Being raised by Hispanic parents is such a blessing, but at the same time a curse. Just like anything in life, there are always pros and cons to everything! The family that I was born in, raised me to be a good person, but that didn't mean it was an easy lesson - sometimes I had to learn the hard way, but hey, it paid off didn't it? Here are just a few things to reminisce on when being raised by a Hispanic family:
5. Going to church every Sunday morning
This one is an inevitable one. I remember hearing my parents at six in the morning screaming, "Wake up kids, it's time for church!" There was no mercy for any one of us, especially if we were out late the night before. And if you didn't get up, the cup and/or bucket of cold water came showering down on your nice warm bed.
4. Eating vegetables without something good to compliment
This is one of my favorite. When I was younger, one thing I could not stand was vegetables. I hated them with a passion, but I always HAD to eat them. Every time I ate them I always had either some type of meat or cheese or drink so I wouldn't really have to taste the vegetables, but every time I finished my complimentary food I wouldn't get more until I finished my plate of vegetables.
3. The inescapable chancla
This is more of a global thing than it is just a Hispanic thing. Every time I would get in trouble, I would either get threatened to be spanked or I was actually spanked. I did get it with the belt, but the most famous tool a parent can use to discipline their child is a chancla (a.k.a. a slipper). Even if our parents gave us a five second head start to run (which would never happen), the slipper will always catch us in the spot that our parents targeted for. It wasn't funny experiencing it, but in retrospect, it actually was funny and you would wonder how that chancla would always hit us??
2. Siblings killing each other, but protecting each other from our parents
When I was younger, sometimes I could not stand my brother or sister and we all just wanted to kill each other and every little thing about each other would bother us. It wouldn't be all the time, but sometimes moments like those would happen. Needless to say, we still love each other, especially when we knew we were about to get in trouble. My siblings and I always have each other's backs, especially since we all did a lot of sneaking around in order to prevent us from getting in trouble. My favorite one was always disconnecting the phone or putting it on silent when the school would call the house. We were always quick about that and to this day we still haven't been caught.
1. Family reunions
One of the things that always happened and what I always enjoyed are my family reunions. Having all my cousins next to me always filled my heart up and being together just showed how strong our bond is as a family. Moments like those are unforgettable and just my everything. One thing about Hispanics having family reunions is that we always want to have the after reunions and those are more fun. The downside to it is that when we go our separate ways, we miss each other way too much.
