The Holy Week is my personal favorite holiday here in the Philippines. Not just because we get at least four days off – this year we got five and a half – but because Easter Sunday has always made me really happy that Jesus has risen.

This Holy Week, for me, was different. We didn’t have a beach trip. We also didn’t engage in church activities like before Sprout came. We just mostly spent time at home.

We originally planned to potty train Sprout during the holidays. Unfortunately, that was not successful, so we’ve decided to wait until our little girl is ready.

Holy Thursday

We were supposed to join the Washing of the Feet rites at our local Neocatechumenal Way community. This Holy Thursday rite has always been precious for Francis and me. Instead, we drove Francis’ parents to a relative’s wake at Tarlac.

There was nothing to do there (because Francis’ mom didn’t want our daughter to go to the wake), so the three of us just stayed in the car, eating plant-based microwave meals from 7-Eleven and some steamed sweet corn we got from a sidewalk vendor. (I don’t eat corn on the cob because of my braces, so I had mine at home.)

We arrived at San Jose City just before the mass for Holy Thursday. We didn’t go though.

Good Friday

On Friday, Francis’ had a Sumvac assistance activity with his brothers at Odd Fellows Nueva Ecija, so it was just mostly me and Sprout. I initially wanted to work, but she was being super needy, and I also needed to watch out for signs for her potty training. We were quite successful, as she managed to pee and poo in her potty for the first time. Most of the time, we just slept.

(What’s with the Holy Week that makes me so sleepy anyway?)

At 3 pm, Francis and I started with our Easter fast. For the two of us, we made a light vegetable soup that lasted until the next day.

Black Saturday

Black Saturday was largely uneventful. I told Francis I would be working, but Sprout didn’t want to part from mama, and vehemently refused her papa. In the end, I abandoned any intention of working and just spent the day with our daughter. (I also washed the laundry.)

That night, we brought Sprout to her first Easter Vigil – and vigil she did! While other kids slept during the mass, she was awake and actually unruly. I feel sorry for the other parishioners who couldn’t focus because of her.

If you have any advice on how to teach a toddler to behave in church without resorting to fear, please comment below. This mama needs your help!

Easter Sunday

After a lovely Easter breakfast, courtesy of my husband, we went to my parents’ house for lunch with my sister Angel’s family.

Later, we went to Waltermart to get groceries and let Sprout play.

Day of Valor

Araw ng Kagitingan is held every April 9. This year, it fell on a Sunday, so the president moved the holiday to the nearest Monday. That’s why we had an additional holiday.

Early in the morning, we opened Sprout’s Easter Sunday gift. This is a tradition we’ve decided to create for our family as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We got her a xylophone!

I washed our laundry while Francis deep cleaned our bedroom. Sprout spent the day with my parents, playing kitchen with her Ate Anne. When we fetched her, we went to Citi Hardware to buy tiles for Francis’ parents’ home. She’s been obsessed with “bike” lately, so we had to make extra efforts to keep her from seeing the electric bikes on display.

That’s it! I’m not really in the right headspace to write something more substantial right now, so this just a bit of an update. I hope I’ll have more time and energy to write more on this blog, but I’m also thankful that I get to write somewhere else.

Until the next one. Bye!