The other night, as I was watching TV, random memories came over me. As a kid, I had nightly routine.

At around 6 pm, I had dinner with my family. I was a picky eater back then. I didn’t eat much veggies. Potatoes, to me, were considered as vegetables. Like most normal kids, I loved fried food… fried chicken, hotdogs, pork chops. I didn’t like saucy dishes or soups. When soup is served, I only got the potatoes, and a lot of rice. I would then drown the rice in soup. But I loved Maggi Instant Noodles. I loved instant soups in general. Other soups, however, like sinigang and nilaga, I wasn’t fond of. But I did like Bulalo.

After dinner, Mommy would then have me and my cousins drink our vitamins. Back then, there was only Enervon-C. So for the longest time, I thought it was the only kind of vitamins in the world. So when we learned about vitamins in school, I got really confused. LOL! Anyhow, I loved the taste of Enervon-C. It’s probably the reason why I love sour, citrusy stuff even until now. Come to think of it, the Ponten Cee tablets I take now, almost have the same taste.

After vitamins, I’d go to Mommy and Daddy’s room, and watch the news with them and my cousins. Sometimes, I’d finish the homework I didn’t get to finish. Or read text books when it was summer. I was a geeky. SHUT UP! After the news, I’d get an hour of TV time. Usually, I’d get to watch a local sitcom. Wala pang cable nun. My favorites were Okay Ka, Fairy Ko (Thursdays), Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata (Mondays), and Palibhasa Lalake (Tuesdays). LOL! During summer or weekends, I get more TV time. But during school nights, it was just an hour after the news.

After TV time, I’d brush my teeth. Then I’d go back to Mommy and Daddy’s room to tell them “Good night!” and kiss them. Then I’d go to my room (where I never really hang out unless I was having tantrums) and sleep. Those were simple times that I have almost forgotten about. It was probably those nights that make saying “good night” so important to me. Back when I had a boyfriend (EW!), I didn’t demand anything from him, except a simple good night every night, when possible.

I don’t know why those memories suddenly came rushing back, but I’m glad they did because remembering those nights make me smile, and happy. I look forward to having nights like those again, when my biggest problem was how to trick Mommy into making me have longer TV time.