My soon-to-be 6 year old daughter, in the car passenger seat, asked me about something she saw on the street outside…

Regine: “Daddy, why did that lady tie her hair up on the head like that?”

Me: “Which lady?”

Regine: “That lady, walking outside.” [points to a lady, with a beehive hairstyle]

Me: “I don’t know, she likes it that way perhaps?”

Regine: “But I don’t like it.”

Me: “Ok, but she likes it.”

Regine: “I think no one will like it. Her hair makes her look like an ultraman. And there are no girl ultraman…”

What can I say. She’s just being honest.

My 5 year old daughter, Regine: “I’m going to have a daughter when I grow up”

Me: “Why not a son?”

Regine: “Because boys are too naughty.”

Me: “So, what are you going to call your daughter?”

Regine: “Hmmmm…. I’m going to call her ‘Flower’.”

Me: “That’s not a nice name. Can you come up with something else?”

Regine: “Hmmm [lengthy pause], I don’t know… daddy. Can you help?”

Me: “No, she’s your daughter, you come up with the name.”

Regine: “Hmmm [lengthy pause], I’m going to call her ‘Flap’.”

Me: “‘Flap’! Why would you call your daughter ‘Flap’ lah?”

Regine: “Hmmm [lengthy pause], then you’ll have to ask the daddy”

Me: “What?”

Regine: “When I have a baby, the baby’s going to have a daddy. Ask the daddy.”

Me: “Ok.”

One thing I learned after being a parent – teaching a kid tenses can be such a pain.

Just the other day, my soon-to-be 5 year old daughter came to me and asked if she could bring her painted ice cream sticks into the bathroom…

Regine: “Daddy, may I bring the ice cream sticks into the bathroom?”

Me: “I don’t think you should, Regine.”

Regine: “Why, daddy?”

Me: “That’s because you drew on them, remember? The ink’s going to come off when wet.”

Regine: “But I didn’t drool on them!”

*facepalms*

My wife Emily was called to an overseas business trip for a week and departed the country 2 days ago. To many people, this would seem like an ordinary thing, but to my 4.5 year old daughter Regine, this means that for the first time ever in her life, she never gets to sleep beside her mother and never gets to see her for more than a day. That’s like me losing the lower half of my torso and both my arms.

I thought I could handle this task of taking care of my daughter, taking a cue to improve our bond in the process. But after just barely 2 days of being with her, I realized that I am no substitute of a mother’s love. My daughter’s not the same like when Emily’s around. She’s trying to act normal, but I know she’s just trying. When she thinks I am not around, she’d talk to my wife’s photo and kiss her belongings. Occasionally, I’d see a rogue tear or two rolling down her cheeks, but she wouldn’t cry because I had told her people her age are badasses and do not cry. It makes me just so sad seeing her like this. This whole business of having a kid, it’s really not for amateurs. I’m emotionally stretched to the limit here.

Here’s a picture of her in the park today. Had to bring her to the park, to take her mind off things.

Feigning happiness in the park for a few hours.

It was a blackout, and I was sitting with my 4 year old daughter in the candlelit living room. It was getting stuffy so I offered to take her out

Me: “Let’s go to the mall.”

Regine: “No I don’t want to.”

She wanted to stay at home playing with a board game.

Me: “But it’s so hot in here!”

Regine: “I can always bathe maa.”

Me: “Your mommy wants you to bathe with only warm water, and the heater is not working right now (blackout). So you can’t bathe.”

She then cogitated for a short while, turned to look at me and said this,

Regine: “I have an idea.”

Me: “What is it?”

Regine: “Just boil some water with a kettle, and mix it with cold water, then you’d get warm water.”

I was of course, totally dumbfucked. She was right! I can’t help but think, here I am, a guy who is able to troubleshoot an electronic failure and stuff, but couldn’t think of a way to make water warm without electricity. I was totally pwned by a 4 year old!