Mari: I should be the one to thank you because you’re the one who made me in your tummy, right?

Me: (Stunned by her answer.) But you grew inside my tummy, so thank you. I made other babies, but they didn’t grow like you.

Mari: But you’re the one who ate food and drank milk so that I could grow, so thank you.
Come to my wedding, okay?

Me: Of course! I want to. I should stay healthy, so I don’t grow old too fast.

Mari: When you grow old, I’ll buy you what you want.

Me: You don’t need to.

Mari: I still will. I’ll do a challenge for myself. I’ll work as a model and… hmmm… that one that gets the money when we go shopping.

Me: Cashier?

Mari: Yeah. Because it’s so easy to do. You just stand there and wait, and people will come and give you money.

(She’s been saying that she wants an easy job. First, she wanted to be a singer. But when I told her she had to practice singing every day, she said she wouldn’t do it and would rather be an okaasan (mom). I told her that okaasan is the hardest job—you do everything, and worst of all, you don’t get paid. So she changed to wanting to become a tita (aunt). These days, she’s been into choosing her outfits and hair accessories, so we figured she could do modeling—to which she happily agreed.)

Mari: When I have a lot of money, I will buy you a car.

Me: Thank you. Kabuotan ba sa ako anak ui.

Mari: I will also buy you a wheelchair.

Me: I might not need it because I’ll stay strong.

Mari: I’ll still buy one just to make sure.

I’m so, so, so lucky to be her mom. Just her thoughts are more than enough. One day, it might change. It might not happen. But I’m living the present that was once just my dream.

I also want to mention that I used to get a love letter from her every single day—the first thing she did after getting settled in her classroom. It was always the same message: “Mama, I love you,” with a cute drawing of me and her smiling.

Although these days, I don’t get them anymore. She said their class ran out of origami paper, so she can’t make them anymore.

Just these little sweet things that this little girl does make me feel like I’m living in a dream.

Motherhood is not easy.
Your career will take a back seat.

I think I can never go back to a full-time job because now my daughter is my full-time job.

But this is something I consider a luxury—to be able to spend time, very precious time, with my daughter.

All thanks to my hardworking and very cool husband.
Life is good.