A hairy tale

My husband Anthony, together with my children Hannah and Benjamin, took off for Singapore for the yearly Singapore American Community Action Council (SACAC) gym fest where Hannah was proclaimed first place-overall winner for her age and level last year. This year was a tough competition because the levels were reorganized so that my daughter found herself competing against gymnasts in the same category with 56 competitors from 12 gym teams in the region with ages ranging from nine to 17 years old. With the help of great coaches Jane, Ariel, and George, Hannah was thrilled to get a fourth place medal in the floor exercise. She won fifth place overall, her teammate Esther Nubla won second place-overall which helped their St. Paul Pasig gymnastics team to win first place overall.

Although we had initially planned to go as a family, we decided against it because my two older kids wanted to spend time with their neighborhood friends in Cagayan de Oro, having traveled to Singapore several times already. We then ended up having half of our family in Singapore and the other half in Cagayan de Oro, a decision that made the younger kids sad because they wanted all of us to be together especially for bedtime stories and singing lullabies. It was my first time to be absent from Hannah’s competition so that also made me sad. When Anthony asked to personally accompany Hannah this time around for the meet, I had some misgivings, but when I saw how eager he was to be on top of it, I gave in. I was glad that he was willing to take on the challenge of minding the little ones all by himself.

There was just one thing I was very concerned about and that was how to style Hannah’s hair for the competition. I already exhausted all efforts to find someone who would be able to duplicate our signature hairstyle, which Hannah felt most confident about but was not successful in finding someone to entrust Hannah’s hair to. I then turned to my husband and asked him instead. I really couldn’t believe that Anthony agreed to learn how to go about it and after two days of practice, he perfected styling Hannah’s hair!  I was totally awed because I believe he actually did a better job than me. What a role reversal!

I find it such a great blessing to have a husband who is not afraid to tread the territory that only mothers would dare walk on. It is such a relief to have a partner whom I can rely on for matters concerning our home and the children without having to worry about his machismo. It makes my job so much easier and my load so much lighter, giving me time to accomplish more work and devote a little bit more time for myself. As a result, I am a more efficient homemaker and a happier wife and mother.

* * *

E-mail author at: mommymaricel@gmail.com.