Perks on being an only child

And if you happen to be the only child in the family, you're the luckiest man on Earth. Seriously speaking, yes, you are.

I must say that I'm lucky to be the only child of my parents, even though my dad really wanted a baby boy, but sorry, there must be problem when your chromosome handed a Y instead of an X. Well, genetically speaking. So, here I am, a full-grown lady who just had graduated with a bachelor's degree. After I was born, my parents are still planning to have another baby, even though Mama was already 33 when she had me, while Papa was 35 at that time. Sorry, but my parents really enjoyed their single lives that they planned to marry at the age of 31 and 33, respectively. To continue this very long story of mine, my mom died when I was 2 years old, so having a baby brother wasn't materialized.

These perks started when I was brought my grandparents after my mom's death since no one will take care of me and Papa's working abroad for our living. Knowing Filipino grandparents, they will literally spoil you in a lot of things: toys, books, foods, clothes, everything! Aside from that, Mommy (my mama's elder and only sister), always sends me some Barbie dolls, new clothes, shoes, and books. I really loved reading books way back then. :)

So, having everything you wanted was the best thing in life, of course. But not everyone has this so-called "perfect" life. I was regularly hospitalized before due to my asthma then later ruled out to be a heart problem (not that "heart" problem when you were dumped by your crush for two years!). Hospital was like my second home, and a ship as my third home since I'm always sick and I was regularly brought to Puerto Princesa to have my regular check up. Think about the sacrifices by Lola and Lolo but most especially Nanay who took care of me and helped me live for almost 2 decades.

Whenever my friends or classmates tells me "Ang hirap maging only child kasi ikaw lagi yung nakikita pag may mali," I tend to laugh it off cause I never experienced that in my entire life. Aside from those kiddie stuff or should I say my early pasaway days, I never had any serious problem (especially teenage, relationship, or family-related) with Lola and Nanay. Why? Because we knew each other very well, and they don't blame me for things that I'm not even connected. And I'm even proud to say that I didn't caused headaches to them even in college. Another thing that makes our bond stronger, it's because they trust me very well and all they have to do is just to remind me, and support me in anything that I want. Besides, they're confident that they raised and cultivated me well, that I will not stray my path.

When it comes to attention, I have the attention that I want even I don't ask them. Haha. In our family, I was tagged as  the Pambansang Apo, which means that I'm the apple of the eye of my grandparents. But I can't blame them because I grew up with them. Then, I'm the only child among my 8 cousins in my mother side and 23 in my father side, so I'm always the special kid. Even in my paternal side, they always treat me like a princess. In terms of attention and love, I never lacked it in my whole life. Everyone's love and attention are overflowing.

But do you know the disadvantage? You don't have brothers or sisters to play with. I longed for brothers and sisters when I was 4-7 years old because I always see our neighbors playing with their siblings, or attend the mass with them. While I, the solo kid, feels like a sore loser when I don't have a Kuya or Ate to call when I feel alone. Come early teenage days, I wanted to have a tough brother who will defend me or will be my knight-in-shining armor if there will be someone who will try to hurt me, and a kikay sister who will curl my hair or dress me up. I always dreamed of having those people in my life

I know that God has a plan for me, and he gave me friends who were eventually became my siblings. I had different kinds of brothers, a "simpatikong" younger brother whom I treat as an older brother, a brother who's really fond of shopping, a very serious brother, a brother whose laugh will be a very good wake-up call, etc. And I also have a sister who's experiences were the same as mine, a sister who loves to dress me up, and scolds me whenever I skip classes, a sister who's so cute (she claimed it!), and a tough sister. Yes, I found all of them, and I lost count on them already. Haha. They might not be my siblings by blood, I still consider them as my true siblings.

And to end this post, lemme greet my dad a Happy Fathers Day. As of this post, I dunno where's Papa right now since I can't contact him through his phone. Or he's just planning for a surprise today. I dunno! Any, it's your day, Dad! Enjoy!