What's That Sign?

The most common sign we saw when playing the What's that sign? game.

Amanda's favorite past time which started few weeks ago was the "What's that sign?" game.  I think this is the stage where she learned how to use the "What".  So here's the mechanics of the game... everytime she sees a traffic sign, she's going to ask Mommy and Daddy, what's that sign?  Cute isn't it? (like Amanda's Daddy :) ) 


So what are the things me and my wife observed:

1. Waste. Do you know what traffic sign is posted the most in Metro Manila?  It's the No Parking sign.  Imagine that for every 5 to 10 meters starting from our house going to her school, we saw more than 15 posts of this sign.  And all were made of steel with reflective stickers or paints.  Maybe a ballpark estimate of about 2k Php per sign which amounts to 30k worth of taxpayer's money for no parking signs.  Hmmmm... I wonder why we need that much given that we only have a two-lane two-way street (one lane per way).  Isn't it obvious that we shouldn't park our cars in such an avenue?  Is it a budget allocation issue for the government OR our fault on our foresight that we need a parking slot if ever we buy a car?
2. Patience. So given we saw about more than 15 signs in such a short trip... Amanda will ask the same question over and over.  Well, it's cute but after sometime when we're having adult conversations and we were interrupted because of a sign that was the same about a minute ago, sometimes it would take its toll.  This reminded us that kids will be kids.  And that we should allow them to be that way since they would only be that cute and small once.  What does this mean?  We should be patient and loving in dealing with it, after all it's not just a game but a way for kids to learn and exercise their memory.
   
3. Repetition. During the first week, Amanda was asking because she didn't know the signs.  After a week, she's asking to tell us that she knows them.  Like if we missed looking a sign, and she asked what's that sign?  we told her we're sorry I didn't see it... but she'll immediately reply it's No Parking Daddy!  Repetition, helps retain information to a person's brain.  I realized that this is both a blessing and a curse.  As a blessing, this can help our kids do good in their academics or even their careers in the future... the curse part is when they repeatedly see our bad habits though.  Hopefully, I can practice being a good role model than being a clumsy rookie dad.

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U Turn... an acoustic band during the early 2000s?

No Overtaking Sign - I have yet to see a place in Manila where this is being followed.