One Step at a time

Its been almost a month since Jea started school in Kiddo Academy. For the first 2weeks, its really hard for me to leave her. She would cry as soon as I let go of her hands. Even if it is just to fix her hair. After that, slowly she learned that I will still leave her in school, even if she cry. I believe it was even harder for me, but I have to. As I go to the office, riding in the bus or walking to the building, the sound of her cry still lingers in my head. I'm glad that Kiddo Academy has CCTV, I can watch her as soon as I get in the oofice and logged in the internet. Most of the time, she's already playing or doing their activity.

Now, she cries sometimes. One time she cried, because she's hungry. So teacher Liza let her eat first before the lesson. The, there's one time that she is sad because she is not feeling well. Later that afternoon she got a fever. Most of the time she cries because she doesnt like teacher Franklin. She is afraid of men, the only men she know is Papa (Lolo) and Nongnong (my brother). MAybe this is one of the consiquence of not having a father. You see, im a single mom. And Jea never got to see her dad. So to Jea's father, Pam. This is what you did to her. hehehe.. She's fine. Just a little scared of men. I just wish she stays that way till her teens hehe.

I am also so thankful of the teachers of Kiddo, they have been very, very, nice to Jea. They adjust to the childrens needs. They even changed teacher assignement, so that teacher Franklin wouldnt be assigned to Jea's class. They even wait for hours if I am late in picking up Jea to school. They even carry and lull the kids if they want when their sleepy. So to the teachers of Kiddo Academy. Thank you so much. For taking care of my daughter, for staying beside her when she's crying, when she's sad, or not feeling well. Thank you so much, for really caring for the kids.

So for now, we are taking one step at a time. Jea, into getting comfortable in school. Me, in geeting comfortable that she is in school.

Weekend Snapshot #1

Road trip to Manaog, Pangasinan...

Feeding the fishes in "Isdaan", somewhere in Tarlac

First long test at Kiddo Academy

Would you believe that Jea will be taking her first Long test this July 17? It freaked me out. Why do a 3 year old baby has to take long test already. I thought she will just be playing around and be nice to her classmates. Did she really learned something already? I guess she did, shes a fast learner infact shes so intelligent that she knows more than what they teached her in school for now. But the real question would be, will she answer the correct answer on the their test? She always fools around, she is so naughty that even if she knows the sorrect answer, more often than not. She gives the wrong one to make people laugh. She has such a strong sense of humor that she makes almost everything into a punchline for her joke. So lets just wait and see....

Litratong Pinoy #8 Balingkinitan

Ito ang aking anak nuon isa at kalahating taon pa lamang siya. Medyo balangkinitan pa ang katawan nya nuon, dahil ngayon ay para na shang lobong puputok sa katabaan. Nagmana sa mommy.

This is my daughter, she was about 1 and half years old then. She was still a little slim, not like now, that she looks like a baloon ready to pop because she got so fat already. Just like mommy.

Parents Beware!! Dont bring your kids to Avilon ZOO!

This is what I received from the email.. Dont let this happen to your kid.

From: Jerry Liao [mailto: techtvhost@... ]
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 10:24 AM
To: Louella Chua; lito.villoria@...
Subject: Snake Bite Story at the Arc of Avilon at Tiendesitas

Friends,

KINDLY PASS THIS STORY TO YOUR FRIENDS...

My Family and I visited the new Arc of Avilon (AoA)
Zoo located at Frontera Verde near Tiendesitas in
Pasig last January 5, 2008. The highlight of the said
zoo is they allow people especially kids to touch
their animals like orangutan, parrots, eagles,
rabbits, tortoise and snakes.

And when you allow your kids to touch these animals,
you trust that the animals are harmless and are
trained not to hurt its visitors.

Unfortunately, my 2nd daughter was bitten by an Albino
King Snake. Her finger was bleeding so I quickly ask
where the clinic was located. I saw a sign that read
Hospital/Quarantine, I quickly open the door but found
nothing inside but some cages and two people talking.
I ask if there's a doctor there and they said none.
Then the king snake handler came over and directed us
to follow him. I thought we would be brought to a
clinic. To my dismay, we were brought to a dirty
pantry full of flies. And the handler administered
Betadine to my daughter's finger, which was stored in
a soy sauce gallon container. A park with no clinic,
no doctor and no medicine.

I took my daughter to the hospital, and upon reaching
the hospital the first question was what kind of snake
bit my daughter. I told them its an Albino King
Snake. They were not sure whether the king snake is a
venomous or a non-venomous snake. They said they had
to consult an expert about this. After awhile, Thank
God that the king snake was a non-venomous one. But
the doctors wanted to be sure so they gave my daughter
an anti-tetanus drug and ask her to take anti-biotics
for seven days.

After reaching home, I texted both Jake and Tina Gaw
(owners of AoA) that the doctor asked us to observe my
daughters condition. I also told them that I am going
to write about this horrible experience. Tina texted
back and said: "Jerry, if thats how bad you felt, I
respect your personal feelings concerning the
incident. I wish she (my daughter) could have been
more careful in handling the snake or other pets as
well especially this one is exotic. Even tame ones,
rabbit, tortoise, mouse, pig bite when they felt hurt
or frighten when not properly handled. And its really
sad when you felt it became a horrible issue."

First of all, that was a very insensitive remark from
AoA, blaming my daughter for the incident. Being
bitten by a snake is not only horrible but a traumatic
one as well. What are the chances that you will get
bitten by a snake in the metropolis? Worst in a theme
park like Arc of Avilon.

If AoA is saying that there is always a possibility
that visitors will be bitten everytime animals are
mishandled, then do not allow the animals to be
touched at all. Its bad enough that the animals were
taken out of their natural habitat. I don't think
the snake was hurt or frighten, they were tired and
irritated because the animals were being used to
entertain people.

Visitors are not trained to handle animals properly
especially kids. Let me remind AoA that most of your
visitors are children, I even saw some as young as two
years old. They will just touch and play with the
animals without knowing whether they're hurting them
or not. It is AoA's responsibility to make sure that
none of their animals be hurt or frighten so that
biting won't happen.

And since accidents happen, how come AoA doesn't even
have a clinic to at least administer first-aid. What
if the eagles decided to peck the visitors, or use
their big claws to attack the children. Donkey or
horse suddenly kicking. And snakes biting. There
shoud be a doctor, a clinic and first-aid kit to
address this kind of unfortunate incidents. AoA
should not allow people to touch a snake that bites
plus they should have expert handlers to assist its
visitors. What if the snake turns out to be venomous
and something happen to my daughter? How would AoA
deal with that?

Arc of Avilon management should take full
responsiblity and not just say that the snake is a
non-venomous one. No other help was offered, and then
they will blame the visitors for mishandling the
animals.

Am I over reacting? I don't think so. As a parent,
will you take it sitting down? Will you just take
their word for it that it's non-venomous? Remember,
its a snake-bite. Let this be a warning to all my
readers who are planning to visit Arc of Avilon at
Tiendesitas or any other zoo for that matter.

Let my story be a lesson to all. You can ask your
kids to look but as much as possible DO NOT TOUCH.
Better yet, DO NOT VISIT the Arc of Avilon totally,
until They've improve their facilities.

To the management of Arc of Avilon, put your visitors
safety first before anything else. We visit your zoo
trusting that you care for us and you know what you're
doing. What happen was a nightmare. Not only did my
daughter got bitten by a snake, she was even blamed by
inconsiderate owners. I am just curious, if the
management of Arc of Avilon treat their visitors like
the way they treated us, I wonder how they treat
their animals inside their zoo.

Never will we go to the Arc of Avilon again. NEVER
AGAIN.

Thank you and more power. God Bless us all!

Jerry Liao



--
Thanks,


Marjorie Jo ♪♫♥

Wordless Wednesday #8

after hand painting last weekend, she went on to dancing and singing...

having so much fun!!

Litratong Pinoy #7 Tatak Pinoy