10 Facts About Me, As Told By My Mom

Hi, everyone!  I’m Roo’s mom.  My name is Josephine, but my grandchildren and all of my children’s friends call me Lola.  It means “grandmother” in the Philippines.  I read all of Roo’s blog posts, and my favorite part is reading the comments.  I read them all, so I feel like I already know some of you very well.  I decided to share some facts about her when she was a kid.  I hope you like them.

{Roo here.  I’m commenting slash defending myself in blue.}

Me on the left; Lola on the right

1)  Roo could read before the age of the 3.  The first book she ever read by herself was Go, Dog, Go.  Roo wrote her first story at the age of six.  It’s about a cat and a fish.  They were friends.  I still have it.

{That story was ballin.’  Cause the cat and the fish were TALKING to each other.  And they’re not human.  It was crazy!}

2)  Roo ran away from home when she was 6.  She had a backpack filled with snacks.  She hid in the backyard, but I could see her eating them from the kitchen window.  She was back in the house after ten minutes.

{I ran out of snacks.}

3)  She was a horrible eater when she was little.  Refused to eat anything but ice cream sandwiches.  She used to sit at the dinner table, and we’d tell her that she couldn’t leave until she ate.  So she’d push her plate aside and fall asleep on the table.

{Um.  This is no longer a problem for me.}

4)  She used to be a spelling bee champion.  When she was 10 years old, Roo was up for the state title.  She made it to the top three, but then she spelled a word incorrectly.  BURST into tears on stage, in front of everyone.  Roo sobbed during the awards ceremony, and all of the pictures we have are of her crying while accepting her 3rd place ribbon.  The word “incorrigible” brings back bad memories.

{I can’t even talk about this without getting emotional.  I studied the dictionary for weeks.  The DICTIONARY.  WEEKS.}

5)  Roo was very sociable, even as a toddler.  Loved to talk to people, and when I would tell her not to talk to strangers, she’d wave and blow kisses.  So I’d hold her hands, and she’d bat her eyelashes.  It was obnoxious, and embarrassing.

{Haters gonna hate, Ma.  Haters gonna hate.}

6)  I was diagnosed with cancer when Roo was 17.  She took care of me during every chemotherapy and radiation session and stayed with me in the hospital during every surgery.

{Good kid brownie points.}

7)  I’d send Roo to clean her room.. and when I went back to check on her, she was always hiding under her bed or in her closet, reading a book.

{Can we just stop for a second and look at this dress?  “Mom, this is so embarrassing.  My collar’s JUST.. not… big enough.”}

I COULD pop my collar, buuut...

8) Doesn’t matter where we are.. she’d fall asleep 9pm sharp.  Movies, friends’ houses, head on the table at a Chinese restaurant.

{Dim sum on my face, dim sum in my hair, dim sum everywhere, ooh-oot, ooh-oot}

9)  Until she was about 4, if you asked Roo what her name was, she’d tell you it was “Papoo.”  No idea where she got it from.

{No clue.}

10)  Roo was born in Hong Kong.. for the first three years of her life, she had a British accent.  My sister took her for vacation back to the Philippines for a month.  When she got back, she had a Filipino accent.  Now she has neither.  She mimics my accent pretty easily though.

{This one’s a bummer.  It would be so cool to have a Britipino accent right now.}

I’m also happy to answer any of your questions!  Please leave them in the comments!  :)  {Easy now, Ma.}

Love,
Lola