The Cure to all
“Ponte Vic’s” (Put on Vic’s)
Sleep. Congestion. Headaches. Insect Repellent. Acne. Bruises. Rashes. Dry skin. Heartburn. Dandruff.
Everything can be cured by Vic’s in this household. You have grown up in your childhood believing that one vapor rub can cure almost everything, because it does. If you believe otherwise, you are not wise.
How to help with a sore throat
Agua caliente con sal y limon (Hot water with salt and lemon)
When you had a sore throat, you would gargle this until you could not any longer, but it always seemed to work although the taste made you spit continuously.
How you fix an empty bottle of soap
So you know that tiny bit of soap left of dawn soap left? Mix it with water. Boom! New recipe for soap. You’re welcome. It was rare when you had to go buy new soap because your mom always made “new soap”. This taught us to be resourceful for what we had.
How to get a clean house
“You can go out with friends as long as you do the laundry, clean the bathrooms, clean the kitchen, room, don’t forget the living room… etc”
If you wanted to go out with friends on a Friday night you would have to remember that you had to have the house cleaned. This taught us discipline, time management and responsibility to make sure that we always remembered that the house being clean was the more important.
How she gets the answer out of you
“I’m not going to get mad” is the biggest lie and the most common trap you fall into
You end up telling your mom what happened and then she gets mad at you anyways. But at the end of the day, your mom loves you no matter what. Plus she probably knew the answer before she asked you.
If something goes wrong
“Prende la vela para santa ___” (Light the candle for Saint ___)
Your mom always knew a saint or the Virgin Mary to light the candle for. When something went wrong in the house she would light a particular candle for the saint that was supposed to help with that or light a candle for the Virgin Mary. Which saint will help with lost things? Saint Anthony. Later on you would find yourself doing some of the same things.
The Miracle to finding missing things
“Si lo encuentro te vas a ver” (If I find it you are going to see)
However, when you didn’t want to look for something extensively, or thought that you were, your mom would get angry because she knew that wasn’t the case. However, as soon as she said this magic sentence, suddenly you find the thing you are looking for. It was one of the fastest remedies to help find lost things.
When your team is not winning
Your mom will coach the men/women through the television telling them all the plays that they didn’t follow. She then will do the occasional prayer around the TV so that the players will get some sense into them.
Solution to my money problems
“No dejes la cartera en el piso que es mala suerte” (Don’t leave your purse on the ground or you will have bad luck)
Somehow leaving your purse on the ground correlated with me having money problems in the future. What I did not understand was that I am a college student, I am already broke! I am already going to have money problems because this country believes you have to be thousands of dollars in debt before your 25 in order to succeed.
They teach you that your mother is your best friend
Although your mother may drive you crazy they help you learn important things such as resourcefulness, responsibility, discipline, integrity. Most importantly you learn that your mother will love you more than anything in the world and I would not trade these lessons I have had with her for anything else in the world.
