Connecting with Zayne

Zayne in his disciple costume with cast mates.

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I am presently occupied with another “job” that keeps me away from my little friend Zayne Mojica.

But I still see him a lot as he stays with my daughter GG. In fact today he is here with us. Even now, when we’ve spent quite a bit of time with each other, Zayne still feels shy and awkward towards me.

It would take 20 minutes before he warms up and approaches me. This is a late post because of my second job so let me tell you about the Holy Week presentation that I attended where Zayne played one of the Lord’s disciples.

The teacher read the stories in the Bible to the audience and the stories transported me back to the times when I read the Holy Book in my childhood. 

These are the Biblical stories of David and Goliath, Cain and Abel, Elijah being fed by ravens and the story of Daniel as well as Jesus of course. 

Teaching children the Word of God early helps prepare them in their journey in life. “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” said Proverbs 22:6

It is so important to shape and guide children but as adults we help to shape the children in what they do even in early age. Children by nature believe what adults tell them anyway so this is the best time to teach them.

I remember when Zayne was three years old, I mentioned the name Jesus out of nowhere and he asked me “where is Jesus Nanay (mother)?”

I was taken aback with his question and it took me sometime to tell him that Jesus is “in heaven.”  I should have answered that Jesus is here with us always. 

I enjoyed the Holy Week play. Tomorrow Zayne goes back to school and I resume my other job. Hope you continue to enjoy my nanny stories and see you soon.

(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. 

She also has her own website at susanpalmes-dennis.simplesite.com. 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).

How Zayne took to swimming

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Today I'll tell you something about how Zayne Mojica learned swimming. As if you didn't know by now, Zayne is my five-year-old ward and best friend.

Zayne was already working the pool when he was three years old. He takes private swimming lessons and his daddy has a family pool. Now that he's five years old, he's doing well in his swimming class.

But his bath tub was his first pool and I have a separate story about this. As far as I can remember, he's always a water boy which means he's unafraid of the water. 

However Zayne is afraid of taking a bath in the late afternoon because it means he's going to bed. 

When he does land in his bath tub, he would play and swim in the water, splashing and spilling it in all directions so I usually prepare the rug or paper towels to wipe the floor tiles dry.

Since his considers the bath tub his pool I think his daddy placed toys and other objects there on the side so Zayne would enjoy bath time especially during summer.

On the side of the bath tub are cups and scoops for filling and dumping, boats and fish, sponges and cloths, bath crayons and paints, soaps and bubbles. 

There was a time when I nearly had a heart attack seeing the paint splashed all over the bath tub and wondered how I can clean it up, only to learn that it can easily be wiped away.

Now when he does take a bath he doesn't want to use the shampoo because the liquid easily stings his eyes just like most adults. I also have trouble soaping him because he's so frenetic.

A typical dialogue between us goes this way:

Zayne: Nanay (Mother), Come we soap (places the baby bubble bath liquid on the water)

Me: Okay

Zayne: (When I try to soap him up) I do it- I can do it.

Then he soaks himself in the water, which means he's done soaping himself up.

I have to be creative in persuading him to soap himself up by cutting a deal with him; I would shampoo and soap him up and after that, we play race, tag or hide and seek. He would usually be fine with it.

I try to bathe him fast otherwise he would throw a tantrum and he would really make a mess of the bathroom. I ready the rug in case he really spills water over the bathtub. Otherwise he can really swim in his bathtub. 

By the time he was five, Zayne has outgrown his bath tub and is now comfortable taking the shower. In the school pool, I noticed that he's making progress making friends with the other boys in the class.

There are four boys in his swimming class, a 30-minute session once a week. I think Zayne is ahead of the boys. It is said that swimming lessons provide the child with many benefits such as socializing.

It's also a sensational learning experience for your child. As Zayne, my young scientist friend splashes, and giggles, he's observing the cause and effect, experimenting with the water and studying what floats and what sinks.

It is fascinating to see Zayne, my young friend, now floating on the pool and it reminded me how I learned to swim in the riverbank of my native Tagoloan town in Misamis Oriental, northern Mindanao in the Philippines. 

Back then, I just waded deep into the river and swam through the waters as if  swimming was and always had been a part of my being.

(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. )