May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day! An ode to Puerto Rican mothers

Today being Mother's Day I thought I would take a moment to talk about Puerto Rican mothers and list their four most outstanding characteristics.

1. Puerto Rican mothers are bossy... in charge if you want to be polite about it. I would dare to say that there are very few mothers in the island who aren't completely in control of their household. And they should be proud.
I recently read a book called Muerte de un Murciano en la Habana (Death of a Murcian in Havana) and there was a mother character nicknamed la Mandonísima, aka extra super bossy. I can't help it, she reminded me of a few mothers I know! Obviously they aren't nearly as bad as she is, but...!

2. Puerto Rican mothers are overprotective. Again, not always, but I always get a kick out of mothers telling their older children not to get near the water "just in case" or not letting them out in the rain because apparently getting wet makes you sick. Obviously it just shows how much they care... speaking of which...

3. Puerto Rican mothers are definitely overly affectionate! They are generally very physical with their kids and are always telling them they love them. I'm always impressed with how much love they have for their kids and the sacrifices they make for them.

4. Puerto Rican mothers are, above all, hard-working! A lot of mothers are the breadwinners for their family and will devote hours and more effort than seems humanly possible at work... then come home and make dinner!

These are all true of my best friend's mom, especially the hard-working part... I don't think I've ever seen someone work so hard (7 years without a vacation with a very full-time job!) and yet come home and do so much for her family. So this is for her. I know she's not going to read it, but I wanted everyone to know about the extraordinary women in this island I love so much. ¡Besitos pa' mi mami en la isla! Te quiero mucho...

5 comments:

Petchie75 said...

Ha ha, it fits the bill for Spanish mothers too, and when I think about it - Italian and Greek ones as well...
I am a little scared about my Spanish language skills improving - I might start to actually say "no" to my Spanish mother-in-law, so far it has been sí,sí to everything she says.. probably not a good idea though! and what about if we have children one day? Scary thought, if mi suegra and I don't agree when it comes to child rearing... ;-)

Speaking Boricua said...

Yeah... be careful, I just watched the movie "Flores de Otro Mundo" which kind of shows how scary those Spanish mother-in-laws can be! Okay, it's probably not going to be the same for you (especially since you aren't Dominican), but still, that is one path I'd be afraid to tread!

Minerva said...

I was invited to a mother's day celebration to a mother and a grandmother of one Puertorican. His mother is lovely, and so is his grandmother (his father's mother), though they are very different. And none of them seemed bossy in the slightest... perhaps they were very diplomatic about it, who knows.

Speaking Boricua said...

Well a lot of Puerto Ricans are so hospitable that they can actually temporarily change their personalities... haha.

They also might not be bossy though. I mean I know there are definitely some mothers who aren't! I just haven't met too many.

Unknown said...

ha, so so true. coming from a puertorican mommma in sc, my hubby will testify to everything you just wrote. love it!