Birthday Thanks 2011 : Part 1 = My Loco Familia

Since it's May and it's 26 days before I enter my late twenties, I have decided to combat Birthday Blues with positive energy, so the blogs that would lead to Ne Sarang's Bday, our 100 days and my 26th birthday would be about things that I am most thankful of. This would also include people that I am thankful to. So if you find that you do not know what you are reading, well then it's just my crazy life and the people in it. I hope that you read it without rose colored glasses and with a grain of salt.

First up,

I AM THANKFUL OF MY CRAZY FAMILY.

We are a family of low-balling achievers. There is no pressure to be the best at something or bring home medals. Somehow the love and the lack of pressure to be the best made me and my brothers UP GRADUATES. ^.~ So my mom and dad are OTHERS, as we call them. She studied in WESTERN (night school baby, that adds additional difficulty points mind you) and my dad is MAPUA graduate. It would have been easier for them to have us go to college in Batangas. It would have been easier to control us to say the least. But I am glad that my mom (despite her paranoia) let us study in UP. The life lessons are something that OTHERS would not be able to give their students despite the unbelievable tuition fees or real life immersion.

My parents are the most supportive and brilliant couple that I have ever met. Granted that they their paranoia and normal parent moments and we disagree on some things. But the fundamental way that they raised me and my brothers, I think they didn't miss out on the important stuff.

I still owe my parents a lot *literally actually, I digress* and I want to be able to pay up. One thing my mom insisted is that once we declare that we are independent of them (read as : graduate and get a job) we are not allowed to ask them for money. All pesos released are put into our "debt". I think most kids don't get to understand why I have to pay back what I borrowed from my mom. They go "She's your mom, right? Why do you have to pay her back?"

It's because I owe her that and I owe that to myself. My mom wants me to learn how to take care of my money *however belatedly* and I realized that when I become a mother myself *not any time soon so chill friends, relatives and countrymen* I would teach my kids to value every peso. Piggy banks would be a staple in my family. I would teach them to be like my brother GM who is quite good in saving his money to fund the things that he wants to buy. I personally suck at anything that requires me to do math in my head or any kind of math for that matter. How I passed Accounting in high school is a mystery to me.

My parents taught me that being a good daughter or a loving son is about sacrifice and not about how much money you can dish out. Being the second born it seems they are the first born now since my father's older brother is in Canada with his family and kids and my mom's big brother passed away years ago. When there is some emergency or big decision to do, my mom and dad are the go to people. This is why I think they got more white hair than they ever got from me and my brothers. Sure we are bull-headed but unlike some girls I did make sure my escapades didn't leave a bun in the oven and my brothers are not interested to do something like that to whomever they are seeing. Family is my parents number one priority. But since they have three UP grads under their belt, they could already enjoy their lives, right? Nope. They still have my little sister and now they took my two nephews into their care. It makes me go "You are kidding me right? You should be retired by now and pa-Subic subic na lang." *it's a private joke since they went there and had a lot of fun together when my mom was sent to a conference by her boss and my dad tagged along* But my parents are professional parents.

I have one simple goal and it was never to be a mom or a wife or have an executive seat anywhere. It's to be able to have enough financial stability to help my mom with my youngest sibling's education. I spoke too soon since my brother was the youngest before and he is a researcher now. Now I have 11 more years to help my parents. And since I have no plans to be a spinster anymore I might need to give up this job and try a harder to deal with one to get a better cash flow.

Still, I am thankful of my parents and my siblings since now I understand just how lucky I am to have a normal albeit extremely noisy family. I know that the man that I would love would have to fill big shoes and I would have to learn how to be a good worker, mother and daughter from my mother.

I will continue to strive to bring them no shame. ^.^