Running with Zayne

My daughter GG, Zayne at the center when he was still a toddler and me at a playground.

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

You thought I’ve forgotten all about Zayne Mojica, my ward and little best friend with all the other blogs I’ve written about. It’s just that we’ve been busy running for a race that I forgot to update you about his story and mine.

Well, today I’d be talking about running through the eyes of a child, specifically Zayne’s eyes. Nearly everyday, Zayne and I have to run inside the second floor of his family’s house.

The house is carpeted so there are no worries about any stone, dirt or sharp object that may hurt our feet. As to how we race, it goes something like this.

Usually it would be him who’d say “we have to do a race Nanay (mother).”
Like any other games with him, I treat this race like a game. When he runs I would run. You can just imagine me trying to keep up with him, lightning fast as he is.

It starts with the usual “ready, on your mark, get set, go” or “let’s start our engines.”  There are times when I would pretend that I am panting and out of breath and he would ask me if I’m all right.

“You need a booster Nanay,” he would say.  “Oh yeah--okay pretend I got the booster,” I’d reply. “Come on, you can do it,” he would say. This is the usual dialogue between us. 

In running or playing games with any kids, I learned some basic truths.

1. Play when he plays. Meaning if he runs, run with him. Times like this the child thinks you are a child.

With Zayne I taught him little moral values while running and there are times when he would cry when I run ahead of him.  While he’s energetic due to the sweets he eats, I can still outrun him when I want too.

I would tell him ”Don’t cry baby, there are times when you run you lose- not all the time you win. In life, baby, sometimes you win sometimes you lose- but remember it is how we run that makes us win.”

I think he gets my point because he would tell me “okay you win nanay.”

2. Teaching children moral values would help you develop their moral compass in life. You can shape how they would look at the world and behave towards others. And learning these lessons early would shape their character.

While it seems impossible to explain the importance of winning or losing in life, showing your children how good morals affect others can be a great influence on them.

As a nanny who takes the role of guiding her ward seriously in the absence of his parents, it’s my duty to teach morals to Zayne and other children to help transform into capable, responsible and mature adults in society.

My daughter GG and Zayne. 

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who works as a nanny in North Carolina. This page will serve as a venue for news and discussion on Filipino communities in the Carolinas. Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.  You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/)https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063. )

Zayne's sweet side

Zayne finishing a sketch 

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

It's when you're not feeling okay that you would know how kind and caring some people would be. Especially if it comes from a child. 

In the past few days I’ve been under the weather with coughing and a runny nose. My primary doctor said it is a sinus infection. Whatever, it brings me down and I don't like it.

A week before that, Zayne was sick with cough and colds and he went to the doctor for treatment. For those reading this blog for the first time, Zayne Mojica is my five-year-old ward and is the hero of “My Nanny Stories.”

We’ve been together for four summers now and his doctor told me that Zayne's coughing was caused by a virus. 

Me showing Zayne's name and part of his schoolwork

Since it wasn't the flu I took care of him just the same, keeping my distance and always covering my nose when I sneeze or cough as part of Sanitation 101. 

But yesterday I was coughing so hard that I wet my pants. 

This is the sweet part—Zayne went near me and twice rubbed my back and said “I'm sorry I gave you my cough and cold.”

I was surprised and I replied “No, baby—this is mine, not yours.”  Zayne said “It's mine and I know you don't like it.”

My gosh, it was so sweet of him. The little boy who drives me crazy at times is quite tender and sweet. I actually noticed that quality since he was two years old.

In a child's eyes, one finds sympathy and caring. One afternoon, Zayne looked at me and said “Don't be sad, nanay (mother).” I replied “no, I am not sad baby.” 

It taught me this lesson: The purest form of empathy come from kids. 

Zayne during a class presentation

(The blogger/author is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who works as a nanny in North Carolina. This page will serve as a venue for news and discussion on Filipino communities in the Carolinas. Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis. 



You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/)https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063. )

Zayne and his medicines

Zayne at play with other kids

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

THERE are good days and bad days with my five-year-old ward Zayne Mojica. Of course, you know him as the hero in My Nanny Stories. 

The rough days are when he's got a cold or fever because of an infection in his ears due to his love for swimming in either the family pool or in his swimming class.

But one thing good about Zayne is he doesn't have any problem taking his medicines so long as it's colorful. If it isn't colored, he needs some cajoling to take it. 

He would just take it in either small or big tablespoons. When Zayne is sick he doesn't need to be persuaded a lot to take them unlike other kids whom you have to sweet talk into taking them.

I have some stories to tell about this. In the US, medicine bottles are hard to open though there are directions on how to open them. 

Usually when Zayne is sick I give him a lot of attention. If he's playing with the Kindle I've got to sit down and be interested in what he's playing otherwise he would stop doing it. 

Actually, even if he is not sick or feeling okay when he plays I play with him but more so when he is sick. He doesn't want to be rubbed or touched. As a rule I think Americans are like that, they consider being rubbed or touched as an intrusion or violation of their privacy. 

You see Filipino mothers have a habit of rubbing the backs of our kids as a sign of love and communication. I think American mothers also do that though not as frequently. 

 I think there is a clinical explanation to a mother rubbing her child's back; it's to warm them up. So I avoid doing that with Zayne. I only do that when he's sick but when I do, he would hesitate and say “don't touch me.”

Now at five years old, Zayne participating in a school program

But his coughs would persist and I would insist on rubbing his back. 

Eventually he ended up on my lap viewing his Kindle, playing with a toy or watching the TV and there are times when he would sleep while I rubbed his back.

I usually used Vicks Vapor Rub. Yes, they also have it here in the US. Vicks Vapor Rub makes me remember my own Nanay (mother).

To my mind Zayne needs tender loving care through my ministrations. When he is really sick I would put him in bed and he wants me to lay beside him.

I tried to sing him a lullaby but he would stop me---I think I am out of tune but there are times he would just hum to himself also. I would just tap his behind like I usually do to my children when they were little.

I pretend I am asleep and snore a little. I knew he is making some movements and checking on me too---he would get up and go to the counter top to get the cough medicines to try to open it.

Of course he couldn't open them since even I find it hard to open. “Waking up”, I asked him why he's opening the medicine bottles. You can't open them Zayne, I told him. Yes I can, he said. 

“Why?,” I asked him. “I want to get well fast,” Zayne replied. Lesson learned; Zayne knows the medicines would make him well. Of course it helps that US medicines are flavored for kids.

(The blogger/author is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who works as a nanny in North Carolina. This page will serve as a venue for news and discussion on Filipino communities in the Carolinas. Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis. 


You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/)https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063. )

'My name is Ela'

Zayne with my daughter Gg

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

My ward Zayne Mojica wants to change his name to Ella. I couldn't understand why he keeps on insisting that his name is Ella. 

I told him “Zayne, your name is Zayne.” I asked him where he got the name Ela and he replied “Ella as in elephant.” I guess he got it from “show and tell” in class but he looked dead serious that he wanted to be called Ella.

Then it occurred to me that afternoon that I asked him to practice writing his name. His name is Zayne so he has to learn how to write Zayne. 

I told him to write Z first by making a straight line then going down to the center until it reached the bottom where he has to draw another small line to make a Z.

There were times that I guided his hand in writing the letters that make up his name. He is easily bored doing this and I couldn't insist because that would start another word war between him and me. 

By that he would just scream “you are not my friend anymore.” I don't have the time to engage in that word war and so I would wait patiently until he gets interested enough to resume writing.

He would write the A above and Y above the line to complete his name. I can sense that he's laboring on it. But actually he started early learning to write his name when he was two years old with my daughter Gg as his teacher. 

My concerns on his difficulties in writing his name finally came true when a note from his teacher Sha came with the words “Try harder Zayne.” So the people around Zayne had to try harder teaching him to write his name.

After that teacher's note, I had to guide him in writing his name and trace the letters Z A Y N E. That was the time when he said that his name is Ella. 

He asked how Ella is written and indeed it was easy for him to write Ella instead of Zayne even though it was either ascending or descending

Teaching children how to write the letters of the alphabet is very important to their growth in writing and reading for their future.

Children can start learning to write as early as two to years years old. It is important to teach them slowly, at their own pace. Providing encouragement and a positive attitude are always best in helping children learn their letters in a healthy manner.

For more information on this, read http://www.ehow.com/how_4914074_teach-children-write-letters.html#ixzz2uwYJAJMq.


(The blogger/author is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who works as a nanny in North Carolina. This page will serve as a venue for news and discussion on Filipino communities in the Carolinas. Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis. You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/)https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063. )