As with any school day, Miguel was sleepy when I woke him up on February 14. But when I greeted him "Happy Valentine's Day," he bolted right out of bed saying, "I have to make a card for Ms. Santamaria!"
At that point I could have whined, "What about me?" but I didn't. I think that it's sweet that my son's knee-jerk reaction to Valentine's Day is to make a card for his teacher. Unless of course his teacher was a man.
Then he went to his toy shelf, and I asked him what he was doing. "Looking for a gift for Ms. Santamaria," he said. Handing me one of his Kiddie Meal action figures, he said, "Wrap this please." I convinced him to give a wooden puzzle block instead. But then Ninang came in and, being a teacher herself, convinced us both to give his teacher a pack of Hershey's Kissables.
Going back to the card, he insisted on a plain paper board, which he wrote and drew on. I would've been contented with "Happy Valentine's Day" but he wanted to say more. The personal touch. It was only after all this hullaballoo was over that he agreed to get dressed for school.
Even over breakfast, he would ask,"Mommy, where is my gift? Did you wrap it? Did you tape the card on?" Such attention to detail. I hope Ms. Santmaria enjoyed the gesture. I sure did...as if I were on the receiving end of that card.
...
When I got home that night, I had a card from Miguel as well. It read "I love you Mommy even when you stink." Sound familiar?
