My Big Sacrifice

I spoke with the mom of my student yesterday over the phone. She told me how sad she was that I would be taking a leave from teaching next year. I know that his son needs my help and that she also needs help in monitoring her son. It saddens me too but I know that I have to give more time for Ralph next year. I thought that it would be unfair for my son that I am helping other children with their homework when I can't even help him with his own.

Don't get me wrong. My son needs little help with his lessons. It's just that I know that I would need to supervise him more. He is undergoing a lot of stress lately. This stress makes him forget to take the right books home or the quizzes that he needs to study for the next day. He is still young and he needs supervision. I know that he's stressed because I am not around, unlike before, to help him cope.

I hope that my parents and siblings understand my decision. It's not like I'm leaving our entire tutorial business anyway. I will just be taking a leave. I promised my mom that I would still be in-charge of the administrative work like client calls and worksheet production. I know she will understand. She is, first and foremost, a mom after all.

I Can't Have Chocolates But...

... at least I get to enjoy using the boxes!



Another innovative way of recycling chocolate boxes is to use them as fashion accessory keepers. The plastic box of this chocolate brand looks sturdy and durable enough to last for years. I did not throw the plastic case inside it to give me slots for my earrings. They are now more organized this way. I get to choose the pair I like to wear easily unlike in my old jewelry box.

What's Inside Big Boy's Lunch Box #4

Today, my Big Boy is having his favorite Bistek Tagalog with Sunny Side Up Egg for lunch. Yesterday, before I went to work, I marinated the 1/4 kilo Breakfast Steak with soy sauce, ground pepper, salt, calamansi juice, and garlic. I had to ask my helper to boil the meat after cooking our dinner last night to tenderize it. This morning, it only took me less than five minutes to fry it with a teaspoon of canola oil in a non-stick pan. Marinating the meat the whole afternoon yesterday made it more flavorful. I regret buying only 1/4 kilo of beef because my husband and I ended up just looking at our son eating the half of it for breakfast. Kakainggit!

What's Inside Big Boy's Lunch Box #3

My boy's taste is eccentric. He doesn't like the usual food stuff that other kids like. He eats maki sushi, the one with the raw tuna at the center. I included that in our Noche Buena menu last Christmas. I promised him that I will make him some for school using the left-over Nori (seaweed maki wrapper).

I forgot that the Lunch Box Meme is supposed to be up today. I am so stressed out with personal problems (involving one of my brothers) that I totally forgot about taking a picture of Rap's baon today.

Anway, we had Chicken Curry last night and I used that to make Ralph's maki. I found making it really cool because I got to hide the carrots inside the roll. My son isn't that fond of eating vegetables by the way. I cut the left-over chicken pieces into strips. Cut some of the carrots into strips too. I did not use Japanese rice but just our regular dinorado rice. I just asked the househelp to add a little more water to make it softer and stickier.

Forgive me for using a picture of my Maki-Sushi from our Noche Buena. But it somehow looked like this except that what Rap had today had cooked chicken and carrots in the center.