Happy (solo) mom's day to us!

...for May issue of Personal Fortune Magazine (Business Mirror)
(part 1 of 2)

The thing I’m most proud about being a solo mom is how I am raising my daughter Simone. I don’t know how I did it, but she’s amazingly well-adjusted, never a spoiled brat, and is one of those ‘cool kids’ that even grown-ups want to have around. Maybe it’s the prayer I lifted up, everyday, while she was in my womb, knowing that I’d be raising her on my own: “Dear God, please let her know she’s loved, let everyone she meets love her and respect her, and may she be loving in return.”
God sure answered my prayers. Who wouldn’t love someone as caring, selfless, and as authentic a human being as Simone? She’s the perfect ate, helping me with her twin brothers when I’m short of a yaya, missing them when she’s away from them for even a day, and genuinely having fun with them (she’s nine, they’re three!) when they play. When I mention that I’m short on cash, she offers me her savings. She knows the value of money and has never, ever demanded that I buy her anything, but reminds me gently when I do promise her something and she knows I can buy it. When she meets people, be it my fashion associate in Girlfriend magazine, Bevs, or my photographer friend, Jose Enrique Soriano, she is genuinely interested in what they do. She helps Bevs list down her pull-outs and credits during shoots; she listens intently when Derek talks to her about aperture and how it’s related to how a pre-exam for Lasik has affected his ultra light-sensitive eyes. She is popular at school and with her teachers, and I really never have to worry about her grades or what the teacher will tell me during PTCs. And when I’m not home at their bedtime, or don’t spend the night in the house, she texts me, without fail: “Good night, Mommy, I love you very much! See you tomorrow, XOXOXO Simone.”
I think it’s because I never hid anything from Simone, even my feelings when I was undergoing a separation (which have had its negative effects as well, I know). I’ve always talked to her intelligently; bring her to work with me; and though deep in my competitive little heart, expect her to be the best, reassure her that it’s ok when she’s not, that she can excel in other things.
Maybe it’s the absence of a husband that makes me lavish so much attention on her (I know all her school chismis and intriga); and maybe it’s the absence of a father that make me work double, triple time with her. No matter what it is, I’m thankful for the result.