Any idea how much it cost us Marcus’ enrollment, school supplies, books and uniform? It was in whopping 6-digit! That’s how much Gary and I value education. We are willing to give the best that we can and even sacrifice some just to be able to enroll our children in a good school. One thing that frightens me though is the thought that my children will think that we are rich when in fact we’re not. This fear heightened when I attended the New Parents’ Orientation. I was with parents who were either foreigners or coming from a well-off family. I was not insecured, but my son could be with these wealthy children around. How will I explain to my son that he’s already lucky being given the chance to be enrolled in that school and living the life as these people do is another story. If these parents can give their children P500 or more daily as allowance, we can’t and we won’t. How can we convince Marcus to get the most of what that school provides in terms of learning when all he could possibly see and hear is that his classmates, even buddies, are fetched by expensive SUVs, provided with up-to-date toys and gadgets, lives in Forbes or Dasma and travels to different countries every vacation. I can’t help but ask, have we really made the right decision? Well, I am hopeful. With me and Gary around to monitor our son’s every move, I think we’ll be able to guide him and instill the values that we would want to impart. Besides, once in a while we give our children what they want and let them experience good things in life just as long as they are responsible enough to do the things expected from them. Above all, we continuously seek God’s help in all our decisions and in everything that we do. So for new parents out there… start saving now!

Gary and I literally started out with nothing. We began our journey as a couple full of love in our hearts, plans on our minds but a few cents on our pockets. It was Gary who initially felt financial pressure as he was about to support a studying wife and a growing son. Ten years after, we could only laugh at the struggles we had just to have a decent life. That, I think, is the advantage of experiencing life’s challenges rather than having everything in place from the very start. Well it may not necessarily work for every couple, we were just fortunate and blessed that a lot of our sacrifices paved way to a better life. A better life for me now doesn’t mean that I am rich enough to stop working and stay at home to watch over my kids. My husband and I still have to work hard to be able to take home enough monthly salary. Neither does it mean that all our needs are already met that we need not buy anything anymore. It’s all about seeing our kids experience life a lot better than my husband and I did when we were young. Our kids are not aware that what they are getting right now cannot be easily provided by a minimum waged earner. And that selflessness is a virtue that we as their parents have learned over the years. Yes! We can now buy a lot of things that previously we felt guilty about, or that we cannot really afford. No! We’re not rich as not to think twice before we spend our cash. But with God’s blessings and continuous hard work, we’re getting there.