A Big Fat Lie

“Give me more chocolates!” shouted Rea violently as she kicks her toys, scattering them all over the children’s room.

“No, my child, you’re doctor advised that you should refrain from consuming too much sweets,” her mom, dressed in a silk red bathrobe, said as she runs to her side to appease her daughter.

Rea erupts into tantrums each time her cravings for candies and other sweet treats. She is diagnosed by the physicians to be suffering from type 1 diabetes. Her addiction has turned her into an obese child. At the age of 8, she’s already a hefty 30 pounder.

Eventually her mom gives in to her demands. She is an only child and you know they are always spoiled by their parents.

Their family resides at downtown New York. They own the largest shoe manufacturing business in the state. It has been their bread and butter before Rea is even born. The company ships their goods worldwide. Their annual revenue is a whopping $240 billion and that does not include the other branches they have in Asia and Europe.

However, because they’re always constantly travelling abroad, Rea is left with her nanny most of the time. Her addiction stemmed out from her mom’s desire to make her happy all the time.

“Here you go, baby. Mommy needs to do something in the office so just enjoy your chocolates, okay?”

“Yes, mom. Thank you,” Rea kisses her on the cheeks and hugs her tightly like the way she embraces her teddy bear when she goes to sleep.

“I’ll be scuttling to my workplace now. Give her whatever she wishes to eat,” remarked Mrs. Castro.

Her servant, a middle aged woman in her late 30s, nods her head to indicate that she has understood her instructions.

This has been the story of her life. She got use to spending her days with her maids with her parents occupied with their shoe empire.

Rea is already of the right age for school yet she has not seen what a school looks like. Her mom chose to have her home schooled because of her malady. She is fearful that when she mingles with other kids, they would just bully her by calling her names.

She is now in Grade two. A tutor goes to their mansion and instructs her on the different subjects she is required to undertake as a grade schooler. Miss Jane, a 25-year old teacher in one of the exclusive schools in their city, accepted the job because she pities her for not having the chance to socialize with children of her own age.

“Good morning, Miss Jane!” Rea greets her with enthusiasm.

“Good morning, Rea! How are you today?”

“I am okay, Miss Jane. Want to have some chocolates?” She offers her the dark brown bar she is munching.

“Thank you, Rea. I’m already full. I had my breakfast this morning.”

Rea pulls her to their study corner. She grabs her chair tucked neatly underneath the study table and sits on it quietly while awaiting the next instructions of her teacher.

Miss Jane drops her bag on the blue leather couch and starts to flip the pages of one of the textbooks lying on the table.

“Here, Rea. Read these pages then answer the exercises on the succeeding one. When you’re done just tell me.”

“Yes, teacher.” She excitedly read the story. Her eyes grew big each time she encounters an interesting part of the story.

Rea loves reading stories. She is not a peculiar student. Her intelligence is way beyond her age as evidenced by the test results from the Department of Education after she took the annual Assessment administered to home schooled children as part of their qualifying process to evaluate if they are ready to advance to the next grade level.

“Done, teacher!” she exclaims as she gives her book to Miss Jane.

“That’s excellent. Good girl!” She pats her on the head.

“What do I do next, Miss Jane?”

“Take your snacks first while I check your work. Come back here after 20 minutes.”

“Yehey!” Rea is excited about the prospect of eating her favorite snacks, a chocolate marble cake topped with marshmallows and cherries. She runs to the kitchen and asks her nanny to make her one.

Jane is used to the study habit of Rea. She has to give her a break every now and then if she is to motivate her to study. This is what she calls as the Pomodoro. It is a proven time management technique that helps enhance the performance of children like Rea in their school work. Ms. Jane is has a doctorate degree in education, so she knows how to handle kids similar to Rea's state.

“I’m done eating my cake teacher. Would you love to have some?”

She lovingly asks her mentor.

“Sure, my dear baby, I’ll just taste it while you’re working on your next activity.”

Rea excitedly informs her nanny to get Miss Jane a cake and orange juice. Then she goes back to her study table to answer her next worksheet.

Their session ends 2 hours later. Jane bids Rea goodbye.

“Bye, Rea. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow. Be good to your nanny, okay.”

“Yes, Miss Jane.”

She steps out of the wooden door of the mansion intricately decorated with ethnic designs. Miss Jane has to walk 10 meters along the cobbled walkway that runs across a garden planted with exotic flowers from all over the globe before she reaches the large ironed gate manned by their personal security guard.

“Bye, Thomas.”

Miss Jane politely tells the guard as he opens the small access panel located at the left portion of the gate. As the metal panel closes behind her, she patiently stands by the streets, waiting for the Grab taxi that she has texted before she even finished her session with Rea.

In a minute, her ride arrives.

“To St. Aquinas School, please.”

She orders.

The driver maneuvers the taxi around the subdivision and exits the main entrance located on the north end. He turns left into the highway towards the direction of the school. Miss Jane is the home school coordinator of St. Aquinas School, an accredited home school provider in the Philippines.

She tells the driver to enter the premises of the institution and drop her off at the Office of the Registrar. She intends to accomplish her school reports since it's still early in the day.