Paper dolls

   It’s a Paper Dolls day at the office. There was no contest or exhibit. Remember those paper dolls that hold hands so they’re connected with each other? I made them and my officemates watched. Then they asked me to teach them so they can teach their daughters. Just  when I thought everybody knew how to do it. Everybody who's female that is. This time I was thanking my mother for not buying me a Barbie when I was little. I learned not only how to make those continuous paper dolls but also single detached grown up paper dolls. Curly hair, straight hair, long or short, I had all kinds of paper dolls. The possibilities are endless with a scratch paper and bic ballpen. And of course a sharp pair of scissors. For longer lifespan I paste them on a cardboard, usually a milk carton. Recycling at its best. I have an idea! Let us all teach our kids to make paper dolls. It’s environment friendly.

Name game

   It is a rare occasion when my arrival at the office is much awaited. I was greeted by "Ayan na si Liez. I'm sure alam nya." Nostalgia was definitely in the air because Lisette brought old pictures in preparation for the Christmas decoration contest. As our department has undergone major changes from "company closure" to downsizing we wanted a collage showing the evolution of the medical indexing department. My officemates are certain that I know the name of a former officemate who was in only one picture. This former officemate was my co-intern at the East Avenue Medical Center and she finished Medicine at UERM. What is her name? Hmmm… her baby during the kris kringle was Jun Inciong but she thought it was Jun Aguilar. Name…. name… name. Starts with the letter E. She didn't stay long with the company, didn't even finish her training which explains why her name escapes our memories. After much pondering I told them the name could either be Ellen or Eileen. Ha! That was easy. After an hour Ma'am Nellie, our manager arrived so I asked her whether the former officemate's name is Ellen or Eileen. Eileen, she said in an uncertain tone. So there, the issue is settled. Or so I thought. An hour has probably passed when Ampy said, "Liez, hindi ba Em ang name nya?". It struck like the much-awaited ending in a suspense thriller. "Ayun! Em! Emereen." Em. It's such a short name, how can we remember it? It could have been filed as "M" in my memory bank.  And then Domeng said, " Eileen! That's Liez, often wrong but never in doubt."

Emotions

    My nanny is back and so my life goes back to normal. Specially my cyberlife.

    Yesterday I reviewed my preschool daughter for a quiz in Reading and Phonics. The topic is "identifying emotional reactions", her worksheets which look like a quiz also but probably with a lower grade credit were sent home. It did not bother me that my daughter got a score of 11 /15 in one test. What bothered me was why she got that score.

Item # 8 goes "Andy made this very nice drawing. His baby brother saw his drawing and tore it into pieces. How will Andy feel?"

A. happy

B. sad

C. angry

D. surprised

My daughter's letter B answer was marked wrong so I figured Andy should be angry. Item #14 goes "Jaja has a pet fish. Her mother forgot to turn on the oxygen tank of the aquarium after cleaning it. The fish died. How will Jaja feel?

    Mad                        Sad                            Surprised

This time my daughter's Sad answer was marked correct. My point is - Should Andy really be angry because his baby brother tore his drawing? Operative word -baby - the brother didn't know what he was doing. Isn't Andy allowed to be just plain sad? What about Jaja? Isn't she allowed to be mad because her mother was the underlying cause of the fish's death? What are we teaching the future generations here? That you should be angry when someone younger than you commits misdeed but if the culprit is someone older you just have to be sad.

    That is…. sad.