Take for example the three stories below that I’m about to tell you. These are recent instances that made me really proud of our little boy Rafa. I’d like to highlight each one because they give me pride to be his father.

So here goes each story:

Our afternoons are not just about playtime with the kids but we also take the opportunity to clown around. Anyway, Rafa’s grand uncle paid us a visit and joined the fun. He was teasing my children’s yaya (nanny), got a piece of wooden stick, and motioned to hit her (the yaya) with the stick.

When Rafa saw that his grand-uncle was about to “hit” his yaya, he ran to her crying, hugged her, and said. ‘No!” I thought it was such a sweet gesture.

Miguel and Rafa had an older teenage cousin who lived with us in the family compound. She’s epileptic but we do let her help the yaya look after the kids. One morning, while they were sitting on the concrete plant box in the yard, she had a sudden seizure attack. Good thing her mom was able to catch her before she fell on the pavement.

Anyway, Rafa was crying while watching his older cousin twitching. But what surprised everyone was when he took a piece of pandesal (breakfast roll) and gave it to his cousin, as if to say that things would get better if she ate it.

There’s a chicken that found its way into our garden a few days ago. It wasn’t ours but we also didn’t know who it belonged to. Anyway, it didn’t seem to be bothered that it’s in a different home so we just let it be.

After discovering the chicken’s presence in the yard, Rafa was looking at it with curious eyes. He was actually quite amused by the chicken and would laugh when he saw it running around.

Mommy Khris’ cousin saw Rafa’s fondness for the chicken so he (the cousin) decided to play a prank on Rafa; he took a knife and announced that he would cook the chicken. Expectedly, Rafa didn’t like the joke so he began to whine and in a firm voice said, “No! No!”

The chicken is still alive, thankfully, and continues to keep the kids entertained while they are playing in the yard.

These three stories have one thing in common and that is compassion and kindness. I feel fulfilled knowing that my little Rafa is naturally kind and compassionate, all we have to do as his parents is to nurture it as he grows.

Compassion and kindness, along with gratitude, are some of the most beautiful traits in this world.

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