footprints in my heart...

this weekend went by very v e r y s l o w. quite a blessing actually because i got to relax, rest, take lots and lots of naps just whenever i felt like it and spent lots of time with family. on friday, due to joemama's addiction, i satisfied my craving for l&l's hawaiian bbq. i had my chicken katsu which was very yummy for my tummy. it's nice, cheap comfort food. i also go the short ribs for my brother and the hawaiian bbq porkchops for his friend. i didn't think they were as good as the chicken katsu i was having though. i forgot that i wanted to try kalua pork. that's what i should've ordered for them. i heard it was good. we had a nice quiet night just watching tv. i was really looking forward to watching the replay of queer eye for the straight guy. i love that show! it was the episode with the fabio-looking greek fitness trainer, and they cut off his hair. this girl at the dinner they put on was totally all over him. it was a great transformation. they gave him a nice laid back california look.

we had turned on the spa when we came home and i was waiting for it to get hot. it takes about a couple of hours, so we didn't get to go in until about 10pm. we brought a little tv out there and with my brother's playstation, watched X2 while chilling in the spa. it was really nice to just relax. i fell asleep halfway through the movie and figured i should go in before i drown in the 3 feet of hot water i was in. i had the best sleep in a long time.

saturday was really full of nothingness. i had to teach religious education for my mom and the kids were very good. they're in 5th grade, so they're not so rebellious or disrespectful as older kids, but they're old enough that you can talk normally to them without having to oversimplify too much. we talked about sharing your wealth and your gifts to others. funny, some kids flat out said, "no, i wouldn't share. it's not theirs." i'm sitting there thinking, "dude, what'd your parents forget to teach you?" the point of the lesson was that sharing isn't about other people's rights to your things, it's about love. and if you love them, then you should share. and the lesson of the entire faith is loving everyone-good or bad, enemy or friend. part of the lesson was also not being attached to material goods- that the relationship and the helping each other is more important than our material possessions. so if someone else needs it more than we do, we should be able to share our things with them without such reservations. i put it in very real terms to them, as would they share their playstation? oooh, i got such a mixed response. some kids were very quick to answer, yes, i'd give it up. some were more hesitant, but eventually wanted to do the right thing, and some others were so adamant in keeping their toy. and that was just to share it with someone, not necessarily giving it away.

whenever i teach these kids, it always gives me a clue and a lesson as to how i would instill these values in my kids. and especially these few weeks when i've had to play mom to my brother, it's given me such a glimpse of how much responsibility parents have in raising their children. my god, if you give them everything they want, they'll so quickly grow up to be such brats feeling like they're entitled to these things. like the world owes it to them. and then they'll be lazy as heck! but at the same time, when they're little, you want them to have joy and the cool toys and to just play. it's a tough balance sometimes. to let them play, but work hard as well. to enjoy nice gifts, but learn how to share with others. to be a kid, but know responsibility for their actions. our parents have it really tough. and the kids, dude, they see everything. and they copy their parents and older sibling's actions. it's a lot of responsibility to be responsible for this little life. my goodness, and then you get these parents who don't even pay attention to their kids and end up raising serial killers and child abusers. greattttt...