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Thank God, we survived somehow! I guess it has to do with the Filipino culture which is similar to other 3rd World countries - that once you reach "the teen" [e.g. 13], you're now a man & no longer a kid. 12 is the cut-off year unlike in most Western countries where 19 (the last year of "teen") is the last year of adolescence. Back then, when we got sick, we took care of ourselves. We did the cooking, laundry, ironing of clothes, buying our food in the market, & etc. Of course, our chores weren't polished but we managed to get by. The only thing that suffered were the grades 'coz when the parents are not around, you then slack-off big time with school! *When mom got a short vacation & came back a yr. later, she was so upset at me on the verge of being kicked-out of St. John Bosco (a private school for boys, well-known in the Philipines & the rest of the Catholic world) due to failing grades & being dead-last in a class of 55 students!
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