MA, THERE'S NEWSPAPER iN MY PORRiDGE

I first started reading the newspaper when I was 7 years old, damn young I know.

I know when the regular newspaper boy would arrive at my uncle's gate.  When he does, I would then rush to my uncle and beg for the kiddie section.  if he isn't home, I have to agonizingly wait for him to arrive.  My uncle hates it when I fumble the newspaper first before him, since my little hands would create dreaded creases everywhere on the print.  I would just have to wait for him to hand me my part of the newspaper.

Then my uncle taught me how to read the newspaper properly - how to open the pages, how to fold them back in place.  Just like what I stereotypically see adults on TV soap opera do when reading the newspaper.

Then my uncle's wife introduced me to Reader's Digest, Panorama, Time, and other magazines.  National Geographic was my favorite.  It was like a treasure trove of beautiful pictures and stories around the world, fed all the gusto my nerdy brain was hungry for.  Fast forward to the future and FHM overpowered them all.

My love for newspaper and magazines were attributed to my family's love for old traditions and superstitious beliefs.

When I was still an uncorrupted fetus, my mother usually sleeps with a pile of books on the bedside table.  Doing so would help a child love books and learning, they say.

My first day in Elementary was unforgettable.  My mother [or my father, I can't really remember] made me eat rice porridge a.k.a. lugaw with a twist.  There was something mushy with it, and I got a glimpse of what seemed to be some words I can barely read.  And no it isn't alphabet soup.

My mother was force-feeding me newspaper.

It was believed that eating newspaper at the first day of school would make a child smart.

Who am I to reject this offering of academic good luck?  This so-called intellectual porridge with newspaper essence?

I actually made good with my studies during my elementary years, but I am not giving the newspaper porridge all the credit.

It tastes like paper.  Not bad.  As a kid I have eaten paper.  Who hasn't.