Flight lessons

People often ask me if it’s okay for them to spoil their kids. I always respond by saying, "Why yes, of course!" Let’s pamper our kids with love, respect, our time, attention, and, most of all, our all-out support for them to accomplish their dreams. Let’s not pamper them with money, material wealth, and a whole gamut of gadgets that will occupy their time and attention so that they will not notice our absence. My husband Anthony and I invest a lot of time and effort depositing memories into our children’s hearts and minds. It is something we can boast we are wealthy with. We expose our children to all kinds of opportunities for them to realize their interests and allow them excel in what they choose to get into so that they start to hone their craft at a very young age. One person I know who shares the same philosophy is my very good friend Tina Ocampo. I remember several years ago, she shared with me her plans to set up her eldest daughter’s schooling in New York because as early as six years old, Betina had already expressed her desire to pursue her studies there one day. As a result, Tina constantly supported that dream by exposing Betina to her advocacies in the Philippines and trained her to become self-sufficient to prepare her for life abroad.

That memory of Tina’s dedication to an expressed childhood dream was very vivid in my mind when she entered the function room (where we had invited Tina for an intimate time with Dr. Rick Warren), and found my daughter Ella sketching clothes. Tina was drawn to her and immediately asked Ella to sketch a couple of gowns for her. She then provided Ella with some specifications she’d like to see in her gowns and then proceeded to join the guests for cocktails. Before the program started, Ella excitedly presented her sketches to her Tita Tina, who was so impressed with the designs that she promised Ella she would be her special guest for Monique Lhuillier’s fashion show. That really made Ella’s night.

After that, Tina followed up to remind us about her promise to Ella. She even made sure I would accompany Ella so that my daughter would feel comfortable that evening. She reminded me to have Ella bring her camera so that when she introduced her to Monique, she could also take their picture together. What attention to detail and her word! I kept thanking Tina because her invitation really inspired Ella to create more designs, which puts her a step closer to realizing her dream of becoming a fashion designer one day. I have also been inspired in the process and am reminded about how much weight we should put on keeping our word especially to our kids.

When the big day finally came, Ella wore a beautiful creation of her Tita Regine Tolentino. She and I made that night our special date and immersed ourselves in the chance to be a witness to a grand celebration that was obviously so well put together by incredible people for a worthy cause: alleviating malnutrition in the country.

We had a chance to chat with Monique’s mom, Amparito Lhuillier, who has been instrumental in Monique’s success. She kept telling Ella, "You can do it!" when she learned that Ella liked designing clothes. Mrs. Lhuillier shared that when Monique was Ella’s age (10 years old), she had her go through sketching lessons every day. She was so proud to tell me how a small amount of seed money, which they had given Monique, has grown into such a huge success.

It was obvious that Monique’s attainment has become her parents’ joy and crown simply because they saw her potential and gave her wings to fly. Before we parted and left for the evening, Mrs. Lhuillier looked me in the eye and said, "Just let them know they can do it, and they can."

And that’s exactly what I plan to do. As a parent, let that be your goal, too!

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E-mail author at mommytalk@businessworks.com.ph