Surprise

July 19, 2021

 I am so fond of giving out surprises especially when it comes to my kids.

I may have mentioned in my previous articles that my husband’s work takes him away from us for 9 – 12 months. I usually collaborate with my hubby to join me in surprising our kids for his arrival.

The first time I surprised them was when my hubby’s flight to Cebu was on a work day. They thought that I was having an overtime when in fact I filed for an undertime from work. I left early as my work place is so opposite from the airport. It is an hour’s travel if there was no traffic. When hubby arrived, we just took a taxi home.

Our house is at the dead-end with a one vehicle road accessibility. So mostly if there are vehicles getting inside this road, they usually entered our property to make a u-turn. The kids were already used to having unknown vehicles or taxis going in.

When our taxi reached our property, we noticed no one went out to check. They just turn their head and went back to the movie they were watching at that time. But my son noticed that the taxi stopped.  So he went out to check and shouted “Daddy” upon seeing his dad. The girls followed suit and went out to check if Zander was not joking.

The following few years, I was not able to surprise them as they already know my tactic. But they just don’t know what I have in my sleeves of tricks.

The next time I surprised them was when I had a scheduled bazaar. My hubby’s flight home was in time for my ingress at the bazaar. This is the time that we have to set up our bazaar area for the opening day. I usually bring with me my house staff and driver. But this time I asked my daughter, Trixia and son, Zander to help me in the set up. My daughter, Danie still has classes and she will go directly to the bazaar area, so as my eldest Kim, who was still at her office.

This time I collaborated with our driver since he will be the one to pick up my hubby at the airport after dropping us off at the bazaar site.

As we arrived early at the bazaar site, I let our driver and Zander haul off some of the items that we brought in. When it was time for the driver to go, I told Zander to go with him in the pretext of buying food for our snacks. Little did he know that they will be going straight to the airport. It was only when they were crossing the bridge that he asked our driver where they were going. The driver did not give him a direct answer. As Zander was already familiar of the place going to the airport he concluded that they are going to pick up his dad.

When they arrived at the bazaar site, Danie was already with us. Both, Danie and Trixia shouted when they saw their dad. The people surrounding us where curious as to what happened and just watch the reunion between dad and daughters. Kim was the last to be surprised.

A few years have gone by without me surprising them. There was just no opportunity to do so. They are so wise already. 😁

But this year is different. Returning OFWs cannot be picked up by their family at the airport, instead personnel from OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) will be the one to picked them up from the airport. Then they will be placed in a quarantine area, usually a hotel. Swab test will be taken and they can only go home once the result of the swab test is negative.

I learned early June that my hubby’s flight home has been confirmed. They arrived in Egypt yesterday, July 18 and had their swab test made. Once the result comes out negative today, they will start their journey home. There are eight of them going home. He is lucky that the booked flight is a direct flight here in Cebu. Therefore, they will have their quarantine in one of the hotels in Cebu. It’s just that they don’t know which hotel they will be staying.

I already told him not to post any pictures of his flight home so that the kids will not be alerted.

They will arrive in Cebu on July 21 if all goes well. Once here, they will have to undergo another swab test before they will be transferred to the hotel.

Again, if all goes well, and they will be released from the quarantine on Saturday, July 24, I already have a plan in mind.

Trixia has her second dental appointment on Saturday. I also asked for an appointment for Zander for his medical certificate as required by his new school. Danie will be our designated driver. I don’t know yet how to get Kim involved but maybe I’ll just tell her to come along. She has no work on Saturdays. From there I will bring them to the hotel where my hubby will be staying in the pretext of having lunch there.

If they will be released on July 25, Sunday, then so much the better. From church, we will go directly to the hotel for coffee and just relax while waiting for hubby to check out.

I don’t have a plan yet if they will be released on July 23 as it is a working day for Danie and she is our designated driver for now. Maybe, I’ll collaborate with Danie if this happens so she can ask permission from her company for her absence. Or if it is ok with my hubby to check out in the evening then it will be best since Danie’s off time on Fridays is at four in the afternoon. Trixia and Zander are still having their school vacation, so I can lure them to go out and have some dinner. Then we proceed to the hotel to pick up their dad and proceed to Kim’s office to pick her up.

What do you think of my plans? I really hope this works.

Thanks for dropping by.

🧡🧡🧡

Lead image by Unsplash.