No. My name's not Maria nor am I pertaining to any Maria named person in town. Well, Maria's a beautiful name anyhow. I was reminded of the Pinoy children's song with the said title when I decided to run to town today.
It was a pleasant day. A fine day when school kids would love to run to the river after lunch and soak themselves on the cool waters. A day when a farmer would wish the sun would hide in the clouds so that his dripping sweat would at least lessen; therefore he could do his tasks at hand. But, alas! It was a cloudless day. And he had to endure working under the sun, less the heavy rain would catch him up undone at late noon.
I forgot that the last bag of milk (400g) from the box (1.2kg) was already emptied to my baby's milk container. I thought it was the bigger box which my husband's boss had bought. That's why I was confident that there's still enough to last the week. However, when I reached for the box in the morning to get a bag of milk it was empty. Yay! What have I been thinking that I forgot that there's no more milk for my munchkin? Without second thoughts, I took a bath after feeding the kids. I waited for the baby to make his trip to the comfort room at 9am. It's his usual routine to poo at that time when he did not get to empty his large intestine upon waking up in the morning.
On the other hand, I instructed my eldest who's turning 8 this month to babsysit his younger siblings, the second at 4 while baby is 22 months old. It was the 4th time he is to do it but this time was different because where am going is in town. I can't assure him that I would be back before noon because there's no particular time when jeepneys leave for town. You may ask why I don't just bring the baby with me. It's not yet safe bringing a little kid around town especially on grocery stores where it is a public place.
Before I left, I washed every feeding bottle and had it boiled to disinfect. The eldest already knew how to make milk for his baby brother. No worries there's still milk but for 2 feedings only and there's plenty of lukewarm water in the thermos.
When I was about to leave after bringing my son to the toilet, he was smiling and even bade me "babye, mama." But when I was at the stairs, I heard him cry. Good thing his older brother was able to make him stop by offering him some biscuits and saying words to sooth him. Then I left after he stopped crying.
I walked up to the road which was about 10 minutes walk from our house. I am hoping that a ride would come the soonest and thankfully it did after some minutes of waiting. The ride to town is just 30 minutes but it seems like forever.
Finally, arrived! After 2 months of not going to town, now I did. Safety protocols are still observed. Semi-normal as I can observe. However the jeepney fare is still pricey at 50php when it was full to sitting capacity (20 pax).
I went from grocery store to the other then to the next until I almost checked every grocery. But the brand of milk I was looking was out of stock. There's only one at a grocery stand but it was the canned one. So I roamed pharmacies also but what they have were the biggest of net weight which is not enough of my budget😕. I thought of buying a cheaper brand but a second thought told me it would cause stomach upset to my little one so I get back to where I saw the lone canned Lactum and grabbed it. Took some other goods from the stand and went straight to the counter.
Whiww that was close,my money was just enough to pay for all the goods. So I head straight to the jeepneey's parking space and checked for the time. It was 11am straight but the jeep was not yet full to sitting capacity according to protocols which is 10 pax. I had to wait a little more.
By the time the jeepney was to leave, it was already 11:20. Then again, the trip was like taking eternal time to reach our village. If I could only fly then I would have to get home immediately.
A mother who left her little child even with a trusted adult to babysit can't stay long away from him. How much more when left under an eight year old. Thankfully, I arrived home with the kids at home safe. However, I heard the baby was crying as I was getting near that I almost run. I was relieved to learn that he was left with his older brother's playmate while his older brother was taking a bath.
z_graeden
Parang pareho lang any itsura ng lugar natin.