Anya Ngay?

I’ve been spending most of my time at home these days and invariably I find myself castigating, no wait that’s too harsh a word, reprimanding Veda for various whatevers. All part of parenting I know but it really puts a damper on my day every time I do it.

Seated on the couch tonight, I asked my favorite seatmate if he ever remembers being scolded as a young boy. Before he can even formulate an answer, I replied right away, "I do." Talk about answering your own question. Hee.

But I do remember being castigated and reprimanded and spanked as a little girl. To say that I was a handful would probably be an understatement. Hahaha. I can just picture my lola (and lolo), in all her glorious anger pointing her finger towards me spouting words like “Anya ngay? nagtangken ti ulom (Ilocano for: What the? You’re so hard-headed.”) Followed by either a) a threat to be spanked, pinched or slapped silly on my heiny or b) actually being spanked, pinched or slapped silly… you get the picture.

I shake my head at these memories and wonder how my grandparents and eventually my aunt Mayette and cousin, Ate Sonia ever survived me.

To be fair, Veda is more manageable than I ever was during my heydays; even I could see that. She easily understands why she's being reprimanded and does make an effort not to commit the same mistakes but you know she is a kid, and she needs to be constantly reminded. Plus, she's my daughter and she knows exactly which buttons to push - that's Buddy's theory. The challenge here is not to give in to acts which are somehow calculated to get a rise out of me. Zen is where it's at.