her from this stimuli, I can't be beside her all the time. Besides, it's good if she learns to stand up for herself.

We're still into enriching her vocabulary and her ability to express herself in words. She's quite verbal for her age already. Her teacher's told me about it more than once. So I know we're getting closer to the point where she wouldn't need to resort to whining to get her message across.

If she knows how to express her feelings and thoughts in words, she wouldn't whine.