Sam is taking the UPCAT tomorrow morning and because she is just about the moodiest person I know (well, probably next to me), and because she has the most volatile temper than any person I know (ummm, probably more than mine), Speedy and I agreed that we would make sure she stays happy as a lark before, and even after, the exam. It’s been a great week so far, starting with the day she got Twix for an advanced birthday gift. Sam has been in a jolly good mood, no bullshit in the morning when it’s time to wake up to prepare for school, no whining, no nothing. Until today.
She woke up 15 minutes before I was scheduled to start cooking lunch (go figure what time it was) announcing she must have McChicken and McDonald’s chicken nuggets for dinner tonight because tomorrow is UPCAT day. I said, sure. That, in addition to the previous agreement that we would do a McDonald’s Drive-Thru for her breakfast on the way to U.P. before the sun rises tomorrow morning. What can I say? The occasional McDonald’s treat satisfies some wicked need inside her.
We weren’t even through eating lunch when she said she wanted cupcakes to decorate. Take note — she didn’t exactly want the cupcakes so she could eat them. She wanted me to bake cupcakes so she could use the piping bag with all the different nozzles to create pretty patterns with the frosting. Okay, tomorrow is UPCAT day, I said yes. I took out an entire block of butter from the freezer to start softening it to room temperature.
Then, I suggested that she go over the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook to choose which baking project she wanted to do. That was when the trouble started. First she wanted gingerbread men. I don’t have gingerbread men cookie cutters. She called up her father and asked him to buy cookie cutters to make gingerbread men. That’s like asking Speedy to go to the wet market to buy fish and he told her so.
So, a bit frustrated but hardly defeated, she went back to the cookbook. She wanted French macaroons. We don’t have almonds. She wanted Dobos torte but we don’t have cream to make the Swiss meringue buttercream filling. She chose half a dozen other recipes, including a three-tiered mocha-and-pistachio wedding cake (I am not kidding). I could only shake my head. I told her to choose something that was not beyond my baking skills and something with ingredients that we already have in the house. But she didn’t want anything simple or ordinary — she wanted something that required a “shocking” frosting.
I don’t know if she heard me but after I turned down the three-tiered wedding cake project, she wanted ginger cupcakes with some exotic frosting. Sounds reasonable, right? Ginger is a staple in almost every Filipino household. But I used up all the ginger in the house to make the baked chicken wings for last night’s dinner. She wanted me to send one of the house helpers to the supermarket but it’s been raining all day and I’m not sending anyone to the supermarket, rain and all, just for a piece of ginger. My goodness, the cost of transportation will be ten times the price of a piece of ginger. She was really frustrated at that point, blaming me for not having ginger, but proceeded to scan the book anyway. She saw this gorgeous pastry made with puff pastry and I told her we didn’t have puff pastry.
“Mommy, there’s a recipe in the book for puff pastry,” and she was all but pushing the book into my face. I looked at the ingredients, we had everything in the list, so I took the book from her and proceeded to read the three-page recipe with the step-by-step photo illustrations. Shit, it would take at least eight hours to make the puff pastry — the damn thing has to be rolled six times, and frozen for an hour between each roll. And that’s just for making the puff pastry. To assemble the pastry dish she wanted would take another hour or so.
Darn, I want Sam in a good mood but I am not spending the rest of the afternoon and half the evening rolling pastry and watching the clock to monitor the freezing time. Jenjen, one of the house helpers, had been listening to the conversation while cleaning up the post-lunch mess in the kitchen and dining table, and audibly giggling to herself. When Sam’s voice went two decibels higher, she told Sam with a laugh, “Pancake na la’ng, Sam” to which Sam responded with a howl.
Honestly. I’m still very much willing to bake cupcakes, the butter is still thawing on the kitchen counter, but it has to be a reasonable baking project. Meanwhile, Sam has locked herself inside her room probably scouring the web for a cupcake recipe that requires a “shocking” frosting.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
BlogusVox 08.02.08 at 4:48 pm
Sumpungin din ako Ms. Sassy. Ganon din yung anak ko. Ganyan daw ata ang mga taong ipinanganak ng Pebrero. Pero ibang klase si Sam. Kailangan pala mahaba ang ang iyong pasensya.
Connie Veneracion 08.02.08 at 6:45 pm
Yan yata ang pinakamahalagang lesson ng pagiging magulang — maging mapag-pasensiya.
JMonreal 08.02.08 at 10:05 pm
Happy Birthday Sam. Our oldest daughter’s birthday is also this month, August. Those born with the sign of Leo are said to be sumpungin. I think they are just very determined and persistent kind of people. As the saying goes,”If there’s a will, there’s a way.” and Good Luck on your UPCAT exam.
chiara 08.02.08 at 11:33 pm
HAHAHA it’s a shame that the CETs come only at a few pts in our lives… ang bait bait ng parents during the period before the tests… wahahahaha
jennie 08.03.08 at 12:51 am
it’s a mind game and she’s pushing you to the limits
chris 08.03.08 at 2:12 am
lol, if you think she’s moody now, wait till she gets done with that exam. Que Horror!
tonx 08.03.08 at 5:57 am
i still remember when i took the UPCAT. it was 10 years ago but could have been yesterday. that morning, i cried and threw up because i was so nervous. i knew how important it was, and thank goodness my mum knew that too. she was especially kind and attentive to me days before and after the exam. that’s thoughtful of you to show her extra TLC. and it just shows that a mother’s love is boundless. shucks, sorry i’m so dramatic. i miss my mom! anyway, i wish sam all the luck =)
Lance 08.03.08 at 7:25 am
Napaisip tuloy ako sa cupcake with frosting. I’m almost sure the cupcake alone would have added 100 points to her score. HAHAHA. I hope Sam, in good or bad mood, did well in the exam.
edgar v. 08.03.08 at 4:28 pm
pero karamihan ng taong madaling magalit ay siya rin ang malalambing at super baet pag malamig ang ulo…:)
Kongkong622 08.03.08 at 10:03 pm
Ay, may S si Sam!! Pero pagbigyan mo na, UPCAT eh. Baka gusto nyang ibaon yan when she takes her exams
Reminds me of the time my little sister was bugging me to make her a carrot cake. After a week I gave in and made her a 4 layer cake with cream cheese frosting. It was 6 inches high and heavy!! That was the last time she asked me to bake her anything
Connie Veneracion 08.04.08 at 8:10 am
Nakaraos na. Maryosep, she insisted on watching The Dark Knight after the UPCAT while Alex wanted to see The Mummy. We ended up watching BOTH. Grabe. Masakit pa ulo ko.
Susan 08.04.08 at 10:40 am
Hi Connie,
Super believe ako sa patience mo with the sumpong that Sam has yesterday. You are so blessed with a good/supportive husband and smart daughters. I like the way you share your thoughts with us. When my daughter was her age, ay naku very very short ang temper ko, bec. i was a working mom then. Ang hirap, may mga guilty moments nga ako minsan. Ngayon bumabawi ako sa daughter ko kahit na 21 yrs old na sya, bec. I took an early retirement from work. Family is important. Hope Sam will pass UPCAT.
Jon Limjap 08.04.08 at 10:44 am
Nakakaaliw naman sumpungin si Sam. Parang naglilihi.
luna miranda 08.04.08 at 4:07 pm
hats off ako sa haba ng pacensya mo.:D my sister has similar moods and temper pero nong bata pa kami, di sya masyadong umuobra sa nanay namin.:D but i remember when she took her UPCAT, i woke up at 4am to cook her breakfast. she’s almost 40 now, matindi pa rin ang sumpong! Hehe
iskolar111 08.05.08 at 9:02 am
The dreaded UPCAT exam. I got the result when dinosaurs rule the earth and it was in a thick envelope. You know what it means compared to a thin envelope. The mother of my classmate who was ahead of me in the high school honor roll said in my face,”my son I’m sure passed it because you passed”. I nodded. He got a thin envelope. That was 35 years ago. I still smile when I remember it.
Mik 08.05.08 at 10:14 am
Haha, I hope Sam knows how lucky she is. The only “concession” my parents made when I took the UPCAT was to make my favorite baon for the exams. Lugi yata ako haha
Connie Veneracion 08.05.08 at 2:39 pm
If my temper today is what it was 20 years ago, hay naku, Sam would have stopped dead on her tracks with just one look hehehe I guess motherhood made me mellow.
Iskolar111, I got a telegram which I kept for over 8 years hehehe ’till after graduation from the College of Law.
Miguk 08.07.08 at 9:57 am
Hahahaha thank God those days are over…and by the time my Granddaughter gets to that stage I can always just give her back
julie 08.08.08 at 12:27 am
What did you bake then?
Connie Veneracion 08.08.08 at 7:50 am
Chocolate shortbread fingers.
Sam sprinkled colored sugar over them.
etc 08.10.08 at 4:34 pm
If sam is this sumpungin already for an entrance exam, i wonder how she’d behave when she is actually studying in UP. she’ll be throwing tantrums every exam week then… hopefully college life will make her appreciate how lucky she is compared to other kids and how fortunate she is to have an understanding and patient mother like you.
auee 08.21.08 at 6:56 pm
Patience of a saint… that’s what I need with my toddler and hubby. Kelvin’s almost always moaning and faking his tears, may hikbi-hikbi pa and he does that for every cause, including going home or leaving the house… aayy
Then hubby would be in his silent mood and will be sulking in a corner, filling his thoughts with dread and gloom… aaayyy
I dunno, part and parcel of life eh?
At least you got baking in the end.