What most people don’t know is that there is a third installment to the movie Titanic. Jack lives! He somehow managed to get hold of a pair of goggles which enabled him to live under the sea with the sunken ship as his temporary address. After some years, he resurfaced to find Rose and the story continues. It’s a happy ending after all.

It’s okay if you don’t know about this. When I said most people, I actually meant the whole human race except for two- me and the six year old kid who told me about it. Apparently, this is what he’s been thinking about while were studying the alphabets.

He would arrive not wanting to do anything or talk to anyone. He would just sit in the usual spot, fumbling around with his bag, irritated and angry because of waking up early. A few minutes later, he would ask for the worksheets he’s supposed to answer just to get it over with. Then the excitement starts. On some days, he would sing with the play list ranging from usher songs to the jollibee theme song. When he does not feel like singing, he would tell stories about titanic, thomas the train, sharks, his siblings, his swimming lesson, and his pets which includes a cat, a dog, a fish and a rabbit named babit chabit (babit chabit and the fish already died. cat ate them, that’s what i’ve been told). When he gets tired of studying, he would ask for paper and draw detailed pictures of titanic, thomas the train and angry birds. The cool thing is, even the drawings have stories. There was even one where birds from angry birds the game met with the birds from rio the movie. When he gets tired of drawing, we would play; my favorite - an advanced version of jakenpoy. The usual version makes use of rock, scissors and paper. We have those and a lot of other things like shields and super powers.

It wasn’t always easy to teach him though. First of all, he does not want to study. Also, he has a different way of writing. If I was already a doctor, I can be sued of malpractice because I used a movie as a reference in diagnosing him. But since I’m no doctor yet, I just went ahead, fearless. haha. Add to that his tantrum moments. There was one time when I didn’t allow him to draw so he hid his head inside his bag for some time. He got tired of it eventually and then went back to his stories like nothing happened.

Last Friday, this kid finished with his program. As his teacher, I was asked to evaluate his performance and to give a recommendation as to whether he should jump to first grade or go through pre-school. They told me the report will be submitted to his school and will be used to gauge whether he will be admitted in first grade or not. And they were even kind enough to point out the obvious- what I will say in the report will largely affect what happens to him.

…

 I cut off his mother’s dream. But I hope I was able to give him more time to enjoy his childhood. Pressure is necessary for growth but I believe that is only applicable to children of ten years and above. Nobody pressures six year olds. Not that I want to spoil him. It’s just that he deserves to grow according to his own pace, receiving the proper encouragement and guidance that he needs.

I am not sure if we will meet again. I am not even sure if he will remember me specially that I failed to give him anything to remember me with. But I am hoping he does. It would be great if while writing the manuscript for his award winning novel or movie script, or while drawing his would-be-internationally-acclaimed masterpiece, or while simply just being the atenista that he dreams of becoming, he remembers who taught him how to write the letter s properly despite losing a lot of clients because of him. Haha. But if he does not, I would just remember for the both of us. Thank you tumblr for helping me do that. Or maybe I’ll stalk him on facebook when he’s old enough to have an account and when I actually open mine. Haha.      

Back in the days when there were slumbooks, I’ve never really thought of writing teaching as an answer to the ‘what’s your ambition’ question. It’s still not my ambition now. But it’s good to experience it. I will still be going where I am supposed to be going, but for now, this is a nice stopover. It’s like going to Baguio. Unless you’re riding deluxe, stopovers are very much part of the route. You need them more than you know. Haha. Which reminds me…I should go to Baguio soon. Yey!

I will miss this kid.