Best Friends Forever

"Best Friends Forever" This was the theme of the Preschool Mother and Daughter Day this year. Raya, who is in Senior Kinder (the equivalent of Prep), and I attended the event last September 19, 2009 at the Harbor Lights Hotel. The Mother and Daughter activity is an annual event where mothers join their daughters in a day of fun filled activities. This is a great opportunity to bond with each other.

Raya felt extremely excited that we were spending time just the two of us. I have always been conscious of the fact that she needs a lot of attention too being the middle child. Nadine, the oldest, gets a lot of attention herself because she experiences things first --- first graduation, first this, first that, etc. And of course, adorable Alyssa at 2 years can never be without attention. So I try to make it a point to spend enough time with Raya, just the two of us. It's difficult yes, but achievable.

During school days, Raya is my companion when I do the grocery or do my bank errands. I pick her up from school and we do the activities we have to do. We sing together in the car while listening to music or we just talk about anything. A lot of times, we have lunch with Mier in SM. During this time, we try to bond with her as much as possible even if we are still busy with other stuff. Mier also does his share in bonding with Raya. A lot of times they go out together just the two them.

But the nice thing about the Mother and Daughter activity is that it's a whole day affair where the focus is just on Raya.

We woke up bright and early on that day and drove to Gusa. We were one of the first ones there (excited obviously!) but we were able to bond with early mommies and teachers too.  Although the activities started late because we had to wait for the other participants, Raya and I enjoyed the time there. First activity was an Amazing Race game. We had to go from one station to the other and complete the activity asked for. There were four stations all in all but far apart from each other so we had to run all over the place. It was fun doing the collage, the limbo rock, the puzzles and the scooping activities with Raya.

Then the mothers gathered together for a short talk on communication. Effective communication is essential in any relationship. And having good communication lines with our children will enable us to understand them more and them to understand us too.

After lunch, was storytelling time! Days before the event, we were asked to bring a storybook to read to our daughters, preferably a story that has never been read before. Since Raya is an avid reader, we have no book at home that she hasn't read. So I decided to buy her a book and wrapped it as a present. Seeing her face while she unwrapped the book was priceless! She asked me to read the book again and again and she kept on hugging me and saying thank you. Little things for us but big things for them.

The next activity, we had to decorate a cake, another activity that she throughly enjoyed. I gave her free reign to do whatever she wanted with the cake decors and she was so intent on decorating her cake. She looked so cute! 

The last part of the affair was a picnic party. However, the rains beat us to it in the garden. But this didn't stop the mothers from dancing to the tune of Beat It and Jai-Ho!

Our souvenir for the day was a picture frame with both of us hugging each other. On our way home, Raya fell asleep in the car, tired but happy and content. I could tell that this was an event that was very meaningful for her. And indeed it was as she talks about it fondly even weeks after the event.