Me: (speechless)

Conversation #1:

Jackie: (voice quivering) Why is everyone forcing me to study?

Me: Baby, you need to study because it's exam week. Do you want to get low scores in your exams?

Jackie: I hate, hate school. All my classmates do. Mommy, who invented school ba?

Me: (speechless)

Jackie: I wish nobody invented school. It's so boring. No kid likes school, you know.

Me: Listen, baby. You need to go to school so you'll learn. If you don't go to school, you won't be able to find a job when you grow up. Sige ka.

Jackie: Oh, that's okay. Then I'll have lots of time to read.

Me: (speechless)

Conversation #2:

Me: What subjects for tomorrow?

Jackie: (sighing) Sibika and, ugh, Math! I hate those two subjects! Who invented Math, Mommy?

Me: I don't know, Baby. The Chinese, I think? But I'm not really sure. Go and practice your subtraction.

Jackie: It's so hard, all those carry-carry and borrow-borrow. I think I like addition more than subtraction.

Me: (sighing) Me, too. But go ahead, study your Math, baby. You have to study. Oh, and yeah, there's one more thing I need to tell you about studying. If you don't study, you'll get really low scores and really low grades. And then you'll be stuck in grade 3. Next year, all your other classmates will be in grade 4 and you'll still be in grade 3. Do you want that?

Jackie: (eyes widening) Oh! Oh! Ok. I better study, then.

Me: (relieved) Good girl! Go ahead, now.

Jackie: (after some moments of deep thought) But, Mommy, how come I won 2nd place in the spelling bee even if I didn't study?

Me: (speechless)

c")