Mother Teresa, our super house helper (who spoils me rotten, and serves me like she would the queen dowager) asked for a few days off for a family reunion. She arranged for a temp to take her place, Nati.
I lost my way.
A good thing Nati brought along her 10-year-old daughter, Essa, who stayed in a corner with her gadget, a ploy mothers employ to keep their children quiet.
I found my way. To pry her from the digital nanny, I gave her my book, God’s Favorite Color I told her to read it carefully because I’d be asking her questions after. Talking to children about my books is a rich mine of delight. When I got back to her an hour later, she was back to her electronic yaya.
“Okay, Essa, so what is God’s favorite color?” I asked, ready for a spirited Q&A.
She gave me a blank look.
I repeated, “What does the book say about God’s favorite color?”
She smiled, “I don’t know.”
I probed, “is it red?”
Silence.
“Is it green?” “Or Blue?” “Or Yellow?”
Silence.
"Who mde the green grass and leaves?" Who made the whte clouds andd snow?" "who made the strawbeerries and ripe tomatoes/"
She whispered, God.
"So what is God's favorite color?"
I don’t know, she whispered.
My smile dropped to the floor and stayed there. So I asked her to read the last page where the answer is revealed through a cinquain.
The latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report, which I had hoped was erroneous is true!
“ . . . nearly 91% of 10-year-olds struggle with reading comprehension.”
Essa is a microcosm of this sad report.
No way woud I give up. I requested Nati to bring Essa again the next day so I could perhaps talk more about reading comprehension.
Essa was a no-show. The trombone in my heart played, “Wah-wah-wah.”
Mother Teresa, come home.
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