How we dealt with school anxiety

Trixie is officially a preschooler.  She has been attending school at Little Sandbox for the past three weeks and miraculously so.  Let's just say that Brandon and I sort of had our "baptism of fire" as parents to a toddler during the first two weeks of classes and it is only now that we're reaping the reward- meaning stress-free mornings and relaxing lunches. I never thought we will have trouble sending Trixie to school because she had an enjoyable two months, attending summer play group and art classes.  She was familiar with the school already and she even happily attended the first two days of school- no crying, no forcing.  But we were faced with a terrible dilemma in the days that followed.  Trixie simply refused going to school.  She would bug me not to send her to school before she would sleep at night.  She would wake up many times early in the morning (not her usual habit) to plead and beg for me not to bring her to school.  It was even harder after she ate breakfast-- she wouldn't get ready for school and would plead and plead for us not to take her to school.  It was very heartbreaking for us to leave her crying so pitifully in the arms of her teacher and seeing her so stressed out at such a young age.  Then there's the issue of being "hurt" unintentionally by her classmates in school.  Trixie is quite petite (which is a non-issue for us) and she is not used to being with rowdy children, and so she gets bumped and hit by her classmates to her dismay.  It even came to a point where we contemplated not sending her to school.  I seriously had headaches for days just thinking we might have done something wrong and we desperately needed some good advice.   Last week became the "make-or-break" week for us.  Instead of going to school last Monday, we let Trixie stay at home since she was a little feverish and had a runny nose.  She happily obliged to stay at home with our maids as company while she "forced" us to go out.  She never allowed us to leave her at home in the past; she would always want to go out with us, so we were surprised with her decision, which was choosing the lesser evil (being left in the house instead of going to school).  Brandon and I took that opportunity to have a movie date (finally!) but we couldn't enjoy ourselves knowing we were sort of tricked by our own little girl!  It was a similar scene sending Trixie to school the following day and my headaches persisted.  We simply couldn’t go on like this anymore.  I started to search the Internet for articles about sending kids to school and I learned that there was such a thing as school anxiety or phobia and the feelings brought about by it to children should be taken seriously by parents (who wouldn’t?).  The advice given by the experts on how to deal with anxiety- just continue to send the child to school and she will eventually get over it.  It sounded too simple, huh?  I also read that a teacher in school would read the book “Are You My Mother?” by P.D. Eastman (see photo) to his students to help them cope with separation from their parents.  I bought that book a year ago for Trixie and I thought this was the opportune time to read the book to her, which I did starting Monday night (and everyday up to now).  She loved the book!  I stressed to her that even though the mommy bird left the baby bird in the nest at the start of the story, she still came back in the end.  Come Tuesday and Wednesday, it was the same banana for us.  She wanted to stay home again with our maid and I would have let her, but then I saw a naughty spark in Trixie’s eyes which told me I shouldn’t let her have her way.   (By the way, I must say that Trixie learned the wrong alphabet tune from our maid when we left her.  Imagine, I left her for a few hours only and she quickly learned the wrong song!  Warning for those who constantly leave their kids with the househelp – but that’s another story.)  And so I stood my ground.  I was firmer with the decision to send her to school and I calmly told her (a most difficult thing to do amidst her whining and pleading) that school is good for her and that she will go whether she liked it or not.  Since Tuesday, her teacher reported to us that once we left her, her crying shortened and the following day, it was a mere whine from her and she started having more fun in school.  We saw a miracle come Thursday.  She wanted to go to school already (she even brought Menthos for her friends) and in the car on the way to school, she wanted me to drive faster to get to school quicker.  On Friday, she was rushing me to bring her to school already and so we arrived way too early for her class.  She waved good-bye, hugged, kissed and told me “I love you, Mama” (truly unforgettable!) before letting me go and she told me that she knows I will be back.  Now, it’s a different story over the weekend.  She now tells me that she wants to go to school and so I’m glad that it’s another school day for her tomorrow.  What a journey it has been!  And so I thank P.D. Eastman for writing such a marvelous book!  I really don’t know whether or not the book really helped her, but the book was part of Trixie’s process of overcoming school anxiety.  And I thank God for answering our prayers.  Whew, being a parent is really heart-breaking, but like I said, there are always rewards in the end.    

Rainy Day Bread Pudding

What to do on a stormy day—this is one question I have an easy answer to.  Aside from keeping updated on the latest weather bulletin, I just find it so enticing to make something rich yet comforting on any rainy day.  We were lucky enough to experience only an hour of blackout, so while Brandon and Trixie practically napped the whole day, I made Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding.  I got the recipe from Periplus’ Crazy for Chocolate Cookbook (gift from Stew from way, way back) and the result was just what I wanted.  It’s really rich and satisfying being made from dark chocolate, yet it’s so homey and so easy to prepare since the base is just white bread.  It was great served warm with vanilla ice cream but it tasted heavenly served cold the following day.  I’m posting the recipe here for you to enjoy this on your rainy days! 

 

Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding

60g butter (I used only half)

6 slices fruit-loaf bread (I used soft white bread)

½ cup milk

2 cups thick cream

½ cup caster sugar (Plain white will do)

100g dark cooking chocolate, chopped (I used bittersweet couverture)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup dark choc bits (I used less than a half cup of Hershey’s semi-sweet choc chips)

2 tablespoons golden syrup (I didn’t have any so I omitted this)

 

Procedure

Preheat oven to 160C/ 315F.  Brush a 4-cup capacity baking dish with oil or melted butter.

Spread butter on bread.  Cut bread into diagonal quarters.  Place bread in dish in single layer, overlapping it.

Combine milk, cream and sugar in medium pan, stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Bring to boil, remove from heat.  Add chocolate; stir mixture until melted and smooth.  Cool slightly; gradually whisk in eggs.

Pour half the custard mixture over bread, stand 10 minutes or until bread absorbs most of the liquid.  Pour over remaining custard mixture.  Sprinkle with choc bits.  Drizzle with golden syrup.  Bake 40-45 minutes or until set and slightly puffed and golden.  Serve warm or cold with cream or ice cream.

Fruity Prawn Salad

There are days when you just want to indulge.  After a busy day at home, I was in need of something rich, creamy and refreshing, but I also needed to keep my toddler busy with a fun activity for her to do.  And so I thought of making this quick salad to satisfy my craving and get my daughter involved in the kitchen.  I might as well call this “Trixie’s Fun Salad” because she basically did all the mixing, while snacking on the fruits and having oodles of fun!   

 

Fruity Prawn Salad

(Serves 8)

1 can Fruit Cocktail (My favorite is Del Monte Fiesta Fruit Salad.  The fruits are crunchy and not too sweet.)

½ kilo Fresh Prawns

1/2 cup real mayonnaise

1/4 of a big can of Condensed Milk (or approximately half of a small can)

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Procedure:

Drain the fruit cocktail and reserve the syrup.  Set aside.

Place the syrup in a sauce pan and boil the prawns in it, until fully cooked.  Remove heads and shell of the prawns then cut in half through the back of the prawns, then remove the veins.

In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise and condensed milk.  (If you want a sweeter dressing, add more condensed milk.)  Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

Add the fruits and prawns.  Toss well then serve. (You may opt to chill the salad, but I liked it at room temperature.)

 
Tip:  Make this salad even more colorful by serving it on lettuce cups.  Now that will be more impressive!

 

 

West Side Story

My friend Stew is also selling tickets to the Broadway-hit musical WEST SIDE STORY on September 12, 2008, Friday. Venue will be at the Meralco Theater, 8pm.

For ticket and show inquiries, you may email Stew (song1@jnjph.jnj.com) or SMS him directly (+63917-8735412).

HAIRSPRAY the MUSICAL

My friend Stew is selling tickets for  November 14 (Friday) and November 23 (Sunday).  It's a great show, winning 8 Tony Awards in Broadway.  It's also being produced and directed by the same group as Rent, Avenue Q and Cinderella. Venue will be at the Star Theater, CCP Complex, 8pm. 

For ticket and show inquiries, you may email Stew (song1@jnjph.jnj.com) or SMS him directly (+63917-8735412)

China Man in Action!

Shanghai La Mien is our new favorite noodle place in Banawe and Trixie just loves watching how the noodles are made. This is amazing, and most important of all, the noodles taste great.

Shanghai La Mien

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Chinese
Location:	Banawe, corner NS Amoranto Street, QC

Shanghai La Mien is truly a delightful discovery. An authentic China man makes your hand-pulled noodles upon order and it's amazing to watch how he makes those noodles (check out the video we took of the China man in action!) You basically make three choices when you look at their menu- first, dry or noodles in soup; second, choose among beef, fish, chicken, pork or dumplings; and third, the size of the noodles which are either round or flat, big or small. They have added Chowmein to their menu as well and they're also good. We love their fried dumplings which go well with the noodles. The portion is really big (which is just great for me and Brandon) and the price very, very reasonable. This is our family's new favorite place in Banawe.